"It's a deal." Han Qiuming clapped the Tianteng Hospital manager on the hand, signaling that he shouldn't worry.
"Follow me." Chen Ge gave them no chance to refuse before heading into the haunted house.
The haunted house director stood rooted to the spot, not moving forward. "Qiuming, you're being too rash."
"We're all in the haunted house business. If he's lying, you should be able to tell." Han Qiuming was dismissive. "If you're scared, I'll go first."
"You weren't there that day — you don't know what it was like." The director rubbed his temples, a growing sense of unease settling in. "This Boss Chen is no ordinary person. He entered the haunted house alone, and his heart rate stayed below a hundred the entire time."
"There's more." Song An chimed in as well. "That day, Xu Zhenzhen's ghost seemed to appear again. Every single one of our actors was so scared they ran out of the haunted house. He was the only tourist left inside."
"What's so scary about that? You're all just too timid." Han Qiuming pushed his thick-lensed glasses up his nose. "I could handle staying in there just the same."
"I haven't finished." Song An exchanged a glance with the Tianteng Hospital director. Only after receiving the director's nod did he dare to speak. "After Boss Chen left, we searched the haunted house thoroughly. Guess what we found?"
"Stop dragging it out. Just say it."
"The female corpse prop hanging by the hallway entrance had been dismembered. The head was rolling in a corner, eyes staring open in death at some particular direction. The two legs had also been torn off and thrown far away from the body." Even Song An felt a chill as he recounted it. "Would a normal tourist do something that insane to a prop? I was half-tempted to call the police."
The Tianteng Hospital director walked over as well. "Ever since meeting Boss Chen, I've come to vaguely understand a truth — sometimes, humans can be far more terrifying than ghosts."
"Exactly." Song An nodded in deep agreement. "Let's hurry up and leave after the tour. From now on, our two haunted houses will mind their own business."
"Oh, come on. A bunch of grown men dithering like this. You've already come this far — it's too late to be scared now." Ye Xiaoxin was playing on her phone as she walked, but halfway there she noticed the Tianteng Hospital group had stopped in their tracks. "We all run haunted houses, so how is the gap this big?"
The internet celebrity was straightforward by nature, her voice distinctive — husky and expressive with a hint of a smoky edge.
She strode ahead with her long legs into the haunted house and casually updated her mood on social media: "I am a wild mustang, leaving the wind in the dust at my heels."
"See? She's looking down on you." Han Qiuming's gaze swept briefly over Ye Xiaoxin's legs before he chased after her without looking back.
"He's too reckless," the director worried. "Song An, once you're inside, stay close to him. Qiuming's got the skills, but he's arrogant and reckless — he'll lose out sooner or later."
"I'll do my best." Song An sighed, and the group entered the haunted house together.
Pushing aside the thick black curtain, they found the interior dimly lit and noticeably cooler than the outside.
"Looks like it's been around for a while." Song An looked around as he walked. "I didn't expect Jiujiang to have a permanent haunted house this big."
"The haunted house was built by my parents in cooperation with New Century Park five or six years ago. It was the park's flagship attraction back then." Chen Ge pulled several liability waivers from a drawer and handed them out. "Sign the waivers first, then you can go in."
"You're serious?" Han Qiuming eyed the rows of clauses on the liability waiver and tossed it casually onto the table. "Save the paper. We all run haunted houses — we know how this game works. There's no need to be so formal about it."
The other members of the Tianteng Hospital team didn't pick up their pens either. They all seemed to think this was just a psychological ploy Chen Ge used on tourists and that the waiver itself was meaningless. Only Ye Xiaoxin and Su Luoluo carefully signed their names.
"I think there may be a misunderstanding. My waivers are officially notarized and stamped." Chen Ge placed the waivers in front of the group. "No signing, no entry. That's our rule."
"Understood, understood." The Tianteng Hospital director picked up his pen and wrote his name on the paper — Guo Miao.
The others signed one after another. Han Qiuming didn't argue further, but his irritation only grew: "Acting like it's real — fine, then I'll give your haunted house a good look today."
Chen Ge ignored Han Qiuming and carefully collected the signed waivers. "The Third Ward scenario is the newest addition. Many parts of it are still being refined. If you encounter anything beyond your limits, find a camera and signal for help."
"Let's keep this brief. We know haunted house visitor guidelines better than you do. Over the years, we've tested more than twenty different tour designs and interactive elements. We're the professionals here." Han Qiuming never left himself any room when he spoke.
"All right, then I'll keep it short." Chen Ge remained perfectly calm, his attitude pleasant. "The scenario you'll be visiting is called the Third Ward. It's the story of patients who donned doctor's uniforms and committed all manner of crimes. The scenario is not entirely fictional. I need to specifically inform you that some of those criminal patients have not yet been caught."
"Adapted from real cases? Isn't that something we've long since moved past?" Han Qiuming spoke as though he couldn't see the director's anxious expression, carrying on as if no one else were there. "I've visited and worked at haunted houses across a dozen or so places abroad. Some haunted houses in Europe and America are literally built inside abandoned prisons or the former homes of serial killers. Compared to those, yours is pretty underwhelming."
"Boss Chen, Qiuming is rather blunt. He doesn't mean anything by it." The director finally couldn't hold back and said a word.
"It's fine. In the service industry, tourists are always my top priority. I'll listen carefully to all opinions and suggestions." The smile on Chen Ge's face never wavered from beginning to end, giving a very pleasant impression.
"Staff attitude: excellent. Five bonus points." Ye Xiaoxin pulled a small notepad from her pocket and scribbled a line on it.
"What's that?" Chen Ge glanced at the woman.
"I'm scoring your haunted house. Full marks are a hundred. If it passes eighty, I'll strongly recommend it to my followers." Ye Xiaoxin put the notepad away. "Most haunted houses don't allow phones inside, so I can only use this little notebook to record everything I see."
"Very professional." Chen Ge wiped the sweat from his palm with a guilty conscience. "The Third Ward is an open scenario. Once you enter, you're free to explore. As long as you find the tape recorder I took from your haunted house within twenty minutes and bring it outside, you'll pass."
With goodwill and sincerity, Chen Ge repeated himself: "Don't let your guard down. You must bring the tape recorder out of the Third Ward. Only then does the game end."