He Shan had patiently explained things for ages, but the seniors were unmoved. They all thought He Shan was deliberately exaggerating to cover up his own cowardice.
As the saying went, seeing was believing. They had wandered around the Haunted House for a few minutes and decided it was nothing special.
"Xiao Shan, if you're scared, just hide behind your big sister." Hui Jie, the woman who had spoken, charged ahead and entered the room beside them alone. "All the rooms are decorated pretty much the same. Watching a crime scene in the dorm is more interesting."
"Then let's stick to the groups we picked earlier." Monkey scampered after Hui Jie. "The sooner we find the door, the sooner we get out. I'm already getting bored."
Lao Song and Shi Ling, a quiet girl, followed them. Only He Shan, Feng Ge, and Lao Zhao remained in the hallway.
"To be honest, I'm pretty disappointed." Lao Zhao was a chubby guy whose skin was fairer than most girls'. He was in poor shape, and after only a few steps, sweat already beaded on his forehead.
"Enough. Stop complaining and let's get going." Feng Ge waved his hand and strode forward, with Lao Zhao close behind.
Soon, He Shan was alone in the hallway. He wanted to protest, but couldn't. He was the only one still on high alert. "Something's definitely going to happen if this keeps up."
He took a couple of steps, then suddenly stopped. "Did the background music change? Why does it sound so familiar?"
He had no time to think it over. A crisp sound reached his ears again, coming and going, as if it were coming from the path they had taken.
"Is someone chasing us?" He Shan didn't dare linger and hurried to catch up with the others.
When Gloomy Sunday began to play, the Midnight Escape game truly started. The lights grew dimmer, and objects in the hallway occasionally rolled on their own. From the distant stairs came the clanking of chains, slowly drawing nearer.
"We found something!" Hui Jie, at the front of the group, took a Rag Doll out of the room. "Look, there's a Rag Doll right in the middle of the room."
"Senior, don't touch anything in the Haunted House. Last time, we triggered a mechanism by touching the coffin." He Shan was trying to pass on his experience, but when he realized no one was listening, he could only stand silently at the back, watching the seniors recklessly tempt fate.
"This Baby must be important. Could putting it in the middle of the room symbolize something?" Monkey lifted the Rag Doll by the head. It looked like a five- or six-year-old girl, but it had no eyes, and its body had been charred by fire. "Maybe being blind represents darkness, and the burns mean it went to Hell?"
"Maybe it foreshadows a murder?" Feng Ge squeezed the doll. "The stuffing isn't cotton. It's kind of hard. Let's open it up."
Monkey unzipped the Rag Doll's back. Its body was stuffed with scraps of paper. He took one out at random. The handwriting was messy and childish, clearly written by someone young.
"What does it say?"
Monkey was the only one who had read the note. His expression turned uneasy as he showed it to the others. It bore just five words: You're all going to die!
"Looks like every note says the same thing."
"What a grudge."
"Let's throw it away. It's bad luck." Shi Ling, who had barely spoken until then, seemed especially afraid of the doll. She glanced at it and quickly moved away from the group.
"It's just a doll. Don't make such a fuss. It's probably just a decoration." Monkey stuffed the note back inside and tossed the doll into the hallway. "Let's check the next room."
His voice was plainly trembling, so he was clearly not as calm as he pretended.
"Wait." Xiao Hui raised her left hand, holding a few incomplete sheets of paper. "I found these in the room with the Rag Doll. Take a look. They seem to have been torn from a diary."
"Let me see." Lao Zhao took the sheets and read them aloud. "I discovered that someone seems to be hiding in the house. I don't know if he's under the bed or in the cupboard. I told Dad, Mom, and my sister, but they all seemed worried about something and didn't have time to hear me out. It was late at night. Dad checked every door and window in the Apartment Building before going to bed. I don't know what they're afraid of, but I know there really seems to be someone hiding in my room..."
"Fuck! What the hell?" Lao Zhao couldn't even finish reading. He handed the sheets back to Xiao Hui. "This is all designed to mess with us. If you take it seriously, you've already lost."
"The details are pretty good, but it's not going to scare me." Xiao Hui put the pages back where she'd found them, and they continued toward the next room. None of them noticed that the Rag Doll, tossed carelessly onto the floor, suddenly shifted.
"Come on, let's find the exit. Quit dawdling."
After searching four or five rooms without finding anything, they reached the right side of the hallway.
"The third floor is huge, and we haven't finished searching it. But I think there's very little chance the exit is up here. If I ran a Haunted House, I definitely wouldn't put the exit on the same floor as the entrance," Feng Ge reasoned.
"Should we split up?"
"Don't! If we're on different floors, we'll be easy to pick off one by one!" He Shan interjected, but everyone ignored him.
"We've been here ten minutes, and nothing's happened. The atmosphere in this Haunted House is pretty good, but it's not scary. I think we should split up." Lao Zhao wiped the sweat from his forehead and continued, "Don't forget why we came here. We need to find the exit within the time limit. Only then can we restore our lost pride fair and square!"
"Good point. Let's stick to the original groups, then."
Just as they were about to settle on the plan, He Shan finally couldn't take it anymore and stepped forward. "Will you listen to me for once?"
He walked into the middle of the group and pointed to the other end of the hallway. "For the past few minutes, I've been hearing chains in the corridor. Something's been following us this whole time!"
He Shan's words finally made them notice. They listened closely and could indeed hear the clanking chains growing clearer.
"The Haunted House Owner said this scenario is called Midnight Escape. If it's an escape game, there has to be a killer." Lao Zhao patted He Shan on the shoulder. "Don't get too caught up in it. The killer chasing us is obviously a Haunted House employee in disguise. We know it's just a person pretending to be a killer. What's there to be afraid of? Right?"
They all laughed, thinking He Shan was being oversensitive.
"Don't worry. Your senior's got your back. You don't have to be afraid of anyone." As he spoke, Lao Zhao pulled out his phone. "Didn't we agree to record a short video in the Haunted House and post it on the Haunted House Owner's community page to make fun of him? This looks like a good spot. Come on, everyone look at the camera."
He found a good angle and got everyone in the shot. His eyes swept over the screen. He was just about to speak when an indescribable, bone-deep chill shot straight to the top of his head!
Lao Zhao's entire body of fat trembled. His hand jerked, and he flung the phone away!
"Fatso! What the hell is wrong with you?"
"What are you doing? You scared me!"
Lao Zhao said nothing. His gaze swept over everyone, and his teeth chattered. "Look for yourselves. Counting me, how are there eight people here?!"
Before you continue