Chapter 45: Someone’s Trying to Kill Me!
One minute after the short video was posted, Chen Ge’s comment section exploded again!
“Is that shadow lying on the bathtub at fifty-six seconds a special effect?! It looks like it crawled out from under the tub!”
“Is the one swinging the kitchen knife in the water the streamer himself? Damn! That expression is way too real!”
“If that shadow had gritted its teeth and held on a bit longer, would we have never seen the streamer again?”
“This is toxic! I was about to try how long I could hold my breath, and halfway through, you jump out with this thing!”
“Newbies run! This video is full of ghosts! Don’t look back! Run!”
“I actually stared at my phone screen for a whole minute without blinking, and now I can’t sleep…”
“After watching your last video, I didn’t dare look in the mirror. After this one, I don’t dare shower alone! Shameless streamer, take this fairy’s signature back-hug body slam!”
Seeing the comment section still so lively at four in the morning, Chen Ge felt gratified. He thought he had a group of loyal fans, and all his efforts were worth it.
Just before closing the short video page, Chen Ge didn’t forget to plug his horror house in the comments. The netizens were very enthusiastic, leaving messages saying they’d bring some local specialties to visit him at the horror house.
“Buying tickets to visit a haunted house and bringing me local specialties too—today’s tourists are really something.” Chen Ge exited the page, feeling much better. He stretched and left the Midnight Escape scene, carrying five plush toys.
Night passed, dawn arrived, and the sky outside the horror house was already growing light.
Chen Ge found some wooden boards in the utility room and sealed off the staff passage connected to the Midnight Escape theme. Until he dealt with the mirror monster, he wouldn’t reopen this scene for now.
“Ticket price is twenty yuan. Midnight Escape can hold seven visitors at once. At fifteen minutes per session, that’s 560 yuan an hour. Eight hours a day would be over four thousand.” Thinking about it, Chen Ge felt a pang of regret, but he wasn’t blinded by money. “Safety first. I can unlock more scenes later. There’s no end to earning money.”
After sealing off the Midnight Escape scene, Chen Ge returned to the staff break room. He placed the plush toys by the bed, changed into clean clothes, and went out for a run.
The trial mission at Ping An Apartment constantly reminded Chen Ge that if he hadn’t run fast enough that night, he’d probably be buried underground by now.
At 8:40 in the morning, Xu Wan came to work at the horror house and saw Chen Ge returning drenched in sweat from his run. She was a bit surprised; in her memory, her boss wasn’t someone who liked exercising.
A new day began. The protective barriers outside the horror house were pulled open to both sides. The two of them took their respective roles, ready to open for business.
At nine o’clock, tourists trickled into the amusement park one after another. The horror house entrance was still quiet, as this was the least crowded time in the park.
“Boss, what were you doing in the horror house last night? How come there’s water everywhere?”
“Cleaning up,” Chen Ge brushed it off casually, then added, “When you’re playing the ghost inside, be careful not to get too close to the mirrors.”
“Why?”
Just as Chen Ge was about to explain to Xu Wan, he saw the park manager, Uncle Xu, running over.
“Uncle Xu, something up?” Chen Ge took off his earbuds, noticing that Uncle Xu’s expression didn’t look right.
“Kid, you’re getting weirder and weirder.” Uncle Xu looked Chen Ge up and down. “The cafeteria staff just said a kitchen knife was stolen. I thought the thief must be desperate enough to steal a knife, but when I checked the surveillance, there you were—why were you taking the cafeteria’s kitchen knife in the middle of the night? Running around with two knives, think you’re tough?”
Hearing this, Chen Ge remembered that the kitchen knife he’d taken from the cafeteria was still lying in the bathtub.
“I just helped the police solve a case, and there’s still one suspect at large. I took the knife for self-defense. I’ll buy new ones for the cafeteria tomorrow.” He wasn’t sure if a knife that had cut a ghost would be safe for cutting vegetables, so he didn’t dare return those two knives to Uncle Xu.
“I’m more and more confused by you, kid. Are you up to something shady behind my back?”
“What shady thing could I do with two kitchen knives? Don’t worry.”
Uncle Xu was half-convinced. Since the park had just opened, he had a lot to handle, so he didn’t press further. He walked up to Chen Ge and pulled out a tightly wrapped plastic bag from his pocket. “Here’s five thousand. Use it for now. If you’re in trouble, you have to tell me.”
“Uncle, thanks. I should be able to pay you back by this weekend.”
“No need. Just don’t cause me any trouble.”
After Uncle Xu left, Chen Ge stuffed the money into his inner pocket. Leaning against the barrier, he thought about how to use it.
“Five thousand is just enough for installing surveillance. The horror house interior is already full. I’ll need to expand before adding new horror scenes. Renting the underground parking lot is a good idea, but I don’t know how much the park will charge.”
A pile of problems awaited Chen Ge, and he felt a headache coming on. “My biggest issue is lack of money! I wonder when the reward money will come through. Should I go and push for it?”
He stared blankly into the distance, and when his gaze swept over a certain spot, his pupils contracted. He suddenly spotted a strange tourist.
The person wore a cap, long sleeves, and kept both hands in their pockets, wandering among several amusement rides as if struggling to decide which one to try.
“That person looks familiar.” Thanks to his Yin Pupils, Chen Ge’s eyesight was better than most people’s. The person probably didn’t know they’d been spotted.
“Should I stop him?”
While Chen Ge hesitated, some tourists came to enter the horror house, and he got busy, gradually forgetting about it.
At noon, when Chen Ge and Xu Wan were about to head to lunch, he saw the suspicious tourist again near the horror house.
“This guy hasn’t come near the horror house all morning. He waited until Xu Wan and I went to eat, when the place was empty, to show up. What does he want?” Chen Ge told Xu Wan to go eat first while he turned back alone. The tourist spotted someone coming and immediately left the park, walking away decisively.
“Have I seen him somewhere before?” His eyelids twitched slightly. Chen Ge skipped lunch and ran straight to the park’s comprehensive management office. After getting permission from the staff, he reviewed the surveillance footage of this person.
The man deliberately avoided some obvious cameras. From entering the park in the morning to leaving, his hands stayed in his pockets the whole time. Even when he smoked, he lit the cigarette with one hand while holding it in his mouth.
Even stranger, after buying a park ticket, he only rode the Ferris wheel—and he rode it three times in a row.
“Something’s off. This guy is very off!”