There was a perimeter wall around the haunted hospital, but it was extremely dilapidated, with damage in many places, making one wonder whether it served any real purpose at all. Of course, the wall was really just decorative, meant to let visitors know this was the haunted house, and at most to designate a single entrance.

The gate in the wall was completely broken. It was unclear whether this was intentional to enhance the atmosphere. The entrance stood wide open with no obstruction at all, and from outside the haunted house one could directly see a corner of the building’s lobby inside, where the lights flickered from time to time. Just looking at this scene was enough to make goosebumps rise all over Shu Yuxin’s back.

Jiang Zixuan was still carrying her over his shoulder, which made her struggling look somewhat comical. But right now, all she cared about was getting down from him. “Put me down!! I already said I don’t want to play!!”

“Stop making a fuss,” Jiang Zixuan said in a deliberately impatient tone, lowering his voice. “What kind of behavior is it to shout in public? People are watching you.”

Shu Yuxin punched him several times. “Then just put me down already!!”

“If I put you down, will you go in with us?” Jiang Zixuan grabbed her left wrist with his free hand and asked seriously.

Shu Yuxin was on the verge of going crazy. “Why do you insist on making me play this?! I already said I’m scared of ghosts!!”

“If you’re scared of ghosts, isn’t that all the more reason to visit a haunted house? To build courage.” Jiang Zixuan spoke as if it were perfectly logical. “Besides, we’re all here. If you don’t come, it won’t be fun.”

“You—” Shu Yuxin struggled again, kicking her legs wildly in midair. “Put me down, ahhh!!”

Jiang Zixuan hurriedly tightened his grip. “Hey, don’t move, don’t move! You’re going to fall! You’re going to fall!”

…

Next to the gate of the haunted house’s outer wall was a shabby guard booth. Beside it stood a sign with an introduction to the haunted house and notes on things to be aware of while playing. While Shu Yuxin and Jiang Zixuan were still “messing around,” Yan Zhikai and Zhang Houlin were reading the notice board.

Lao Guan had stopped playing on his phone. He slowly walked over to Yan Zhikai, looked at the two still “playing around” in the distance, and said gloomily, “Sigh… I really want a childhood sweetheart like that too…”

Just like Shu Yuxin, Jiang Zixuan had also been asked many times about his relationship with her, and his answer had always been that they were childhood friends.

As for what each of them really thought, only they themselves knew.

“Heh,” Yan Zhikai shot him a glance, full of disdain. “Can’t your 2D girls satisfy you anymore?”

“That’s different!” Lao Guan suddenly grew bold. “2D girls are wives! What I want is a childhood sweetheart! Or a girlfriend!”

“You think I don’t want that?” Yan Zhikai pointed toward the hotel. “Go back and sleep, kid. You’ll have everything in your dreams.”

Lao Guan looked over there again gloomily, then lowered his head and went back to his phone. “Looks like the 2D world really suits me best.”

Almost at the same time he finished speaking, Jiang Zixuan finally put Shu Yuxin down.

The two of them had reached a small agreement: Shu Yuxin would agree to tour the haunted house with them, and Jiang Zixuan would let her walk on her own.

Anything was better than being carried through the haunted house the entire time.

Shu Yuxin actually planned to bolt the moment she was put down, but unfortunately, Jiang Zixuan was gripping her wrist too tightly.

“Zixuan.”

“Hm?”

After making sure no one around was paying attention to them, Shu Yuxin took a deep breath and whispered, “Don’t you think this looks really gay?”

Jiang Zixuan smiled slightly. “How is it gay?”

Shu Yuxin raised the wrist he was holding.

“Gay?” Jiang Zixuan pressed her hand down. “I think it’s fine. If you can guarantee you won’t run away, I can let go.”

Shu Yuxin immediately nodded. “I won’t run. Let go.”

“Alright. If you run later and I catch you again, I’ll carry you around the haunted house twice.” As he spoke, Jiang Zixuan made a motion as if to let go of her wrist.

Shu Yuxin silently grabbed his hand instead. “Forget it, just keep holding on.”

With his perfectly balanced way of messing with her, she couldn’t bring herself to be angry at him, nor could she do anything about it.

“Hey! You two over there!” Peng Xiaoxiao, who had gone with Yan Zhikai to check things out, ran back at this moment. “Have you finished negotiating? We’re going in!”

“Let’s go. Yuxin agreed,” Jiang Zixuan nodded, pulling Shu Yuxin forward.

Peng Xiaoxiao’s gaze lingered for a moment on where their hands were tightly linked, and she said softly, “Ah… is this a rehearsal for touring the haunted house later?”

“Heh, maybe, maybe not,” Jiang Zixuan glanced at Shu Yuxin’s grim expression and laughed. “Once we’re inside, it’ll probably be her grabbing onto me instead.”

Peng Xiaoxiao, having her own interpretation of their relationship, didn’t dig deeper. She gave Jiang Zixuan an “I get it” smile and followed along. “Come on, let’s get the tags~!”

