Chapter 677 - New Employees
Chapter 677: New Employees
Translator: Lonelytree Editor: Millman97
One of Xiao Bu’s hands was ingested fully by the shadow, while the other remained with the smiling man. While the big battle was happening, the smiling man had already disappeared, probably escaping during the commotion.
“Xiao Bu, now that you have regained most of your body, can you take control of the door?” Chen Ge was worried that the door in Li Wan City would continue to expand. Xiao Bu shook her head, and the blood gathered to form her reply.
“The door has gone completely out of control; the only thing I can do is to slow down the expansion speed. To have full control over it, I will need to find my entire body.”
“Then, can you open the door to send us out of here?” Xiao Bu was, at the very least, the door-pusher, and Chen Ge believed that she would be able to do something like that.
The blood flowed, and a new sentence appeared on the ground. “Yes, but I can only keep the door open for one minute per day. The door has been under the shadow’s control for too long. I need some time to refamiliarize myself with it.”
“One minute is more than enough.” Chen Ge knew that Xiao Bu was unable to leave this place with him. Just like Men Nan, she needed to stay behind the door to guard it. Understanding that, Chen Ge did not force Xiao Bu to leave with him.
Probably because she had seen through Chen Ge’s thoughts, the blood on the ground shifted again. “You’ve killed your own shadow, and based on the agreement, I should be your new shadow—I will never forget that. After I gain full control over the ‘door’, I will find you.”
Xiao Bu’s eyes wandered between Chen Ge and the shadow behind him; it was unclear what she was thinking.
“Okay.” Killing the shadow and then having Xiao Bu become Chen Ge’s shadow was Chen Ge’s parent’s plan, but the actual development was far beyond everyone’s expectations. Compared to the more easily controlled Xiao Bu, Zhang Ya was like another extreme. To make her into his shadow, no one could tell what would happen in the future.
“Right, there is one more thing that I wish to ask you.” Chen Ge was suddenly reminded of the question. “The ghost stories society hid one third of its treasures in Li Wan City. Do you know where they might be?”
Xiao Bu shook her head again, and Chen Ge did no press. Be it the shadow or Doctor Gao, they were both wily old foxes, so they certainly would have found a secret place to hide those things.
“Doctor Gao’s arrival might have something to do with that. That madman is extremely scary, and I fear he might return. You stay in Li Wan City, and the woman in the red raincoat stays at the ghost apartment. Both of you are my friends, and the friend of my friend is my friend, so if you run into any danger, I hope you two will look out for each other, or you can come to Western Jiujiang’s New Century Park to find me.”
After dealing with Xiao Bu, Chen Ge started to inspect his remaining employees.
When facing off against the shadow, the employees in the backpack had all volunteered their help. Now, everyone was injured, but thankfully, other than Xu Yin, no one else had been ‘infected’ by the curse.
“Ol’ Bai, thank you for your help earlier.” Bai Qiulin was a gambler who had finally seen the light. He had a heart that burned brighter than the icy exterior that he put on. Facing Chen Ge’s words of appreciation, he appeared rather flustered. Thinking back to his life of more than two decades, this was the first time that he had heard a word of thank from other, and actually, it felt nice to be needed by others.
“I just happened to be around.” Bai Qiulin pushed his hands into his pocket like speaking one more word would claim his life.
“No matter what, if not for you this time, every one of us would have been harmed.” Xu Yin had blocked the shadow, and Bai Qiulin had grabbed Chen Ge and the backpack to escape. They had split up their work nicely, and if there was a problem with any section, the one standing there would either have been the shadow or Doctor Gao.
This type of high-intensity battle was beneficial to Bai Qiulin. The redness around his heart had started to spread, and he could unleash around thirty percent of Xiong Qing’s power. The corner of his shirt and pants started to color with blood stains—Bai Qiulin was steadily heading toward becoming a Red Specter.
Compared to Xu Yin, his progress was a lot easier. He possessed Xiong Qing’s heart, so he did not need to find a breakthrough. By consuming more baleful Specters, eventually, he would turn into a Red Specter.
Actually, after doing some inventory, Chen Ge had gained a lot from this mission. Xu Yin had officially become a Red Specter, and Bai Qiulin had evolved into a Half Red Specter. Zhang Ya had consumed the heart of the glutton woman, and she also had in her possession half the heart of something that appeared to be greater than Red Specter. When she reawakened, she would be even scarier.
