"Don't worry about interpersonal relationships — I'll definitely get along well with the coworkers. But you can pay me at the intern rate for now. Once I've actually proven myself, you can convert me to full-time. No rush." Wu Jinpeng's attitude was very sincere.
"I don't have interns at my place. Or rather, the probation period is very short — usually I can tell whether someone's a good fit just from meeting them." Chen Ge's haunted house had a new employee induction ritual: after earning Chen Ge's trust completely, the new hire would follow a group of tourists through every scene in the haunted house. If they could be brought back from that experience in one piece, it meant the employee was great and could stay on.
"All right, then tomorrow after I drop Wu Sheng off at school, I'll go handle my resignation paperwork first. They're laying people off over there anyway — the boss should approve the slip by noon, and I'll head to our haunted house in the afternoon. By the way, where exactly is the haunted house?"
"Xinshiji Paradise, western outskirts of Hanjiang — the Horror House." Chen Ge looked at Wu Jinpeng. This was the fifth living employee he had personally vetted and hired. From now on, whether it was opening a branch in Xinhai or handling all sorts of matters, Wu Jinpeng should prove to be a tremendous help.
The shadows were managed by vengeful ghosts; the sunlight was served by the living. A truly great haunted house needed both hands working together.
Once Wu Jinpeng's induction ceremony was over, he would be considered one of their own. And Chen Ge had always treated his employees like family.
"Brother Peng, let me ask you one last thing." Chen Ge stood up and walked over to Wu Kun. "Has your brother been like this since he was little? Did your parents take him for treatment while they were still alive?"
"When we were kids, our parents took him to see doctors, but the results were terrible. Still, even though he can't live or work independently, he does help out with some chores. My little brother is a very kind person — sometimes he even takes the initiative to help me out." Wu Jinpeng sat down next to his brother. "For a while, I worked during the day and sang at a bar at night, and it was my brother who stayed with Wu Sheng the whole time. The two of them, even though both have their own... limitations, they were really good friends to each other."
"Really good friends? That's a bit strange." Chen Ge didn't want to hide anything. "Wu Sheng's world behind the door is filled with all sorts of imagery, and every image has a connection to reality. But I didn't see any imagery of your brother Wu Kun in that world. It's as if Wu Kun doesn't exist in Wu Sheng's memory at all."
"That can't be right — they're together every single day."
"That's just the first thing that struck me as odd. The second thing is the fan in Wu Kun's hand — why does he keep talking about the fan?" Chen Ge pointed at Wu Kun's frightening-looking hand. "Your brother may have limited intellectual capacity, below the normal level, but he's absolutely not a deranged madman. He doesn't seem like the kind of person who would stick his hand into a fan on his own. That's why I think someone else was probably there that day!"
"You're saying my brother's hand was forced into the fan by someone?" Wu Jinpeng's jaw clenched tight.
"Otherwise why would he keep saying 'fan, fan'? He was most likely trying to warn you." No sooner had Chen Ge finished speaking than Wu Jinpeng went over and woke Wu Kun.
Wu Kun, who knew nothing of what was going on, clutched the fan and huddled in the corner by the wall, frightened and angry.
"Xiao Kun, your big brother is here. Was someone bullying you with your hand? Don't be scared — remember how big brother used to fight for you when you were little? Anyone who dares bully you, big brother will beat them up. Tell me, okay?"
Wu Jinpeng spoke rapidly, consumed by so much rage that he ended up scaring his own brother instead.
Wu Kun clutched the electric fan, draped in a thin blanket, crawling erratically across the floor while shouting.
"Are you people ever going to let anyone sleep?!"
The rental apartment had terrible sound insulation, and the neighbors were already complaining. Chen Ge and Wu Jinpeng quickly worked together to restrain Wu Kun.
"Xiao Kun, don't be scared. Big brother's right here." Wu Jinpeng stroked Wu Kun's head, but his eyes were fixed on Chen Ge. "Now that you mention it, I actually do remember something. My brother's condition has always been pretty stable, but ever since his hand got injured by the fan, it's gotten a lot worse."
"Did your brother show any other unusual behavior after that incident?"
Wu Jinpeng thought for a moment. "Actually, yes. Several times when I came home from work, I found my brother hiding alone in the corner, staring at his own shadow. Sometimes he'd even secretly punch his shadow a few times."
"The one who injured Wu Kun was the Shadow from Liwan Town? But knowing the Shadow's temperament — if Wu Kun got in his way, he would've killed him without hesitation. Could he have been careless?" Chen Ge hadn't expected to find more clues through Wu Jinpeng's brother. "Besides the fan, did Wu Kun ever say anything else strange?"
"Let me think." Wu Jinpeng furrowed his brows. "Oh, right — back then we lived in the old district. Whenever Wu Kun went outside, he'd always run really fast, like he didn't want to linger on our floor at all. One time I asked him why, and he pointed at our neighbor's door and kept shouting, 'Ghost, ghost, ghost!'"
"The old district? Where exactly in the old district did your family live first?"
"We originally lived on East Xingfu Street in the old district of Hanjiang. Later we moved to the eastern outskirts of Hanjiang. After living there for a while, we moved again to the western outskirts because of work." Wu Jinpeng listed every address where they had rented for Chen Ge.
"Your family lived in the old district, Jiang Ming lived in the old district, and Fan Yu lived in the old district when he was a child. Is the old district really that cursed?" Chen Ge noted down the detailed addresses where Wu Jinpeng had previously lived. He planned to head over there right now to take a look.
"Wait — I just remembered something else." Wu Jinpeng opened the wooden case that held his guitar and took out a clay figurine with Wu Sheng's name written on it. The figurine was blackened, as if it had been molded from mud mixed with blood. "Back when we were living in the old district, that strange neighbor gave my family a spirit shrine. He said that as long as we kept it in the house, Wu Sheng would definitely be able to speak within nine years."
"What happened to the spirit shrine?"
"The shrine was quite large and hard to move, so during our second move, we left it behind in the eastern outskirts rental. The new tenants thought the shrine was bad luck and moved it down to the basement." Wu Jinpeng placed the palm-sized clay figurine into Chen Ge's hand. "But we kept the clay figurine that used to be enshrined in the shrine with us the whole time."
Everything clicked into place. Chen Ge took the figurine and placed it on top of his own shadow. "Brother Peng, that shrine wasn't enshrining any god. You and your family were harmed by that neighbor from the old district."
"Are you saying that neighbor is the one who forced my brother's hand into the fan?"
"I can't confirm that yet, but I'll get to the bottom of it. You two get some rest — I won't disturb you any longer." Chen Ge picked up the clay figurine from where it lay on his shadow and handed it back to Wu Jinpeng. "Remember to come to work tomorrow."
Strangely enough, after the clay figurine had been resting on Chen Ge's shadow for only a brief time, the blackish-red bloodstains on its surface had completely vanished.