Chapter 964 - Spider and Butterfly (1/2)

Even though the old Japanese house only had a few rooms, it gave people the feeling of being trapped inside a maze. Some of the rooms were connected; others appeared like they were separated, but there was actually a panel that could be pushed open between them. The layout was confusing, and the five rooms corresponded to the human body’s five major organs. Chen Ge also found the remnants of mantra scrolls in every bedroom.

Even though the building style was Japanese, the scrolls had Chinese characters. Most of them were written in ancient Chinese calligraphy, and Chen Ge could only recognize the Five Elements (Wood, Fire, Earth, Water, Metal).

“Five bedrooms, five organs, five elements…” The sound of a wind chime tingled in his ears. Chen Ge turned back to look. He was curious about where this sound came from. This was the second time that he had heard this.

“Has anyone realized that this house appears like a person who is lying on the ground?” The police officer had started treating Chen Ge nicely. He followed Chen Ge around loyally; where Chen Ge went, there he would be.

“A person?”

“Yes, the room that we first entered in is the head. The rooms on the left and right are the arms. The rooms below are the legs. The corridor in the middle is the body, and the altar at the end appears like it’s being stepped on.” The police officer’s comment inspired Chen Ge.

“If the whole building corresponds to a person, then the whole layout is using the energy of a living person to hinder the altar.”

“A person stomping on the power of the altar?” A shine glazed the police officer’s eyes, and he shouted excitedly, “I get it now! A person literally stepping on the god! That’s why there is a pair of red high heels inside the altar!”

The first part of the analysis was okay, but the second half was all over the place. Chen Ge wanted to correct the man, but the police officer was too excited to share his discovery with the rest of visitors. Just as the other visitors were discussing this among themselves, Chen Ge stood quietly in the corridor.

“The theme of this place is a curse, and a curse can be a reincarnation. Spreading from the malice of the first person, to clear this scenario, we will need to understand what has happened here. I found the camcorder inside the first bedroom. It recorded the history of the seven young people staying overnight at this house. The camcorder did not show the ending of the seven people, but the chance of them surviving is negligible. Those were seven human lives.

“The second bedroom is filled with a bunch of clothes, and they are all covered in dirt like they had just been picked out from a swamp. Compared to the words mentioned by the owner of the house, his parents died in a landslide, and his whole family died in the cave in. So, it would be natural for the clothes on their bodies to be covered in soil. Therefore, the clothes in the second bedroom probably belong to the parents, and the reason behind their car accident may have something to do with the altar as well.”

Chen Ge scratched his chin and slowly sifted through the known information in his mind.

“Based what the owner of the house said, on the day of their parent’s accident, it was raining heavily. The road to this mountain village is hard to navigate, and the villagers’ reaction showed that landslides are a common occurrence. Since the owners were local, they should have known about that. If that’s the case, why did they venture out that day?”

The answer was quite clear. Chen Ge turned to look at the altar.

“They probably opened the altar, and even if they didn’t, they would have discovered something dangerous and been forced to leave! But they did not expect, even after escaping from this house, they still couldn’t escape from the shadow of death. That should be the power of the curse.

“Then comes the third bedroom. I found a toppled over sacrificial table, and on the table was a black and white picture of an old man. Strangely enough, the man was facing away from the camera, so his face couldn’t be seen. Other than that, I found many children’s toys in the third bedroom, and they are all hidden under the sacrificial table. The items in that room reminded me of the story told by the man in the camcorder. On the day of the grandfather’s burial, the grandson looked into the altar and mysteriously disappeared. If the grandson also died, then we have another two more dead lives.

“The similarity across these stories is that someone has probably opened the altar.”