669 Home
Lee Guo Er’s hands almost slipped from the steering wheel. She wondered if she had heard wrongly. Xiao Jia and Xiao Yu at the back also widened their eyes. The car was quiet. It was not that strange for Han Fei to request to look for a haunted building, but the really shocking thing was his reason behind it.
Lee Guo Er grabbed the steering wheel and slowed down the car. “Let me process it. Currently, two of us are fugitives, being chased by the police and enemies. And you want to get married under these circumstances? And it has to be inside a haunted house? Sorry for asking, but who is the bride?”
Han Fei lowered his head, and his eyes were complicated, “I can’t remember.”
“You want to get married without knowing the bride?” Lee Guo Er was shocked. If she was not driving, she would grab Han Fei by his collar and shake him awake. “We have marriage freedom, but it doesn’t mean you should go to a haunted house to get married to an unknown ghost!”
“She is right.” Xiao Jia also thought Han Fei was being crazy. “Brother, you don’t need to attempt this because someone else has succeeded in his ghost marriage. What if your bride is an old lady over several hundred years old? You shouldn’t undersell yourself.”
Xiao Yu didn’t say anything. She hugged her mother’s phone and felt like leaving the taxi.
“Don’t worry. I’ll only do things that I have confidence in.” Han Fei still kept his head lowered. He looked through the script. Soon, he found an interesting story. “The 51st Story—Ancestral House. A pair of siblings lived in the old house left behind by their parents. The Big Sister would go out the work during the day while the younger brother went out to work at night. However, one day, the younger brother stopped leaving the house, and the sister became mad.
“Some said it was because the brother fell in love with the sister and the sister accidentally killed her brother; some said the theme park wanted to buy their land. The younger brother sold the house without telling his sister; some said the sister had inherited the father’s medical talent and worked in a medical company. She was threatened by an opposing company because she found a certain medicine that could help develop the brain. They killed her brother and injected her with medicine to make her brain go crazy.
“No matter the reason, the ending was the same. After the mad sister also went missing, the house near the theme park was abandoned. When people passed, they would sometimes hear the sound of meat chopping coming from inside the house.
“These are all urban legends. When I investigated the location myself, I noticed something even stranger.
“In the morning, I looked near the theme park, but I couldn’t find the ancestral home mentioned in the stories. However, after night fell, the building appeared on its own.”
The script didn’t mention the house’s actual location, only that it was close to the theme park.
“Have any of you heard of an old house that would only appear at night near the theme park?” The others were still reeling from the marriage topic when Han Fei asked this question.
“It’s best not to go near the theme park at night. The theme park workers and the wandering Malice are both great threats to us.” Lee Guo Er focused on driving. “That is the consensus among the players.”
“But that house will only appear at night. I’ve read through all the scripts. That place is the most suitable for a ghost marriage.” Han Fei looked at the red paper doll sitting on his lap. There was some kind of connection between the doll and him. The doll also wanted to go to that place. “Perhaps I can find the other parts of the doll there.”
“I’ve heard of this ghost story before. Some players have been there to investigate. However, they were all cursed and had a horrible death.” Worried that Han Fei might misunderstand, Lee Guo Er added, “I’m not saying these things to scare you. Buildings that will only appear at night are very dangerous. They are most likely occupied by ghosts.”
“Han Fei, we should plan this out. We’re all very tired already. Perhaps we can go back to rest first?” Xiao Jia realized he was too different from Han Fei. He was so scared when he saw the ghost marriage, but Han Fei couldn’t wait to participate in one.
“We still need 70 points to the target of 100 points. We can’t waste our limited time on sleeping.” Han Fei knew that most ghosts would only appear at night. If they wanted to reach 100 points before F did, then they had to be more active at night.
“Alright, we’ll go check the space around the theme park then.” Lee Guo Er turned the car around. “We have a vehicle that can run at night. That is already much better than other players. At least we can escape if we can’t fight.” After a few days of working together, Lee Guo Er had trusted Han Fei fully. She respected his decision and would listen to his advice. Sometimes, she had no idea why she was doing this. Perhaps she was a fugitive and couldn’t trust anyone. Han Fei appeared to show her that he was willing to move forward with her. The taxi cut through the night.
The closer they were to the theme park, the stranger the buildings looked. They seemed to move from reality to nightmare. The atmosphere outside the car became more macabre. But no one inside the car wanted to escape. This temporary team was more ‘secure’ than expected.
A light mist floated out. Han Fei sat in the passenger seat and looked at the scenery outside. The taxi drove past his first home and came to the back of that neighborhood.
“Wait. This place…”
“What’s wrong?”
“When I first woke up at the hospital, a woman who called herself my mother brought me back here. I stayed here for one night and almost died.” Han Fei sat in the car. He looked up the apartment. One of the rooms still had its lights open like it was waiting for Han Fei to come home.
“Did your adopted parents try to kill you?” Xiao Jia was curious.
“No. Their house is haunted.” Han Fei shook his head. “Technically, this whole neighborhood is a ghost hive.”
“Then, should we go and rescue your adopted parents?” Xiao Jia was being kind, but he noticed the strange expressions on Han Fei’s face. “Did I say something wrong?”
“My adopted father is this city’s famous coroner. I have no idea what my mother works as. However, the two of them have dealt with at least five dead bodies behind my back. For now, I can’t tell whether it was me who killed those people and they were helping me clean up my trail or they killed those people and wanted to pin the murders on me.” Xiao Jia broke out in cold sweat. What kind of family was this?
