My House of Horrors

Reaching out to press the face of the man in the picture, Mr. Zhou agreed with the yellow hair. “Indeed, why should we be in such a hurry? It’s rare that we have the chance to come in here, so we should make the most of it.”

Mr. Zhou was actually talking to the spirit inside the picture, but yellow hair thought the man was talking to him, so he concurred. “That’s right. That’s the spirit you should have when you’re inside a Haunted House! Come on, I’ll bring you to go visit some other places. This Haunted House is not that scary; it’s probably just a hoax online!”

Yellow hair led the two out of the old home. They searched through many homes before they reached the center of the village.

“The scenario is rather big. With our current speed, we might not be able to finish it in forty minutes. If we cannot find the wedding dress before forty minutes, it’ll be such a shame,” the large man told the rest. “I think we should split up. With this ancestral hall as the center, Sister Mao, Mr. Wong, and myself will go to the left, and the rest of you go to the right.”

“Why should you be with Sister Mao? I think it’s better if we switch places.” The yellow hair was unhappy. In the end, it was Sister Mao who convinced him to let it go.

“Then it’s decided.” Ma Tian’s group walked down the meandering road, leaving the rest in the middle of the village.

“We should plan this out as well. Xiao Lan, you go with the couple, and I’ll stick with the other guest. This way, we can save time and hopefully find the wedding dress before them.” Yellow hair took up the leadership role naturally.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea. We’re already split. What if we run into danger?” Zhang Lan walked to stand beside the yellow hair, hoping he would change his mind.

“Listen to me, this Haunted House’s atmosphere is not bad, but the scares are horrible.” The insouciance in yellow hair’s tone made Zhang Lan anxious. She wanted to tell yellow hair, The visitor that you’re pairing yourself with is quite abnormal!

However, she did not want to say that before Bai Qiulin.

“It’ll be fine, let’s go.” Yellow hair extended his hand toward Bai Qiulin, wanting to shake his hand, but Bai Qiulin did not show any intention of pulling his hand out of his pocket—he just nodded.

“You sure are something else. Later, don’t come to me with tears, begging me to help you out.” Yellow hair was quite angered. He took back his hand and walked ahead on his own. Bai Qiulin trailed behind him and still kept his hand inside his pocket. Zhang Lan saw this clearly, and her painted brows creased. “Something is just not right.”

“What is not right?” The friendly Mr. Zhou came to stand beside her.

“By the way, I have some questions to ask you.” Zhang Lan pointed at Bai Qiulin, who walked away. “That man came together with you. When you were in the lines outside, did he do anything weird? Or something out of the ordinary?”

“When we were in the lines?” Mr. Zhou scratched his chin in thought. “When Boss Chen shouted that there was a special discount for visitation of this three-star scenario, we were closest to the entrance, so we were selected. I don’t have any special impression of the man. He’s probably just a normal visitor.”

“I hope so.” Zhang Lan was still worried. “Let me tell you something. There was one time when I accompanied Sister Mao to review a Haunted House, and a mental patient sneaked into it. He looked just like a normal person, but he acted up inside the Haunted House. You have no idea how scary it was.”

“Why don’t you tell me?” Mr. Zhou and Duan Yue were curious.

“He slathered himself with the fake blood inside the Haunted House and then grabbed the prop to assault the other visitors. The worst thing was initially the visitors thought he was an employee at the Haunted House. They were afraid, but they did not resist. This caused many injuries.” Zhang Lan still had nightmares of that experience.

“How could something like that even happen‽” Mr. Zhou’s hand went to his lips. His action was quite exaggerated.

“That’s why I’m worried about Huang Xing. He might be hard to deal with, but he’s my companion.” By then, yellow hair and Bai Qiulin had already disappeared from their view.

“If I were you, I would be worried, too.” Mr. Zhou very naturally took up Duan Yue’s hand and turned to look at her with love. “If you went missing, I would look all over the world for you.”

Duan Yue’s reaction was cold. She only said one word. “Lies.”

“You two sure are a loving couple.” Zhang Lan laughed. She had just come to visit a Haunted House—she did not expect to be fed dog food. “Let’s start moving as well. The earlier we find the wedding dress, the sooner we have the upper hand.”

The mention of the mission made Zhang Lan turn serious. “I’m Sister Mao’s assistant. I investigated this Haunted House before we arrived. The information I’ve found is quite scary. The reviews from actual visitors are all above 8. Minus the trolls, all the reviews said this place is scary. We’ve reviewed many Haunted Houses before, and this is the first time we’ve seen something like this.”

“Meaning this Haunted House is very scary?” Mr. Zhou looked around him. “I don’t think it’s that scary so far, just a bit cold.”

“Don’t let your guard down. I suspect the boss is just biding his time.” Zhang Lan took out her phone to click open a page. “Look at the online review for the boss.”

Mr. Zhou and Duan Yue glanced at Zhang Lan’s hone and saw about ten anonymous reviews.

“The boss is insane! Like a serial killer, he discovered me but didn’t say anything, trailing behind me silently. The man followed me for ten minutes! If not for my friend who screamed, I really didn’t know there’s something behind me!”

“Don’t ask me why I’m an Anon, I still want to see tomorrow’s sunrise… The boss is too scary.”

“My friend asked why I brought extra underwear with me to a Haunted House. I say, if you want to prepare diapers, it’s also fine.”

Reading all the anonymous reviews, Mr. Zhou and Duan Yue’s expressions changed. They had a new understanding of Chen Ge.

“Scary, right?” Zhang Lan pocketed her phone. “So, I say we better find the wedding dress as fast as we can and leave this place.”

“Okay.” Mr. Zhou arranged his emotions. “Then, what shall we do next?”

“I’m a little worried about Huang Xing. Let’s go meet up with him first.” Zhang Lan pointed toward the road that yellow hair had headed down earlier. Mr. Zhou and Duan Yue followed behind her.

By then, yellow hair and Bai Qiulin had reached the end of the street. They found a sedan at the corner.

“A bridal sedan?” Yellow hair was excited. “Looks like the wedding dress will be nearby! I’ve found the right place!”

He ignored Bai Qiulin and walked into the house where the sedan was parked alone. “There’s white paper everywhere. Is this a Minghun?”

Yellow hair looked left and right but forgot to look behind him. The sedan that he had passed earlier started to move on its own.