Chapter 0303 – Beneath the Red Clothes

　　Chen Ge was very engaged in reading, but when he turned to the next page, all that was reflected in his eyes was blank.

　　”Nothing?” He looked at the date written by the cartoonist’s handwriting on the last page and brought the notebook next to him over.

　　Taking out the yellowed newspaper, Chen Ge compared the date.

　　The cartoonist had an accident the day after he drew this picture, and that newspaper should have been stuffed in by the old lady or a few other tenants.

　　”His dream stopped on that day.”

　　Sitting on the edge of the bed with the handmade comic booklet, Chen Ge had a new understanding of the several ghosts he encountered tonight.

　　Each of the five stories told the pasts of the five people in room 304, none of whom were bad people in life.

　　Chen Ge’s initial guess was that the ghosts and monsters in the picture book had affected reality, but after reading the cartoonist’s own stories he figured out that the truth was that the ghosts and monsters in reality were hiding in his comics.

　　”Being taken care of by several stern ghosts in a rented house together, this uncle is pretty powerful too.” Chen Ge flipped the comic to the fifth story there, and he said to the downcast middle-aged uncle, “I know that you’re upset, and that you long for your comic to be seen by more people, and for more people to like it, and I can help you do all of that.”

　　The older man in the picture book, who had hugged up his own legs and cowered in the corner, heard Chen Ge’s words and his ears twitched as if he was trying to turn his head around.

　　”There really is something wrong with this manga, it should be possible for ghosts and monsters to be hosted on it.”

　　The severe ghosts and residual thoughts under the red clothes could only be retained for a long time if they were hosted on something, the back thirty or so pages of the cartoonist’s booklet were all blank, if this thing was able to allow the ghosts and monsters to be hosted on it, then Chen Ge would no longer need to carry a big bag around in the future, and he could even bring those twenty-four students from the Mureyang Middle School out for a walk.

　　Thinking of this, Chen Ge was a bit moved, “Uncle, you and your characters have wishes that you haven’t gotten over, why don’t you tell me about them, and I can help you make up for the regrets you had during your lifetime.”

　　In order to be more persuasive, Chen Ge gave many examples, such as publishing all of the cartoonist’s comics, helping the salesman take out the ghost that brought him bad luck, finding the gambler’s lost left hand, visiting the English teacher’s family that he hadn’t seen for years, and so on.

　　Chen Ge moved and reasoned, and the middle-aged man in the picture book finally turned his body around.

　　His standard middle-aged disillusioned face, with a lifeless smile, looked at Chen Ge with a trusting attitude.

　　After a full few minutes, a few Chinese characters surfaced underneath that frame of the cartoon.

　　”Please take care.”

　　At the same time the black cell phone gently vibrated, and Chen Ge didn’t avoid the middle-aged man, tapping on the prompt message in front of him.

　　”Lucky Knight Ghost Favorite! Congratulations on obtaining the strongest Lich Demon under the red coat!”

　　”Yan Dainian: Rare Special Kind Knight Ghost.”

　　”Ability 1: Knight Ghost Affinity (the way he looks droopy and downcast, it’s really unbearable to bully).”

　　”Ability Two: Painting Souls (after witnessing a Lich, there is a certain probability of dragging the Lich into a painting, with the exception of Red).”

　　”Ability 3: ????”

　　After seeing the prompt message on the black cell phone, Chen Ge’s eyes went straight.

　　He really didn’t dare to imagine that the uncle in the manga who wore a white undershirt and sat alone in the corner with unhappiness spilling out of his face was the strongest Knight Ghost under the red clothes!

　　”Deeply hidden!”

　　It was the first time Chen Ge had seen a stern ghost with three abilities, but this stern ghost’s appearance was simply a disgrace to all stern ghosts.

　　People Yin Xiao Xiao was at least trying to look fierce every day, while this uncle had completely given up on healing, with no dignity at all as a Lied Ghost, just very funereal, breathless, tangled and disheveled, and full of unhappiness.

　　”The third ability hasn’t been unlocked yet, that ability should be the key for the uncle to be able to dominate all the Knight Ghosts under the red clothes.”

　　Everyone was an adult, and Chen Ge understood what the cartoonist meant, the other party had not fully trusted him yet, and it was estimated that Uncle would not officially become a haunted house employee until after his heart’s desire was over.

　　”Uncle is good at drawing, his style and the haunted house are a perfect match.”

　　”In addition to him, there are other severe ghosts present in the comic book, buy one get four free, usually you can let them help clean and organize the props. At critical moments, they can also be pulled out as actors, this group of playwrights really couldn’t be more appropriate in a haunted house.”

　　A smile finally appeared on Chen Ge’s face as he said from the bottom of his heart, “Older brother, I’ve understood your wish, I’ll help you realize your dream!”

　　After putting away all the paintings in the house, Chen Ge stuffed the painting tools on the table into his backpack before walking out of the cramped bedroom.

　　”It’s time to bid farewell to the past.”

　　He closed the door to room 304 and walked out of the building, and as he passed by the nearby bushes there was a light black shadow drilling into the midst of the paintings, as if it was the escaped old lady from earlier.

　　Taking a taxi back to New Century Paradise, Chen Ge entered the haunted house Twilight Sun Middle School scene, he took the picture book and explained the situation to all the puppets, and then left without caring whether they understood or not.

　　”The several stern ghosts in the comic book have no intention of harming anyone, and can greatly enrich the haunted house and solve the problem of understaffing. Yan Danian himself possesses three abilities, so after accomplishing his wish and unlocking that strongest ability, maybe he can even bring me a surprise.”

　　Returning to the staff lounge, Chen Ge logged into his short video platform account again after a few days, and the live broadcast room was still in a blocked state, but the attention had soared all the way up to five hundred and eleven thousand.

　　The backstage was even full of private messages, with people inquiring about Chen Ge every hour.

　　”It seems like everyone still cares about me.”

　　The first wave of exposure for House of Horrors came through short video diversion, and Chen Ge wasn’t prepared to waste this great publicity channel.

　　He opened the album, carefully selected, and took a few of the spookiest pictures, “Older brother, I’m about to display your paintings in front of half a million people, and this is just the first step in my promotion for you. Times are different, a few years ago you personally ran to the publishers and begged them to publish it, now I will let them take the initiative to come to you.”

　　Chen Ge wasn’t worried that no one would like Yan Dainian’s paintings, only those who had actually seen his paintings would be able to get a clear picture of that eerie feeling.

　　It was a style that could not be changed, and the characters in the paintings seemed to be the way they were when they died.

　　Chen Ge first shot a few short videos in the haunted house to strongly announce his return, and at the same time started serializing a horror comic – Spirit Building Ghost Guest – in the platform’s community under Yan Dainian’s name.

　　Soon, Chen Ge’s comment section exploded, and with offline and online publicity linking up, within just ten minutes, the name of the horror house in the western suburbs of Jiujiang appeared on the platform’s hotness list, and began to climb at a terrifying speed.