Lonelytree

  Seeing the serenity on Chen Ge’s face, the child in the mirror asked Chen Ge with curiosity, “Aren’t you mad now that you have found out everything about the Wheel of Misfortune is a lie?”


  “At the beginning, I was truly incensed, I thought my luck could not have been worse but after going through so much, I realized, all of the good luck in my life has already been exhausted the moment I crossed path with her.” Chen Ge nudged several steps to Zhang Ya’s side. “She is the most beautiful person I have ever met, and that is the luckiest thing that could have happened to me in my life and for that, I have nothing but appreciation and thankfulness towards.” Zhang Ya appeared to be blanking out but when she noticed Chen Ge approaching her, she pulled back her curtain of black hair and voluntarily sidled over to Chen Ge. Both of them stood before the mirror together but the mirror only showed the reflection of one person.

  “Now that you put it that way, you do owe me a great deal.” The child in the mirror felt like Chen Ge was purposely gloating, feeding him dogfood. “Before Zhang Ya became a Red Spectre, she was being pursuit by another Red Spectre and accidentally stumbled deep into the red city. Seeing how rare her power is, I guided her to her safety from the dark. At the time, I had to split up my attention to deal with the hospital director’s curse and it was almost impossible to still have time to protect a ghost who was not even a Red Spectre inside the chaotic red city, so I split out a shred of the red city’s consciousness and placed it on her and then I had her hide inside the Haunted House deep inside the red city.”


  The child in the mirror looked at Zhang Ya who was now a Demon God, the corners of his lips turned into a helpless smile. “Who would have thought after the shred of red city’s consciousness joined with her, even I was unable to extract it anymore. Zhang Ya thus became the most unique presence at the red city. If one day, I was to disappear due to some unknown reason, then she would replace me as the new consciousness of the red city, that is also the last insurance that I have against the hospital director.”


  “Therefore, to prevent putting all the eggs in one basket, you sent Zhang Ya out of the red city and had her hide in the real world?”


  “Other than myself, there are only a handful of people who knew about the fact that Zhang Ya had once entered the red city.” The child in the mirror studied Zhang Ya from the top of her head to the bottom of her feet, he still felt the whole thing was rather surreal. “I know how special she is but it is still quite out of my expectation that she will be able to evolve into a Demon God so soon.”


  “Speaking of that, the speed by which Doctor Gao had become a Demon God is not slower than Zhang Ya.” Chen Ge glanced to his side. Doctor Gao had not left. He followed Chen Ge into the Haunted House. With regards to this former chairman of the ghost stories society, Chen Ge still had his apprehension. It could not be helped, after all, Doctor Gao was not only an incredibly powerful Demon God, he was also a incredibly cunning and brilliant strategist. No one would be able to rival him in terms of intelligence.

  “Doctor Gao has used 20 years of planning to become a Demon God. From when he was still alive to after his death, he has paid a price that none of you can ever imagine.” The child in the mirror turned to look at Doctor Gao.

  Lifting his head, Doctor Gao’s lips opened slightly. Ever since the death of the hospital director, this was the first time he had spoken, “I have already completed the request that you have asked of me, so we do not owe each other anything from now on.”


  “You two have met before this?” Chen Ge realized then Doctor Gao appeared to have some kind of contract with the Kindness inside the mirror.

  “Doctor Gao has once entered this place through the door in your Haunted House. He was lost at the deepest part of the blood city, it was me who saved him. It was also because he had known the truth that he would choose to commit suicide at the underground morgue and left his own daughter in your care.” The child in the mirror pointed at the door of the cubicle in the toilet. “The drawing of the dream demon on the door was left behind by him.”


  “Dream Demon? This spectre that has three heads is called a Dream Demon?”


  “Some people call it the Dream Demon, others call it Heart Demon. It is a monster that lives deep inside the black fog, it feeds on nightmare and negative emotions, it can elicit the evil deep inside people’s heart and use that power to destroy blood doors. You could say it has a power that is completely opposite from that of the red city.” After the boy in the mirror explained that, everything clicked into place for Chen Ge. Before his death, Doctor Gao had indeed sneaked into his own Haunted House before. He carved the picture of the Dream Demon on the cubicle door to leave a way back for himself. After all, at the time, Doctor Gao also thought it was the door pusher who only had the power to control the blood door. If he was trapped inside the world behind the door, then he would destroy the blood door in Chen Ge’s Haunted House and then make his escape.

  It was the same for Chang Wenyu when she wanted to destroy the door at School of After Life, she too had painted the drawing of the Dream Demon on that door. In real life, blood door represented the red city while Dream Demon represented the sea of black fog. Many questions that he had in the past had been answered. After clarifying a few other details, Chen Ge carried his parents and placed them before the mirror. “I have found them inside the blood sea at the cursed hospital. Even though the hospital director has been vanquished, they still have not woken up.”


