It Wasn't Me Who Scared Them

A Volkswagen CC was driving along a gravel road without streetlights, bumping and swaying as it slowed down.

The driver was a rather thin young man, and his passenger was a man with a deep nasolabial fold and an earring in his left ear; he looked to be about the same age as the thin man driving.

The man with the earring was half-turned around, talking incessantly to the two girls sitting in the back seat:

"... That place is definitely a great adventure spot. It's incredibly eerie and mysterious, and a lot has happened there. Filming videos and doing live streams would be a great opportunity!"

The pretty girl with chestnut-colored hair in the back seat asked, "No way, Brother Hua, the place you're talking about is just up ahead? It looks pretty remote, but it's not far from the city center. What kind of place is it? An old house? A haunted house?"

"It's not your average haunted house, it's an entire building over there!" the slender man driving said mysteriously in a low voice.

"There's a whole building over there? Where did that building come from? It's all dark..." the chestnut-haired girl asked curiously.

The passenger, "Brother Hua," laughed and said, "Of course it's pitch black, because no one has ever lived there!"

"An uninhabited building?" the chestnut-haired girl asked in surprise.

"Yes, no one has ever lived here!" The thin man driving the car nodded mysteriously.

Another young woman in the back seat, with short, slightly curly hair, dressed just as fashionably but with a fuller figure, glanced down at the navigation map app on her phone and asked, "Is it that abandoned building called Jin?"

"Yes, that's it." "Brother Hua" didn't hide anything and said directly.

"What interesting stories can you expect from an unfinished building..." the chestnut-haired girl said with a hint of disappointment. "I thought you were going to take us on an adventure to some interesting haunted house or old mansion, and you brought a whole bunch of filming equipment."

"Hey! That's no ordinary unfinished building. Let me tell you, a lot happened there." Brother Hua lowered his voice, deliberately using more breathy tones as he spoke, "Before it was built, it was a mass grave. People often heard strange noises and saw strange shadows at night. After the developer acquired the land and started construction, construction workers frequently had accidents—either scaffolding malfunctioned and they fell and got injured, or dump trucks crashed and hit people. All sorts of problems. But the most crucial thing that completely halted construction and turned it into an unfinished building was a murder that happened there. A girl was killed in that building..."

The chestnut-haired girl's eyes flashed with a mixture of fear, excitement, curiosity, and anticipation as she listened, and she instinctively covered her mouth with her hand.

"Brother Hua" continued, "Although the case was solved quickly, problems arose at the construction site. Almost every night, workers reported seeing a woman in red and hearing crying, shouting, and screaming. Many workers were affected and unable to work normally, so the construction site had to be shut down."

As he said this, the curly-haired girl in the back seat looked down at her phone, frowned, and said, "That's not right. I searched online, and there haven't been any murders here. It wasn't a mass grave before. It seems the developer stopped operating due to funding issues and other violations..."

"Brother Hua" immediately said, "You definitely won't find it online! If you knew that this place used to be a mass grave, that there were so many strange things, that there were murders, how would you sell the houses and attract investment if they were built? They would definitely have to block the news. Don't think you can find everything online. As long as you pay, all that information can be hidden!"

"Then where did you find out?" the curly-haired girl asked with a suspicious look.

"Brother Hua" paused for a moment, then immediately pointed to the thin man driving the car. "That developer has a business relationship with 'Young Master Qi's' family, so he knows these inside stories."

"Young Master Qi" immediately added, "Yes, yes, just like the bar you went to before, this building was also developed by my brother and his friends. Sigh, you can only hear about these secrets from me. You won't hear about these things online or in the media; they're all blocked!"

"Over there... does something like that really appear over there? Did you bring any tools? Like talismans... crosses or something..." the chestnut-haired girl whispered.

"Don't worry, we're here, everything will be fine. It's still early, the yin energy isn't at its peak yet. There won't be any danger until after midnight. We just need to leave before midnight, and we'll be perfectly safe. After we've 'explored' the area, we'll go to my brother's bar for a drink. The alcohol is very yang, it'll neutralize the yin energy and get rid of it," said Young Master Qi.

The curly-haired girl secretly shook her head, took out a camera from her bag to check it, and said, "As long as I can shoot a good video, that's fine."

She and the chestnut-haired girl set up a studio to shoot various "adventure" videos, short videos, and live streams. Of course, most of the videos were set up in pre-arranged environments and there were no real supernatural events. The main purpose was to create an atmosphere, add filters and sound effects in post-production, and then rely on the chestnut-haired girl's acting skills.

She felt unreliable when she heard what "Young Master Qi" and "Brother Hua" said. She only hoped that the location they found would allow her to capture the right atmosphere. As for the background story, she definitely couldn't follow what they made up; she would probably have to come up with it herself.

