My House of Horrors

“Xu Yin, this is for you.” The old music sheet had many different tunes, and every note was playing a happy and lovesick song. The static noise drifted through his ears. Xu Yin did not reach out to touch the music sheet offered to him by Chen Ge. He stood silently at the side, like always shielding at Chen Ge’s side. He did not say a word and was always unfazed by anything that came his way. Being lied to by the person he loved, being hurt by the person he loved, being amputated by the person he loved, it was as if Xu Yin was no longer himself once the knife stabbed into his heart.All his hope, all his joy, all his love had been completely shattered. He had accepted the drink proffered by his love without any hesitation. He saw the person he loved the most standing beside him with a glinting knife through his blurred vision. He wanted to scream for help, but he could not make any sound; he wanted to struggle, but he could not control his body. He could only watch his beloved’s face as despair slowly consumed him.After Xu Yin became a Specter, he lost his rationality. Whenever he ran into an enemy, no matter how strong the enemy was, he was charge forward like a crazy bull. He wanted to die; he wanted his soul to disappear; he wanted to end all his pain and despair; he had been actively seeking death. Someone like him had run into someone like Chen Ge. Whenever he was maddened by despair and tortured until he could not recognize himself by pain, Chen Ge would always be there to lend him a hand, to help his wounded self up from the ground. The way Chen Ge looked at Xu Yin had never been filled with disgust or terror. There was only gentleness and concern. In this world, the only person who really understood Xu Yin was probably Chen Ge.

“Take this. Compared to hoping that it will make you stronger, I wish that it can help return to you at least some of your former smile.” Chen Ge handed the music sheet to Xu Yin, but when Xu Yin touched the music sheet, the old music sheet was instantly dyed red. The love songs’ lyrics were instantly blurred by blood, and they rearranged themselves into new lyrics.

“I am a bird who has lost its voice; no one will be able to hear my tune anymore.

“My beloved tore away all of my feathers and plunged a knife into my heart.

“They embraced my bodies into their hands, saying it was all for my own good.

“I understood. I knew.

“She wanted to personally create the person that she loved.”

The bloody lyrics appeared on the music sheet and tore away the happiness, replacing it with something bloody and cruel. Throughout the whole process, Xu Yin had not done anything. All he did was hold the music sheet.

“There is no return…”

Covered in wounds, the bird whose body was pierced by the knife had lost its beautiful voice. The music sheet that once recorded the joy of love was soaked in blood and slipped through Xu Yin’s fingertips. Before it fell to the ground, it was caught by a pair of hands.

“It does not matter. There is no reason to force yourself to accept the joy from the past. The current you can and should strive for joy in the future. You deserve that much.” Chen Ge’s eyes were shining with the light of hope. He patted Xu Yin’s shoulder. “Compared to when I first met you, you have already changed a lot. Do not worry. I will always be by your side.”

After finding his own heart, Xu Yin’s emotions had stabilized a lot. He was no longer dominated by pain and despair, and other colors had started to appear in his world.

“One day, I will ensure that you and everyone else at this haunted house obtains their well-deserved happiness.” Chen Ge placed the bloodied music sheet on the table. His gaze was gentle and filled with power.

Standing before Chen Ge, Xu Yin opened his lips but did not make any sound. Instead, his pale fingers lightly caressed the music sheets, and his body slowly dissolved into blood vessel. In the end, Xu Yin took away the music sheet. Just as his body was about to disappear, he wrote down one short song on the music sheet.

“The world kissed me with pain, but I am willing to repay it with songs.”

Peace returned to the Prop Room, and Chen Ge looked at the spot where Xu Yin had disappeared. At the last moment before Xu Yin disappeared, Chen Ge noticed a very powerful energy surging out of Xu Yin’s body. He seemed to have broken through some kind of threshold, and a black pattern started to appear around his heart.

“Has Xu Yin suddenly gained some epiphany? The presence about him suddenly grew intense, and the presence was different from the ones released by the other Red Specters. The black pattern on his heart was very similar to the pattern on the edge of Zhang Ya’s dress. Is it possible that Xu Yin has sown the seed to become a Demon God within himself?

“The items that I can draw from the Wheel of Misfortune can be so beneficial to a Red Specter? No wait, other than gaining enormous affection from him, the letter that I gave Men Nan did not help with his overall ability at all. Looks like it differs according to the individual.”

The items obtained from the roulette sealed the many Specters’ past, those items would indeed help the Specters and Red Specters become more perfect, but ultimately, they were just mere objects. The biggest reason such a huge change would happen to Xu Yin was due to Chen Ge. Who would have thought a ghost who only wanted to find release in death would encounter the kindest and gentlest friend in the world after his death?

…

At 8:10 pm, the door of a mom and pop shop in the old city area western street was kicked down. Many different kinds of snacks were scattered everywhere. Soon, a young man wearing a white shirt was dragged out from the inner room.

