My House of Horrors

Staring at the number on his phone, Chen Ge fell into deep contemplation. Qiumei, the Red Specter who can phase freely between the real world and the movie world, is still inside the comic. Chang Gu wouldn’t have abandoned her and run away, would he?

Even though Chen Ge had not spent a long time with Chang Gu, he could sense from the man that he was not the type who was cowardly. A man who was willing to transplant a ghost eye into himself for the sake of saving his little sister, how could someone like that drop his friend and escape on his own?

Did he run into a problem that he can’t resolve, or has my appearance alerted him?

He took the cab to Yong Lin Mount Holiday Villa. With his previous experience, Chen Ge very expertly jumped over the walls into the compound. “The clothes that were drying outside last time I was here are still there. The surroundings haven’t changed. Did Chang Gu escape the night right after I left?”

Chen Ge activated the recorder to summon Xu Yin. With Xu Yin’s accompaniment, he entered the Dead’s Private Viewing Theater for the second time. The door was left open, and there was a dusty smell in the air. The place appeared ransacked like someone had been there to turn the place upside down before Chen Ge arrived.

“There are no footprints on the ground, the stage is free from any dirt, the recordings have been messed with, and all the movies backstage have been deleted…” Chen Ge’s observation was thorough; he did not miss any details and inspected every inch of theatre.

“Someone has been here since I left yesterday!” The other person was looking for something inside theatre but probably left with nothing. Chen Ge strode into the broadcasting room. “This place has been ransacked as well. This proves that the search hasn’t stopped; they probably haven’t found what they need.”

He opened the projector. It needed a password to log in, and only Chang Gu knew this password. “If they have captured Chang Gu. Then they wouldn’t need to ransack the place and mess everything up.”

Chen Ge had no idea who had come after him. However, he felt like they had been watching Chang Gu for a long time but had not made their move for some reason. His appearance that night had probably ruined their plan, so they had decided to push their plan forward right after he left.

“Chang Gu’s biggest secret is the left eye that he got from Wenyu, and the left eye was taken out of the School of the Afterlife by Chang Wenyu. Is the sudden visit of these people related to the School of the Afterlife?” To solve this puzzle, the simplest way was to find Chang Gu and ask him in person. Chen Ge opened the comic and released Qiumei. This unique Red Specter looked around in confusion just like when she had first been conscripted by Chen Ge.

“Chang Gu has gone missing. Can you locate him?” Chen Ge asked directly. There were only twenty hours or so until the expiration of the mission for School of the Afterlife, so every second was precious.

Hearing that Chang Gu had gone missing, Qiumei’s expression instantly changed. Strands of blood appeared on her face, and her empty eyes locked onto Chen Ge.

“Calm down, I’m trying to help you!” Before Qiumei could get any closer, Xu Yin blocked Chen Ge. Viscous blood dripped to the ground, and the whole theatre was covered in this thin layer of blood. Fear and anger mixed together. Qiumei’s lips fell over, and a shrill scream escaped from them.

“Please, don’t panic. If my guess is not wrong, your object of possession should be the left eye or the movie recording of the Left Oculus. No matter which it is, they should be with Chang Gu. Try to sense them, and through that, we should be able to locate Chang Gu.” Chen Ge repeated that many times before Qiumei finally understood him. She closed her eyes, and her body started to fade as the blood vessels withered. This process lasted for a whole minute. When Qiumei opened her eyes again, she dashed out of theatre.

“Quick, follow her!” Unable to communicate, Chen Ge could only use this method to find Chang Gu. Qiumei soon left Yong Ling Mount Holiday Villa. She deserted the road and rushed deeper into the mountain. This lasted a whole hour before Qiumei stopped moving. Before her was a small house that appeared to be used by forest ranger.

“Is Chang Gu hiding here?” Chen Ge knocked on the door lightly and whispered, “Chang Gu? This is Chen Ge, the person who accompanied you to the movies last night. I came back with Qiumei.”

To prove that he was not lying, Chen Ge allowed Qiumei to enter first. Moments later, the door opened, and the thin, harried Chang Gu in a shredded shirt appeared at the door. “Quick, come in.”

He was armed with a wooden knife, and there were many wounds on his arms and legs. Those appeared be cuts from briars and branches when he was running through the forest.

“Why are you hiding here? Did someone come to the villa after I left?” Chen Ge examined the interior of the house. It was furnished with various everyday items and filtered way. This appeared to be a hideout that Chang Gu had prepared beforehand.

He nodded slightly. Chang Gu stood at the door, brandishing the knife. He looked very tired, but he did not show any trace of fear.

“Who were those people? What did they want with you?” Chen Ge was more curious about that. In the whole of Jiujiang, no one should be interested in the ‘door’ other than him.

“They are victims, too.” Chang Gu sighed. “The case with my little sister is not an isolated incident, but she is the only one who has recovered. The other children are still unconscious while others have already perished.”

“The ones in theatre are the students’ parents? What is going on?”

“The School of the Afterlife admitted more than one student, but the only student who managed to survive the ordeal, according to my knowledge, is Wenyu. So, the parents of the other students wished to get more information about her from me.” Chang Gu dragged his tired body back to the chair. “They came from a good place, but their methods are wrong. If they follow the route that I’m on, they will only fall down deeper into the abyss.”

He took a sip of the water on the table. “The incidents in my movies are all real. About ten years ago, I noticed the peculiarities surrounding my little sister; there seemed to be a different soul living inside her. That was when I started the investigation, and I realized that she often talked to herself like she was conversing with someone that only she could see. Then…”

Chang Gu’s fists tightened. “The soul in her body, to prevent this secret from being leaked, turned to the rest of the family and…”

At this point, Chang Gu could not push himself forward anymore. Veins popped on his forehead, and he needed some time to calm down. “I was lucky to escape, but I didn’t dare return to that home. One day, I ran into Qiumei in a total accident. After I approached her, I realized that the evil spirit inside Wenyu had found a replacement, and the scariest thing was that the replacements themselves would continue to find other replacements. That eye is like a recurring nightmare.”

With a shaking voice, Chang Gu paused for a long time before continuing. “Qiumei was the only exception. Even though she was killed by the replacement and she possessed a deep hatred toward these things, she retained her basic humanity. She was not corrupted by the left eye and resisted the devil’s temptation. The recurring nightmare stopped with her, and she lived inside my little sister’s body for years.

“Her kindness planted a seed inside my mind—try to transfer the left eye from her body to mine and use that eye to find my sister’s soul.

“But the operation failed. Both of my eyes now have problems. Other than the occasional strange visions, I cannot see anything.

“That is my story.”