Chapter 20
The production team went all in and directly set them up with the heavy-horror difficulty.
“Today’s escape room theme is Haunted Mansion Adventure. The two of you will play ghost-hunters, sneaking into a mysterious old house at night to uncover the secret behind its haunting.”
“Please take your props—we’re about to enter the escape room.”
They were given a flashlight and two talismans with strange symbols drawn on them.
Then, blindfolds were placed over their eyes, and they were guided inside.
The temperature inside was low. A chill wind blew, accompanied by eerie background noises, mixed with strange animal-like growls.
“You may now remove your blindfolds,” came the staff’s voice through a crackling loudspeaker.
Xie Mi pulled off her blindfold and was greeted with near-total darkness.
Through faint green lighting, she could just barely make out where they were: an abandoned bathroom.
Tiles smeared with blood. A toilet filled with thick black water. Everything about the place screamed wrong.
“You are ghost-hunters, hired to investigate this mansion. Because the main gate has long been locked, you had no choice but to climb in through the bathroom window.”
“Now, please find the key to unlock the bathroom door and enter the mansion.”
The broadcast buzzed on and off with static.
[It’s broad daylight and my back’s still cold.]
[Chat, protect me!!!]
[Why do they both look so calm, omg.]
[Mr. Shen is rumored to keep his heart rate at 80 even while bungee-jumping. And Xie Mi looks like the stubborn type. My bet is neither of them is scared.]
“We need to find the ke—” Xie Mi turned her head and came face to face with a deathly pale face.
“AAAAHHH HOLY SH*T!!!”
The starlet swore on the spot.
The owner of that pale face—Shen Yongqing, who had been holding the flashlight under his chin—was so startled by her scream that he flung the flashlight away.
Plop—
Their only flashlight landed in the toilet and sank into the black water.
Xie Mi: “…”
Shen Yongqing: “…”
[…]
The silence was deafening.
[I thought we had pros in a noob lobby, but turns out it’s chickens in a pro lobby??]
[Wait, what??]
[So you were both acting calm earlier, just to be this useless now?]
“So you are scared?” Xie Mi gritted her teeth.
Shen Yongqing nodded earnestly. “Scared. You too?”
“I’m scared to death!!” she barked in the hardest tone with the softest words.
[Then why didn’t you pick light-horror in the first place!!!]
[The two biggest cowards picked the scariest map. Bravo. Bravo bravo bravo.]
In the monitoring room, the deputy director and staff were overjoyed.
There it is—the show effect we wanted!
“Anyway, let’s just find the key first!”
Xie Mi stormed over to the sink, about to search—when suddenly, a ghostly face lunged out of the mirror.
“Hiss—”
She gasped, eyes rolling back as she stiffly fell backward.
Shen Yongqing caught her.
His long fingers steadied her waist. Her head landed against a firm, faintly springy chest. The man’s warm breath soothed her corpse-stiff body.
Ah. Thank God for pecs.
“Arigato Handsome Sheep-san, I feel much better now.”
He seemed to lower his head too, warm breath brushing her neck and shoulder. “You’re welcome, Beautiful Sheep-san.”
A tingling ran down her neck, making her jolt upright and spring away.
In the dimness, she thought she saw a smile on his lips.
“First, we should fish the flashlight back out, otherwise it’s too dark to see anything.” Xie Mi rolled up her sleeves and approached the toilet.
[Girl what the hell are you doing!!]
[Wait. Don’t tell me…]
Before anyone could react, Xie Mi plunged her hand straight into the toilet.
So fast that Shen Yongqing didn’t have time to stop her.
[THE STARLET IS HAND-FISHING THE TOILET!!!]
[Sister Xie… you are my goddess.]
“Got it! Wait—there’s something else in here?”
She rummaged around seriously, then pulled out something with delight. “It’s a key!”
[No way. Really???]
[I thought fishing the toilet was already insane, but the fact that the key was ACTUALLY in there??]
[Now it’s just two scaredy-cats storming through a nightmare dungeon.]
Leaving the bathroom, they entered a long corridor that stretched into darkness.
Suddenly—click clack clack—footsteps echoed.
The steps grew faster as they drew closer.
“Something’s ahead.” Xie Mi shone the flashlight forward.
A white-clad female ghost was sprinting toward them.
“AAAHHH FCK FCK!!”
Xie Mi dove behind Shen Yongqing, clinging to his abs in panic.
In the chaos, a talisman slipped out of his pocket.
The ghost froze, startled, then spun around and fled.
Xie Mi’s eyes lit up. “So the talisman repels ghosts. That makes things easier!”
In the next room, a hanged ghost dropped from the ceiling. Confident, Xie Mi whipped out her talisman—
—and got snatched by the ghost.
The broadcast boomed: “Congratulations to both players for discovering the secret of the talismans. One repels ghosts. The other summons them.”
Xie Mi: “Nice.”
[HAHAHAHA I’m crying]
[Poor Old Xie, first fishing toilets, now getting kidnapped by ghosts]
[This woman is the goddess of variety TV]
With Xie Mi taken, it was Shen Yongqing’s solo mission.
He searched the room with the flashlight, but suddenly the wardrobe burst open—a red-dressed ghost lunged at him with a shriek.
He brandished the repelling talisman, but the ghost ignored it, tied him up, and bound him tightly to a chair.
[Bondage play?? This escape room is wild.]
[Wait, where’s the sound? I can’t hear anything.]
Turns out his mic had fallen from his collar.
The red ghost took a step forward and—whether intentional or not—kicked the mic far away.
“Handsome boy, are you scared?” Pale fingers lifted his chin. With that evil little laugh, it was pure nightmare fuel.
Shen Yongqing lowered his head, hair shadowing his eyes. His lips, glossy and red, made him look like a helpless young noble being bullied.
“…Scared.”
“If you’re scared, answer my questions. Fail, and I’ll eat you!”
“Ask me anything—I’ll tell you.” His voice trembled, his shoulders shaking faintly.
“Good. First question: Why did you join this show?”
“For love.”
“Lies!”
The ghost’s whip cracked against the ground, sharp and piercing. “Tell the truth, or I’ll eat you right now!”
In extreme terror, no secret survives.
Once fear consumes the brain, every secret spills out.
“Speak! Speak!!”
The ghost drew closer, her voice shrill and cutting.
Suddenly, Shen Yongqing lifted his head. His peach-blossom eyes flashed with intrigue.
The ghost froze.
In the next moment, he seized her wrist, spun her, and pulled her into his arms.
His warm hand clamped her waist, his hot breath brushing her ear.
“It’s the truth.”
“Teacher Xie, I came here… to fall in love with you.”
