My House of Horrors

Reading the news on Uncle Xu’s phone, Chen Ge’s heart shivered with a jolt. As he scrolled down the screen, he saw many similar articles.

“After the children woke up, they didn’t say anything else about New Century Park, right?” Chen Ge asked quickly.

“That sure is a weird question to focus on.” Uncle Xu put the phone away. “You’d better talk with Director Luo about the details. He has already been contacted by the media about this. This is a chance, but if it is not dealt correctly, it might cause a lot of damage to our reputation.”

“Okay, I’ll go to him now.” Chen Ge grabbed a shirt and rushed out of his Haunted House.

The unconscious children’s souls and spirits must have been lured behind the School of the Afterlife, but they left with me last night, so that’s why they’ve awoken now! The timing is good, and that explains why the first thing that they said was New Century Park. When they left, I stressed to them that if they ran into any danger outside, they could come to find me at Western Jiujiang New Century Park.

In a way, this was not a medical issue but Chen Ge’s doing. He charged to Director Luo’s office without stopping. After getting his permission, Chen Ge entered the room.

“Director Luo, were you looking for me?” Chen Ge was breathing heavily, and his shirt was not even properly buttoned.

“Why are you in such a panic? Sit down and have a glass of water.”

“I hear that the media has been here?”

“There’s no need to worry. I’ll give you something to see first.” Director Luo turned the laptop on the table toward Chen Ge and pressed the play button. The screen was showing the promotional video of the futuristic theme park. It combined both virtual and reality, and from every angle, it was better than New Century Park. Just watching it gave them more than enough shock, much less experiencing it in person.

“Xiao Chen, do you think we can produce a video of this caliber?” Director Luo turned to Chen Ge. “Tell me your real thoughts.”

“No, our theme park is just the fourth generation, and we mainly depend on the different machines. We can’t match them in terms of technology, and it is hard for us to create this effect.” Chen Ge felt like he had underestimated the futuristic theme park; their opponent was very cunning. They had prepared five promotional videos, and Chen Ge had only seen two of them before. The last promo was related to a horror movie, a direct taunt toward Chen Ge’s Haunted House. This should be the futuristic theme park’s confidence. They would not just win—they would trample New Century Park in their own territory and steal away all their customers.

“Even if we could produce an effect like that, we do not have the time or money to produce a video like this.” Director Luo took out his phone and clicked on the most popular social media and entertainment platform. The advertisement for the futuristic theme park was everywhere. “They have given everything to promote themselves, and the effect is excellent. Many people want to go to their place to visit, and their online tickets for the opening day have already sold out.”

“This is not good for us.” Chen Ge looked at the endless advertisements and felt envious. When he tried to advertise his Haunted House, through the short videos and livestreams, he had bet his life on it, but in comparison, his efforts looked so futile. “Director Luo, should we produce more advertisements?”

“That is why I’ve called for you.” Director Luo drank from the cup as he walked to the window and looked down at the theme park. “We have limited funds and appear second best to the market. To survive, we have to take a big risk.”

“What are you going to do?” Chen Ge did not ask what Director Luo’s plan was but asked what he would do. He trusted Director Luo fully and had confidence in his business experience, knowing that Director Luo would see further than he could.

“I need to ask you one thing first, and you have to answer me honestly.” Director Luo opened the phone and searched for the article that Uncle Xu had shown Chen Ge earlier. “Is this real or fake?”

“Director Luo, I don’t quite understand what you mean.”

“The first words out of a person who has been in a coma for five years were New Century Park. The site of his car accident was very far from here, and his life had nothing to do with us. Why would he say something like that?” Director Luo personally poured a cup of tea for Chen Ge. “Is this related to you?”

“Me?”

“Don’t be in such a hurry to deny it. This morning, many media outlets contacted me at the same time. You can take a look at their interviews and the messages revealed by the victims’ family and the police.” Director Luo clicked open a folder on his phone. It contained plenty of videos and articles. “Take a look at this first.”

The first video was taken at the corridor at some hospital. The image was blurry, and it appeared to have been taken without consent. In the video, a boy in a patient’s garb was communicating with his parents. He stumbled over his words, and he gestured with the pencil that he was holding. What he tried to express was that he had seen the world after death during his coma. He could not remember many things, but he knew that it was a scary place, and he had struggled there. In the end, he had been saved by a man.

He had heard the term Western Jiujiang’s New Century Park from this man, and other than that, he could not remember anything else. It was clear from the video that as weak as the boy was, his mind was sharp, and his eyes were clear. He did not look like he was lying.

“Director Luo, this video can’t prove anything.”

“Keep watching.” The nurses and doctors were shocked. The world after death was alluring. They went online to search about New Century Park to try to establish a connection to this boy, but by total accident, when the doctor clicked on Chen Ge’s picture, the boy suddenly got very excited. The boy still could not speak complete sentences, but he kept pointing at Chen Ge’s picture. The doctor communicated with him for a long time before realizing that the boy was saying that the man who had brought him out from the ‘world after death’ was identical to Chen Ge’s picture.

A hospital that was far from Jiujiang and New Century Park, a coma patient from five years ago and Chen Ge, two unrelated places and individuals were somehow linked. The whole incident went directly from science to spirituality. The doctor could not explain this, and another surprising scene happened at the end of the video. Another door was pushed open, and a nurse burst through the crowd. She ran and whispered into the doctor’s ear that another girl who had been in coma for three years had woken up, and she too had an impression of the location New Century Park!

The doctor hurried to the room and showed the girl Chen Ge’s picture, and the girl cried instantly. Those many strange events proved that this was not a coincidence—this man called Chen Ge appeared to have entered the world after death to rescue those children.

The video then ended, and Director Luo looked at Chen Ge. “Drink your tea.”

“Director Luo, you wouldn’t happen to believe this drivel, right?” Chen Ge had a bitter expression. “if I possessed that magical power, would I still be stuck at a haunted house?”

“I don’t care whether the video is real or not—I only care about the fact that this news might be our lifeline.” Director Luo opened the drawer and placed a few documents on the table. “I wish to try a new promotional method that we haven’t attempted before.”