"Is 'Nether Fetus' just another name for the Spirit-Medium Ghost School?" Shangguan Qinghong whispered to the teammate beside him, who was equally confused.
"Maybe. A scene on the scale of the Spirit-Medium Ghost School would take over a year to polish. The fact that their haunted house already has one is pretty impressive."
"That makes sense. Looks like they just changed the name."
"Something doesn't feel right to me. I think we've been played." Shangguan Qinghong had dealt with Chen Ge before and knew exactly what kind of person he was. Given Chen Ge's personality, he would never back down or take a loss. The moment Chen Ge's tone had shifted, a bad feeling had crept into his heart.
"It's too late now. We've already agreed — are we going to go back on our word? I can't afford to lose face like that." The man in sunglasses had overheard the conversation between Shangguan Qinghong and the other person. He spoke up: "Relax. Even if the Nether Fetus and the Spirit-Medium Ghost School are two separate scenes, it won't make much difference to us. Everyone in this industry has been at it for half a century — we know all the tricks inside and out. Scaring tourists is easy for him, but trying to scare us? That's a pipe dream."
The man in sunglasses had every reason to be confident. He seemed to be one of the top haunted house designers in the country. Although Chen Ge didn't recognize him, he held considerable authority among other practitioners.
Now that the man in sunglasses had spoken, the others nodded in agreement. All nine tourists followed Chen Ge over to Uncle Xu.
"Uncle, nine tickets for the Nether Fetus scene." Chen Ge had put Uncle Xu in a tough spot — even the ticket seller had never heard of any "Nether Fetus scene." But he couldn't publicly undermine Chen Ge, so he simply handed nine general admission tickets to Shangguan Qinghong and the others.
The onlooking tourists were hearing about the Nether Fetus scene for the first time, and excitement spread through the crowd. Many old regulars who had been waiting in the rest area rushed out as well.
"The Nether Fetus four-star scene opens for the first time today! Fifty percent off! Don't miss out if you want to get in! A brand-new scene's first trial run is the most exciting — it's like watching a live match. You never know what's going to happen in the next second, and that feeling of the unknown is incredibly thrilling." The moment these words left Chen Ge's mouth, Shangguan Qinghong — tickets already in hand — turned green. He was now certain that the Nether Fetus and the Spirit-Medium Ghost School were two separate scenes, rendering all the information he'd gathered completely useless.
Struggling to control his expression, Shangguan Qinghong frantically made eye contact with another tourist beside him, but the other person was equally stunned.
"A brand-new scene, the ultimate experience, and all of this for just twenty bucks — what are you waiting for?" The nine tourists all knew each other, so Chen Ge couldn't slip his own employees in. He needed more tourists to participate.
Whenever Chen Ge started talking like this, the haunted house's veteran visitors would all retreat in unison, backing away as far as possible.
New scene openings always meant a few tourists would be "sacrificed to the heavens." The old visitors fell back immediately — they knew Chen Ge's playbook all too well. When other haunted houses suddenly discounted their tickets, it meant they were running a promotion. But when Chen Ge's haunted house put tickets on sale, something big was about to happen.
Everyone had gotten smarter about it. No one came forward for a long while, and just as Chen Ge was about to give up, a voice rang out from the crowd.
"Haven't you lot been skipping class to come here every day? What happened to all that enthusiasm?" A middle-aged man wearing glasses stepped forward. "Forensic medicine students running to haunted houses every single day — half a year and you still haven't cleared the game. In every sense of the word, you're the worst batch of students I've ever taught."
"Teacher Wang, shh! This isn't the time! Whatever you do, don't let Boss Chen notice us!" The students flanking the middle-aged man rushed to hush him. One of them, a simple-looking young man, was an old friend of Chen Ge's.
"Heshan, I heard you were the first one who started coming to this haunted house. You dragged all your seniors along, and on top of that, you raised the school's truancy rate by three percentage points. We're going to have a serious talk about this when we get back." The middle-aged man was quite stern, lecturing until Heshan didn't dare lift his head.
