Two simple words, spoken from
The perpetual draft in the basement died. The speakers glitched. The entire world seemed to have only one sound left.
Drip. Drip…
Blood fell from above, splattering against the ground and blooming into spreading crimson flowers. A thick, suffocating stench of blood appeared right beside Chen Ge!
The squat figure hiding in the floor compartment screamed and lunged at Chen Ge, but before he could get close, a tattered backpack slapped him back repeatedly.
All fours on the ground, the figure clutched his spinning head. He hadn't even heard clearly what Chen Ge had said. Gritting his teeth, he was about to lunge again when he looked up and saw another person materialize beside Chen Ge!
Fresh red blood slid down the outer coat. Those melancholy eyes were like twin crimson vortexes, laced with curses and despair—one glance and it felt as though your very soul would be sucked away.
The squat figure lay flat on the ground, his scalp prickling, bone-deep cold seeping into him. The heavy layer of red paint on his face froze completely, as if time itself had stopped.
"Who is that person?! There's absolutely no one like that among the haunted house staff!"
His Adam's apple bobbed. The terror in his eyes was about to overflow.
Seeing the small body before him trembling ceaselessly, Chen Ge quickly realized something was wrong. This guy hiding in the floor compartment wasn't a ghost at all—just an ordinary haunted house employee.
In truth, Chen Ge had considered it before making his move. No haunted house on the market would ever use such a small child as an actor, so he had instinctively assumed the figure was a ghost.
He'd spent far more time dealing with ghosts than with people, and combined with Old
Now that the figure had revealed himself, Chen Ge realized the actor hiding in that narrow compartment was a dwarf with a physical disability.
"No wonder the voice sounded so odd—not quite like a child. Should've been an adult pinching their throat to sound like one." The Nightmare Academy clearly hadn't skimped on effort to create their atmosphere of terror. Chen Ge remembered they also employed a pair of twin workers. Since their haunted house had no real ghosts, they used methods like these to manufacture fear.
"This person is an actor from the Nightmare Academy. If
Silencing the actor over this matter was obviously out of the question. Chen Ge's mind raced, and within the span of a few seconds, he had formulated a rapid response.
His expression didn't change in the slightest, as though he hadn't noticed Xu Yin standing beside him at all. He bent down toward the haunted house actor sprawled on the ground.
"You gave me a fright! I actually thought there were real ghosts in the world. Sorry about that—I think I smacked you pretty hard just now." Chen Ge reached out to help the actor up, but the man's gaze wasn't on him at all; it was fixed entirely on Xu Yin.
Noticing the strange look in the actor's eyes, Chen Ge finally reacted as if he'd just sensed something amiss.
He slowly turned his head. The moment he saw Xu Yin, his legs went soft and he dropped straight onto the step.
"What the—?! When did this guy get behind me?!"
Chen Ge looked like he'd been thoroughly scared too, though he quickly recovered. "You haunted house actors are seriously impressive! I've visited so many haunted houses, and you're the first ones who've managed to scare me like this."
He took a deep breath. As if seeing Xu Yin for the very first time, his voice trembled slightly with a hint of curiosity as he said, "Bro, how do you walk around without making a single sound?"
Chen Ge stood and started toward Xu Yin, but before he could take a step, a piercing shriek erupted from behind him.
"Don't go over there! He's—" The squat figure's features were all contorted. His voice earlier had apparently strained his vocal cords—it came out shrill and grating.
"Quit acting. I run a haunted house myself. You're dedicated, I'll give you that, but if you think you can scare me, you're still a long way off." Chen Ge stubbornly walked right up to Xu Yin and raised his own hand.
"He's not one of our haunted house actors!!"