Inside the Chinese restaurant.
The clown didn’t just dress bizarrely—even his facial features were freakish.
He didn’t look like a red-nosed circus clown meant to make kids laugh.
This clown’s outfit consisted strictly of black and white, topped off with a tiny magic top hat sitting on his head.
Coupled with his protruding, ugly features, even under the monochrome makeup, he looked hideous.
In short: this was a real clown.
Also in the restaurant were a pair of friends, Tara and Dawn.
The clown put his bag down on a seat and sat down right across from Tara.
Tara couldn’t help taking a few extra glances.
Noticing her gaze, the clown immediately stared back.
He rested his elbows on the table, steepling his fingers into a small frame, resting his head on his interlocked hands with his chin pressed against his knuckles.
With eyes narrowed and the corners of his mouth stretched wide, he grinned at her eerily.
This creepy scene made Tara quickly pull back her gaze.
The clown’s freakish appearance and unsettling movements terrified her.
Fortunately, there were other people in the restaurant.
Dan Lee, sitting further ahead, glanced back over his shoulder.
This time, he didn’t even need the Ghost Card to identify the entity by appearance alone.
It was Art the Clown, a figure who held a prominent spot in the pantheon of horror icons.
Dan Lee didn’t feel afraid upon seeing this thing; instead, he felt pleasantly surprised.
After all, *Terrifier* was a pure splatter film with zero plot, featuring a killing spree from start to finish.
Art the Clown’s performance in it was such that even an ordinary person could manage to counter-kill him.
However, being counter-killed was one thing; his immortality was another.
Moreover, many people didn’t know that Art the Clown actually had a prequel.
In the prequel, Art the Clown spread his terror through VHS tapes.
Everyone he killed was turned into a tape.
As long as the next person played that video tape, Art the Clown could use it to emerge from the television.
At first glance, it was somewhat similar to Japan’s famous Sadako.
He just wondered how monsters with immortal bodies like this were supposed to be contained—beaten to death, or sealed away?
Jennifer followed Dan Lee’s gaze and took a glance at Art the Clown.
The hideous, ridiculous look on his face instantly made her lose interest, and she turned her attention back to ordering food with the owner.
Right now, all she was thinking about was the post-dinner exercise and how it would go.
Tara’s reaction made Dawn look back, and seeing the clown’s comical appearance, she instantly grew intrigued.
Stumbling over to Art the Clown, she said, “Excuse me, can I take a picture with you?” Without waiting for the clown’s permission, and under the disbelieving stares of Tara and Jennifer, Dawn plopped herself right onto the clown’s lap, pulled out her phone, and started taking photos.
After taking a shot, she reached over to flick his tiny top hat.
The hat snapped back and struck the clown right in the face.
“Oh, sorry!
Let me get one more.” *Snap!
Snap!* Dawn pinched the clown’s cheeks for a few more pretty selfies before finally saying a tipsy “Thank you” and staggering back to her seat.
Dan Lee could tell very clearly that Dawn wasn’t wearing a bra.
It wasn’t that he was actively trying to look, but it was just far too obvious.
A pair of visibly sagging breasts—not even half as impressive as Jennifer’s.
One was obvious at a glance, while the other he had already personally measured with his hands.
Back at their table, Dawn was immediately questioned by her friend.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” Tara couldn’t understand why anyone would willingly go out of their way to provoke a weirdo like that when common sense dictated avoiding him.
Dawn said dismissively, “Oh, so what?
Is he gonna chop me into pieces or something?” Her begging-for-a-beating tone left Tara completely speechless.
Just as friction was brewing between the two girls, Art the Clown stood up, walked over to Tara, and pulled out a ring, seemingly taken with her.
Looking at Art the Clown’s pitch-black, gaping mouth, Tara didn’t dare refuse him to his face.
She could only extend her hand, swallowing her disgust as she let Art place the ring on her thumb.
This made her even more certain that the clown in front of her was mentally unstable.
Seeing the ring on her finger, Art the Clown looked delighted and skipped briskly into the restroom.
Not long after, however, he was thrown out by the restaurant owner.
“Holy shit, you animal!
You smeared shit all over the place!
Fuck you!” Holding a mop, the owner hit Art the Clown repeatedly while chasing him out, tossing out his black burlap sack along with him.
Art the Clown’s twisted sense of humor—he loved taking a dump and smearing feces everywhere.
With this sudden ordeal, Dan Lee completely lost his appetite.
This Art the Clown was a total degenerate freak; after all, very few people or clowns enjoyed playing with feces.
If nothing else, just hearing about it made the stench feel like it was floating out into the dining area.
Dan Lee and Jennifer left shortly after, with Tara and Dawn following out of the restaurant right behind them.
However, at the next block, Dan Lee stopped again.
“What’s wrong, baby?
Did you not get enough to eat?” Jennifer was still quite concerned about this issue, as it directly pertained to how long he could last and her personal happiness.
Dan Lee said helplessly, “I ate enough.
Why did you change your nickname for me again?” Jennifer hugged Dan Lee’s arm, leaning tight against him.
“Didn’t I call you that once when I first got here?
Should I go back to calling you ‘darling’ instead?” In Jennifer’s view, once a relationship was established, calling him baby, darling, or even husband was completely normal, wasn’t it?
Dan Lee tried to pull his arm back, found he couldn’t, and could only say, “Whatever you like.
I stopped not because I’m hungry, but because I plan to go back and take a look.” Jennifer was confused.
“Why go back?” “Because that clown is similar to the thing you encountered at your house.” Dan Lee didn’t intend to hide it from Jennifer; she had to face reality sooner or later.
Sure enough, the moment she heard it might be a ghost or something similar, Jennifer grew frightened.
She was already deeply traumatized.
Now, even if her home were still standing, she wouldn’t want to go back.
She’d rather unabashedly move into Dan Lee’s house, even if there was a price to pay.
Even if it meant acting as his vessel, Jennifer would accept it.
“Exorcism is so dangerous, why not get someone else to do it?
Let’s just go home today, okay?
You’ve already done one exorcism, baby, there’s no need to push yourself so hard.” Jennifer was reluctant to let Dan Lee take risks.
Wouldn’t it be great if they both pretended nothing happened, went home, and crawled into bed together?
Dan Lee explained, “We were already targeted by that clown back at the restaurant.
Even if you go home, it’ll follow you.
Rather than letting that happen, we might as well deal with it early.” Jennifer had nothing left to say.
She couldn’t understand why Clam Shell Town had suddenly accumulated so many terrifying entities.
Sometimes, she really just wanted to move away.
Dan Lee pulled out a ring of keys.
“Go to my house instead.
Didn’t you want to tour the castle?” Jennifer’s beautiful eyes lit up, but then she hesitated.
“I’m scared to go alone.” “Then call your best friend to keep you company.
You should have a few friends, right?” “I think I have one…” “Then call your friend over and show off a bit.
Tell her that you’re now the prime candidate to be the lady of the castle.” “Why ‘prime candidate’ instead of just the lady of the castle?” Because the true lady of the castle was a gorgeous witch.
Of course, Dan Lee didn’t tell Jennifer the real reason; she was already skittish enough, and scaring her further would probably make her stick to him like glue.
Other places might not be safe, but the castle was absolute sanctuary.
Dan Lee was certain of this based on his childhood memories.
After coaxing Jennifer, Dan Lee made a phone call to the castle butler to pick her up.
Jennifer looked at Dan Lee with utter adoration.
The castle actually had a butler—was her boyfriend really an aristocrat?
Once the butler drove over to pick up Jennifer…
Dan Lee turned back, ready to test Art the Clown’s true strength.