My House of Horrors

The taxi was parked at the entrance of the tunnel, and Chen Ge’s focus was captured as he studied one page of the comic. After a long time, there was a commotion coming from the driver’s seat, so Chen Ge pulled the door lightly open. “You’re finally awake.”

He tapped the driver’s face and then covered his mouth. He predicted that the first thing the driver would do after waking up was scream, so he took the precaution. The driver’s eyes flew open, and his face was covered in fear.

“Calm down, and listen to me.” After conversing with the spider-boy, Chen Ge had not left immediately. To ensure that the mission was completed, he had spent time inside the tunnel until the sun rose. After one night of exploration, Chen Ge had discovered many things.

Many spirits that died from car accidents had made their home inside the tunnel; the place was as dangerous as the underground morgue. However, whenever the shadow came, he would commit to a total cleanse, taking away or consuming all the spirits that blocked his way. As time passed, the number of ghosts in White Dragon Cave Tunnel decreased, and in a way, Chen Ge benefited from that.

They had come across so many ghosts heading toward the tunnel when they arrived because that was the boy laying the bait for them to come. The boy had been injured in the battle with the shadow, and the fastest way to recover was to feed.

After some communication, Chen Ge knew that the boy was still hiding his special power, and that power appeared to be related to his large spider body. Chen Ge did not interact too much with the boy, and for the time being, he did not plan to bring the boy back to his Haunted House. After pushing open the ‘door’ in the fire, the boy had been completely corrupted.

He hated everything other than his mother. Selfishness, hatred, anger—all the negative human emotions could be found on the boy’s body, so in other words, the boy was much more dangerous than he appeared.

Pulling back his thought, Chen Ge turned to the panicking driver, and his voice softened. “We seemed to have run into ghosts tonight.”

Slowly releasing his hand, Chen Ge put his backpack on the passenger seat and said calmly, “We’ll talk on the road, but for now, let’s leave this haunted place first.”

The driver immediately started the car and turned to rush down the road. “What happened earlier? I remember there were three, no, wait, two strange passengers inside the car, and then we were carried into White Dragon Tunnel Cave. There were many people rapping against the car window, and there were bloody handprints everywhere. The car broke down, and the phone couldn’t be used…”

As he spoke, the driver sounded like he was about to cry. Chen Ge quickly tried to calm his emotions. “I think you were possessed. I got into your car in Western Jiujiang, and I wanted to go to Eastern Jiujiang to visit a friend. But on the way, when we passed an old, empty, abandoned building, you suddenly stopped and rolled down the window to talk to the air. Then you even opened the car door. You have no idea how scared I was.”

“You didn’t see anyone?” The driver’s face was blanched.

“There was no one there; I only saw you talking to air. Then something creepier happened. After driving for a while, you suddenly stepped on the brake, screaming about almost hitting someone. I quickly turned to look, but there was no one on the road. Then, without asking for my opinion, you opened the backdoor and started rambling again.” Chen Ge complained to the driver like he was the wronged party. “Then, just when I thought things couldn’t get weirder, after finishing your one-sided conversation, you drove the car right into White Dragon Cave Tunnel. I tried but couldn’t stop you.”

“I think I have a memory of that.” The driver took in a cold breath. He felt like his limbs were frozen. “Have I really been possessed? Are there actual ghosts in this world?”

“That, I cannot answer, but in any case, you have given me the biggest scare of my life tonight.” Chen Ge hugged the backpack that radiated a faint scent of blood and looked quite pitiable.

“We probably ran into ghosts then.” The driver looked at the squeaky clean car window—there was not one bloody handprint in sight. He had no idea that it was Chen Ge and all of his employees who had cleaned his car for almost an hour. His heart was shaking, and the driver kept feeling something was wrong. However, he kept his lips zipped, and he only sighed in relief after driving out of Eastern Jiujiang.

As the sky was hazy with light, the driver dropped Chen Ge off at New Century Park.

“Just drop me here. Here’s 100, keep the change.” Chen Ge was about to leave when the driver grabbed his sleeve. “What’s wrong?”

“Big brother, are you sure you didn’t see anything last night?” The driver glanced around his car. “Please, give me a direct answer. I don’t think I’ll be able to drive this car anymore. I keep feeling like there’s something inside here.”

“Don’t worry, your car now is very clean, and in the future, stop driving to Eastern Jiujiang,” Chen Ge said as he grabbed his bag and headed into the park.

“What exactly happened last night? Oh right, I can check the vehicle camera… Wait a minute, who removed the machine? If it’s a ghost, then it sure is a high-tech ghost!”

…

Returning to the Haunted House, Chen Ge went into the staff breakroom and took out the black phone. As the sun rose, he received the mission complete message.

“Congratulation Specters’ Favored for completing three-star Trial Mission.

“A new scenario, The End of the Tunnel, has been unlocked.

“The End of the Tunnel: What is at the end of the tunnel?

“Mission Completion Rate: 20%

“Hidden reward not yet unlocked.”

The completion rate is low, just slightly higher than the rate at Coffin Village, Chen Ge, sitting in bed, thought to himself. Since the completion rate is only twenty percent, it looks like the boy in the tunnel still hid something very important from me. He must have lied to me last night, but it is hard to tell what the lie was.

The boy had a hatred-filled heart, so it was normal for him not to trust Chen Ge. If not for his mother, the boy would have hanged Chen Ge.

Looks like he needs some real education.

Putting the phone away, Chen Ge went underground and found the newly-unlocked scenario next to the Twin Water Ghost pool.

It was a tunnel that one could not see the end of. Chen Ge had no idea where it led, and just standing at the entrance, Chen Ge could feel the bone-chilling wind that radiated out.

The boy can only open the door inside his body at White Dragon Cave Tunnel. I wonder if he can do the same if he’s here at this Haunted House replica.

The boy was unique because he was in possession of a mobile door. Chen Ge valued that because he believed that in the near future, the boy would have a huge role to play.

After sealing up the entrance, Chen Ge left. He planned to remake all of these recent scenarios to combine them into a large faux-four-star scenario after completing the 3.5-star scenario in Li Wan City.

He already had a concept inside his mind.

When this large scenario is built, my Haunted House should rise to a new height.

Focused on dealing with the shadow, it had been so long since Chen Ge admired the happy expressions on his visitors’ faces.

The weather forecast said that there might be a rain tonight. After the sun sets, I should go explore the area around Li Wan City to see if I can run into the woman with the red raincoat.