1133 Truly, the Older the Ginger, the Spicier They Are! 3 in 1
“Did you guys hear some strange noise?” Qin Guang held the rag doll’s head and stood guardedly at the door like some kind of protective talisman. The mission that Zuo Han had given him was to stay as a guard at the door because the rag doll’s head that he was holding could chase away the black fog and prevent the ghosts from getting too close to them. This excuse had successfully convinced Qin Guang. Earlier, when they were walking through the black fog, he had realized that the rag doll’s head indeed had that function. Now, if anyone else asked him to hand over the rag doll’s head, he would not surrender it easily.
“Just stay outside the door and do not move randomly away. If you see any ghosts coming, yell to warn us.” Zuo Han and the other people from Jiujiang Medical University were searching inside the room. The real reason he wanted Qin Guang to stand outside the room was because he wanted to use Qin Guang as bait to distract the ghosts and monsters so that when the real threat arrived, their main target would be Qin Guang.
“Okay.” Just as Qin Guang answered, he heard that strange noise again. The noise came from the bottom floor. Slowing turning his head, Qin Guang stared at the mouth of the staircase. The flaking walls had white calligraphy of the word ‘bliss’ inverted on them. The floor was littered with banknotes, and a bowl of white rice were placed before each room. This whole building felt like a ma.s.s grave, and it was the home for a whole building of dead people.
“Everything is fine. Everything is fine. I am just visiting a haunted house. I have been to real haunted locations before. There is no reason for me to be afraid of these fake things, right?” Qin Guang tried his best to console himself. But once the emotion of fear appeared, it would grow and spread like wild gra.s.s. The more he tried to convince himself, the more his brain would move toward that direction that he had been trying to avoid. Qin Guang could not stop his eyes from wandering to the mouth of the staircase. Since no one had pa.s.sed by that place for a long time, the sound-controlled lights at the corner of the staircase went off on their own, and the whole corridor sank into darkness.
“Tsk… This is quite scary…” Sucking in a cold breath, Qin Guang curled voluntarily backward. For some reason, he had a very bad feeling in his heart. It was as if his natural instincts were urging him to leave this dangerous place.
Qin Guang turned around to ask Zuo Han, “How much longer do you guys need to search inside there?”
The latter’s answer floated out from the bedroom. “We are almost done.”
After getting the reply, Qin Guang felt more comforted. His current condition was like a child who did not dare sleep on his own. After a fixed period of time, he would call out to see if he would get any response from his parents to check and see whether his parents had left him alone in the bedroom or not. Once his heart returned to his stomach, a faded cold light suddenly shone on his face, and the sound-controlled lights at the corner of the staircase suddenly switched on.
“Someone has gone past the staircase? But I did not see or hear anyone‽” He stared fixatedly at the corner of the stairs, so he did not notice the blood that had started to leak out from the gap in the wall. However, he did notice that the black fog was slowly spreading inside the corridor.
“The black fog has entered the building?” His heart started to race. It appeared like someone was moving inside the fog. Training his focus, Qin Guang stared directly at the corner of the staircase. Just as he blinked, a child’s face suddenly poked out from the corner of the stairs!
“What the f*ck!” Holding the rag doll’s head, Qin Guang stumbled back in panic, causing his body to knock into the room door.
“What is going on?” Zuo Han and He San quickly ran over when they heard the commotion.
“There was a child at the corner! He appears to be tailing us!” Qin Guang hugged the rag doll’s head tightly as his eyes kept staring at the mouth of the stairs.
He San summoned his courage to move to the mouth of the stairs. He could not see the aforementioned child. “Is it possible that you were hallucinating?”
“He is not lying. It is true that someone was inside the stairwell earlier.” Zuo Han pointed at the voice-controlled lights. “The lights inside the stairwell are on. That means that someone has indeed been here. We need to pick up our pace. It looks like Boss Chen is not going to give us much more time.”
Zuo Han had personally experienced how scary it would be when the ghosts of the entire scenario went on a rampage. That was a memory that he did not wish to revisit.
“Go to the next room now, hurry!” Zuo Han had conspicuously picked up speed. Qin Guang did not dare stay outside the room alone, so the four of them entered the room together to search for any possible clues.
“The time is running out.” Zuo Han was sweating profusely, and there was an unbridled anxiety in his eyes. Next to him, Mr. w.a.n.g noticed this emotion appearing in Zuo Han for the first time. Clearing the scenario was almost impossible; Zuo Han was already starting to consider how to escape. Of the team of four, only He San and Qin Guang were still trying their best to search for clues.