“Brother Leopard, Brother Eagle, this has nothing to do with my family. We have already discussed this. I will return the money.” The young man’s face was bloodied, but he still tried to struggle up from the ground like he could not feel the pain.

“Do you think we would still believe you? The wily hare has three holes to his burrow! If you hadn’t been changing your hiding place, do you think we’d come to this place to find you?”

Holding the broken beer bottle in the hand, a bare-chested, middle-aged man walked out from the inner room. There was a scar on the corner of his eye, and the tattoo of a leopard head could be seen on the back of his arm.

“Brother Leopard, give me three more days! I promise I will return the money by then!” The young man knelt to the ground and repeated earnestly.

“Where are you going to find the money?” Brother Leopard held the broken beer bottle and pointed the sharp edge before the young man’s face. “Actually, I noted that this little shop of that limping grandfather of yours is still worth quite a pretty penny. Tell him to sell this place, and perhaps you might be able to collect enough money.”

“No! That won’t do! This is my grandpa…”

“What nonsense are you talking about? Do you think you still have the right to say no to us?” The other man patted his waist. There appeared to be a knife hidden under his shirt.

“Please don’t come after my place. I will find the money no matter what! Three days. Please just give me another three days!”

“Fine, fine. In three days, if you still have not given me the money, I will take an arm away from you.” Brother Leopard yanked the young man up by his hair so that the young man would look him in the eyes. “Previously, there was someone who also wanted to escape from his debt. In the end, I chopped off one of his arms. The blood was squirting everywhere, and it refused to stop flowing. Would you like to see that arm? As a souvenir, I have been holding onto it.”

“There is no need for that, Brother Leopard. I swear I will figure out a way to pay you back.” The young man curled up on the ground, making himself as small as he could until Brother Leopard and Brother Eagle left. The pride of a man was abandoned fully. He wiped away the blood on his face, picked up the broken door of the shop, and fixed it back with his head lowered. The beer and bottles littered the ground, the shelves were tipped over, and a limping old man was seated in the middle of the not so big room. The elder was way past his prime. He had been hit once on the head by a beer bottle, and the blood was bright in his head of white hair.

“Who are you?” Inside the small room, other than the old man, a middle-aged man wearing a red shirt had mysteriously appeared. Holding some cotton wipes and disinfectant, he was carefully picking out the glass shards from the old man’s head wound.

“Why did that group of people only come after your grandfather but not you?” The man in the red shirt’s voice had no emotion.

“My grandpa wanted to protect his shop, so he fought with them…”

“How much money do you owe them?”

“300,000 RMB, but initially, I only owed them 50,000 RMB. As the interest continued to grow, they want me to pay them back 300,000 RMB.” The young man ran to his grandfather’s side and helped to dress the wound. He held the old man’s hand, and his heart must not have been as calm as he appeared. “I have already paid them 70,000 RMB, but they still want more. I really do not have any money left.”

“Why would you owe them money in the first place?”

“Because…”

“Because you like to gamble?” The middle-aged man in the red shirt finished the sentence without even lifting his head.

“I… yes.” The young man did not dare speak, and he was too ashamed to look at his grandfather.

“Those who like to gamble will never win.” The middle-aged man in the red shirt stood up. His ruby like eyes stared at the young man. “If you promise me to find an actual job and honestly earn a living for yourself, I can help you deal with your debt.”

“You are willing to help me?” The young man was at a dead end. He looked at the man, and his emotions were complicated. “Thank you. I will definitely return the money to you! Can you please give me your contact number?”

“I am helping you because I saw the past version of myself kneeling there on the ground in you. I was once in your place, but at the time, no one was willing to come and help me.” The man’s eyes were swimming with blood vessels. “I do not need you to pay me any money. I only wish for you to take good care of your grandfather. If you dare go back to gambling in the future… I will swear to return to claim your life.”

The man in the red shirt walked out from the shop. The young man hurried after him to ask, “Where are you going?”

“I am going to find that group of people who just left to ask them to return what they owe me.”

“They also owe you money?”

“Money?” The man in the red sheet showed off the stub that was hidden in his shirt sleeve. “They owe me an arm.”

…

Inside the VIP room at the Jia Hao Night Club, several couple were grinding with lust and passion. The lights in the room flickered several times before they suddenly went out like someone had cut the wiring.

“F*ck! There’s a blackout? Where is the waiter?”

“Little Leopard! Why did you pick such a horrible place? How come there is not even one person out in the corridor?”

“This f*cking blows!”

The shrieking background music disappeared, and the night club became eerily quiet like everyone’s mouth had been sewn shut.

“Hello? Is anyone there? Motherf*cker! This place is the worst. What the hell are you people doing? Get me your boss over here now!” Brother Leopard and Brother Eagle followed behind a fat man. The three of them walked out from the room, and they turned many corners before they saw a man. The man was sitting in the lobby, wearing a blood red shirt.

“Hey! We’re talking to you! Are you deaf or what?” Brother Leopard kicked the sofa to the side. “Have you seen a waitress or waiter here?”

