My House of Horrors

The phone slid through his fingers and landed on the floor. A voice could still be heard on the other end.

“Youliang’s phone is not reachable. What happened to you guys in there?

“Xiao Zhu? Can you hear me?

“Zhu Jianing? Are you alright? Talk to me?”

Of course, Zhu Jianing could hear him, but at that moment, he had lost the power of speech. His pupils rolled back, and Zhu Jianing slithered to the floor like wet laundry.

“Didn’t I warn you not to take pictures and videos inside the Haunted House? Why didn’t you listen?” Chen Ge removed his mask and placed it inside his pocket. He glanced at Zhu Jianing, who was convulsing on the floor, and he had a renewed appreciation for the disclaimer agreement.

His scare tactics were different from other Haunted Houses. Normal Haunted Houses had actors pretend to be ghosts who hid in the blind corner to scare the visitors with sudden screams and shouts. Chen Ge’s tactic was different. His focus was on the creation of the atmosphere, and he allowed the visitors to walk into the scare on their own. The whole process was fool-proof and could not be detected earlier.

Even when the visitors were already prepared, they would still be scared— Zhu Jianing was the perfect example. The fear inside his heart which had no place to release was like an ice cube lodged in his throat, stopping his breath and chilling his bones.

Chen Ge exited the third cubicle, picked up the phone, and slid it inside Zhu Jianing’s pocket before dragging the man out of the toilet and depositing him in the corridor.

Why haven’t the spasms stopped? But he’s still breathing, so he should be fine. Chen Gen applied pressure to the man’s temples, and when Zhu Jianing’s pupils regained focus, he said, “Can you hear me? Where is your friend who came in with you?”

There was no answer, so Chen Ge had to give up on the man. “Stay put, or else you might run into an actual ghost.”

He was afraid that he might scare the other person dumb as well, so Chen Ge removed his bloodied outfit and carried it in his arm.

This man came running out from the female dormitory, so his friend should be there.

Chen Ge ran toward the dormitory, but even after he searched through all the bedrooms, he could not find Fei Youliang.

Where did he go? He stopped at the room with the Pen Spirit. The pen that he had fixed with tape was broken once more and was lying on the floor.

There is no sign of fighting in the room, so where could the bespectacled man have gone? Chen Ge exited the female dormitory and reached the junction. Could he have gone down the other way?

The other route led to the deep well and school office. The road was uneven, and after passing several offices, Chen Ge finally found Fei Youliang. The man’s condition was even worse than Zhu Jianing’s. There was white foam around his lips, and his glasses were shattered. However, the most curious thing was that he was lying near the well at the end of the corridor with one of his hands holding the edge of the well like he was going to haul himself into it.

What in the world happened to this guy? Looks like he has angered more than just the Pen Spirit! There was no surveillance in this new scenario, so Chen Ge had no idea what had happened to Fei Youliang.

Looking at the man’s worse for wear condition, Chen Ge very kindly checked his pulse.

The man’s condition is very similar to He San’s when he first visited the Haunted House. I’d better get him out of here first.

After wasting plenty of energy, Chen Ge finally managed to drag the two to the scenario entrance. Prying open the wooden boards, he just finished dragging the two onto the first floor when he heard the sound of an argument coming from outside the Haunted House; it sounded like the people from Qin Guang’s studio were attempting to barge into the Haunted House.

So much trouble today. With one arm under each visitor, he dragged the two out of the Haunted House. Chen Ge dropped Fei Youliang and Zhu Jianing before the people from Qin Guang’s studio. His eyes scanned the lot of them as he demanded, “What is the commotion about?”

Two lively, vibrant men had walked into the Haunted House, and two lifeless husks had come out. One of them was even foaming at the mouth. Did he get scared until he vomited?

The surrounding crowd immediately took a step back to clear a space for them.

“Xiao Zhu! Youliang!” The people from Qin Guang’s studio immediately rushed over to help them off the ground. Zhu Jianing was recovering; he now responded to others at least, but his legs were still weak.

The serious case was Fei Youliang. He was not unconscious, because his eyes were wide open, but he did not respond to people calling his name. His expression was blank, and the white foam continued to trail out of the corner of his lips.

“What have you done to the both of them‽” the middle-aged man demanded angrily.

“Why would you ask me? How would I know?” Chen Ge was being honest. When he entered the scenario, the two were already in such a state.

“We talked to each other earlier. Xiao Zhu said that your employees stepped on Youliang’s shoulders! How dare you allow your workers to assault the visitors? We are definitely going to sue!”

“Who saw my employees assault him?” Chen Ge glanced at the two lying on the floor. “Feel free to call the police. I can guarantee, other than their own hands, you won’t be able to find foreign fingerprints on the rest of their bodies.”

“Stop arguing, I’ll call the park’s doctor. The most important thing now is to help them.” This was such a headache for Uncle Xu.

“They’re in this state, and you still refuse to admit your fault? Thankfully, we came prepared!” The middle-aged man opened Fei Youliang’s backpack and pulled out the laptop from within. Then he connected the wireless camera from Fei Youliang’s chest and the audio recorder attached to the backpack to the laptop.

“Indeed, you people sure came prepared.” When Chen Ge was dragging the ‘bodies’ out of the Haunted House earlier, he had already noticed the cameras and could guess the real motive behind why they were there. However, he did not mind it one bit. Other Haunted Houses banned recording was because they were afraid that their set designs would be leaked; after all, designing a set was incredibly pricey. However, that was not a concern for Chen Ge. He would be given new scenarios after completing Trial Missions. In terms of the updating speed for new scenarios, no Haunted House could rival Chen Ge.

From his perspective, the videos collected by these guys were a type of alternative advertisement; after all, what his Haunted House was missing most was exposure.

“You won’t be so smug in a bit. I will keep the video of your employees physically assaulting the visitors as evidence!” the middle-aged man said loudly like he was trying to get the attention of the passing crowd.

“We are absolute professionals; we didn’t not lay a finger on your people. How many times do you want me to repeat that?” Chen Ge asked as he wandered over to the laptop. He, too, was actually curious about what happened to Fei Youliang inside the Haunted House and why he ended up next to the well.

The middle-aged man straightened the laptop and played the recorded video. The screen was dark, and only random noises could be heard. At the time, Fei Youliang had not entered the Haunted House. The recorder had probably been activated beforehand. The camera had not been taken out yet, so they could only hear noises but could see no image.

Several seconds later, Chen Ge’s voice could be heard from the computer.

“Let me remind you, the last person who made a claim like yours came out on his back.”

Then Fei Youliang’s condescending laugh followed. “You’ve only managed to arouse my interest even more.”