My House of Horrors

When Zhang Ya had not showed up, the shadow had only felt hatred toward Chen Ge, but after Zhang Ya showed up, the shadow’s hatred of Chen Ge deepened. Initially, he only wanted to turn Chen Ge into his own shadow, but now, he only wanted to murder this man.

A lingering spirit cannot leave its object of possession, a baleful Specter can move independently of it for a while, and a Red Specter can leave the possessed object for a long time and even find a new object to possess; that currently is the method I use to differentiate between the different types of Specters.

Chen Ge looked at the approaching shadow.

But this method is not that useful for Specters above the level of Red Specter. Doctor Gao said that he sensed something beyond a Red Specter in the shadow, so what is the difference between something like that and a Red Specter? The power difference between them should be bigger than the power difference between a Red Specter and normal Specter.

It was simple to differentiate a Red Specter and normal Specter; the red article of clothing was a clear sign. But what was the difference between a Red Specter and something beyond a Red Specter?

The shadow can only be considered a Greater Red Specter. After the ghost fetus is born, it will become a real existence above a Red Specter.

Chen Ge noticed some problems on the shadow.

The baby in the shadow’s chest is ingesting his body, and he’s using his self to nurture the baby in exchange for power beyond the level that he should have. While that baby looks normal, it gives me a very bad feeling. Looking at it gives me a similar feeling to when I look at the picture of the Specter on the door inside my Haunted House.

When Doctor Gao was about to be exposed, he had thrown caution into the wind and made a live sacrifice out of several individuals. He had gouged out their eyes and left a painting of a Specter on the door in Chen Ge’s Haunted House.

That Specter might be something more powerful than a Red Specter.

Thinking back, there were many things worth investigating about the ghost stories society. For example, that box with the black blood stain. After all, the reason Zhang Ya could grow so quickly probably had a lot to do with the black blood that she had stolen from the society member. That black blood was different from the black blood that dripped out of Doctor Gao’s body, which was colored by curses; it was a pure blackness. Even when it was kept inside the box, one could feel the immense resentment that it was harboring.

Doctor Gao wouldn’t be planning to lure a monster like that to the door at the Haunted House, right?

Chen Ge could not guess the goal of the Specter. The only one who knew the truth, the one who set up the trap, had turned mad, and Chen Ge really had no idea whether this was a good thing or not.

If that is really his plan, there’s nothing I can do but increase the number of employees that I have and train them to become stronger.

As long as Zhang Ya can break through, then most problems can be solved. However, the distance between a Red Specter and the presence above it is huge. Even the shadow took ten years to affect the transformation. It feels like something is still lacking for Zhang Ya to make this evolution.

Zhang Ya’s power had grown to an impossible level. For once, her power level was similar to the woman in the well at Coffin Village, but now, she could probably easily take down the well woman.

Zhang Ya should be hiding some secrets as well. I’ve been treating her kindly, but I realize that I don’t really know her that well.

A heavy battering sound drew Chen Ge back to the reality. Black blood that carried the curse splashed around, and a seam of black hair wrapped itself around Chen Ge.

“Binding, Gluttony, Heart-connectivity, Pain, Sharpness… How do you have so many special properties?”

Under the protection of Zhang Ya’s black hair, Chen Ge heard the shadow’s voice.

Did he mention the term ‘sharpness’?

Gluttony was the special property of the woman at the hotel. Zhang Ya had consumed her heart, so it was understandable for her to possess that power. Binding was probably Zhang Ya’s own special property, and that was quite a perfect match. After all, she had been using her black hair to bind her enemies.

Zhang Ya had consumed the twin children of the devil from the society, and that was probably where she had obtained the special property of heart-connectivity. That explained why Zhang Ya could hear the voices in Chen Ge’s heart—she had probably connected her heart to Chen Ge way back then.

But the remaining two special properties confused Chen Ge. Pain sounded like it should be related to Xu Yin, and Xu Yin had just broken through to become a real Red Specter. Xu Yin himself probably had not understood how to use this special property, so why would Zhang Ya possess it herself?

Sharpness belonged to the headless woman who was Xiao Bu’s neighbor. She had died under the cuts of many knives, and the intensity of that memory had caused her blood to possess the sharpness quality.

To ensure that Zhang Ya had not quietly consumed the headless woman, Chen Ge opened the comic to peer into it. The headless woman was still there; her body did not fade away, but she did look a lot more obedient.

The headless woman is a Red Specter I plan to have join the Haunted House, and Xu Yin is already an employee who listens to my command. Does this mean that Zhang Ya can absorb the special properties of other Red Specters through me?

Chen Ge’s mouth widened; he did not think that was even possible.

The special property that the shadow mentioned should be the special power detailed by the black phone. Since the shadow can see through the special property of all Red Specters, does this mean that his special property is something like observation?

This was the first time that Chen Ge heard the term special property, but he believed that the shadow had gotten it wrong this time. Zhang Ya would not possess so many special properties. It was simply that other than the binding power that she already had, she possessed a different power that was deep buried inside her.

Zhang Ya possessed her own special page in the black phone. Chen Ge thought that was something common to all Red Specter, but even after Xu Yin became a Red Specter, that did not happen for him.

Even if Xu Yin had become a Red Specter, he merely occupied a line on the list of employees, but his name had turned red.

Lingering spirits do not have any special powers. A small portion of baleful Specters have special powers, and those are like lucky draws. However, all Red Specters possess a special power. A Red Specter might possess different number of special powers, and the more special powers that they possess, the stronger they’ll be. Based on this logic, what kind of power will an existence above Red Specter possess?

Chen Ge tried to predict this, and in reality, he was also trying to figure out how to evolve his employees to that stage. The time limitation for the four-star mission—School of Afterlife—was almost up. Li Wan City, a 3.5-star mission, already gave him such a hard time. If he really challenged a four-star scenario, he might die.

Even though a 3.5-star scenario does not contain an existence above a Red Specter, one can notice their traces. Based on this logic, a four-star scenario should contain the presence of something stronger than a Red Specter.

Chen Ge took a deep breath. The city that he resided in had plenty of ghost stories, but even in such a unique city, there were only three known four-star scenarios. In other words, the city might be home to three presences stronger than a Red Specter. They were the deepest secret hidden by the city; they represented the darker side of the city.