Horror Game Designer Chapter 40: Bad and Good

“Don’t eat those! Those are for dead people!” Gao Ming rushed towards Wan Qiu, but Xuan Wen held him back.

Wan Qiu slowly moved his body. His face was scrunched up together. His neck twitched, and bloody rice fell from his mouth. “You…” Wan Qiu’s expression changed. The curtain fluttered in the window. Paper money was scattered everywhere. The walls and ceiling cracked. There appeared to be bugs crawling in the gap.

Wan Qiu spoke like a weeping elder, “Tiger in front, wolf at the back. The sky won’t reply, the ground won’t answer…” Something inside the room wanted to tell Gao Ming and Xuan Wen some things through Wan Qiu. “Ghosts eat humans. Humans eat meat. Meat eats ghosts.”

Wan Qiu’s mouth was leaking with blood. His lips were chapped, but he kept mumbling. The round table shook. The bowls fell. “You have to eat. Then you’ll live…”

After that, Wan Qiu fell to the ground. Gao Ming hurried to help him up.

At the same time, Xuan Wen opened the door of the inner room. The only bedroom had been modified to a memorial. There were eight death portraits and plaques lined up neatly on the table. In the portraits, they widened their eyes as they looked at the round table in the dining room.

“These are the victims of the first case here. The joss sticks are still burning. Has someone been lighting these for them?”

They had made some commotions. Gao Ming was worried that it would attract the attention of hostile entities, so he carried Wan Qiu and left. Gao Ming pushed open the front door, and the metallic door slammed into someone.

“Wait!” Holding his forehead, Uncle Wu, in the winter coat, appeared. The tattered talismans in his coat fell everywhere.

“Why are you here?”

“We don’t have time to talk. Let’s go!” Uncle Wu didn’t even pick up the fallen talismans. He led Gao Ming’s group to the fifth floor. They squeezed through the gap in the fence and returned to Building B.

“You people are so brave!” Uncle Wu collapsed to the ground while catching his breath. “Do you know how many people have died in Building A? That’s a haunted building!”

“Don’t you go there often?” Gao Ming knelt beside Uncle Wu. “Was it you who had been burning joss sticks for the eight dead victims? What’s your connection to them?”

“If you buy my talismans, I’ll tell you.” Uncle Wu took a quick breath. “Trust me.”

“I’ll owe you first. I’ll pay you once I get my salary.” Gao Ming ‘borrowed’ three strange talismans from Uncle Wu. The talismans were folded into triangles and pierced by red threads. They had torn pictures wrapped inside.

“You have to remember that.” Uncle Wu patted his coat and crawled up from the ground. “I used to be the security guard at Building A. I was on duty the night the case happened.”

“What did you see?”

“There were already many scary rumours about Building A before that case even happened. Therefore, the tenants would paste talismans inside their houses.” Uncle Wu asked for a cigarette from Gao Ming. “Many people came from outside to stay at Si Sui Street. Everyone has different religions and Gods. Most tenants did this for psychological reasons, but some went too far.” Uncle Wu allowed the cigarette ashes to land on his coat. “They channelled their misfortune and pain to plead to their Gods. They became very extreme.”

“Did someone like that orchestrate the case?”

“Yes.” Uncle Wu gulped. He probed. “Have you heard of the God of Flesh and Blood?”

Gao Ming’s gaze shifted slightly, but he still shook his head.

“It’s good that you haven’t. Don’t believe anything you hear outside.” Uncle Wu pinched out the smoke. “There are two types of ghosts in Building A, the good ghosts and the bad ghosts. The talismans I gave you can help you separate them.” “How?”

“After you encounter a ghost, show it the talisman. The good ghosts will let you go. The bad ghosts will come after you.” Uncle Wu said nervously, “I’ve told you too much. When you get the money, give it to me.”

“Earlier, when we were outside, you said we’d die tonight. What did you see?”

“People who came out of the black vans like yours would go missing at night. That’s why I said that.” Uncle Wu looked crazy, but he was really clever.

“The black vans are the investigation centre’s special vehicles. Have you seen the other investigators? They wear the same uniform.” Gao Ming wanted to get more info from Uncle Wu. “Don’t worry. The centre has many different divisions. I’m not the same as the people who came before.”

“I don’t know if I should say this or not.” Uncle Wu said after a long silence. “After the case, your investigators didn’t stop the anomaly but kept moving things into Building A. I suspect… someone chose to feed the ghosts here.”

The sound of the black band vibrating came from Gao Ming’s wrist. Uncle Wu closed his mouth and slithered away.

Gao Ming turned to the band. He had received a mission from Han Hai Headquarters. All the investigators who had experienced Level 3 Anomaly were asked to report to Si Sui Street at 10 pm. The centre was ready to do everything to stop this anomaly.

“Everyone has placed their bet on tonight.”

Even Gao Ming, who had joined the centre not too long ago, got the order. This showed how severe the situation was. However, if the anomaly were not solved, Si Sui Street Apartments’ horror would get stronger. “We should leave first.”

Police cars passed the street outside. For the mission that night, the centre had prepared to seal up all the nearby areas.

Gao Ming went back to the shop to reunite with Zhu Suisui and Yan Hua. Gao Ming shared the situation at the apartments with them. “We can confirm that this anomaly is at least at level 4, and it’s not a normal level 4. It has many ghosts.” Gao Ming was uncertain. “I could survive the Level 3 Anomaly last time because the ghosts in that anomaly weren’t hostile against me. But this time, I didn’t dare to promise I’d be able to bring everyone out alive.”

Gao Ming looked at everyone and said, “Answer this question after you give it some thought.”

“Okay.” Xuan Wen knew what Gao Ming wanted to ask, and she already had an answer.

“The rate of us dying in this anomaly is higher than 90 percent. If you are willing to be with me, then stay. If you are not, then you can go back to the station. I won’t force anyone.” Gao Ming also relaxed after saying that.

“I’ll stay.” To everyone’s surprise, the first to speak was Zhu Suisui. “This is my job.”

Xuan Wen looked between Zhu Suisui and Gao Ming. “I’ll stay too. I have to monitor you two.”

“Stop wasting time. When are you doing this tonight?” Yan Hua frowned. He didn’t even consider leaving.

“Have you really considered this?” Gao Ming had no tools to deal with ghosts. Doing this was no different from seeking death.

“I’m going too.” Wan Qiu grabbed Gao Ming’s wrist. “Eight people are waiting for me.”

No one left. Gao Ming was determined. “Okay. When the sun is down, we’ll avoid the centre and go in from the side.”

They took the time to gather everything to know about Si Sui Street and memorised the location of each haunted unit. The storm that had been raging for days finally stopped, but the clouds were still there.

Si Sui Street was sealed up fully. The investigators in black uniforms ran around. The most elite investigators had been sent there.

Most of the normal people sighed that the storm was over. At the same time, the investigators started to approach Si Sui Street Apartments Building A in the shadows.