My House of Horrors

“Sure.” Han Qiuming patted the proprietor’s hand, telling him not to worry.

“Follow me.” Chen Ge did not give them the chance to reject. The proprietor stood where he was. “Qiuming, you’ve acted too rashly.”

“We’re all in the same business. You should be able to tell whether he was lying or not.” Han Qiuming shrugged. “If you are that afraid, I’ll walk at the front.”

“You weren’t there that day; you don’t know about the situation.” The proprietor felt a headache coming. “This Boss Chen is not a normal individual. He entered the Haunted House alone and managed to maintain his heartrate below 100.”

“That’s not all,” Song An added. “That day, Zhenzhen’s spirit seemed to appear again. All of us actors ran out of the Haunted House for our lives, but he remained inside the Haunted House alone.”

“What is so scary about that? You people are just too cowardly.” Han Qiuming pushed the glasses up his nose. “If it was me, I would have stayed inside the Haunted House as well.”

“I’m not done.” Song An shared a look with his boss. He continued when he got the latter’s permission. “After Boss Chen left, we inspected the Haunted House closely. Guess what we found.”

“Stop talking in riddles.”

“The female body that hung at the entrance was decimated. The head was rolled to the side, and its eyes looking in a fixed direction. Both of its legs were torn apart and were deposited far away from the body.” Just retelling it made Song An scared. “Would a normal visitor do something this crazy? I almost called the police then.”

The proprietor also walked over. “After Boss Chen, I’ve learned something. Sometimes, people are scarier than ghosts.”

“That’s right.” Song An nodded in agreement. “We should leave as soon as possible when the visitation is over. Our two Haunted Houses should stay as apart as possible in the future.”

“Is that necessary? You’re all acting like such babies. We’re already here, and it’s too late to be afraid now.” Ye Xiaoxin swiped on her phone and turned back when she realized that the people from Tian Teng Medical School had not moved. “You’re both in the same business, so how come the difference is so big?”

The young woman was a straight-shooter, and she had a unique tone. It sounded quite raspy and sexy. She walked toward the Haunted House and updated her status online. ‘Trying out a new local Haunted House today.’

“See, we’re looked down upon now.” Han Qiuming’s gaze swept the pair of long legs and rushed after Ye Xiaoxin without looking back.

“He’s acting too rashly.” The proprietor was worried. “Song An, stick close to him when we’re in there. Qiuming is talented, but pride might be his biggest downfall.”

“Okay, I’ll try my best.” Song An sighed as they walked into the Haunted House. The curtain was like a wall separating the two worlds. There was barely any light inside the Haunted House, and it was much cooler inside.

“This place looks quite old.” Song An looked around. “Who would have thought Jiujiang still had a localized Haunted House of this scale?”

“The Haunted House was built by both my parents and the park five or six years ago. At the time, it was the park’s main feature.” Chen Ge pulled out the disclaimer notices to give his guests. “Sign these first before we move forward.”

“Are you serious?” Han Qiuming looked at the long list of claims on the form before tossing it back on the table. “Save the paper. We’re both operators of Haunted Houses. We know what you’re getting into, so there’s no need to make this so official.”

The rest of Tian Teng Medical School did not move. They thought this was a trick by Chen Ge. The form itself was not useful, so the main purpose was its psychological pressure. On the other hand, Ye Xiaoxin and Su Luoluo signed the papers readily.

“I think there might be some misunderstanding. My papers are authorized by the government; they’re stamped and sealed.” Chen Ge placed the disclaimers beside the group. “There’s no entry if you don’t sign the form; that’s the rule.”

“Understood, understood.” The proprietor signed his name—Guo Miao. The rest of them followed suit. Since everyone was doing it, Han Qiuming had to follow, but that did not stop him from grumbling. “Tsk, so much trouble to visit a Haunted House. Fine, let me see whether it’s worth it or not.”

Chen Ge ignored Han Qiuming as he put their forms aside. “The Third Sick Hall is a newly built scenario, so many places are not yet completed. If you come across things that you cannot handle, remember to find the security spots to call for help.”

“Don’t waste your breath. We’re more familiar with the rules of a Haunted House than you are; we’ve tried more than twenty ways of introducing changes to the game for the past few years, so if anything, we’re more professional than you are.” Han Qiuming had never stopped harassing Chen Ge.

“In that case, I’ll keep the explanation brief.” Chen Ge did not get angry and maintained a good attitude. “The scenario that you’re visiting is called the Third Sick Hall. This is a story where the patients took up the role of the doctors, and logic is twisted. The whole scenario is not entirely fake, and I have to warn you that some of the patients are still at large.”

“Based on a real story? Isn’t that a direct copy of our idea?” Han Qiuming continued to lambast Chen Ge as if he could not see the warning in the eyes of the proprietor. “I’ve visited more than a hundred Haunted House of various sizes both locally and overseas. There are Haunted Houses in western countries that are built directly on top of abandoned prisons. Compared to those, yours is still too green.”

The proprietor finally rushed forward to say something. “Boss Chen, Qiuming is a bit direct with his words; he didn’t mean anything by them.”

“It’s alright. In this business, I always put the customers first, and I will listen to all suggestions and ideas seriously.”

Ye Xiaoxin took out a notebook from her pocket and wrote, “Great staff, + 5 points.”

“You are…?” Chen Ge turned toward the young lady.

“I’m marking your Haunted House. Full score is 100. If you score above 80, I’ll help you promote it on my blog.” Ye Xiaoxin pocketed her notebook. “I know Haunted Houses don’t allow phones, so I use this notebook to record everything I see.”

“Very professional.” Chen Ge swiped the sweat in his palm. “The Third Sick Hall is an open scenario, so feel free to explore the place. As long as you can bring out the tape recorder that I took from your Haunted House in twenty minutes, you will have cleared the scenario.”

With kindness and sincerity, Chen Ge repeated, “Don’t let your guard down. You have to retrieve the tape recorder from the Third Sick Hall in twenty minutes to win.”