My House of Horrors

Chen Ge had Ol’ Bai stay back to guard the haunted house. Then he pulled all the other Red Specter employees into the comic and carried the white cat out of the haunted house. The guard at the entrance of the New Century Park was already fast asleep. There were not many vehicles on the road. Chen Ge waited for a long time before a taxi stopped for him. At 3:00 am, Chen Ge arrived at Western Jiujiang Private Academy. He held the graduation certificate and ran to the toilet cubicle at the top of the education block.

“How do I use this thing?”

He gave it multiple goes, but the blood door did not show up. Chen Ge had no idea whether this meant some kind of accident had happened to the door of the School of the Afterlife or he had missed the crucial timing.

“The School of the Afterlife’s door currently is still missing a door pusher. It looks like I will have to come back again at midnight tomorrow.”

Just as he said that, the shadow behind him started to change. A drop of blood leaked out on the cubicle door, and the blood slowly bloomed like a flower. The blood flower expanded to cover up the entire door, and a strong stench of blood drifted out from the gap of the door.

The startlingly red of the blood reacted with the red letters on the graduation certificate. Chen Ge tried to give the blood door a push. Instantly, a wave of redness overwhelmed him. When he recovered, his world was covered in red, and the whole building was surrounded by blood. “The School of the Afterlife?”

Chen Ge stood where he was. Before he decided what to do next, the sound of footsteps came from the outside corridor. Chen Ge reached for the comic subconsciously to summon Men Nan and Xiao Bu. Moments later, the toilet door was pushed open, and two beautiful young ladies appeared at the door. One of them was wearing a white dress and the other a red dress. They had similar facial features, but the reactions they had when they saw Chen Ge were completely different.

“Yin Bai, Yin Hong?’

“Once the blood door was pushed open, I knew that you’d returned.” Yin Hong tilted her head to the side to swipe a glance at Chen Ge. Then her eyes landed on Xiao Bu and Men Nan beside him. Her cute brows slowly frowned as she pulled Yin Bai’s hand to move her away from Chen Ge. “State your intention. What is your purpose for coming back to your alma mater? Even though we do not really welcome you here, considering that you once saved our school, we can offer you some help if it is absolutely necessary.”

“Is the headmaster here? I wish to talk to him.” Chen Ge was quite worried about the School of the Afterlife as well. After all, this place was very close to the red city. The old headmaster from Mu Yang High School was just a Half Red Specter. Chen Ge was afraid that he might not be able to handle things alone.

“Follow me then.” Yin Hong did not waste time and led Chen Ge to the nurse’s office. After the original school doctor was killed, the place had been vacated.

“I want to meet the headmaster. Why did you bring me to the nurse’s office?” Chen Ge was rather confused.

Yin Hong shrugged quite helplessly. “Just go in, and you will see.”

Pulling open the blood red curtain, Chen Ge saw a fat old man who was in a red shirt sharing his experience and counselling several students. The old man heard the movement of the curtain and lifted his head to see Chen Ge. Instantly, a kind smile appeared on his face. “Chen Ge? Why are you here?”

“Sir, when you did breakthrough to become a Red Specter?” Chen Ge was very shocked. When he left, the old headmaster had been a Half Red Specter. It had not been that long since they last met, but the old headmaster had already become a Red Specter, and he seemed to possess a special power within him.

“I also cannot remember the actual moment. Ever since I took over the responsibility of this school, I have been trying my best to help these children, and without knowing it, I turned into a Red Specter.”

The old headmaster at Mu Yang High School was a very special Specter. After he died, he did not consume any ghosts, but he had somehow become a Half Red Specter. Now, even more miraculously, the senior gentleman had somehow turned into an actual Red Specter. From the old headmaster, Chen Ge saw another path available for Specters to breakthrough to their next level. Perhaps this was a path that was more suitable for Yan Danian.

“How did you manage to do it? Can you tell me more about the details?” Chen Ge appeared rather inconspicuous standing amid a bunch of young students.

“My experience probably will not be much use to you. The children at the School of the Afterlife came from all different backgrounds, but most of them are victims of school bullying or children of broken families. They had never experienced love and warmth. My purpose is to heal the wounds that they have suffered during their childhood by attempting to provide them a new home at the School of the Afterlife.” The old headmaster rubbed his large belly. “Actually, I have not done anything. It was mainly because the children have slowly given me their approval. They have influenced the school’s consciousness, and I gradually gained the approval from the school’s consciousness.”

