My House of Horrors

“I only need to be myself?” The old headmaster felt that Chen Ge’s plan was not that reliable. Rather than a plan, it was more like a direct taunt. He had been an honest man his whole life, a man of charity, so it was natural that he felt awkward about this plan.

“Yes, do what you wish to do and say what you wish to say—there shan’t be any hesitation.” Chen Ge opened his backpack to look for tools. “We cannot give up on any child, so I will be the bad guy this time. We will make them know their mistake ‘physically’ and then rescue them psychologically.”

Chen Ge was all prepared. He had been meaning to do since the beginning.

“Yin Hong, can you help me with one thing?” Chen Ge squatted down before Yin Hong. “You have been living here for so long, so you should know where the scary places and people at the school are, right?”

“Why would you ask me?” Yin Hong’s cute brows frowned.

“Because you are a scary student yourself. At least, that is how your classmates see you. They seem to be afraid of you.”

“I...” Yin Hong glared heavily at Chen Ge. She was powerless before him. “There are indeed many ghosts and mad people at this school. If you wish to seek death, I will take you to them.”

“We have limited time, so we’ll start with the bad students. Since the staff won’t take care of them, we will.”

Chen Ge was firm, but Yin Hong regarded him with condescension.

“Even if you punish those students, there will be new students to replace them... unless you plan to stay at this place and repeat that forever. But have you considered that if you really do that, will you be any different from the bullies themselves?” Yin Hong appeared like she knew some hidden secrets about this school. “Other than the small number of students whose memory was sealed, most of the bullies here were once victims. In the world behind the door, their consciousness has been altered by the school. They are not bullying but venting. Because of that, the school’s staff ignore most of their actions. This is permitted by the school’s consciousness, so how dare they intervene?”

“It’s permitted by the school’s consciousness? Isn’t the school’s consciousness a collection consciousnesses? Does it know how to speak?” Chen Ge kind of understood why the staff would ignore the bullying—they did not want to get involved.

“Even though it is not stated explicitly by the school’s consciousness, it is the public consensus.”

“I’m afraid that is not the case. The School of the Afterlife has been in existence for years already, and it hasn’t selected a new door-pusher. That is probably because you guys have misinterpreted its real purpose.”

Chen Ge had been through many dark experiences himself, but he had never surrendered himself to them. Even when he was hiding in the darkest spot of the night, he would be anticipating the arrival of dawn.

“It wasn’t the school’s consciousness that altered those children but the children themselves. Hatred and resentment were evoked by negative emotions, and they became their most hated self.” Chen Ge sighed lightly. “Before this, I had some hesitation, but after hearing what you’ve said, my desire to help them has increased. Bullying those weaker will never lead to salvation; it’ll only make them sink deeper.”

“I agree with that.” The headmaster suddenly spoke. His eyes that fell on Chen Ge were shining with approval.

“We have limited time, let’s go.” The mission given to Chen Ge by Chang Wenyu was to find all the specters who had the qualifications to become ‘door-pushers’. Chen Ge planned to do go one step further—he planned to pull all those ‘people’ to his side. Chang Wenyu and the painter were fighting for the control of the school’s consciousness, but Chen Ge placed his target on the students themselves.

The school’s consciousness is made up of the collective consciousness of the numerous students. In other words, any of the students could affect the final result. This one thing, the painter has done right, but his method of providing another false reality is no different from giving up on most of the students with heavy resentment.

After walking for several minutes toward the center of the school, Yin Hong stopped outside one of the classrooms. She pointed at the door. “The teachers normally don’t come here. Whether you wish to enter or not, it’s on you.”

The wall outside the classroom looked normal, but there was a white piece of paper pasted on the glass window. It had uneven handwriting on it—’Preparing for the test, please do not disturb.’

“It feels normal.” Right after Chen Ge said that, there was a loud boom inside the room. It sounded like someone had been shoved, and a table had been toppled. “Are they fighting?”

The paper blocked most of the window. Chen Ge tried to look through the gap before turning back to tell the old headmaster. “Sir, you come in later.”

“How long should I wait?” The headmaster had no idea what Chen Ge was up to, but he was worried.

“Gauge the situation yourself. As long as their soul is still intact.” Before the headmaster understood Chen Ge, the latter summoned Xu Yin and the headless woman.

“Yin Hong, give me some help.” Without waiting for the agreement from Yin Hong, Chen Ge kicked the door down.

Bang!

The glass on the door was shattered, and the paper fell with the splinters.

“Is someone in?” Chen Ge stepped on the papers as he walked into the room. There were seven male students in the room who were playing cards, and another three were punching a student wearing a Taekwondo outfit in the corner. Once he entered the room, everyone stopped what they were doing to look at him.

“Yin Hong, did they bully you?” Chen Ge picked up Yin Hong’s small hand and pulled the girl who planned to witness the show outside into the room. The girl’s gleeful smirk froze on her face. “Don’t be scared. With your big brother here, no one will bully you again.”

Chen Ge pinched Yin Hong’s cheek. Due to anger, not only her face, even her eyes were red.

“F*ck, what is wrong with you?” The students who were playing cards stood up. One of them was about 1.9 meters tall, and he looked muscular. All this while, it had been them bullying others—they did not expect someone to voluntarily walk into their den. Blood stains that gave out a great stench appeared on the tallest student’s shirt.

“A Half Red Specter? No wonder the teachers refuse to come here.” It was as if Chen Ge could not see the anger on Yin Hong’s face. He very naturally guarded her and said deeply, “Yin Hong, with your big brother here, I will protect you.”

Then, the headless woman and Xu Yin entered the room, and the scene turned incredibly gory. Chen Ge closed the door behind him and helped the beaten boy up. “Are you alright?”

The boy was wearing practice-use cushions over his arms, but his face was covered with wounds. The people did not aim at the cushions but at his body. The boy was bullied until he did not dare speak. Finally, he looked at Yin Hong with envy and said softly, “I’m fine.”

Yin Hong shivered from the boy’s look. She wished to fling Chen Ge’s hand away, but she was reminded of what Chen Ge had said. Even though she knew that was just acting, it felt strangely comforting.