My House of Horrors

“Let’s move on. Stop looking around.” Sister Ghost leaned close to the male assistant, much closer than necessary. “Did Brother Gang inform you of the real purpose of this visit? Why is your heart beating so fast, and why are you sweating so much? Are you not feeling well?”

“I’m fine, I’m fine.” The male assistant pulled back his gaze. Holding his phone, his face was extraordinarily pale, and he softly grumbled, “The footsteps are uneven, but the numbers are correct, thank goodness…”

“You are a strange man.” Sister Ghost wanted to ask him something, but seeing his state, she cancelled that thought.

“Little Sister, you and Little Ghost had better be more careful. This Haunted House is very uniquely designed.” Big Ghost silently moved to Sister Ghost’s side.

“Did you hear something?” Sister Ghost was curious.

“Someone is calling for help. It comes from beyond the wall. I closed my eyes, trying to pinpoint the source, but it seems to come from all asides like the loudspeakers are placed everywhere.” Big Ghost was not good with words.

“Big Ghost, this is just a Haunted House, stop scaring yourself. Also, you’d better go for a check with the doctor. If you ignore it, I’m afraid the illness will become more serious.” Sister Ghost’s voice would only turn normal when she was talking to Big and Small Ghost.

“Ok.”

The group reached the end of the corridor and came to the first split in the road.

“There are markers on the wall. The club activity room, the data filing room, gymnasium, library, and swimming pool are on the left; the right has the education block, lab building, and staff office.” Small Ghost was at the front. He looked at the words on the wall and reached out to touch them. “They are carved with a knife, and there is some paint left in the grooves.”

A faded red color lingered on his fingers. If he smelt it, he would have smelt a light scent of blood.

“Our goal is to take thirteen oil paintings back to the art club. That is related to club activities, so I suggest we go to the left. We might be able to find some clues.” Lan Dong’s black-rimmed glass hid his excited eyes. This child seemed to treat this visit as an exploration game.

“The oil paintings are related to the art club. That is common knowledge, so the Haunted House boss will use that to place various traps on the left corridor.” Small Ghost pointed at the right corridor. “Therefore, we should apply reverse psychology and take his path. We will fluster him that way.”

“My little brother has a point. If we sink into the other person’s tempo when we’re inside a Haunted House, we’ll end up being the passive party.” Sister Ghost supported Small Ghost no matter what, and then he nudged Big Ghost.

Big Ghost seemed to be spacing out; he was not paying attention. With a nudge from Sister Ghost, he said as if on autopilot, “The crying is getting closer. They are just around us.”

This sudden declaration caused the atmosphere to turn weird.

“The Haunted House’s workers might be coming. The best solution is to retrace our step. No matter what we see, do not turn back. We will all wait at the entrance for time to run out,” Bai Buhui proposed to them again.

“Cough.” Liu Gang coughed drily. “Why are the two of you helping the Haunted House raise its atmosphere? This livestream is to show the viewers how fake this place is. If we retreat, how am I going to answer to my viewers?”

“Ignore them,” Lan Dong said with a smile. “I’ve seen Big and Small Ghost’s supernatural show before. Going to sleep in a graveyard is not that impressive. Many so-called supernatural effects in the show are their own doing.”

Lan Dong was young and had no filter. He said all that while the livestream was rolling. Even though the camera was not on him, his voice was heard by the viewers.

“F*ck you!” Small Ghost had an explosive temper. He rolled up his sleeves and prepared to argue it out with Lan Dong.

“The three of us have played many supernatural games before and have been to many places to test our bravery, to search for the presence of ghosts. Unfortunately, we have not yet run into anything too scary. All supernatural phenomena can be explained away by science.” Lan Dong was a studious person. He looked down on Small Ghost’s belief in ghosts and walked directly to Liu Gang. “Brother Gang, look closely this time. The three of us will explain everything about this Haunted House to you from a scientific perspective.”

“Brother Gang…” The male assistant wished for Lan Dong to explain the presence of those gray legs that he saw, but Liu Gang did not give him the chance.

“I understand that you wish to make the livestream as exciting as possible, but that is not necessary.” Liu Gang told the camera confidently, “We’re here to expose the truth. We do not rely on these tricks to attract attention.”

“You have a point. No wonder Brother Gang is a streamer with several million followers. This attitude is worth learning.”

“Let’s go. We’ll take the left path.”

Since Liu Gang had made the decision, even if the others were not satisfied, they had to keep their comments to themselves. The light dimmed, and the people at the front of the group had trouble even seeing the faces of the people at the back.

“Try to keep up!” The corridors were convoluted. Even though there were maps on the wall, the legends were muddled by red paint like they had been ruined by ghostly hands. They entered a few rooms, and they did not find any oil paintings, but they did find a lot of torn homework and diaries. They were filled with spine-tingling words. This school seemed to be filled with taboos. Once you did something bad, misfortune would befall you.

Bang!

Lan Dong pushed open the door at the corner. The wooden plaque that named it as the club activity center dropped to the ground. It appeared like the room had been vacated for a long time. There was a mildew-like scent, and the tables had a layer of dust on it.

“Club Activity Records?” The bald security guard, Liu Guangming, found a yellowed book on the table. It was filled with information from various clubs, but there was no art club. “Why isn’t there a record of the art club?”

“We’ve been in here for ten minutes. Theoretically, speaking we should have found some clues already.” Lan Dong grabbed the book without permission. Before each club, there would be a black and white picture of the club members. When he reached the end, he frowned.

The last page was for a supernatural observation club. For the picture of this club, all the members wore red clothes.

“Of all the pictures, only this club picture is different. The art club should be related to this club! If we wish to complete the mission. We’d better actively go and find the club members. They should give us some clues.” Lan Dong memorized the information about the Supernatural Observation Club. “The club doesn’t have an activity room, but the responsible teacher is Mr. Bai, and all the information about him will be in the staff dormitory.”

“Brother Dong, more than ten minutes has passed, and we haven’t found even one painting. This makes the quest impossibly hard,” Ah Li whispered. “I suggest we split up. One group can look for the paintings while the other focuses on solving the art club’s mystery. That is the most efficient way to complete the quest.”

“Looks like that is the only solution.” Lan Dong turned to Liu Gang. “Brother Gang, you’re the leader—make the choice.”

“Don’t even think about it.” Bai Buhui blocked the door. “I’ve seen many horror movies. We’ll be fine if we stay together, but people insist on splitting up due to various reason. I’ve always wondered why those people insist on searching for death!”