My House of Horrors

The two girls squeezed together with their backs against the wall, and they kept nodding to Chen Ge’s every word.

“Don’t worry, just answer honestly to my questions.” Chen Ge waved the hammer in his hand. “I will not hurt you, provided that you do not purposely lie to me.”

“Please just ask your questions. We promise to tell you everything we know.” Ma Yin and Liu Xianxian had pale faces. Their bodies kept shaking, causing their words to stutter.

“What are your names? What is the number of your dormitory, and who is your counselor?” Chen Ge started with known information to test if they would lie to him. The two girls provided honest answers. Whether Chen Ge asked or not, they told him everything.

“Sounds like you two are just normal students, so why are you here so late at night?”

“There is a campus legend about a statue. As long as you can find it before midnight, you can ask it a question.” Ma Yin told Chen Ge the reason that she and Liu Xianxian were there. To prove their innocence, she even took out her phone to show Chen Ge the video.

This was the first time Chen Ge had seen the video left behind before Ma Yin’s sister disappeared. The victim had shot the video from underneath the bed. There seemed to have been a recent tragedy in the house because there was blood everywhere. The video was only thirteen seconds long, and the frame froze on the woman by the window at the last second.

“My sister’s disappearance should have everything to do with this woman with a skin disease.” Ma Yin offered her opinion in a soft voice.

“Don’t rush to any conclusions. The victim is recording from under the bed—the bed sheet is rumpled, and a bloodied sheet can be seen peeping out from the dresser door. Obviously, a murder just took place in this room. In other words, other than the person holding the camera, there was a second victim.” Chen Ge looked through the video again. “There is a noose hanging in the middle of the room, giving the impression that someone committed suicide by hanging. However, there is no stool on the ground, so could it be that this is just as set-up created by the killer? Even though the room is a mess, weirdly enough, the sculptures on the shelf are all untouched, and the statue is not wounded. The bedroom is possibly not the first crime scene.”

A murderer analyzed the situation logically while holding the camera. This unsettled Ma Yin and Liu Xianxian. They did not know what kind of emotion they should be showing.

“The woman by the window is definitely suspicious. From the muscules on her arms and the point she grabs to the window, her feet should be supported by something. If the wall outside the window didn’t have a protruding spot for her to put her feet on, then the other explanation is that this room is on the ground floor.” Chen Ge stared at the woman’s face in the video. “Of course, that is provided this woman is not a ghost.”

“Ghost?”

“Look at the woman’s skin color for yourself. Does she look like a normal person to you?” Chen Ge returned to phone to Ma Yin.

“In that case, this woman has to be the killer!” Ma Yin felt some energy returning to her.

“Do you have some kind of misunderstanding about ghosts? Not all ghost would harm people for no reason. Look at the woman’s eyes closely; she has no malicious intent. Furthermore, if she was the real killer, why would she stay at the window after committing the crime?”

Ma Yin did not know how to answer that—this was the first time she had met someone who would come to a ghost’s defense. Her palms became sweaty as the thought entered her mind. Could this man be a ghost, too?

Chen Ge could feel the fear from Ma Yin, but he had no idea which sentence of his had spooked her. “Okay, that’s all the question I have. Now take me to go see that statue.”

“The statue is inside the storeroom, but it’s not s-safe in there,” Ma Yin stammered. “It’s haunted.”

“What kind of ghost is haunting it?” Chen Ge asked the first question that came to his mind, but it stumped both Ma Yin and Liu Xianxian.

How should we answer this? Ma Yin’s forehead was covered with cold sweat. When a normal person heard that a place was haunted, even though they might not be afraid, they would be suspicious. What kind of question is this man asking? How many kinds of ghost are there?

“I’m not really sure.” Her voice shaking, Ma Yin felt like the tears were about to fall from her eyes.

“Bring me to go take a look.”

There was power in Chen Ge’s voice that ensured his command was not denied. Ma Yin and Liu Xianxian did not think about running. They supported each other as they staggered step by step to the storeroom door.

“Paradise?” Chen Ge saw the words that were painted unevenly on the door. “Why is the abandoned storeroom called paradise? Does it have relaxation and entertainment facilities?”

Ma Yin and Liu Xianxian shook their heads. They did not understand it either.

“This place is rather interesting.” Chen Ge squatted down to examine the claw marks on the door. He placed his finger over the groove; it fitted perfectly. “These should have been gouged out by human hands.”

This observation made the claw marks even creepier.

“The number of the monsters is higher than I thought.” Chen Ge pushed the door open and led the way. “Where is the statue you mentioned?”

“Behind the rack at the back of the storeroom.” Then Ma Yin softly reminded him, “The computer and photocopier are weird. When we were in here earlier, they activated on their own.”

“The photocopier you say?” Ma Yin successfully piqued Chen Ge’s interest, and he ran to the photocopier. The tables and chairs blocked the way, and the white papers that covered the floor was printed with the face of a man.

“Such an ugly mug, but it is creative to hide inside a photocopier.” Chen Ge looked at the photocopier that had stopped working. He pushed the plug into the socket and switched the monitor on.

Weirdly enough, he tried the power button many times, but the computer refused to switch on. “What’s going on?”

Both of the girls were shocked as well, and they started to plead, “We’re not lying to you. There is a ghost inside this photocopier. I saw it myself!”

Ma Yin pulled the photocopier’s lid open, but there was nothing underneath it. “Where did it go to? It was just here earlier!”

“I know you aren’t lying to me. It’s probably run away already.” Chen Ge moved the tables and chairs away. He smashed those that were too tangled, and a path was cleared.

The two girls followed behind Chen Ge. Seeing the hammer in his hand, they had zero intention of trying to escape.

The three walked to the alcove behind the rack, and Chen Ge finally saw that ugly statue.

“This is the weeping statue?”

“Yes, he can verify the authenticity of a statement. If the statement is true, he will bleed tears of blood. We tried it earlier, and it’s real.”

Chen Ge nodded. He did not quite get the theory behind this statue, but that was not an issue because if he did not know the answer, he could just ask the question.