My House of Horrors

When Zhang Ya was hibernating, Xu Yin had protected Chen Ge many times. Most of the time, both the human and the ghost were at their weakest, and they had somehow managed to survive through the impossibility. The ghosts that Chen Ge trusted the most were Zhang Ya and Xu Yin; the bond that they shared had already surpassed the distance between life and death.

“Are you sure you want to consume the black pattern of this Demon God?” Chen Ge looked at Xu Yin seriously. Even though Xu Yin was the most suitable candidate, he was not going to force him to do things that he did not want to. Even though Xu Yin was going to gain enormous power, he would also suffer from unimaginable pain. Just from the touch alone, Xu Yin’s skin had started to crack at a very fast speed.

Xu Yin looked at the black pattern at the tip of his fingers and then slowly nodded. No one knew what Xu Yin was really thinking. Perhaps he could feel the pressure coming from the Demon God, or perhaps he knew that Chen Ge was not in a good position. The danger that they had experienced together made him realize that his current power was not enough for him to protect everything that he valued. He never wasted much energy on words, but he knew deep inside his heart that he did not wish to lose anything else in his life.

“There is no need to force yourself.” Chen Ge and the other workers at the haunted house turned to Xu Yin. Among the group of ‘people’, Xu Yin slowly raised his arms and swallowed the Demon God’s black pattern. When the black pattern slid down his throat, Xu Yin’s face and neck surfaced with innumerable thin and tiny black blood vessels. The heart of the Red Specter in the middle of his chest was palpitating crazily.

Even just by looking at him, one could imagine how much agony he was in. Xu Yin’s expression gradually twisted from pain. Despair and sadness rushed into his eyes, he seemed to turn back into that helpless young man that Chen Ge once encountered. Rationality was being consumed. Xu Yin was at the edge of going berserk. The endless howls echoed behind the door. Chen Ge actively rushed forward to reach out and grab Xu Yin’s hands. The Red Specter’s cold and sticky blood enveloped Chen Ge’s hands. The blood vessels carved out numerable wounds on Chen Ge’s arms. The blood vessels slid across Chen Ge’s skin, cutting and slicing it open. Warm blood kept on leaking, but Chen Ge did not take one step back. “Do not be confused by the Demon God. You are Xu Yin. Your name is Xu Yin!”

The Red Specter employees behind him also moved forward. Blood vessels of different intensities fell on Xu Yin’s body. They were unable to help him share the pain, so they could only use their own method to help him induce the recovery of his body as soon as possible.

A Red Specter had forced himself to swallow the pattern of a Demon God. This was something that had not happened before. In a few short minutes, Xu Yin’s body felt like it had been reconstructed. A normal Red Specter would not have survived an ordeal like this, but Xu Yin had somehow survived it.

He slowly got used to that sensation of pain. The strange pattern around his red heart was growing rapidly while the black pattern from the Demon God with the surname Chi was disappearing at a rate noticeable to the naked eye. Suddenly, a strange male voice came out from Xu Yin’s body. It was unclear what the man was saying, but it sounded like it was mumbling some kind of vicious curse. Following the curse, the black pattern inside Xu Yin’s heart morphed into a mouth, and it attempted to bite at Xu Yin’s heart from inside the latter’s body.

When the mouth bit into Xu Yin’s heart, the black pattern around Xu Yin’s heart also crawled into that mouth. Neither party backed down, and they were both trying to eat the other. Resisting the extreme pain, with the aid from all the employees at the haunted house, the black pattern around Xu Yin’s heart gradually won over. The black pattern from the Demon God with the surname Chi was shattered and was turned into nutrients for Xu Yin. Drops of black blood with strange presence dripped out of Xu Yin’s heart. It changed the young man’s presence completely. The black pattern around his heart also started to spread madly.

“Was that successful?” Chen Ge asked the red high heels through Zhang Yi.

“I suppose you can call it a temporary success. The pattern of the Demon God might strike back at any moment because Xu Yin still needs some time to completely digest the nutrients.”

Other people could not assess Xu Yin’s body; only red high heels, who was familiar with curses, would be able to do that.

After Zhang Yi turned to her with the questions, he also returned to Chen Ge with some good news. “Due to some unknown reason, a huge change has happened to Xu Yin’s body. Now, most curses will not work on him. This was something revealed by the Top Red Specter who specialized in curses as well.”

The pain would continue for a while longer, but Xu Yin’s condition could be said to have stabilized. The Top Red Specter from the cursed hospital was utilized completely; not even a single part was wasted.

“Zhang Yi, you’d better look through his memory as soon as you can. The more you can find out, the more beneficial it will be for us.”

