Tao Zhiyan had only gone to sleep near dawn. He had thought he would sleep straight through until the afternoon, but unexpectedly woke at eight in the morning, even earlier than usual.
He lay in bed staring into space for a while before getting up, washing, dressing, and heading out.
All three of his employers were having breakfast.
Feng Ze sat on the sofa quietly eating porridge, while Feng Yan peeled quail eggs for Bai Ruan beside him. Then Feng Yan thought for a couple of seconds.
"My birthday?" If Bai Ruan hadn't mentioned it, Feng Yan would have forgotten today was his birthday. He popped the peeled quail egg into Bai Ruan's mouth. "Is there anywhere you want to go?"
Bai Ruan was unusually agreeable today. With his cheek puffed out by the quail egg, he spoke a little indistinctly. "Didn't you always go clubbing with your friends before? Why not stick to your usual plans this time?"
Feng Yan seemed utterly unconcerned about his birthday. He reached out to wipe the corner of Bai Ruan's mouth. "You don't like clubs, do you? We won't go this year."
In the past, Feng Yan had never cared about Bai Ruan's preferences. Even if Bai Ruan felt uncomfortable, Feng Yan had always done whatever he wanted.
But things were different now. Feng Yan wanted Bai Ruan to be happier and more comfortable.
"Is there anywhere you want to go?" Feng Yan asked.
"Hmm..." Bai Ruan thought for a moment. "An amusement park?"
Feng Yan nodded. "Sure."
Bai Ruan nodded excitedly, then looked up at Tao Zhiyan and invited him along. "You should come too, Butler Tao."
Who could turn down getting paid to have fun?
Tao Zhiyan had no objections.
There were four people in the household, so Bai Ruan asked Feng Ze out of courtesy, "Are you coming, big brother?"
Feng Ze had no work today. After a moment's thought, he nodded too.
Their party of four was officially assembled.
It was high noon when they arrived at the amusement park. The weather was so hot that even standing outside left them baking in the sun, let alone going on any rides.
Tao Zhiyan couldn't stand the heat. A little time in the sun turned his cheeks red, and his shimmering eyes grew misty. His lashes fluttered twice, making him look as though he might faint at any moment.
"How about something indoors?" Bai Ruan stood outside an escape room venue. "Want to try an escape room? It's a big one that takes three or four hours, so we can sit out the hottest part of the day."
Feng Yan held a little handheld fan, keeping it trained on Bai Ruan. Whatever Bai Ruan said, he nodded.
Tao Zhiyan glanced at the escape room and wiped away his sweat. "Let's go, then."
Only Feng Ze, bringing up the rear, hesitated, his brow furrowing almost imperceptibly.
This was a large escape room chain with only one theme: "Maze of Resentment."
The escape room covered nearly a thousand square meters, featuring fully built sets, chase sequences, and live NPCs. Even the introduction sounded thrilling.
There happened to be six other players there. Adding the four of them made a full group.
Once everything was settled, the staff handed each person a blindfold and had them line up with their hands on the shoulders of the person ahead as they entered the escape room.
Everyone was excited on the way in, chatting and laughing as they entered, occasionally giving one another playful punches.
Only Feng Ze stood quietly behind Tao Zhiyan, his expression solemn.
Once they were inside, a recording played, explaining that they were a group of explorers who had ventured into a forest, only to lose their way.
As night fell, they had no choice but to enter an abandoned hospital and make do there for the night. They never expected something terrifying to happen-
"Aaaah!!!"
The moment the recording ended, a shrill, agonized female scream rang out, followed by bang! Bang! Bang! Someone was pounding on the door!
"This is so scary!" Bai Ruan dove straight into Feng Yan's arms in fright, and Feng Yan immediately held him.
Someone grabbed Tao Zhiyan's clothes too.
He removed his blindfold and, in the faint light, looked back at Feng Ze.
Feng Ze was rigid from head to toe, his eyes fixed on the door shuddering under the pounding.
Tao Zhiyan was a little stunned. He stared at Feng Ze for a while. "Are you scared?"