  “It is incredibly difficult to cure an injury to the soul but I will try my best. You should bring them to the Prop Room, there is a bath of blood there. Place them into the blood bath and leave the rest to me.” The boy in the mirror turned to leave. Chen Ge also led the few Demon Gods out of the toilet and turned into the Prop Room. Compared to the first time he entered this place, the room had not changed that much. But only a few seconds later, a blood gash was pulled open by an external force at the corner of the room. Chen Ge was very familiar with that corner. Whenever he drew something from the black phone, those items would show up at this particular corner of the Props Room in the Haunted House.

  Strands of black and red blood vessels rushed out and dragged Chen Ge’s parents into the blood pool at the corner of the room. The blood pool appeared to be connected to the space underneath the red city. Submerged in the black and red liquid bath, many different kinds of curses and black words appeared underneath Chen Ge’s parents’ skin. Then these remaining curses were washed away by the blood. Color returned to Chen Ge’s parents’ cheeks. They looked much more alive than before. The whole process lasted for an hour. When Chen Ge’s parents were sent out from the blood pool, they already looked much better than before.

  “When you leave the world behind the door, it should not take long for them to wake up.” The figure of a boy showed up inside a prop mirror in the Props room. Kindness did not have his parent wake up immediately apparently because he did not wish for them to see the state that he was in.

  “Thank you so much.”


  “It was me who should be thanking you. After all, I thought I would never lay eyes on them ever again.” The boy in the mirror studied the sea of blood that was boiling inside the blood pool and then he added with some hint. “The power that has accumulated over the years by the red city is just about enough to completely repair a broken soul to help her welcome a new life.”


  “What do you mean by that? Wait a minute, if Zhang Ya baths inside this blood pool, she has the chance to become a human again?!” Chen Ge grabbed Zhang Ya’s hand and he became quite animated. “Once her soul is healed, and if you combine that with my talent of Living Doll……”


  “Yes, there is a chance of that, but for a Demon God, the success rate is only 1 over ten thousand. If anything, the weaker and the more common the soul, the higher the success rate. Are you sure you want to go through with this?” The child in the mirror controlled the black and red blood vessels, the Props Room was torn open to reveal the gurgling blood sea underneath it. To reborn as a person, then they would have a chance to make up for all the regrets in the past and they would have the chance to embrace a better future, even if the chance of success was only 1 over ten thousand, it was still a very precious opportunity.

  Holding Zhang Ya’s hand, Chen Ge turned to ask for Zhang Ya’s opinion. Zhang Ya who stood next to him had the redness fade from her eyes. Flash of desire lit up her eyes but moments later, she shook her head light. The pale finger tugged at a blood vessel that reached out from her heart. Zhang Ya took out her own heart and replaced it back into Chen Ge’s shadow. Even though she had not spoken a single word, she had made her choice loud and clear.

  “But if we miss out on this opportunity, you might never be given the chance to become a human anymore.” Chen Ge grabbed hold of Zhang Ya’s hand. He pulled out her into the corridor and tried to persuade her. About half an hour later, Chen Ge and Zhang Ya returned to the Props Room, they had already come to a consensus.

  “So have you decided? Will you be giving this chance to Zhang Ya? If I use the entirety of the power in the red city, the chance of success might be raised by a little bit.” The boy in the mirror was going to give it his all, this was his way of repaying Chen Ge for everything that he had done.

  “There is no need for that, we plan to give this chance to Doctor Gao.” Once Chen Ge said that, the sound of chains dropping heavily to the ground came from behind him. Clearly Doctor Gao did not expect something like that.

  “Chen Ge, this chance comes once in a lifetime. It takes a very long time for the red city to collect so much power, are you sure you want to give it to me?” Doctor Gao’s heart was racing, he had not felt that in a very long time already.

  “The success rate for Demon Gods and Red Spectres is too low but your wife is just a normal person, we must not waste such a precious chance.” Chen Ge was not kidding. He had come to this decision after he had asked Zhang Ya for her opinion. This was what she had agreed to as well. “The sin that you have committed will be shouldered by you alone but your wife is the innocent party in all of you. By the way, there is one more thing that I need to tell you. Gao Ruxue is now very safe, in fact she told me to bring you a message, she wanted me to tell you, she misses you a lot and she wishes to see you again.” Back when they were in the underground morgue, Doctor Gao had the chance to kill Chen Ge and Zhang Ya but he did not do so. Regardless of the reason behind Doctor Gao’s decision, that was an unavoidable truth.

  “Thank you.” That was the first time Doctor Gao showed this kind of expression. He tugged at the chain before his chest and used his fingers to cut open his heart. At the tip of his heart, he pulled of his wife’s broken soul. “Her body has already been destroyed by the red city and the monsters in the black fog, but my own physical body is still perfectly preserved, so please use my own flesh and body and make a Living Doll for her.” Doctor Gao held his wife’s broken soul gingerly in his palms. After the hospital director died, the curse that was placed his wife’s soul had already faded away.