Summoning all the Red Specters into the comic, Chen Ge left the world behind the door. Returning to the haunted house’s underground scenario, Chen Ge suddenly felt it was more comfortable at home. When he was at Xin Hai, even though he had so many Red Specters with him, he did not feel safe at all.

“The next focus should be the cursed hospital. My parents should be there. I need to find them as soon as possible.” Chen Ge had returned to Jiujiang, but Zhang Jingjiu and Qu Changlin were still in Xin Hai. He knew that their situation there would get more and more dangerous, so he had to return there. “I have already given my promise to Mr. Wang to solve the case together. Other than that, I still need to consider Xiao Sun’s safety. If I stay too far away from him, even if he sends me a message through the wedding ring, I will not be able to rush to him in time to help him.”

Chen Ge could not stay for too long in Jiujiang. He planned to deposit Chi Ren at the haunted house, and then he would depart back to Xin Hai once the sun rose.

“Last time, I left in such a hurry that I still have many things that I did not have the time to do.” Chen Ge first entered the staff breakroom alone. He took out the black phone and used the remaining scream points to draw items from the wheel of misfortune. Perhaps he had really drawn all the Specters from the prize pool already. He did not encounter any Specter from his draws, but he won many strange and curious items.

“Is the game a scam? Either I draw a Specter or something only useable by Specters? Can’t you give me something I can use once in a while?” Chen Ge was getting rather annoyed. He read through the introduction of the Wheel of Misfortune provided by the black phone again. He knew that there were supposed to be many different prizes, but everything that he had won so far was related to ghosts and Specters. “Is it the influence of the title Red Specters’ Favored?”

Chen Ge had no other choice but to share the items that he had won with his employees. Seeing the happiness looks on his workers’ faces like it was Christmas, the annoyance in Chen Ge’s heart slowly dissipated.

“The strengthening of the employees is beneficial to me as well.”

After he was done with the gift-giving, Chen Ge realized that the Nightmare Daily Mission Coupon that he had won from the previous draw still had not been used. He glanced at the time and decided to use it before he could think twice.

“The Nightmare Daily Mission normally has a special requirement—I cannot bring any Specter and things related to the black phone with me. It is impossible to do the Nightmare Daily Mission in Xin Hai. The risk will be too great, so I can only give it a try at Jiujiang.”

Putting away the black phone, Chen Ge looked left and right before he spotted the white cat, which was curled up next to the wall. The white cat, whose body had grown even rounder, looked at Chen Ge with open eyes. It waved its tail back and forth. The other Specters and spirits had all been given gifts. It appeared to be anticipating one for itself.

“Do you think I have forgotten about you?” Chen Ge took out the high-class cat food inside the cupboard. After he lured the white cat to his side, he scratched the cat’s head gently. “We might need to go out for a spin this midnight.”

Since he had returned to Jiujiang, Chen Ge wanted to finish things that he had not handled. After taking a swift break inside the staff breakroom, Chen Ge waited for midnight to arrive. He took out the black phone and tuned into the daily missions, which would have refreshed.

“Simple Daily Mission: The number of surveillance cameras is seriously underwhelming, so accidents are bound to happen. Please install new security cameras in all three-star scenario within the next twenty-four hours.

“Normal Daily Mission: The number of baleful Specter employees is growing rapidly. To ensure that they are loyal toward you, you must ensure the state of their mental health. Please help five spectral workers complete their dying wishes within the next twenty-four hours.

“Nightmare Daily Mission: Have you ever wondered if there would be another version of yourself standing on the other side of the door when you pushed open a specific door inside your house alone at night?”

Of the three daily missions, only the last mission was written in ghastly blood-like red letters. Taking in a deep breath, Chen Ge chose the last daily mission.

“Nightmare Daily Missions are very dangerous. Are you sure you want to choose it?”

“Yes!”

“Red Specter’s Favored, you have accepted the nightmare daily mission, door—this the most difficult of all the nightmare missions. Hopefully, your luck will be as good as always.

“Door (Nightmare Difficulty): Close your eyes, cover your ears, and do not speak a word that is not your name! Starting from 1:44 am, push open all the doors in your house!

“Whenever you push open a door, you must call out your own name. There are two ways to succeed at this mission. One is to have successfully pushed open all the doors in your house, and the other is to hear your own voice echoing from the other side of the door when you shout out your name.

“Warning! You cannot reveal the information of this nightmare mission to any other individual! You cannot carry any items related to the phone or any Specter or spirits with you when conducting this nightmare mission!”

Chen Ge was silent looking at the writing on the black phone. Based on the description of the nightmare mission alone, it did not look that scary, but Chen Ge knew how difficult it would be when put into practice.