“Anyway, forget it.” Han Fei said.
“This whole area is going to be developed. Basically all the buildings here are old. The ancestral house we’re looking for once appeared here.” Lee Guo Er’s tone changed, “But I have bad news to tell you. Your home is the tallest building in the area. Standing on the roof, one could follow the movements of everything inside the neighbourhood. We might be traced by your parents already.”
“It’s okay. We only need to move fast.”
After that, Lee Guo Er turned into a small alley. The road was lined with squat buildings.
“The city wanted to develop this place. The tenants added illegal floors on top of the existing building structure to try to claim more compensation. Of course, this is very dangerous and has led to many accidents.” Lee Guo Er drove around the many old buildings. Suddenly, when she turned the corner, the electric clock on the dashboard stopped!
“The road… is gone?”
A three-story grey building appeared at the end of the pockmarked road. The building’s first and second floors had the architectural style from several decades ago. The third floor appeared to be added later on. The building was connected to the adjacent buildings, forming a dead end.
“Is this the ancestral home? It is different from what I imagined.” Xiao Jia hugged his bag and said nervously.
“Let’s go.” Han Fei didn’t waste time. After the taxi was parked, he grabbed the car door. He was like an experienced detective. His eyes changed once they arrived at the crime scene. “Lee Guo Er will wait inside the car. The rest, follow me.” Han Fei gave everyone a signal. Then he opened the car door, hugged the paper doll and moved towards the building at the end of the road.
“It feels like we’re supposing tempting fate.” Xiao Jia hugged the bag and grumbled. Han Fei led the way with the knife. The building looked abandoned for decades. There was a thick coating of dust on the floor and furniture. But strangely enough, the building didn’t smell weird but had a faded fragrance.
“Do you smell the fragrance of meat?” Han Fei stood in the first-floor living room. He held Company and radiated a dangerous presence.
“I do. It feels like someone is cooking in the kitchen.” Xiao Jia shivered. “Han Fei, you’re knowledgeable. Do you think the smell is from that kind of meat?”
“All the ghosts will become stronger after midnight. Let’s not waste any more time. We need to examine this place and then complete the ritual.” Han Fei already had a bad feeling even though they had been inside for less than a minute. The Yin energy here was so strong that beads of water coagulated on their skin. All the furniture and decorations had human flesh color. Many things were decomposing, but there was a meat fragrance in the air.
“Han Fei, look!” Xiao Yu pointed at the stairs that led to the second floor. There was a wooden sign there. It was covered in the character of Death. “I wanted to go there, but my mom stopped me. She was anxious.” Han Fei and the doll winked at the same time when they saw the wooden sign. “The characters look so familiar. This also feels like home to me.”
“What? I can’t imagine what kind of childhood you have.” Xiao Jia shook his head. “You better be careful. Didn’t Lee Guo Er say that many people who have been here are cursed? Perhaps this old house does have some kind of scary curse. It’s common in horror movies that the stubborn characters…” Before Xiao Jia could finish, Han Fei moved the wooden sign aside and dragged Xiao Jia up the steps. “The items needed for the ghost marriage are in the backpack so you need to come with me.”
“Can you tell me that while not dragging me with you?”
“Next time, I will.” Han Fei stepped on the wooden steps. Suddenly, he stopped.
“What’s wrong?” Xiao Jia hid behind Han Fei.
“Listen to it closely.”
The two of them didn’t move. But there was a thumping noise inside the house. It sounded like someone was chopping meat in the upstairs kitchen.
“When people passed, they would sometimes hear the sound of meat chopping coming from inside the house.” Han Fei remembered the description from the script.
“Is it possible that the younger brother wanted to sell this house, but the sister refused? In the process of argument, the sister accidentally killed the brother.”
“Then where did the meat fragrance come from?”
“Can you not make it sound so scary?” Xiao Jia stuffed Han Fei’s kitten into his arms. In this scary place, at least it could provide him with some warmth.
Han Fei came to the second floor and realized the place had been decorated as a mourning hall. The sacrificial table was filled with rotten meat and fruits. But there was no telling who they were for. There was no picture and no explanation. There was only a woman’s handbag. Han Fei opened the bag, and it was filled with a thick stack of women’s pictures. These women should be very beautiful when they were alive, but the pictures were taken after they were dead. The light in their eyes was gone. Only despair and curse remained.
“Is the mourning hall meant for these women?” Xiao Jia felt chill just staring at those pictures. “More than one person has died here. How about we leave first?”
“Do you want me to perform the ritual at your house?” Han Fei glanced at Xiao Jia.
“Erm. This place is not so bad actually.”
“Go and take the white candles from the table. We need them to guide the soul.” Han Fei had memorized all the steps in ghost marriage. He lowered his head to study the pictures. He had no impression of any of the women. “Will I attract some other things?”
The smell of meat in the air thickened. Han Fei didn’t dare to waste time. He took out the yellow paper that had all the steps recorded down.
“I remember when the chef married the ghost, he used a lot of red threats. We have no dolls and no threads. How about we come back next time?” Xiao Jia wanted to struggle some more. He thought Han Fei was crazy.
“I have them.” Han Fei took out the red threads he borrowed from the wooden dolls. He tied one end around the paper doll and tied the other end around his fingers.
