【I have a haunted house】Chapter 11: Does Your Conscience Not Ache?

When Diff mentioned that his unconsciousness was related to the mirror, Nick's heart skipped a beat. He recalled the game he played the previous night—the thing in the mirror had been blocked by the puppet and hadn't emerged.

Now, according to Diff's account, it seemed that the monster hadn't left at all but was still lurking inside the haunted house's mirrors.

"Boss, is this a new project in the haunted house? I didn’t hear about it," Xu Wan asked as she leaned in. Many innocent bystanders turned their attention to Nick.

He was in a difficult position now. He couldn't exactly tell everyone, "The haunted house might really have ghosts, but if you’re not afraid to die, come in and check it out." If he said that, the haunted house would shut down for sure, and he'd probably be sent to a mental institution.

"It’s a sort of new project. It’s based on the short video I posted last night, but I don’t recommend anyone play this game without professional guidance," Nick said lightly, patting Diff on the shoulder. "If you play recklessly, you’ll end up like this guy. Alright, who else wants to check it out? Don’t be scared, accidents can happen in a haunted house, and that’s what makes it thrilling!"

"Thrilling? The guy fainted! We came here just to play a haunted house, not to risk our lives!"

"Exactly! I’m not asking you to pay for the broken phone screen, but please, no more late-night short videos."

"Can’t deal with it, can’t deal with it, I’m out!"

As soon as Nick finished speaking, the crowd took a collective step back. He smiled bitterly and said, "It’s not that bad. My haunted house isn’t scary."

"Big brother, two forensic students who deal with corpses every day—one got scared to tears, the other fainted. And you’re still standing here saying your haunted house isn’t scary? Are you trying to deceive yourself? Doesn’t your conscience hurt?"

"Bro, be kind!"

The tourists nearby murmured among themselves, leaving Nick speechless. When the haunted house wasn’t frightening, no one visited, calling it boring. Now that it had become scary, it seemed he'd overdone it, causing a backlash.

"You all traveled so far just to stand here and watch? Courage can be built up, and occasionally feeling a little thrill and excitement is good for blood circulation."

"You can say whatever you like, but I’m not going in. Blood circulation? Why don’t you say your haunted house cures cancer?" the guy who broke his phone screen waved his hand and turned to leave.

At that moment, a middle-aged man standing next to him suddenly spoke loudly, as if after careful consideration: "Boss, give me a ticket!"

"Whoa, we actually have someone fearless."

"Uncle, don’t be impulsive. Other haunted houses charge for admission; this one takes your life!"

"I respect you, man! Go ahead, I’ll look after your wife and daughter!"

The man appeared to be in his forties, slightly balding. He stepped out of the crowd and handed Nick ten yuan. "One ticket, please."

"You’re going in alone?" Nick couldn’t help but regard the man with newfound respect. What was this? Knowing there was danger, and still heading straight toward it!

After receiving the money, Nick handed the man a ticket, intending to brief him on the safety precautions inside. However, to his surprise, the man took the ticket and walked in the opposite direction, away from the entrance of the haunted house.

"Uncle, the door’s this way…"

"I know," the man replied without turning back, walking to his original spot. He pulled out his phone, took two pictures of the haunted house ticket, and began posting them to his social media: "The grass is green, and the birds are flying in April. It’s that time of year again to go out and explore. Highly recommend the West Suburb Haunted House—extremely thrilling. After visiting today, I was sweating in cold fear…"

The nearby tourists couldn’t help but stare, baffled. You spent twenty minutes by the entrance, then bought a ticket, and that’s your visit?

Before anyone could speak, the man’s social media post already had likes and comments.

HR’s Xiao Li: "Zhang Ge, you’re afraid of mice, yet you dared to visit a haunted house? Impressive, my brother."

Mold Worker Wang Dayou: "Old Zhang went, so it must be a kiddie haunted house (wicked smile)."

Wife: "Come home and cook!!!"

Daughter Wang Jing: "Haha, Dad, we all know your courage. Stop pretending now!"

The balding man didn’t mind the comments, smiling as he replied to each one: "You all should try it too; after all, you’re braver than me, so you won’t be scared."

His actions left the surrounding tourists stunned.

"Uncle, you’re a deep one! To avoid being called a coward, you even dragged your wife and daughter into it…" The young man with the broken phone screen, standing next to the older man, had witnessed the entire process. Without saying a word, he walked straight toward Nick: "Give me a ticket too!"

Nick couldn’t understand why things had escalated like this. He took the money and handed the young man a ticket. The young man immediately started taking pictures with his shattered phone, posting on Weibo with a caption: "What should I do? I think my courage is shrinking again. Just went into a haunted house and came out drenched in cold sweat."

The young man looked at the weak and cowardly comments on his post and a "strange" smile appeared on his face.

"Give me one too."

"I want one as well!"

"Is it half price? I’ll take two!"

The haunted house was empty, not a soul in sight, yet the tickets had sold out in large numbers.

As the crowd slowly dispersed, Nick looked at the money in his hand, contentedly counting it.

"Boss, we sold more tickets this morning than we did in the past two weeks combined," Xu Wan squatted beside Nick, barely able to contain her excitement.

"Always be cautious. Today was just a lucky break. If we want to keep the visitors coming, we need real content," Nick carefully stashed the ticket money, then turned to look at Diff and Ice Sister, who, despite their ordeal, had yet to leave.

"How are you two doing?" Nick approached them with a bottle of water. The success of ticket sales today was largely due to these two forensic students.

"Uh, sorry about earlier. We really appreciate it," Diff awkwardly sat on the steps. Ice Sister, still pale, looked between Nick and Xu Wan. "I have two questions, if you don’t mind."

"Go ahead," Nick said, without hesitation.

"First, in the west room, I clearly saw the woman in the mirror. Why did she suddenly appear behind me?" Ice Sister asked, looking determined to get to the bottom of things. She couldn’t accept that she had been scared to tears.

"You thought it was an ordinary mirror, but it was actually a triangular prism made of three mirrors, with the other two sides hidden in the walls. A strong push would rotate it, revealing the exit of the bridal game. The woman in the mirror was simply a life-sized photo, enhanced by lighting and visual effects, creating the illusion of a real person. Xiao Wan was hiding behind the other mirror, and the footsteps you heard were just sound effects."

Upon hearing Nick’s explanation, Ice Sister nodded slightly. "Second question…" She pointed at Xu Wan. "Why does this woman, who is clearly alive, make me feel so strange? When I look at her, it feels as if I’m staring at a corpse."