Ji Yu turned her head. Behind her stood a little girl, still sniffling, glancing around in fear. When she noticed Ji Yu looking, she gave a hard sniff and sucked the mucus back a little.
"Little sister, you mean you got separated from your jie-jie?"
"Mm!"
"Well then… how about coming out with me, and we'll wait for your sister together?"
Ji Yu gave a helpless smile. After offering a few words of comfort, she patted the child's head.
"When we get out, wait there for your sister, okay?"
The girl rubbed her nose, sniffled again, then whispered, "Can I really?"
"Of course. But when you see your sister again, remember to apologize, alright?"
Ji Yu started walking again. But the little girl, staring at the mess of tears and snot on her hands, hastily wiped them on her clothes before reaching out…
And grabbing Ji Yu's sleeve.
Quiet. Obedient.
Almost as if the haunted house designer had arranged it, the next room changed completely—an old wooden corridor, broken in places, with vintage Western-style lamps lining the walls. For a moment Ji Yu felt like she'd stepped back into the Victorian era.
Outside the windows, a montage played—a girl's happy childhood flashing by. Ji Yu's eyes fixed on the screen beyond the window, unable to look away.
So happy. Even knowing it was all scripted by the haunted house's owner, Ji Yu still felt a pang of envy.
The montage kept running. Ji Yu, still holding the little girl's hand, strolled slowly along as though they'd forgotten this was a haunted house at all.
Maybe they had. Ji Yu's eyes were shining as she watched the girl on the screen dip her brush into colors, painting the sky and the earth with intense focus.
That expression reminded her of someone. But before she could place it, the montage ended. The screen went dark, leaving only a few oil lamps swaying in the draft before they, too, flickered out.
Silence echoed through the corridor of memories. Ji Yu still held the little girl's hand, heading toward the only exit. The child seemed startled by the sudden darkness. She didn't cry, didn't speak, but Ji Yu could feel her trembling.
Ji Yu said nothing.
The girl said nothing.
All that remained in the cold room was the dead stillness and the creaking groan of wooden planks under their steps.
Ji Yu knew the girl was afraid. But wasn't she afraid, too?
This haunted house hadn't pulled any real scares so far, but if right now something leapt out… or if that massive LED screen suddenly lit up with something truly terrifying—Ji Yu doubted she could keep up the calm, adult act.
"…Jie… jie-jie."
The girl's voice trembled. In the dark, Ji Yu felt her wipe her tear-stained face against Ji Yu's arm, then look up.
"Do you think… will a ghost jump out to scare us?"
Ji Yu hesitated. She was unsettled herself. But for the child's sake, she bent down and whispered:
"Nope. If a ghost shows up, I'll punch it flying. How about that?"
The twisting hallway stretched on. After a few cautious turns, at last, a slant of warm light shone from the far end.
Ji Yu hadn't seen sunlight in what felt like forever. The moment she spotted it, she broke into a run. The little girl followed, gasping for air as though a weight had been lifted from her chest.
But Ji Yu quickly realized the so-called sunlight was nothing more than artificial warm lighting.
The girl tilted her head back, gazing at the ceiling. From Ji Yu's angle, she couldn't see the girl's face, nor tell where the path would lead next.
"Jie…"
"Come on. Cough… we should be close to the end now."
Ji Yu turned back, giving the girl a bright, confident smile. Dusting off her skirt, she carried on down the only path left.
So far, this haunted house's "theme" had been a movie. And Ji Yu hadn't really felt any traditional haunted house elements—more like she'd been watching disjointed scenes from some film.
And as expected, the next path only confirmed her thoughts…
"At the end of the story," Mo Xunhan said, eyes glittering, "I want the male and female leads to each experience the other's childhood. And then… they return to reality and embrace tightly."
"Doesn't that sound like a fascinating ending?"
She had just finished describing the entire script in one breath, her face glowing with excitement rather than exhaustion.
"So, Mo-jie, you're planning a… time-travel romance film?"
"But doesn't that go against our studio's whole brand? We're supposed to be about horror and suspense."
"Don't worry. Let me explain how it should be done…"
The fourth scene.
Lavish. Brilliant.
White sculptures glowed under a stark light, elegant and delicate—even the veins on their arms looked real.
Unlike the previous rooms, this one revealed its story through voice narration.
[The little girl came from a well-off family, born with remarkable talent for painting. At only five years old, she won first place in her city's youth art competition.]
Clearly, a voice actress had been hired to record this narration. Gentle and warm, it felt like a proud mother boasting to her neighbors about her child.
Under that narration, Ji Yu learned that the girl in the montage wasn't only gifted in painting—her skill in sculpture had already reached astonishing heights for her age.
But instead of feeling impressed, Ji Yu felt… bored.
Yes, bored.
For the first time, she found herself wishing for something scary.
But then—
[Because her parents were renowned sculptors, the boy too far outshone his peers in the art of carving.]
[Yet, the girl's path in sculpture wasn't because of her parents. It was because of one of their students.]
Painting. Sculpture.
The connections between the earlier scenes clicked into place, and Ji Yu felt a chill.
Because—
The once-white room was now bathed in red. The crimson spread like ink soaking through paper, staining everything.
[That student stole the couple's sculptures, selling them secretly at auction.]
[When the sculptor couple discovered it, they broke her arm and expelled her. With their prestige, the student was blacklisted from every opportunity in the city.]
[When her arm finally healed, she realized her future was ruined. Bitterness consumed her. Until one night…]
[She entered the little girl's room…]
[And she inflicted violence.]