Chapter 0759: The Last Four Hours
Standing Orphan’s life was a tragedy, except that this tragedy would occur solely because of the Psychic Ghost School, a school that had taken away his sister and indirectly killed his parents.
For Chen Ge, the Psychic Ghost School was just a mission, but for Chang Ku, this school was a prison that trapped him for the rest of his life.
He had to want to know the secrets of the Psychic Ghost School even more than Chen Ge did, which was one of the reasons why Chen Ge would choose to work with him.
After listening to Chang Lone’s story, Chen Ge still had a trace of doubt in his heart, “But what does what you’re saying have to do with those parents, and why would they be targeting you?”
”I didn’t realize at first that Chang Wenyu’s situation was an isolated case, and I investigated through various channels in secret, visiting many families in trouble and asking them about their encounters, trying to find clues to help them, and at the same time rescuing myself. Unfortunately, I thought of human nature too simply, humans can throw away their humanity for hate, or do anything for love, they gradually stopped passively cooperating with my investigations, but wanted to force everything out of me, they even tried to gouge out my left eye.” Chang Ku didn’t go into details, but it was certain that it wasn’t a pleasant memory, otherwise he wouldn’t have been hiding despite having the protection of the red-robed ghosts.
”If I still had any strength left after finding my own sister, then I would have gone to help them, but the reality is that I’m almost completely blind, dragging this half-dead body, and I can’t protect myself, so how can I still afford to care about them?” Standing Orphan’s voice gradually became louder and louder, and only in this old house in the deep mountains and dense forests did he dare to vent like this.
”You did well.” Chen Ge leaned his back against the door of the room, he wanted to say something else, but was interrupted by Chang Lone.
”Actually, I’ve been hesitating about one thing, and I want to make a decision before I go completely blind in both eyes.” Chang Lone faced Chen Ge and opened his eyes, his right eye was full of whites, his left eye at first glance was no different from a normal person’s eye, but if you looked closely you would realize that where the eyeballs were connected to the orbits were all fine blood filaments, “I had been hesitating before, but your arrival has made me firm in my beliefs, I can’t put it off any longer.”
”What does this have to do with me? Did I irritate you?” Chen Ge didn’t know where he hadn’t done a good job, “Don’t be impulsive for now, the two of us are companions now, if there’s anything, we can discuss it.”
”You can’t help me with this matter.”
”How do you know I don’t have a solution if you don’t say it? Even if I can’t, but I still have a large group of friends and brothers, you have seen them that night.”
Mentioning what happened to him that night, Chang Ku’s face turned green, he thought for a long time before he spoke, “After the eye replacement surgery, my vision in my right eye got worse and worse, and I couldn’t see anything in my left eye, every day brought me nothing but endless pain, which I’ve been enduring bitterly. Until one day, I was woken up by pain in my sleep, between half asleep and half awake, I vaguely saw a door, in order to see more clearly, I subconsciously closed my left eye and only used my right eye to see. But to my surprise, when I closed my left eye, the hazy door disappeared!”
Chang Ku was a bit emotional as he shouted towards Chen Ge, “Do you know what this means?”
”That door was what you saw with your left eye?”
”That’s right! I saw a door with my sister’s eyes!” As Changgu said these words, a vein emerged on his face, and his eyes bulged outward as if they would fall out at any moment, which was very frightening.
”What did the door you saw look like? Was it blood-red all over, with surging blood on it?” When Chang Lone mentioned the word “door”, Chen Ge’s attention was already highly focused, and “door” had a very special meaning to him.
”Blood red?” Chang Ge shook his head, “The door I saw was just a very ordinary door, but when I fully came to my senses, that door disappeared.”
”A very ordinary door? Have you seen that door since then?” Chen Ge didn’t know why the door Changgu saw was different from the Blood Gate.
”I’ve seen it, but each time I saw it only when I was half asleep and half awake, and I’ve tried to get close to it, but unfortunately, once I came to my senses, the door would immediately disappear.”
”According to you, even if you could see the door, it wouldn’t do any good.”
