My House of Horrors

“This mission is related to my parents’ disappearance, so there is no reason to give it up. According to the mission details, as long as I don’t open my eyes, everything will be fine.” Chen Ge put the black phone away. “I can only go alone. I can’t bring any Specters, spirits, or anything related to the Haunted House. Will the ghost fetus discover that I have broken the rules?”

But since that was the black phone’s request, Chen Ge had to follow it. He put on his jacket and found a secure rope in the drawer. He tied one end to himself and the other end to the white cat.

“Other people tie a rope to their pet because they are afraid that they might lose the pet; I’m tying the rope to the cat because I’m afraid I will go to the wrong place and the cat might fail to find me. White Tiger, I’ve been so nice to you. This is finally your time to shine.”

The white cat, which had been snuggling in comfort on the bed, looked at Chen Ge in alarm. Its ears were standing up, and its eyes moved between Chen Ge and the rope.

“Come, let’s go visit somewhere interesting.” Chen Ge was about to grab the white cat, but the cat sank its claws into the bed and refused to let go.

“Aren’t you cats nocturnal animals? What are you doing lazying all night in bed?

“If you don’t take this chance to exercise, you’ll get so overweight that you won’t be able to move!

“Don’t worry! I promise I won’t abandon you no matter what. See this rope? This will be the bond that keeps us together!”

…

“Sir, I’m going to the lightning equipment factory opposite from Jiang Yuan Apartments in Eastern Jiujiang.” Chen Ge sat in the back of the taxi while hugging the white cat. With his previous experience, he knew not to give the name of the dangerous location directly just in case the driver refused to drive him there.

“The place is quite secluded. Plus, why are you going to a factory at night?” The driver studied Chen Ge through the rearview mirror. It was not that he was being too suspicious, but a customer like Chen Ge was too unique. It was 1 am, and he wanted to go to Eastern Jiujiang while carrying a cat.

“My family owns that factory. Something happened, and I have to go check.”

“Hasn’t the factory closed down?” The suspicion increased.

“Yes, that’s why I’m going there. Do you think no one needs to care about it since it’s closed down?” There was annoyance in Chen Ge’s tone like he was not in a good mood.

“I hope you don’t mind me being a busybody, but it’s not that safe in Eastern Jiujiang. Something just happened at the place that you wish to go several days ago.”

“What happened?”

“The residential area across from the factory, I believe it was a drunken husband who accidentally fell from the roof. The scary thing is that it was my colleague who drove him home that night. In any case, the place is just strange.” The driver started the car.

“I don’t believe in all that.” Chen Ge chuckled evenly. “My parents always tell me that with money, even ghosts will do your bidding. If you’re afraid of ghosts, it only means you’re not rich enough.”

The driver was speechless. He stopped trying to persuade Chen Ge, and Chen Ge used this downtime to do more investigation. Half an hour later, the taxi dropped Chen Ge off in Eastern Jiujiang. After paying the fare, Chen Ge hugged the white cat and headed straight for Jiang Yuan Apartments. That definitely gave the driver quite a shock.

“The mission requires me to be here before 2 am.” Chen Ge crossed the road and reached the gates to the residential area. Two apartments stood before him. The surroundings were dark, and it looked isolated. Since moving away, this was Chen Ge’s first time returning there. The place had changed so much from his memory. “Such a big residential area can’t afford a guard?”

The gate was half open, and the guardhouse next to it was sealed and locked. Walking in further, the path was littered with various pamphlets. Only two streetlights were on, and one was flickering nonstop. Chen Ge tilted his head up. There was no light coming from one of the apartment building; it looked deserted. The other building had several lights on the ground floor, and there were clothes hanging on the clotheslines outside the building.

“There’s someone staying here, so there shouldn’t be a problem, but why are all the lights gathered at the ground floor?”

Both of the buildings at Jiang Yuan Apartments fitted the requirement. For safety’s sake, Chen Ge chose the one with people. He hugged the white cat and approached the building. Various notices were stuck to the outside walls. There were some from the owners urging for payment of rent, there were tenants complaining about the condition of the apartment, and there were missing person reports and many other paraphernalia.

“The management is a mess. Has the developer run off with the money?” Chen Ge entered the lobby. The stairs were on the left hand side, and on the right was the elevator. He pressed the button for the elevator, and he could not find the fourteenth floor on the control panel. After confirming that, Chen Ge entered the stairwell. He looked at the steps before him. “Each floor has twenty-six steps, and every thirteen steps, there is a landing for a turn. The height of each step is about…”

He repeated the movement several times for his legs to get used to the climbing.

“The mission needs the building to have a basement and no fourteenth floor. I have to consider these two elements.” Chen Ge leaned on the banister and looked down. “There is a basement floor, but it should be deserted. All the doors are locked. I wonder what it’s for.”

Then he looked up the stairs. The layer overlapped upon layers, like a staircase going up to heaven.

“Only the ground floor and fourth floor have lights. They are not sound activated because they are still on even though it is now deadly quiet.” Chen Ge closed his eyes before opening them again. “Even with my eyes closed, I can sense the change in the light.”

Climbing all the way up with one’s eyes closed was difficult; it not only required bravery but also great determination.

“The Nightmare Missions are getting more and more difficult. Is it because I’m getting closer to the truth?”

Since he could not take any ghosts with him, Chen Ge could only make preparation from other perspective. He looked at the time and took out a black cloth from his pocket. “The mission requests for me to close my eyes but it didn’t say I can’t blindfold myself. This should lower the difficulty slightly.”

The black cloth would lower his eyes’ sensitivity to light, but even if he was blindfolded, Chen Ge would not sneakily open his eyes during the process because the scary things might crawl through the blindfold. Scratching the white cat’s head, Chen Ge placed it on his shoulder. “In a bit, you’ll be my eyes. Do not run away from me. If anything particularly scary appears, do not remind me unless the thing is hostile and wants to kill us. Then you can claw or bite me, understood?”

With little time left, Chen Ge did not care whether the white cat understood his order or not. He left it on his shoulder and took out his phone. There were still ten seconds to 2 am. He closed his eyes and then tied the black cloth around his eyes.

“Time to begin.”

After closing his eyes, the darkness surrounded him. Chen Ge placed his hands on the wall and took his first step.