Chapter Eight: The Terror at Three in the Morning
Alone late at night, gazing at his own ghastly reflection in this kind of restroom—even if no monster appeared, the sheer thrill was enough to deepen the terror of the haunted house experience.
He decided to record the entire process on video. If the ordeal turned out to be truly terrifying, it could serve as a great promotional highlight for the haunted house.
He thought about the schizophrenic warden still wandering somewhere unseen, and the Nine Yin Mountain Prison, a place rife with horrors and likely many unknowns. With only a little blood left to protect himself, Shang Yi felt scant security.
He slipped the demon-banishing dagger into his right pocket in advance.
“These are all the defensive measures I have at my disposal right now.”
If he completed this task, the reward would be the unlocking of all the ghosts within the prison scene.
The description alone made the process of this task sound chilling.
In the dead of night, inside a restroom haunted by specters, shining a flashlight at his own ghostly face in the mirror.
This exploited the frailty of the human mind, creating a transcendent terror with the simplest and most realistic of conditions.
“Trigger real spirits around you using a visual horror effect that any ordinary person could recreate.”
Shang Yi had already steeled himself for the possibility of seeing other ghosts appear in the mirror.
“It’s 2:57 a.m., two more minutes.”
He closed his right eye and surveyed both the room and the mirror with his left, confirming there were no hidden ghosts lurking nearby.
Although Shang Yi’s courage far exceeded that of ordinary people, the layers of unknown and uncertainty filled him with unease.
With a firm grip on the leash of Tang Bohu, who darted restlessly around his feet, he drew a deep breath, started recording on his phone, and switched off the restroom lights.
“One more minute.”
Clutching the flashlight in his left hand, he looped the leash around his right wrist and reached into his pocket to grasp the demon-banishing dagger.
Awaiting the arrival of terror was, in itself, more terrifying than terror itself.
In the pitch-black, silent restroom, every slight sound was magnified a thousandfold.
As the seconds ticked by, Shang Yi’s heart raced faster and faster.
From the reflection, he could see the time displayed on his recording phone screen.
The very instant the clock struck three, he switched on the flashlight in his left hand.
He had seen the ghostly face effect before, so he was fully prepared for what would appear when the flashlight came on.
Yet this time, something utterly unexpected occurred!
He looked into the mirror with both eyes—without using his left-eye ability—and the ghostly face that appeared was not his own!
This surprise was beyond anything Shang Yi could have imagined.
Even if a few other ghostly faces had appeared around his own, he would have been ready. But for his own face to be replaced by another’s in the mirror—that truly rattled him.
A shudder ran through him, goosebumps prickled his skin, but he managed to steady himself. He neither screamed nor moved.
He strictly followed the mission instructions—remain still.
Yet, as he focused intently on the unfamiliar face to make out its features, he almost couldn’t resist raising his right hand to stab the demon-banishing dagger into the glass!
Because he recognized, the face reflected in the mirror belonged to the warden of Nine Yin Mountain Prison!
In the darkness, illuminated only by the flashlight, the face looked even more bizarre and terrifying.
At last, he understood the true horror of this mission.
At this moment, no face could be more frightening than that of the warden.
Shang Yi gritted his teeth, stifling any sound, his breath quickened, lungs feeling as though packed with ice.
His formidable willpower kept his mind intact.
After a few seconds, he began to ponder: “Has my face turned into the warden’s, or has the warden’s face appeared in the mirror?”
No matter how frightful the apparition, his health bar remained unchanged and he suffered no actual harm.
He thought for a minute, staring all the while at the warden’s ghostly visage in the mirror. Then he conceived a way to test his theory.
He mouthed a soundless phrase at the mirror: “Don’t think you can scare me!”
If his own face had transformed into the warden’s, the mirrored face would mimic his mouth’s movements.
If the warden’s face had merely appeared in the mirror, the lips would remain still.
Yet what happened next was beyond anything Shang Yi had anticipated—and sent a deeper chill through his bones.
He saw the warden’s face in the mirror speak a different phrase: “I’m behind you!”
At that moment, through the mirror, Shang Yi saw the door of a cubicle diagonally behind him suddenly shake violently, accompanied by a piercing screech.
It sounded as though nails were scratching and teeth gnawing at the door, which trembled as though it might burst open at any second.
His attention was wholly drawn to the shaking door; he failed to notice that, at some point, the ghostly face in the mirror had reverted to his own.
His right hand, gripping the demon-banishing dagger, was slick with cold sweat. Only five seconds of the task remained.
Through the mirror, he saw the cubicle door suddenly burst open, and a horrifying white shape lunged straight for the back of his head!
There were two seconds left until the task ended!
At this moment, even if he wanted to dodge or fight back, it was already too late—the white specter’s speed was overwhelming!
At that critical instant, Shang Yi saw a much smaller white blur suddenly leap up from the floor, intercepting the terrifying apparition!
The horrifying white figure seemed to dread the little one, hastily retreating.
At that very moment, the five minutes were up. Shang Yi dashed to the wall and switched on the light.
Bathed in the bright glow, he glanced back to see that the terrifying white shape had vanished entirely.
Only now did he see clearly: the little white blur that had leapt at the monster was none other than the honey badger—Tang Bohu—who had been scurrying about the floor all along!
Just then, a notification sounded from the system. Entering the system interface, he saw the scene tab had updated.
Wintersea City, Western Suburbs, Tianmeng Amusement Park Haunted House
Ordinary Staff: Tang Chi, Xu Yin, Baobao
[Nine Yin Mountain Prison Scene]
Terror rating: Adjustable, 1 to 3 stars
In-house staff: 35
At the same time, system text floated before his eyes.
“Congratulations on completing the main quest—Unlock Ghost Staff. Resilience +10.”
“Resilience: The capacity for a normal human to endure fatal factors such as hunger, thirst, fatigue, and suffocation.”
“Skill acquired—Ghost’s Mouth: You may restore HP by consuming food made by ghosts.”
“Side Quest System activated: Any action beneficial to the haunted house’s development may yield mission rewards.”
Shang Yi’s pounding heart gradually calmed. “At last, I’ve finished this terrifying task, and the rewards are substantial.”
“It’s thanks to Tang Bohu that he blocked whatever that white specter from the cubicle was. I still don’t know what kind of monster it was.”