Chapter 68: Not The Only One Here
The two young girls felt slightly at ease physically and mentally, as the gray fog had dissipated and they were warmed by Lin Yao’s glowing body. However, the weird man was a combination of evil. Upon seeing him, they screamed in horror and hid behind Lin Yao.
Lin Yao protected them and got into position to draw the sword.
Although he looked calm on the outside, his hands trembled and his forehead was covered in beads of cold sweat, reflecting his inner thoughts.
‘I have fallen into his trap!’
Lin Yao stared at the weird man, getting ready to attack anytime. He did not launch an attack right away, as the weirdo was still very far away from him.
Although Lin Yao a.s.sumed a defensive stance, he could not feel even a glimmer of hope. The sense of horror that Lin Yao got from the weird man was 100 times stronger than that of the freaks outside.
Lin Yao gritted his teeth, guarding himself against the strange man and getting ready to protect the children even if it cost his life. However, something unexpected happened. The weird man shot Lin Yao a glance and walked toward the haunted house behind the ticket hall with a hammer in one hand and an unknown item in his other hand.
The weird man disappeared into the room. Lin Yao discovered that the weird man was dragging a strange existence with his other hand. It was someone that he had seen before. It was the candied haws merchant who had tried to sell his items at half the price. Right now, the merchant’s head was completely smashed, and the merchant was dragged into the haunted house like a dead dog by the weirdo.
When the weird man opened the door of the haunted house, Lin Yao, who was staring intently at the weird man, noticed something at the corner of the haunted house.
He could not help but black out because of what he saw. He took a few steps back, plopped down on the floor, and did not recover for a long time.
When Lin Yao sobered up, the first thing he saw was the two girls standing guard over him with their hands wide open. Although they were trembling from fright, they stared intently at the weird man, preventing him from hurting Lin Yao.
“You girls… Sigh!”
Lin Yao sighed and pulled the two little girls to his side.
Upon seeing that Lin Yao was awake, the two girls burst into tears.
“Brother, brother, you are awake.”
“Woohoo! We were scared to death. Brother, are you alright?”
“I’m fine.”
How could he be alright? In fact, it was already worth noting that Lin Yao, who was not as strong as the other party, had not totally blacked out after seeing this great horror. This was indeed praiseworthy.
However, although Lin Yao was tired, he was no longer as worried.
“Don’t be afraid, we are safe. This is indeed a safe house.”
The haunted house was very scary, and as the name suggested, there were countless ghosts there.
However, those ghosts had not come by themselves. They had been kidnapped by the owner of the haunted house. He had knocked them out with a hammer and brought them to this place one by one.
When the door opened, Lin Yao discovered that there were many ghosts behind the door, and all of them were mutilated and extremely miserable. Eight out of the ten ghosts had no head.
Lin Yao realized that the reason the ghosts outside “obeyed the rules and the law” and humans had to spend money to be “served” was most likely because of the restrictions set by the owner of the haunted house.
For example, the candied haws merchant had tried to sell the items at half price. The merchant had disrupted the market’s function and had therefore had its head smashed by a hammer.
While Lin Yao was pondering this, the owner of the haunted house spoke up. His voice sounded like a poorly-maintained ca.s.sette, and there was a rustling sound. Lin Yao almost freaked out when he heard what he said. “The haunted house is open, 100 yuan per ticket.”
‘The owner of the haunted house is also after money. However, the haunted house is full of ghosts. Who would dare to go in?’
Lin Yao lamented to himself while he hugged the two girls tightly. He feared that they would be tempted to rush over.
However, an innocent voice rang in Lin Yao’s ears.
“Brother, that’s too tight.”
“Oh, aren’t the two of you tempted?”
“It’s not the same as outside. No, we are not tempted.”
‘Could the haunted house not be trying to force people to spend money?’
Lin Yao eased up slightly. He first let go of Xiaofei, but he was ready to grab and pull her back at any time. However, he realized that Xiaofei, who was released from his grip, had no intention of buying a ticket. Lin Yao finally completely let go of his worry.
Even so, he still did not intend to buy a ticket. As he had just realized, there were real ghosts in this haunted house. Thus, he did not dare enter it.
After realizing that he really could not perceive the malice coming from the weird man and there was no fog to disturb him, Lin Yao, who was relieved, finally had time to look around. He tried to question the weird man, hoping to get some information.
“Do you know where this place is?
“Uncle, do you know how to get out?
“Brother, you are so handsome.
“d.a.m.n, I…”
He tried to start a conversation by asking questions and flattering him. However, nothing worked. Lin Yao thought of insulting him. However, in the end, he did not dare say the words. It would be better not to go looking for trouble.
Of course, the weird man reacted. After Lin Yao scanned the weird items in the store, the weird man actually spoke again. “The souvenirs in the haunted house can be purchased with money.”
This was when Lin Yao realized that the strange items in the haunted house came with price tags. In fact, Lin Yao could see some familiar items there.
The candied hawthorn sticks that the candied haws vendors were selling seemed to be a new addition on the shelves. There were dozens of eyes on the candied haws, and there was a sign below saying that they cost 100 yuan a string.
Lin Yao was about to say that the weird man was a profiteer. The merchant selling the candied haws had only sold them for 10 yuan a string. The price had increased tenfold here.
Of course, Lin Yao instinctively stopped himself. He finally put his mind at ease after seeing that the weird man seemed not to care about him. He then began to browse through other items.
There were many souvenirs in the haunted house. Apart from the candied haws, there were masks with moving facial features and balloons made from heads. The weird man even sold a smaller version of the b.u.mper cars as a souvenir.
Lin Yao contemplated it for a moment before deciding to buy the items.
‘If I encounter freaks in the amus.e.m.e.nt park, they will not try to sell their goods if I don’t have any money. In that case, we will be safe.’
Now that Lin Yao understood the rules in the amus.e.m.e.nt park slightly, he was thinking of ways to throw the money away. However, he had been unable to throw the money away during their journey there. Now, it seemed that buying some items would be a good way to get rid of the money.
Of course, he mainly wanted to spend the money that the two girls had found.
The girls would naturally listen to Lin Yao.
Lin Yao took the two girls with him and walked around the souvenir shelves to search for suitable items.
Although their main purpose was to spend the money they had, Lin Yao felt that the items they got should be practical. Therefore, he was thinking of buying things that would be useful to him.
‘Candied haws are too disgusting to use, and so are human head balloons.’
Lin Yao browsed through the items and turned to look at other souvenirs.
As he was looking through the items, he could hear faint sounds coming from outside the haunted house.
“We have found it. It’s here. Let’s notify the other teams.”
“Hurry up, let’s go in. The spell is going to break soon.”
“Xiaoli! d.a.m.n, I will fight it out with you.”
Lin Yao stayed on alert upon hearing the sounds and roars coming from outside the house. He could even hear sounds of people fighting with each other. The two little girls ran to Lin Yao’s side in fright.
Lin Yao grabbed the girls and pulled them to a corner. The owner of the haunted house, who was holding a sledgehammer, looked indifferent to the sounds outside, which put Lin Yao at ease.
While he was trying to protect the girls by retreating to a corner, a group of humans with bloodstains on them poured in from outside.
They came in looking hideous and were covered in blood. However, Lin Yao felt relieved at the sight of them.
‘Look at the armed police force, the soldiers, and their uniforms. They must be the special unit that patrols at night. I’m not the only one who entered this place.’