My House of Horrors

“An officer from the Jiujiang station?” When Mr. Wang heard these few words, he started to frown involuntarily. “I have never required their help before. Go and tell him to return. After all, they won’t be of much help anyway.”“Mr. Wang, you have been busy recovering your body and lecturing your classes, so you might not know this,” the worker from the university said with a smile on his face. “In the past half a year, the Jiujiang station has been breaking one major crime case after another. Even if you compare them to the law enforcement over the whole country, you will see that they are the best of the best.”

“The reason I needed to recover my body is related to the Jiujiang station, so I have nothing to say to their people, and I do not care about how many cases that they have solved.” Mr. Wang appeared like he had once worked at the Jiujiang police station, but due to various reasons, his relationship with the station was rocky at best. “Like I said, tell him to leave. I am sure they currently have many cases to handle. They should not part with one of their people just to accompany me.”

The university worker looked at the police officer standing next to him helplessly. The rather old police officer walked toward Mr. Wang and said, “Brother Wang, Captain Yan has returned. He is now the leader at the local station.”

“Captain Yan?”

“Twenty years ago, he was the young man who requested for the case to be reopened due to the problems that he had discovered about two weeks before you did. He is now the leader at the Jiujiang station. It is under his brilliant leadership that we have managed to solve so many major cases.” The old officer appeared to recognize Mr. Wang. “Brother Wang, the current local station is no longer the same as it was. The reason I am here today is because of Captain Yan. In fact, if possible, he wishes to see you in person before we depart. After all, you were the only person who lent your support to him back then.”

When Captain Yan’s name was brought up, Mr. Wang was silent.

“I do not have the face to see him.” Closing the notebook in his hands, Mr. Wang handed it over to Zuo Han. “Don’t you suspect that the haunted house is really haunted? Perhaps this notebook will help guide you closer to the discovery of the truth.”

“Sir?”

“I feel well rested already. Today, we will depart to Xin Hai.” It was as if Mr. Wang had turned into a different person. The presence that radiated off him was completely different from before.

“You still have not changed after all this time.” The worker from the university shook his head. “We have already prepared the transportation for you. You can depart at 2 pm. Before that, you’d better rest as much as you can.”

…

After stretching lazily, Chen Ge was woken up by the alarm clock. After a quick freshen up in the bathroom, he hurried to open the door. Ever since he obtained the black phone, his every day had been filled to the brim with meaningful events. Be it morning or night time, almost every hour of his life was occupied by some important event. After doing the make up for his employees, Chen Ge stood inside the dressing room. Watching the employees chatting among themselves, he too felt quite relaxed within that atmosphere. “If only this kind of life could continue forever.”

After he had finished the make up for everyone, Chen Ge called for a simple morning meeting to discuss the future direction of the haunted house with his employees.

“You are all now experienced actors at the haunted house. You have plenty of experience in this field and are more than capable of handling any type of sudden accident, so I am not worried about leaving the haunted house in your care.”

“Boss, how come it sounds like you are going to leave us behind and go for a long trip away all of a sudden?” Xiao Gu was wearing the Doctor Skull Cracker outfit. He pulled off the mask with both hands.

“Director Luo has just bought the biggest haunted house in Xin Hai. In the near future, I will move over there to open our first branch. After the situation at the branch has stabilized, I will return here.”

Opening the branch was the second important mission; the main reason Chen Ge was going there was because he wanted to deal with the cursed hospital. Currently, all the clues pointed toward the cursed hospital. His parents might be found there as well, so he had to go there no matter what.

“Boss, our situation here has just stabilized. Isn’t it a bit too rushed to suddenly open a new branch?” Zhang Jingjiu had experienced the nastiness of society before, so his thoughts were rather more reserved.