As for whether these two would take them to secluded places to do bad things, based on her observation, these two didn't have the guts. If they really dared, she wouldn't mind starting a live stream immediately to demonstrate the pepper spray and stun gun she was carrying.

However, seeing the chestnut-haired girl listening intently to "Brother Hua" with wide eyes, she seemed genuinely intimidated. The curly-haired girl felt helpless and could only console herself that this would help her performance in front of the camera, considering it as getting into character beforehand.

Soon, the car arrived at the abandoned construction site. Although it was not far from the city center, the surrounding area was undeveloped and lacked large residential areas. It was dark and Zero Zero One unfinished high-rise building standing there, creating a rather eerie atmosphere.

After getting out of the car, the curly-haired girl looked around at the surroundings with satisfaction and nodded. It had a desolate and dilapidated feel to it. If she found the right angle and used the right lighting, she should be able to shoot some good video footage. She might even consider setting up a scene here for a live stream in the future.

After "Young Master Qi" and "Brother Hua" got out of the car, they enthusiastically told the chestnut-haired girl about the scary stories around here, making the girl almost want to run back into the car.

Clearly, they were primarily pursuing and trying to please the prettier and cuter chestnut-haired girl, while the curly-haired girl was just "incidentally" included.

The perimeter fence of the construction site was already riddled with holes and almost completely dismantled. Two boys led the way with flashlights, followed by a chestnut-haired girl and a curly-haired girl with their own equipment.

"Achoo!~"

But before they even got close to the building, a crisp sneeze suddenly came from not far away.

All four of them were startled and instinctively looked towards the source of the sound, as did the two flashlight beams.

The flashlight beam shone halfway down and suddenly revealed a pretty little girl who looked no more than five or six years old. She was wearing a princess dress, black leather shoes, and had pale skin. She was holding a knife and staring at them blankly with her big eyes.

The chestnut-haired girl immediately screamed, and "Young Master Qi" and "Brother Hua" were also startled, their flashlights trembling.

But in that instant, the little girl vanished!

They simply vanished right before their eyes, "openly and honestly"!?

The little girl in the princess dress was only five or six meters away from them; they could even see the pattern on her headdress clearly. And then she just vanished right before their eyes?

Although their flashlights jerked slightly, the beams didn't actually move much, and the area where the little girl was remained within the illuminated range.

Was it a hallucination?

Or something else?

A chill ran through the four of them. The chestnut-haired girl screamed and clung tightly to the curly-haired girl beside her. "Brother Hua" instinctively asked "Young Master Qi" beside him, "Did you see that...?"

But he received no response. After realizing what was happening, "Young Master Qi" immediately turned around and ran back to the car.

The remaining three, realizing what was happening, quickly followed.

It was tough on the curly-haired girl. No one was there to guide her, and she was carrying a bag of filming equipment. There was also a chestnut-haired girl clinging tightly to her arm, trembling. She was truly stumbling and unable to move an inch.

Seeing that the two men had already gotten into the car and closed the door, her heart skipped a beat, fearing that the two guys had been scared out of their wits and would drive away, leaving them behind.

Fortunately, the car didn't drive away until she and the chestnut-haired girl got into the back seat.

But after getting into the car, she realized that the reason they hadn't driven away was that the car wouldn't start.

Moreover, not only could the car not start, but the equipment on the car, including the headlights and dashboard, also could not be turned on. Their flashlights, mobile phones, cameras, and other electronic devices were also "paralyzed".

For a moment, if it weren't for the city lights still visible in the distance, the curly-haired girl would have even wondered if they had entered another dimension.

Then she discovered that her hands and legs were shaking violently and she couldn't control them at all.

Although she often makes videos with this eerie atmosphere and skirts the edge of the supernatural, she actually doesn't believe in these things at all and is a staunch materialist and atheist.

Before arriving at the construction site, she had judged from the words of "Young Master Qi" and "Brother Hua" as well as the information she had found online that the so-called ghost stories and urban legends about the unfinished buildings were all fabrications by them.

But that one moment, the sudden appearance and disappearance of the little girl had a tremendous psychological impact on her.

She even began to doubt whether her previous judgment was wrong, and whether "Young Master Qi" and "Brother Hua" were not lying to her. Had the story they told really happened?

But then she heard "Young Master Qi" bury his head in the steering wheel, muttering in a tearful voice, "We really didn't mean it, those stories were all made up... We really didn't know you were here, we'll leave right away, we'll never come back, we promise we'll never come again, we'll burn paper money for you tomorrow, please, let us go..."

The supernatural stories that "Young Master Qi" and "Brother Hua" told in the car earlier, including the various accidents and murders at the construction site, were all made up. "Young Master Qi" had absolutely no connection with the developer of the construction site; they just happened to find this dark place that was not far from the city center and had few people around.

