My House of Horrors

“Path that leads to the center of the city? Zhang Ya has been there before?” Chen Ge looked at the bloody words on the doll and narrowed his eyes. In his mind, the city was very dangerous, even more dangerous than the forbidden zones, so he did not expect Zhang Ya to have already been there.

“Yes, she knew the path from the beginning. When the door pusher pursued her, she ran out of the school.” The doll did not sound like he was lying, but Chen Ge did not feel like fully trusting him yet.

“The door pusher has complete control over the door that he pushed; he knew about every corner of this place because the whole scenario is built upon the basis of his memory.” Chen Ge pulled on the doll’s other leg. “Are you lying to me?”

“No!” The color of the blood on the doll deepened. He was really afraid of Chen Ge. “Every Half Red Specter or ghosts that have the potential to become a Red Specter have a special power. Do you know what that woman’s special power is?”

“Stop changing the topic.” Chen Ge did not know what Zhang Ya’s special power was because she had too many special powers.

“I don’t know the details of her power, but from the door-pusher, I found out that she can obtain other Specters’ powers through some means.” The doll’s statement confirmed some of Chen Ge’s previous suspicions. “This is the scariest and most special power I’ve seen, so even now, no one knows what she can do because she possesses too many powers.”

Reading the words on the doll’s body, Chen Ge did not react instantly. Zhang Ya was the only Specter that possessed her own special page in the black phone. Initially, Chen Ge had thought that every Red Specter would have that, but after Xu Yin evolved into a Red Specter, Chen Ge had realized that things were not that simple. Xu Yin, who was already quite strong among Red Specters, only had his name turn red in the black phone, and the introduction added the identity of Red Specter to his name.

Zhang Ya is unique even among Red Specters—that is confirmed by the black phone.

Chen Ge thought back to Zhang Ya’s fight with the shadow in Li Wan City. The shadow had listed several of Zhang Ya’s powers at once, and coincidentally, he had seen other Specters use those powers before.

There should be a real limitation to her power, and that should be her only weakness.

Chen Ge grumbled to himself before picking up the doll. “I don’t need you to explain how scary Zhang Ya is—rescuing you is making her my enemy. Why would I anger a powerful Greater Red Specter for someone who I don’t really know?”

The words on the doll had not changed for a long time. Chen Ge’s tone changed as he leaned closer to the doll so that his words could only be heard by the two of them. “Unless you tell me her weakness so that I have a chance of winning against her.”

Chen Ge’s voice was like a demon’s whisper. He was probably the first living person to trick a Specter. “You have no other choice. Either tell me everything, or I’ll hand you over to Zhang Ya myself.”

The doll’s red eyes stared at Chen Ge like he was considering whether to trust him.

“I have limited time. If you can’t agree with me, there’s no need for me to take the risk for you.”

“Her weakness is her heart; I overheard something from the door pusher. Every Red Specter has their own heart. It is made from their obsession. It is the key for them to become a Red Specter and their weakest spot.” The doll did not realize that the way Chen Ge looked at him had slowly changed. “To kill that woman is not easy unless you ruin her heart. The door pusher thought that her obsession was the people who once hurt her at the school, but that was not the case. When he changed his mind, the woman noticed it and hid her heart.”

“Hid her heart? The heart can be hidden?” Chen Ge remembered what the doll said clearly. If he encountered the other world under the black phone’s guidance, what the doll had said now could help him understand it further.

“The Red Specter’s heart is formed from some obsession. If she placed that obsession on some place or someone, if nothing happens to that person, no matter how seriously injured she is, she will not disappear.” The blood vessels on the doll wavered. After he left the room, the limitation on him was slowly weakening.

“Do you have any clues about that after the door pusher has done so much investigation?” Chen Ge asked casually.

“There are two possibilities. First, she hid her heart deep inside the red city, but the chances of that are not great because the city is very dangerous, too dangerous for her to predict. The second possibility is that she has placed her heart somewhere outside the door. The place could be a person or an object…”

The words stopped there. He reserved a secret for himself. If he told Chen Ge everything, there was no guarantee to his safety. Actually, when the doll mentioned an object, something crossed Chen Ge’s mind—Zhang Ya’s love letter. Zhang Ya had placed her heart in the love letter. In Li Wan City, Chen Ge had torn the letter and had Zhang Ya move into his shadow. Being each other’s companion forever was not just a phrase of speech; Zhang Ya’s new sanctuary was Chen Ge’s shadow. Thus, based on what the doll had said, Chen Ge was Zhang Ya’s weakness.

“Take me with you, and I’ll tell you everything.” The doll’s eyes were bloodshot. “You have her presence on you, so she will not let you go. She will stick to you forever. Only I can help you.”

“Let me think about it.” Chen Ge smiled and looked at the doll’s face. He was thinking about how to make a Specter disappear completely, without leaving a trace in the world.

“She might come back at any moment. Please, make it quick.”

“Okay, I will give you an answer as soon as I can. Before that, I’d better bring you with me.” Now Chen Ge had another thing important to him, the doll. He had given it much consideration and decided to hand the doll to Zhang Ya. The girl should have a better way to deal with him. After all, she had literally made him this way. Before Zhang Ya awakened, he could keep the doll safe.

He picked up the backpack, had Xu Yin carry the doll, and walked out of the female dormitory.