Chapter Nine: The Mysterious Prison Restroom Stall

Shang Yi wiped the cold sweat from his palms and forehead, ending the recording on his phone.

He cradled Tang Bohu in his arms, gently patting its head. "You did a great job today!"

Tang Bohu stuck out its tongue, baring its teeth with a smug expression.

The memory of the terrifying white apparition still lingered in Shang Yi's mind, unsettling him. He held Tang Bohu close with his left hand, gripping the demon-banishing blade tightly in his right, and slowly approached the fourth stall where the horror had vanished.

He stared at the stall door for a while, seeing no movement. Gathering his courage, he gently pushed the door open.

Inside was nothing but an ordinary stall: a squat toilet, a flush handle, and a holder for toilet paper.

Shang Yi shut the door again, his face puzzled, then suddenly remembered something. He closed his right eye and looked at the stall door with his left.

This time, he finally noticed the difference!

Under the vision of his left eye, a faint white glow shimmered around the door’s frame. In the center of the door, a blood-red “C” was boldly emblazoned, as if blood had seeped from within, staining the wood. Thin rivulets of blood slowly trickled down, making the “C” look utterly terrifying.

He stared at the ominous, ghostly hand-written “C” for a while, then reached out to touch it. Nothing happened.

Taking a deep breath, he pushed the door open once more, bracing himself for something dreadful. But inside, under his left eye’s scrutiny, things were no different than before.

He examined the door’s internal lock.

"Stall doors can only be locked from the inside, but this door made a loud noise earlier," he mused. "It seemed difficult to push open from the inside, which means the lock itself wasn’t causing the resistance."

"This stall door is extremely suspicious. It could lead to an unimaginable world of terror. I need to seal it immediately."

"If not, the white apparition could appear at any moment and harm a guest. If that happens, my haunted house will be finished."

With that thought, Shang Yi wasted no time. He quickly fetched tools and materials from the storage room on the third floor.

He worked for quite a while, hammering and nailing, until the stall door was finally sealed.

Only then did he remember the footage he had just recorded. He took the phone off its tripod and began reviewing the video.

The recording lasted just over six minutes. The first minute was pitch black.

In the second minute, the moment Shang Yi turned on his flashlight was clearly captured.

In the mirror’s reflection, it was only Shang Yi’s face staring back—not the warden’s at all!

Shang Yi watched intently. "Did I hallucinate? Was I scaring myself?"

"No, I remember perfectly. It was definitely the warden’s face. I couldn’t be mistaken!"

Near the end of the video, the movement of the fourth stall door was visible in the mirror.

But what appeared next left Shang Yi dumbfounded.

On the footage, the thing that lunged for the back of his head was not a white apparition at all—it was a shadow, both in physique and face, strikingly similar to Shang Yi himself!

From the camera’s perspective, it looked as if Shang Yi himself burst out of the stall. Or perhaps, another Shang Yi appeared in the mirror and attacked his own head.

At the video’s climax, a small animal leapt at the shadow, which instantly retreated and vanished into the darkness.

When the lights came on, a clear image of Shang Yi appeared, and the video ended.

"For some reason, watching the footage feels more like a hallucination. But the horror effect is undeniably excellent."

Using his left eye, Shang Yi carefully inspected the mirror and every corner of the restroom, confirming nothing was amiss. Finally, he breathed a sigh of relief.

He opened the CloudSound short video app, registered an account, and uploaded the footage.

Within minutes, the video, titled "Ghost Face in the Mirror," was viewed and shared widely.

Its startling, eerie visuals terrified countless bored viewers scrolling through CloudSound.

After so much singing, dancing, and comedy, a sudden horror video proved to be a refreshing shock.

The video’s popularity snowballed, comments piling up beneath it in wild succession.

"Is the uploader out of his mind? Who goes into a bathroom in the dead of night with a flashlight to scare himself?"

"Friendly reminder! Six minutes and four seconds—brace yourself!"

"What was that thing coming out of the stall? It scared me half to death!"

"What kind of animal was that leaping up? Looks fiercer than a police dog!"

"Can I curse? In the middle of the night, I stumble across this, now I’m too scared to sleep!"

"The sound and shadow at the end are terrifying! If it’s a composite, the editing is top-notch."

"Judging by the coordination of sound and image, I don’t think it’s edited."

"You know nothing! This has to be post-production. If not, I’ll livestream myself eating crap tomorrow!"

"I kind of admire the uploader’s courage. If it were me, I wouldn’t dare enter such a place at night, let alone shine a flashlight in the mirror."

"Stop arguing, everyone! Didn’t you see the haunted house’s address? This is just a publicity stunt!"

Shang Yi’s account was bombarded with private messages—some cursing, some skeptical, some curious.

He skimmed through them, uninterested in replying.

His video was genuine; those who understood would see it for what it was, those who didn’t, no explanation would suffice.

Watching innocent viewers rage and curse in the comment section, Shang Yi couldn’t help but smile mischievously.

He could sense their fright through the screen, recalling the spectacular reactions when he streamed Resident Evil 7 before crossing over.

More and more viewers were scared witless by Shang Yi’s bold offering, their panicked outbursts attracting even more attention.

The comment section was in complete chaos, and the video’s popularity shot up like a rocket.

"Just posted the video and already gained several hundred followers. Seems people are really interested!"

Shang Yi grinned with glee. "With this kind of momentum, if I don’t follow up with some internet marketing, I’d be letting down all these eager viewers."

He quickly updated his profile with the haunted house’s address, adding a note: The most terrifying haunted house in Winter Sea.