  “Of course.” After he got the promise from Chen Ge, Doctor Gao laid his wife’s broken soul into the blood pool. Deep inside the blood pool, it contained the purest energy that was harnessed from innumerable negative emotions and the souls of the dead. As the blood washed over it, the soul of Doctor Gao’s soul was slowly repairing itself.

  “I have hidden my body inside a building at this red city. Give me a few minutes, I will go and retrieve it.” Doctor Gao was probably waiting for this day since he had kept his own body behind. Not long after htat, Doctor Gao led a very unique Red Spectre to return to the Haunted House. When Chen Ge saw the Red Spectre, he was quite surprised, because it was the woman from the well at the Coffin Village.

  “She is the Red Spectre who has been in existence the longest at Jiujiang. In my attempt to find the way to bring my wife back to life, I went to her for help.” Doctor Gao had the woman in the well put down his own body. “It is very difficult to preserve the liveliness of a physical body behind the door. I cannot allow my attention to be separated so I had to ask her for her help to watch over my body.” Doctor Gao said all of these evenly and the woman in the well did not react strangely. If not for the fact that Chen Ge had personally paid a visit to Coffin Village and knew that the Coffin Village behind the door had already been levelled, he probably would have believed Doctor Gao’s stories.

  With the aid of several Demon Gods, Chen Ge soon successfully used Doctor Gao’s body to create a Living Doll. Doctor Gao’s wife’s soul was also recovering inside the blood pool. When the soul was placed inside the living doll, the whole red city suddenly shook. The barrier between life and death was shattered, the heart of Doctor Gao’s wife started to beat again. Seeing that familiar face, this was the first time Chen Ge noticed Doctor Gao look at someone with such gentleness in his eyes. Doctor Gao helped his wife arrange her hair. Just as everyone thought Doctor Gao was about to awaken his wife, he turned to tell Chen Ge silently, “I need to ask you for one last favor. After you help me with this, I promise to stay here as long as I live to help you protect the red city and atone for all the sins that I have committed.”


  “What kind of favor is it?”


  “After you bring my wife out of the blood door, I need you to help me correct the memory of my wife, Gao Ruxue and the people around them.” There were plenty of unwillingness in Doctor Gao’s eyes. He straightened up slightly. “just make it so that it was me who died in the car accident about 20 years ago.” Using 20 years to set up the whole intricate set of plans, after having his nemesis, the hospital director of the cursed hospital killed and his own wife brought back to life, Doctor Gao’s last wish was for his own wife and daughter to forget about himself. Chen Ge clearly did not expect that to be Doctor Gao’s final wish. He did not agree to it immediately. “I still think it is better for you to at least meet them in person once.”


  “Over these years, I have killed so many people and consumed endless ghosts, The sin that I have committed is so deep that it cannot be washed away by even the blood sea.” Doctor Gao looked lovingly at his own wife and could not pull his gaze away. “I do not wish for them to see me in this state.”


  Seeing his wife’s eyelids fluttering, Doctor Gao silently retreated out of the room. “I will help you guard the red city, perhaps after I have cleansed my body of sin, I will go and find them myself.” Doctor Gao left and he departed with once turning back.

  “The cursed hospital has caused too many tragedies in this world, if only things can go back in time.” Chen Ge looked at Doctor Gao as the man disappeared into the red city and gave a sigh of lamentation.

  “It is impossible to change the things that have happened in the past, all we can do is to prevent the same tragedy from happening again. The black fog will keep on cultivating the cursed seed so this means that there might be a new hospital director to take up where the previous left off. I cannot leave the red city so should that happen, I shall need you to take care of it again.” The boy in the mirror told Chen Ge.

  “With the difference in environment, even if they come from the same cursed seed, they might bloom into different flowers.” Chen Ge looked at the child in the mirror. “But I know what to do.”


  “I have already told you everything I know. Pushing open the door of the cubicle and you will be able to return to the real world.” The reflection of the boy in the mirror was fading away. With his hand pressing against the door of the cubicle, Chen Ge suddenly turned his head back to ask, “Assuming I have accidentally pushed open this blood door at midnight from the real world, then wouldn’t that mean I would be able to know all about this before everything that had happened?”


  “Before the hospital director was eliminated, I spent most of my time in a daze. He had been using my own flesh and blood as well as my lingering spirit towards family to influence me. When Doctor Gao stumbled through the door, I happened to be awake.”


  “If Doctor Gao had entered the door when you were not awake, then what would have happened?” Chen Ge wanted to know the answer to this question.

  A flash of guilt crossed the eyes of the boy in the mirror. He did not go into detail but the short sentence that he said had explained a lot. “Your own shadow has once tried to sneak into the door before, when he arrived, I was in a state of suspension. The hospital director sensed his presence through his curse. He tricked him into a room where the time moves very slow and tortured him for a very, very long time.”