Chapter Thirteen: Sounds Rather Frightening

The group of troublemakers who had no interest in touring the haunted house, seeing the situation turn against them, could only admit defeat and leave dejectedly.

Shang Yi glanced at the people waiting in line and noticed that six individuals were huddled together in the middle, seemingly discussing something.

Soon, a young woman from among them approached Shang Yi. “Boss, what’s the maximum number of people allowed in at one time?”

“We’re a group of six. Can we go in together?”

Shang Yi observed that this girl was wearing a white baseball cap and a purple tracksuit. She was tall, with a delicate, oval-shaped face, and though her expression was cold, her bearing was extraordinary—clearly the leader of the group.

“Six at once? You are…?”

Before the girl could answer, a young man from the group hurried over. He had thick eyebrows, large eyes, a parted hairstyle, and a sincere look.

“She’s my senior—we’re from Donghai Police Academy,” he said with a smile. “My name is Tian Yuan, and she’s Yuan Rushuang. I forwarded your video to our academy’s internal forum. We watched it this morning, got interested, and decided to come together.”

Yuan Rushuang shot Tian Yuan a fierce glare. “Will you die if you keep quiet? Is there really such a need to introduce us in such a rush?”

Seeing that his senior was annoyed, Tian Yuan hurriedly apologized. “Sorry, it’s my fault. I’ll be more careful next time!”

“An ice queen like her is planning to become a police officer?”

“She does fit the part,” whispered the onlookers, as the arrival of six future police officers prompted many to step back. Everyone knows that when something scary happens, it’s best to let the police go first.

Shang Yi was a bit troubled to have six police academy students on opening day. Police officers visiting a prison? People preparing for that career must have nerves of steel!

Looks like today, he couldn’t afford to hold back—he’d have to unleash every trick he had.

“This prison scenario is open-plan. Six people at once is no problem.”

Yuan Rushuang adjusted her cap with her left hand and waved her right. “All of you, come here.”

The other four police academy students immediately hurried over, proof enough of their senior’s unquestionable authority.

Yuan Rushuang was about to lead the way in but paused, staring at Shang Yi for a few seconds. “Boss, you weren’t joking earlier, right? If the six of us find thirty copies of the Prison Regulations within thirty minutes, you’ll give us six thousand yuan?”

Shang Yi hadn’t expected the aloof girl to challenge him before even entering. After a few seconds, he replied seriously, “That’s right. If you can actually do it, not a cent less than six thousand.”

Hearing this, Uncle Li, who was maintaining order nearby, came over. He pulled Shang Yi behind the ticket counter and whispered, “Your haunted house is already running at a loss. You need to be careful about giving away cash!”

“Don’t worry, Uncle Li, I know what I’m doing. I won’t hand out money for nothing.”

“Alright, your parents aren’t here, so be careful. I’ll keep an eye on things outside.”

Seeing Shang Yi unmoved, Uncle Li gave up persuading him and went out to watch the guests.

Shang Yi told Su Xiaoxue to sell tickets and collect payments one by one, and to have each guest sign the haunted house waiver. Then he rushed into the prison set, gathered all the copies of the Prison Regulations from the interrogation room, and called over Crocodile, Tang Chi, and Xu Yin, the three team leaders, giving them a look that said, “You must complete this task or else.”

“Distribute these throughout the prison. You can leave a few out in the open for the guests to find, but hide the rest well. Make sure there are no more than ten copies that can actually be found.”

Handing over the regulations, Shang Yi kept one for himself and hurried back to the ticket hall.

By then, the six police academy students had finished signing the waivers.

“Can we go in now? I have things to do later—let’s get started,” Yuan Rushuang said impatiently, not expecting to have to sign anything for a haunted house.

“Before you enter, I need to explain the story background and some precautions.”

Shang Yi knew well that a good backstory greatly enhanced immersion for visitors.

“This is the grand opening of our prison scenario, and you six are the very first guests.”

“This prison is modeled after the city’s Jiuyin Mountain Military Prison, almost indistinguishable from the real thing. They say terrible, chilling things have happened here: schizophrenic inmates, terrifying monsters, murderous doctors, dismembered patients, cruel guards, and a deranged warden. No one really knows what happened in this sinister and dreadful place.”

“When you’ve been tormented in the prison until you are neither human nor ghost, then you’ll truly understand what’s more terrifying than the eighteen levels of hell.”

Noting the police cadets’ attentive expressions, Shang Yi continued, “That’s the gist of the backstory. You’ll experience the rest for yourselves inside.”

“If anyone finds it too frightening to continue, just make the pause gesture to the cameras and wait right where you are—our staff will come escort you out.”

He shook the copy of the Prison Regulations in his hand, giving a look as if to say, “May lightning strike me if I lie. You can tell by my face I’m not deceiving you.”

“The regulations you’re looking for look exactly like this—very recognizable. Whoever finds ten copies will get two thousand yuan from me.”

“You have a maximum of thirty minutes. I’ll call you out when time’s up.”

“Guests with cardiovascular disease or arrhythmia are prohibited from entering.”

“If there are no further questions, just enter through this main door to the prison scenario. The exit is on the second floor—this door will be sealed behind you. Enjoy your visit.”

“Sounds a bit scary, but it’ll take more than that to frighten us police academy students,” Tian Yuan said bravely, though he was hiding behind the others, clearly waiting for his seniors to go first.

Yuan Rushuang, in contrast, said nothing more. After listening to Shang Yi’s introduction, she strode in confidently at the front.

Once all six students had entered, Shang Yi gave Su Xiaoxue a few instructions, then rushed to the surveillance room to monitor the scene in real time.

As the eerie, chilling prison corridors appeared on the screens, a cold wind seemed to sweep through, and it felt as if someone was lurking behind every door. Strange creaking noises echoed from time to time. All the police academy students couldn’t help but draw in a sharp breath.