Feng Ge was terrified. He stared at
"Relax, I was just joking." Chen Ge felt a twinge of disappointment. The reason he'd asked that question was because he'd noticed something special about Feng Ge — a quality that ordinary people didn't possess.
With the cloth doll's reminder, Feng Ge had been able to hold his ground against the monster in the mirror through sheer willpower alone. His will was far stronger than that of an average person. Even when faced with an unknown ghost, he hadn't shown weakness.
That was what Chen Ge appreciated about him. If possible, he wanted to befriend Feng Ge and work together to deal with paranormal incidents — like handling whatever was lurking in that mirror.
He'd been trying to share some real information out of good intentions, but unfortunately Feng Ge hadn't picked up on the meaning behind his words.
"I can't count on outsiders. I'll have to handle this myself."
Chen Ge locked the door to the Midnight Pursuit scene. When he was helping Feng Ge down to the first floor, the Black Phone buzzed again.
Chen Ge jumped, thinking something bad had happened, and quickly pulled out his phone to check.
"Monthly visitor count has exceeded one hundred. Approval rating is above sixty percent. Expansion requirements have been met!"
"Note: After each expansion of the haunted house, a mysterious reward will be granted. After three expansions, the haunted house will be upgraded into the Thrill Maze!"
"Expansion this quickly?" It was good news, but Chen Ge wasn't planning to expand just yet. First priority was dealing with whatever was inside that mirror.
Stepping out of the haunted house, sunlight spilled across the steps beyond the barrier. The students from Jiujiang Medical University's forensic medicine college were sprawled out at the entrance like a mass casualty scene.
Some were clutching their heads, others hugging their legs. Some had gone pale with terror, tear tracks glistening at the corners of their eyes. Some stared blankly at the sky with vacant expressions, their faces twitching every now and then.
History had repeated itself — and this time even more dramatically than yesterday. They'd swaggered in full of bravado and crawled out half-dead. The fact that a mere forty minutes could so completely transform a group's entire mental state was honestly incredible.
Nearby tourists pointed and whispered, but Chen Ge didn't see anything wrong with it. If it wasn't intense, what kind of haunted house would it be?
He deposited Feng Ge next to the others. Perfect — now the whole "family" was lying together in a neat little row.
"Xiao Chen! Come here a minute." The crowd of spectators had drawn Uncle Xu over again. The middle-aged man looked at Chen Ge with a headache-inducing expression. "Tell me — what happened this time? Last time you scared someone unconscious, I let it slide. This time you took down seven people in one go. Are you trying to get our park on the news?"
Chen Ge averted his gaze and gave a few dry coughs. "They came for a tour, and I was simply providing them with the best possible service. All very routine attractions. And I can guarantee there was zero physical contact between me and any of them. You can verify that by pulling the surveillance footage — fully compliant with the haunted house code of conduct."
"Drop the act. Routine attractions? You call giving someone a bump on the top of their head routine?" Uncle Xu subtly pointed toward the back of Xiao Hui's head, keeping his gesture small so as not to provoke her.
"What was I supposed to do? I was running ahead and she was chasing me, grabbing at my clothes. I hid inside a wardrobe and she followed me right in. I was standing perfectly still, didn't move a muscle, and she insisted on shining her flashlight right in my eyes. My eyes were killing me — I hadn't even opened my mouth to complain when she smacked right into the wardrobe. What was I supposed to do? I'm the victim here." Chen Ge recounted what had actually happened, just repackaged in a different way for Uncle Xu.
"So now you're the one who's aggrieved?"
"A little bit, yeah."
"Don't take this lightly. You need to be more careful. This absolutely cannot happen again." Uncle Xu spoke with genuine concern. "What if you scare someone so badly they have a real medical emergency? Or what if you get some unreasonable, litigious person? You can kiss any chance of running this haunted house properly goodbye."
"I understand. Anything else, Uncle?" Chen Ge didn't argue back, though he muttered to himself — if he ever did run into someone truly unreasonable, he'd just hand them that love letter from his pocket and see who cracked first.
Uncle Xu stared at Chen Ge, well aware his words hadn't really sunk in. He let out a soft sigh and waited a few seconds before continuing. "Xiao Chen, normally this wouldn't be my place to say anything, but with your parents not around, someone needs to talk to you."
"Sure, I'm listening."
"This morning
"That's right."
"Why were you sneaking into that crime scene from five years ago in the middle of the night? Do you have any idea how dangerous that was? Those people were murderers!" Uncle Xu didn't give Chen Ge a chance to respond. "If you're short on money, for the reward — you don't need to do that. Whatever you owe the park in rent and utilities, I can cover for you. You're still young. Don't go down the wrong path."
"Don't worry, Uncle Xu. I know what I'm doing."
"As long as you do. I won't nag you anymore. If there's nothing else, I'll get going. But hurry up and deal with these people lying all over the ground — it doesn't exactly look professional." Uncle Xu turned to leave, but Chen Ge stopped him. "What is it?"
"Uncle, actually there is something I need your help with." Chen Ge looked a bit sheepish. "Could you lend me five thousand yuan? I want to install cameras in every corner of the haunted house. I'll pay you back as soon as the reward comes through."
After what had happened with both Heshan and Feng Ge, Chen Ge was getting worried. There were too many blind spots in the haunted house, and the existing surveillance was nowhere near enough.
"You want to invest more money into the haunted house?" Uncle Xu stopped in his tracks. "Xiao Chen, I can lend you the money, but let me be upfront — things aren't going well for the park as a whole right now. Throwing money in could be like pouring water into a sieve."
He beckoned Chen Ge over and the two stood in a quieter, shaded spot. "This park has been around for eleven years now. Our main attractions are already outdated. New theme parks built around virtual reality, interactive experiences, and trendy creative concepts are popping up everywhere. In simple terms, we're on the verge of becoming obsolete. It's not just the haunted house — visitor numbers for every traditional attraction are declining."
"I know." Chen Ge was dead set on making the haunted house a success. Installing cameras was just the first step.
"You think you know?" Uncle Xu clicked off his walkie-talkie outright. "The Virtual Future theme park in the eastern suburbs of Jiujiang is about to open. It's a fourth-generation theme park — the kind you barely see anywhere in the country. It's going to become the city's landmark. What are we supposed to use to compete with that? Right now, everyone from upper management down to the rank-and-file employees is figuring out their exit strategy, and you're the only one charging ahead like a fool."