My House of Horrors

Many unsightly memories flashed through his mind. Fei Youliang rubbed his eyes before moving his head away. “That should be my imagination. My condition has worsened again. He wouldn’t show up here.”

“Before coming here, I had no idea that the haunted house has victimized so many people. I feel so sorry for all of us.” Shang Guan Qing Hong then connected the dots. He knew that ghosts had appeared at his Haunted House, but he had no idea that it was related to Chen Ge. The confusion in his eyes disappeared. Shang Guan Qing Hong heard the resentment buried in Feng Youliang’s words. When he suggested that they should gang up to ruin Chen Ge’s Haunted House, he had seen lights shining in his fellow patients’ eyes.

The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Shang Guan Qing Hong knew how to make use of resource to achieve his own goal.

“Changyin, you should form a group and get everyone to join. After I’ve recovered, we will start discussing how to deal with that haunted house.”

“Don’t get your hopes up.” The engineer from the futuristic theme park was someone who had been through many things, and he was not used to getting orders from others. “If we could launch a counterattack, we would have done that already, so do you think things are that simple?”

He scoffed at Shang Guan Qing Hong’s suggestion. In the industry, the futuristic theme park was the largest force, and they had done plenty of things openly and in the dark against Chen Ge’s Haunted House, but they had all failed. Now, a patient who had also fainted promised to succeed where they failed. The engineer thought that it was unrealistic.

“If you’ve lost the urge to resist, you are destined to live in the haunted house’s shadow, and you will never recover from your illness.” Shang Guan Qing Hong was calm. Holding his dizzy head, he wished to sit up because that would make him appear more in control.

“What do you mean by that? Didn’t you faint in the Haunted House as well? Have you heard of pot calling the kettle black?” The engineer picked up the teacup from the table. When he looked around, he caught sight of Fei Youliang’s body shaking.

“I am different from you.” Even though Shang Guan Qing Hong’s face was pale, there was a victorious smile on his face. “I did not faint in his Haunted House. I fainted in my own Haunted House.”

“Your Haunted House?” The engineer was confused. This was nothing to boast about, so why the pride on the man’s face?

“Yes, I own a Haunted House myself, but my haunted house is definitely scarier than Jiujiang’s Haunted House.” Shang Guan Qing Hong maintained his mysterious smile. “I have a secret weapon, one that is not available at any other Haunted Houses on the market!”

“What secret weapon?” The patients turned to him with curiosity.

“If I tell you, will it be a secret?” Shang Guan Qing Hong was very confident because he had personally experienced that fear before.

Shang Guan Qing Hong’s acting made Lee Changyin next to him feel something. He whispered to ask, “Boss, the thing downstairs has returned?”

“Yes, the thing from before that scared Xiao Tan insane.”

“Boss, are you sure about that? This is not a joke. If that thing really appears in the Haunted House, not only the visitors, even our workers won’t be able to stay inside the Haunted House!”

“Desperate times call for desperate measures.” Shang Guan Qing Hong lay in bed. His face was white, and his limbs weak, but he had the confidence of a general who knew that the war ahead was his to be won.

“What are you two talking about?” The engineer looked at Shang Guan Qing Hong. “You fainted at your own Haunted House, so you have no right to speak at all. I suggest you go and take a spin around New Century Park’s Haunted House before you come to talk to us about cooperation.”

“I know you won’t believe me.” Shang Guan Qing Hong nudged his tight neck. “Changyin, get me my phone. Open the third video file for him to see.”

Lee Changyin took out the phone and found the video. It was the video that Shang Guan Qing Hong had cut from his haunted house’s surveillance cameras. Chen Ge was inside the underground corridor, and suddenly, he saw something scary. His body lost balance, and he jumped from fright.

“See this? The man that you’re afraid of was defeated by me in my Haunted House. In terms of fear level, my haunted house and his are not even on the same level.” Shang Guan Qing Hong omitted the part where his place was really haunted.

