My House of Horrors

Chapter 1160: Am I Still Me? (2in1)

The underground layout of Xin Hai Central Hospital was incredibly complicated. The internal space was very large, and the twisted handwriting could be seen everywhere. The air reeked of heavy disinfectant. The ground was littered with stained patient’s garbs and various types of trash. Occasionally, ‘no entry’ signs could be seen at the corners of the corridors, but the wooden signs had all been decayed away, and there were clear signs of struggles from the nail marks there were left behind on them.

“How come I have not encountered a single person or ghost at all? Is this Xiao Sun’s work? But no matter how powerful Xiao Sun is, he could not have cleared an entire scenario on his own!”

Chen Ge walked down the underground corridor for a very long time. He looked into the many different sickrooms that were not locked. It was not until then that he realized none of the rooms at the hospital appeared to be locked. He could open the door and explore them if he wanted to. He had no idea what this meant but his feeling told him that this was not right.

“I have to be careful around these ‘doors’.”

The atmosphere inside the hospital became stranger and stranger. The feeling of oppression and suffocation grew stronger and stronger. It was as if the building that they were inside was slowly dropping into the abyss, and no one inside the building would be able to escape.

“If you move further ahead, you will reach the quarantine area. Everyone that is brought to the hospital, be it doctor or patient, will be first sent to the quarantine zone.” Xue Rong’s eyes were moving around. Her pupils were flushed with blood.

“Then that means that you were once sent into the quarantine area when you first arrived at this hospital as well. In that case, do you still remember any details from your days spent inside the quarantine zone?” Chen Ge suspected the secrets behind the hospital were all locked behind the quarantine zone.

“The quarantine zone’s main purpose is for the hospital to observe the patients and have them recognize their true selves. After their condition has stabilized, they will be released.” Xue Rong did not really answer Chen Ge’s question, but instead, she introduced the function of the quarantine zone to Chen Ge.

“How would a normal person be forced to recognize their true self? How would a person who is not sick get their condition stabilized?” Chen Ge could not help but frown. “What exactly is inside the quarantine area?”

What Chen Ge did not tell Xue Rong was, he realized Xiao Sun was currently located inside the quarantine zone.

“I really cannot remember anything. After leaving the quarantine zone, I realize I was unable to remember anything that has happened inside the quarantine zone.” Xue Rong did not look like she was lying around. “All I could remember was after I left the quarantine zone, I started to approve with the hospital’s philosophy and voluntarily stayed to work at this place.”

“You cannot remember anything about it?” Chen Ge thought back to the final stage of the ghost fetus scenario. He did not see any memory that was related to the quarantine zone inside the apartment building that was a tome of the ghost fetus’ memory. In fact, the ghost fetus’ memory started after he was moved into the sickroom. Based on what Xue Rong had said earlier, when a new person was brought to the hospital, they first had to been sent into the quarantine zone and not assigned a sickroom. “Did the ghost fetus forget the incidents that happened to him inside the quarantine zone as well?”

Chen Ge continued ahead. There was not even a glimpse of light around him, nor was there any sign of life. A strange feeling started to arise in his heart. The underground building of the cursed hospital was very similar to the underground scenario of his own haunted house; the atmosphere was surprisingly similar. It was eerie, scary, and it kept creating different nightmares to consume various negative emotions.

“It feels like both the black phone and the cursed hospital are trying to build the same thing but the path that they have chosen to do this is completely different.” Chen Ge eventually reached the end of the corridor, and before him now was a staircase that led deeper underground. At the corner of the staircase, written in uneven writing were the words ‘Quarantine Area’.

The signal that came from the wedding ring became more intense. Chen Ge was on high alert and slowly moved down to the second basement level. “This is the quarantine area?”

Chen Ge glanced down at the sickrooms at both sides. The rooms were filled with many different old clothes and old shoes. Some of the models had already gone out of fashion. They were from at least ten years ago.

“I saw a similar set up at the old hospital’s storage where Chi Ren worked. The shelves there were filled with various kinds of shoes as well.”

At the time, the image had left a deep impression on Chen Ge. Each pair of shoes appeared to represent a person. After entering the storage, he felt like there were many different dead people squatting on the shelves.

He continued to move down the corridor. Several consecutive rooms that he walked by were filled to the brim with old clothes. “Just how many people has the cursed hospital ‘treated’ in the past twenty years?”

Chen Ge temporarily did not notice anything special about the quarantine zone. What changed was the number of crazed words that were left on the walls. They overlapped over each other. Even if one did not pay them specific attention, the message would be imprinted in one’s mind.

The smell of disinfectant in the air became so heavy that it had reached the point of being stinging to the nose. But what most alarmed Chen Ge was that even though the smell of the disinfectant was so intense, it did nothing to cover up the barely discernible stench that was lingering in the air. He was very familiar with this stench; he had once encountered it in the world behind the ghost fetus’ door. It was a kind of stench that only his nose could pick up.