When the door of the School of the Afterlife was at its weakest moment, it desperately needed to search for itself a new door pusher. Under those circumstances, since the old headmaster had gotten the approval from most of the students, and there was no competition from others, the school’s consciousness was slowly channeling its energy into the old headmaster and aided him to slowly become the owner of this door. In terms of pure power, the painter and Chang Wenyu were much stronger than the old headmaster, but neither of them would be able to bring salvation to the students behind the door. Even though the old headmaster was the weakest among them, this kind gentleman was the most suitable candidate. While he could not build a fake heaven behind the door, nor could he help all the students escape from the constraint of the door, he was trying his best to create a sanctuary behind the door for these lost souls.

“A four-star scenario can cultivate a Demon God. The School of the Afterlife is a four-star scenario approved by the black phone. If the headmaster is given some more time, he might really become something of a miracle.”

Without consuming any Specters, he could become a Demon God. This incident that was almost impossible was slowly turning itself into reality due to the determination within the old headmaster to do the best by his students. The old headmaster had provided a brand-new path for Chen Ge. He felt like he should sit down and have a real talk with Yan Danian to understand the thoughts that Yan Danian had inside his heart.

“Sir, during this period, has the red city caused any trouble for you?” When Chen Ge entered the School of the Afterlife last time, Zhang Ya had just become a Demon God, and she had been recovering from a heavy injury. Moreover, most of his employees had still been quite weak. This time, it was different. Just looking at Top Red Specters alone, he had three with him.

“About that city…” The smile disappeared from the old headmaster’s face. “It is not looking so good. I will bring you to the top floor, and you will understand what I mean.”

The headmaster led Chen Ge to reach the top floor of the education block. The iron door that led to the roof was the only door in the School of the Afterlife that was not sealed up by wooden boards.

“I will open the door. Do not move too far away from me. It is very dangerous.” The old headmaster took out a key from his shirt. The key had the etching of a small heart of a Red Specter. Slowly, the door was pulled open slightly. The rolling blood mist slid through the gap and floated down the corridor. After ensuring that there was no danger, the old headmaster finally waved Chen Ge over. “Look for yourself.”

Using his Yin Yang Vision, Chen Ge looked through the gap. Many different kinds of buildings stood around the School of the Afterlife, and every one of the building was covered in blood!

“This was different the last time I came!” Chen Ge was very shocked.

“The School of the Afterlife has already been swallowed up by the red city,” the old headmaster said with a helpless smile. “Not long after you left, the distance between the school and the city became smaller and smaller. We had no choice but to abandon part of the campus and gather all our energy. We used the rest of the wooden boards and soul nails to seal up the main campus, and this is the only door that we have left open.”

“In other words, the School of the Afterlife is currently a completely isolated scenario?”

“Yes, we’ve had to abandon places like the field, the recycling center, the library, the extra-curricular hall, and so on. Most of the school body are gathered in the education block, the dormitories, and the lab building.” The old headmaster looked at the blood fog outside the door and sighed lightly. “That is the only solution available to us at the time. Before the red city, we are so weak and small.”

The School of the Afterlife had already been consumed by the red city. This was something that Chen Ge did not anticipate before he arrived.

“The red city is still expanding. No, perhaps the word growing is more suitable.” The old headmaster tried his best to look at the bright side. “Even though the campus is now much smaller, as long as we stay in the main few buildings, the ghosts from the red city will not harm us. They seem to have a set of rules that they have to follow here.”

Before this, the School of the Afterlife was situated at the fringe of the red city. Just like the ghost fetus scenario, it was a scenario in and of itself, but now the School of the Afterlife had become part of the red city. Chen Ge looked into the distance through the gap in the door. All he could see were the red buildings, and they continued over the horizon.

“I wonder if the cursed hospital is also isolated outside of the red city.” Chen Ge focused his gaze as far as he could. “If only I could make this city to go and consume that cursed hospital.”

“Chen Ge, this place is very dangerous. If there’s nothing else, I am going to close the door now,” the old headmaster said.

The painter headed into the red city after he was defeated, and Doctor Gao might currently be somewhere inside the red city as well. Should I try my luck inside the city?

Chen Ge flipped through the comic. He wanted to have his employees go hunting inside the red city, but it was too dangerous. He could still remember what had happened to Doctor Gao after he had forged his way through the underground morgue to the red city.

Bang!

The iron door was slammed shut. The old headmaster appeared to have read Chen Ge’s mind. “Do not do anything stupid. Even a Top Red Specter will not be able to survive the danger inside the red city.”

“How do you know that, sir?”

“When the school was first being consumed by the red city, there were some Specters and ghosts who were hiding inside the blood fog. It was clear that they wanted to enter the school. It was unclear what happened after that, but all of the ghosts and Specters were killed and murdered.” The old headmaster himself could not give a clear account. “It was very scary. We were hiding inside the education block at the time, and all we could see was a red shadow floating past.”

“Was that a Top Red Specter?”