“This is really the boss from New Century Park!” The engineer watched it multiple times to ensure it was not a tempered video. Finally, he believed Shang Guan Qing Hong. He was about to discuss the revenge against Chen Ge when he raised his head and saw that familiar face outside the door!

“Wait a minute…” The engineer’s arm was shaking. Before he could put the phone down, he saw the room door being pushed open. Silence fell over the room, and the patients did not dare to even breathe too loudly.

“I’m not lying to you, am I?” Since his body had not recovered, Shang Guan Qing Hong titled his head to look at the engineer. “Join the group first. I will slowly teach this b*stard who does not know his limit a lesson.”

“Cough Cough.” Lee Changyin held his lips and started to cough violently. As he did so, he blinked continuously at his boss.

“Are you okay? I’m sorry to have put you through this, Changyin, but don’t you worry, it won’t be long before the day you see that man being admitted into this very room! Then, we will have gotten our revenge!” Since they were competitors, Shang Guan Qing Hong had been meaning to deal with Chen Ge for a long time. “A Haunted House in a small town dares to trick people with words and fake videos online. It is time for the man to face the music.”

Shang Guan Qing Hong realized that no one was reacting to his words. He frowned. “Changyin, why do you keep coughing? Should I call the doctor for you?”

“No, no, I think it’s time for my meds.” Lee Changyin turned to the shelves to look for his things, but the shelves were mainly used to store clothes.

“What about the rest of you? Why aren’t you sleeping?” Shang Guan Qing Hong turned to Fei Youliang. “Little brother, you were the first one to come here. So, we will start with you. We will go around sharing our experiences and see if we can find any weakness or leverage in your stories.”

Fei Youliang, who had initially admired Shang Guan Qing Hong, suddenly acted like he could not hear the man. He leaned next to the window and took out his phone while looking at the moon outside. “Mom, I don’t think I’ll be coming home this new year. Work is very busy. Huh? It’s only June. It’s nothing, I’m just calling to wish you an early new year.”

“What is going on?” Shang Guan Qing Hong felt that something was wrong, and he turned to the engineer. The latter instantly avoided his gaze like he did not know this person at all. He held the phone in his palms and looked at the video with deep interest. “This hospital’s Wi-Fi sure is fast; there’s no lagging at all. These videos published by Western Jiujiang’s Haunted House are very interesting.”

“Videos? Aren’t you holding my phone?” Shang Guan Qing Hong soon realized the problem. He turned his neck around as far as he could, and when he did, he almost fainted again. The sickroom door was open, and Chen Ge was standing next to his bed holding his backpack!

“You’ve awakened already. This is such a waste. I went far and wide to find a professional doctor for you.” A warm smile hung on his face. It was as if Chen Ge did not hear what the man had said earlier.

“When… when did you arrive?” Shang Guan Qing Hong became quite a fright. He probably would not dare to sleep on his side ever again.

“I just arrived. I have some questions for you, and I hope you will answer them honestly.” Chen Ge first took out the fake diary from Nightmare Academy and showed it to Shang Guan Qing Hong. “Where did you get this diary?”

“I wrote it myself, why?” The man was still trying to argue.

“Then what about this?” Chen Ge then took out the diary that he had found in Nightmare academy’s basement.

When he saw the blood-like handwriting inside the diary, Shang Guan Qing Hong’s face turned paler.

“You don’t want to tell me?” Chen Ge did not force the man. Instead, he turned to the other patients. “I wish to talk to this man alone…”

“Christ, I left my glasses in the bathroom. I need to go get them.”

“The doctor told us to go for more walks. It’s good for our health, so I think I’ll go for a stroll.”

“Wait, we’ll go with you.”

The patients had been waiting for the cue to leave. With a speed that surprised Chen Ge, they cleared out of the room.

“Great, now there are only two of us.” Chen Ge pulled over a chair and sat down next to Shang Guan Qing Hong.