“Our base will still be this haunted house in Jiujiang. The branch in Xin Hai can only be called a trial.” Chen Ge looked at his employees. “Now, I will assign all of you some work. After I leave this place, the scenario aboveground will all be handled by Xu Wan. I will also hand her the temporary key for the haunted house to Xu Wan. Xiao Gu if you run into any problems, you should go to Xu Wan or Uncle Xu for help.”

“Okay.”

“The underground scenarios will be handled by Wu Jinpeng.” Chen Ge turned to look at the handsome uncle with the single ponytail.

“What, me‽ No, no, I can’t do it.” Wu Jinpeng quickly waved his hands.

“Do not worry, there are people who will come help you. This here is the list. Later, you shall go to the underground scenarios to communicate with them and see if there is anything you guys can do to ensure the operation can run smoothly.”

The whole room was filled with his trusted confidants. Most of the living employees had survived a life or death situation with Chen Ge before; he would not worry about leaving his life with them. Chen Ge handed a name list to Wu Jinpeng. It had names of several ‘people’ like Doctor Wei and Ol’ Bai on it. After being given the name list, Wu Jinpeng slowly calmed down.

“Now that the people in Jiujiang have been arranged, I will discuss the people who will come to Xin Hai with me.” Chen Ge turned to look at Zhang Jingjiu and Qu Changlin. “Changlin, you have personally worked at that haunted house before. I will give you the task to design the various scenarios and mechanisms for that haunted house. From today onward, you will be the designer of the props used in the scenarios at that haunted house.”

Qu Changlin was especially proficient at building various kinds of haunted house props and mannequins. The man himself was originally Shang Guan Qing Hong’s employee, but he was lured over by Chen Ge to work for him. “Shang Guan Qing Hong did not even attempt to train you to your full potential. But now, I will provide you with a large enough stage so that you can showcase your talent as much as you can.”

Chen Ge had ultimately fulfilled his promise to Qu Changlin. Back when they first met, Qu Changlin was just a bottom feeder who was not given much attention, and now he had been promoted to the main designer at Xin Hai’s haunted house. That was a promotion that skipped several steps.

“Thank you, boss!” This appreciation came directly from Qu Changlin’s heart.

“Qu Changlin will be responsible for the design of the set and props; the rest will be handled by Zhang Jingjiu.” Chen Ge valued Zhang Jingjiu a lot. He had rescued this employee from Li Wan City, and since he started working for Chen Ge, his improvement could be seen with naked eye. He had familiarized himself with the operation at the haunted house in a mere few days and could often provide unexpected help to Chen Ge.

For example, when Chen Ge was fighting Liu Gang online, it was Zhang Jingjiu who led some of the fans to lead Liu Gang slowly into the trap. In terms of business management and interpersonal relationships, Zhang Jingjiu had done better at these compared to the other employees. Now that they were going to a new location, Chen Ge required such a talent. Furthermore, it appeared like Zhang Jingjiu himself came from a wealthy background. His own family business had been in operation in Xin Hai for years already. Combining all these different factors, Chen Ge decided to select Zhang Jingjiu as the branch manager.

“Boss, I am afraid…”

“There is nothing to be afraid of; you are the most suitable candidate.” After saying a few more words, Chen Ge had his employees return to their posts and started the business for a new day. “Later tonight, perhaps I should use the nightmare mission coupon that I won from the Wheel of Misfortune. After completing this daily mission, I can consider moving to Xin Hai.”

Chen Ge had done everything that he could do; he had drawn practically all of the ghosts from the black phone’s Wheel of Misfortune. Even though there were still some unexplored ghost stories left in Jiujiang, exploring those deeply hidden stories would take weeks or even months. Chen Ge did not have that much time.

“The most important thing to do now is to set the scene as soon as possible by sending Xiao Sun into the hospital. That is the most crucial part.” After witnessing Xiao Sun’s talent in person, Chen Ge desperately wanted to send Brother Sun into the cursed hospital. The popularity of the New Century Park haunted house was rising day by day on the internet. It attracted many foreign visitors. The income of theme park had steadily increased. In contrast, there were endless problems with the futuristic theme park.