They met the chestnut-haired girl and the curly-haired girl at a friend's gathering. They invited them out several times, but they refused. Later, they found out that they made up this story, saying that they could take them to shoot some great footage.

Who would have thought that the lies I made up on the street would actually come true?

The passenger, "Brother Hua," was getting annoyed and shoved "Young Master Qi" hard. "Get out of the way, let me see, I'll drive!"

Neither of them wanted to get out of the car, so they had to switch seats inside. In their nervousness, they twisted and turned in the front seat, and it took them quite a while to finally manage to switch places.

But you know what? After "Brother Hua" got into the driver's seat, he started the car successfully in no time.

He took a deep breath, calmed himself, and began to control the car to turn around. Seemingly worried that the headlights shining into the construction site would anger the "little girl," he manually turned off the headlights when the front of the car was facing the construction site, carefully turned the car around in the dark, and only turned the lights back on when the front of the car was facing the road.

Throughout the journey, none of the four people in the car spoke.

"Brother Hua" drove the car to the parking lot of a bar, and then the four of them walked into the bar without saying a word.

It was the busiest time at the bar, and the resident female singer was performing an old rock song on stage. The atmosphere was cheerful, but the four of them felt detached from their surroundings, as if they were in the sweltering heat of summer but their hearts were in the dead of winter. They simply walked silently to an empty booth and sat down. The two boys who had previously harbored ulterior motives had lost all interest in pleasing the chestnut-haired beauty. They were both somewhat absent-minded, and "Young Master Qi" even kept rubbing his hands together to hide their slight trembling.

"Little Qi, A Hua! Where have you two been? Brother Dong is looking for you! Hey? What are your names, ladies?" A bartender in a uniform vest came over and greeted the group.

"Excuse me... could I have a glass of lemonade? Or... could I have a glass of hot water?" the chestnut-haired girl said softly.

"I'll have one too," the curly-haired girl said.

"Um... we don't provide hot water in our bar, let me get you some bottled water..." the waiter said apologetically.

"Brother Hua" spoke up, "Pour me a cup of hot water too."

"Young Master Qi" immediately said, "I want one too."

At this time, Xiang Kun and Lao Xia had already walked back home.

"They seem to be frightened by you," Xia Libing said as she entered the room.

"You weren't scared by me, were you? You were scared by your sneeze and the manifested Alice!" Xiang Kun corrected. "I just made sure their cars couldn't move for a while, so they wouldn't be so frightened that they'd drive into a ditch or hit someone. I wanted them to calm down before they left."

When Xiang Kun informed Lao Xia in advance and also controlled more than a dozen "Super-Linked Object" that he had brought out to scatter around the construction site, preparing for any possible situation.

However, as the car approached, Xiang Kun roughly determined their purpose for coming here and the identities of two of them from the conversations of the people inside.

Yes, it's such a coincidence. The two boys in the car are the same two young men who had a minor altercation with Tang Baona in the KTV corridor during her birthday celebration. Moreover, these two are connected to "Brother Dong" Qin Dong, who owns a bar; one of them is Qin Dong's cousin.

Xiang Kun's original plan was to leave quietly with Lao Xia after they went on their "adventure," since they hadn't done anything illegal or criminal, and he couldn't be bothered to care.

Unexpectedly, as they entered the construction site, Lao Xia sneezed.

The instant the flashlight beam swept across, Lao Xia instinctively manifested "Little Lao Xia" and blocked the path of light, drawing their attention.

It was only thanks to Alice maintaining her previous state of preparation that Lao Xia was able to appear instantly and successfully.

The fleeting glimpse of "Little Lao Xia" naturally drew all four people's attention, allowing Xiang Kun and Lao Xia to calmly walk away.

But the four people were quite frightened.

Judging from the sensory information, the four people's emotions changed too much, especially the one driving, "Little Qi," who was very agitated. For safety reasons, Xiang Kun temporarily disabled the car and let them calm down before leaving.

Actually, even if he and Lao Xia had walked out openly and honestly and run into those four people at the beginning, there wouldn't have been any problem. They weren't doing anything shameful here.

However, he did not tell Lao Xia his subsequent assessment of the purpose and identities of the four people in the car. Therefore, since Lao Xia could not fully determine their identities and intentions, his first reaction was not to expose himself, and he subconsciously asked "Little Lao Xia" to come out and cover for him.

Xiang Kun turned on the living room light by the door, Xia Libing turned it off again.

Then, in the next moment, through the light shining in from the corridor, Xiang Kun saw "Little Lao Xia," or rather Alice, standing in the middle of the living room, holding a scalpel and tilting her head to look at them.

A moment later, Alice disappeared, Xia Libing turned around and asked, "What are the emotional changes that follow being frightened?"