Someone Wants to Kill Me!

One minute after the short video was posted, Chen Ge's comment section exploded again!

"Is the black shadow crawling on the bathtub at fifty-six seconds a special effect?! It looks like it crawled out from under the tub!"

"Is that the streamer himself wielding the kitchen knife in the water? Good heavens! That expression is way too realistic!"

"If that black shadow had just gritted its teeth and held on a bit longer, would we have stopped seeing the streamer altogether?"

"Are you toxic?! I was trying to see how long I could hold my breath, and halfway through, you jump out with this thing!"

"Run, newbie! This video is full of ghosts! Don't look back! Run!"

"I actually stared at my phone screen for a minute without blinking, and now I can't fall asleep..."

"Your last video made me afraid to look in the mirror, and this one makes me afraid to shower alone! You unscrupulous streamer, take this belly-to-back suplex from this fairy!"

Seeing the comment section so lively at four in the morning, Chen Ge felt quite gratified. He felt he had gained a group of die-hard fans, and all his efforts were worth it.

Before closing the short video page, Chen Ge didn't forget to advertise his Haunted House in the comments. The followers were very enthusiastic, leaving messages saying they planned to bring local specialties from their hometowns to visit him at the Haunted House.

"Buying tickets to visit the Haunted House and bringing local specialties—tourists these days are really something." Chen Ge exited the page, his mood much improved. He stretched, hugged the five Ragdolls, and left the Midnight Escape scene.

The night passed, dawn arrived, and the sky outside the Haunted House was already turning gray.

Chen Ge found some wooden boards in the utility room and sealed off the staff passage connected to the Midnight Escape theme. Until he dealt with the Mirror Monster, he didn't plan to open this scene to the public.

"The ticket price is twenty. Midnight Escape can accommodate seven tourists at a time. At fifteen minutes per session, that's 560 yuan per hour, or over four thousand for an eight-hour day." Thinking of this, Chen Ge felt a pang of regret, but he wasn't blinded by money. "Safety first. I can unlock more scenes later; there's no end to the money that can be made."

After sealing off the Midnight Escape scene, Chen Ge returned to the staff lounge. He placed the few Ragdolls by the bed, changed into clean clothes, and went out for a run.

The Ping An Apartment trial mission was a constant reminder to Chen Ge. If he hadn't run fast enough that night, he would probably be buried in the dirt by now.

At 8:40 AM, Xu Wan arrived at the Haunted House for work. She was surprised to see Chen Ge returning from his run, drenched in sweat; in her impression, her boss was not a person who liked to exercise.

A new day began. The protective barriers outside the Haunted House were pulled to the sides, and the two went about their duties, ready for business.

At nine o'clock, tourists began to enter the park one after another, but the entrance to the Haunted House remained cold and quiet. This was the time when the park had the fewest people.

"Boss, what were you doing in the Haunted House last night? Why is there water everywhere?"

"Cleaning up." Chen Ge gave a perfunctory reply, then immediately instructed, "Be careful when you're playing the ghost inside; don't get too close to the mirrors."

"Why?"

Just as Chen Ge was about to explain to Xu Wan, he suddenly saw the park administrator, Uncle Xu, running over.

"Uncle Xu, is something wrong?" Chen Ge took off his headphones, noticing that Uncle Xu's expression was off.

"You kid are getting stranger and stranger." Uncle Xu looked Chen Ge up and down. "The people from the cafeteria came over saying their kitchen knives were stolen. I was wondering what kind of thief would be so desperate as to steal kitchen knives, but then I checked the surveillance—good grief, why are you sneaking into the cafeteria in the middle of the night to take their knives? Do you think you look cool running around with two kitchen knives?"

Only after Uncle Xu mentioned it did Chen Ge remember that the knives he'd taken from the cafeteria were still lying in the bathtub.

"I just assisted the police in solving a case, and there's still one criminal at large. I took the knives for self-defense. I'll buy the cafeteria new ones tomorrow." He didn't know if knives that had slashed ghosts would be harmful to people if used for cooking, so he didn't dare return them to Uncle Xu.

"I'm finding it harder and harder to understand you. Are you doing something bad behind my back?"

"What bad thing could I do with two kitchen knives? Don't you worry."

Uncle Xu was half-convinced. Since the park had just opened, he had many things to attend to, so he didn't press the matter. He walked up to Chen Ge and took a tightly wrapped plastic bag from his pocket. "Take this five thousand to use for now. If you're in trouble, you must tell me."

"Uncle, thank you. I should be able to pay you back this weekend."

"No need, just stop causing trouble for me."

After Uncle Xu left, Chen Ge tucked the money into his inner pocket. He leaned against the protective barrier, thinking about how to use the funds.

"Five thousand is just enough to install surveillance. The interior of the Haunted House is already full; I can only add new horror scenes after expanding. Renting the underground parking lot is a good idea, but I don't know how much rent the park will charge."

A mountain of problems awaited Chen Ge, and he felt a headache coming on. "My biggest problem is the lack of money! I don't know when the bounty will come through; should I go and urge them?"

He looked into the distance unconsciously. As his gaze swept over a certain spot, his pupils constricted. He had suddenly spotted a strange tourist.

The man was wearing a baseball cap and long sleeves, his hands buried in his pockets. He wandered between several entertainment facilities, seemingly struggling to decide which one to play.

"This guy looks familiar." Because of his Yin Pupil, Chen Ge's eyesight was better than most people's. The man likely didn't know he had already been spotted.

"Should I stop him?"

While Chen Ge hesitated, some tourists arrived to visit the Haunted House, and he became busy, gradually pushing the matter to the back of his mind.

By noon, when Chen Ge and Xu Wan were preparing to go eat, he saw the suspicious tourist near the Haunted House once again.

"This guy hasn't come near the Haunted House all morning. He specifically waited for Xu Wan and me to go eat, only coming over when there was no one at the Haunted House. What is he trying to do?" Chen Ge let Xu Wan go to lunch first and returned alone. When the tourist noticed someone coming, he turned and left the park immediately, walking away quite decisively.

"Have I seen him somewhere before?" His eyelid twitched slightly. Chen Ge skipped lunch and ran straight to the park's general management office. With the staff's permission, he pulled up the surveillance footage of the man.

The person had deliberately avoided obvious surveillance cameras. From the moment he entered the park in the morning until he left, his hands had remained in his pockets. Even when he stopped to smoke, he held the cigarette with one hand and used the other to light it.

What was even more bizarre was that after buying his park ticket, he only played one attraction: the Ferris Wheel, and he had ridden it three times in a row.

"Something's wrong. This guy is very wrong!"