My House of Horrors

Everywhere he looked, he could see human faces staring back at him from inside the western bungalow. There were also pictures related to the human anatomy. It was a very strange experience walking through it. The place had been deserted for a very long time, but strangely enough, there was not even a mite of dust that could be seen. It was very clean, like someone would come and clean it every day. The red high heels walked ahead on her own. She seemed to have visited this place before. The woman with bandages wrapped all around her body walked directly into the lobby and stopped next to an indoor fountain.“Be on full alert and guard all the exits. Do not give anything inside the building a chance to escape.”

Even though Chen Ge was standing among a group of Red Specters, he did not feel out of place at all. In fact, his expression was closely matched to most of the Red Specters.

The smell of blood and medicine thickened in the air. Large blood vessels started to appear on the walls, giving the feeling that they were trying to tear down the building from inside. The human faces on the walls started to cry tears of blood, and their eyes slowly moved to stare at the red high heels. Everything inside the bungalow that was related to the human bodies appeared to come alive and reveal their true selves. This place had the feeling that it was constructed from human body parts. Throughout the whole process, the red high heels showed no reaction at all; she merely stood right in front of the fountain, her eyes staring straight at the fountain that was already dry.

About several minutes later, the sound of water came from inside the foundation. Several female human skulls that were carved on the inner wall of the fountain opened their mouths. A horrible-smelling jet of blood poured into the fountain. The fountain slowly filled with a disgusting-smell pool of blood, forming a stark contrast to the exquisite carvings that decorated the fountain. The fountain slowly returned to normal. Blood water splashed everywhere, as if covering everyone and every object in a layer of bloody mist.

“This Red Specter intends to trap all of us, it seems,” Men Nan whispered softly. Even though he was not that strong, he had witnessed many things in his life, and he had a very brilliant mind.

“She sure is ambitious if her intention is to trap ten Red Specters at the same time.”

The red high heels next to the fountain also noticed the strange phenomenon. She continued to move forward, and with each step, the bandage on her body would slip down little by a little. The scary and curious black tattoo flowed on her body. It was a kind of grotesque beauty. Of the entire four-star Ghost Fetus Trial Mission, the Specter who had gained the most was the red high heels. She had almost consumed everything that the ghost fetus had. After the ghost fetus scenario was reconstructed, she was the one responsible for organizing and consuming the ghost fetus’ ghosts. As for how strong the red high heels really was, even Chen Ge had on idea.

All the beautiful faces inside the fountain started to become twisted as the red high heels approached. They tried their best to hiss at the red high heels. Any semblance that they had to ‘humanity’ had completely disappeared at that moment. The curse on her body expanded everywhere. The black lines cut through the fountain before her maliciously and effectively like knives. The beautiful carvings on the fountain were easily shattered, and their destruction revealed the blood vessels that were hiding inside them. The power level of the two adversaries was not even on the same level, or rather, the Red Specter inside the bungalow had not even used her full power yet.

“In the end, you have found me after all.” A very grating female voice came from deep inside the fountain. The speaker’s throat appeared to have been injured before. Her voice was very shrill and sharp. The blood inside the fountain moved to the side, the ground cracked, and there was a monster wearing a red dress buried underneath the bungalow. Her skin was startlingly pale, and several blood red flowers bloomed on her body, which fixed under the fountain by countless blood vessels.

“How did you manage to find me?” The monster lifted her head to look at the red high heels, and a smile involuntarily appeared on her lips. “My proudest patient.”

“Patient?” Chen Ge instantly captured the keyword within the Red Specter’s words. He was then reminded of the bloody heart mission related to the red high heels given by the black phone. “Could it be the red high heels was once a patient at the cursed hospital? And this Red Specter was once a doctor at the same hospital?”

Chen Ge had no idea what the Red Specter had done to the red high heels, but this was the first time he had seen the red high heels go on the offensive so actively. The black curses covered the entire bungalow. The black fog easily suppressed the blood mist. The black threads wrapped around the Red Specter’s body and harshly dragged her out from the bottom of the fountain. The Red Specter did not resist; she merely cackled like she had lost her mind.

“Do you think only the patients being treated are in extreme pain? Actually, the real sufferers are us doctors! You guys can still escape, or at least have the chance to escape. But what about us? Once we chose to leave, the curse that the hospital director buried inside our bodies will be triggered, and we cannot even die and become normal ghosts!” The shrill voice echoed in the hall. The red high heels looked at the monster before her. Her eyes were filled with complicated emotions. There was some resentment and fury but also pity and melancholy.

