My House of Horrors

“It’s not even locked?” Chen Ge pushed the iron gates open further. Before him was a two-story building with a strange architectural design; it was hard to imagine that such a place existed in the middle of the forest. “A new mailbox is hung on the gate, and behind the gate are some red buckets filled with drinking water. There is also laundry left to dry at the back, so someone must be staying here.”

Afraid of scaring the local ‘citizen’, Chen Ge waved his phone in the dark, knocked on the door, and called, “Is anyone home?”

The only response was silence. He waited ten seconds, and when Chen Ge was about to give up, the door of a nearby building was pushed open. No one spoke, and after a silent communication, a rusty voice croaked from behind the door, “Who are you looking for?”

Based on the voice alone, it was impossible to tell the person’s age. Chen Ge studied the building from afar and did not just go toward it recklessly. When a normal citizen saw a stranger in the vicinity of their home in the middle of the night, their first reaction would be to switch on the light and not to open the door. However, the voice’s owner acted abnormally. After ten seconds of hesitation, he pushed the door open a little further.

“I’m sorry, but is this Yong Ling Mountain Holiday Villa?” Chen Ge was very polite. No matter the time, no matter what he ran into, he believed that politeness could open many doors.

“How can I help you?” The person did not answer Chen Ge directly, but from his tone, he had already confirmed the answer.

“It’s like this. My friend said that he’s staying at Yong Ling Mountain Holiday Villa and told me to come find him tonight. However, my GPS cannot find a location with that name, so I came to ask for direction.” Chen Ge was not lying. He was indeed looking for a friend, but once the person behind the door heard Chen Ge’s answer, there was an audible gasp. “Your friend is staying at Yong Ling Mountain Holiday Villa?”

The man’s voice was strange. He sounded like his throat was parched, and he mumbled over his enunciation.

“Yes, do you know where Yong Ling Mountain Holiday Villa is?” Chen Ge took a few steps forward, interested in the man behind the door.

“Of course I do because you are at Yong Ling Mountain Holiday Villa.” When the man heard Chen Ge’s approaching footsteps, he closed the door again. “Yong Ling Mountain Holiday Villa is constructed from the villas at Yong Ling Mountain. Back then, something happened here, and most of the citizens chose to migrate. Later, due to certain reasons, the management was forced to abandon the holiday villa as well, and I am the only one who remained to look after this place.”

The man paused before continuing through the door. “I am the only resident here. You should have been lied to by your friend; he couldn’t be staying here.”

“That shouldn’t be.” Chen Ge continued casually. “Some time ago, there was a film crew that came here for a shooting, and he was one of the film crew. He invited me here tonight because he said that he chanced upon an important discovery.”

“Stop, it’s dark already, please watch your words.” The man cut Chen Ge off quickly; he did not want Chen Ge to speak further.

This strange reaction was what Chen Ge was waiting for. Instead of stopping, he continued to mumble to himself, “I’m afraid it was because of his film crew that this place was turned into a holiday villa. I heard that many strange things happened when they were shooting the movie. The movie, I believe, is called… Left Oculus?”

“Stop it!” The man shoved the door open, and he was looking quite agitated. Now that the door had opened fully, Chen Ge got a better look at the speaker. The man before him was around forty with a short body and a severe hump. His face was white, and the most conspicuous feature was that his eyes were both closed—he appeared to be a blind man. Chen Ge waved his hand lightly before the man’s face, and the latter did not react in any way. “I’m so sorry, I don’t mean any offense. I was merely repeating what my friend told me.”

“Your friend said that he’s part of the crew? What does he look like?” The man seemed to have calmed down.

“What does he look like?” Chen Ge was confused. A blind man asking for a person’s appearance, that did not sound quite right. After a moment’s consideration, Chen Ge provided Lee Changyin’s appearance.

The man frowned before waiting for Chen Ge to enter the building. “Don’t just stand out there, come in.”

The building was dark. The light switch on the walls had been removed, and only an exposed base remained. The man seemed to have gotten used to the darkness. He strode into the living room and sat on the sofa; he did not bump into anything along the way. Running into a strange-looking blind man in the middle of nowhere, another person would not have dared to follow, but Chen Ge was an exception.

“I don’t know what your friend told you, but there is one thing that I can be sure of—you have been lied to.” The man reached out his hand to search for a plastic cup on the table. He picked it up and took a sip.

“Why do you think I will trust you and not my friend?” Chen Ge noticed that the man’s hand was shaking slightly when he picked up the cup.

“The crew for Left Oculus will not return; this place is the source of their nightmare. After escaping with their lives barely intact, why would they return?” The man’s voice had returned to normal and calmed down.

“Brother, it sounds like you know some inside details.” Chen Ge sat across from the man. There was little light in the room; moonlight streamed in from the window, casting a white pall on the coffee table.

“I am just a guard. I have no exact clue what happened with the crew, but I know that House 744 at Yong Ling Mountain was mowed down completely because it was used for their movie set.” The man had his eyes closed, but his face was turned toward Chen Ge. “After this place was turned into a holiday villa, the boss built a private showing theater on the site where House 744 once stood…”

When the man mentioned a theater, the black phone in Chen Ge’s pocket suddenly vibrated. Chen Ge was curious, why would a message arrive on the black phone at a moment like that?

He took out his phone and clicked open the new message.

“Congratulations, Specter’s Favored, for triggering two-star special mission—The Story of the Left Oculus!

“This mission is made up of three parts. Please arrive at the dead’s showing theater in the next half an hour and enjoy the full-length movie!

“After this task is completed, the next task will be given!”

Looking at the words on the screen, Chen Ge’s eyes narrowed. “There’s a mistake, right? Shouldn’t it be the private showing theater?”

“Hey, are you listening to me?” The man called after Chen Ge.

“Sorry, I was merely stunned, please continue.” Chen Ge glanced at the time and put the phone away.

“What happened later is quite scary. Be it morning or night, the theater feels weirdly eerie whenever you enter it. Many visitors also said that when they were watching their movies, they would see figures that were not related to the movie in the films.”