"Why would a haunted house actor suddenly let out a scream like that?"
"How interesting. An actor getting terrified in his own haunted house."
The door leading out of the screening room was being pounded from the other side, and the screaming grew louder. Chen Ge tried to open the door to take another look, only to find it wouldn't budge.
"Combining virtual projections with live actors is a solid idea, but sometimes there are bound to be coordination hiccups."
The screams hadn't stopped yet, but the whistling from the far end of the corridor was already closing in.
The lights went out. Chen Ge activated his Yin Eyes and finally spotted the figure — a man in a chef's uniform standing at the end of the corridor. He was portly, his originally white chef's coat stained all over with blood. Half a human head was stuffed into the pocket on his belly.
"A cannibal chef?"
The actor's shoes were custom-made, producing almost no sound when he walked. Now, with the corridor plunged into darkness, he was rapidly closing the distance on Chen Ge, wielding a comically oversized cleaver.
If Chen Ge's guess was correct, in just a few seconds once the chef drew close, the lights would flash on again to give him a jump scare.
"Good concept. Shame I have unusually good eyesight."
The chef was rushing through the dark at alarming speed. Chen Ge broke into a full sprint.
"No wonder the corridor is so spotless — they wanted to prevent him from tripping during the chase, since there are no lights." Chen Glanced at the wooden boards mounted on the wall. "Should I pry one off and lay it across the path? The chef would never expect a plank in the middle of the floor."
After a brief moment of consideration, Chen Ge decided against it. He was worried the man might actually hurt himself from the fall.
Ten seconds later, the lights blazed back on. The chef swung his cleaver overhead with a wild laugh, but halfway through his cackle he realized there was nobody in front of him. Chen Ge had already made it to the other end of the corridor.
"Huh?"
Panting for breath, the chef had been laughing maniacally by himself in the hallway for a solid stretch, only to discover he'd been laughing at thin air. When he looked up, he saw Chen Ge staring right back at him from across the corridor. With no other choice, he kept laughing, refusing to let his character break.
"That's the Butcher of Hell! He stews the people he catches in soup! I saw a movie just like this!" The youngest guy in the group shouted as he sprinted for all he was worth.
"He's catching up!" A girl glanced back and caught sight of the chef, letting out a piercing shriek.
Perhaps because the earlier fiasco had embarrassed him, the chef waved his cleaver with even more ferocity and charged after the visitors.
"This way!"
Just as they were about to be caught by the cop, at the last critical moment, the police officer spotted a door.
"Wait! Don't go in yet!" The glasses-wearing man tried to warn them, but it was already too late. The police officer shoved the door open and burst inside, and the other visitors didn't think twice before rushing in after him.
Chen Ge was the last one to enter the room. By then, the chef was dangerously close. He casually pulled the door shut behind him.
*Bam!*
Wood splinters rained down from above. The cleaver had carved a massive gash in the upper part of the door. The wooden door shuddered as someone on the other side slammed into it with wild, frenzied force!