My House of Horrors

“From a normal person’s perspective, I might be crazy or at least that was what the old dog kept saying. He even said that he would kill me.” Yin Hong scoffed with condescension. She did not continue like, if she did, it might pull up yet another secret.

“I think I get it. The reason for your appearance is because Yin Bai suffered constant fear, but she had no one to rely on, so a persona that is completely different from her own surfaced within her.” Chen Ge tried looking for similarities between Yin Hong and Yin Bai and himself, but he tried for a long time and still failed to find anything. From a young age, he had been cared for, and he did not have to worry about anything. Other than his parents’ unique parenting style, his childhood had not been that different from that of any other child.

My childhood was very normal. There is no instance of torture. Chen Ge turned to Yin Hong. “So, now the two of you have split? Is it possible that you two can recombine?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t tried it myself. But that should be impossible. She has been avoiding me, so she probably doesn’t wish to be stuck with me.” Yin Hong’s eyes landed on the old headmaster with a trace of envy in them. “It was me who helped her at her lowest point, but look how scared she is of me. In fact, she is still so close to an outsider.”

Yin Hong was very dissatisfied with the old headmaster. Her heart was swirling with negative emotions. The way she saw it, the reason Yin Bai experienced those things was partly due to the old headmaster. She hated everything and wanted to destroy everything, but she was unlimitedly kind toward Yin Bai. However, the kindness had a condition to it. Perhaps one day, when Yin Hong lost herself in the spiral, she would do something irreparable to Yin Bai, to completely take over her body.

“You suddenly woke up one night, without any warning...” Chen Ge was considering another scenario. “Could it be because you were traumatized and the trauma was beyond what you could handle?”

Chen Ge felt like this explanation suited his situation better. They said that a child could see things that normal people could not. Even though the memory back then was already blurry, he suspected that he had seen something beyond his psychological threshold, and an accident had occurred, causing him to split from the ghost fetus.

Before the previous question was answered, another new problem surfaced. What kind of thing can be so scary that a mental breakdown happened from one glance?

“Are you done with your questioning. Can you give my bag back now?” Yin Hong’s tone and expression shifted greatly from before; if he did not see it in person, Chen Ge would have had a hard time imagining how these two people who had the same face could have such wildly different personalities.

“Okay.” Chen Ge passed schoolbag back to Yin Hong. “We’ve stayed here for too long. The school is no longer safe; we need to move.”

After getting all the information that he needed, Chen Ge led the old headmaster and the girls out of the classroom. Turning back to look at Mu Yang High School behind him, a strange feeling arose in his heart. Everything looked like it was a coincidence, but there might be a hand controlling everything behind it.

This is not a good feeling, but there is something about me that cannot be controlled.

Chen Ge moved his gaze to his shadow. An unexpected change had happened to him, and that was Zhang Ya. In Li Wan City, Chen Ge had found out from Xiao Bu that his parents had wanted Xiao Bu to become his shadow. They had even made a contract with Xiao Bu, but even they could not have expected that Chen Ge would have Zhang Ya move into his shadow at the rooftop of a highest building at Li Wan City.

The future is constantly changing; no one can control everything. What I’ve lost will return eventually. The School of the Afterlife, Mu Yang High School, and the Third Sick Hall are related, but no matter how many secrets or unknown things are hidden here, there is one thing that shall never change.

It was Zhang Ya who consumed the original door-pusher for the School of the Afterlife, so she is the most qualified to become the new door-pusher.

When Chen Ge was thinking, he would radiate this special quality without even realizing it. The employees had gotten used to it, but this was the first time for the old headmaster and Yin Hong, and they reacted to it differently. There was surprise in the old headmaster’s eyes, but at the same time, it felt like he saw something familiar. Yin Hong had a complicated expression—it felt like she had given up some dangerous thoughts.

“Sir, we shall go and check out the well behind the field first, to ensure that the path is safe.” Chen Ge would be worried if he did not see it for himself.

“Okay.” The old headmaster held Yin Hong’s hand and walked ahead. They reached the end of the corridor, and the road ahead was blocked by wooden planks. There was no way forward.

“In a bit, some monsters might be let in here. You’d better be prepared and move fast, or else the school might realize it and send over staff and teachers.” The old headmaster half-squatted on the ground and very easily removed the few planks closest to the wall. As the planks loosened, a large amount of blood fog leaked in from the gap.

“Quick!”

To save time, Chen Ge did not take everyone through. He only brought Xu Yin. Pulling back the planks, the old headmaster, Chen Ge, and Xu Yin crawled through the gap. After they left, the headmaster swiftly replaced the planks.

“I need to nail them back so that it will not be discovered by the school.” The headmaster held the planks and looked for the nails that just fell. “The nails aren’t normal nails. They can harm the things outside the school, and they come with curses...”

“Are the nails like these?” Chen Ge sought out some nails from his pocket. When he first entered the school, he had been cursed. His body had been poked with nails at irregular intervals, so he had many such nails.

“Yes.” The way that the headmaster looked at Chen Ge was strange. “Where did you get so many of them?”

“It’s a long story.” Chen Ge did not want to waste time on this subject. He opened his backpack. “Do you need a hammer?”

After dealing with the planks, Chen Ge took his time looking around. Blood fog drifted around them, and there was a stench in the air. The visibility was very poor.

“I wonder if it’s on purpose that the school’s consciousness arranged for Mu Yang High School to be on the most outer layer.” The old headmaster led Chen Ge through the blood fog. “Actually, we are still inside the school. If we walk further, you’ll come across a red wall, and the wall sequesters the school from the outside world.”

“Does that mean that we will be able to leave this school by jumping over the wall? Then why are we wasting time looking for a well?” Chen Ge did not get it.

“When you get close to the wall, you’ll be discovered by the school. Endless souls of despairing children will rush at you and tear you into pieces.” The headmaster shivered. “If you wish to leave the school quietly, the well is the only path.”