After two directors had been hospitalized, the upper management had been thrown into yet another power struggle. Many basic employees had no idea what was happening, and that seriously impacted the visitors’ overall experience. All in all, New Century Park had already stabilized the situation, and it was time to overthrow the enemy.

That noon, Chen Ge suddenly received a call. It was from an auntie. She told Chen Ge that the doctor that Chen Ge had once introduced to Jiang Ming could no longer be contacted. Before this, the communication had gone smoothly. The preparation for the cochlear operation had been done already, but the doctor had suddenly gone out of contact, and this caused Jiang Ming and his mother to be extremely nervous. Chen Ge asked the auntie for a few more details, and only then did he find out that Jiang Ming’s mother had already taken Jiang Ming to Xin Hai. With the auntie’s help, they had found a cheap rental home to stay at. The operation was originally planned for the following day, but the surgeon had suddenly disappeared, so all of them were panicking.

“This can’t be dragged on any longer. I shall depart for Xin Hai today.” Chen Ge knew very well that the doctor in question had already had some problems before this. His disappearance probably had a lot to do with the cursed hospital. If he hurried over, perhaps there was still a chance to save that doctor’s life. With a human life on the line, Chen Ge did not hesitate. He rushed back into the haunted house and informed Qu Changlin and Zhang Jingjiu to pack up their stuff after work that day, and they would meet up at Xin Hai’s haunted house the following day.

Since Qu Changlin had worked at the haunted house before, Chen Ge did not have to purposely jot down the address for him. Picking up his backpack, due to the suddenness of the event, Chen Ge only took most of the Red Specters and the more dangerous Specters that might go out of control when he was not around with him.

“Ol’ Bai can look after White Tiger when I am gone, and I will leave the Doctor Skull Cracker costume for Xiao Gu. I will instead bring some of the new costumes with me. Perhaps they might come in useful.”

A haunted house prop that looked as suspicious as the Doctor Skull Cracker’s Hammer would never pass the security check, so Chen Ge decided to figure out a way to book a car to head to Xin Hai. Taking out his phone, Chen Ge made a call to Lee Zheng. “Brother Zheng, there is something that I need to report to you.”

When Lee Zheng got Chen Ge’s call, his heart dropped into his stomach. “Why are you reporting to me? It makes it sound like you are part of our major crimes unit. If it is nothing important, you can talk to me after I am off work. We’re still busy dealing with the case at Jiu Hong Apartments.”

“It’s like this. There is a Doctor Fang from Xin Hai who has suddenly disappeared. Based on his various actions, I suspect he is currently in a very dangerous situation.”

“How would you come to know a doctor from Xin Hai?” Since this was related to a human life, Lee Zheng pulled his attention immediately. Chen Ge summarized how he got in contact with Doctor Fang and the history of Jiang Ming and his cochlear operation to Lee Zheng.

“You’re putting me in a very hard spot! All I can do is help you contact the police at Xin Hai and inform them of the severity of the situation, pushing them to launch an investigation.” Lee Zheng had his own difficulties. He was a police officer in Jiujiang, and the case in Xin Hai was beyond his jurisdiction.

“Brother Zheng, can you send someone to accompany me to Xin Hai? If I go on my own, I definitely cannot convince the officers at Xin Hai. They will not believe my story either. That will only waste precious time. Perhaps, because of this, it might cause us to lose the precious time that could be used to save a human life.”

Chen Ge was telling the truth. If not for the fact that Chen Ge had helped the Jiujiang police so many times and cooperated so many times with them, meaning they could be sure that Chen Ge would never lie, they would not trust him so implicitly.

Lee Zheng also knew that Chen Ge was most likely not lying. He paused for a long time before he said, “We are seriously understaffed at the moment, but I heard from Captain Yan that Ol’ Wu will be heading to Xin Hai for a mission this afternoon. You can hitch a ride with him.”