“I’ve noticed something strange. Whenever we come across a family with a child, they will ultimately get into some kind of tragedy.” He San found a family portrait on the windowsill. The adults’ faces had been preserved, but the child’s face had been scratched away. “There appears to be a ghost that desperately wishes for the love of a family inside this building. He is envious of those families with happiness and bliss. The happier the family is, the worse their ending will be.”
“Your a.n.a.lysis is a bit too one-sided. If you ask me, I think the ghost we are dealing with is rather innocent. Even if he represents evil, it is a seed of evil, the kind that is just growing.” Zuo Han stared at the picture He San was holding. “Just like how some children like to go tear off the wings of dragonflies or sneak up to stray cats and dogs to beat them, yes, their actions are reprehensible, but that also explains at the same time that they have not been given correct guidance in their lives.” Zuo Han placed the family portrait where it was found. “Do you guys still remember Jiu Hong Apartments Block 2? The building that looked like a private mental asylum?”
“Senior, why would you suddenly bring up that place? The styles of these two buildings are completely different. Block 2 is more like a mental hospital while Block 1 is a normal residential building.” He San was rather confused.
“Think back closely to what I said earlier. The ghost inside this building is a monster that has not achieved a mature self-construct. If he runs into the correct people, perhaps he might repent and turn into a good ghost. But the despairing truth is that the sub scenario that we visited earlier was a mental asylum. He was not only not given the correct treatment, he was misguided by these people down a deeper path of darkness.” Zuo Han had finally figured out the connection between the two buildings. “Based on my a.n.a.lysis, there should be a part of the rag doll’s body inside each building in this hidden scenario. In the process of finding all of its body parts, we will have to experience the whole life story of the rag doll and watch how he drops into the dark abyss step by step and becomes the version of himself that he hates the most.”
“We have just found the head. Based on what you’re saying, this means we still need to go to another four buildings?” Qin Guang felt slammed by a fist of despair.
“The haunted house would not have given us a mission that we cannot complete. Therefore, after giving it some thought, I believe the true mission of this scenario is not to find all the body parts of the rag doll and bring them out but to experience the life story of the rag doll ourselves and figure out a way to reform him, help him rebuild a correct self-construct, or at least make him see kindness enough to let the rest of us go,” Zuo Han said confidently.
“The mission is so positive and inspirational?” Qin Guang had trouble accepting a statement like that. Of course, this was not the man’s fault. After all, a haunted house always gave people the first impression of being a scary place, especially Chen Ge’s haunted house. It was meant to reach into the depths of your fear. Who would have expected such a ‘ghastly appearance’ to hide such a warm and gentle core?
“The rag doll’s body parts can chase away the black fog. The haunted house boss wanted us to find the body parts for two reasons. One, it forces us to experience the previous life of that ghost, and two, the body parts themselves are a kind of protection for us, aiding us in completing our mission. The boss of this haunted house is very brilliant. Every mission that he arranges has a deeper meaning behind it.”
Once he heard Zuo Han say that, Qin Guang’s hands that held the rag doll’s head curled around it even harder. He did not realize that Zuo Han’s words were a mixture of truth and falsehood. Zuo Han purposely let slip this information so that Qin Guang would listen to their orders more obediently and more willingly.
There were not that many visitors left. Therefore, Zuo Han started to value Qin Guang even more. If this was another moment in time, he would not even have thought of communicating with Qin Guang because they were completely different individuals. It was clear that Zuo Han was not as active as before during the search for clues. Mr. w.a.n.g’s attention though was more placed on his observation of Zuo Han. Of the team of four, only He San and Qin Guang were seriously looking for clues inside the haunted house.
Entering the bedroom, Qin Guang, who was hugging the rag doll’s head, got close to the bed. He noticed that there was a layer of something black on the bedsheets. It looked like some kind of ointment.
“What is this?”
He pulled back the mosquito net to look inside it. Amid the black material, there was an outline of a living person. The empty s.p.a.ce still had some very small characters written on the bedsheet. Qin Guang stepped onto the bed with his shoes on. He squatted down on an empty spot not polluted by the black material, took out his phone, and aimed the light at the bedsheet.
“Today, it returned again. It stood at the door. I have no idea what it was up to. It appears to wish to enter the room. It looked like my child who has pa.s.sed away, or at least, it looked familiar from behind. My family saw it as well. I am not hallucinating; it really exists. Whose family does the child belong to? How come it appears at the corridor whenever midnight falls?”
Just reading the words left on the bedsheet, Qin Guang felt the hairs all over his body stand up on end. “There is a ghost child living inside this building!”
