Chapter 49: Xiao Chen, Are You Injured?!
Zhang Peng sprinted out of the staff passage, crashing around like a headless fly. The haunted house had a complex layout, and with the lights off, he ran a few meters before miserably realizing he couldn’t find his way back.
“Why stop running? Don’t be afraid—I won’t hurt you. I just want to use you for a little experiment.” Gripping the iron hammer with both hands, Chen Ge trailed behind Zhang Peng like a ghost, herding him into a dead end.
“Won’t hurt me? You hadn’t even been here three seconds before you smashed my arm with that hammer! That’s not hurting me?!” Zhang Peng had already dropped his knife. His left arm bled, and his right arm hung limp like a noodle on his shoulder, completely numb. For a fleeting moment, he felt a surge of grievance, even a sudden urge to call the police and turn himself in.
“Stop struggling. I advise you to behave and do as I say, or you might spend the rest of your life in a wheelchair.” Chen Ge approached slowly, feeling no sympathy. Zhang Peng had come to kill him; if he hadn’t discovered it in time, he’d already be dead.
“Boss, does that sound like something a victim should say? I’ve got the worst luck ever!” Zhang Peng’s dagger was long gone, dropped somewhere unknown. Unarmed, he dove into any path he saw.
“Pretty fast runner.” Chen Ge continued the chase. After a few steps, that eerie cutting sound echoed in his ears again, and a dark figure burst out from the staff passage!
The mirror monster had probably just figured out the situation. It realized its chance had come.
Zhang Peng fled blindly, racing through the first floor of the haunted house. As he passed a corner, he vaguely saw someone waving at him from nearby.
Maybe the pressure from Chen Ge was too much; without much hesitation, he ran toward that person.
Chen Ge followed behind and saw it too. A chill ran through him. The dark figure’s height and build matched He Feng’s—it was the mirror monster!
“There’s a path to heaven you won’t take, but you force your way into hell’s gate—that’s a real ghost!” Before Chen Ge could speak, Zhang Peng had already reached the end of the corridor with the dark figure. Under its guidance, he hid in the restroom.
“The mirror in the first-floor restroom is intact. The mirror monster led him there—clearly it’s about to strike!” At this critical moment, Chen Ge tensed up. He rushed to the restroom, rattled the door lock, and found it bolted shut.
Things were veering off his plan. The dark figure had appeared suddenly, taking Zhang Peng away before Chen Ge could control him.
“Ah!”
Just a few seconds later, a bloodcurdling scream came from the restroom. Something was knocked over and smashed. Zhang Peng seemed to have encountered something utterly terrifying.
“What’s happening in there?” Chen Ge swung the iron hammer at the lock. The lock broke off, but the door still wouldn’t open—someone had wedged a storage cabinet behind it.
Unable to see inside, Chen Ge grew impatient. He pounded the wooden door with the hammer.
“Bang! Bang! Bang!”
The racket was audible even outside the haunted house. Chen Ge put all his strength into it. The hollow wooden door shattered, and the storage cabinet behind it began to wobble, leaving a half-palm-wide gap.
Peering through the gap, he saw the black cloth covering the restroom mirror had fallen to the floor. Zhang Peng stared blankly at the mirror, and even more terrifyingly, a tall dark figure stood between him and the glass!
The figure was slowly changing, eventually taking on Zhang Peng’s build. It stepped back, letting half its body merge into the mirror, and then the strangest thing happened.
Zhang Peng, with a vacant gaze, walked toward the mirror on his own. His face pressed tightly against the glass, and at that moment, his body fused with half of the dark figure’s form.
After about three or four seconds, Zhang Peng’s unconsciously parted lips curled upward into a sinister smile!
He slowly turned, looking at Chen Ge through the door and cabinet, then dipped his hand in the blood on his arm and wrote something on the mirror.
Another second or two passed before Zhang Peng’s eyes returned to normal. He shuddered, then without a word, climbed over the restroom window and fled outside the haunted house.
“The mirror monster has gotten into Zhang Peng’s body? Why does it hold such a grudge against me? Is it because I’ve repeatedly foiled its plans?” The mirror monster had attacked He Shan and He Feng before, but both times failed due to outside interference. Maybe that’s why it resented the haunted house’s owner, Chen Ge.
The restroom door was jammed, impossible to break open quickly. Chen Ge hurried around to the front entrance, but before he could get out, he heard Captain Li’s voice from outside.
“Chen Ge! Hang on! We’re coming!” With a loud crash, the haunted house’s barrier was pried open, and several police officers filed in.
Seeing this, Chen Ge immediately tossed the iron hammer into a corner and took off his mask and jacket.
Footsteps echoed down the corridor. Captain Li was the first to rush in. Seeing Chen Ge standing dazed in the hallway, he hurried over: “Xiao Chen, are you injured?”
Chen Ge stepped back, “weakly” leaning against the wall, and lightly patted his chest: “I’m a bit shaken, but nothing serious. Don’t worry about me—go after Zhang Peng! He escaped through the haunted house restroom window!”
“Leave the rest to us. You’ve had a rough night.”
“It’s nothing. As long as we catch the suspect, what’s a little sacrifice on my part?”
“Don’t be so reckless next time. How dangerous was tonight!” Captain Li’s eyes were full of admiration. He sent others to pursue Zhang Peng while he stayed with Chen Ge in the haunted house to inspect the scene.
He first entered the staff break room. Seeing the blood on the sheets, he immediately tensed up: “Xiao Chen, you’re hurt? Let me see!”
“That blood isn’t mine…” Chen Ge didn’t know how to explain. “It was dark in there. The suspect might have cut himself.”
Captain Li nodded. He raised his flashlight, staring at the vicious knife marks on the sheets and blanket, his expression grave: “Someone who’s not skilled with a knife could only cut themselves in a state of extreme frenzy.”
He pointed at the marks: “Seventeen slashes! That’s enough for attempted murder—this is evidence!”
Staring at the knife marks on the sheets, Chen Ge felt a twinge of fear.
Captain Li put on gloves and signaled Chen Ge to step out: “Don’t touch anything in this room. Someone will come to photograph and collect evidence later.”
“Got it. I’ll cooperate.” Chen Ge backed out of the room. He quietly returned, first hiding the hammer, then stopping at the restroom door: “Zhang Peng seemed to have written something on the mirror?”