My House of Horrors

“Don’t worry, everything is under control.” Chen Ge stood up to nudge his joints about. Compared to the state of the other passengers, one could see how physically well-trained Chen Ge was.

“This hotel is under the territory of another Specter, so that headless woman temporarily won’t dare barge in.” Chen Ge patted the white cat’s belly. The creature was so spooked that it did not push Chen Ge’s hand back, which it normally would.

“Wait a minute! What did you just say? What do you mean by this place belongs to another Specter’s territory? Don’t tell me… there’s another thing like that monster staying here!” The drunkard had grown a bit too much mentally that night. His brain had become more agile.

“I guess you can see it that way. But don’t worry, that female Specter is still asleep. For now, she’s not going to wake up.” Chen Ge walked toward the restaurant, leaving the few stunned passengers.

“He admitted it so easily? There’s really another female monster here? What is this?” The drunkard turned to look at the doctor and Scissors. “Hey, why aren’t you two saying anything‽ There’s a female ghost outside, a freaking ghost!”

“Be quiet. So what if it’s a ghost?” Scissors swatted the drunkard’s hands back and uttered in a chilly tone, “If they dare come for me, watch as I put down a ghost.”

Of the few, the doctor was the most collected. “Did you notice the terms that he used are all temporarily? This means that the ghost outside might come in, and the ghost inside might wake up any time soon, and should that happen, we will need to deal with two ghosts at the same time.”

“What do you mean?” The drunkard believed that the doctor was the most trustworthy of the group, and he was trying to grasp the meaning hidden in his words.

“I mean, you should try to preserve your strength. Our situation might get worse than this.” The doctor was also panting heavily. Of the three passengers, Scissors was the most physically powerful. After all, he had prepared aplenty for that day, and that must have included intense physical training.

“You must be joking… Just what kind of nightmare have I walked into. I just went out for a drink, that’s all…” Drunkard climbed up from the ground. Listening to the echoes of the knocking coming from the door, cold sweat slid down his face.

“Is someone there?” Chen Ge walked to the counter. The hotel was decorated in the style of nineties—it looked similar to the location in Xiao Bu’s game. After waiting for ten seconds, a man’s voice came from one of the rooms deep in the corridor. “Please wait a moment! I’ll be there shortly!”

One minute later, the passengers saw a rotund man waddle his way out from the corridor. His hands were tying the apron, and the apron looked new because there was no stain on it.

“How can you be so slow? The lack of efficiency is showing. As one in the service industry, you have to remember that customers always come first.” Chen Ge scanned the man with impatience.

“A thousand apologies, I was helping in the kitchen.” The middle-aged man was not angry. In fact, he had a smile on his face that, coupled with his overall demeanor, made him look friendly and welcoming.

“Helping in the kitchen?” Chen Ge noticed the man’s hands were wet—they had just been washed. However, he did so in too much of a hurry, as there were some dark red stains left under his fingernails.

“Yes, we only have a single cook here, so sometimes, I go back there to help him.” The fat man guffawed. His eyes were beady from the folds of fat. If he did not turn his neck, it was hard to tell who he was looking at.

“Are you the boss here?” This was the first time that the drunkard had come across someone whom he could communicate with normally, and his heart was more than a bit excited.

“I have to help the kitchen, work as the waiter, and keep the books. Even though I’m technically the boss, I feel like less than the hired help here.” The man squeezed behind the counter. “Are you going to stay here, or are you just here for the food?”

“How are the prices?” The doctor frowned. He knew that something was not right. To be able to operate inside this small town, something was certainly wrong with this place.

“You can stay for free on the first night, but if you wish to continue staying, on the second night, we will pick something from you to take as the room fee.” As if afraid that there might be misunderstanding, the fat boss added, “Money doesn’t mean that much to us. We prefer to charge by acquiring some unique moments.”

“What if we wish to stay for a third night?” Chen Ge interrupted to ask.

“We’ll take one more thing from you. We will only chase you away on the day you aren’t able to provide us with the thing we need.” The boss appeared reasonable. “I can guarantee that this is the safest place in this small town.”

“I think I get it.” The drunkard nodded. “This place is like the safe zone in games. How about the four of us stay here for the night?”

“These will be your room keys.” As if afraid that the drunkard might go back on his word, the fat boss quickly took out four keys from under the counter. Each key was taped with a number.

“We don’t need four rooms, two of us can share one room.” The doctor was more cautious.

“Of course, please discuss among yourselves how are you going to decide the sleeping arrangement. I’ll go back to the kitchen to have the staff prepare your dinner.” The boss waddled back to the kitchen, but strangely enough, the route that he took was different from the one that he used when he walked out from the ‘kitchen’.

After the boss left, the doctor chose two rooms that were adjacent to each other. “We’ll take these two rooms, but all four of us will stay in the same room while keeping the other empty. We’ll take turns staying guard through the night, paying close attention to these two rooms. Should anything happen, the guard will wake up everyone.”

“That’s a brilliant idea!” Hope reignited in the drunkard’s eyes. “As long as we survive until morning or until the fog disperses, we will definitely be able to escape from this small town!”

Scissors agreed with the doctor. Of the group, only Chen Ge held a weird expression.

“This should be the safest arrangement.” The doctor turned to Chen Ge. After all, the latter was their spiritual center.

“If all of us hide inside this room, it means that we have surrendered our proactivity to others, giving them enough time to set up various traps, and we will only stay and wait inside the room.” Chen Ge did not even glance at the keys on the counter.

“Then, what do you think we should do?” The others were curious about Chen Ge’s thoughts.

“It’s very simple. The boss has said earlier that there is no one here other than himself and the cook.” A smile appeared on Chen Ge’s face as he reached out his hand. “There are two of them but four of us. Compared to living through the night anxiously, I wish to be more proactive and assume the role of the boss for one night.”

“You want to take over this place?” The drunkard felt like his world was going to explode. “Brother, the man was so kind and polite when dealing with us earlier, and you’re planning to steal the place from him? Isn’t that a bit inappropriate?”

“A shop that even a Red Specter did not dare to enter willy-nilly, do you really think the boss was being kind to us?” Chen Ge had played Xiao Bu’s game, so he understood the purpose of this ‘hotel’. The customers were all food, waiting to be sent into the stomach of the Red Specter who was trapped inside the fridge. “You’ll understand why I’m doing this during dinner.”

Chen Ge placed the white cat back on his shoulders and collected all four keys. “Do not expose the plan. I hope that you’ll be willing to trust me. I can guarantee you that I’m a good person, but my kindness comes with an edge.”