"There are only five photos? The person who gets the photo passes the challenge, so what happens to those who don't?" Yang Chen sensed a full measure of malice in Chen Ge's rules—this was encouraging the visitors to compete with each other.
"Not getting the photo just means failing the challenge. Don't worry, I won't design any extra punishments." The more Chen Ge said this, the more alarmed Yang Chen felt. He had dealt with Chen Ge more than once. Out of curiosity, he had even specifically sought out the honorary lecturer in criminology psychology at the school to discuss Chen Ge. That instructor, surnamed Gao, had summed up Chen Ge in just four words: "Do not provoke."
Under Chen Ge's lead, the dozen or more people arrived at the deepest end of the corridor.
"Go in here, go down the stairs, and the scene entrance will be behind you." Chen Ge looked at the twelve visitors behind him. "I'll repeat this one last time: safety first. If you encounter something strange and aren't sure if it's a haunted house prop, it's best to get away from it immediately."
Chen Ge gripped the heavy Wailing Door with both hands and pulled it open with effort.
A piercing scream echoed in their minds, and a wave of chilling, malevolent energy surged straight out!
The temperature inside the haunted house dropped again. Several visitors huddled together, while Chen Ge stood at the entrance to the pitch-black passage, a smile on his face. "Your visitation time is thirty minutes. Have fun!"
After watching the visitors descend underground, Chen Ge closed the heavy Wailing Door, wound chains around it, and locked it from the outside.
"Visitors who come to a three-star scene must have definitely passed the test of the two-star scenes. Their psychological endurance should be quite strong—they ought to be able to last through the entire scene." Chen Ge entered the makeup room, touched up his own makeup, then opened the door to the Ghost's Dressing Room and chose a suitable outfit for himself. "The new scene just opened; I can't go too overboard at first. Later, I'll turn on the background music and put the Mobile Phone Ghost in, and that should be about it."
……
The solid iron door slammed shut, and the sound of sliding chains gave everyone goosebumps. The visitors stopped on the stairs, feeling as if they had been imprisoned. A sense of helpless despair welled up in their hearts for no reason.
"Every time I come in here, it feels like stepping into another world. Maybe it's just the power of suggestion," said the male editor from the Thriller magazine, who was leading the way. "I'm Ah Nan. These two lovely ladies are my colleagues."
"Hello, I'm Yang Chen, and this is my classmate. The three of us are students from Jiujiang Forensic Medical School. This is our fourth visit to the Western Suburb Haunted House." Yang Chen proactively shook hands with Ah Nan, understanding the importance of teamwork and wanting to build a good relationship in advance.
"Three editors from a thriller magazine, three forensic medical school students—with you six here, I feel like we have a shot at clearing this this time!" The towering man, one point nine meters tall, wiped the sweat from his forehead. "I'm Fan Dade, a chef at the New Oriental International Hotel. This is my brother, Fan Cong. He just went through a breakup and has been moping at home. I wanted to bring him out to clear his head."
"Come here to clear your head?" The young man in jeans looked pale. This was his second time underground today. If the Virtual Future Paradise hadn't been pushing him so hard, he wouldn't have come in no matter what.
"And what should I call you gentlemen?" Fan Dade was warm and outgoing, and his tall stature made him seem very reliable.
"Just call me Xiao Li. I'm... a medical equipment repairman. Consider me the bravest one over on our side." Xiao Li shoved his hands into his jeans pockets, working his jaw. The thought of having to go inside and tackle the three-star scene in a moment made his speech feel a little clumsy.
"My surname is Zhou, a real estate salesman. This is my girlfriend, Duan Yue." Lao Zhou, under Duan Yue's reproachful gaze, gently took her hand and cradled it in his own palm. The casual little gesture instantly fed a massive dose of dog food to everyone around them, especially Fan Dade's recently heartbroken brother, who hugged his own chubby belly and felt particularly aggrieved.
Finally, everyone's gaze converged on the tall, thin man at the end of the group. He stood with one hand in his pocket, his face cold, emanating an air that warned strangers to stay away.
Sensing the other visitors' stares, the man casually uttered three words: "Bai Qiulin."
"Alright, we all know each other now. Time is limited, let's get moving." Fan Dade thought to himself that he had truly latched onto a lifeline this time. Whether it was the thriller magazine editors or the forensic medical school students, their courage was far from ordinary.
"Wait a minute. There are some things I need to clarify with everyone beforehand." Yang Chen took a small notebook from his pocket and shared the haunted house precautions summarized by his seniors with the other visitors.
Unlike the previous visit, those who entered this time were all veterans. They all knew the terrifying nature of the haunted house well; no one took it lightly. One by one, they silently committed the information to memory.
"This information is incredibly important. It must have taken you considerable time to summarize it?" Lao Zhou, after reading through it, nodded his thanks to Yang Chen.
"Of course. This is the valuable experience my seniors and sisters exchanged by using themselves as experiments. Don't spread it around, and don't post it on the haunted house's mini-program, lest the haunted house owner sees it and makes changes," Wang Yan spoke up, his tone somewhat reluctant, as if he didn't want to share these internal resources from the forensic medical school with other visitors.
"Don't worry, I absolutely won't spread it," Lao Zhou assured him, walking amidst the crowd while holding Duan Yue's hand. In his mind, he replayed the few pages of precautions he had just seen. "This haunted house is truly terrifying. The precautions alone could fill a small booklet."
"The truly terrifying part is still to come. We're experiencing a new scene this time. We're the first batch of visitors to enter, so my seniors' and sisters' experience will be of little help to us. We'll have to rely on ourselves." Yang Chen tucked the small notebook back into his pocket. "We're about to go in. Everyone had better put their phones on silent. Under no circumstances should you use them during the visit."
"What happens if I use it?" Xiao Li thought of the task Teacher Mu had given him. He had come in today specifically to take photos and record video.
"Something very terrifying will happen. I advise you not to give in to wishful thinking. If something goes wrong, everyone will be implicated." Yang Chen spoke from deep experience on this point.
"Is it really that serious?" Xiao Li muttered to himself but still set his phone to silent.
The twelve visitors descended the stairs one after another, stopping at the entrance to the Underground Corpse Library scene. Before them was a rusted iron door, behind which stretched a deep, dark passage.
"Why is there another room here?" Weiba glanced to the side. Beside the deep passage was another door.
She pushed it open. Inside was set up like a murder scene, with various objects strewn about, and a large amount of bloodstains visible.
"Don't touch anything. During our visit, the first enemy we must face is ourselves. We must restrain our curiosity and only do things related to the task." Yang Chen felt the girl looked even younger than he was, so he stepped forward to offer the warning.
"Okay." Just as Weiba withdrew her gaze, she saw the statue in the bedroom of the room blink. While she was stunned, Yang Chen and Wang Yan had already pushed open the iron door to the Underground Corpse Library.
Wall lamps were installed every few meters along the passage. The walls were painted white and gave off a strange smell.
After smelling this scent, both Wang Yan and Yang Chen were somewhat surprised, because they were too familiar with it.
"This seems like formalin?"