The man in the red shirt took a sip of the alcohol in the glass. Without even looking at Brother Leopard, he walked directly toward the fat man.

“This man is rather strange.”

“What are you doing! Stop right there!” Brother Leopard stood guardedly before the fat man.

“I owed you money in the past, and my boss told me that I need to return the money that I owe you.” The man in the red shirt took out a credit card from his pocket. “Inside this card, you will find the full amount of the money that I owed you.”

Brother Leopard turned to look at the fat man. The fatty did not ask for details. Since someone was there to deliver free money to them, why would they say no?

“I have received the money, so you can go now.” The fat man had this sneaking feeling that the man before him was rather familiar, and coupling that was a very bad feeling.

“Now that I have returned the money that I owe you, it is time for you to return what you have taken from me.” The middle-aged man had one of his hands placed inside his pocket. He stood in the middle of the lobby. Multiple blood vessels crawled down from the ceiling, and pools of blood spread on the ground.

“What is it that we have taken from you?” The fatty looked at the middle-aged man’s face. His eyes slowly widened. Suddenly, his expression scrunched up in fear as a name that he had almost forgotten floated up in his mind.

Bai Qiulin!

“Do you not remember it anymore?” The middle-aged man’s bloodshot eyes stared at the three in the lobby. The red shirt fluttered like blood, and the air of Yin energy raised the roof. “I have been searching for that arm for so long.”

…

At 9:30 pm, Chen Ge summoned all the Red Specters at the underground scenario. After waiting for several minutes, Bai Qiulin finally arrived. The presence that radiated off the man was obviously different from before. The crack that he had from consuming Xiong Qing had been filled. There was now an energy in his eyes that forbade others from looking straight at him. Sensing the change in Bai Qiulin, Men Nan grumbled under his breath, “Great, yet another Red Specter that I cannot defeat. Yay.”

“Alright, everyone is here.” Chen Ge clapped his hands for silence. “I have called you all here because we are going to find and welcome our new colleagues.”

“Who are you lying to‽ Bringing so many Red Specter to welcome new colleagues? Aren’t you afraid they are going to get scared to their second death?” Men Nan gibbered and then turned enviously to look at Bai Qiulin. “When will it be my turn to get stronger?”

“There will be nine new colleagues in total. I have written down their information and unique background. Please memorize them lest we get the wrong person.”

After all the Red Specters had memorized the details, Chen Ge summoned everyone back into the comic and then hailed a cab to leave the haunted house. The first place he visited was an apartment building at the old city. The life tempo here was very slow; the tenants were mainly the elderly and children.

He climbed all the way to the fourth floor and stopped before the door of the public bathroom. The old door was sealed shut by wooden boards. The landlord had even added two large locks and several yellow talismans on the door.

“This should be the place.” Chen Ge took out the hammer from his backpack and broke down the locks. He pushed open the bathroom door and saw the magazine and newspapers that littered the ground. “It appears like this bathroom has been vacated for a long time.”

Following the information provided by the black phone, Chen Ge came to the fourth cubicle. He shook the cubicle door and realized that the cubicle was locked from the inside. Turning to walk to the third cubicle, he gathered the newspapers from the ground to form a pile and stood on them. Over the cubicle wall, he used Yin Yang Vision and looked into the fourth cubicle. Inside the cramped space sat an uncle wearing black-rimmed glasses. The uncle looked tired and disinterested in everything. Even though he had realized that a living person was standing next to him, he could not gather the energy to scare Chen Ge.

“Hey! Would you like to follow me to change your life?” Chen Ge shouted at the uncle.

The middle-aged man sitting on the toilet looked left and right before lifting his head with confusion. He extended his finger to point at himself. “You can see me?”

“Of course, I own a haunted house. Isn’t it perfectly normal for me to be able to see a ghost?” Chen Ge smiled kindly at the middle-aged man. “Are you willing to step out of your comfort zone and start a new life?”

“No, I am not.” The middle-aged man lowered his head to turn back to his newspaper. He had no interest in answering Chen Ge.

“I wish for you to welcome your new life with me. How about you become an employee at my haunted house?” Chen Ge flipped through the comic. The sound of pages turning rang out inside the small bathroom.

“Do you have nothing else better to do?” The middle-aged man lifted his head with annoyance. By then, the whole public bathroom was covered in blood vessels. Soon, more than ten Red Specters’ heads floated up, surrounding his cubicle.

“I am serious. Why don’t you look into the eyes of these Red Specters and reconsider your answer?” Chen Ge asked with some sincerity.

Putting down the newspaper, the middle-aged man who was surrounded by the Red Specters blasted out from the cubicle and reached to grab Chen Ge’s hand. “I knew I could find a friend in you once I laid my eyes on you. From today, my life is yours.”

“Er… have you washed your hands?”

“Aristotle once said, those who sit on the toilet might not be pooping. They could be searching for the corner of human life, thinking about the ultimate secret of the universe.”

“You are familiar with the study of philosophy?”

“Er, well, I know one or two things about it.”