He carefully walked into the deepest part of the quarantine zone. Chen Ge finally stopped in front of a door. This was the fourth floor underground of the cursed hospital, and it was the location where the stench was the thickest and the location where the signal from the wedding ring was the strongest. Xiao Sun appeared to be behind this door.

“The whole hospital has not even one person. Why would they purposely leave Xiao Sun behind the door? Could it be that Xiao Sun has already been exposed? Or are all the ghosts from the cursed hospital currently hiding this door?”

The situation at the cursed hospital was too strange. Chen Ge did not dare lower his guard. He gave it some thought. Before he pushed the door open, he whispered Zhang Ya’s name in his heart. The shadow behind him started to ripple. Zhang Ya also did not discover anything that was too strange about this hospital. She could not sense anything dangerous about this place. This appeared to be a very normal abandoned hospital.

With a Demon God present, Chen Ge felt more comforted. He signaled for Xue Rong to go and open this door at the deepest part of the quarantine zone. Xue Rong herself was one of the more powerful Red Specters. She would be able to take care of herself when she was faced with danger. Furthermore, she was at the constant edge of a breakdown, and she would not be able to listen to Chen Ge’s order if that happened, so if an accident happened, it would not decrease the overall power level of Chen Ge’s haunted house.

Chen Ge had taken many different factors into consideration before he decided to have Xue Rong push open the door. Xue Rong did not refuse. In her mind, her memory about her days in the quarantine zone was a blank as well. She wanted to recover the part of her memory that was lost. The finger that was covered in wounds landed on the door. Xue Rong slightly pushed. Just as she pushed open the door a gap, the shadow behind Chen Ge started to spread like a black ocean!

An indescribable horror reached its boiling point, and a pale arm reached through the line between reality and the void, carrying an enormous wave of blood as it surged at the door!

At the same time, the door before Xue Rong was thrown open from the inside. An arm that was carved with many black human faces reached out to block Zhang Ya’s wave of blood, and then another blood red arm reached out from inside the door to grab at Chen Ge’s shoulder!

“Two Demon Gods!” Black hair wound itself tightly around Chen Ge’s body. He became the battleground for the three Demon Gods. His body temperature instantly dropped below zero. Chen Ge’s physical body was being torn in many different directions. Just as he was about to be torn apart by the three Demon Gods, the black hair completely enveloped itself around Chen Ge. Zhang Ya hugged Chen Ge from behind and charged actively into the door!

Zhang Ya’s diary that was sitting inside Chen Ge’s backpack disintegrated into dust, and the lines of words appeared on Chen Ge’s body instead. At the same time, the blood on Yan Danian’s comic was slowly being washed away. All the pictures started to disappear. One Red Specter and ghost after another was pulled into the door. As the owner of the comic, before the last page of the comic disappeared, he held a ballpoint pen that was covered in cellophane tape in his hand and was madly drawing something at the edge of the page that was quickly dissolving. Before he was sucked into the door, the final painting that he had completed also appeared on Chen Ge’s back.

Heaven and Earth spun. His body felt as if it had been pulled apart into small pieces and reconstructed again. Chen Ge hugged his head with both of his hands. Many different memories in his mind were being squashed, and they were replaced by painful memories that did not belong to him.

“This is a sickened world. Actually, you are more familiar with that fact than anyone else!”

In less than half a minute, the fourth basement level of the cursed hospital returned to normal.

Death, silence, oppression, and a complete void of hope.

...

He slowly opened his eyes. His line of sight was very blurry. Chen Ge tried multiple times before he managed to find a focus. His body was covered in pain. The pain came from all parts of his body, but the source of the most intense pain was his brain. Chen Ge found that he was unable to control his body. All he could do was barely move his eyes about. He realized he was lying inside a sickroom. The sunlight shone into the room through the window that was equipped with an iron fence. It was very warm and comfortable. The sickroom was not big, and there were other people in the room because Chen Ge could hear drifts of conversation coming from the other corners of the room.

“C Reactive Protein, homocysteine, male hormone, head CT, hypophamine CT, breast CT, the speed of the nervous transport system does not any obvious anomaly...

“Similar checks have been done during his previous bout of fainting. His mind was clear, inspection of his heart and lungs showed no sign of damage, the nervous system showed no sign of negative impact, and his limbs were working just fine. There should’ve been a chance for him to improve, but his condition suddenly worsened after the treatment began.

“The patient suffers from paranoid schizophrenia as well as serious delusions...”

Searching for the source of the voice, Chen Ge slowly turned his head and looked beside him. Two doctors in white coats were chatting with one another. After the younger doctor noticed Chen Ge had woken up, he immediately stopped talking and walked out from the room with the document file in his hand. The other middle-aged doctor though walked over to Chen Ge’s bedside.

“How did you sleep last night?”

Chen Ge raised his head with difficulty. When he saw the middle-aged doctor’s face, his lips opened slightly, but he realized he was unable to utter a single word.

