My House of Horrors

When Chen Ge heard the scream coming out from Mu Yang High School, he opened the boards and rushed into it. It was first day that Mu Yang High School had been open to the public, and Chen Ge was afraid that mannequins might take it too far.

Chen Yalin’s nametag by the entrance has been taken already… weren’t these people afraid it might be a trap? Hopefully, that nametag won’t pressure the Pen Spirit to do anything dumb.

Chen Ge walked down the corridor until he reached the sealed classroom. The mannequin on the floor was hugging its head. It seemed like it was trying to reattach the head, but it could not find the proper location.

Why is this mannequin outside? Chen Ge looked into the classroom. The tables were a mess, and several mannequins were missing their heads. Based on the conditions, they probably had the fright of their lives, so they wouldn’t be daring enough to bring this mannequin out.

Chen Ge picked the mannequin up from the floor and leaned her against the wall. Then he helped her reattach the head. He looked at the mannequin in her eyes. Perhaps it was the light, but he felt like there was soul in this mannequin; in fact, he could sense a trace of shyness and respect.

After taking out his black phone, Chen Ge looked through all the pages. There was no option related to controlling the mannequins’ lingering spirit, so he told the mannequin, “You can leave the classroom, but you cannot leave the Mu Yang High School scenario, understood?”

The mannequin did not respond, but Chen Ge did not care whether she got it or not. He placed her on the side of the corridor and entered the sealed classroom to reset all the mannequins.

There are four nametags in the classroom, and they have taken three of them; this group of people is not bad. Chen Ge moved swiftly, and when he passed the table in the middle of room, his feet knocked into something. Why is there a phone here?

…

“Did any of you hear the sound of talking coming from behind us?” Pei Hu’s legs were shaking, and he turned back to look every three steps. Even Xia Meili was tired of the man’s cowardice.

“Poor kitty, if you’re that afraid, just stay here and wait for us to come back.”

“Who are you calling a kitty? Meili, you did not see what happened inside the classroom. The place was dark, and I had to use the flashlight on my phone to even get a good look of what was happening. When I was focused on undoing the knot, the mannequin’s head suddenly creaked and turned around!” Even thinking about it now, Pei Hu was still afraid. He waved his hands in the air for a long time, and when he reached into his pocket, he gasped. “F*ck! I was too focused on grabbing the nametag that I left my phone in the classroom!”

“Then, go and take it back, why are you telling me this?” Xia Meili gave Pei Hu a side-eye.

“You want me to go back alone?” Pei Hu glanced behind him with a bitter expression on his face. The darkened corridor was like the open maw of a monster. “So be it, I’ll ask the Haunted House worker to get it for me after we’re out.”

He ran after the rest of the group, and the five stopped at the first junction.

“Just how big is this place? The path splits, and we can’t even see the end of the corridors!” Pei Hu squeezed beside Wang Hailong. “Brother Long, there’s still time for us to turn around!”

“Get away from me.” Wang Hailong was getting nervous, too, but he did not dare show it before Dou Menglu. “About a third of the time has passed, and we still have twenty nametags to find. Moving in a group of five slows us down greatly. How about this? Wenlong and Pei Hu, you go down the left path, and I’ll take Menglu and Meili down the right. What do you think?”

“We have no issue with that,” the two girls said.

“Same with me,” Wang Wenlong said with confidence. “This time, even though we failed the challenge, we would have explored the entire scenario; it’ll be good information for our brother.”

“Then it’s decided. The two of you’d better stick close to me.” Wang Hailong led the two girls down the corridor that led to the girls’ dormitory.

“F*ck! No one even asked for my opinion?”

“Come on, Pei Hu, you’re with me.” Wang Wenlong departed, and even though Pei Hu did not want to follow, it would be worse if he was left behind all alone.

“There doesn’t seem to be anything scary here.”

Wang Wenlong and Pei Hu reached the end of the path. The two looked at each other and saw the surprise reflected in each other’s eyes. The corridor split in two again!

At the narrow end of one path was an old well, and the other led to a room with the number 303 hung on the door.

“Let’s go together.” Pei Hu grabbed Wang Wenlong’s arm tightly.

“Okay.” Wang Wenlong looked into the distance. “Why do you think there’s a well at the end of the road?”

“An actor playing a ghost probably hides in there.”

“Most likely. The Haunted House’s boss likes to hide the nametags in scary places, so I believe there has to be at least one inside the well.” Wang Wenlong was certain. “Come on, let’s go take a look.”

The two of them walked to the well and peered in. The well was about two meters deep. Wang Wenlong took out his phone to shine the light into the well. As he expected, two nametags sat at the bottom of the well.

“This is too easy.” Pei Hu took a step back. Jumping into the well to take the nametags was definitely not something he would do.

“Be careful. We didn’t come across any scares along the way, so this well must have its own traps and secrets.” Wang Wenlong leaned against the well and shone the flashlight at every corner, but he did not find anything weird looking. It really did look like a normal, old well.

“Have I overestimated the boss?” Wang Wenlong let his guard down. After all, there were so many nametags; to set a trap for each of them would be too difficult.

He passed the phone to Pei Hu. “You stay above the well and hold the light for me. I’ll go into the well to collect the nametags.”

“Okay.” Pei Hu sighed in relief. As long as he did not have to go down the well, he was good with anything. After all, with his size, it would be difficult for him to even get down the well.

Wang Wenlong’s frame was small but fit; it looked like he trained daily. “Pei Hu, if you dare run away on your own when I’m down there, I’ll skin you alive after we leave this Haunted House.”

“What kind of person do you think I am? Do you think I would do something like that?” Pei Hu looked insulted. “You guys keep underestimating me. I’ll prove myself, and you’ll see.”

Before he finished, Wang Wenlong jumped into the well.

The dark well looked deeper from the inside. This observation was the most obvious to Wang Wenlong. “Is it me or had this well gotten deeper?”

He had a soft landing because the bottom of the well was covered with sand. “Looks like I was right. The Haunted House’s boss planned for people to jump inside the well or else he wouldn’t have placed the layer of soft sand to soften the impact.”

He examined the well wall. Some places were slippery while other spots had claw marks like someone had been buried alive and left the marks behind as they tried to claw their way out.

“This is quite creepy.” Wang Wenlong looked above him and suddenly it felt like the mouth of well had moved further away from him.