As he continued to read, Qin Guang felt a chilling presence getting stuck in his throat, like he had just swallowed a large ice cube that refused to melt. He was focused on reading the messages when the shadow that was formed from the light of his phone suddenly flickered. Qin Guang turned back to look. He San, who was closest to him, was standing at the door of the bedroom, but he did not appear to be interested in entering.
“It was not that medical student. I was squatting here and have not moved. Could it be a trick of the mind?” Qin Guang did not dare stay too long inside the bedroom. He straightened up, and his forehead knocked into the top of the mosquito net. It buzzed with pain. He reached out to scratch his head and subconsciously lifted his neck to look. At that moment, there were many faces leaning on the mosquito net above his head!
The pale faces were all imprinted on the outside of the mosquito net. The clear facial features started to sink inward. All the faces were all staring at him! The scariest thing was that he had no idea how long they had been staring at him!
“Argh!” Qin Guang collapsed on the ground. Footprints started to appear on the strange black material. It felt as if the ghosts that were previously outside the mosquito net had crawled inside it.
“Help! Help me!” Hugging the rag doll’s head, Qin Guang was like a bull gone berserk as he rolled off from the edge of the bed. His body was entangled inside the mosquito net, so when he fell, he yanked off the net that was fixed to the ceiling. He screamed madly as he rushed toward the bedroom door. He San was frightened by the sudden scream from Qin Guang. When he recovered himself, he saw Qin Guang charging at him like a crazy bull. The two tumbled to the ground. Qin Guang, who was entrapped inside the mosquito net, rolled on the ground. He did not seem to have recovered from the sting of fear.
“Quiet down!” Zuo Han had no idea what Qin Guang had seen, but from Qin Guang’s over the top reaction, he knew that the last stage of the ghost fetus scenario had already started!
Since Qin Guang was holding the mission item, he was the first one to be ‘attacked’. Zuo Han signaled toward Mr. w.a.n.g, and the two of them worked together to extricate Qin Guang from the mosquito net.
“There were ghosts! I saw many ghosts! They were inside the mosquito net!” Qin Guang screamed loudly. His face was pale, and he was so frightened that his lips were purple. “I have experienced supernatural events before, and this was even more intense than last time. I am not lying to you! This place is really haunted!”
“I cannot be sure whether ghosts exists in this world, but I know that most of the time, ghosts only apply some kind of psychological signal on their victims, so what you need to do now is take deep breaths and try to stand up with the rest of us.” Mr. w.a.n.g’s voice was commanding and a.s.suring; his words slowly helped Qin Guang calm down.
“The rag doll’s body part is not inside this room. Let’s prepare to leave.” Compared to Mr. w.a.n.g, Zuo Han was a much colder in person. He was the first to leave the room and enter the corridor. The black fog had already shrouded the entire corridor. There were many children’s b.l.o.o.d.y handprints that appeared on the walls, and it was worth noting that these b.l.o.o.d.y handprints were still wet as if the children had just crawled over the wall earlier when they were searching inside the room.
“It is the same scenario, but it gives off a completely different feeling from when I first entered it.” Mr. w.a.n.g’s brows were creased together. “Honestly, some of the crime scenes that I have been to were not as scary as this place.”
“The scarier stuff is waiting for us.” Zuo Han dragged Qin Guang to his side. “Currently, we are inside the hidden scenario, or in other words, the last scenario of this whole visit. The exit should be at the deepest part of this scenario. If we are separated from each other, try to run toward the deepest part of this scenario. Do you understand?”
“Understood.” Qin Guang felt that Zuo Han was being very righteous and fair toward him. He shared all of his information with him and did not purposely hide anything from him.
“Since you are the one holding the rag doll’s head, you have to be especially careful. Whether or not we will be able to escape from this place is heavily dependent on you.” Zuo Han still had some other words to give Qin Guang when another change occurred in the corridor. The black fog suddenly thickened, and the sound of high heels clacking echoed inside the building.
“Someone is coming! It’s coming from the lower floor!” Zuo Han perked up both of his ears. All the buildings in the ghost fetus scenario were inverted compared to the actual world behind the door. The first floor was closest to the ground, and the fifth floor was at the most bottom level of the building. The sound of high heels clicking against the ground directly exploded in their minds. Zuo Han shared a look with He San. They were reminded of another legend inside Chen Ge’s haunted house. There was a scary Red Specter who would appear randomly inside the haunted house. No one knew what she looked like, but before everyone fainted, they could clearly remember hearing high heels clicking against the floor.