The power of his employees had improved, and Chen Ge had even gained a new batch of employees. A bunch of lingering spirits and baleful specters with special powers and a Red Specter who was ‘converted’ by Zhang Ya—the headless woman.
The key point was that Chen Ge had gained the friendship of Xiao Bu and the woman in the red raincoat. The Haunted House might welcome two new Red Specters in the future.
“If I see my Haunted House as a mission scenario, then its current level should be around three-star and four-star, perhaps closer to four-star than three-star.” After checking up on his ‘ghost’ employees, Chen Ge ran to find the living employees.
To expand the Haunted House, overreliance on ghosts would not work; he needed a few living employees as well. The mixing of living and dead employees would definitely bring the visitors a wonderful experience.
Chen Ge found Scissors, the drunkard, the doctor, and the unconscious Lee Zheng on the first floor.
“Where’s Jia Ming?” Chen Ge was cautious about that young man who had been possessed by the shadow for multiple years. He certainly knew a lot of the shadow’s secrets.
“When you were fighting, he dragged the police officer and started to run madly down the stairs. We saw how strangely he was acting, so we followed him downstairs.”
When the shadow summoned back his full strength to nurture the ghost baby, Scissors and the drunkard had regained their freedom, but there were black lines that represented the curse remaining on their bodies.
Chen Ge picked up the handcuff around Lee Zheng’s wrist. Thankfully, he had cuffed himself together with Jia Ming to prevent the latter’s escape. Otherwise, with Jia Ming’s personality, he would not have dragged Lee Zheng to escape unless it was necessary.
“That man got the key and ran. He sure moves fast.” Jia Ming and the student known Bei Ye had escaped. Chen Ge felt like there was a need to detain them because they knew too many things that they should not. He might have thought that way, but of course, Chen Ge would not voice that in front of others. He used his Yin Yang Vision to examine them and realized that their condition did not look that good.
There were black lines moving in their eyes—it appeared like they were cursed.
Scissors and the drunkard’s situation was better. They had consumed the blood vessels prepared for Red Specters at the hotel, and their bodies had undergone some unique changes. Chen Ge could sense that their body temperature had dropped to a lower temperature than normal.
The doctor’s condition though was less than optimistic. Due to the curse mixed together with the poison that he had drunk earlier, his muscles had started to atrophy. Even though he could still walk, it appeared like he had aged at least a decade overnight.
“In a way, we have survived a tragedy together. You know many things about me, and I know about the secret in your heart. Currently, you guys are cursed, and I can’t let you wander about just like that. How about this? You can stay with me for now, and I’ll send you back to your home after I help you cure your body of the curse and after you feel better.” The responsible Chen Ge suggested an option for everyone.
“There’s no need for you to take on the responsibility like that. It was our choice to enter Li Wan City. Furthermore, if not for you, we would have died already. You’ve saved us so many times, and we cannot repay you for what you’ve done—how could we trouble you anymore?” The drunkard had woken up from the alcohol a long time ago; his mind could not have been clearer.
“If you do not remove the curse, your lives will constantly be in danger. We’ve been through too many things together, and I cannot stand by, watching you being tormented by the pain and illness.” Chen Ge already collected all of his employees. He patted his backpack.
“We’ve been saved multiple times by you, and now you’re asking us to occupy your home; it really does not sound right,” Scissors said. “How about this? If you need any help from us, we will stop at nothing to help you! Do not say no, this is the only thing we can do.”
“Yes, you’re going to help us remove the shadow’s curse. You’re going to save our lives again!” The drunkard and the doctor both turned to Chen Ge.
“I operate a Haunted House, and as you must have noticed by now, I have the most ‘professional’ of ‘actors’ in my team. I don’t need any more help.” Chen Ge appeared rather troubled.
“But we cannot just occupy your kindness without doing anything in return! At least give us some job that is within our ability!”
Since they had already said that, it felt wrong for Chen Ge to deny their insistence. He could only ‘force’ himself to accept. “Okay, but first thing’s first, you are not going to help me for free. I will provide all of you with the standard payment. After all, you need to look after your family, and you’ll need money to survive. This is the only requirement I have; I hope that you won’t reject it.”
Hearing that from Chen Ge, the few felt a warmth suffusing through their hearts. Their appreciation toward Chen Ge was as sincere as it could be.
“Boss Chen is such a saint!”