“Come on, Xiao Sun.” Chen Ge helped Xiao Sun, whose body was still shaking, up from the ground. “If you are still alive in real life, I feel like I can make use of your luck to scam the insurance company. I will use every penny I have to help you set up a life insurance.”
Xiao Sun’s expression was not that natural. During this moment when he was not himself, the white cat quickly struggled loose from his arms and jumped out to hide behind Chen Ge like it was greatly wronged. All the employees had gathered back together. They stood on the island that was transformed by the ghost fetus and lifted their heads to look at the giant whale that was swimming through the sea of black fog.
Chen Ge tried many methods, but he failed to communicate with Wen Qing. At this moment, even though Wen Qing had acquired all the ghost fetus’ power, untainted by the curses, her consciousness was not strong enough to support it. She was merely acting on instinct for now.
“Looks like she is not going to leave this place.” Chen Ge looked at the giant whale above them and the wings that fluttered behind her.
“If she continues to stay here, what will eventually happen to her?” Even though Xiao Sun had not spent much time with Wen Qing, he could sense that Wen Qing was a good person.
“Have you heard of something called whale fall?” Chen Ge answered as if to himself without turning around. “After a whale dies and sinks down to the depths of the ocean, its body will decay to help provide nutrients to the barren ocean floor.”
“But what does that have to do with her?”
“The giant whale, I believe, will continue to protect this island until the end of her life. When that day arrives, she will collapse on this island formed by the ghost fetus and provide a bit of hope and life to this painful and despairing world.” Chen Ge turned around. With his many employees and Zhang Ya following close behind, he was able to empathize greatly with that feeling. “We should prepare to leave. The sun should be coming up outside the door already.”
The ghost fetus’ four-star trial mission had spanned nine days and nine nights, and it had pushed Chen Ge’s physical body to its limit. His body temperature was far lower than a normal person’s, and he was in a very bad state. Chen Ge had also only just noticed the problem. After Wen Qing turned into a giant whale, Chen Ge became the only living person behind the door, but his body temperature was no different from the ‘people’ around him.
The black fog, the curse, the remaining blood vessels, Chen Ge desperately needed a rest. The employees started to search for the ghost fetus’ door amid the wasteland. The red high heels made use of this time to madly consume the curses that were left behind by the ghost fetus. When the ghost fetus separated the Past’s body, he had given all the pure and beautiful things to Wen Qing while he suffered all the sin on his own. Endless curses that Wen Qing could not support lingered around the island.
A curse was something that even a normal Red Specter would not dare approach; only the red high heel would be able to absorb and use them. Chen Ge had no idea how many curses the ghost fetus had left behind. He only understood that the red high heels, who had swallowed all the ghost fetus’ curses, was now even scarier than Xiao Bu, and this was when she was trying to reign herself in.
“It is surprising that the ultimate winner will be the red high heels. When she completely digests the ghost fetus’ curse, she might be able to breakthrough the limitations of a Red Specter.”
It was not easy to become a Demon God. Chen Ge did not expect the red high heels to break through the barrier so easily. Then again, this kind of thing could not be forced. A journey of a thousand miles would begin with a single step, after all.
After the ghost fetus’ consciousness dissipated, most of the original tenants behind the door had disappeared, but Chen Ge realized something quite interesting; Xiao Sun did not disappear. In fact, other than Xiao Sun, there were some original tenants in the ruins who had survived. Chen Ge predicted that it was because the people who had died in real life probably had their soul transported into this world behind the door by the ghost fetus, and those who were still alive in the real world had their facsimiles created by the ghost fetus based on his own memory behind the door. Thus, they were not real per se.
Inside Jin Hwa Apartments Block A, the elder who was tasked with guarding the first floor and Granny Lee who was abandoned by her son had both disappeared. This was, in a way, good news because at least it meant that they were still alive in the real world, and there was a chance for their tragedy to be salvaged and their wounds to be healed. Chen Ge and the Red Specter employees herded all the tenants who were lucky enough to survive into the comic. They also found some of the objects left behind by the ghost fetus in the ruins. All of them were surfeited with extremely scary curses. All those objects were handed over to the red high heels to look after. When the curses on them had been fully cleansed, Chen Ge would go and inspect them.
After looking for a full hour, the employees basically had dug three feet into the ground, but they still failed to find the ghost fetus’ door. Everyone had gathered around Chen Ge around, and the atmosphere was quite dampened.
“How are we supposed to leave this place without a door?”
“Why would the ghost fetus’ door disappear just like that? Theoretically speaking, even if the door pusher is dead, the door will go out of control until a new door pusher appears to take his place.”