“We need to retrace our steps! We have to abandon this building! We need to leave immediately!” Zuo Han’s tone turned urgent. The four of them immediately rushed as fast as they could out of the building. The monsters in the black fog appeared to have realized that they had been discovered, so they did not try to hide their presence anymore. The sound of crying and laughing appeared at the same time, doors were all pushed open, the banknotes on the ground were lifted off the ground by an unknown draft, and strange, eerie background music rang inside the cramp corridor. The four visitors raced up the stairs. Inside the black fog, at the corner of the staircase, several red shadows slowly appeared.
“What are those?” Zuo Han could feel his body start to involuntarily shake. He did not even know why he was so overwhelmed by fear. The sound of footsteps behind him got closer and closer, and the red shadows before them became clearer and clearer. Blood rain fell on their faces. A face with her lips sewn together by threads was the first to appear before the visitors.
“Have you seen my child?” Blood rain slid down the red raincoat. Before she finished, another large, rotund man in a red s.h.i.+rt walked out from beside her. The man was dragging a large cleaver in his left hand and dragging an unconscious ‘dead body’ covered in fresh blood in his right.
“Fu Bole‽” Seeing Fu Bole, who had turned into a ‘prop’ of the haunted house, Qin Guang’s eyeb.a.l.l.s almost fell out from their sockets. His heart skipped a beat, and he almost keeled over. Just as these two Red Specters appeared, a child’s giggling appeared from above the visitors. Raising their heads to look, a child covered in fresh blood was crawling on the ceiling, dragging a whole lot of doll parts behind him!
“Why are you leaving so soon? Stay and play with me!” Blood fell rightly on Qin Guang’s face. He was standing at the front, and at that moment, the three Red Specters were surrounding him. His legs were weakening. Qin Guang did not know what to do.
The footsteps coming from the underground finally arrived. A pair of red high heels floated out from the black fog. She appeared to be the queen of the curse, followed by an entourage of strange monsters.
“Behind you! Behind you!” Qin Guang shouted. The high heels were only several steps behind Zuo Han. They were already in a deep quandary. Everyone was on the brink of collapse.
“Behind me?” Zuo Han’s reflexes appeared to have slowed down. It was as if he had just realized something, and he turned to look behind him. Through the black fog, Zuo Han happened to connect with the pair of eyes that were filled with curses. His heart squeezed. Even though he was already mentally prepared, Zuo Han still felt his scalp go numb. But the biggest difference between him and the normal visitors was that he had a superhuman determination. His brain worked quickly, and Zuo Han came up with a solution almost instantly.
When a person receives a horror more than their normal threshold, they will enter temporary shut down, and their body will react accordingly. When a normal person receives overwhelming shock, the first problem will arise with their circulation system. Their coronary artery will shrink, causing the loss of blood flow to the rest of their body, which leads to heart palpitations, high blood pressure, lack of breath, heart agitation, and difficulty of breathing.
Related knowledge flashed across his mind, Zuo Han grabbed his chest, and like a landed fish, his pupils rolled back in his head, and his body fell like a fallen tree. This was an unresolvable problem, so Zuo Han decided to fake pa.s.sing out. This was a plan that he had come up with from the beginning. He purposely had Qin Guang hold the rag doll’s head to distract the actors and told Qin Guang to run toward the deepest part of the scenario. After Qin Guang had led everyone away, he would retrace his steps and leave from the hidden pathway.
His body was careening backward. Before Zuo Han fell, he suddenly heard a heavy thud beside him!
His eyelids flickered slightly open, and Zuo Han realized that Mr. w.a.n.g had already ‘fainted’!
His face was unnaturally red, and his expression was one of pure pain, and before he fainted, he even used his hands to press against his brain.
When a person is in shock, their internal hormones will go out of balance. The symptoms of this include a red rash on the face following the rise in body temperature and blood pressure. At the same time, shock will trigger a reaction in the human being’s nervous system. The symptoms include dizziness and headaches, and a small percentage of people will even react with projectile vomiting…
From a medical perspective, Mr. w.a.n.g’s fake fainting was obviously more professional!
Truly, the older the ginger, the spicier they are!
When Zuo Han and Mr. w.a.n.g fainted at the same time, He San caught up to the idea and reacted almost instantly. But just as his hand went to clutch his chest, before he could fall, he felt a pull on his arm. “Quick, let’s go! This is our chance!”
“What the… Let go!”
After the red high heels showed up, the three Red Specters had obviously slowed down. They seemed to be afraid of the current red high heels. Qin Guang used this opportunity and forcibly yanked He San through the three stunned Red Specters. The two raced like their lives depended on it. The three Red Specters and red high heels all then gave chase after them, running out of the building!