”That’s what I thought at first, but then I realized something very strange, the distance between that door and me was constantly closing! It was like it was trying to suck me in!” Standing Orphan’s voice became very scary, “As early as a few months ago, that door had already run to the side of my bed, and whenever I woke up from a dream, my left eye would see that door standing next to my bed! All I need to do is lift my hand and I can push that door open and enter it!”
Standing Orphan gasped, this should be the deepest secret in his heart, “I don’t know where that door leads to, let alone what’s behind it, I’ve been afraid all along, but now I don’t want to run away from it anymore. Since this door is what the left eye sees, it’s likely that behind the door is the Psychic Ghost School!”
Chang Ku’s words surprised Chen Ge greatly, but he quickly calmed down again.
He had entered the world behind the door more than once. He had also seen many doors, but every single one of them was blood-red.
”Your speculation makes sense, but I feel that behind that door might not be the Psychic Ghost School, we need to think long and hard about this matter.” Chen Ge hadn’t come into contact with a four-star scene, and he wasn’t sure what the difference between a four-star scene and a three-star scene actually was, so he didn’t dare to be sure that the doors of a four-star scene would necessarily be blood red.
”I’m running out of time.” Standing Orphan raised his hand to his left eye, he gently flipped his eyelid, the place where the eye socket and the eyeball were connected had all been necrotic, and was merely hooked up by a single black and red thread of blood.
”Alright, since you insist on trying, then I won’t stop you, I just hope you can grant me a small request.” Chen Ge himself didn’t have much time left, and there were only about twenty hours left until the four-star mission ended.
”What request?”
”When you push the door in tonight, I want to stay next to you to prevent accidents from occurring. Don’t be too busy to refuse, it’s kind of the last little thing I can do for you.” Chen Ge had a sincere attitude and genuine eyes.
”Tonight?” Chang Lone froze for a moment, but still agreed very quickly, “No problem, just tonight!”
As Chang Lone agreed, the black cell phone in Chen Ge’s pocket suddenly vibrated, and he turned around and took it out to tap on the new message.
”Lucky Knight Demon Favorite! Congratulations on gaining Chang Lone’s trust, the third part of the left eye quest is unlocked-???”
”Attention! The mission is full of uncertainty! It is highly likely to cause serious consequences, please choose carefully!”
Looking at the message on his black cell phone, Chen Ge’s heart raced as he read it several times over, “This mission is so strange? Not to mention that the mission content is all question marks, the cautions are specifically labeled as full of uncertainty. The most crucial thing is that it warns for me to choose carefully, but it doesn’t even list an option!”
Putting away the black cell phone, Chen Ge had an unspoken worry in his heart.
”You don’t look too good.” Standing Orphan poured Chen Ge a glass of water.
”I’m fine, go to sleep, I’ll keep watch beside you.” Chen Ge called Xu Yin back to the repeater and moved a chair to sit in the doorway.
”Trouble.” Chang Ge laid down on the bed and covered it with a towel quilt.
Time passed slowly, and after two hours, Chang’lu still hadn’t fallen asleep.
”Maybe I’m too nervous, I don’t have any sleepiness right now.”
Being stared at like this, whoever came over would not be able to sleep.
”Why don’t I go down the mountain and get you some sleeping pills?”
”Forget it, a round trip is estimated to take more than three hours, besides the pharmacies are all closed now.” Standing Orphan had no sleepiness when he thought about the door he would have to push open tonight.
”It’s probably because there’s a stranger around, I’ll go outside and keep watch, you relax.” Chango opened the door and walked out.
Mosquitoes flew around, Chang Ge tossed and turned, still unable to sleep, he looked at his watch several times, it was now after two o’clock in the morning.
”The body is tired, but I just can’t sleep, it’s really strange.”
Tossing and turning until dawn, Chang Ku still couldn’t sleep, he was embarrassed to walk out of the wooden house and realized that Chen Ge had been hard at work guarding outside the door for the whole night.
”I’m sorry, I don’t know why I just can’t fall asleep.”