“You’ve forgotten everything again?” The middle-aged doctor appeared to have gotten used to this already. “I am your main physician. My name is Gao Ming. You can call me Doctor Gao for short.”

“Doctor Gao?” The words were slowly formed in Chen Ge’s lips. His throat was completely raw. It was incredibly taxing even just for him to say these two words.

“Looks like you have come back to us.” Doctor Gao removed the straps that had been used to keep Chen Ge’s limbs bound. “Last night, when you were acting up, do you know how much trouble you gave me and the workers?”

“Me? Acting up?” Whenever Chen Ge tried to remember what had happened, an intense pain would shoot through his mind as if someone was using a knife to stab into his brain.

“Take these pills and have a good rest. After your condition has completely stabilized, I will apply to have you sent over to the normal sickbay.” Doctor Gao fed Chen Ge two white pills. After swallowing the meds, Chen Ge realized his headache was gradually going away. After ensuring that Chen Ge had swallowed the pills, Doctor Gao turned to walk away.

“Wait a minute, Doctor Gao.” Even though he was quickly overwhelmed by drowsiness, Chen Ge still called after Doctor Gao. “What is this place?”

“Xin Hai Central Hospital.”

“Who brought me here?”

“Don’t you worry about that. Just get a good rest. Do not go and think about those things. It will only hinder your recovery.” Doctor Gao left after he said all that. The sickroom became incredibly quite other than the occasional bird song that came from outside the window. The warm sunlight showered itself warmly on Chen Ge’s body through the iron net. He tried his best to gather his strength, but he was unable to sit up.

“My head hurts so bad...” His mind was working very slow, and whenever he tried to formulate a thought, intense pain would shoot through his body, so all Chen Ge could do was lie in the bed quietly. After who knew how long, the door was pushed open, and a young female nurse walked in carrying his meal. When Chen Ge saw the female nurse’s face, the name practically slipped out of his lips. “Xu Wan?’

When she heard Chen Ge’s voice, it was clear that the female nurse was quite shocked. She placed the tray of food on Chen Ge’s bedside table and she sat down beside Chen Ge. “You managed to remember my name after all? I guess the six months I have spent looking after you were not a complete waste after all.”

The female nurse was very kind. She looked cute and her voice was very soothing.

“Six months? You have taken care of me for half a year?” Chen Ge’s brows were knitted in a frown, and his brain felt like it had been pierced with a thousand needles.

Seeing Chen Ge in such pain, the female nurse quickly stood up, “Your condition has not stabilized yet. Please do not use your brain too much. It will only cause further injury.”

“Tell me, can you please tell me?” The pain scrunched up Chen Ge’s face, but he still gritted his teeth to repeat those words.

“I will not tell you anything, lest it puts any more pressure on you. Please do not exhaust yourself like this. I will go and get the doctor now!” Xu Wan turned to leave, but the corner of her shirt was grabbed hold by Chen Ge.

Turning around, Xu Wan looked into Chen Ge’s eyes that were filled with pain and sadness. “Who brought me here? What has happened to me?”

Xu Wan did not the heart to leave. She sat back down beside Chen Ge and reached out to massage Chen Ge’s arm that was bursting with green veins. “If you can calm down, I will tell you what you wish to know. That is a promise.”

Taking a deep breath, Chen Ge forced himself to stop thinking, and the pain slowly faded away. His facial expression slowly returned to normal. Chen Ge was like a wounded stray. His eyes were filled with the lethargy and pain after a long struggle. “Now, can you tell me?”

“About half a year ago, you drove your parents to the hospital. Your whole family was caught in a traffic accident, and only you were saved in the aftermath.” At this point, Xu Wan took a pause. She watched Chen Ge’s status closely. After noticing Chen Ge did not react too intensely, she continued. “But your brain was heavily damaged. You were in coma for a very long time. Not too long ago, you finally woke up, but the effect of the traffic accident appeared to leave you with a serious case of delusion.”

“I am suffering from delusions?”

“Yes, I believe it is your brain trying to protect itself. You refuse to admit that your parents are already gone, and you keep evading the truth and live inside the memory that you created for yourself.” Xu Wan looked at Chen Ge with clear concern in her eyes. “Occasionally, you lash out, but at other times, you are so still. During the few moments of sentience, you would describe a world where humans and ghosts were able to coexist, and you kept saying that you’d search for your parents, believing you could one day find them.”

“That was not a delusion, and I did not make any of that up.” Without even thinking, Chen Ge’s subconscious offered the words.

“I did not mean to shatter your dream, but if you insist on staying inside that dream, your only company will be pain. It is time to move on.” Xu Wan sighed under her breath. “Actually, you know that’s all fake. For example, in your story, you have not even met your parents because they are already dead. Furthermore, you rarely drive to any location; you always prefer public transport or taxi. That is because your subconscious is still afraid of driving after that car accident that cost your parent’s lives. It is not that you do not know what is happening. It is just that you have been purposely avoiding seeing the truth before you.”