“Blood!” Qin Dan covered her mouth.
The youngest girl was already bending over, dry heaving.
The second guy hurriedly comforted everyone. “Don’t be afraid, it’s fake. The blood in haunted houses is all fake.”
Fake?
Qin Dan lifted the wine cup and sniffed. A strong scent of rust assaulted her nose.
No, this isn’t fake. It’s real!
Qin Dan’s face went pale, and she started to feel nauseous.
The others looked ill as well; evidently, they all smelled the blood.
Just then, Wang Jian actually raised his cup and drained it in one gulp. “Good wine.”
Everyone: “Ugh—”
At this moment, the Painted Skin demon walked over with a tray holding four dishes: a plate of live spiders, a plate of live centipedes, a plate of human internal organs, and a plate of maggots.
Seeing these four dishes, the youngest girl trembled in fear.
Boohoo, those bugs are alive; they’re still moving.
“Quick, taste Hua Niang’s cooking. It’s all good stuff.” Wang Jian waved his chopsticks, urging everyone to eat.
The Painted Skin demon sat on a chair, picked up a live spider, and slowly put it into “her” mouth under everyone’s shocked gaze.
Then, crunch—a squelching sound as the spider’s abdomen burst, splashing liquid onto her lips.
“Mm, a bit salty,” the Painted Skin demon said.
“Hua Niang’s cooking is the best; how could it be salty?” Saying this, Wang Jian picked up a maggot and slowly put it into his mouth.
“Don’t!” Zhao Dapeng cried out to stop him, sweat pouring down his face in anxiety. “Number Four, what’s wrong with you? That’s a maggot! How can you eat a maggot?”
He stood up and tried to drag Wang Jian out.
Wang Jian shook him off. “What are you doing? Hua Niang was kind enough to cook for you. If you don’t eat it, fine, but how dare you show disdain? That’s too much!”
“Stop acting, Four. You’re scaring everyone,” the third guy tried to persuade him.
The second guy joined in. “Four, playing around is one thing, but this is going too far. You’ve scared the girls to tears. Come with us, now.”
“Get lost!” Wang Jian glared viciously at everyone. “Today is my big day with Hua Niang. I’m not going anywhere. If anyone’s leaving, it’s you guys.”
He proceeded to drive everyone out.
“What is going on with him?” The girls didn’t know Wang Jian well and were on the verge of tears.
The guys looked grim, too.
What on earth was wrong with Wang Jian? Was he pretending, or was he bewitched?
“Dammit!” The second guy stomped his foot in anger.
“It’s useless to panic now. We have to find a way to save Wang Jian,” Qin Dan calmed down. “Remember the fortune teller we met earlier? Let’s go find him.”
Qin Dan’s words met with unanimous agreement.
However, as they walked, the youngest girl suddenly started crying aloud. “I’m so scared. I don’t want to play anymore. I want to leave.”
Seeing the youngest girl pale with fright, the group decided to let the third girl accompany her to find the exit, while the others continued to look for the fortune teller.
The group split into two.
Zhao Dapeng, Qin Dan, and their group walked fast and soon found the fortune teller at the end of the street. They explained Wang Jian’s situation.
The fortune teller pinched “his” fingers and calculated. “Bad news. That Hua Niang is an evil ghost. Ghosts can bewitch people, and Wang Jian has been bewitched by her. Oh my, I told you to go east, why did you insist on going west?”
Everyone’s faces fell. They hadn’t expected that doing the opposite of what the fortune teller said would be so dangerous.
“That evil ghost is very powerful; I cannot subdue it. Go behind the ruined temple. There is a Daoist priest there with high magical power. You can ask him for help.”
With that, the fortune teller left.
The group set off for the ruined temple.
Halfway there, they actually ran into the third girl and the youngest girl.
Qin Dan was surprised. “Didn’t you guys leave?”
“Dan-jie, sob.” This time, even the third girl couldn’t hold it together.
She cried and threw herself at Qin Dan. “The main gate is gone. We couldn’t find the door no matter where we looked.”
The youngest girl was so scared she couldn’t even speak.
Qin Dan frowned. “How could you not find the door? Did you remember the way wrong?”
“No,” the third girl shook her head. “I remember very clearly. The gate was right opposite the inn. We saw the inn when we came in, but when we went back, there was nothing opposite the inn. No door.”
“Maybe there are two inns. Sets in these places often repeat. Don’t be afraid. Let’s go to the ruined temple first, and look for the door later.”
Back with the main group, the third and youngest girls felt a bit better, but they were still terrified, holding hands and walking at the very back.
The group arrived at the ruined temple and saw the Daoist priest (played by Ruhua).
By now, everyone was spooked and, under the influence of the Painted Skin’s illusion and the horror atmosphere, no one was in the mood to notice that Ruhua was cross-dressing or whether “he” was good-looking.
Like they had found a lifeline, they gathered around the Daoist priest, begging for help.
“Your friend has definitely been bewitched by an evil ghost. I will give you a spirit talisman. Go back, bring Wang Jian here, and wait for me at the ruined temple,” the Daoist priest said.
Qin Dan was nervous. “Is the Daoist Master not coming with us?”
“I have another matter to attend to. I won’t be back until tomorrow night. Don’t worry, with the spirit talisman, the evil ghost won’t dare harm you.” With that, the Daoist priest waved his fly-whisk and flew away into the distance.
“Flew away?” The second guy’s eyes went wide. “Are there wires?”
“Forget about that. Let’s go get Wang Jian,” the third guy tugged at the second guy.
The group returned to the Wang Manor. They pulled Wang Jian into a corner, told him Hua Niang was an evil ghost, and tried to get him to leave with them.
Wang Jian didn’t believe them at all; instead, he scolded them.
Everyone was in turmoil. They didn’t understand what was happening with Wang Jian. Was he hypnotized?
Zhao Dapeng suggested, “Let’s hide outside the door and peek at Hua Niang. The theme is Painted Skin, so Hua Niang must be a Painted Skin demon. When no one is around, she’ll definitely take off her skin.”
It was a good idea. They could let Wang Jian witness the Painted Skin demon with his own eyes.
They cautiously walked to the outside of the room, opened the window a crack, and peeked inside.
Everyone was mentally prepared for Hua Niang to be wearing heavy makeup to look like an evil ghost, something very scary.
However, when they opened the window, they found Hua Niang still looked like a beauty, not a ghost.
Just as they were puzzled, Hua Niang in the room suddenly grabbed her own face skin and tugged it down, bit by bit, ripping her entire skin off.
The scene was too horrifying.
Zhao Dapeng was scared witless, biting his wrist hard to stop himself from screaming.
Wang Jian was so scared he nearly wet his pants.
Holy crap, that’s too terrifying!
How on earth did they do that?
The others were behind them and didn’t see this scene.
Noticing something wrong with the two in front, the second and third guys leaned over to look and saw a ferocious, green-faced evil ghost.
So scary! That makeup is too realistic!
Both of them went pale.
The girls behind wanted to look, but were stopped by the guys. “Don’t look!”
The four guys in front took a deep breath, closed the window, and leaned back against the wall, panting heavily.
Their faces were ashen, and it took a long time before they could speak.
“Number Four, you saw it, right? Hua Niang is a Painted Skin demon.”
Wang Jian was sober now, nodding repeatedly. “I’ll go with you.”
Everyone stood up, preparing to leave.
Just then, the door opened, and the Painted Skin demon came out!