“Thank you so much! Forgive me for asking this, but how is he going to Xin Hai?”

“He will be taking a transport assigned by the Jiujiang Medical University. The mission that he was given was, I believe, related to a lecturer from that university as well. But don’t get ahead of yourself. This might not work. Let me go and inform Captain Yan of this first.”

Lee Zheng hung up the call while Chen Ge carried his two large bags and called a cab to head to Jiujiang Medical University. On the way there, Lee Zheng came back with good news. Captain Yan had approved for Chen Ge to tag along with Ol’ Wu and the people from Jiujiang Medical University. At 1:30 pm, Chen Ge finally managed to contact Ol’ Wu. He placed his two large bags in the trunk. When he got into the car, he was greeted by Mr. Wang’s dark face.

He had just been scared until he fainted by this man before him, but now they had somehow found a way to sit in the same car. Mr. Wang did not even know what to say. He had many thoughts in his mind, but he did not dare voice them. He appeared to fear Chen Ge without even realizing it.

“Mr. Wang, let me make the introductions. This is Chen Ge. He has helped us solved the case of a hidden body inside cement, abandoned bodies inside an old well at a school, a killer on the loose at the Third Sick Hall, the case of Jia Ming killing his wife…” Ol’ Wu gave a random repertoire of Chen Ge’s history, and it shocked Mr. Wang.

“It feels like you two share a very good relationship, as close as actual colleagues.” Mr. Wang once again studied Chen Ge. He really could not figure out how a haunted house would come to help the police solve so many major crimes. Was the haunted house boss actually an undercover cop?

“I guess you are not wrong that. There was this week when I encountered him six times. At the time, we were working three shifts per day. I met him more often than I encountered my actual colleagues.” Ol’ Wu was once rescued by Chen Ge, so he had a good impression of the young man. “Captain Yan and Inspector Lee value his opinion as well. They often joke among themselves that it was such a loss to the law enforcement that this kid chose to open a haunted house and not serve the force.”

With Ol’ Wu there, the atmosphere in the car was not that awkward. After they got on the highway, Chen Ge drifted off to sleep. At 4 pm, Ol’ Wu first deposited Mr. Wang at his assigned living area, and he continued to drive Chen Ge to locate Jiang Ming and his mother. Xin Hai was much bigger than Jiujiang; they traveled for a very long time before Ol’ Wu found the place. He parked the car in front of a rather old-looking apartment building, and Chen Ge got his two large bags out of the trunk and entered the building.

“Room 202, is it? I’m on my way!” After hanging up, Chen Ge raced up the stairs and knocked on the door of Room 202. It was an auntie who opened the door. Chen Ge had met her at Jiang Ming’s home before. She was very kind and passionate.

“Chen Ge, I know that you are not a bad person, but the doctor that you recommended has suddenly disappeared. We really do not know what to do!”

“You need to first change the surgeon for Jiang Ming. The disappearance of Doctor Fang cannot be explained in a few words.” Chen Ge thought about it and then said, “Have you contacted the police?”

“No, Doctor Fang has not taken our money, so there is no reason for us to report to the police.” The auntie was really nice to have stayed with Jiang Ming and his mother for emotional support.

“Leave this to me then.” Chen Ge helped Jiang Ming contact another doctor. After he consoled them, he led Ol’ Wu directly toward the hospital where Doctor Fang worked.

“Chen Ge, are you sure something has happened to Doctor Fang? It is very inconvenient for you to carry two large bags like that. How about we find a place to stay first?” Ol’ Wu noticed the sweat on Chen Ge’s head, and he knew that Chen Ge was really desperate.

“Doctor Fang has come into contact with things from that hospital. If we do not hurry to find him, I am afraid we might not be able to find him at all.” Chen Ge knew that Doctor Fang was a very good doctor, and it was because Doctor Fang was the best in his specialization, so he was worried that the cursed hospital might have gone after him.