Chapter 10: I'm Starting to Freak Out...
"It was a false alarm." Gao Ruxue's heart pounded wildly; it had been a long time since she had lost her composure like this.
Eerie music drifted around her ears. By the dim light, she looked at herself in the mirror, her pupils slowly contracting into pinpoints.
In the mirror, the curtain behind her was untying itself! A paper face slowly pushed through, clearly visible in the reflection, grinning at her.
"Who's in there!"
In extreme fear, people become irritable and impulsive. Gao Ruxue spun around, grabbed the two ends of the curtain, and tried to go in to investigate. But the curtain was intricately designed, with several layers inside and out—gauze and bed drapes intertwined. After struggling for a while, she not only failed to see the innermost scene but also got her arm tangled.
When it rains, it pours. Just then, footsteps sounded in the room.
"I didn't move, so where are the footsteps coming from?" With her junior missing, and aided by the scene's atmosphere and Black Friday, Gao Ruxue's psychological defenses were already riddled with cracks. She was at her limit, and the footsteps in the room became the final straw.
Her legs went weak, unable to support her. Fear, like a beast released from its cage, began to devour her reason.
Gao Ruxue forced herself to turn, trying to break free from the curtain's grip. The footsteps grew closer, but she couldn't find their source.
"Impossible! The room is this small; if someone were approaching, I'd see them at a glance!" Her mind was in complete chaos. The simple setup of the room brought an indescribable, immense terror.
The white lantern outside the window swayed, the light grew dimmer, and the figure in the bronze mirror began to blur. Gao Ruxue's pupils trembled. Her beautiful eyes fixed on the mirror, where her reflection had vanished, replaced by a strange woman in a wedding dress!
A timeless beauty, pleasing to the eye.
That pale, unreal aesthetic was heart-stopping, like admiring a long-sealed work of art.
Staring at the woman in the mirror, Gao Ruxue's shoulders shook. For the first time, terror appeared on her face.
She had dissected many corpses; she was familiar with the feeling the woman in the mirror gave her—a sensation only felt when facing the dead!
"There's a real corpse hidden in the haunted house!"
As this thought surfaced, fear engulfed her like a wave. She desperately tried to move away from the bronze mirror, but as she stepped back, she bumped into something.
At the same time, the footsteps in the room finally stopped. Gao Ruxue's thoughts froze in that instant. She didn't bother to wonder why; instinctively, amid the eerie background music, she slowly turned her head.
Their eyes met. Behind her, a woman in a wedding dress with a funeral makeup smile was grinning at her.
"Ah!!!"
A scream shattered the tranquility of the Horror House, audible even outside.
Her arm trapped, Gao Ruxue's legs gave way, and she collapsed to the floor.
Her face drained of color, suppressed fear burst into tears streaming down her face, uncontrollable. She dared not open her eyes for a long time, tear streaks lingering on her cheeks, her mouth slightly open, dry-heaving unconsciously.
"Xiao Wan, get her out quickly!"
"Okay." The female ghost opposite Gao Ruxue removed the Bluetooth earbud hidden in her hair and crouched in front of her: "The tour is over. Take a breather, and I'll lead you out."
A dozen seconds later, the scene door was flung open, and Chen Ge rushed in: "What's this? Only one person? Where's the other?"
He hadn't found Heshan in the surveillance footage either, fearing an accident, so he hurried in.
"That one was too timid. He rushed in on his own, stood in front of the bronze mirror, and fainted from fright. I was afraid he'd affect the experience for later visitors, so I dragged him behind the bed first..."
"Fainted?" Chen Ge didn't know what to say. "Visitor safety is always the top priority. If this happens again, notify me immediately!"
"Mm-hmm." Letting Xu Wan support Gao Ruxue, Chen Ge dragged Heshan out from behind the bed. This guy was lying unconscious, out cold, with no idea what he had been through.
"Let's go, find a ventilated spot outside!" He hoisted Heshan onto his back and ran toward the exit of the haunted house. Descending to the first floor, he pushed aside the opaque curtain and kicked open the barrier: "Move aside, everyone!"
Chen Ge placed Heshan by the ventilation opening of the haunted house, alternating between pinching his philtrum and applying ice packs. The scene left the surrounding visitors dumbfounded.
"What happened? Walked in, carried out..."
"Visiting a haunted house and fainting? I've never heard of that before."
"Did he get scared unconscious? Didn't the reviews say it wasn't scary?"
"Damn, I'm starting to freak out..."
Soon after, Xu Wan helped Gao Ruxue out. She was completely different from when she entered—her hair disheveled, face pale, steps unsteady, with tears still in her eyes.
"This is a total transformation!"
"What did she go through in there?"
"Didn't she say she'd seen corpses and wasn't scared at all?"
Xu Wan guided Gao Ruxue to the steps and handed her a bottle of water. She was still shaken, her hand trembling slightly as she held the bottle.
"Don't block the air, move aside!" Chen Ge was also a bit troubled. Gao Ruxue crying was somewhat expected, but why did this guy suddenly faint? If he was timid, he should have just admitted it! Why force himself into the haunted house to have fun?
Bad news travels fast. More and more visitors gathered at the entrance of the Horror House, even alerting the park manager, Uncle Xu, who rushed over on his electric scooter.
"Xiao Chen! What's going on? How did a visitor faint?!" Uncle Xu pushed his scooter through the crowd.
"I don't know either. Maybe he got heatstroke..." Chen Ge's answer couldn't even convince himself.
"Heatstroke in this weather?" Uncle Xu approached, directly hoisting Heshan onto the scooter: "Give me a hand, let's take him to the infirmary!"
Before they had gone far, whether from the philtrum pinch or other reasons, Heshan slowly regained consciousness. His eyelids fluttered, and he suddenly sat up on the scooter, eyes red, muttering over and over: "Mirror, mirror."
"Damn, calm down!"
"Is this guy possessed?"
Sunlight fell on his face. After a few seconds, Heshan returned to normal. He rubbed the back of his head, found himself surrounded by onlookers, and felt a bit embarrassed.
"Feeling better? How did you faint in the haunted house?" Uncle Xu, wearing his park uniform, was very diligent. He handed Heshan a bottle of water.
"I'm not sure what happened. I got scared, ran into a room, and saw a bronze mirror on the wall. Someone in the mirror was calling my name, and then I blacked out." Heshan looked bewildered: "Maybe it's an experience feature in the haunted house."
"A feature involving a mirror?" Uncle Xu looked at Chen Ge, whose expression was far from good.