Chapter 198: The Tourist Is Still Inside?!
"It seems Xu Zhenzhen is hiding inside the female corpse prop."
Chen Ge stared at the "female corpse" hanging at the entrance, a chill creeping through him. Who would have thought that a model dangling by the door concealed a real ghost?
Every living person had entered under her gaze, and many tourists had even touched her body.
"Now I need to figure out another question: why did the tape ghost seek out Xu Zhenzhen on its own? Is there some connection between them, or is the tape ghost simply hunting other ghosts to devour?"
Chen Ge wasn't sure whether Xu Zhenzhen was a lingering thought or a vengeful spirit. He only knew that this woman had long made her home in Tian Teng Hospital, and it was her presence that had helped the hospital gain its notoriety.
"During Tian Teng Hospital's operation in Xinhai, there were no tourist casualties, which suggests Xu Zhenzhen doesn't harbor much malice toward the living." Chen Ge was tempted to let Xu Zhenzhen go, but he couldn't control the ghost inside the tape right now.
The ghost's screams were relentless as it circled the hanging corpse. The corpse seemed to sense the threat, its body swaying incessantly.
After a dozen seconds, the corpse's body was suddenly torn apart by an invisible force. It twisted into a strange angle, and one leg was ripped clean off.
"The tape ghost wants to devour Xu Zhenzhen?" Whether it was an illusion or not, Chen Ge thought he saw the female corpse model's face contort in pain. As it showed that pained expression, the tape ghost fell silent—its constant wailing abruptly stopped.
"Is this thing trying to inflict its own suffering on other ghosts? Or is there something else going on?" Chen Ge was caught off guard when the "female corpse" model's other leg was torn away.
...
Third floor of the hall, at the haunted house entrance.
Tourists waiting in line were buzzing with chatter. The manager stared at the projection showing several steady, flat lines, his face growing red with embarrassment.
The haunted house's soundproofing was mediocre, and several screams had been heard from inside, but they were all female voices.
A male tourist goes in, and the haunted house produces female screams—the Tian Teng Hospital manager had never seen such a legendary occurrence.
"Too bad, so close." He stared at the peak of the line fluctuations. The line representing Chen Ge's heart rate had maxed out at ninety-six, just shy of breaking a hundred.
"Boss, how much longer is this event going to take? We've been waiting over ten minutes." Nearby tourists were starting to grumble.
"Hold your horses, that tourist should be out in at most five more minutes." The manager was also feeling uncertain, muttering under his breath: "There's a hidden route in the haunted house designed for the brave. Since he runs a haunted house too, there's no way he missed it, right? What went wrong?"
As the manager pondered, hurried footsteps suddenly echoed from the haunted house exit.
"Finally coming out! Running that fast, he must be scared out of his wits." The manager was pleased by the footsteps. He glanced up at the projector and reassured himself: "I knew it was impossible for someone to enter a haunted house and keep their heart rate below a hundred. The equipment must be faulty."
He grabbed a megaphone and called out to the crowd: "The first participant is about to come out! Let's compare his before-and-after state and ask about his experience."
With the manager's announcement, everyone's attention focused on the haunted house exit.
The footsteps grew louder until, with a loud "bang," the wooden door and thick curtain at the exit burst open.
Someone came out!
She was wearing an oversized hospital gown, her black hair stuck to her neck, sweat smearing her makeup. From a distance, all that was visible were a pair of terrified eyes.
"Why is it a woman?" The tourist nearest the exit was startled: "Isn't that a bit too much of a change!"
"Aqin?" The haunted house manager forgot to lower the megaphone, staring wide-eyed at the actress who had rushed out.
A tourist goes in to explore, and the ghost actor runs out first?
More footsteps followed behind the actress. This time, without the manager saying a word, all the other tourists turned to look at the exit.
The curtain was pushed aside, and a male actor covered in blood charged out. He was moving fast, as if terrified by something, and as soon as he cleared the haunted house, his legs gave out, and he collapsed to the floor.
"What's going on?"
"Is this part of the haunted house's event?"
On the platform, the manager, still reeling, was completely baffled: "Another one ran out?"
Looking into the haunted house from outside, the pitch-black exit offered no light. Those outside had no idea what was happening inside.
The manager stepped down from the platform, jogging over with the megaphone to ask the two actors what had happened. But before he could reach them, the entrance door burst open again.
"Bang!"
This time, it was even more dramatic. Two men and one woman—three actors—rushed out simultaneously.
All three were in ghostly makeup, but each looked more miserable than the last. The petite actress had tears in her eyes, and half a severed hand and a kidney model were sticking out of her uniform pocket.
"What the hell is going on?" The manager voiced the question on every tourist's mind.
"Mr. Hu, there's a real ghost in there! Seriously, Xu Zhenzhen is back!" The only actor who seemed somewhat normal was the security guard ghost. He ran toward the manager with his phone: "Listen to this! Brother Lin and Aqin both saw it, and Xiaoye encountered it too! It's real!"
"Don't start with that nonsense." The manager pushed the phone aside and looked at the actors sprawled on the ground: "You all ran out, so where's the tourist?"
"Tourist?" The security guard ghost glanced back at the other actors and said uncertainly: "The tourist... seems to still be inside?"
"Still inside?!"
The manager felt dizzy. In nearly a decade of work, this was the first time he'd seen all the haunted house actors scared out, leaving only the tourist to wander around inside.
"Wait! You all got scared out, and the tourist is still in there alone, so he must be mistaking the real ghost for an actor!"
"That's probably it. Xiaoye said the tourist seemed to be following the ghost the whole time."
Hearing this, the manager's vision went dark, and he nearly passed out. What kind of monsters had he provoked?!
"Mr. Hu, what do we do now? Call the police?"
"Call the police on opening day? Do you want to ruin everything?!" The manager shot the security guard ghost a fierce glare: "Grab your gear and come with me to find him! And you all, get up!"
The actors were forced to their feet by the manager. Dressed in a neat suit, the manager picked up the megaphone and led a group of "ghosts" cautiously toward the haunted house exit.