This haunted hospital had many scare elements, not limited to ghosts alone. Because of the special nature of some of the scares, visitors needed to wear a very conspicuous tag. These tags allowed the staff to distinguish who was a scare target and who was a coworker, and also helped visitors tell whether the person in front of them was another visitor or something else.

The place to collect the tags was inside the guard booth by the gate. The booth wasn’t very large, and when Yan Zhikai and the others crowded in, it felt cramped. Inside, it was just as shabby as the outside. The furnishings were all old wooden furniture that wouldn’t look out of place even in a junkyard. Two of the tables had completely fallen apart and were just piled there messily, covered in spider webs—Yan Zhikai took a closer look and realized the webs were fake.

The only thing that still looked relatively new was a wooden chair. At that moment, a man dressed as a guard was sitting on it, his back to everyone, holding a newspaper. Despite the noise they made entering, he showed no intention of turning around.

“Well,” Yan Zhikai was the first to speak up. “We’re here to get the tags, could you please—”

Before he could finish, the man suddenly turned around. His face was a sickly blue-black, and half of it was covered with a chunk of rotting flesh, inside which faintly wriggled some bugs. It was utterly disgusting. Completely unprepared, almost everyone jumped in fright.

Shu Yuxin got goosebumps all over and nearly screamed.

She wanted to run away again.

Yan Zhikai was also stunned. The last time he came, this had just been an ordinary old guard. Now it had turned into a zombie. Last time, he had simply said a word to the old man and gotten the tags. So how were they supposed to operate with a zombie this time? Did they need to perform some sort of exorcism ritual to get the tags?

Fortunately, the zombie didn’t keep them guessing for long. “You’re here to get the tags? Here you go.” As he spoke, he placed the newspaper on the desk in front of him, then took out a bundle of green tags tied with string from a drawer and handed them to Yan Zhikai.

Judging by the voice, the zombie seemed to be played by an elderly man. After taking the tags, Yan Zhikai cautiously asked, “Sir, it’s still you?”

“Huh? You know me?”

“Yeah, I came to the haunted house last time when you weren’t in makeup yet. Why are you in makeup this time? It looks so real.”

The old man seemed like he wanted to touch his face, but halfway through he scratched his sparse hair instead and grinned. “Heh, back then there wasn’t such a rule yet. This stuff on my face—it’s real stuff, just really thick. Once you put it on, you wear it all day. It’s uncomfortable!”

Yan Zhikai smiled, handed out the tags to everyone, then waved to the old man. “Alright then, we’re heading in.”

“Go on, go on. Don’t get scared to tears inside, heh heh.” The old man’s smile made his face look even more eerie.

Outside, Yan Zhikai was the first to hang the tag around his neck. “Everyone put your tags on. Put them on before going in.”

Peng Xiaoxiao excitedly hung hers on and whispered to Shu Yuxin, “That old man was kind of interesting.”

Shu Yuxin pursed her lips.

She only felt that old man was terrifying.

But if everyone inside the haunted house was like him, she felt she might be able to endure it.

After putting on his own tag, Jiang Zixuan saw Shu Yuxin staring blankly at the green tag in her hand. He directly snatched it from her and forcibly hung it around her neck.

Shu Yuxin grabbed his hand, making one last attempt to struggle. “I really don’t want to go in…”

“Whether you want to or not, you’re going in today,” Jiang Zixuan said with a grin, gripping her hand instead. “We’re already here. You still want to run?”

Shu Yuxin was silent for a moment, then sighed resignedly. “Fine. But you’re not allowed to deliberately leave me behind, and you’re not allowed to deliberately scare me. Otherwise, I’m coming straight out.”

“Deal.”

After entering the haunted hospital, the first thing they saw was a lobby, somewhat similar to the registration area of a normal hospital, but also somewhat different. The most obvious difference was that it was extremely old, extremely dilapidated, and extremely dark. The only light from outside came through the main door, barely illuminating a small area near the entrance. Once inside, it felt completely cut off from the normal world.

In the center of the lobby was a broken counter with a vintage desk lamp on it. The lamp wasn’t very bright, just enough to light the area around the counter. From the doorway, everyone could only see a woman dressed as a nurse sitting behind the counter. She had her head lowered and sat completely still. Because of the lighting, no one could see her face clearly.

The atmosphere instantly frightened Shu Yuxin.

“Tsk, I bet that’s another super-scary female ghost in costume,” Peng Xiaoxiao whispered into Shu Yuxin’s ear, deliberately using a creepy tone.

“Don’t say that!” Shu Yuxin almost screamed. She was holding on with the last shred of courage she had. If Jiang Zixuan hadn’t threatened her earlier, she would have turned and run long ago.

“Huh? Are you really that scared of ghosts?”

“Ahhh, stop talking!!”

“…I didn’t even say anything scary.”

“Just stop talking! Don’t say anything!” Shu Yuxin was on the verge of tears.