Chapter 259 — Playing Ghosts to Scare People Off — Xiaoma Followed Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu at a Distance and Heard Their Conversation

Of course, Wei Zhao had long since noticed Xiaoma following along; he simply had not tipped his hand. In his eyes, Xiaoma posed no threat at all. Better to let him tag along and see what he was actually up to — perhaps he might even flush out the people behind the scenes.

This one was a mere underling. Killing him would scarcely dent whoever was pulling his strings. The man did not even have a third of Yellow-Rank strength; he was nothing but an errand boy.

"Brother Universe, from what they're saying, they're heading to the haunted house..." Xiaoma's task was to report Gu Mengyao and her companions' movements to Zhang Yuzhou and Jin Maosheng at all times.

"The haunted house? Understood," Zhang Yuzhou said. "Let me discuss it with Brother Jin, then I'll tell you what to do."

Jin Maosheng had heard Xiaoma's words over the walkie-talkie as well, but for the moment he had not worked out what kind of accident could be staged inside a haunted house. An outright assassination was out of the question — that would only draw the police in faster, and that was the last thing Jin Maosheng wanted.

"First have Xiaoma go to the haunted house ticket window and tell them to slow down the ticket sales so Gu Mengyao and the others can't go in right away," Jin Maosheng said after a moment's thought.

"Got it." Zhang Yuzhou relayed Jin Maosheng's instructions to Xiaoma, then asked, "Brother Jin, what do we do now?"

"Tell me — inside a haunted house, what kind of accident could happen that would kill a person?" Jin Maosheng meant to hash it out with Zhang Yuzhou; two heads were better than one.

"That... inside a haunted house..." Zhang Yuzhou could not come up with any good idea on the spot either. "Apart from scaring people, there's nothing else in there... it's all fake stuff anyway."

"Scaring people..." Jin Maosheng suddenly let out a sinister, cackling laugh. "I've got it — ha ha — what if we go dress up as ghosts and scare them to death?"

"Now that's a fine idea. Everything in there is lifeless — scary, sure, but nothing more. But if we go in as ghosts and call out their names, I reckon they'll... heh heh..." Zhang Yuzhou nodded in agreement the moment he heard it. "Isn't there a saying? Man scares man, scares him to death — that's the principle exactly."

"Come on, let's get ready — scare these two little girls to death." Jin Maosheng gave a sly, cold smile. He had only tossed the suggestion out casually at first, but Zhang Yuzhou's agreement had stirred him. He was right — man scares man, scares him to death. It was an old saying; it should not fail them.

……………………

"Why does this haunted house only let three or four people in at a time?" Gu Mengyao watched the entrance with some impatience. Three or four groups were still queued ahead of them; who knew how long it would be before their turn. Had she known, she would have asked Uncle Qing to call ahead and get them in through the back door, sparing herself this wait.

"Good things come to those who wait," Shen Yushu said, unbothered. "Look, Yaoyao — those two couples who just went in came out pale as ghosts!"

"That'll be you before long," Gu Mengyao retorted sourly. "How about we skip this and go see something else?"

"Let's wait a bit longer — only two or three more groups and it's our turn." Shen Yushu did not want to give up so easily. "Think about it, Yaoyao — a haunted house is only scary with just a few people inside. If a whole crowd of tourists went in, what would be the fun of that? More people than ghosts — then is it the ghosts scaring the people or the people scaring the ghosts? There'd be no point at all."

"That's true..." This time Gu Mengyao found herself agreeing with Shen Yushu's theory. Indeed, with too many people you would just be looking at people — where would you find the nerve to look at the ghosts?

In the control room behind the haunted house, Jin Maosheng, Zhang Yuzhou, and Xiaoma had already changed into costumes. Jin Maosheng had become a vampire, Zhang Yuzhou a zombie, and Xiaoma had plastered something over his face until he became a "faceless man."

"All set — call the people waiting out front. They don't need to come in; just let Gu Mengyao go straight through," Zhang Yuzhou instructed Xiaoma.

"Yes..." Xiaoma, now the faceless man, spoke with a muffled, garbled voice. He pulled out his phone, dialed a number, and said, "You can leave now."

Outside the haunted house, the two groups who had been waiting ahead of Gu Mengyao and the others took a phone call and suddenly announced, "Forget waiting — it's too slow. Let's go, let's go play something else."

"Exactly, so slow. Not watching anymore — let's go," another chimed in at once.

And so the two groups ahead simply turned and walked off, without the slightest hesitation.

"Huh? Yaoyao, is something wrong with them? They waited in line all that time, and just when it's nearly their turn, they up and leave without watching?" Shen Yushu stared after the departing groups as though they were idiots.

"Who knows? But it's better that they're gone. Our turn will come soon enough." Gu Mengyao was a little puzzled too, but their leaving was a good thing after all; no more waiting.

Wei Zhao, however, swept a cold glance over the two departing groups, a faint sneer flickering at the corner of his mouth. Acting this soon? And inside the haunted house?

"Next group..." Just then the haunted house attendant opened the door and looked at Gu Mengyao and the others. "Is it you? Are you three together?"

"Yes. Is it our turn?" Gu Mengyao asked.

"It is. Give me your tickets and you can go in." The attendant took the tickets from Gu Mengyao's hand and, without even glancing at them, tossed them casually into the ticket box beside him. Wei Zhao felt a touch of contempt. Couldn't even be bothered to put on a show — that eager to get them inside?

Gu Mengyao, Shen Yushu, and Wei Zhao filed into the haunted house one after another. The heavy door behind them slammed shut with a boom, and from within came ghastly, horrifying shrieks: "Woo—aoo—"

Gu Mengyao could not help but shiver. She knew perfectly well it was all fake, yet the eerie chill of the place still sent a coldness through her whole body.

"Xiaoshu, hold on to me and don't go running off. It's pretty scary in here." Gu Mengyao wanted to keep up her big-sister poise, but her voice still betrayed her fear. Her intention had been to say that if Shen Yushu held on to her, Shen Yushu wouldn't be afraid — but by now anyone could tell that Gu Mengyao was all bluster and no courage.

"Hehe, Yaoyao, are you scared?" Shen Yushu, for her part, had plenty of nerve; hearing those ghostly wails, she was not frightened in the least.

"Who says I'm scared?" Gu Mengyao would never admit to being afraid. "These things are obviously all fake, just meant to scare people — what's there to be afraid of? Let's go. Wei Zhao, you follow behind us, and don't go far, you hear?"

"Heh..." Wei Zhao smiled. The things inside this haunted house were a bizarre spectacle. Though crafted very realistically, many were composites of light and shadow effects — in truth nothing but fake, illusory things, like watching a 3D movie, only more immersive.