Feng Ze tightened his grip on Tao Zhiyan's collar and answered coldly, "...No."
"...All right, you're not scared." Tao Zhiyan drew a deep breath and managed to choke out, "Let go first. You're about to strangle me."
Feng Ze came back to himself and slowly released Tao Zhiyan's collar.
"Aaaah!"
"Someone's trying to kill me!! Open the door!! Open the door!!"
The woman's shrill cries rang out, followed by even harder pounding. The door panel looked ready to come crashing down!
Then came the buzzing of a chainsaw, mingled with a butcher's heavy breathing!
It was so dark around them that their hearing became especially acute.
The mounting tension left everyone around them frozen in fear.
Only Tao Zhiyan rubbed his chin.
This realistic? They must pay this NPC pretty well.
Then the woman let out a heart-wrenching cry, as though someone had executed her, and collapsed to the floor with a thud.
Everything fell silent for a moment. Then the door was kicked open with a bang!
In the darkness, a blood-drenched butcher NPC with a brutish face and a respirator appeared in the doorway, glaring viciously at the players.
The players screamed and scattered.
"Aaaah!! Mommy!!!"
"How do we get out? How do we get out?!"
"There's a way here! Here! Upstairs!"
The group fled in panic as the butcher revved his chainsaw and chased them with a savage grin.
Tao Zhiyan was about to run after the others, but he had barely taken one step before his collar was grabbed again and he was yanked straight back. "...My neck!"
"...You're strangling me!"
Feng Ze said, "...Give me a hand."
Tao Zhiyan turned to glare at Feng Ze, just in time to see the butcher charging toward them with his chainsaw. Without a second thought, he grabbed Feng Ze and ran.
As Tao Zhiyan ran, he couldn't make sense of it.
How could the main villain in a domineering CEO novel be scared of a horror escape room???
Wasn't that a little pathetic?!
Tao Zhiyan pulled Feng Ze upstairs. The moment all the players entered, the door locked with a click.
"What's going on?" The girl nearest the door nearly jumped out of her skin. "What do we do?!"
"Shit, the door won't open!"
"Waaah..." Bai Ruan was so frightened that he cried. "This is so scary..."
Feng Yan kept comforting Bai Ruan, flying into a rage at the sight of his distress. "What kind of lousy escape room is this? I'm buying it out!"
Tao Zhiyan pretended he didn't know Feng Yan. "..."
Right. Buying it out. That was something a domineering CEO would say.
But it was so embarrassing.
Watching from the surveillance room, the escape room's owner was extremely pleased. "Looks like our escape room is pretty good! We've scared them into talking nonsense. He even wants to buy us out!"
"We can grab this one in a bit," one staff member said, pointing at Tao Zhiyan on the monitor. "He hasn't been scared since he came in. Let's turn up the intensity for him!"
The owner nodded, picked up a walkie-talkie, and addressed the players. "You need to solve a puzzle to clear this stage."
"Look around for anything unusual. You have ten minutes to solve it."
"If you don't solve it in time, the butcher will burst in, grab one of you, and lock you in the dungeon."
The moment the staff member finished speaking, everyone in the escape room began frantically searching for the puzzle. Behind Tao Zhiyan, Feng Ze suddenly spoke. "9352."
Everyone turned to look at Feng Ze. What?
Feng Ze wasted no words. He walked straight up and entered the code: 9352.
A second later.
Ding-the door opened.
Everyone was dumbfounded.
?
It opened?
Everyone looked at Feng Ze.
?
What just happened?
They hadn't even found the puzzle yet, and this guy had already solved it?
The staff were dumbfounded too. They had never intended for the players to solve this stage. The whole point was to capture the bravest player and crank up the game's terror level.
That was why, when designing the stage, they had scattered the puzzle across the walls and even scrambled the text.
And this guy had worked out the answer in less than a minute???
How had he done that???
The door had opened so abruptly that the players were still dazed by having an expert carry them through, and nobody moved.
Feng Ze, meanwhile, didn't want to stay even half a second longer. He grabbed Tao Zhiyan and strode into the next stage.
Before you continue