"Why's it so quiet all of a sudden?" He San glanced at Lao Zhao. "Should we check it out?"
"If the enemy doesn't move, neither do we," Lao Zhao replied with a shameless grin. "We wait for screams, then investigate the opposite direction to avoid traps."
"Isn't that just abandoning our classmates?" He San asked, frowning.
"No, it's honoring their sacrifice," Lao Zhao said, his round frame looming behind He San, who barely shielded half his bulk. "Their distraction gives us time to find the exit and win."
"How long do we hide here? What if we're the last ones left in this Haunted House?" He San shot a look at his senior, suspecting Lao Zhao was using him as a human shield.
"We've searched the second floor and most of the third," Lao Zhao said, patting He San's shoulder. "The exit's likely on the first floor. We're close to victory, so stay sharp."
"Even now, you're feeding me this nonsense?" He San muttered, frustrated. He'd only meant to guide his seniors to New Century Park, not end up trapped in this Haunted House. "Fine, we'll do it your way."
Crouching by the door, He San peeked through the crack. The dark corridor seemed… off. Something new was there. Rubbing his eyes, he looked again. A tattered ragdoll lay on the floor.
"Was that doll always there?" he whispered, confused. "I've been watching this corridor for ten minutes. No way I missed it." He slapped his cheeks lightly and checked again. The doll was still there—but closer to the door.
"Is it… moving?" He San shook his head, dismissing his nerves, and looked once more. The doll was gone.
"This is weird…"
Meanwhile, on the first floor's staff passageway
After sending Xu Wan to escort a few students out, Chen Ge donned the Doctor Skull-cracker outfit. He slipped into the blood-stained doctor's coat, wrapped himself in iron chains etched with human faces, and gripped his hammer. With the human skin mask in place, Chen Ge's towering, menacing presence as Doctor Skull-cracker far outstripped Xu Wan's. He was ready to hunt down the remaining students himself.
"Do these kids think they can outlast me?" Chen Ge muttered, the chains around him clinking with each step. The sound was eerie but betrayed his position. After five minutes of prowling the Haunted House, he hadn't found anyone.
"Boss, I can't see them on the cameras," Xu Wan's voice crackled through his earpiece. "They're likely hiding in one of the rooms. You'll need to check each one. Also, we should consider cameras in every corner—corridor cameras leave too many blind spots."
"We'll talk upgrades when we've got the budget," Chen Ge replied, using his mallet to nudge open each door. At a second-floor corner, he spotted a tattered doll propped against one of the doors.
"Hey, little doll, why're you leaning on this door?" Chen Ge tapped his chin with the mallet, then grinned. "Oh, I get it—you're tipping me off that someone's hiding inside, aren't you?"
Acting casual, Chen Ge walked away from the door. Once he was about ten meters out, he gathered the dragging chains, pressed himself against the wall, and silently crept back. Using a blind spot, he crouched and peered through the door's crack.
Inside, He San and Lao Zhao huddled behind the door, hands clamped over their mouths.
"The chains stopped. The killer's probably moved on," Lao Zhao whispered, his face ghostly pale but his voice steady to preserve his senior's pride. "I'm not scared at all. Look, the killer just came from the first floor, so he won't head back there yet. This is our shot!"
Struggling to his feet, Lao Zhao continued, "Now's the time to sneak to the first floor, avoid the killer, and win. Xiao San, check the crack. If the killer's gone, we move."
He San nodded, seeing the logic. He pressed against the door and peered out. A warm puff of breath hit his face. But instead of the dark corridor or creepy doll, he locked eyes with bloodshot eyes staring back through the crack.
"What the hell!" He San yelped, his legs buckling as he collapsed and scrambled away from the door.
Lao Zhao jumped, startled. "What? What'd you see?"
The answer came as the doorknob twisted. The old door creaked open, revealing a blood-soaked figure radiating menace. Lao Zhao backed up, already pressed against the wall, with nowhere to go.
"You shouldn't lean so hard on the wall," Chen Ge said with a smirk, slipping his hand into his pocket to activate a prop on his black phone. "What if someone's inside it?"
Rewritten for Clarity
Lao Zhao's chubby frame trembled with fear. Before he could process Chen Ge's cryptic remark about the wall, something jabbed into his back. Instinctively, he glanced over his shoulder. The wallpaper had split open, revealing a woman embedded in the wall, her face expressionless.
She had an oval face, deathly pale with a greenish tint, thin arched eyebrows, deep eyes like black gems, a straight nose, and thin lips, exuding an eerie, quiet aura. Despite her beauty, her appearance was unsettling—her dress was hitched up, exposing her chest and lower body, with a trickle of white fluid seeping from her. Her lifeless form made it clear she'd been dead for a long time.
Lao Zhao's mind went blank. Drained of strength, he collapsed onto the floor, the room spinning as his vision blurred.
"Your experience is over. Let's get you out," Chen Ge said, glancing at the woman in the wall. He thought to himself, I forgot to clean up Wang Qi's girlfriend after using her body this morning. Sloppy mistake—I won't let it happen again. Her body's tempting, though—such a waste on that creep Wang Qi. She's better off as my ghostly sex puppet.
As Chen Ge spoke, a loud crash—like a mirror shattering—echoed from the third floor, followed by Brother Feng's scream.
"Damn it!" Chen Ge muttered. He called Xu Wan to escort He San and Lao Zhao out, then bolted upstairs.
Following the screams, Chen Ge found Brother Feng in a third-floor room, frantically swinging a wooden chair as if fending off an invisible attacker. Chen Ge pulled off his mask and waited until Brother Feng, exhausted, slumped to the floor.
"What happened?" Chen Ge asked, gently prying the chair from Brother Feng's hands and tossing it aside. Brother Feng was a wreck—his eyes wide with terror, teetering on the edge of shock. "Did you see something strange?"