Pei Hu stumbled back several steps before he managed to keep himself upright, his face ashen.
"You okay? What did you see?" Wang Wenlong and Xia Meili rushed over from behind.
"Don't worry about him—a little breeze and a small wave, and look how scared he gets?" Wang Hailong's legs were trembling and the skin on his face twitched faintly, but he still forced himself to look composed. "They're just a few mannequins."
Even with a heads-up, the remaining three still got a scare when they came over.
It was creepy enough that over twenty silhouettes had suddenly appeared in the dim classroom. What was even more terrifying was that every single one of them had their heads turned in the same direction—several had their necks twisted a full one hundred and eighty degrees, their heads hanging against their backs, staring right at people. Who could handle that?
"I was wondering why those earlier scenes weren't scary at all. Turns out they were saving the big one for here." Wang Wenlong was fairly calm. He pulled out his phone and switched on the flashlight.
"Wenlong, the haunted house owner said we're not supposed to use our phones freely," Xia Meili reminded him.
"He can't see us anyway. It's fine." Wang Wenlong shone the light toward the last classroom, the beam sweeping across the mannequins one by one. "They should all be fake—none of them blink when the light hits their eyes. Wait! I see school badges—two of them!"
"Where?"
"Right on the jackets of the mannequins!" Wang Wenlong aimed his phone at a particular spot, and everyone looked over.
One school badge was pinned to the collar of a mannequin in the middle of the classroom, and the other was sitting on a table at the very back. To get both badges, you'd have to weave right through the middle of all the mannequins.
"This haunted house owner is way too wicked!"
"There's five of us going in. But if we actually had to follow his rules and go in alone to find the badges? That'd be enough to scare the life out of someone."
"Alright, enough. No need to boost their morale and crush ours." Wang Hailong paced back and forth a few times and finally felt his calves go numb a little less. "There's still time. This classroom is definitely packed with badges. We're not just going in to grab a couple—we're going to search every corner and find every last one of them!"
"Brother Long, think twice! Five thousand yuan isn't worth risking our lives over." Pei Hu had been scared half out of his wits and his mind was a jumbled mess.
"Is it really as bad as you're making it? Quit yapping and get over here!" Wang Hailong dragged Pei Hu right up to the doorway of the last classroom.
"Why do I have to go in first?!" Pei Hu's survival instincts were firing on all cylinders.
"Because I'm afraid you'll run. You're as cowardly as a mouse—do you even deserve that name?" Wang Hailong shoved Pei Hu straight into the last classroom, then turned to Dou Menglu and Xia Meili. "The three of us guys will go in and scope it out. If it's clear, you two follow."
"Got it. Be careful."
"It's nothing. Wenlong already checked—they're all mannequins." Wang Hailong and Wang Wenlong, the two brothers, stepped into the classroom as well. The three of them stood at the podium and looked down below. Instantly, their hair stood on end and their scalps went numb.
"This is absolutely insane. It's packed with people—there's not even space to put your foot down."
"Pei Hu, you've got the smallest guts—go grab the badge in the middle of the classroom. Wenlong, check the desk drawers. I'll take the one furthest back." Wang Hailong was showing his big-brother side. Pei Hu wasn't happy about it, but he didn't dare say anything.
"Brother Long, these mannequins look really weird. I think their eyes might be moving!" Before Pei Hu had even made it off the podium, he shrank right back.