”It’s fine.” Chen Ge’s mental state wasn’t too good either, as he had been in a state of high tension because he was worried about missing the moment when Chang Ku pushed the ‘door’, “It seems like we can only wait for tonight, Chang Ku, try not to sleep during the day, I’ll come over and look for you at night.”
”Good.” Having let Chen Ge guard outside his door for a night for nothing, Chang Ku felt a tinge of guilt in his heart.
The two of them agreed on a time to meet tonight, and then Chen Ge left with Qiu Mei.
It wasn’t that he wanted to take Qiu Mei as a hostage, it was simply because he didn’t know the way back.
It took Chen Ge forty minutes of walking to get out of Yongling Mountain, he put Qiumei away in his comic book and took a taxi to New Century Paradise.
At eight thirty in the morning, Chen Ge returned to the Paradise, the employees had long since arrived, and they now had a high work ethic.
”Let’s go, go make up first.”
Without stopping, Chen Ge helped all the employees put on their makeup and then started checking the various scenes, and was busy until the park opened before he was ready to take a break.
However, he had just entered the rest room, and before he even touched the pillow, he was pulled away by Uncle Xu again.
The park will soon usher in the peak season, and Chen Ge’s house of horrors is the most important publicity point, so Director Luo has a lot of things to talk to him about.
From the most basic promotional slogans for the paradise, to the advertisements on the major channels, to the layout of the haunted house in Xinhai City, the two of them discussed for a full morning.
Understander Luo hoped that Chen Ge’s haunted house would match the park’s publicity and introduce a brand new scene.
This coincided with Chen Ge, only because of the special nature of the Psychic Ghost School mission, Chen Ge didn’t directly agree to it, but said that he wanted to reconsider.
After meal time, the two finally finalized two sets of scenarios, a best scenario and an alternative scenario.
Chen Ge had spent a highly stressful night in the mountains, followed by a morning of discussing future planning and publicity programs with Director Luo, he was now extremely tired.
He couldn’t even bother to eat lunch, Chen Ge only thought of hurrying back to the staff lounge to get a good night’s sleep, but before he could walk to the haunted house, he was pestered by something.
”Boss Chen!”
A somewhat familiar voice sounded behind him, and Chen Ge’s expression was surprised when he looked back.
”Qu Changlin?” This genius of making dolls in the Nightmare Academy had unexpectedly appeared at the entrance of his haunted house.
”After the last time we met, I asked my coworkers for your information, and then I googled your story ……” Qu Changlin’s expression was complicated, which made Chen Ge feel a little apprehensive that the other party wasn’t that good at fooling him.
”What did your coworkers say?”
”Within a few months, a haunted house that was about to close down was operated into a haunted house with the highest favorable reviews on the market and the most tourists visiting in a single day, you created a miracle, you are the most powerful haunted house operator I’ve ever seen, and I’m really happy that my design can be complimented by you.”
”I’m also telling the truth, all of your abilities are above the average haunted house performer, and you still have a near-gifted talent in doll making, you deserve a better stage to show yourself.” Since the other party had come running over, Chen Ge naturally wouldn’t let him go again.
”Compared to the information searched on the internet, you’re even more kind and understanding in person. What you said to me that day, I’ve memorized in my heart, and you’ve given me back my confidence that I can do better and live a better life.” Qu Changlin didn’t treat Chen Ge as an enemy, no matter which way he looked at it, Chen Ge was helping him, and anything he said was in his favor.
”You didn’t come here just to say a few words of thanks to me, did you?” The sunlight shone on Chen Ge’s face, and his smile was bright and full of power.
”Boss Chen, I want to interview for your haunted house and want to learn more here.” Qu Changlin hesitated for half a day before finally speaking.
”People make countless choices in their lives, and you’ve made the right choice today that’s enough to change your life.” Chen Ge led Qu Changlin into the House of Horrors and handed him the employee handbook.
”Do I need to memorize it all?”
”Just memorize it in your heart, you have years of work experience and talent, all you lack is a stage.” Chen Ge led Qu Changlin to the door of the Zombie Resurrection Night scene, this scene was located on the first floor of the haunted house, it had been idle because there were enough underground scenes, so Chen Ge left it alone.
