My House of Horrors

The ‘door’ in Li Wan City had already gone out of control, and the blood fog had consumed half of the town, blurring the line between nightmare and reality. Currently, Chen Ge had no idea whether he was inside the door or not because with the blood fog covering everything, blood vessels crawled on the surface of all the buildings.

If we walk down this path, we’ll be at the building where the phone spirit’s body was discovered. Maybe I should go to the roof to check the water tank.

In real life, the body of the phone spirit, Tong Tong, had already been taken away by the police, so if there was still a body inside the tank, then it could only mean that Chen Ge was in the world behind the door. The world behind the door had been created from the memory of the door-pusher, so as long as Tong Tong’s body existed in Xiao Bu’s memory, there would be a high probability of a body being abandoned inside the water tank.

Of course, this was merely Chen Ge’s speculation, and he had no way of verifying it.

Fan Chong lives in the same residential area as Xiao Bu’s classmate. It is quite far from here, and if I go there, we will definitely run into some things.

Chen Ge looked behind him. Everywhere he saw was the blood fog. The road they took had already disappeared, and this world behind the fog appeared to be one-way only.

Assuming that this is really the world behind the door, the only way to leave this place will be through the door. Li Wan City’s door is in the building opposite from Fan Chong’s home, so it looks like no matter what, we’ll have to take a detour to his home tonight.

Finding the excuse, Chen Ge planned to share the result of his analysis with all the passengers and ask them to follow him to the residential area.

“I’m giving them a clear direction, helping them to find their way home.”

The blood vessels gathered on the exterior of the bus. It felt like the fog was alive and was slowly consuming everything that came from outside.

“What are you grumbling about?” The passengers left the bus one after another. The doctor sidled up to Chen Ge. “We should stay together. No matter what, we can’t afford to get separated.”

“Okay.” Chen Ge turned to look at the bus door. The drunkard stayed with the family of three, the smiling man stood to the side, and the ‘murderer’ who called himself Scissors stayed alone at the back.

“Before ensuring the safety of the building, it’s best not to wander too close to the buildings. Scary stuff like chopped arms or floating heads might come out from them.” Chen Ge had seen similar things in Xiao Bu’s game, and in a way, he was very experienced.

“I hope you’re joking.” The drunkard was completely awake—how could he not be? If he could leave Li Wan City alive, he would not go near alcohol anymore.

“Of course, I am. I have no idea what will really happen—it might be scarier than what I described.” Chen Ge pointed at the building where the phone spirit’s body should be found. “Let’s go take a look. We’ll scan through every floor, and after confirming there is no danger, that shall be where we should hide temporarily.”

“It looks like you know this place well,” the middle-aged man uttered with a drawn face. The distrust in his voice could not have been more obvious. “There are so many buildings around us, so why would you point us toward this building? You have set a trap inside there, haven’t you?”

“You’re being unfair.” Chen Ge smiled at the middle-aged man. “I wouldn’t have to rely on traps to kill you.”

The middle-aged man’s face shifted immediately, and then Chen Ge shrugged. “I’m joking of course; I’ve never even killed a chicken in my life before. The only reason I can maintain my calmness now is because I play horror games for a living.”

Chen Ge turned around to point at the building that he had chosen. “Of course, there is a reason for me to choose that building for us. As they say, knowing your enemy is winning half the battle. We will hide inside the building and observe the bus through the window. Since the mastermind sent us into the blood fog, he will definitely send someone over to check up on us. We have to at least know our adversary’s appearance and ability to come up with a valid plan. Furthermore, visibility is low in the fog. If we stay too close to the bus, we might be discovered by the enemy, but if we stay too far, we won’t be able to see anything, so after combining all the above factors, I believe this building is the most suitable.”

After giving his argument, even the smiling man nodded in agreement. The middle-aged man could not argue with such solid reasoning, but he still felt weirdly unsettled. “Then you will walk ahead, and we’ll follow behind you.”

“No problem, but make sure you don’t get left behind,” Chen Ge promised easily. He carried his two bags and scouted ahead. The doctor followed closely behind him.

“There has to be something wrong with this guy.” The middle-aged man grabbed his wife’s arm. His wife was like a puppet, allowing him to take charge over her without resistance.

“Really? I think he makes really solid points in his argument.” Since the family did not move, the drunkard stayed as well. The family of three looked the least threatening to him, so he decided to stay with them.

“He sounds logical, but it’ll be too late for regrets if he’s hiding something from us. It’s never wrong to be careful.” The middle-aged man picked up the boy. They moved to follow Chen Ge but maintained a fair distance between them.

The smiling man did not choose to follow Chen Ge but walked to the other side of the street alone. From Chen Ge’s side, he could only see a blurry shape through the fog.

Scissors was at the back of the group. His face was pale, and whenever he moved, there would be two footsteps. The few walked through the fog. When they neared the building, someone pulled on Chen Ge’s shirt.

He turned back to look and saw the doctor pull down the scarf to whisper, “I don’t think it’s wise for us to enter any building inside the blood fog. We’ll be lucky if it’s empty, but I’m afraid they might be occupied.”

“It’ll be fine. I promise to be careful.” Chen Ge noticed that the doctor was suspiciously knowledgeable like he had been to this place before. The pair entered the building. In the dark corridor, surrounded by the peeling paint on the wall and the blood fog that pervaded every inch of the building, just standing there would make anyone uncomfortable.

The weird-smelling wooden doors were pushed open, and Chen Ge went into every room to check.

“You really plan to inspect every single room?” The doctor appeared hesitant. “What if we run into something?”

“Finding them proactively is still better than allowing them to ambush us.” Chen Ge moved quickly; he did not stop to rest. It was like he did not understand the feeling of fear. They soon reached the top floor.

On the ground floor, the family of three and the drunkard stayed. They were grouped together, not knowing whether they should climb up the stairs or not.

“That man seems to have reached the top floor already.” The drunkard stood at the stairwell and looked up through the gap.

“There’s no reason for us to follow him. Staying on the ground floor will grant us a quick escape.” The middle-aged man was quite a cowardly person.

“Daddy…” The boy in his arms seemed to notice something as he stared at the dim corridor behind the middle-aged man.

“You’re right.” The drunkard kept looking upward, but it was too dark to see anything. He narrowed his eyes and had a sneaking suspicion that there was something on the stairs of one of the upper floors that was poking out. He wondered if that was some kind of decoration.

“Let him scout the way forward—we’ll just wait until he’s confirmed it’s safe.”

The middle-aged man wanted to say something else when the boy whispered again, “Daddy…”

“Yes‽ What is it? I can hear you just fine, shush!”

“There is a doorknob in the corridor that’s moving. Look, there.” The boy raised his hand to point at a spot deep inside the corridor.