"No. 4, before you start your story, I must warn you." The first man on the right turned to look at Chen Ge. "The story you tell must be real. We have our own detection method, and if you're fabricating a lie, there'll be an appropriate punishment."
"I know the rules."
"Then begin."
Chen Ge thought about it and prepared to tell his first story. "This is a real story that happened to my friend. His surname was Wang, and he loved his wife very much, but his wife mysteriously disappeared several months ago.
"He reported it to the police and looked for his wife all over the city, leaving missing person reports at every corner he went. Everyone pitied him, and the investigating police also realized that he really loved his wife to the stage of pampering her, so they understood his actions.
"However, there is no such thing as a real fairytale in this world. After half a year of searching, his wife had still not been found. The police had already given up, but he did not. This became his only drive to live. He left home very early every morning with the missing person notices and only returned home late at night.
"He repeated this day in and day out until, one day, his hard work was rewarded. He suddenly received a message from his wife.
"Save me…
"It was sent from his wife's phone. It was short, but it sent endless terror in his heart!
"He was hiding a secret that he had not told anyone. Actually, he was responsible for his wife's disappearance. He had killed his wife and hidden her body. The endless search was to drain himself, to lighten the guilt he felt toward his wife. However, he didn't expect his dead wife to message him from beyond the grave.
"He hurriedly removed his wife's body from the hidden compartment in his house and drove to the countryside to bury her. He thought that was the end of the story, but scarier things happened.
"Whenever he woke up from his dream, his wife's clothes would appear in the bed beside him like his wife had returned in the night!
"But how could the person he buried return in the night?
"He woke up and returned to the countryside with his tools to move his wife deeper into the woods. However, no matter what he did, he would wake up to find his wife's stuff appearing around him. It was as if his wife had come back from the grave and would return to him after he fell asleep.
"He was increasingly scared, and his phone kept getting messages from his wife. However, he didn't have any recollection of receiving them. The only explanation was that they were sent after he fell asleep.
"Things only got worse from there. Sometimes when he woke up, he would discover he was wearing the clothes his wife died in. He was on the verge of collapse, and he knew the problem was with his wife. So, he returned to her grave to move her one last time.
"To prevent her from coming back again, he came up with a crazy idea—he was going to seal his wife inside the wall of an old apartment building.
"Seeing his wife merge into the wall, he sighed in the relief. This time, there was no way his wife was coming back." Chen Ge stopped abruptly. "That's the end of the story."
"That's it?" The two at the table were deep in the story. "Then what happened next? What happened to your friend?"
Chen Ge was telling Wang Qi's story. He wanted to say, That 'friend' met me and is now rotting in jail.
"Your story isn't finished, right?" the first man on the left said with annoyance.
"That's all I know. If I continue, it would be a lie." Chen Ge changed his voice to sound old. The first man on the left shared a look with the rest at the table, and they all turned to the fifth person on the left. The person was swallowed up by the black robe. Not one inch of skin was revealed.
Feeling everyone's gaze, the person spoke. "I cannot get a clear reading, but his story should be real."
"Not a bad story, but I don't like this feeling." The first man on the left placed his left hand on the table—that looked like how they voted. Of the other nine, eight placed their left hand on the table. Only the man who showed interest in Chen Ge's mask did not move.
"One forfeit and nine in agreement. Looks like our main course for tonight has been decided." The man on the left chuckled wickedly. The rest also looked at Chen Ge with viciousness.
Chen Ge tried calling Zhang Ya, but there was no response. He knew that if he did not do something, he was going to be in grave danger.
"Don't be so hasty. This is just my first story." Chen Ge was very calm. The mask on his face revealed a twisted smile. "Like I said, I have many stories."
Initially, the other new members had sighed in relief, but they got tense again.
"Many stories?" The man who had interest in his mask studied Chen Ge. "The rules of the ghost stories society state that if you finish three completely real ghost stories that are approved, you can make a demand or choose to leave the society. So, if you can tell me another two real ghost stories, we might develop a different opinion of you."
His statement was approved by the rest. Only the first man on the right hesitated. "No. 10, you seem to value this new member a lot."
"I just feel he is very interesting."
The black robed individuals seated at the table had their own numbers; they never referred to each other by name, not even nicknames.
"Real ghost stories aren't so easily made. Normal person come across them once or twice and would have a mental breakdown already." The man on the left retrieved his left hand from the table. "Hopefully, he won't be dumb enough to tell lies."
Chen Ge did not interrupt their exchanges. After all, he was trying to drag out the time.
"Tell us the rest of your stories."
"My second story is another real story that happened to my friend."
Chen Ge first told about how Fan Yu saw his parents fall into the well and how he lived in the house with his murderous aunt and house filled with ghosts. Then Chen Ge told the story about the Pen Spirit and the girl with depression. He realized that Zhang Ya had not awoken yet, so he also relayed the story about Men Nan's washing hair at night and the encroaching monster in his dream.
Finally, he stood at Xu Yin's perspective and told his bloody love story.
All his stories were real. When he was done, all the members were speechless. Just what kind of life he had lived?
His 'friends' were either sick or mad, and they would die every few years, but this fella was still alive and went there to share his story. Could it be that he was the real culprit behind all these stories?