My House of Horrors

The blood eye that dangled above the school split open from the middle and turned into a giant mirror that loomed over the entire school. The surface of the mirror was red. On this side of the mirror was the blood red world behind the door while on the other side was the campus constructed by the painter.

“The painter used the students’ memories to create two campuses, so when the school consciousness is injured, the campuses that he built are naturally influenced.”

Chen Ge lifted his head to look at the mirror in the sky. The girl who sat on the rooftop of the lab building on the other side was doing the same.

“Chang Wenyu?” The name crossed Chen Ge’s mind. The girl was completely different from what Chen Ge had imagined. In Chang Gu’s movies, Chang Wenyu possessed many personalities, but generally, she was a cute, quiet girl. This should be how Chang Gu imagined his sister to be, but the big brother did not really know his sister well, and because of that, Chen Ge’s impression of her had been misguided as well.

The real Chang Wenyu was an inapproachable person. Her left eye was dug out, and a hollow hole remained. There appeared to be fire blazing in her right eye, where extreme maddened was hidden. This kind of ‘person’ would do anything; there was nothing that would limit them in the world. Even they would have difficulty controlling themselves. In comparison, the painter was another extreme. He did not say a word. He was as quiet as death. Even though the canvas lay broken, even though the campuses that he had spent so many years constructing were crumbling, even when the school’s consciousness was seriously injured, his expression did not change.

The painter and Chang Wenyu were two extremes. When a huge problem occurred, when the school was exposed before the red city, of these two ‘people’, one was lowering his head to look at his canvas like he was remembering the paintings that he had made with it, while the other sat at the edge of the building, looking up at the sky, as if admiring the chaos on the other side.

“Two madmen.” Chen Ge’s eyes moved from the girl to the boy. Now he could confirm that there was a connection between the painter and Fan Yu. They had the same face but different bodies. Probably due to low confidence, Fan Yu kept his head lowered and had a slight stoop while the painter looked more normal.

“I’ve met Fan Yu outside the door and spent some time with him. I really did not expect this to happen.” Chen Ge found that he was unable to move his eyes away from the painter. He could not understand why there was a ‘Fan Yu’ behind the door when the Fan Yu outside the door was still alive. The two had different personalities and completely different abilities.

“It is really that child.” The old headmaster recognized Fan Yu as well. Other than surprise, there was guilt on his face.

“Sir, are you sure the incident where Fan Yu was bullied at school had nothing to do with you?” Chen Ge pulled the headmaster to his side.

“I am the headmaster at Mu Yang High School. Anything that happened at the school had everything to do with me, so of course I am responsible if he was bullied at school.” He did not understand Chen Ge.

“I mean, did you do anything directly or indirectly to harm him. Like you were too busy to care about him when he came to you for help…”

“If he came to me, then this tragedy wouldn’t have happened.” The old headmaster looked at Fan Yu. “He is a good kid.”

“Since you have nothing to do with his bullying, then our plan is not affected.” Chen Ge’s eyes were firm. “I will try my best to make you the headmaster here, to help you control the school’s consciousness. You can see the situation for yourself. None of the people here can bring salvation and release to the students here—only you can.”

“I’m afraid I can’t do that. Every child has their own mind, and it’s not easy to seek salvation.”

“At least you can lead them on the right path and prevent them from more suffering,” Chen Ge said seriously. “There is no one more suitable, sir. You can treat this place as a second Mu Yang High School.”

“Alright, I will try.” A bitter smile hung on the old headmaster’s face. He was just a Half Red Specter, and his competition consisted solely of Greater Red Specters.

“There are thirteen paintings in the art room. They represent thirteen people with the qualification to become the door pushers. We can ignore most of them. We only need to pay attention to the painter and Chang Wenyu.” The plan had started when Chen Ge entered the School of the Afterlife, and now it had reached the climax.

“What should we do next?” the old headmaster asked nervously.

“We will find a safe place to hide for him. Since Chang Wenyu dared come for the school’s consciousness, there’s a great chance she has made some kind of deal with a monster in the red city. When the school descends into chaos, we have to maintain our power.”

Chen Ge had the students that followed him stay together. They walked down the corridor to search for a safe place. The blood fog rushed at the school. The mirror covered the school and was trying hard to prevent the monsters from entering the school. However, the mirror was made up from the students’ consciousness. When their spirit was broken, the collapse was only a matter of time. The mirror was something from the two campuses. As more people regained their lost memories, more negative emotions rushed in. Bloody handprints appeared on the wall between western and eastern campuses, and many strange things were happening.

“This is their real appearance. There is endless pain and despair behind every beautiful memory. Destiny is that fair and cruel.” Cheng Wenyu swung her legs back and forth, enjoying all this.

“Destiny?” The painter slowly lifted his head. “Do you know what color destiny is?”

“I don’t know, probably red, I like red.” Chang Wenyu turned to look at the painter. From the way they spoke, those who did not know would assume that they were friends.

“Destiny is white in color. It will take on the color that you decide to paint on it.” The painter’s voice was calm.

“Therefore, you borrowed the power from the school’s consciousness to change their memory? To retain the only good thing about their lives? How do you know that is what they want? Who gave you the right to change the things most valuable to others?” The painter appeared to have tweaked Chang Wenyu’s memory before. This should be one of the reasons behind their conflict. “Do not assume you are the person most approved by the school and can make yourself out to be the school’s god!”

Facing Chang Wenyu’s interrogation, the painter did not deny it. He merely picked up the broken canvas. “There is no god behind the door. Even if there is, it is just a devil who decided to perform an occasional kindness.”

When he said the last word, a horrible stench drifted out from the canvas.