My House of Horrors

“We’re already here. Of course, we are not going to stop here. We are going in to take a look.” Chen Ge knelt down to pick up the ball of cloth that had fallen through the gap. It was a bolt of fabric that was rumpled together. It had a bloody message written on it—’Do not kome in.’

“The monster seems to be reminding us not to come in. Is it doing that on purpose?” Xiao Sun looked at the message on the cloth. “Then we’d better go. Even the ghost inside the building is warning us. Isn’t it a bit rude for us to stay and not listen to them?”

“Wait a minute!” When she saw the handwriting on the cloth, Wen Qing became quite agitated. “Do not move yet. The handwriting on this cloth looks similar to Xiang Nuan’s handwriting.”

Wen Qing grabbed the cloth to study it closer. After some time, she said with confidence, “Xiang Nuan is still learning his letters, and he always miswrites ‘come’ as ‘kome’. Yes! This is written by him!”

Holding the cloth tightly, Wen Qing’s eyes were reddening from emotion. “Xiang Nuan is inside this room! He is behind this door! We have to go get him!”

“Please calm down.” Chen Ge tried to make Wen Qing calm down, but the floodgates had already opened, and Chen Ge was unable to do anything to stop her. “This whole building is filled with bloody handprints, so the ghost who left them behind will have blood on their hands. But the hand that reached out from inside the door earlier was invisible. Other than the intense chill, there was no stain of even one drop of blood on its hands. Therefore, that is proof that this person is different from all the other ghosts inside this building.”

“That is because it is not a ghost but Xiang Nuan!” Wen Qing was desperate to get the door open, but she was held back by Chen Ge.

“Have you really thought this through? It might not be Xiang Nuan behind the door but something else.” Chen Ge wished to clarify himself. When they saw the white handprints on the bedsheet inside Room 301, Chen Ge had felt curious about its appearance. Why was the ghost that particular about Wen Qing and only targeted her?

If the source of the white handprints was Xiang Nuan, then perhaps it meant that Xiang Nuan had been following Wen Qing, but no one was able to see him. Only when Wen Qing was very close to him would they be able to sense his presence.

“I am ready. No matter what, I have to open this door and enter this place to take a look.” Wen Qing was determined. No matter what Chen Ge said, his words fell on deaf ears.

“You want to enter this room to find him, but he has already given you the hint that forbids you from entering this room.” Chen Ge sighed heavily. “Oh well. The two of you had better stay close behind me. If there is any danger, we will retreat from the room as fast as we can; there shall be no hesitation.”

Chen Ge grabbed the doorknob and slowly pushed the door of Room 504 open. The door shook, and a horrible stench hit him in the face. “Looks like a part of the rag doll is hidden inside this room.”

Once the door opened, Wen Qing took out her phone and shone the flashlight into the living room. When she saw what was inside the room, the expression on her face froze. The small room was occupied by bloody handprints, but other than the children’s handprints, many faces of children were printed on the walls. All the faces were painted red; they did not have any expression, and they all looked different from each other.

“How come it feels like every face is a representation of a living child? It feels like they are going to open their eyes at any moment!” Xiao Sun walked at the back of the group, and he sucked in a cold breath.

“Xiang Nuan!” Wen Qing started to scream inside the room.

“Can you two be quiet for a moment?” Chen Ge pulled on the strap of his backpack, and his hands gripped the handle of Doctor Skull Cracker’s Hammer tightly. His nerves were tense. He was on high alert. There were many tables and chairs placed inside Room 504. If not for the bloody faces and handprints, this place could easily be mistaken for a tuition center. A smiling mask was placed on each of the chairs. The materials that made the mask were probably the banknotes on the ground; the banknotes had the same yellowed paper quality to them.

Chen Ge picked up a random paper mask to take a closer look. This smiling mask that was cut out from paper money had a great contrast to the faces of the children on the wall. One was forever smiling while the other was bound in extreme despair.