My House of Horrors

“The wall? Why would we go to somewhere like that?” Earlier, the shadow had been granted many easy chances to kill Chen Ge, but he had not elected to do so. There was already a basic trust between the two.

The shadow did not answer Chen Ge. He seemed to be hesitating over whether to lead Chen Ge there or not. The place that he had in mind was most likely a location that he was planning to use to hide.

“Feel free to deny me the answer if the question is too difficult. We are partners now and friends. There is no need to have so many concerns,” Chen Ge said with an easy smile and natural tone.

The shadow stood before Chen Ge alone. He was not tall and was on the thinner side. He looked quite fragile. Ever since he joined this school, this was the first time that someone had said such things to the shadow. He stood facing Chen Ge and did not hide himself for the first time.

Introverted, shy, self-effacing—the shadow was different from his peers. There was no liveliness in him at all. It was as if many bad things had already stripped away his happiness before he even joined the school.

Chen Ge’s words remined the shadow of certain things. Most of his memories were gray, and whenever he was pulled down memory lane, the debris from the past would seep into his nostrils and ears. They were no longer painful—they merely dampened his spirits.

“Why are you spacing out? Let’s get going. Staying in one place for long will cause bad things to happen.” Chen Ge patted the shadow’s shoulder, but his fingers phased through the shadow’s body and fell on his chest. Chen Ge did not seem to mind it and seemed to have gotten used to this already. Taking a big stride forward, Chen Ge opened his back just like that to the shadow and did not put up any guard at all.

Staring at Chen Ge’s back, the shadow still had a hard time believing that he was cooperating with his scapegoat.

“Where is this wall that you mentioned?” Chen Ge headed in the direction that the shadow had pointed in for about ten minutes. He was no closer to seeing the edge of the school—this school was incredibly huge.

The shadow kept urging Chen Ge to pick up his speed. The ghost and human flitted through the brush for a whole five minutes before Chen Ge realized that he had returned to the same spot that they had departed from.

“Are we going in circles? How come the trees around us seem to have changed? There are now more trees…” It was untrue to say that Chen Ge was walking in circles because he had reached the eastern campus, and he could see the tall buildings at the western campus.

He and the shadow had been moving toward the western campus for a very long, but those buildings were still blurry like they were hiding behind a layer of fog. “Are you sure we’re going the right way?”

The shadow also realized that something was wrong. He stood behind one of the trees. His thin body wavered from the window like a leaf that would be blown apart at any moment.

“Brother, are you alright?” The shadow seemed to have sensed something. He pulled back his arms, signaling for Chen Ge to retreat and stop walking ahead.

“There’s a ghost around us? Is it very powerful? How powerful is it compared to you?” Chen Ge asked a series of questions, but the shadow answered none of them. He moved his body backward, and at the same time, he ensured that Chen Ge was within two meters of himself.

“Looks like there is really something inside the brush.” Chen Ge brushed the sweat from his forehead. Even the brush by the roadside was not safe anymore. He had a new understanding of this school. “Hopefully, it’s not a Red Specter or half Red Specter.”

Just as Chen Ge and the shadow were slowly retreating, a different voice seemed to drift out from the deeper part of the trees. “Save me…”

It sounded like the voice of a girl, and from the sound of it, she was less than ten years old.

“Someone is calling for help, does the voice sound familiar to you? Can you recognize her?” Chen Ge sidled up to the shadow. At that moment, it was wise to stay together. The shadow shook his head softly and then pointed at Chen Ge’s ears as if trying to remind Chen Ge to close his ears and not to listen to the girl’s pleading.

“Save me, save me… will you save me…” Even though he held his hands over his ears, the girl’s voice echoed in Chen Ge’s mind. The voice was getting clearer and clearer like the girl was getting closer.

“She sounds like she’s in so such pain. Shall we go help her?” Chen Ge took out the nail from his pocket and hid it inside his palm.

The shadow was not privy to Chen Ge’s intention. Why would he talk out a nail if he said he was going to help the girl?

He shook his head naively and gestured—’Danger, run.’

As Chen Ge retreated, he asked, “Is she wearing bloody clothes or just normal clothes?”

The shadow had no idea what Chen Ge was up to, but he answered honestly—’Normal clothes.’

“If it’s not a Red Specter, I think we have a need to go help her.” Chen Ge stopped moving. He counted the nails in his pocket. “A girl asking for help in the middle of the nowhere. She must be in deep trouble. How can we just ignore a plea like that?”

“Save me, don’t go, please, save me…” The girl’s voice sounded poor and weak, but at the same time, it was getting clearer. Chen Ge and the shadow were moving fast, but the girl was still able to catch up to them, which presented many problems.

“Did you hear that? This girl sounds so pitiful. If we can, we should help her.” Carrying his bag, Chen Ge hid a nail each in both hands. The shadow saw that Chen Ge was about to go help the girl and panicked. He gestured wildly, repeating the same word—’Danger!’

“I know that it might be dangerous, but with great risk comes great reward.” Chen Ge not only did not run away, he headed toward the source of the voice. He walked deeper into the brush and yelled, “Where are you? If you’re injured, just stay there, and don’t move! I’ll be there to help you in a moment!”

Seeing as Chen Ge had answered the girl’s plea for help, the shadow’s body dissipated. He seemed to be gripped by both panic and fear. He wished to leave but had something that concerned him. In the end, he escaped back into Chen Ge’s shadow.

“Certain things cannot be avoided. Even if there’s only a miniscule chance that this girl is really injured, we need to go take a look. She only has us to rely on now. Many tragedies can be avoided with Good Samaritans,” Chen Ge claimed loudly, enough for nearby characters to hear him.

Chen Ge stood where he was, and several seconds later, a pale arm poked through the bush.

“Save me, please don’t go, save me…”

“What happened to you? How can I help?” Chen Ge asked.

“Yuan Ming has gone insane—he has really lost it. I wished to break up with him, and he threatened me with his death. Then, he asked me to meet him here, saying that he wished to have a little talk with me. We had an argument, and now he wants to kill me! He’s coming soon! Save me, save me, okay?” The girl’s voice was very weak from the copious loss of blood. Even her breathing sounded heavy.

“There’s another one?” Chen Ge stood where he was. “I’ll call the police for you. Then I’ll take you back to school to find the staff.”

“Okay, thank you, I cannot crawl anymore. Can you come over to pull me up?” the girl asked through her tears.

“Sure.” Chen Ge hid the nails in his palms and slowly walked close to the pale arm. He was about to extend his hands when the arm grabbed at Chen Ge’s palm!

It was a broken arm! The arm was not connected to anything!

“Help me! Help me! Dig the rest of me out from the ground!”