I'm Starting to Panic...

"A false alarm." Gao Ruxue's heart hammered against her ribs; it had been a long time since she had lost her composure like this.

Eerie music drifted into her ears. Aided by the dim light, she looked at her reflection in the mirror, her pupils slowly shrinking to pinpricks.

Inside the mirror, the curtains behind her were unfastening themselves! A paper figure's face slowly poked out, and it was clear from the reflection that the paper face was grinning at her.

"Who's in there!"

Under extreme fear, people become irritable and impulsive. Gao Ruxue turned and grabbed the ends of the curtains, wanting to get inside and see what was going on, but the curtains were designed quite intricately with multiple layers—gauze drapes and bed curtains intertwined. After struggling for a long time, not only did she fail to see the scene inside, but her arms also became tangled.

As if it weren't enough, footsteps began to echo through the room.

I haven't moved, so where are these footsteps coming from? With her junior missing, and under the influence of the scene's atmosphere and the Gloomy Sunday effect, Gao Ruxue's psychological defenses were already riddled with cracks. She had reached her limit, and the footsteps now echoing in the room were the final straw.

Her legs went weak, unable to support her weight. Fear, like a beast released from its cage, began to devour her reason.

Gao Ruxue struggled to turn her body, trying to break free from the entanglement of the curtains. The footsteps grew closer, yet she could find no source.

"Impossible! The room is only this big; if someone were approaching, I would see them at a glance!" Her heart was in total chaos. The simple set design of the room brought her an indescribable, immense terror.

The white lanterns outside the window swayed, the light dimming further, and the figure in the Bronze Mirror began to blur. Gao Ruxue's pupils trembled. Her beautiful eyes fell upon the Bronze Mirror, and within that ordinary surface, her own reflection had vanished, replaced by a stranger wearing a Wedding Dress!

A beauty without peer, a sight to behold.

That pale, unreal sense of beauty was heart-stopping, as if one were admiring a long-sealed work of art.

Staring at the woman in the mirror, Gao Ruxue's shoulders shook; for the first time, an expression of sheer terror appeared on her face.

She had dissected many corpses, and she was all too familiar with the feeling the woman in the mirror gave her—it was a sensation one only felt when facing the dead!

"There is a real corpse hidden in the House of Horrors!"

The moment this thought surfaced, fear engulfed her like a tidal wave. She desperately tried to distance herself from the Bronze Mirror, only to bump into something as she backed away.

At the same time, the footsteps in the room finally stopped, and Gao Ruxue's mind froze in that instant. She didn't stop to think why; instinctively, amidst the eerie background music, she slowly turned her head.

Eyes met. Behind her, a woman wearing a Wedding Dress and wearing Corpse Makeup was smiling at her.

"Ah!!!"

A scream shattered the tranquility of the House of Horrors, audible even from outside the building.

With her arms bound, Gao Ruxue's legs gave out, and she collapsed to the floor.

Her face drained of color, suppressed fear turned into tears that streamed down her face, uncontrollable. She didn't dare open her eyes for a long time, tear tracks remaining on her cheeks, her mouth slightly agape, coughing unconsciously.

"Xiao Wan, hurry and bring her out!"

"Understood." The female ghost opposite Gao Ruxue removed a Bluetooth headset hidden in her hair and crouched before her: "The tour ends here. Catch your breath; I'll take you two out."

Ten seconds later, the door to the Ghost Marriage scene was flung open, and Chen Ge rushed in: "Why is there only one person? Where is the other one?"

He hadn't found He Shan on the surveillance monitors either, and fearing an accident, he had rushed in.

"That one was too timid. After rushing in, he stood in front of the Bronze Mirror and got scared unconscious. I was afraid he would affect the experience for the tourists behind us, so I dragged him behind the bed..."

"Scared unconscious?" Chen Ge didn't know what to say: "Tourist safety is always the top priority. If this happens again, notify me immediately!"

"Yes, yes." Letting Xu Wan support Gao Ruxue, Chen Ge dragged He Shan out from behind the bed. The poor guy was sprawled on the floor, completely unresponsive; there was no telling what he had been through.

"Let's go, get him to a ventilated area first!" He hoisted He Shan onto his back and ran out of the Haunted House. Descending to the first floor, he pushed aside the light-blocking curtain and kicked open the safety barrier: "Make way!"

Chen Ge placed He Shan at the ventilation outlet of the Haunted House, pinching his philtrum and applying cold compresses. The scene left the surrounding tourists stunned.

"What's going on? Walked in, carried out..."

"First time I've ever heard of someone fainting while touring a Haunted House."

"Must've been scared unconscious, right? Didn't the reviews say it wasn't scary?"

"Oh my god, I'm starting to panic..."

A short while later, Xu Wan helped Gao Ruxue out as well. She was completely different from when she went in; her hair was disheveled, her face pale, her steps unsteady, and tear stains still lingered at the corners of her eyes.

"Damn, she's like a completely different person!"

"What on earth did she experience in there?"

"What happened to 'I've seen corpses, I'm not scared at all'?"

Xu Wan helped Gao Ruxue to the steps and handed her a bottle of water. She was still shaken, her hand trembling as she held the bottle.

"Don't block the breeze, move aside!" Chen Ge was also having a headache. It was normal for Gao Ruxue to be scared to tears, but why did this guy suddenly faint? If you're a coward, just admit it! Why insist on toughing it out in the Haunted House?

Bad news travels fast. More and more tourists gathered at the entrance of the House of Horrors, even alerting Uncle Xu, the Paradise Park manager, who arrived on his electric scooter.

"Little Chen! What's going on? Why did a tourist faint?!" Uncle Xu pushed his scooter through the crowd.

"I don't know either, maybe heatstroke..." Even Chen Ge couldn't convince himself with that answer.

"Heatstroke in this weather?" Uncle Xu leaned in and hoisted He Shan onto the electric scooter: "Give me a hand, let's get him to the infirmary first!"

Before they had gone far, whether it was the effect of the philtrum-pinching or something else, He Shan slowly regained consciousness. His eyelids fluttered, and he suddenly sat up on the scooter, his eyes bloodshot, muttering "mirror, mirror" over and over.

"Damn, calm down!"

"Is this guy possessed?"

Sunlight hit his face, and after a few seconds, He Shan returned to normal. He rubbed the back of his head and, realizing he was being watched by a crowd, felt a sudden sense of embarrassment.

"Feeling better? Why did you faint in the Haunted House?" Uncle Xu, wearing his park uniform, was very responsible and handed He Shan a bottle of water.

"I don't know exactly what happened. I was terrified, and after running into a room, I found a Bronze Mirror on the wall. Someone in the mirror was calling my name, and after that, I don't remember anything." He Shan looked bewildered: "Maybe it was just an experience project in the Haunted House."

"There's a project involving a mirror in the Haunted House?" Uncle Xu looked at Chen Ge, whose expression was not looking very good at the moment.