“Even a Top Red Specter could not kill so many Specters in an instant. Furthermore, there were Top Red Specters among the ghosts who were interested in the School of the Afterlife.” The old headmaster still shivered just thinking about it. “If you somehow end up inside the red city, you have to remember to stay away from any red shadows. If I have noticed anything, it was that they do not seem to be able to enter any buildings.”

“Thank you for the information.” Chen Ge took a deep breath. “Sir, do you mind opening the door again? I wish to conduct an experiment outside the door.”

“How come a human like you is so much braver than ghosts?” The old headmaster shook his head, but in the end, he was persuaded by Chen Ge’s miraculous power of persuasion. Holding the comic, Chen Ge had the red high heels pull out some blood with the red Specter’s blood vessels from the white cat’s body. “Put some curse on this blood. See if you can make contact with Doctor Gao.”

The red high heels gave it some try before she shook her head.

“It won’t work? Looks like the blood vessels left behind the Ghost Stories Society are not enough. In that case, I will have to go and find Gao Ru Xue.” Chen Ge did not mean Gao Ru Xue any harm, but the girl was Doctor Gao’s blood relative, and he wished to reach Doctor Gao through her. The tragedy of Doctor Gao started when he encountered the cursed hospital. His wife’s death was also related to that hospital, so he shared a common enemy with Chen Ge. They should be able to form a truce.

“Chen Ge! Quick come back! Do not stay out there for too long!” The old headmaster spotted something approaching from the blood fog, and he shouted to warn Chen Ge. Chen Ge did not want to take any unnecessary risks. He put away his comic and returned to the school. Closing the iron door, the old headmaster finally sighed in relief. “Do not go out there unless it is truly necessary. The red city is very dangerous.”

“Sir, I hope you do not mind, but there is another favor that I need from you.” Chen Ge voiced out the other reason he was there that night. “Is there anyone left at the school who can contact the painter? I wish to get his cooperation to help me with something.”

“All the students who approved of the painter have already left with him, but there is something here that should be able to help you find the painter.” After locking the door, the old headmaster led Chen Ge to the lab building. He found an unfinished oil painting inside the art room. “This is the only painting left behind by the painter. When he left the school, all the paintings dissolved into ash. This is the only painting that remained. I believe that is because this painting is very important to him.”

Chen Ge picked up the half-finished oil painting. The content was very simple. It was the painting of a young man with heavy lines of worry on his face sitting next to a boy under the sun. They appeared to be chatting about something. “This painting is about the painter and Fan Yu, huh?”

This was a simple scene, but it was a dream that was impossible to fulfil for the painter. Chen Ge took good care of the oil painting, and then he went to meet up with the other Red Specters at the school. He still needed more helpers to deal with the cursed hospital.

After gaining the old headmaster’s approval, Chen Ge left the school with three Red Specters. After leaving the School of the Afterlife, dawn had not yet arrived in real life. Chen Ge gave Zhang Wenyu a call, saying that he wished to meet him in person. Half an hour later, Chen Ge found Zhang Wenyu at an abandoned building in the countryside of Northern Jiujiang. The suicide line operator was standing next to a homeless person who was suffering from a serious illness. He stared at the person silently. It was clear that he wanted to save the person, but he knew better than to break the rules. In the end, he was like Death animated in real life, watching the person’s slowly drift away.

“I wish to ask you for a favor.” Chen Ge walked toward Zhang Wenyu.

Zhang Wenyu answered with a simple word. “Sure.”

“Do not hurry to say yes. The enemy that I need to deal with has at least two Demon Gods.” Chen Ge did not want to press others into his aid.

“Demon God?”

“A ghost that is at least ten times scarier than a Top Red Specter,” Chen Ge said with a serious expression. “Are you still willing to help me after knowing that?”

“Of course.” Zhang Wenyu nodded.

“Thank you.” Chen Ge wanted to pull Zhang Wenyu into the comic, but he failed after multiple tries. After he asked for more details from Yan Danian, he only found out why. Zhang Wenyu might appear to be a Red Specter, but actually he represented a multitude of ghosts and Specters. The comic was not large enough to fit so many spirits and ghosts.

When Chen Ge was figuring out what to do, Zhang Wenyu’s body slowly disappeared. Moments later, Chen Ge got a message on his phone. It was a message delivered from the number of the suicide line operator. “I will always be by your side until you have resolved this danger.”

He turned to look around him. Even with the help of Yin Yang Vision, Chen Ge was unable to see Zhang Wenyu, but there was a source of power that he could not describe that was burgeoning in his heart. It felt like there were a large group of people silently following him and cheering him on. “The people that you have rescued will eventually become the source of your own salvation.”

The sun was rising over the horizon. Chen Ge put away his phone and left Northern Jiujiang. He hailed another cab, and this time, his destination was Jiujiang Medical University. He planned to meet up with Doctor Gao’s daughter, Gao Ru Xue.