”From now on, this scene will be designed by you and you will be in charge of it, I want to see the limits of your abilities.” Chen Ge and Qu Changlin stood at the entrance of the Zombie Resurrection Night, this scene was much bigger than Qu Changlin’s original toilet, and the environment was also better than the toilet.
”Don’t! I just got here and don’t know anything, so you dare to give me such a big scene? Boss Chen, I’ve never been in charge of such a big scene before, and this scene is on the first floor! This is the first thing the tourists will see when they come in, in case you get it wrong, it will leave a bad impression on the tourists, and may even smash your haunted house’s signboard!” Qu Changlin was truly flustered, he had thought of countless possibilities when he came here, but only this situation had not occurred to him.
”It doesn’t matter if you don’t believe in your own ability, it’s enough that I believe you have it.” Chen Ge patted Qu Changlin’s shoulder, “Let it go, this is also a test for you.”
Chen Ge actually thought very clearly, his own haunted house had too many secrets, there were many things Qu Changlin was not ready to know now, so he simply let him remodel this already abandoned scene first.
”You’re best at making dolls, I have a modeling studio owner’s phone number here, you can contact him directly if you need to, just report my name.” The scene expanded by the black cell phone was empty, he would definitely need a large number of mannequin props in the future, he simply couldn’t produce them by himself, so he needed an employee to do the work for him, and Qu Changlin just happened to have this talent: “By the way, how much do you think it will cost to remodel this scene by yourself?”
”How much?” Remodeling definitely costs money, Qu Changlin was very cautious, he went around the scene for almost to hours before he hesitantly walked to Chen Ge’s side and opened his mouth, “The scene itself is a zombie theme, and the internal props and models are old and serious, I want to change all of them over again, and design them in accordance with my own ideas… …”
When he said this, he sneakily looked up at Chen Ge and saw that Chen Ge did not show any impatience before continuing, “I just did the math, and it will cost me three thousand dollars if I save the most.”
After saying this figure, Qu Changlin was worried that Chen Ge would refuse and stole another glance at the other party, after all, when he wanted to spend an extra hundred dollars to remodel the mannequin at the Nightmare Academy, his own boss did not even agree.
”I’ll prepare thirteen thousand for you, not enough I have more here.” Chen Ge casually said, “I only have one request for you, do everything you can to make this scene good.”
”Thirteen thousand?!” Qu Changlin nodded repeatedly.
In fact, Chen Ge also wanted to see what the limit of “ordinary people” was, and what the difference was compared to the scene with the black cell phone.
Qu Changlin quickly got busy in the scene he was in charge of, he was fully committed to his work, and his entire mental state was very different from that in Nightmare Academy.
”He is talented and the most professional haunted house actor in my haunted house other than Xu Wan, but we can’t completely trust him yet, we have to go through a lot of tests before we want to become a member of the house of horrors completely.”
Chen Ge didn’t go anywhere else in the afternoon, he listened to Qu Changlin’s ideas and design plans in the Zombie Resurrection Night scene, and also told the other party some things that weren’t in the employee code to help him integrate into the haunted house as soon as possible.
After 6:00 pm, the horror house stopped operating, and after sending the last batch of tourists out, Chen Ge didn’t introduce Qu Changlin to the other employees, but instead asked him to leave work first.
After he left, Chen Ge briefly held a meeting and explained a few things before letting everyone leave.
He was the only living person left in the horror house again, he took a broom and cleaned alone, all the scenes turned around, and finally sat on the steps at the entrance of the haunted house.
It was already dark, the paradise was quiet, Chen Ge took out his black cell phone and looked at the countdown on it in deep thought.
”There are still four and a half hours until the mission ends.”
Giving up just like this, Chen Ge’s heart was unwilling, but forcing himself to do it, the probability of coming back alive was not high.
He kept hesitating until after eight o’clock in the evening, when he received a call from Chang Lone.
”Chen Ge, I’m at the Hanjiang Mental Disease Center, come over quickly!”