My House of Horrors

“Did you notice that the background music has changed?” Bai Buhui looked at the rowdy visitors. This was the first time that he had spoken, and his voice was cold and detached like he did not care about anything or anyone.

“This means that the game has started, right? We have limited time. Let’s not waste time at the entrance anymore and go find those oil paintings.” The anxious shorty walked ahead. There was only curiosity in his eyes but no fear.

“Buhui, don’t mind him. This buddy of mine is a straight shooter.” Liu Gang stood in the middle of the group. The many visitors gave him a sense of security. “You can call him Little Ghost. The tall, thin one next to him is called Big Ghost, and the girl in short dress is Sister Ghost. The trio are outdoor livestream experts on our platform. It’s an everyday thing for them to spend a night at graves and morgues.”

“Outdoor livestream?” Bai Buhui glanced at the shorty and nodded. “I seem to have scrolled through their livestream when I was bored. Yes, it was very boring. What about the rest?”

“All the friends that I have with me are very special.” Liu Gang made a simple introduction to Bai Buhui.

“The cameraman is nicknamed Muscle. He used to be a cameraman for a survival series. He’s not afraid of tigers or bears, much less a small Haunted House.

“The one with the phone is my assistant. Even though he’s not that brave, he’s my closest friend—we’re always together.

“The bald one is called Liu Guangming. He is the most courageous one among our company’s security group, and the man is damn lucky. He has brushed past death several times. The people around him were all injured, but he was fine.

“The three students are all supernatural aficionados. They might look young, but they have participated in several courage trials video competitions. They are popular online and know ghost stories about school like the back of their hand. There’s basically nothing that can scare them.”

Liu Gang introduced his team until his brows went flying, but the more Bai Buhui listened, the deeper his frown. In the end, before Liu Gang named the three students, he cut him off. “You only brought the few of them for a livestream challenge?”

“Is that not enough? They are all professionals.” Liu Gang was proud. He kept the smile on his face and ensured that he looked confident before the camera.

“Professionals? These people?” Bai Buhui’s lips twitched. He wished to tell them about when people from the futuristic theme park visited Chen Ge’s Haunted House. Some of them were still lying at the hospital. But considering the whole process was livestreamed and mindful of Liu Gang’s face, Bai Buhui did not say it directly but uttered in a roundabout way, “Just ignore the quest. His haunted house is quite boring. We will just walk around, and the one hour will soon be over.”

Bai Buhui was the representative from the futuristic theme park. The reason they had chosen to accept Chen Ge’s challenge was because Chen Ge had pushed them too far. As long as one of them could function normally at the end of the tour, and even if that person lied, saying that the Haunted House was not scary, they would have won. After all, lying was such people’s second nature; how could Chen Ge control what they said?

Challenging the scenario with eleven people at the same time, the futuristic theme park thought that there was no chance of losing.

“Buddy, are you kidding? We’re here to undermine his business. If we do not complete the quest, the internet users will riot.” Shorty looked down on Bai Buhui. He felt that the man had a less than manly way of speaking.

“You have no idea…”

“Little Ghost is right. If we don’t complete the quest, why are we even here?” The woman in short dress interrupted Bai Buhui. She had a good figure and dressed lightly. She kept consciously and subconsciously walking to stand before the camera, like she was careless about being seen by Liu Gang’s viewers.

Little Ghost had an anxious personality, Sister Ghost liked to show off, and Big Ghost did not like to speak, keeping quiet. Bai Buhui had his own plan, but no one was listening to him, so he had to turn to Liu Gang for help. “Liu Gang, we have to be steady. No matter what, we have to survive this one hour as safe as we can.”

“Okay, we’ll listen to you.” Liu Gang’s attention was now on the number of viewers. The number of online viewers was close to a hundred thousand—his heart was blossoming with flowers. At his level, it was hard to push for an increase in followers, but this challenge had brought him hope. The endless chant of “Brother Gang is a real man” refreshed the chatroom. He really felt like he was not afraid of anything, and nothing could scare him.

“We’re here to challenge, so it’s necessary that we do the quest, but we can’t be too rash lest we’re led away by the boss.” The three students from the back of the group walked over. The leader was about 1.8 meters tall and wore black-rimmed glasses. “Let me introduce myself. My name is Lan Dong. I’m a cryptology enthusiastic, and I love to study…”

“No one asked for your input, and I do not wish to know.” Bai Buhui was in a bad mood. Looking at his teammates, he felt angry. “I shouldn’t have trusted Liu Gang. I should have brought my own team. No, the entire team should be people from our theme park!”

“Fine, then I shan’t waste time and explain the plan in simple ways.” Lan Dong changed his tone. “We need to find these thirteen oil paintings in one hour. This scenario is gigantic. If we wish to complete the quest, we’d better split up.”

“No!” Bai Buhui almost cursed. “The bigger our group, the safer it is. We mustn’t split up; we have to stay together!”

“I just gave a suggestion. There’s no need for such a big response.” Lan Dong felt insulted and gave Liu Gang a side-eye. “Brother Gang, your friend seems to know everything, doesn’t he?”

Before the exploration began, Liu Gang’s team was already arguing. They did not give off a reliable feeling. The five visitors who walked at the back came over after a long discussion.

“We heard that this Haunted House is very scary. Can we join you? There are five of us,” the senior from Jiujiang Medical University said softly. He was also a student like Lan Dong, and the youths could communicate easier among themselves.

“Of course, there is no problem. But honestly, you’re just scaring yourself. This Haunted House…”

Liu Gang acted like a gentleman before the camera, but before he could finish, Bai Buhui cut him off again. “No, we need to lose them!”

“Didn’t you say, the more the better?”

“There might be Haunted House workers mixed among them. It’s not safe to go with them.” Bai Buhui was one of the designers from the futuristic theme park. With the information from his colleagues, he knew about the tricks at Chen Ge’s Haunted House.

“There’s no need to have such attitude even if you don’t want to bring us.” One of the middle-aged men grabbed the hand of the woman next to him. “Yue, let’s go. Do they think we want to follow them?”

The middle-aged man led his girlfriend away. As unwilling as the two medical students were, they did not stay with Liu Gang but left with the middle-aged man. Of the five, now only one remained. The man wore a thick jacket and long pants even in the summer. He had his hands in his pockets. He did not follow anyone and walked away on his own.

“Buhui, relax. So what if they are the worker here?” Liu Gang acted carefree before the camera, but there was dissatisfaction toward Bai Buhui in his tone. After saying that, he turned to the camera. “This buddy of mine is easily scared, and this is an online livestream, so he’s nervous. Please forgive him, everyone.”