My House of Horrors

The black shadow and Lin Sisi shared the same bedroom; he even knew Lin Sisi’s phone password. This proved that they shared a more than casual relationship.

“I wish to know everything about Lin Sisi. This is related to whether we can escape from this school or not.” Chen Ge opened his lips to ask, but the shadow did not reply, as if the name Lin Sisi was this school’s taboo and discussing it would bring about some bad luck.

Slowly shaking his head, the shadow pointed at Chen Ge. He painted at the top of his head and then at the bottom of his feet. It was hard to tell what he was trying to express.

“Are you trying to say that what we’re discussing might be overheard by something else?” Chen Ge tried to read the shadow’s gesture. The shadow shook its head and then used his fingers to make out several words—’We’ve killed Lin Sisi. All of us are Lin Sisi.’

“All of us are Lin Sisi?” Chen Ge seemed to have understood something. He was about to ask another question when a faded stench drifted through the air. “Something’s coming!”

The shadow reacted faster than Chen Ge. It opened the door opposite and slipped through it. After it got into the room, the shadow did not close the door. Chen Ge grasped his intention immediately and followed him into the room.

He even remembered to leave the door open for me. Looks like he’s willing to cooperate now.

Chen Ge had not lied even once in his words—at least, that was how he saw it. While the ghost needed a scapegoat, he had to be careful that his scapegoat was not stolen by another ghost. Likewise, the scapegoat needed to survive and thus could only pick the most trustworthy one among all the ghosts.

How things would be resolved was a problem for the future. What Chen Ge needed now was to consider how to survive this night. He would make use of everything within his disposal and try his best to see another day.

“Just what is giving off this smell?” Chen Ge stayed away from the door and hid behind the shadow. By then, the shadow had returned to normal. He looked very thin and at least one head smaller than Chen Ge. By having Chen Ge hide behind him, it made a strange scene indeed.

“The change to the art room has most likely affected the workers inside the lab. I saw a guardroom on the second floor, and the Red Specter from there might want to take our lives due to the destruction we’ve wrought to the art room.” Chen Ge analyzed the situation calmly. The shadow agreed with Chen Ge’s reasoning, but he was curious. How did Chen Ge know that there was a Red Specter inside the guardroom?

“This place is no longer safe. We need to leave this building and find another place to hide and discuss the next step of our plan.” Chen Ge had achieved his goal of entering the lab. He did not wish to stay inside this dangerous locale one moment longer. Walking to the window, Chen Ge pulled back the curtain. “It’s a bit dangerous to climb down here.”

However, going back to the elevator was no different from asking for death. The window was the only option. After ensuring that Mr. Bai was not outside, Chen Ge jumped through the window and carefully grabbed onto the ledge. The cold draft lifted his hair. Chen Ge’s back was soaked with sweat. “I sure hope this is nothing but a nightmare. In that case, I’ll be sure to wake up if I just jump down from here.”

Aiming at the machine of the air-conditioner on the third floor, Chen Ge slowly adjusted his posture. “If I miss, everything’s over. Everything depends on this jump.”

Chen Ge took a deep breath, but just as he was about to let go, the black shadow appeared at the window. He stood next to the edge and glanced at Chen Ge hanging outside the window. If he pried open Chen Ge’s fingers at that moment, he could easily kill Chen Ge.

“Follow me! We’re going to leave this place together!” Chen Ge’s voice was filled with trust and concern. This made the shadow feel uncomfortable. In the end, he did not harm Chen Ge.

“Quick!” Hanging in midair was very physically exhausting. After aiming for his landing spot, Chen Ge let go.

BANG!

Both of his feet landed firmly on top of the air-conditioner’s exposed machine. Chen Ge leaned forward to stick to the wall. “That created too much noise. The monsters inside the building and Mr. Bai will definitely have heard that. I cannot hesitate any longer!”

Turning to look up at the fourth-floor window, the shadow was still standing by the window. He appeared to have his own plan.

“You wish to hide some more? This school is a cage. No matter how long you hide, you will still be trapped! Cooperating with me is your only chance! We’ll escape this place together!” Stopping for less than a second, Chen Ge jumped down to the second-floor air-conditioner. He lifted his head again. The shadow was still standing on the fourth floor.

Chen Ge had already obtained more than enough information from the shadow. Actually, the shadow was not that useful to Chen Ge. However, Chen Ge still hoped that the shadow would be able to leave with him. He needed a helper, and more than that, he needed a local from the School of the Afterlife to be his guide.

Wishing to turn his situation around, he had to gather enough strength, and this shadow was where Chen Ge placed his hope. “I don’t know anything about this school’s rules, but I know that after consuming more than enough normal Specters, even a normal Specter can evolve into a Red Specter.”

Standing outside the second floor, Chen Ge stopped hesitating and screamed. “If I’m captured and become another ghost’s scapegoat, you’ll spend the rest of your life being pinned back on the wall!”

At the mention of his potential fate, the shadow started to hesitate. He stood on the edge and dipped downward. Chen Ge saw a shadow flit down the wall before falling into his own shadow.

“Are… you okay?” There was no response from his shadow. Chen Ge’s heart was conflicted, but he soon regained his composure. He jumped down to ground and then ran toward the brush.

“There are monsters and ghosts inside every single building here—entering them means taking on a lot of risk.” Chen Ge stayed in the brush motionlessly. About ten seconds later, Mr. Bai came out from the other side of the lab and stopped not far away from Chen Ge.

He lifted his head and spotted the window on the fourth floor that was hanging open. His expression was twisted and scary, and he kept saying, “Bad student.”

Mr. Bai seemed to be afraid of this lab building as well. He did not dare enter it but merely walked around the perimeter and then left in a hurry. Chen Ge, who was in hiding, saw everything. When he could not hear Mr. Bai’s footsteps anymore, he stood up. His eyes scanned the lab building and his body shivered.

At the window that he had escaped from earlier, there was a person in red attire staring at him!

“The Red Specter from the guardroom has been trailing me, but it seems like he is unable to leave the lab.” Chen Ge’s heart was quivering under the Red Specter’s stare, and he silently retreated.

“Where should I go next?” Chen Ge desperately needed to find somewhere safe to rest. He looked through Lin Sisi’s phone and compiled the known clues to come up with the next step of his plan.

He felt a pat on his shoulder. The thin shadow materialized behind Chen Ge. He pointed at the eastern side of the campus and gestured the following—the wall.