Chen Ge walked out from the group of ‘people’ and came to the red high heels’ side. The Red Specter who was entangled in the curse also noticed Chen Ge. A blood red flower grew out of her left eye socket. Currently, she was studying Chen Ge with her right eye.

“A living human standing side to side with a Top Red Specter?” Earlier, the Red Specter had focused all of her attention on the red high heel; she did not notice there was a normal people standing amid the group of Red Specters far behind. Initially, she thought this was a puppet that was randomly created by one of the Red Specters, but from the looks of things, this normal individual appeared to be the leader of all the Red Specters. “Now this is interesting…”

“You were once a doctor at Xin Hai’s cursed hospital, right?” Chen Ge did not waste his time with introduction. He cut to the chase and said, “if you answer my questions nicely, perhaps we can still be friends.”

“Are you threatening me?” The flowers on her body leaked blood. The Red Specter probably did not expect to one day be threatened by a normal living human.

“From what you said earlier, I surmised that once a person has been selected to be a doctor at that hospital, they will have a horrible ending. Even after death, they cannot become a peaceful ghost.” Chen Ge stared at the Red Specter’s eyes. Her emotions were calm; there was not even a ripple of agitation or stress in her eyes.

“Yes, the hospital director plants a seed of curse inside each doctor.” The Red Specter was now being controlled by the red high heels. She very cleverly chose not to resist and honestly answered all of Chen Ge’s questions.

“Can the curse be removed?”

“Why would you want to know about that?” The Red Specter was confused.

“I know a doctor who also escaped from your hospital. After he died, he transformed into a Top Red Specter, but the next time I encountered him, he had completely lost his mind, and he was still carrying the head of his beloved in his chest.” Many questions that had eluded Chen Ge earlier could now be explained. When Chen Ge heard what the Red Specter had to say earlier, he had instantly been reminded of Doctor Gao.

“No one can remove the curse of the hospital director. Even if one becomes an entity beyond a Red Specter, they will have to continue to bear it, unless he voluntarily gives up the curse or…” A maddening smile appeared on the Red Specter’s face. “You can somehow kill the hospital director’s soul.”

“Is the curse really that scary?” Chen Ge’s initial plan was to wait for the red high heels to become a Demon God, and then he would find Doctor Gao. With her help, they would remove the curse from Doctor Gao’s body. He planned to use this as bargaining chip to levy with Doctor Gao, but from what this Red Specter had told him, his idea was too naïve.

“It is much scarier than you think. You can say that it is incurable. Several years ago, I escaped from the hospital during one of the riots and came to this beauty parlor at Jiujiang. To resist the curse inside my body, I have to keep on changing my bodies, but even so, that only delayed the triggering of the curse inside my body.” The Red Specter’s mouth burst open, and a flower crawled out from her throat and bloomed into a giant red flower.

“What will happen after the curse is triggered? Will your soul be torn into shreds immediately?”

“The curse will take away my consciousness and turn me into a completely mad presence. The life would be worse than a death sentence.”

The description was similar to Doctor Gao’s situation when Chen Ge encountered him in Li Wan City.

“But you are very conscious of yourself at this moment.” Chen Ge had many questions that needed to be answered. The appearance of the Red Specter at this moment was very crucial to him.

“Can you see all the flowers that bloom all over my body? They are the instrument that I use to temporarily suppress the curse, but once I move too much, the curse will consume me instantly and make me lose my rationality once again.” The blood vessels and blood flowers on the Red Specter were similar to the black chains around Doctor Gao; they had the same function of suppressing the curse. Chen Ge then put forth a few more questions. Due to reason that Chen Ge did not understand, the Red Specter was very cooperative; she told Chen Ge everything that she knew.

Before she turned into something like this, the Red Specter had been the best cosmetic surgeon in Xin Hai. Her name was Xue Rong. One day, she received an invitation from the cursed hospital out of the blue. They wanted her to come in to help with a surgery. The high pay convinced Xue Rong, but when she came to the hospital and entered the surgery room at the promised time, she only then realized that her patient was not a living person. That was also the first time the red high heels had encountered Xue Rong. The surgery was not that successful, and the red high heels was taken back by the hospital.

From that day, she was followed by the curse, and in the end, she was forced to become one of the night doctors at the cursed hospital, and the red high heels was the most important patient that she was responsible for. The red high heels was originally just a Red Specter, but the hospital valued her greatly because her talent was related to curses. That was extremely rare. After frequent surgeries that were so cruel that they could not be put down in words later, when both Xue Rong and the red high heels had gotten to their lot in life, the chaos that was planned by Doctor Gao and the ghost fetus erupted.

