Xiao Chen, You Weren't Hurt, Were You?

Zhang Peng sprinted out of the staff entrance. Like a headless fly, he dashed about wildly. The Haunted House was a maze, and the lights were off. After running a few meters, he realized to his dismay that he couldn't find the way back.

"Why'd you stop running? Don't be scared. I won't hurt you. I just want to use you for a little experiment." Gripping the hammer with both hands, Chen Ge followed close behind like a ghost, driving Zhang Peng into a dead end.

"You won't hurt me? We hadn't even known each other for three seconds before you smashed my bones with that hammer! And you call that not hurting me?" Zhang Peng had thrown away his knife, his left arm was bleeding, and his right arm had gone completely numb, dangling from his shoulder like a noodle. For a moment, he actually felt terribly wronged. He even had the urge to call the police and turn himself in.

"Stop struggling. I suggest you do as you're told and follow my instructions. Otherwise, you might spend the rest of your life in a wheelchair." Chen Ge approached slowly, feeling no sympathy whatsoever. Zhang Peng had come to kill him. If Chen Ge hadn't discovered him in advance, he'd already be dead.

"Eldest Brother, is that really something a victim should say? I've had the worst luck in the world!" Zhang Peng's knife was long gone. With no weapon in hand, he darted down every path he saw.

"You're pretty fast." Chen Ge kept chasing him. After a few steps, that eerie cutting sound suddenly rang in his ears again, and a Dark Shadow shot out of the staff entrance!

The Mirror Monster probably hadn't figured out what was going on until now, but it understood that its chance had come.

Zhang Peng raced wildly across the Haunted House's first floor. As he passed a corner, he vaguely saw someone nearby beckoning to him.

Perhaps the pressure Chen Ge was putting on him was simply too much. He barely hesitated before running toward the person.

Following behind, Chen Ge saw it too. A chill ran through him. That Dark Shadow was the same height and build as He Feng. It was the Mirror Monster!

"The road to Heaven is right there, but you refuse to take it. Instead, you insist on barging through Hell's closed door. That's a real ghost!" Before Chen Ge could say anything, Zhang Peng had already run to the end of the corridor with the Dark Shadow. Following its directions, he hid in the restroom.

"The mirror in the first-floor restroom is intact. The Mirror Monster lured him there, so it's obviously about to make its move!" Now that the crucial moment had arrived, Chen Ge grew tense too. He rushed to the restroom and rattled the doorknob, only to find the door locked.

Events were gradually straying from his plan. The Dark Shadow had appeared out of nowhere and taken Zhang Peng away before Chen Ge could get him under control.

"Ah!"

A few seconds later, a shrill scream came from inside the restroom. Something was knocked over and smashed. Zhang Peng seemed to have encountered something truly terrifying.

"What's happening in there?" Chen Ge raised his hammer and struck the lock. The lock came off, but the door still wouldn't open. Someone had wedged a cabinet full of supplies against it from the other side.

Unable to see what was happening inside the restroom, Chen Ge grew a little impatient. He kept swinging his hammer at the wooden door.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

The thunderous blows could be heard even outside the Haunted House. Chen Ge put all his strength into it, breaking through the hollow wooden door. The cabinet behind it began to shake, revealing a gap half a palm wide.

Peering through the opening, he saw that the black cloth covering the restroom mirror had fallen to the ground. Zhang Peng stared blankly at the glass. More terrifyingly, a tall Dark Shadow stood between him and the mirror!

The figure slowly changed, until it was the same size as Zhang Peng. It stepped backward, letting half its body sink into the mirror. Then the strangest thing happened.

Zhang Peng, his gaze vacant, walked toward the mirror of his own accord. He pressed his face against the glass, and his body merged with half of the Dark Shadow's.

Three or four seconds later, Zhang Peng's slack mouth curled upward at the corners, forming a strange smile!

He slowly turned around and looked toward Chen Ge through the door and the cabinet. Dipping his fingers into the blood on his arm, he wrote something on the mirror.

Another second or two passed before Zhang Peng's eyes returned to normal. He shuddered, then climbed out the restroom window without a word and ran out of the Haunted House.

"Did the monster in the mirror get inside Zhang Peng's body? Why does it hold such a grudge against me? Is it because I've foiled its plans again and again?" The Mirror Monster had attacked He Shan and He Feng, but both times, outside interference had stopped it. Perhaps that was why it held a grudge against Chen Ge, the owner of the Haunted House.

The restroom door was jammed, and Chen Ge couldn't break through it quickly. He hurried toward the main entrance, but before he could get outside, he heard Captain Li's voice.

"Chen Ge! Hang in there! We'll be there in a moment!" With a loud bang, the Haunted House's security barrier was pried open, and several police officers rushed inside.

The moment Chen Ge saw them, he tossed the hammer into a corner and took off his mask and coat.

Footsteps sounded in the corridor. Captain Li was the first to rush in. When he saw Chen Ge standing motionless in the hallway, he hurried over. "Xiao Chen, were you hurt?"

Chen Ge took a step back and leaned "weakly" against the wall, patting his chest lightly. "I was a little shaken, but I'm all right. Don't worry about me. Go after Zhang Peng! He escaped through the restroom window!"

"Leave the rest to us. You've worked hard tonight."

"It was nothing. As long as we catch the suspect, what's a little sacrifice on my part?"

"You really shouldn't be so impulsive next time. Tonight was dangerous!" Captain Li's eyes were full of admiration. He sent the others to pursue Zhang Peng, then stayed with Chen Ge in the Haunted House to inspect the scene.

He entered the Staff Break Room first. When he saw the blood on the bedsheet, he immediately grew tense. "Xiao Chen, you're hurt? Let me take a look!"

"That blood isn't mine..." Chen Ge didn't know how to explain. "It was dark in the room. The suspect seems to have cut himself."

Captain Li nodded. He raised his flashlight and examined the vicious slashes on the bedsheet and blanket, his expression grave. "Someone who isn't skilled with a knife would only cut himself in a state of extreme frenzy."

He pointed at the slashes. "Seventeen in all! That's enough to convict him of attempted murder. This is evidence!"

Staring at the slashes on the bedsheet, Chen Ge felt a trace of lingering fear too.

Captain Li put on gloves and gestured for Chen Ge to go outside first. "Don't touch anything in this room. Someone will come by later to take photos and collect evidence."

"Sure, I'll cooperate." Chen Ge left the room, then quietly doubled back and hid the hammer. He stopped outside the restroom. "I think Zhang Peng wrote something on the mirror just now?"