Hypnosis

"Did this thing make noise the previous times you came?" 0401 asked.

"You can tell from the expressions on their faces," Sun Hang shrugged.

"So, during the time the Public Security Bureau sealed off the amusement park, someone still snuck in," 0401 put on a thoughtful expression. "Or perhaps the culprit has been hiding in the amusement park all along, and you just haven't found their hiding spot."

"You've analyzed a lot, but it's all useless nonsense," 0398 rolled her eyes at him. "By the way, can you untie these handcuffs? Being cuffed to this idiot, I'm really worried he'll get me killed."

"Alright, stop arguing and keep moving," Captain Huang said in a deep voice. "The primary objective of this operation is to search for the missing intern security officers. Alive, we find them, dead..."

The word "dead" lingered in his throat for a long time before he finally swallowed the rest of the sentence, "dead, we find their bodies."

The entrance to the haunted house was just a single corridor, but it was wide enough for three large men to walk abreast. On both sides of the corridor were locked doors. The keys to these doors had long since vanished, and the only way to open them was by force.

As they passed each door, Sun Hang carefully examined the keyhole, looking for any signs of rust being scraped away. Unfortunately, the rust and dust on each lock were uniform, directly ruling out the possibility that the person had a key or picked the lock.

"What's inside these rooms?" 0401 couldn't help but ask.

"All sorts of themed escape rooms," the young security officer replied.

"Did you check inside?" 0401 asked again.

"During the first two investigations, we used a fiber optic scope to check the rooms, but we didn't find any clues," the young security officer shook his head.

The fiber optic scope he mentioned was a special device equipped by the Public Security Bureau. It allowed a micro-camera, no larger than a grain of rice, to be inserted through a door crack, capturing images from the other side.

"So, you didn't go inside to check directly?" Sun Hang frowned. "With escape rooms, there are bound to be secret passages... The doors in this corridor might not be the only entrance or exit."

"Captain Huang said that if this investigation yields nothing, we'll pry open these doors and search them thoroughly," the officer said.

"By the way, did you guys hear any strange noises?" 0401 suddenly shivered and whispered, "Did I... did I just hear something like a child crying..."

"I heard it too," the young security officer nodded slightly. "Now that you mention it... it does sound a bit like that."

"It's the wind," Sun Hang said. "The walls on this floor are rough brick, and there are many gaps that haven't been filled. Plus, the main door of the haunted house is open and facing this corridor, creating a draft effect. When the wind passes through the gaps in the brick walls, it makes a whimpering sound."

"But I didn't hear a child crying," 0398 shook her head. "If I had to describe it, it sounded like... like a girl singing."

"Singing?" Sun Hang's eyes twitched. "Are you sure?"

"I... now that you mention it, I'm not so sure anymore," 0398's expression was a bit grim. "The sound comes and goes, faint and distant..."

"What about you guys? What did you hear?" Sun Hang turned to ask the other security officers.

"It's just the wind, don't scare yourselves," Captain Huang said impatiently.

"Then why did Zero Three Nine... Hey, what are you doing?" 0401's words were suddenly cut off as he felt a strong force pull at his wrist, dragging him forward.

At some point, 0398 had become like a different person. Her eyes were vacant, her movements stiff and unnatural. She was dragging 0401 straight into the depths of the corridor.

A trance state? Is she... being controlled? Sun Hang's heart skipped a beat, and he instinctively moved aside to give them space.

"W-what's going on?" 0401 shouted, panicked and confused. "What is this woman doing now? How is she so strong? Damn it, I feel like my wrist is going to be torn off!"

"Quick, restrain her!" Captain Huang reached out to grab 0398, but Sun Hang stopped him.

"0401, don't resist," Sun Hang said. "Follow her and see where she takes us."

Hearing this, Captain Huang immediately reacted and told the other security officers, "Everyone, report any abnormal situations to me immediately!"

"What's wrong with 0398?" 0401 stumbled forward, being dragged by 0398. "Is she... is she acting?"

"Doesn't look like it," Sun Hang shook his head. "Her wrist is bleeding from the handcuffs, but she hasn't even flinched... And don't you think her strength is ridiculously high?"

0398 was a slender woman, just over 1.6 meters tall, and her muscle mass didn't suggest she worked out regularly. 0401, on the other hand, was a man who stood 1.75 meters tall and weighed over 80 kilograms. Purely in terms of strength, 0398 shouldn't have been a match for 0401.

Yet, here he was, being dragged forward by her, unable to stop her.

"Could she be possessed by an anomaly?" 0401 asked, terrified. "Captain Huang, can you please unlock my handcuffs first..."

"No. What if she runs if we unlock them?" Captain Huang immediately refused his request. "Just be a human ballast for now... Don't worry, we'll ensure your safety."

0398 dragged 0401 through the entire corridor, up to the second floor, and after several turns, a faint light appeared in the distance.

It was a figure draped in a long robe, and the faint light emanated from something it held in its hands. However, before the security officers could rush forward, the figure suddenly turned and disappeared down a side passage.

The second floor of the haunted house was far more complex than the first. The interconnected corridors and various hidden passages turned it into a true labyrinth. With the original architectural blueprints long lost, no one knew where each half-open door led.

The figure simply covered the glowing object in its hand and instantly vanished from sight.

Only then did 0398 seem to snap back to reality, stopping and bending over, gagging violently.

"Cough cough... cough cough... W-what happened?" 0398 asked between coughs. "What... what was that just now?"

"What did you see just now? And what did you hear?" Sun Hang walked over and gently patted 0398's back, asking.

"Cough cough... You asked me about that singing... so I pricked up my ears to listen, trying to hear it more clearly... The singing was far away, and then suddenly it was right next to my ear..." 0398 said intermittently. "I was startled, but the next second, I realized no one was around... It was pitch black everywhere, I couldn't see anything... I could only see a faint light in the darkness... I don't know why, but that light seemed to attract me, and I just followed it..."

"It sounds like she fell under hypnosis," Captain Huang said, stroking his stubble. "But you were in the middle of the group, with people on both sides. The other party shouldn't have had a chance to hypnotize you... Wait, could it be the singing?! We all heard the wind, only you heard singing!"

"That's likely," another security officer wearing glasses said. "Certain specific audio frequencies can also induce a hypnotic state."