“We need to calm down.” Chen Ge looked at the island that was morphed by the ghost fetus, and he was reminded of Doctor Gao at the underground morgue. At the time, Doctor Gao had also chosen to take on all the sin behind the door. When he made that choice, the door in the underground morgue had been destroyed. That memory was still fresh to Chen Ge. The underground morgue behind the door started to crumble, and it was also the first time he had been given a glimpse of the red city. “When the door pusher chooses to take on the sin behind the door, the door will be destroyed.”
“The door is destroyed? How are we supposed to leave this place? Don’t tell me, we are forever trapped inside this world of black fog?”
If they were trapped inside the red city, things would not have been so bad. After all, there would be other doors at the red city, and they could use those to return to the real world, but this place was completely surrounded by black fog. Jin Hwa Apartments and Jiu Hong Apartments were like the only island amid a black sea. There was only one door here.
“Don’t tell me we have to traverse the black fog to go in search of that red city?” Men Nan grumbled with a bitter face. “I personally do not mind it myself, but can your body go through something like that?”
“It does not matter that the ghost fetus’ door has been destroyed. We still have another door with us.” Chen Ge removed his shirt to expose the ghastly spider tattoo on his back. He summoned out the tunnel lady’s son. “There is a door inside his body. We can return to the real world through that door.”
Behind surrounded by multiple Red Specters, the Spider Boy was surprisingly nervous. He was afraid that Chen Ge might suddenly decide to turn on him. To let the boy calm down and earn his trust, Chen Ge found the Tunnel Lady and asked her to help communicate with her son. The Tunnel Lady’s son gave Chen Ge a concrete reply. They could indeed leave this place through the door in his body, but once they left, they probably would never be able to come back. The ghost fetus’ door had been destroyed, and the only other door was inside the Spider Boy’s body. They could leave through it, but it also meant that Wen Qing and the ghost fetus would be left stranded here forever.
Hearing that, Chen Ge once again tried to yell up at the sky to try to transmit his voice, but unfortunately, the whale that Wen Qing had changed into only had animalistic instincts left in her. They hesitated for quite some time on the island before finally deciding to leave. Xiang Nuan and Wen Qing’s story would forever be sealed inside the endless world of the black fog. One day, perhaps someone would find an island filled with blooming flowers amid the sea of despair.
Pulling all the employees except the Spider Boy into the comic, Chen Ge picked up the white cat, gave this world one last glance, and took his parting steps. Black water washed all over his body as he walked through dreamscapes that were constructed by spider webs. It felt like his worlds were turning. When Chen Ge opened his eyes again, he was already inside Eastern Jiujiang’s White Dragon Tunnel. After leaving the world behind the door, Chen Ge collapsed directly to the ground. He coughed out a great amount of black blood. His face was deathly pale, and green veins pulsed under his skin. Many thin, black threads crawled toward his heart.
At this dangerous moment, the red high heels materialized beside Chen Ge. The bandages on her body had peeled off a lot, and the curses that covered her body transformed into blood vessels before they travelled to land on Chen Ge’s arm. After coughing out several mouthfuls of black fog, a light mist of black fog dissipated from inside Chen Ge’s body. It then turned into the shape of nine children. With maximum power shown by the red high heels, it took quite some time before all nine children were taken care of.
“Looks like I spent too long inside the world of the black fog. The ghost fetus must’ve planted some curse on me when I first entered the door.” Chen Ge leaned against the tunnel wall and sat on the ground. He gasped hungrily for air. “Thankfully, the red high heels has inherited most of the ghost fetus’ curse, and she was there to help neutralize the curse that was planted on me by the ghost fetus.”
The curse had been broken, but Chen Ge’s body temperature was still much lower than a normal person’s. After this entry into the world of the black fog, his body temperature had sunk to a new low. This appeared to be an irrevocable process.
“Oh well, now is not the time to worry about that. What I need to do now is go and get a good, well-deserved rest.” The ghost fetus had sacrificed himself to protect Wen Qing. The sword that dangled over Chen Ge had now been removed. He did not need to worry day in and day out anymore, passing his days in constant fear for his life.
“Zhang Ya did not appear to go into hibernation this time. Even if the people from the cursed hospital come at me, I have confidence that I can make their journey a one-way trip.”
Actually, Chen Ge anticipated the people from the cursed hospital coming to find him. With each Red Specter that he took down, the other party’s power would be further limited.
“Even though the faceless doctor told me that my parents are dead, if I think about it seriously, if my parents are really dead, the cursed hospital would not have sent their weakest Demon God to come and recapture the ghost fetus, so the faceless doctor’s words cannot be trusted fully. Therefore, what I needed to do next is locate my parents and…” Chen Ge took out the black phone from his pocket. “… get to the bottom of the truth regarding this phone.”