“The mission requirement is for me to push open all the doors inside the house, but it did not mention whether ‘this house’ is referring to the house that I once occupied or this House of Horrors. If it is referring to this haunted house, even if it gives me the entire night, I will not be able to open so many doors when the most crucial of my senses are blocked.”

Chen Ge stared at the words on the phone screen.

“For me, the only way to pass this mission is to hear the echo of my own voice from the other side of the door, but at the same time, the mission requirement has me block off my hearing. In that case, how am I supposed to hear any voices coming from the other side? Or is it because the voice that rings out from the other side of the door will travel directly into my heart and mind?”

Pushing open doors in your own house and then hearing your own voice coming from the other side of the door, from the description, it sounded very simple, but it carried a very unique meaning to it.

“Will I run into any danger conducting this mission inside the haunted house…” The thought just flashed across Chen Ge’s mind when it occurred to Chen Ge that not too long ago, the door inside the toilet had been pushed open, and something had escaped out from it. The thing that had escaped from behind the door was possibly still hiding in the haunted house.

“Even if he is still hiding inside the haunted house, I should not be that worried.” For the sake of security, Chen Ge tied one end of the rope around the white cat and the other end of the rope around his own waist. Leading the white cat, Chen Ge entered the prop room and found the necessary eye patch and earmuffs. When all the preparatory work was done, Chen Ge walked to the front door of the haunted house. He wanted to start from the entrance and then gradually open all the doors inside the haunted house.

“I grew up in this haunted house. For the area aboveground, I can walk through it with my eyes closed. The real difficulty will be the underground scenarios.”

Time was slowly ticking away. At 1:43 am, Chen Ge put on all the necessary accessories and started to count his heartbeat at the entrance of the haunted house. When it was 1:44 am, Chen Ge pushed open the front door of the haunted house with a powerful swing. He was unable to see or hear anything. The world around him was dark and quiet; it felt like he was the only person left in the world. The map of the haunted house was slowly being constructed in his mind. Chen Ge moved down the corridor with his eyes closed. He did not bump into anything. After all, he had taken this route basically every single day.

“All the nightmare missions have a deeper meaning behind them. They are leading me step by step closer to the truth. This mission should be no different.”

Chen Ge did not tell his other employees about the details of the mission. He could not hear any voice or see anything. Padding down the corridors of his own ‘home’, it felt like he was walking back in time to the time when his parents had just disappeared. The young man who had just lost the anchors in his life always cowered inside the corner of the haunted house’s staff breakroom. He was very afraid. He was not yet ready to deal with all these things alone. But from a time that was hard to pinpoint, the young man had started to change.

“Chen Ge?” Pushing open the door to the dressing room, Chen Ge called out his own name lightly, but there was no response. Holding onto the door, the image of him helping his employees with their makeup appeared in his mind. They were busy as they joked among each other. He had never imagined that he would be able to make so many friends in his life.

“Chen Ge?” Then he found his way to the Prop Room. After pushing open the door, there was still no response. Chen Ge slowly moved down into the darkness. The surrounding became more and more quiet and cold. The surveillance room, the staff breakroom, the changing room, Chen Ge had visited them one by one before he finally reached the toilet. He knew very well that he was standing before his haunted house’s toilet. The blood door was inside this toilet.

“Is the aim of this mission to lure me to open that door? But a blood door can only be opened at midnight, can’t it? Unless the person pushing open the door is the door-pusher himself.”

With a certain supposition in his mind, Chen Ge opened the toilet door, walked through it, and moved toward the fated cubicle. His hand landed on the door handle and slowly pushed.

“Chen Ge?” The cubicle door was pushed open. Chen Ge’s heart was beating so loudly, and he held his breath without knowing it.

One second, two seconds…

About ten seconds later, he did not hear his own voice being echoed from the other side of the door.

“It’s not here?” Retreating from the toilet, Chen Ge went to explore the scenario of Minghun and Murder at Midnight, but he still failed to find that door.

“Could it be underground?” He slowly nudged his foot forward and pulled open the iron door that led to the underground scenario and carefully stepped down the stairs. The temperature continued to drop. Chen Ge shivered involuntarily. He tugged at the rope around his waist and realized that the white cat had already struggled loose from its constraint. The other end of the rope had been dragging on the ground.

“The cat has gotten cleverer and cleverer.”

Even though Chen Ge had gone to the underground scenario many times, it did not form muscle memory. To ensure that he did not miss any doors, he could only move slowly step by step.

Darkness, loneliness, chilliness, and quietness, Chen Ge felt like he was stranded alone in this world, and all of his sensory emotions were being slowly stripped away.