The strange sensation at the back of his neck grew stronger.
Hair swept across the bridge of his nose. Chen Ge saw a face covered in scars, along with a pair of eyes brimming with resentment.
A man was hanging upside down behind Chen Ge, his features inverted, staring straight at him!
……
In a "haunted" restroom, a person gets drawn in by a bizarre mirror, suddenly feels something wrong at the neck, and turns to see a face hanging upside down behind them — no matter who encountered that, they'd probably break down.
Qu Changlin, hiding in the restroom's secret room, had already pricked up his ears, ready to listen for a tourist's piercing screams. But after waiting for what felt like an eternity, the silence outside remained deathly.
A thin crack had opened along the edge of the mirror. Using the lamp in the corner of the restroom, Qu Changlin could barely make out a figure's silhouette.
The man stood tall and straight, one hand tucked in his pocket, the other gripping a worn-out backpack.
Time seemed to freeze. Qu Changlin didn't know how long had passed before he watched the man slowly raise his hand. Just when Qu Changlin thought the man was about to cover his own mouth to stifle a scream — The man's hand reached toward the face hanging upside down behind him.
"It's a mannequin? I actually saw such a look of despair on a mannequin."
The man muttered to himself, seemingly captivated by something. He set down his bag and gently cupped the inverted head with both hands, his fingertips tracing slowly along the contours of the face until they reached the mannequin's eye sockets, stroking its eyelashes.
Seeing the man's actions, Qu Changlin, hiding behind the mirror, felt a wave of revulsion. A countless number of unsettling thoughts flooded his mind, and his grip on the remote control was already slick with sweat.
……
Chen Ge ran his fingers over the mannequin's eyelashes. The very first moment he laid eyes on it, he'd felt a sense of amazement.
It was nothing like the mannequins you'd find on the market, and even different from the ones in his own haunted house. This mannequin had been infused with the maker's emotions — every detail was rendered to near perfection.
Chen Ge possessed two talents — Corpse Makeup and Living Puppets. The mannequins he crafted had the most lifelike appearances imaginable, but they could only be considered excellent vessels. Without an employee operating them, they tended to come across as slightly stiff.
This mannequin that had fallen from the ceiling, however — while its level of realism might fall short of Chen Ge's creations, possibly due to the materials used — its eyes were absolutely indistinguishable from real ones!
"He only used very common materials. How were such vivid, soulful eyes created? How many different pairs of eyes must he have studied to produce a gaze like this?"
Chen Ge held the mannequin's head in his hands. He didn't find it the slightest bit frightening. His expression was more one of admiration.
"Mannequin-making requires an enormous amount of work. It's a bit difficult for me to handle alone. As the haunted house scenes grow in number, the mannequins I need to maintain will only increase. I'm definitely going to need an assistant. This person has real talent — an uncut gem. With a little polishing, he could become an excellent helper."
Chen Ge's mind was racing. Standing alone in a haunted restroom, cradling a terrifying mannequin head, his thoughts were still on his haunted house.
"Wasting a talent like this by having him scare people in a restroom — what a shame."
Chen Ge let go, leaving the mannequin to dangle by the restroom stall door, and walked toward the fifth stall.
"Anyone in there?"
He had no idea what thoughts were going through the hidden staff member's mind after witnessing his performance just now. All he wanted right now was to find the mannequin's creator.
"Where are you? Are you playing hide-and-seek with me?"
Chen Ge's tone held a note of excitement, like a child who had just discovered a brand-new toy.