"Heshan! Long time no see!" Chen Ge had been struggling to find customers, and then he spotted the students from the Hanjiang Forensic Medical College. He ran over as though reuniting with family, beaming with joy. "And this teacher is...?"
"My surname is Wang, senior lecturer at the Hanjiang Forensic Medical College." The students on either side were frantically signaling Teacher Wang with their eyes, but he completely ignored them. "My students are constantly skipping your classes to come here. They discuss how to clear your game during class, before class, after class — their parents pay tuition, the country provides them with an excellent educational environment, and this is what they spend their time thinking about? How to beat a haunted house?"
Teacher Wang was a strict and conscientious teacher — the fact that he'd bought his own ticket and come to the amusement park to catch truant students said it all.
Moreover, this teacher had clearly been observing for a long time, and when he finally made his move, he caught a whole batch of students red-handed.
"A bit of work and a bit of play — skipping class to visit a haunted house is definitely wrong, but proper time management and visiting a haunted house can help people relieve stress. It's actually a very effective way to decompress." Chen Ge paid no attention to the expressions of the veteran visitors around him and said with a perfectly straight face: "Teacher Wang, would you like to give it a try? After experiencing it, you might better understand why your students are so passionate about haunted houses. After all, my haunted house isn't quite like the others — it's filled with countless puzzles and unsolved cases. During the visit, tourists can gradually improve their powers of observation, analysis, and judgment."
"Teacher, think twice!" Heshan quickly grabbed Teacher Wang's arm. "The four-star new scene is terrifying — I'm not joking!"
"Are you trying to use reverse psychology on me?" Teacher Wang glared at Heshan. "I've been involved in numerous major cases. I only retired from frontline work two years ago — what kind of bloody, horrifying scenes haven't I seen?"
Heshan looked wrongly accused and aggrieved. "Teacher..."
"A real crime scene is a hundred times more terrifying than any fictional haunted house scene. When you're physically there, you can feel that life once departed from that place. The smells, the traces, the wounds — every clue hides real fear." Teacher Wang shook his head. "Once you become qualified forensic doctors, you'll understand. Then you'll realize that so-called haunted houses can only give you a moment's fright — they'll never come close to true terror."
"Well said. I can relate." Chen Ge was beginning to understand — this Teacher Wang was no ordinary person. He was a forensic doctor who'd retired from the front lines two years ago, and he had real skills.
Unfortunately, precisely because Teacher Wang had left the front lines two years ago, he had no idea how many cases Chen Ge had helped the police crack in recent months. The number of major cases was beyond counting, and several of them were mega-cases.
Chen Ge genuinely admired people like Teacher Wang who had real expertise. Of course, he also hoped to dispel Teacher Wang's prejudice against his haunted house. "Teacher Wang, tickets are over here."
"Your haunted house being this popular must be for some reason. I didn't come today to ruin your reputation — I just want to teach my students a lesson. Kids these days are too used to goofing around, but forensic medicine is a very serious profession." Teacher Wang finished speaking and grabbed the two students beside him. "Come on, let's all experience it together. Honestly, I've been listening to you talk about it every day, and I've gotten curious."
Teacher Wang was quite strong. By the time Heshan realized his body was already being pulled forward, it was too late. "Together?! Holy crap!"
"How can you swear in front of your teacher?" Chen Ge said with a smile, reminded of the first time he'd met Heshan — back then, Heshan had come with Gao Ruxue.
"No! Teacher, wait!" Heshan wasn't the only one — another student from the Hanjiang Forensic Medical College who happened to be standing nearby Teacher Wang couldn't escape either and was dragged all the way to the ticket counter.
"Three tickets for the Nether Fetus scene." Teacher Wang was decisive. He bought the tickets and immediately led the students past the haunted house's safety barriers.
"This teacher is sharp beneath his rough exterior — he specifically brought along Heshan and another student who were familiar with the haunted house rules, just in case something went wrong." Chen Ge watched the group from the Hanjiang Forensic Medical College disappear inside before leading the other nine tourists in. "Sign the liability waivers here first. I'm going to go outside and see if there are any more tourists willing to come in. A four-star scene costs a fortune to open — let's try to get a full twenty."