Standing between two eerie buildings, Zhang Jingjiu and Li Changyin stared at each other.
No one spoke. Neither of them had any experience dealing with ghosts, and the atmosphere only grew more unsettling.
Zhang Jingjiu cleared his throat awkwardly. He had worked in sales before, so his personality was more outgoing than Li Changyin's. He knew that letting things drag on like this wouldn't solve anything, so he decided to break the ice.
"Don't worry about it — can you describe the thing you lost in a bit more detail?"
He had only been making idle conversation earlier and never expected the other person to press for specifics.
With no way to back down now, Li Changyin hesitated for a moment before speaking. "His face is very blurry. He's covered in blood all over, and he keeps crying. He said he's so cold, so cold."
"Not being able to make out his features — that does make things tricky." Zhang Jingjiu stroked his chin and pondered earnestly. "If he said he's cold, then maybe he was hidden inside a freezer. But if he'd been put in a freezer, the blood should have frozen, so we can rule out a refrigerator. Let me think about what other places around here would be cold… That's right! The morgue in the town hospital! Your kid may have sneaked into the hospital. I think you should go check it out. Listen for the crying — whichever room has the loudest crying, that's probably where your child is."
"Are you serious?"
Li Changyin was extremely confident in his makeup skills and acting ability. He was the best performer at Nightmare Academy, but standing in front of Zhang Jingjiu, he was starting to doubt himself. The man was cooperating with him so convincingly, as if he had seen through everything from the start, almost as though he deliberately wanted to lure him into the morgue.
Zhang Jingjiu had no idea what Li Changyin was thinking. He nodded. "If he's not in the hospital, don't worry either. This place isn't that big — just keep looking, and you'll find him eventually."
Li Changyin couldn't believe it. He was actually being comforted by a ghost. How to describe the feeling?
A little terrifying, but also kind of thrilling.
"Thank you. I'll go check now." By the end, Li Changyin's voice was trembling. He kept to the shadows the whole time, head bowed low, hiding his Adam's apple.
"Don't mention it. From now on, we're all one family." Zhang Jingjiu sighed inwardly. What a polite ghost — he even knew to say thank you. It seemed like the other employees in the haunted house were easy to get along with.
"One family? What do you mean?" Li Changyin's heart rate spiked. Was this man planning to kill him and then trap his soul in the haunted house, turning him into a new employee?
"Well, we're still a bit unfamiliar with each other since this is our first meeting, but once we've worked together for a while, we'll naturally get to know each other." Zhang Jingjiu forced an awkward smile onto his face.
"Work together in the future?" Li Changyin's heart lurched. His hands clenched tight.
The mask was off!
This man's true target was him! The creepy man with the unsettling smile might have seen through his disguise! He wanted to keep him here forever!
Sweat soaked through the makeup on his forehead. Li Changyin knew perfectly well that a normal haunted house employee would never, upon seeing a strange pregnant woman walk in, run over and tell her that they'd all be working together from now on.
The more Li Changyin thought about it, the more wrong something felt. He finally understood why he had been so unsettled ever since stepping inside.
This haunted house was genuinely haunted!
"Maybe another time." Li Changyin hurried away.
"The hospital is on the left!" Zhang Jingjiu watched Li Changyin leave in a rush and rubbed his nose. "Did I say something wrong? I feel like I'm being disliked."
Before Li Changyin had gone far, the walkie-talkie in Zhang Jingjiu's pocket crackled to life. He quickly pulled it out.
"Jingjiu, what did you need earlier?" Chen Ge's voice came through the speaker.
"A veteran employee came to find me just now and asked me a few things, but don't worry — we got along great."
"A veteran employee came to find you?" Chen Ge was confused. "Regular employees can't stray too far from their designated buildings. Without an anchor, they'll keep growing weaker. Both Red Cloths are seriously injured, and they've been in contact with me — they wouldn't go looking for visitors on their own. Jingjiu, what did this veteran employee look like?"