My House of Horrors

“Be careful of the altar he’s carrying.” The altar from the futuristic theme park had appeared again. Chen Ge seriously suspected that there were more altars hidden around Eastern Jiujiang. “A Specter beyond the Red Specter is a Demon God. I can understand building an altar for one, but why would they place a mud statuette inside the altars?”

The mud statuettes should have been made by the same person. The handicraft was rough, like they were made by children, and the shape of a human was barely discernable.

“Altar, statuette, who is behind all this? They seem to be targeting children. Is there a ghost that specifically feeds off children in this world?”

When Chen Ge was thinking, the man kneeling on the ground finally noticed him. The hand stopped moving, and he slowly turned his face to reveal a featureless face. It was like a piece of white paper that had nothing on it. On a rainy night, in a room carved with names, a faceless monster knelt, guarding an altar. If not for Xu Yin, Chen Ge would have run away when the man lifted his head.

Since there was no face, Chen Ge could not tell his emotions and could not predict his next move. The monster had no ears, so Chen Ge could not tell whether he could hear him or not. The monster had no mouth, so the most basic communication was impossible.

After a temporarily pause, the monster suddenly pushed his hands against the ground and charged at Chen Ge on all fours.

“Xu Yin!” Even before the order from Chen Ge, Xu Yin had already stepped in front of Chen Ge. His upper body leaned forward, and black capillaries appeared on the back of his hand as he held the monster’s head back. Blade-like fingers cut into the monster’s face. The skin was cut through, but no blood leaked out. Black threads crawled out from the monster’s wound and curled around Xu Yin’s fair hand.

“A curse?” Each thread was marked with a wailing human face. This was similar to what Chen Ge had seen when he encountered the shadow in Li Wan City.

“Such a venomous curse hid under a pure, featureless face. I should have known that the evilest spirit would often hide under the purest appearance.”

Xu Yin was not familiar with dealing with curses, but Chen Ge had one Specter who was. He took out the pair of red heels from his backpack and placed them on the ground.

“You seem to feed on curses. Give this one a taste. See if it matches your appetite.”

Keeping the headless woman by his side, Chen Ge did not give the faceless monster any chance. He summoned Xu Yin, the red high heel, and the stench at the same time. Surrounded by three Red Specters, the faceless monster was immediately cornered. Threads of blood vessels covered the space around him like spiderweb, but they were as sharp as a blade.

The web surrounded the monster, and if he tried to move, his body would be shredded into pieces. That did not mean that the monster had surrendered, though. He did not seem to possess self-consciousness and would not feel pain or sadness. Even though the wounds on his body increased, he continued to attack the three Red Specters.

“This man is not a Red Specter, but he is surprisingly tough. He appears to have been given some kind of command to guard the altar.” Chen Ge had interacted with so many Specters that he spotted the problem immediately. “Ignore him for now. Take down the altar, but be careful to not break the mud statuette inside it.”

When the target changed from the monster to the altar, the house started to change. The names carved in the building started to bleed, and in just a few second, the whole second floor was dyed red. The smell in the air thickened, and the monster started to struggle. He tried to tear through the web of blood vessels, causing his body to be covered in ghastly wounds.

Endless black threads seeped out from the wounds and gathered together to wrap around the altar like a tongue. Chen Ge thought that he would have an easy win with four Red Specters, but as time moved forward, things became more complicated. The curses all rushed toward the red high heels. As the number of wounds on the monster increased, the curse that came out from his body became scarier.

The red high heel that was covered in bandages became the monster’s main attack target. If that was all, Chen Ge would not have minded it. The curse of the entire second floor could only stop the red high heels. Xu Yin, the stench, and the headless woman were not targeted by the curse. With three Red Specters on his side, Chen Ge would still win. The difference between a baleful Specter and Red Specter could not be overcome. Even for Yan Danian, who could control many Specters at the same time, he was only a Lesser Red Specter.

Soon, however, Chen Ge realized that something was wrong.

The stench and Xu Yin that attacked the faceless man were getting weird, and the headless woman next to him was acting strange as well!

The stench of blood thickened. Other than the red high heels, the three Red Specters stopped hiding their bloody presence and show off their bloodiest side.

“Is there danger around us? Have they sensed something dangerous?”

The room was still the same. With Ghost Ear, Yin Yang Vision, and Spirit Ear, Chen Ge was sure that there was nothing coming toward them. They were the only ones there.

“Why would they act this way if there’s no danger?” After staying for some time at the haunted house, these Red Specters would hide their natural presence out of habit. They would try to forget about their past pain and despair and used a new method to accompany Chen Ge. Of course, this had not been achieved overnight. It was done step by step with Chen Ge, building mutual trust. But now, the trust appeared to have been severed by something, and the most precious thing had been shattered.

A chill ran down his spine. The way the headless woman looked at Chen Ge became confused. Red and pale colors twirled in her eyes. Something was influencing her, causing her to forget who Chen Ge was. If it was not Chen Ge standing before her but a normal person, what would she have done? What would a normal Red Specter suffering from endless despair do in that moment?

The answer was quite clear. Chen Ge tried to communicate with the headless woman, trying to help her keep her sense, but the effect was lacking. The headless woman was staying far away from the faceless monster and the altar, so she was not affected that much, but Xu Yin and the stench who were reaching to take out the statuette were different. Their conditions were worse. Ghastly faces appeared on their bloody clothes, and the two Red Specters were on the edge of going on a rampage.

“This monster has a power that can affect Red Specters?” Chen Ge had not experienced this before. Even Yan Danian, who was recognized by the black phone to be the strongest Specter under the Red Specters, could not influence a Red Specter that much.

“The consciousness of these three Red Specters has been affected. The faceless monster’s power can influence a Red Specter’s consciousness, huh? No, based on the situation with the headless woman, the way she looked at me turned unfamiliar, like she had forgotten who I am!” Chen Ge felt unsettled, and a speculation surfaced in his mind. “The monster’s power allows him to dilute certain memories?”