Thanks to Wang Jian’s promotion in his circle, many people came to play the Painted Skin dungeon.
Everyone said it was scary, and the group chats were buzzing with discussion.
An outsider big shot heard about it and wanted to come see for himself, so he contacted Wang Jian.
The big shot was Niu Gu, a somewhat famous internet celebrity with over a million fans.
While other influencers explored food, Niu Gu specialized in horror houses, thrill escape rooms, and abandoned haunted houses. His theme was horror.
Niu Gu had a good reputation in the industry. Although he reviewed shops, he always got the owner’s permission and only took simple photos of the exterior, never the interior.
After all, the design of a haunted house was a trade secret.
Normally, a big shot like Niu Gu wouldn’t come to a small haunted house in a second-tier city.
Big cities had plenty of well-decorated, famous haunted houses.
But this time, the discussion in the group was too intense. Everyone who went said it was good, terrifying, and immersive—like time traveling.
Not only was it scary, but the decoration was excellent, full of ancient charm, practically a 1:1 recreation of ancient architecture.
The mechanisms were also great; the Painted Skin ghost inside could fly and teleport.
They were practically praising this haunted house to the heavens.
Niu Gu was interested. His hometown happened to be Fengdu, so he decided to drop by.
Wang Jian was excited that a big shot was coming and went to pick him up early.
“Brother Niu, I’m telling you, this trip will definitely be worth it. I’m serious. Painted Skin will absolutely blow your mind,” Wang Jian chattered. “Super scary. You need to be mentally prepared. After I played, I had nightmares for three days and took a week to fully recover.”
“Maybe you’re just timid, kid,” Niu Gu laughed at him.
He didn’t take Wang Jian’s words to heart. How scary could a haunted house with an ancient theme be?
The story of Painted Skin had been adapted countless times; movies and TV shows had beaten it to death.
The most important thing for a haunted house was novelty. An old-fashioned story like Painted Skin couldn’t offer anything new.
Niu Gu had been to hundreds, if not thousands, of haunted houses, including dilapidated temples in deep forests.
He had seen it all. A mere Painted Skin theme was a piece of cake for him.
While he didn’t take the trip seriously, Niu Gu still prepared earnestly. He posted a short video on his Douyin account, vlogging his high-speed train ride to Fengcheng to explore the haunted house.
During his evening livestream, he mentioned it, saying friends in his circle recommended it, so he was coming to see for himself.
In the comments section, netizens interested in haunted houses left messages:
[A haunted house in Fengcheng? And Painted Skin? So cliché. I don’t even watch the TV shows anymore; they’ve been remade eight hundred times.]
Niu Gu was good-natured and replied with a smile, “I think the same as this netizen—it’s too cliché. But my local friends in Fengcheng are all recommending it, so I’m really curious.”
[Did Brother Niu get scammed? Is it just a paid promotion by the haunted house?]
“Impossible,” Niu Gu shook his head. “They’re good friends; I trust them.”
[Now I’m curious. Brother Niu, tell us how it is when you get back. If it’s really good, I’ll go next time. I’m from Fengcheng.]
[I’ll go too.]
[Count me in.]
Everyone was enthusiastic. These people were interested in horror, so they were curious about a new, interesting haunted house.
Niu Gu nodded. “Don’t worry, everyone. I’ll start a livestream and chat with you all when I get back. Wait for me. Bye-bye.”
Niu Gu didn’t go directly with Wang Jian. He also invited two old friends from Fengcheng: one interested in mechanisms and the other in history.
“Why meet in a place like this?” Hearing they were going to a haunted house, Old Li, who was interested in history, frowned.
“They say the architecture of this haunted house is special, built in an antique style with a real sense of age,” Niu Gu explained.
Then he looked at Old Guan, who liked mechanisms. “I heard the mechanisms are good too. The ghosts inside fly, and you can’t see any wires.”
Neither friend was interested in the haunted house Niu Gu described. It was just a haunted house; what history or mechanisms could it have? Child’s play.
But meeting old friends was happy regardless of the location. As long as they were together, it didn’t matter.
So, Old Li and Old Guan smiled and said, “Let’s go take a look then.”
“By the way, where is it?” Old Li asked.
Niu Gu didn’t know and turned to look at Wang Jian.
Wang Jian quickly said, “No. 18 Huangquan Road. Transport is convenient; the subway goes straight there.”
