My House of Horrors

Voluntarily closing one’s eyes in the dark and scary tunnel, in a way, was a different method of viewing the world. However, the driver, who had not been briefed on Chen Ge’s intention, could not for the life of him understand what Chen Ge was doing. Was this a manifestation of the ostrich effect? By closing one’s eyes, it was easier to pretend that the monsters roaming the tunnel did not exist?

Even though he was filled with many questions, the driver followed behind Chen Ge honestly. After all, the man was his only hope. He could not imagine being abandoned in this long stretch of dark tunnel.

Chen Ge had no idea what was going through the driver’s mind. With his eyes closed, he was completely submerged in the darkness, and the surrounding became silent. Perhaps it was his tense nerves, but his body temperature kept slipping. If someone accidentally brushed up against him, they might have thought that they had come into contact with a dead body.

With the sense of sight deprived, he could only rely on his sense of hearing and smell as well as the feeling under his skin to help him recognize everything around him. The wall was uneven, and occasionally, his hands would touch something that felt like moss. When his fingers first brushed up against something wet yet sticky, the hair on Chen Ge’s arm rose involuntarily.

“Will I eventually get to the exit this way? It shouldn’t be so simple. The hint given the black phone probably carries a different meaning.” The blinded Chen Ge moved forward with his hands guiding the way. He could not see anything. The darkness, chilliness, and strange sounds as well as the sensitive touch of his fingers overwhelmed his sensory systems like waves.

With superhuman training and determination, Chen Ge resisted the urge to yank off the blindfold and took one step after another. No sight, no thoughts, no nothing.

Chen Ge adjusted his breathing, and just like his first Nightmare Mission, there was only one thought in his mind—finish the task at hand. His mind detached itself from the sense of time, and Chen Ge had no idea how long he had been walking. Different from his previous Nightmare Mission, this time, he did not even pause to count his heartbeat or footsteps. He had completely emptied his mind.

Caressing the wet surface of the wall, he kept on walking until suddenly his hands caught nothing.

There’s a hole in the wall? White Dragon Cave Tunnel was a straight route, and there were no turns, so something like this should not have happened.

Should I take off the blindfold to look? Before Chen Ge could make the decision, someone suddenly pulled on his arm, and the person who did that was shaking so violently that Chen Ge could feel that through the skin contact.

“Calm down, what did you see?” The unknown was often the scariest. After losing his sight, Chen Ge’s emotions were more easily influenced by the people around him.

“It’s just on your left. The thing is right next to your left cheek. He’s very close, please, do not move!” the driver replied anxiously, his voice thick with terror.

“Don’t panic, describe the thing’s appearance. Is it a person or a bug?” Chen Ge stood where he was, careful not to move a muscle, but he waited for a long time, and there was no reply at all. “Are you there?”

In the empty tunnel, only the echo of Chen Ge’s own voice remained. The driver seemed to have disappeared into thin air.

“What exactly did he see?” If the driver had just disappeared, Chen Ge would not have been so worried, but his timing was just so suspicious. He had left behind such a cryptic message before he disappeared. He had told Chen Ge very explicitly that there was something unique and probably terrifying sitting right next to Chen Ge’s left cheek.

“The driver’s disappearance should be related to this thing, but that is not for certain. Something might have already happened to the man after I decided to put on the blindfold, and it has been someone else who has been following me. He’s purposely trying to make me look to the left.” Chen Ge had no idea what the truth was. All he could do was try his luck within an acceptable range of possibilities that he could still control.

Raising his arm, Chen Ge touched the left side of his face—there was nothing there. He sighed in relief before slowly moving his arm toward the wall. His fingers soon touched the cold stone wall, and he did not brush up against anything weird. He extended his fingers and stopped at the edge of the wall and the supposed hole.

“There’s a strange split in the road that is supposed to be straight. Shall I turn into it to take a look?” Resisting the desire to peel off the blindfold, Chen Ge raised both of his hands, and like a blind person, he slowly nudged toward the mouth of the opening on his left.

“Where will this route lead me to?” It was supposed to be a straight tunnel, but for some reason, he had ended up inside a maze. With every few steps, Chen Ge left a deep scratch on the wall, leaving behind a trail of marks.

He continued walking like that for a few minutes, and then Chen Ge’s fingers felt air for the second time. Another split had appeared on his journey.

It was because of the hint on the black phone that Chen Ge had decided to blindfold himself, but the result made him feel greatly unsettled. This straight tunnel seemed to have split into endless turns and corners. Like a person’s fate in life, one would never know what was awaiting at the next turn of the corner.

“Xu Yin…” Chen Ge was worried that he might be greeted with a nasty surprise once he tore off the blindfold and placed himself in danger, so before doing that, he summoned Xu Yin. The smell of blood suffused the air, and Chen Ge took in a deep breath. His nerves slowly calmed down, and Xu Yin’s presence gave him the sense of security that he had been lacking.

Rubbing his eyes, Chen Ge looked around with Yin Yang Vision. He discovered to his surprise that he was standing at the spot that he started his journey; a few meters behind him was the taxi covered in bloody handprints.

The vehicle was still there, but the driver had already disappeared. With Xu Yin’s accompaniment, Chen Ge walked down the tunnel. He did not come across any splits, nor could he find the markings that he scratched on the wall.

The tunnel that he saw with his eyes and the tunnel that he felt with his fingers did not seem to be the same one. This was a strange feeling like one was reality, and the other was a dream, but strangely enough, they were somehow intermingling to form an endlessly repeating circle.

“No wonder the shadow lost once in a place like this. I should consider myself lucky that I was able to escape last time.” White Dragon Cave Tunnel was a unique location, but Chen Ge had no idea what the reason behind its uniqueness was.

“So, the question is, which of the tunnels is the real one? And why were those homeless spirits and souls so drawn to this place? Is it possible that they somehow perceive this place as the cycle of reincarnation?”

This Trial Mission was a lot more complicated than Chen Ge thought. He did not dare move recklessly. He flipped open the comic and released all of his employees.

“Ol’ Zhou and Duan Yue, I need you two to guard the taxi. The rest of you, follow me. Try not to leave too much space between you.” Chen Ge had been to this tunnel before, and based on his online research, he knew clearly how long this tunnel should be.

Chen Ge summoned all of his employees because he wanted to test out his hypothesis.