Chapter 133: Uncle Xu Makes a Good Point
Uncle Xu had been worrying himself sick over Chen Ge's haunted house. "Wouldn't it be nice if we could send the visitors in happily and then bring them out safely? Isn't that better?"
"Alright, alright, don't worry. Everything's under control." Under Uncle Xu's repeated reminders, Chen Ge led the five visitors into the first floor of the haunted house.
"First, sign the liability waiver." Chen Ge pulled out a few sheets of paper from under the table and handed them to the five visitors. "The precautions are all written here. You can take a quick look."
"Pretty formal, huh." The leader of the group signed his name without even glancing at it. His name was Wang Hailong, six-foot-one, and he seemed about the same age as Chen Ge.
"Boss, is that reward you mentioned outside for real? If someone actually finds all twenty-four nameplates, you won't back out, will you?" The slightly shorter man next to Wang Hailong was called Wang Wenlong. They looked like brothers, very similar in appearance, though their personalities differed.
"We're in the business of running a shop, and integrity is what we value most." Chen Ge wore a professional smile.
"Going into the haunted house alone to find all twenty-four nameplates for a reward of twenty thousand—boss, how about we negotiate? If the five of us go in and find all twenty-four, could you reward us with five thousand?" The speaker seemed to be Wang Hailong's girlfriend, dressed in hot pants and a thin top, with her top buttons undone, revealing a butterfly tattoo on her collarbone.
This girl was called Dou Menglu. She was very pretty, but her handwriting was terrible.
"No problem. The main goal for everyone coming here is to have fun. As long as you find all the nameplates within twenty minutes and come out, you won't be short a single cent of that five thousand." Chen Ge smiled at the visitors.
"Awesome! Next time, I'll bring my buddies to support your business." Wang Hailong put down his pen and spoke up.
"Then I'll thank you in advance." Such kind and enthusiastic visitors—Chen Ge felt deeply moved. "If you're done signing, follow me. And a friendly tip: don't linger too long in the last classroom."
They reached the end of the first-floor corridor, and Chen Ge lifted a wooden plank on the ground. "The abandoned campus is filled with countless legends. Whether you believe them or not, be careful. Once inside, no photos or videos are allowed. Violators will bear the consequences."
"It's underground?" The five of them peered into the dim underground passage, where something seemed to be moving back and forth.
"Holy crap, what's that thing!" The fat guy among the five, who hadn't spoken until now, stepped back. He had a potbelly, small eyes, and wasn't very brave.
"Pei Hu, you're turning into a scaredy-cat before we've even gone in?" Wang Hailong grabbed Pei Hu's fleshy arm. "It's all fake. If you're scared, stand in the back with Meili."
"Two grown men bickering—are we going in or not?" The speaker was another woman, who looked fierce, short in stature, and built like a block. Despite her efforts to dress up, standing next to Dou Menglu, she still seemed like a supporting wallflower.
Chen Ge glanced at her liability waiver. This woman was called Xia Meili.
"What's the rush?" Wang Hailong winked at Chen Ge. "Boss, start the timer after we go down!"
"Got it." Chen Ge pretended to pull out his phone and opened the timer.
After sending the five visitors underground, he closed the wooden plank and put his phone away.
Timer? Not happening.
If they could walk out on their own, that would already be pushing their limits.
Entering the dressing room, Chen Ge put on the Skullcrusher Doctor costume and mask, then went into the control room.
He found the background music, thought for a moment, and didn't put "Black Friday" on repeat.
"Uncle Xu makes a good point. We're in the service industry; we should consider the visitors more." He moved the mouse, lowered the volume, casually opened "Wedding Dress," and added it to the playlist.
"Listening to the same track over and over—visitors get tired of it too."
...
The wooden plank above had been closed. The five visitors stood in the dim corridor, staring at the half-open classroom doors, faint rustling sounds reaching their ears.
"This place is huge," Pei Hu muttered, shuffling back to stand next to Xia Meili.
"No kidding. If it weren't big, how could it hide so many nameplates? The haunted house owner isn't stupid." The thinnest of the group, Wang Wenlong, was the first to step forward. "Let's hurry up. Five people searching for twenty-four nameplates—good odds. Once we win that five thousand, we'll go out for hotpot and karaoke."
"We're here now, so why stand around? Listen to my brother." Wang Hailong strode forward. As he passed the first classroom door, he suddenly stopped.
This abrupt move startled the others behind him. Dou Menglu, sticking close, whispered, "Hailong, what did you see?"
"Look at you all—what's there to be afraid of?" He kicked open the classroom door, and a nameplate hanging from the frame fell to the ground. "That's how easy it is!"
He picked up the nameplate, which bore a girl's name—Chen Yalin.
"This nameplate is placed so obviously, probably to show us what they look like and their features." Wang Wenlong took the nameplate to examine it. "Each one has a name, the edges are yellowed, looks like something from years ago, not easy to fake."
"Why overthink it? We've been in for less than ten seconds and already found one. As long as we're not scared, finding the other twenty-three shouldn't be a big deal." Wang Hailong took back the nameplate and continued forward. The others gradually let their guard down.
They ventured deeper into the Muyang Middle School scene. A cold wind rustled blank test papers on the floor. No one noticed that, though all five were wearing shoes, faint footprints remained on the white paper.
The temperature dropped further. In the dim corridor, an eerie nursery rhyme began to play from somewhere.
It sounded like someone was crying, or maybe someone was laughing.
The atmosphere grew more unsettling. It felt like something was hiding in the classrooms on either side, and in the darkness, pairs of eyes seemed to be watching.
"It's not that scary, but why does it feel so creepy?"
To find the nameplates faster, the five had split up.
Xia Meili and Wang Wenlong searched the left-side classrooms, while the rest searched the right. They checked the drawers in the first few classrooms but found no nameplates.
"This haunted house owner is pretty good. Let's keep moving; we can't waste any more time." Wang Hailong led the way. When he reached the last classroom, he stopped abruptly.
"What's up, Long Ge? Found another nameplate?" Pei Hu craned his neck to look in the direction Wang Hailong had stopped. One glance, and a chill shot straight to his brain.
At the classroom window stood a figure, its face seemingly smiling.
Even more terrifying, looking through the window, behind this mannequin, standing or sitting, were over twenty more!
Their bodies were still, but their heads were twisted at grotesque angles, all smiling at the visitors outside the window!