Chapter 225: There's a Limit to Asking for Trouble
"Could Chen's parents have been killed by him..." Song An felt as if his throat was clogged with ice shards, his lips trembling uncontrollably as he spoke.
"You saw the bloodstains on the edge of the bed in that room by the entrance. I couldn't say anything earlier because there were outsiders around." Guo Miao reached into his pocket, pulled out a cigarette, and put it between his lips. "Artificial blood plasma is definitely not that color. The scratches and fingerprints we saw might have been left by real people."
"There are plenty more similar scratches and bloodstains in this scene. If they're all real..." Song An shuddered, scanning his surroundings. This wasn't a haunted house—it was a slaughterhouse!
"Boss, should we call the police?"
"I want to, but if we report it just ten minutes after entering a haunted house, and it turns out we misunderstood Chen, we'll never be able to hold our heads up again." Guo Miao bit down on the cigarette. "Let's regroup with the others first."
"Boss! Brother Song!" As Song An and Guo Miao were talking, Du Chaojin came running over, out of breath. "The mannequins came to life! No one moved them—they followed us on their own!"
"The mannequins came to life?"
As time passed, bad news kept piling up.
"Yeah, Teacher Han said the staff were hiding among the mannequins, moving them from behind to create a sense of pressure. To warn them off, he charged into the group of mannequins to find the staff." Little Du paused to catch his breath, realizing he felt safer with Guo Miao and Song An around.
"Didn't he find any staff in there?" Guo Miao and Song An's expressions shifted. This haunted house wasn't playing by the rules at all!
"There wasn't a single staff member among those mannequins."
"If no one moved them, how did the mannequins keep following us? Han Qiuming might be harsh and selfish, but he's still a professional in haunted house design."
"No idea. Teacher Han dismantled every mannequin but found nothing unusual—they're just ordinary mannequins."
"He dismantled the mannequins in someone else's haunted house?" Guo Miao felt his ominous预感 slowly turning into reality.
"I warned him, but he still pulled off all their heads." Little Du grimaced. "You should've seen it—Teacher Han stood in the middle of those mannequins, saying that since Chen trashed the Tian Teng Hospital venue, he was going to tear Chen's haunted house apart!"
Hearing this, Guo Miao and Song An froze.
What the hell—tear it apart?!
There's a limit to asking for trouble!
Why did he have to compete with a psychopathic killer!
"What's wrong with you two?" Little Du noticed the heavy silence. "Are you scared too? I was at the back of the group, and I kept feeling like someone was following us. Every time I turned around, the mannequins had gotten closer. Oh, and one of them seemed to smile at me!"
"Little Du, the mannequins aren't the real issue." Guo Miao had already bitten through his cigarette. He quickly picked up the pieces and stuffed them into his pocket.
"Not the issue? Boss, there are nearly twenty mannequins. If they all come to life, we're done for." Little Du was surprised by his boss's reaction—it wasn't what he expected.
"Boss is right. There's a bigger problem we need to deal with." Song An's expression was even grimmer. "Let's find Han Qiuming first."
The shift in Song An's attitude left Little Du more confused. "Brother Song, weren't you just arguing with Teacher Han? Now you want to find him?"
"No choice." Song An's face was serious. "I can't just let him die, can I?"
"Let him die?" Little Du's mouth hung open. When had things gotten this serious?
"I thought we were just visiting a haunted house!"
...
After Du Chaojin and Su Luoluo left, only Ye Xiaoxin remained behind. She was bold, thoroughly enjoying the haunted house experience, occasionally pulling out a notepad to jot things down.
"Are you waiting for me?" Han Qiuming hurried over, finding only Ye Xiaoxin at the back. A strange feeling stirred in him.
"I like to take my time exploring alone. Your companions are up ahead." Ye Xiaoxin pointed her pen toward the corridor ahead, where a corner blocked their view of what was happening.
Han Qiuming glanced at Ye Xiaoxin and couldn't look away. He quickened his pace to walk beside her. "I can help you a lot with haunted house reviews. I'm a professional—I've worked in haunted houses abroad and seen all kinds of incredible designs."
"Is that so?" Ye Xiaoxin casually pushed open a door to a room at the corner, patiently examining every item inside.
"I've been to three haunted houses themed around psychiatric hospitals alone. One of them was directly converted from an abandoned asylum—now that was realistic." Seeing Ye Xiaoxin about to lift a bed board, Han Qiuming stepped inside to help.
As he tried every way to strike up a conversation, voices from around the corner called out: "Where is he? Qiuming! Han Qiuming!"
"He was just behind me—where'd he go?"
"No, this place is too dangerous. We need to find him fast!"
"Han Qiuming!"
Footsteps hurried past in the corridor, but Han Qiuming pretended not to hear, helping Ye Xiaoxin lift the bed board and set it on the floor.
"They're calling you. Aren't you going to say something?"
"They only think of me when there's danger. Where were they before?" Han Qiuming chuckled. "There's probably something terrifying in the next scene. Those guys look tough, but they're softies—nowhere near as reliable as me."
Ye Xiaoxin didn't respond. They put the bed board back. "You could go with them. I prefer exploring alone."
"It's fine. Two people can look out for each other."
Unable to shake Han Qiuming, Ye Xiaoxin said nothing more and left the room, entering the corridor Guo Miao and the others had just run from.
"Did you notice the numbers on these room doors? All the doors in this corridor start with 2." Han Qiuming tried hard to impress her, but Ye Xiaoxin seemed uninterested.
After walking a bit, Ye Xiaoxin suddenly stopped.
"What's wrong?"
"This door looks different from the others." Ye Xiaoxin pointed at the sign on the door, which was blurry but faintly readable as "Director's Office."
"Maybe the recorder is inside. Let's go search it thoroughly."
...
Guo Miao and Song An ran frantically, nearly shouting themselves hoarse, but there was no response from Han Qiuming.
"That can't be! He was right behind me!" Little Du was sweating with anxiety, horrific thoughts swirling in his mind. "Did Teacher Han get taken by the mannequins?"
"Probably not. If something happened to him, he'd have made a sound. We didn't hear anything." Guo Miao frowned, looking at the mannequins scattered on the floor and the heads piled haphazardly. He clenched his jaw. "Don't panic. He and Ye Xiaoxin might be in one of the rooms. Let's go back and search again."