His calves were shaking. If his body hadn't been acting half-disobedient, Monkey would've slapped himself across the face as hard as he could. Setting flags inside a haunted house — he swore he would never do something like that again for the rest of his life.
Separated from his team, completely alone, standing in the middle of a dark hallway, facing a killer who could appear at any moment, and worst of all, there was a doll trailing behind him that he just couldn't shake off. This hellish haunted-house experience was making it hard for Monkey to breathe: "How did it get here? When did it start following me? How is it moving?"
A flood of questions surged through his brain in an instant. Twenty years' worth of life experience shattered without mercy. Clutching his phone, Monkey's entire body was trembling.
"Monkey, are you coming or not?! Hurry! Get me out of here! I feel like the dolls in the middle of the room are watching me! They really seem to be watching me!" On the other end of the call was another voice, hysterical and on the verge of losing it — Shiling's situation wasn't looking any better either.
"Sis, I save you — but who's gonna save me?" Biological instinct drove Monkey to stumble backward a step. His ankle bumped into something, and he reflexively looked down. The plush doll that had been in front of him moments ago was now resting against his shoe.
Its black hair had a lifelike texture, and its slightly upturned face bore scorch marks. You couldn't even make out its features clearly, yet it gave off a strange, inexplicable feeling.
"It's smiling!"
Monkey had no idea why that thought had popped into his head. He didn't want to think about it anymore either. He felt like he'd been through far too much in the span of just ten minutes.
Clamping his jaw shut, he shuffled his feet, trying to leave. But maybe it was from standing too long, or from being far too tense — the muscles in his calves knotted into a hard lump, and a sharp bolt of pain shot through him.
"Damn it! Cramp!"
Monkey collapsed to the ground. At this point he didn't care about dignity at all — he clutched his leg and started screaming at the top of his lungs right there in the hallway: "Is anybody here?! I quit! I quit!"
To ensure the visitors' safety, the two of them didn't hesitate — they bolted straight up to the third floor.
The moment he entered the hallway, Chen Ge spotted Monkey rolling on the ground. He gestured for Xiao Wan to stay back, switched on his flashlight, and walked over. "You alright?"
"I quit. I'm never doing this again. Just let me leave."
Monkey was a completely different person from the guy who had walked in.
Chen Ge didn't agree right away. He crouched down and pressed on Monkey's knee. "Push hard — straighten your leg."
While helping Monkey work through the cramp, Chen Ge scanned the surroundings, a strange feeling gnawing at him. "Neither Xiao Wan nor I were even inside the haunted house — how did this guy get scared out of his wits like this?"
Aside from two plush dolls on the ground, nothing looked out of the ordinary. Chen Ge probed cautiously: "Bro, what did you just see?"
"What did I see? Isn't that something you'd know?" Monkey's eyes were red, his face twisted with the look of someone deeply wronged. "These two dolls were chasing me — were you controlling them? You must be hiding behind the monitors having a good laugh, huh?"
"The dolls chased you?" Chen Ge paused for a beat, then decided not to tell Monkey the truth. He really didn't want to traumatize the guy any further. "Let me take you out first."
"Hold on — there's still someone locked inside, practically going insane from fear. Take her out too while you're at it." Monkey held up his phone, still on the call with Shiling.