More and more tourists were asking
He knew exactly what tourists liked and craved. Those little hints were like delicious bait, constantly clawing at their hearts.
"Boss Chen, we meet again! Why do I feel like you've gotten younger?" The woman standing in front of Chen Ge had short hair. Her androgynous style made her look more handsome than most guys, yet her impressive figure still put her feminine charm on full display.
"That line is usually used to flatter middle-aged uncles. Do I really look that old?" The woman before him was something of a friend. Her name was Ye Xiaoxin, a popular online influencer who specialized in haunted house reviews, with over a million followers. When the Tengtian Hospital had come knocking to cause trouble, she'd toured Chen Ge's haunted house and come out so shaken she'd shut herself off from the world on the spot.
"I never flatter people. You really do feel younger to me." Ye Xiaoxin pulled out her phone. "Give me a ticket to the Underground Corpse Vault. I'm planning to review that scene today."
"The Underground Corpse Vault?" The disappointment on Chen Ge's face was almost impossible to hide. "How about you consider my brand-new scene instead? It's really thrilling."
"No thanks. I'll wait until there's a guide online, then maybe." Ye Xiaoxin tossed her head with a stylish flip of her hair. After a moment, she seemed to suddenly remember something. "Oh, right — there are specialized guide groups online spreading interior photos of your haunted house. Aren't you going to do anything about that? I suspect someone's doing it on purpose to mess with you."
"That's actually great. It's basically free advertising for me." Chen Ge had the Phone Ghost, but there were just too many scenes for
The haunted house was expanding at breakneck speed, and a showdown with the Virtual Future Paradise was inevitable. Before a victor was decided, brand recognition was the most important thing for him. If he really wanted to crack down, it wouldn't be all that difficult — after all, his employees were nothing like the employees of other haunted houses.
"You should be more careful. When people can't take you down head-on, they'll resort to all sorts of underhanded tactics." Ye Xiaoxin lowered her voice. "When I was queuing just now, I noticed a man in the waiting lounge. Keep an eye on him."
Ye Xiaoxin pulled up her phone and showed Chen Ge a photo.
In the picture was a man wearing a long coat. Despite the high temperature outside, he didn't seem to feel the heat. He was smiling while talking on the phone to someone.
"He looks rather refined and gentle. Doesn't exactly strike me as a bad guy."
"Don't let that face fool you. If you browse haunted house forums regularly, you'll find that guy has been blacklisted by a ton of haunted houses." Ye Xiaoxin stepped aside so as not to hold up the other tourists in line. "He's not just brave — there's something wrong with that man's head. He's an exhibitionist. The most infuriating part is that he loves going into haunted houses to harass the actresses. He's made several of them cry."
"Really? That bad?"
"Yep. He's been detained several times over it, but he never learns." Ye Xiaoxin sighed. "He's also figured out the haunted house actor guidelines — he knows the actors can't lay a hand on him, and he doesn't touch the actors either. He just flashes them to satisfy his perverted urges. And the guy's smart about it — he specifically targets places without cameras. The only times he got detained were because other tourists couldn't stand it and beat him up."
"A guy like that needs to be taught a lesson — a really deep one." Employees couldn't lay a hand on anyone, but tourists could. In Chen Ge's mind, there were plenty of ways to handle this.
"All right, just watch yourself. I'm heading in." Ye Xiaoxin followed several other tourists into the haunted house, while Chen Ge used his Yin Eye to survey the waiting lounge.
The refined-looking man was still on the phone, but Chen Ge noticed that while he talked, his eyes were darting around everywhere, as though searching for something.
Starting from the man as his center, Chen Ge scanned the surroundings. In the blind spot of the coat man's line of sight, he spotted another man who was also on the phone.
This man was wearing a sun hat. His skin was very fair, giving him a slightly effeminate appearance.
"An accomplice?" Just as Chen Ge's gaze fell on the man in the sun hat, the coat man ended his call and walked out of the waiting lounge. As it happened, the other man also hung up and started queuing.
The two of them acted as though they didn't know each other at all — one walked to the back of the line, the other headed toward the middle.
"Someone from the Virtual Future Paradise?" Knowing your enemy was the key to winning every battle, but Chen Ge felt he'd already left a deep psychological scar on the Virtual Future Paradise. They shouldn't be coming back to cause trouble.
Chen Ge focused his attention on them. After the pair joined, the orderly line suddenly fell into disarray — three people moved position and clustered together.
"They came prepared!"
The commotion in the line drew complaints from a few tourists. One short-tempered fellow barked out directly, "What are you cutting in for? Get to the back!"
The shout was loud and instantly drew everyone's attention.