Uncle Xu's hands trembled so badly he nearly tossed Cat Sister—who he'd just helped back up—into the air.
"Prepare three more stretchers? That scene only had five people go in!"
It wasn't just Uncle Xu. Even the bystanders took a few steps back.
"I didn't expect these haunted house reviewers to be this easily scared," Chen Ge said helplessly, spreading his hands. "Have someone bring the stretchers to the entrance. I'll go get the other visitors out."
After speaking, Chen Ge turned and headed back into the haunted house, leaving a crowd of visitors who still hadn't recovered their composure.
"Five people went in, five people got scared unconscious. That means the three-star scream-index scene has a one-hundred-percent knockout rate."
The strategy group, who had originally been queuing up for the Third Ward, held a brief huddle. Without even requesting refunds, they immediately relocated to a spot where sunlight could reach them.
A dozen or so people formed a circle and began conducting a fresh round of risk assessment.
"The Third Ward and Living Coffin Village are both three-star scream-index scenes. I think we need to deliberate further on this." The speaker was Yang Chen, a student at Jiujiang Forensic Medicine Academy who had crossed paths with Chen Ge once before. He appeared to be one of the strategy group's core members.
"All the information about the Third Ward online is text-only—reportedly recounted firsthand by visitors who survived it, but the authenticity is questionable."
"I just contacted an insurance company. Most of them don't even have a policy category for haunted house visits."
"Going in now is still too risky. We haven't even perfectly cleared a two-star horror scene yet. My personal recommendation is that we wait until we can fully clear a two-star scene before even considering a three-star one."
"Someone has to be the first to eat the crab. We stayed up until three in the morning last night drafting eleven emergency response plans. If we back down now, can you really live with that?"
"Let's put it to a vote." Yang Chen raised his hand. "I vote against entering the three-star scene right now."
"I vote against it as well."
Thirteen people stood in a circle under the sunlight, appearing to discuss something of grave importance. The other visitors around them found them rather mysterious.
"Seven votes against entering, two abstentions, four in favor. The minority defers to the majority—I hereby declare this challenge abandoned!"
The strategy group members filed back into the rest area and resumed debating their next move. Outsiders couldn't quite tell what they were doing, but there was no denying they carried themselves with an air of impressive seriousness.
The five visitors were carried out of the haunted house, where staff members were already waiting with stretchers. They were loaded up and whisked directly to the park's medical room.
"The park staff have gotten a lot more professional. Last time, Fei Youliang was the only one who passed out, and they wasted over half an hour shuttling him back and forth before finally getting him to the hospital. The efficiency's really improved."
Chen Ge noticed that many of the remaining visitors looked frightened after watching the stretchers disappear, so he offered a casual word of reassurance: "Don't be afraid, everyone. Our haunted house comes with a full medical safety net—we have a partnership with a major hospital, so you can tour with complete peace of mind. There's nothing to worry about."
Hearing this, some of the visitors calmed down, though a few grew puzzled. Why on earth would a haunted house partner with a hospital? Those seemed like two things that had absolutely nothing to do with each other!
Thanks to the stunt pulled by the five haunted house reviewers, many visitors who'd been eyeing the three-star scene began to lose their nerve. The reputation of the Horror House's three-star scenes climbed yet another notch in their minds.
Human nature was largely like this—the more unattainable something was, the more people craved it. The more terrifying a place seemed, the more curious they became.
Once Chen Ge was certain no one else was coming to visit, he returned inside the haunted house and began flipping through the photos he'd taken on his phone.