Many patients and doctors chose to escape. Xue Rong also abandoned the red high heels on the surgical table without hesitation. She stole away the red high heels’ most beautiful face and chose to escape on her own. Most of the patients followed the ghost fetus and went to Li Wan City to hide. That night, the red high heels had gone to Li Wan City to search for traces of Xue Rong, to recover her most beautiful face. Everything was linked together somehow; the scraps of clues were now linked.

Under the gaze of the ten Red Specters, Xue Rong took out a book from her chest. With much unwillingness, she parted with the box and handed it to the red high heels. The pale fingers flipped the lid open. No one could see what was inside the box; they only felt the red high heels’ presence had become much scarier than before. The red high heels appeared to have obtained the thing that she was looking for. She lost all interest in Xue Rong and slipped back into the comic. Seeing the departure of the red high heels, not only Xue Rong, even the Red Specters around Chen Ge all sighed in collective relief.

“I have already told you everything that I know. Can you let me go now?” Xue Rong collapsed in the pool of blood inside the fountain. After the box had been removed from her heart, she became much weaker. “I carry the seed of the cursed hospital on me. Even if you consume me, you will be influenced by the curse. Instead of heading to that end, how about we try to from a friendly relationship?”

Chen Ge was also deliberating over how to deal with Xue Rong. Her own body was covered in curses. If the other Specters consumed her, they would be cursed themselves. Convincing her to become an employee at the haunted house was a worse idea. What if she suddenly went out of control? All the visitors would be put in danger.

“From the moment we saw you, you have been showing your weaker side. You have no intention of showing the full capacity of what you can do.” Compared to what Xue Rong said on her own, Chen Ge had more confidence in the remarks given by the black phone. Xue Rong was an extremely dangerous Red Specter; she must have many tricks up her sleeves that she did not show that night.

“As I mentioned earlier, should I try anything too drastic, the curse will be triggered. At the time, I will indeed become so scary that I will not recognize myself anymore.” At this point, the cadence of Xue Rong’s tone changed. “But even if I go out of control, I will not be a match for a Top Red Specter. She has grown way too powerful. Based on the prediction of the other night doctors, a talent related to curses should be the hardest to master.”

“A wise woman submits to circumstances. I require all the information that you have regarding the cursed hospital inside your brain. If you are willing to lend me your full cooperation, perhaps I can one day help you break away from the curse.” When Chen Ge spoke, he did not use any special tone, but there was something in his words that could make others believe him.

“You think you can convince the hospital director to let us go?”

“I was thinking about a different method.” Chen Ge flipped through the comic and pulled Xue Rong into it. The originally blank page was dyed red instantly. Florets of flowers blossomed on the beautiful body; Xue Rong appeared to have gone to sleep.

“Yan Danian probably never imagined that so many Red Specters would one day be inhabiting his comic.” Due to the fact that Xue Rong might go out of control at any moment, Chen Ge had to ensure there would be several Red Specters inside the comic that watched over her constantly. “Alright, it is time for us to go and fetch our next employee.”

In just one night, Chen Ge found all nine baleful Specters that he had drawn from the Wheel of Misfortune. Compared to the first time he used the wheel, the effectiveness had doubled who knew how many times. When he returned to the staff breakroom, the sun was already up. Chen Ge pulled the curtains shut and prepared to lie down for a small break.

…

At the same time, inside the hospital that worked together with Jiujiang Medical University, Mr. Wang sat up from the sickbed. He reached out to pull back the curtain so that the sunlight could shower down on him.

“Mr. Wang, are you feeling better?” Zuo Han’s voice came from the bed next to him. He was currently doing pushups on the bed.

“The brain still feel a bit muddled. I feel like most of my memory is not connected. It feels like something is constantly escaping my mind.” Mr. Wang took out a notebook from the drawer. It was filled with very small handwriting detailing what had happened inside Chen Ge’s haunted house. Small details like at what time he had taken a sip from the bottle of mineral water were recorded as well. “Something is not right. The logical sequence between the series of event is not correct. My memory appears to be lying to me.”

“Sir, those things are already in the past. There is no point worrying over it any longer,” Zuo Han persuaded in a small voice.

“You don’t understand. I believe I had a glimpse of my former lecturer that night, but there is no recollection of that at all in my memory.” Mr. Wang’s brows were heavily creased. He was about to say something else when the door to the sickroom was knocked and pushed open. Two people from the university walked in with a police officer in uniform.

“Mr. Wang, the management has approved your request. You can travel to Xin Hai in a few more days,” one of the workers said. “This is one of the best officers from the local police station’s major crimes unit. He was also involved in the case that happened twenty years ago. I pulled many strings before I finally got my request to get his help from the local station approved. For your information, he will be accompanying you on your trip to Xin Hai.”