Chapter 414
“It’s okay now, just don’t come to this place again in the future.” Xu Ke patted Lin Mengyao’s head, comforting her.
“I don’t think so,” Ariel’s voice resonated from behind them, carrying a spine-chilling coldness.
Xu Ke and Lin Mengyao followed Ariel’s gaze and saw the restaurant they had just exited, along with the man standing in front of the window. His eyes lacked warmth as he looked at them, yet his lips curled slightly, like a half-demon, half-Buddha.
Xu Ke frowned at the man, Lin Mengyao shuddered violently, while Ariel wore a broad smile, even raising her hand to wave at him.
“Don’t be afraid, he’s just a cheap imitation unworthy of attention, not even a good counterfeit,” Ariel said with narrowed eyes. “Not every cook is like that person. Unfortunately, he doesn’t understand this, and without such mindset, doing these things is just like parroting, making others laugh.”
“Such a person should be ignored. Let’s go.” After speaking, Ariel shook her small fan, lifted her chin proudly like a little princess, and walked forward.
Due to the shadow of the extreme sports last time and the inconvenience of clothing this time, the three of them didn’t do any extreme sports but stood in front of a haunted house under Ariel’s lead.
Looking at the eerie design and the two bloody handprints on the door, Lin Mengyao couldn’t control herself, and her mouth twitched slightly.
Ariel, as if unaware, was full of joy, “How about the place I chose today? Unfortunately, we can’t do extreme sports today, and I was afraid you’d get bored, so I specially chose this place. How is it, doesn’t it feel special just from the outside? I’ve heard it’s scared quite a few people, some even cried, hehe.”
Ariel clasped her hands behind her back, her big eyes filled with eagerness.
Lin Mengyao’s face turned slightly pale as she was really afraid of these ghostly things.
“I actually don’t like haunted houses very much. How about you guys go in and play, I’ll wait for you outside.” Lin Mengyao said softly.
“It would be so boring waiting outside, let’s go in together. I didn’t like haunted houses before either, but then I started liking them. You’ll like them after you play a few times, really.” Ariel shook Lin Mengyao’s arm, acting coyly, “Let’s go in together, I don’t feel safe leaving you alone outside. You’re so pretty, staying outside is dangerous. This city is a gathering place of crime and darkness, unlike your country which is much safer.”
“So, come in with us.” Ariel swung Lin Mengyao’s hand back and forth, and Lin Mengyao soon found herself dizzy and agreed without knowing when. By the time she realized it, she was at the entrance, with an entrance ticket in her hand given by Ariel, feeling as if thunderstruck, her face unknowingly showing a pitiful look.
Xu Ke pinched Lin Mengyao’s unknown frown, smiling a bit, “Don’t be afraid, Ariel and I will protect you, besides, everything inside is fake, manmade, nothing scary.”
“Yeah, we’ll protect you, don’t be scared.” Ariel said, holding Lin Mengyao’s hand.
Lin Mengyao took a deep breath, glanced at Xu Ke and then at Ariel, and with the determination of cutting one’s losses, walked in first with a tragic face.
Lin Mengyao swallowed.
“How is it, can you handle it?” Xu Ke asked with concern as he felt Lin Mengyao grab his hand tightly.
“It’s okay, I can do it.” Lin Mengyao said softly, her neck seemingly stiffened, her whole body tense, but her eyes overly active, rotating constantly in the dim haunted house, remaining vigilant at all times.
Though called a haunted house, the place was extraordinarily large, the setting being a small town, and they now stood at the town’s entrance. At Ariel’s feet was a monument stained with blood, inscribed with the town’s name and origin. Ariel read everything from the monument with her sweet voice, which seemed even eerier in the environment.
Lin Mengyao always felt like ants were crawling on her body or someone’s fingers were tracing down her spine through her clothes. If not for her hands being held, she might have clamped her ears and screamed.
Despite this, by the time Ariel finished reading, Lin Mengyao broke into a cold sweat.
“I don’t think there will be ghosts in this haunted house,” Ariel said, resting her chin on her fan.
Hearing Ariel’s confident voice, Lin Mengyao felt much more at ease, “Then why is it called a haunted house with no ghosts? Are there more terrifying things inside?”
Hearing Lin Mengyao’s curiosity, Xu Ke explained, “The foreign understanding of ghosts is different from ours, so there might not be what you imagine as ghosts, but there could be other things like zombies.”
Upon hearing Xu Ke’s explanation, Lin Mengyao’s fear subsided a lot, but a sense of disgust arose as her mind automatically conjured images of zombies with rotting flesh from movies. The thought of possibly encountering such things up close shortly made Lin Mengyao shiver with nausea.
“That’s disgusting.” Lin Mengyao muttered with a frown.
“It’s actually not that bad, not very disgusting,” Ariel said, hugging Lin Mengyao’s arm.
“Alright, we’ve stayed outside long enough. Let’s go in; I’m quite looking forward to it, eager to see if it’s as interesting as they say online,” Ariel said.
After speaking, Ariel released Lin Mengyao’s hand and walked in first.
Thick fog, red and green lights, dark red floors, buildings smeared with blood and fingerprints, and scattered bones on the ground immediately set one’s heart racing, instinctively conjuring scenes in the mind.
Unknowingly, Lin Mengyao clung to Xu Ke’s arm with both hands, trying hard to keep her eyes wide open in the mist, her heart pounding fast, yet trying to keep calm.