My House of Horrors

“The information for the supernatural observation club is in Mr. Bai’s room, and the room and the office are down the same path. The design is purposely for us to split up.” Bai Buhui was very calm. “When all of us stay together, even if we run into the actors, we won’t be afraid, but once we are separated, we will be taken down one by one.”

“Taken down one by one? This is just a Haunted House. All of us have phones. If there’s anything wrong, we can just call each other.” Lan Dong thought that Bai Buhui was being too careful. He looked more like he was betting his life with Death than visiting a Haunted House.

He’s too into this. Lan Dong silently labelled Bai Buhui. He did not know about the man’s identity; Liu Gang did not tell them about the futuristic theme park.

“When a person is shocked, the brain will be temporarily flustered. We will set each other’s numbers as speed dial. That way, when we run into trouble, we’ll be able to contact the others immediately.” Ah Li took out his phone to make the example. “We often do this when we are out exploring. There are many other self-protective skills. If you want to learn, I can teach you.”

“Professional.” Liu Gang was satisfied with Lan Dong and Ah Li. “We’ll follow Xiao Dong’s suggestion. The three of them plus me, the cameraman, and my assistant will go to the other path, and the rest of you can continue exploring this place.”

Since Liu Gang had spoken, the others did not voice dissenting opinions, and Bai Buhui had trouble countering him before the viewers.

“Let’s not waste time. The boss gave us sixty minutes, but we will try to clear his quest in under forty minutes. I have to see the look on that man’s face at the exit.” Liu Gang then led Lan Dong’s trio and retraced their path. “We’ve been here for so long, and we haven’t seen anything. Even if the viewers aren’t bored, I am.”

The cameraman followed Liu Gang closely, and they soon disappeared around the corner.

“That Lan Dong may be young, but he is a cunning little thing. The chance to expose ourselves before millions of people was taken away just like that.” Sister Ghost rolled her eyes. She pointed at Big and Small Ghosts, “You two, say something! The reason we’re here is to borrow the popularity of Liu Gang to promote our own livestream, but welp, look at us now.”

Without the camera, they did not need to act like they were walking on eggshells anymore, and they spoke what was on their minds.

“Then should we continue the exploration?” The bald security guard, Liu Guangming, was an honest man. He was the most innocent of the group. He listened to the orders closely and did not think much when he was called to come visit this place.

“Of course. If we locate more oil paintings than Lan Dong, the viewers will give us more approval.” Sister Ghost smoothed down her clothes. “Sigh, wasted the time I have spent dressing up for the occasion.”

“Don’t worry.” Bai Buhui stopped Sister Ghost. “We will return the way we came and follow behind Liu Gang. If they run into anything scary, we can jump out to rescue them immediately.”

“That’s a bit too…” Even Sister and Small Ghost thought that was inappropriate.

“Liu Gang is livestreaming the whole process, and the camera is now on them. You are dressed so sexily today. Don’t tell me you plan to show yourself to the ghosts?” Bai Buhui’s words cut into Sister Ghost’s heart. “The three of you are after popularity, so the best choice is to follow Liu Gang. It’ll be fine if we’re not discovered.”

Bai Buhui was a clever man and he knew how to toy with people’s desires. “Furthermore, those three kids aren’t reliable. When they are scared to the point they pee their pants, don’t you think our appearance will be very much welcomed?”

“That’s right. We’ll turn back now and hurry, or else we might lose them.” The trio was convinced, and Liu Guangming had to follow. The five exited the club activity center. The outside corridor was empty, and Liu Gang’s group was gone.

“Don’t let them discover us and pay attention to your surroundings. The boss has been waiting for us to split up. Looking at the time, it’s about time for him to make the move.” Bai Buhui and the four retraced their steps, but after turning the corner, they still did not see Liu Gang. However, they could hear footsteps not far away.

“We’ll maintain this distance.”

In the dim light, footsteps echoed down the corridor. With those footsteps leading the way, Bai Buhui’s group was slowly led down the corridor.

…

“Achoo!” The male assistant sneezed. He clenched his phone and kept turning back. “Brother Gang, Muscle, did you hear the footsteps coming from behind us? It sounds like someone’s following us.”

“Then let them follow. We’re just at a Haunted House. What’s the worst that can happen?” Liu Gang was focused on his livestream to pay attention to his assistant. They returned to the split, and when they planned to head right, the assistant suddenly stopped.

“What now?”

“When we were here earlier, I remember that the doors on the corridors were all open, and we went inside the toilet. I was the last to come out, and I remember clearly that I didn’t close the door…” The assistant’s eyes moved, and his face paled. “Brother Gang, look at the ground.”

The dusted ground had hand and footprints and trails of balls being rolled across it.

“There are things following us. They are following us!”

“Stop panicking! We are inside a Haunted House. Isn’t it normal for the actors to follow us? This is all fake. There are no real ghosts.” Liu Gang used his feet to step on the rolling trail. “This is a clear prop. Do you think a real ghost would use his head to roll on the ground? Is there a ghost as dumb as that?”

“Perhaps something was wrong with the prop. It’s expected for a small Haunted House like this one.” Lan Dong smiled. “The size of the footprints and handprints are all different. They should come from models. If they are from actual humans, the Haunted House’s accounts will be in the red.”

With the comfort given by Lan Dong, the group ended the left corridor. After passing a few empty classrooms, with the guide from the signs, they found the male dormitory.

“Why is there a staircase? There’s a basement?” The doors of the first sub-level were all closed. They went down to the second-floor basement and found a torn diary inside the first room around the corner.

“X Year, X Month, X Day, I lost a bet with my friend, so I came to this school to test my courage. The three of us had to play three mini games. Guess the Person Behind the Door, Sitting in the Row, and Flipping Over.

“My two friends played the previous two games, and they were fine. Finally, it was my turn. But halfway through the last game, I bent over and looked around the room in an inverted manner. I then realized that the faces of my two friends were weird, just like, just like they are dead.”