Reaching out to press down on the face in the photograph, Old
Old Zhou was speaking to the photograph, but Blondie assumed the words were directed at him and casually picked up the thread: "Exactly! That's the right attitude for a haunted house! Come on, I'll take you guys around to check out some other areas. It doesn't feel scary at all — this place doesn't live up to its reputation!"
Strutting confidently, Blondie led the two of them away from the old residence.
Searching through the courtyards one by one, they quickly reached the center of the village.
"The set is a bit big. At our current pace, we might not even finish in forty minutes. If we trip up and fail to find the clearance item in the end, that would be humiliating." The tall Ma Tian said to the rest of them, "We should split up. Using this ancestral hall as a center, Sister Cat, Mr. Wang, and I will search the left side. The rest of you search the right."
"Why do you get to be with Sister Cat? I think we should shuffle things around." Blondie wasn't too happy about it, and it took Sister Cat saying a few words to comfort him before he calmed down.
"Then it's settled."
Ma Tian and his group departed along the winding path, leaving the remaining five standing in the center of the village.
"Let's plan things out too. Xiao Lan, you go with this couple. I'll take the other tourist. That way we save time and can try to find the wedding dress before they do." Blondie didn't stand on ceremony — he immediately started bossing people around.
"I don't think that's a good idea. We're already spread thin enough. What if something dangerous happens if we split up any further?" Zhang Lan walked over to Blondie, hoping he'd change his mind.
"Just listen to me. The atmosphere of this haunted house is well done, but the scare points are terribly designed." Blondie's dismissive tone made Zhang Lan anxious. She really wanted to tell him that the tourist he was going with wasn't normal, but she couldn't bring herself to say it right in front of
"All right, we're heading out first." Blondie extended his hand toward Bai Qiulin, wanting to shake hands and introduce himself, but Bai Qiulin made absolutely no move to take his hand out of his pocket, and merely nodded.
"Real cool one, aren't you? Don't come crying to me later, begging me to lead you out." Blondie got a bit annoyed, pulled his hand back, and walked off on his own. Bai Qiulin followed behind him, and from beginning to end, his hands stayed in his pockets.
Zhang Lan saw this entire exchange crystal clear, and furrowed her delicate brows slightly: "Something feels off."
"What do you mean, off?" Old Zhou was especially eager to help, and leaned in next to Zhang Lan.
"Actually, I do have a question for you two." Zhang Lan pointed at Bai Qiulin, who was already some distance away. "That guy came in with you. While we were queuing outside, did he do anything strange — or anything out of the ordinary?"
"Queuing?" Old Zhou stroked his chin and frowned in thought. "When Boss Chen called out from outside asking who wanted to visit the three-star horror scenario, with discounted tickets, the three of us happened to be standing closest, so we got picked. I don't really have any impression of him. Probably just an ordinary tourist."
"I hope so." Zhang Lan still wasn't reassured. "Let me tell you two something. Back when Sister Cat and I went to evaluate a haunted house, a mentally ill person showed up. He looked completely normal on the outside, but who could have known he'd suddenly have an episode inside the haunted house. You probably can't imagine how terrifying it was."
"Tell us about it." Both Old Zhou and
"He poured the fake blood from the haunted house all over himself, then grabbed all sorts of props and started biting and beating the visitors. The worst part was, at first the visitors thought he was part of the haunted house staff when they saw him coming — they were scared but didn't fight back, which ended with a whole lot of people getting hurt." Zhang Lan still shivered at the memory. That evaluation had clearly left a deep scar on her.
"That's absolutely terrifying!" Old Zhou covered his mouth — a bit too dramatically.