After Chen Ge left the world of black fog, the black phone kept vibrating. It appeared like he had received multiple messages at the same time. Sliding open the screen, Chen Ge read through the messages inside the abandoned tunnel.
“Congratulations, Red Specter’s Favored, for completing the four-star Trial Mission ‘Ghost Fetus’!
“Mission completion rate is eighty percent! Extra reward obtained, The Handbook to Jiujiang’s Psychopaths!
“The Handbook to Jiujiang’s Psychopaths (Unique Item): All the psychopaths, madmen, and murderers that you have encountered will be recorded inside this! How scary this handbook will be is dependent fully on your own life experience.
“Optional mission of the highest difficulty, Salvation, completed! Unlocked unique infrastructure—Jiu Hong Apartments (The World of Black Fog)!
“Jiu Hong Apartments (The largest unique infrastructure in terms of size): The ghost fetus replaced you as the ninth child. Jiu Hong Apartments is a reconstruction of the ghost fetus’ past. It has been watching every single soul that enters the residential area. Will you choose salvation, or will you be dragged further into the abyss by the ghost fetus?”
When Chen Ge read until this point, he paused for a moment. When he completed the highest difficulty quest at the School of the Afterlife, he also obtained a unique infrastructure—The Red Specters’ Art Room. The art room contained thirteen different paintings left behind by thirteen Red Specters. It was a scary place. Now that he had completed the ghost fetus’ mission, he had obtained yet another unique infrastructure. This place was related to the ghost fetus, and the black phone even specifically pointed out that this place was tied to the world of the black fog. These warnings caused Chen Ge to be careful. After all, he had to keep in mind that the ghost fetus was ultimately a Demon God.
“Before I can open the place to the visitors, I will need to go through the scenario to experience it once for myself first for the sake of safety.”
Clicking open the next unread message, Chen Ge continued to read.
“Optional mission, Jiang Ming, completed! Your talent, Ghost Ear, has been greatly improved. Unlocked a new scenario, The Soundless Home.
“Optional mission, Ying Tong, completed! Your talent, Yin Yang Vision, has been greatly improved. Unlocked a new scenario, Spire of Darkness.
“Optional mission, Yu Jian, completed! Zhang Ya’s affection level has increased! Unlocked a new scenario, the Haunted Avenue.
“Optional mission, Wu Sheng, completed! Obtained a unique item, the skin tailor’s Costume! Unlocked a new scenario, Voiceless Small Town.
“Skin Tailor’s Costume: At midnight, you will encounter such a person in the Voiceless Small Town. His whole body is covered in thick fabric. His clothes are sewn together by different fabrics, and they are stuck to his body like his second skin.
“Optional mission, Xiang Nuan, completed! A new life force has been injected into your body. You have been resuscitated by a long-awaited warmth! Unlocked a new scenario, Death Apartment.
“Optional mission, Fang Yu, completed! Unlocked a new scenario, White Orphanage! Other than that, you will receive a hint regarding your own memory! The hint only consists of one paragraph, but it will be immensely important to you.
“Hint of your own memory: When the day comes, should you have to forget everything, what will be the last thing you wish to forget? Hold on fast to it. It will bring you back to find your real self!
“Optional mission, Liu Wen, completed! Unlocked a new scenario, House of Strange Odors.
“Optional mission, Se Xin, completed! Unlocked a new scenario, The Room of My Heart.”
All the children selected by the ghost fetus represented a side mission. The combination of all these scenarios made the real ghost fetus’ scenario. To Chen Ge’s slight surprise, even though he had not done the missions related to Liu Wen and Se Xin, the scenarios represented by the two children had been normally unlocked as well. He was not given any extra rewards for them, though. The rewards for completing a four-star mission were extremely lucrative. Chen Ge was still not yet done reading through the messages.
“Congratulations, Red Specters’ Favored! The ghost fetus’ Trial Mission’s completion rate is at eighty percent!
“Red Specters’ Favored, congratulations for successfully unlocking the four-star scary scenario, Ghost Fetus! The scenario is made up of nine normal scenarios and one hidden scenario! Please inspect them closely before opening them up to the public!
“Warning! You are already in possession of two four-star scenarios. The haunted house will upgrade from a Maze of Terror into a Theme Park of Despair! The expansion will be completed at midnight tomorrow!
“Congratulations Red Specters’ Favored for successfully upgrading your haunted house into a Theme Park of Despair. You will obtain a unique infrastructure—the Door of Salvation!
“Door of Salvation (Extremely rare and one-off unique infrastructure): The most beautiful accident is often hidden in the deepest despair! This Door of Salvation is hidden somewhere inside the Theme Park of Despair! Push it open, and you will understand the true meaning of salvation!”
