Lonelytree

  Millman97

  His finger pressed on the play button, and Chen Ge slowly bent his body down. His muscles tensed like a bow ready to fire. The memory of fighting the ghost stories society’s Red Specter was still fresh in his mind. That day, he had summoned Xu Yin and the Pen Spirt at the same time, but they could barely stop the Red Specter for ten seconds. This was the second time he was going to face a Red Specter without Zhang Ya. Different from Fang Hwa Apartments, this time, he had brought all of the ghosts inside the Haunted House with him.

  His hair stood on end; Chen Ge was ready for combat. The ghost baby outside looked at the wooden door, and its body slowly turned wrinkled. Pungent red liquid seeped out of his skin, and after it landed to the floor, it circled around him like tadpoles. All the blood seemed to possess its own consciousness. It looked similar to the blood vessels on the monsters possessing the ghost stories society’s member. It was filled with resentment and malice.

  “The child looks only several months old—he shouldn’t remember much about life—so how can he carry such strong resentment?” Chen Ge had not discovered all the details concerning the formation of a Red Specter. He knew what the key points were: they had to filled with resentment at the time of death, and they were naturally aggressive!

  Red Specters were the representation of cruelty and violence. The first reaction when they saw other ghosts was to tear them open and consume them! Both Zhang Ya and Xu Yin showed this quality. Chen Ge did not dare let his guard down when facing the Red Specters.

  The light shining from the lanterns dampened, and the street was slowly dyed red. The baby turned his body around, but he did not launch an attack directly. Instead, he crawled slowly toward the door. The blood flowed underneath him like it would rush at the door at any moment.

  Chen Ge rehearsed the event in his mind. He would call out Xu Yin first and then jump back to use Yan Danian’s power. Even if he could not pull the ghost baby into the comic, at least it would be able to slow him down. Using that chance, he would summon the other ghosts in the comic. With the collective power of all the ghosts, maybe they could ambush the ghost baby. Chen Ge had been avoiding altercations with Red Specters, but that did not mean that he was completely helpless.

  Thinking about this, Chen Ge made the decision to bet his life on this chance!

  His Yin Yang Vision was radiating with coldness. He was completely ready when the ghost baby outside the door stopped. His wrinkled ears moved. A woman’s voice was calling his name from somewhere faraway.

  The ugly face showed a trace of fear and concern. The pool of blood on the floor returned to his body, and the skin returned to its usual plumpness. The ghost baby then left the scene quickly. When the ghost baby disappeared, Chen Ge loosened his tightly gripped fists, and he sighed.

  Chen Ge’s expression was complicated. The ghost baby’s departure meant that he had avoided a battle that he would have had a hard time winning, but since the woman’s voice could scare the baby away, this meant that the village had a Red Specter that was scarier than the ghost baby.

  Massaging his fingers, Chen Ge straightened himself and returned to Ol’ Wei and Master Bai. “Temporarily, it’s fine. The thing has left.”


  “What happened earlier? What came? Did it stay outside the door for a while?” Ol’ Wei rubbed his nose. “Even through the door, we could smell the pungent smell of blood.”


  “It was a little baby.”


  “A baby?”


  “It’s hard to explain,” Chen Ge grumbled. “But remember this. If you see anything wearing red clothes in this village, go into hiding immediately. Do not try to fight it; running is probably pointless.”


  “Red clothes……” Ol’ Wei nodded and remembered this warning. “So, where shall we go now?”


  “Let’s stay here for now.” The night deepened, and more and more scary things started to appear inside Coffin Village, so Chen Ge did not dare move about wantonly. “This Coffin Village’s Trial Mission only asks me for one thing, but the difficulty is probably higher than the Third Sick Hall.”


  Staying alive, two simple words, but for Chen Ge, it was a huge challenge.

  Chen Ge turned to look at his own shadow. Other than Zhang Ya and Xu Yin, the other Specters from his Haunted House only looked scary on the surface.

  Chen Ge patted the white cat on its head. The cat had done a good job, but it still had not recovered from the shock. Its pair of multi-colored eyes looked at Chen Ge with resentment, and the hair on its neck was still standing. “Don’t worry, tell me if there’s danger. I will not leave you behind.”


  Chen Ge carried his backpack and stood in the courtyard with the hammer. The old house was huge. The courtyard was filled with weeds, and it had two dead trees. “There are lanterns on the door, so this place probably houses some ghosts. Be careful.”


  “Chen Ge, wait a minute.” Master Bai used the flashlight to shine at the two trees. “Don’t you think these trees are familiar? Dried branches, exposed roots, and a bulging trunk. Doesn’t it look like the tree that covered the Zhu family’s eldest daughter?”


  Chen Ge did feel that way after being reminded by Master Bai. At the time, Zhu Xinrou had been shoved into the hole under the tree headfirst. He pushed the tree, and the roots were already rotten. Chen Ge could see roughly someone was buried under the tree.

  “Don’t knock the tree down.” Master Bai stopped Chen Ge. “It is an ancient tradition to bury cursed people in the ground like this after they die. People plant a peach tree above their grave because, according to legend, a peach tree can stop the curse they’re carrying.”


  “Meaning it is for protection?” Chen Ge touched the trunk, but something was not right. “Master Bai, these don’t appear to be peach trees.”


  The three studied for a long time before they managed to identify the trees as locust trees.

  “Locust trees are the most wicked of all the trees; this is the first time I have seen people planting locust trees above someone’s grave.” Master Bai gripped Chen Ge’s arm. “Let’s not create any more trouble. We’ll stay away from them, and perhaps they will leave us alone.”


  “That’s hard to say. There are two bodies buried in the courtyard, so this place is definitely haunted. Perhaps we’ve already been targeted.”