My House of Horrors

The palm print stopped turning black, and the anxiety curling around Chen Ge’s heart slowly disappeared. He felt like his breathing had become smoother. The human shadow was not lying to him. On the brink of death, he had made the correct choice.

After the Chen Ge’s palm print stopped darkening, the shadow’s body started to waver even though he had almost coagulated into a physical form earlier.

“I still don’t know if I can trust you.” Even though Chen Ge had already gotten the advantage, he did not plan to let the shadow go. There was only one chance, so he had to make use of it carefully. When the weakened shadow heard what Chen Ge said, he was practically jumping from agitation. He tried to go and grab the doorknob again, and as a result, there was another nail poking out from his neck.

It was too cruel.

The shadow’s face was blurry, so no one could tell his actual facial expression. After being scammed twice, he did not dare stay close to Chen Ge. As the one who lifted his curse, he could barely believe that he would be cornered to this point by his scapegoat. Blood was about to consume the art room. Everything would be swallowed by blood. The shadow waved his hands madly. If they stayed there any longer, there would be nothing of them left behind!

“You are a cunning, despicable, cruel, and scary ghost, and I am just a normal person. The gap between our power is too big. How do you expect me to trust you? I do not know the process of scapegoating, so I have no idea what the lightening of the palm print represents. Even if you have done something to my body, I cannot tell.” Chen Ge could feel the change happening inside the art room. The strange paintings were slowly dyed red, and the inverted paintings were turning to normal. Blood covered everything. The two in the room were slowly pulled into the depth of the ocean by a mysterious force that they would find difficult to escape from.

The shadow was unable to speak. He bounced up and down, waving his hands, his gestures becoming bigger and bigger.

“You wish to say that you haven’t lied to me?” Chen Ge knew that they could not stay there for long. He leaned against the door and stood at the spot closest to the door, ready to rush out at any moment. “Fine, I’ll trust you this once, but I hope I can see your sincerity.”

The shadow grasped Chen Ge’s meaning. He had a hard time believing that he would be scammed by his own scapegoat.

“You originally stayed inside Room 413, so you should know a lot about Lin Sisi. I need you to tell me about that—do not hide anything from me.” Chen Ge spoked quickly.

When the shadow heard that, he nodded swiftly. Then he tried to walk forward, but Chen Ge pulled out another nail from his pocket.

“There’s another thing. You stay in the same bedroom as Lin Sisi, so you should know about the password to his phone.” That was one of the key items obtained by Chen Ge, but he lacked the password, so he could not utilize it.

The shadow’s action paused. Just as he was about to express his thought, Chen Ge added, “Don’t think about lying to me. I have his phone right here!”

Retrieving the phone from his phone, Chen Ge turned on the screen. “Tell me!”

When he saw the phone, the shadow’s reaction was slightly out of place. He stepped subconsciously backward and then started to gesture several numbers at Chen Ge.

“51413?” Chen Ge felt that the number was quite familiar. Whenever the shadow gestured a number, he immediately typed it in. After keying in all five numbers, the phone was finally unlocked. “This is an important discovery!”

Memorizing the password, Chen Ge pushed open the door and left the art room. He was a man of his word; after he left, he did not close the door to stop the shadow from leaving. Only after the shadow slipped out did Chen Ge close the door.

The blood inside the door poured and splashed everywhere and swallowed everything, but everything outside the door was normal, completely unaffected. Chen Ge believed that this strange phenomenon had everything to do with those strange paintings.

“I wonder who the painters are. There are thirteen easels in total, so there should be thirteen painters, but their themes and painting styles are so similar. Could it be that they have the same teacher?”

With one problem solved, several new problems rushed into his mind. Chen Ge stood where he was and was frowning in thought when he felt a chill coming from behind him.

Turning back to look, the shadow was expanding, his expression was changing, and his body twisting. His fingers turned into animal claws. The anger that he had experienced when he was inside the art room was finally exploding.

“If you kill me, who is going to be your scapegoat?” Chen Ge opened his arms, and he looked calmer than before. “If I’m not mistaken, everyone at this school is looking for a scapegoat, and there are very few suitable candidates.”

Taking a confident step forward, Chen Ge lifted his eyes to look at the scary face. “After you got me to be your scapegoat, you immediately went into hiding. This proves that you’re also afraid, afraid that after your success, you’ll be targeted by ‘other people’, am I correct?”

The dark claws wrapped around Chen Ge’s neck. The shadow’s heart was filled with resentment—he seemed to be angry at what Chen Ge had done to him earlier.

“I am your scapegoat, and you are the one who made it so. That is the strongest connection binding us together, and no one will be able to contest that.” Chen Ge’s expression gave people a warm feeling. He reached out to touch the shadow’s hand but phased through the shadow. “We are not only not enemies but are allies with the strongest bond. Think about it. You cannot kill me, because if you did, you’ll lose your scapegoat. I am just a normal person, so I won’t survive in this school, and I might be ambushed by some unknown ghost at any moment. The only person whom I can trust and rely on is you because I know you won’t kill me.”

The claw stopped right next to Chen Ge’s neck. The shadow gave it some thought and felt like Chen Ge’s words had some logic to them. However, he felt strange that there would exist such a peaceful relationship between him and his scapegoat.

“This school is filled with danger, and everyone has their own agenda. Cooperation and trust are impossible, but we have worked through that, so we are the most suitable allies!” Chen Ge walked toward the shadow. “Even if the scapegoating is completed, you cannot leave this school. Why don’t we work together to find the exit?”

Looking at Chen Ge, the shadow was beyond shocked. He had never encountered a situation like this before.

“I am in the open, and you’re in the dark. If we work together, we’ll definitely surprise many people.” Chen Ge was completing an impossible thing. At least in this school, such an arrangement had not been attempted before. The shadow’s body was returning to normal. He hesitated a long time before gesturing something with his fingers.

“You want to know why I’m not afraid of you?” Chen Ge shook his head. “I am not not afraid of you—I am so very scared—but I can put on a brave front. Let’s stop wasting time. What else do you know about this Lin Sisi?”