My House of Horrors

The layouts of the old homes were similar to one another. There were two dead locust trees in the courtyard, a large water tank under the tree, and beyond that was the inner room and bedrooms. The wooden door slammed open; Chen Ge’s kick almost broke the door. “Tell me about your injustice!”

He walked forward, and the soil in the courtyard started to loosen. The dead locust trees started to lean like something was trying to crawl its way out. Chen Ge walked to the locust tree. The soil fell off to reveal a shallow grave, and a pair of arms were trying to reach out.

“You want to come out? Fine! I’ll help you!” Chen Ge looked at the venomous gaze of the body, and he raised the hammer. “I’ll smash your skull so that you won’t get stuck!”

The hammer fell, and a series of creepy voices came out from the old home. It was worth noting that the other locust tree stopped moving, and the soil flowed backwards. After he was done, Chen Ge and Xu Yin yanked the ghost out from underneath the tree. After that brief exercise, Chen Ge turned his attention elsewhere. “They were hiding under the tree earlier, so it wasn’t them who called for help.”

The voice earlier came from inside the old home, but once Chen Ge entered it, the voice stopped. He looked around and noticed a round rubber ball floating inside the water tank. The weird thing was the ball slowly sunk downward like it was trying to drown itself. “The ball is sinking on its own?”

Chen Ge walked to the water tank with the hammer. He looked into it and saw the ghost hiding inside the tank. Its body was bloated from being soaked in water, and its bloated head floated on the surface like a rubber ball. “Was it you who called for help me? If you have some injustice in your heart, you have to say it out loud!”

The hammer smashed the tank, and water flew everywhere. Chen Ge left Xu Yin to help the ghost with its ‘injustice’, and he walked into the inner room. The room was filled with paper money like they had just held a funeral. There was a dark coffin sitting in the middle of the room, and weird pictures hung on the walls.

“Where are you? Why aren’t you talking?” Chen Ge stared at the pictures for quite some time. The villagers here did not pray to Gods but spirits of the mountain. The pictures on the wall were all creepy-looking monsters. “They look so real.”

They were paintings, but there was something about them that made Chen Ge feel there was more than met the eye. Chen Ge was not sure whether it was because he had stared at them for too long or it was due to another reason, but he saw one of the eyes in one of the paintings move.

Wait, it moved! Are the ghosts hiding in the painting?

While Chen Ge was contemplating, Xu Yin walked in with half of his red shirt. At the same time, several shadows escaped the paintings and rushed into the bedroom. Xu Yin gave chase immediately. When he entered the bedroom, the coffin in the middle of the room shuddered, and the lid of the coffin was pushed open slightly.

A ghost with some blood stains on its body looked at Xu Yin cautiously before pushing the coffin lid open and running for its life!

“There are blood stains on the body. This ghost also has the potential to become a Red Specter?” Chen Ge called Xu Yin and gave chase. The black shadow discovered Chen Ge and Xu Yin chasing after it, and it ran faster. The old home was filled with the sound of soil moving, glass shattering, water splashing, and the coffin bursting open. Master Bai and Ol’ Wei stopped outside the front door and did not dare go in.

“Who is Chen Ge talking with inside? Why hasn’t he come out yet?” Ol’ Wei was worried. He gathered some courage and walked to the door. Before he got close, a black shadow with flashes of red blasted past him.

“What was that‽” Ol’ Wei’s heart gripped. Before he recovered, he saw a bloodshot Chen Ge ran out, waving the scary-looking hammer in the air.

“Stop right there!” The death flags on the streets were snapped, and Chen Ge’s voice echoed down the street.

“What’s going on…” Ol’ Wei and Master Bai stood at the door holding the baby. They looked at the whole hide-and-seek and felt it looked perfectly normal.

“Xiao Chen is chasing after the person in front?”

“Looks like it.”

“But shouldn’t we be the party on the run? Why is he chasing after some other people?”

“I’m not quite sure, perhaps because he looks scary?” There was another sound of the hammer hitting the wall. Master Bai and Ol’ Wei immediately ran after them.

The black shadow moved very fast. Chen Ge could barely keep up, but Xu Yin slowly closed the distance. The movement speed is so fast, so its power must be quite high. After consuming it, Xu Yin might become a Red Specter!

Inside this creepy village, he had to have a Red Specter to accompany him before he could feel safe. If Xu Yin can become a Red Specter, then this mission will have been worth it!

The black shadow did not dare slow down, but its escape route seemed predetermined; it was heading toward one of the buildings inside the village. The atmosphere turned heavy. The paper money became less common, and in their places were the ‘joy’ characters cut from white paper.

After another ten meters of chasing, at the end of the street, Chen Ge saw a wedding sedan. The red sedan and the white ‘joy’ characters formed a great contract, and the sedan was radiating a heavy sense of resentment. The wind fluttered the curtain, and the woman’s voice came again. The shadow stopped at the door where the sedan was placed before it ran into the old home.

“It knows how to ask for help? This ghost is clever.” Chen Ge lifted the curtain on the sedan, but there was nothing inside. He followed the black shadow and ran into the old home. The old home looked grander than other homes, but the lingering blood stains and signs of struggles were also more numerous than others.

“Could this be the village elder’s home?” Chen Ge pushed open the door, and there were white ‘joy’ characters everywhere. This looked like a wedding where an accident had cut it short.

“When the shadow stopped at the door, I saw clearly it was wearing the groom’s outfit. He came back to find his wife?” Chen Ge waved the hammer and scoffed. “What a man.”

He entered the inner room, and the woman’s voice in his ear intensified; it influenced Chen Ge somewhat.

“The thing that has been calling is the shadow’s wife?”

The woman’s voice seemed to drill into the body and curled around the heart like strings. With every beat of his heart, the familiar notes flowed to every part of his body following the blood. The voice felt very close, and it made one lower one’s guard involuntarily.

Looks like the shadow’s wife is the one with the greater ire.

Chen Ge was considering whether the wife could be the Red Specter when the door closed, and the candles on the ceremonial table were lit on their own, shining an eerie red light.

Cast in the light, a woman in bright red wedding dress poked her head out from inside the bedroom. She was wearing a pair of embroidered shoes and looked rather scary.

A Red Specter? Chen Ge gripped the hammer until the veins on the back of his hands popped.

Walking forward, the woman revealed the lower half of her body. The wedding dress was not completely drenched by blood. It was half torn to reveal the dirtied underclothing.