“Huh?” Old Guan thought the location sounded familiar.
He and Old Li were locals, so he turned to Old Li. “Have you heard of it? The address sounds so familiar.”
Old Li frowned. “Seems like the West Suburbs graveyard. The city wanted to develop that area a few years ago, but there were several accidents, so they shelved it and developed the east instead.”
“Ah, I remember now.” Old Guan slapped his thigh. “Right, it’s the West Suburbs graveyard. I knew it sounded familiar. That place is weird as hell; why open a haunted house there? I thought they stopped development. I remember there were no buildings around, just a huge graveyard. It was creepy when I drove past once.”
“There are buildings. The haunted house is huge, with a really tall building,” Wang Jian said. He had been there.
“Is that so?” Old Guan scratched the back of his head. “Must have been developed recently. The last time I passed by was years ago. I’m a homebody; I rarely go out.”
“Alright, enough talk. Let’s go,” Old Li said.
Transport was indeed convenient. The four didn’t take the subway but drove there. They didn’t know when the road had been fixed, but it was wide, with little traffic, and they arrived in no time.
“That’s it.” Wang Jian pointed to the dilapidated wooden gate ahead.
The four got out of the car and walked to the entrance of the Fengdu Haunted House.
Niu Gu took a few photos of the gate first, nodding in praise. “Very shabby, very horror atmosphere.”
Old Li didn’t think much of it. Just as he was about to push the door open, he saw the door knocker.
A hideous, terrifying ghost head slammed right into his face.
“Holy crap!” Old Li shuddered in fear and jumped back.
The door knocker was carved in the shape of Zhong Kui!
It was incredibly realistic, like it was alive. He thought he saw it blink just now.
Old Li couldn’t believe it.
Why would someone make a door knocker so realistic?
And use Zhong Kui? Don’t they usually use Jiaotu?[1]TN: Zhong Kui is the legendary demon-queller of Chinese folklore, a fierce warrior who hunts ghosts and evil spirits, often depicted with bulging eyes and a sword—his portraits are hung during New … Continue reading jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_1388067_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_1388067_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });
He was about to lean in for a closer look.
Niu Gu walked over and patted his shoulder. “Didn’t get scared, did you?”
Old Li shook his head. “I’m fine. It was just sudden. I didn’t expect the knocker to be Zhong Kui, and so realistic. At first glance, I thought it was alive. Scared me.”
Hearing Old Li say this, Niu Gu leaned in to examine the knocker. “This haunted house is alright; the details are good.”
He knocked on the door panel. “The wood used for this door is also special.”
It was black and lustrous, looking like ebony (Yin-Shen wood).
References[+]
Meanwhile, Jiaotu is one of the nine sons of the dragon in Chinese mythology, depicted as a turtle-snake hybrid that guards gates and doors by keeping them firmly shut against intruders. function footnote_expand_reference_container_1388067_1() { jQuery('#footnote_references_container_1388067_1').show(); jQuery('#footnote_reference_container_collapse_button_1388067_1').text('−'); } function footnote_collapse_reference_container_1388067_1() { jQuery('#footnote_references_container_1388067_1').hide(); jQuery('#footnote_reference_container_collapse_button_1388067_1').text('+'); } function footnote_expand_collapse_reference_container_1388067_1() { if (jQuery('#footnote_references_container_1388067_1').is(':hidden')) { footnote_expand_reference_container_1388067_1(); } else { footnote_collapse_reference_container_1388067_1(); } } function footnote_moveToReference_1388067_1(p_str_TargetID) { footnote_expand_reference_container_1388067_1(); var l_obj_Target = jQuery('#' + p_str_TargetID); if (l_obj_Target.length) { jQuery( 'html, body' ).delay( 0 ); jQuery('html, body').animate({ scrollTop: l_obj_Target.offset().top - window.innerHeight * 0.2 }, 380); } } function footnote_moveToAnchor_1388067_1(p_str_TargetID) { footnote_expand_reference_container_1388067_1(); var l_obj_Target = jQuery('#' + p_str_TargetID); if (l_obj_Target.length) { jQuery( 'html, body' ).delay( 0 ); jQuery('html, body').animate({ scrollTop: l_obj_Target.offset().top - window.innerHeight * 0.2 }, 380); } }
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