Li Miao looked up at the bustling street and the lively crowd before her.
The word “shocked” wasn’t enough to express her feelings right now.
This is… too f***ing awesome!
Insanely awesome!
Even as the Haunted House Owner, she couldn’t help but marvel at the scene before her.
What’s the difference between this and time travel?
It IS time travel!
There were 500 tickets booked for tomorrow. She didn’t know exactly how many would actually show up, but Li Miao estimated that more than half would attend.
Before, with only the Painted Skin dungeon, she couldn’t accommodate that many customers.
Now it was fine. Just the Ruhua dungeon alone could hold a thousand people at the same time.
She didn’t even need to create a plot; just letting customers wander around inside was enough.
Like time travel. Just looking at the novelty could take all day.
Li Miao checked the time and found it was already 11 PM. She had to rest quickly; she needed to open at 8 AM tomorrow.
Li Miao twisted her neck and realized she wasn’t sleepy at all.
Greeting customers all day, busy from morning to night, and staying up so late, she wasn’t tired in the slightest. She was full of energy.
In the past, she would be exhausted by 9 PM. She couldn’t stay up late at all; staying up once felt life-threatening, requiring at least three days to recover.
But now, she didn’t have to worry about staying up late.
Her physical condition was getting better and better.
Li Miao discovered that the more famous the haunted house became, the more visitors came, and the better the haunted house developed, the healthier she became.
Previously, she was sickly and listless all day, but now her body was full of strength.
It seemed the charlatan hadn’t lied to her. As long as she ran the haunted house well, she could live.
Early the next morning, before Li Miao even opened her eyes, she heard Ruhua calling her: “Master, wake up. There are guests at the door.”
Only 7 AM. Why are they so early?
Li Miao hurriedly got up, put on the creepy smiling mask, and went to open the door.
It was daytime, so Ruhua and the others were ghosts and couldn’t come out.
Li Miao had to open the main gate herself.
Four young people stood at the door, three men and one woman. They were fans of Niu Gu and were currently taking photos at the main gate.
“God, this gate is huge, just like Niu Gu said,” the fatty exclaimed.
He was a veteran horror enthusiast, often exploring haunted houses with his friend, Skinny.
Skinny was the one who took the screenshot in Niu Gu’s livestream. He had played no fewer haunted houses than Niu Gu, but just didn’t run a social media account.
He didn’t believe Niu Gu, thinking Niu Gu photoshopped the images. Just a small haunted house; how could it look like a film studio?
The scene decoration at this level would cost millions.
Skinny didn’t believe anyone would invest that much money in a haunted house.
He came this time to debunk Niu Gu’s lies and prevent more people from being scammed.
Niu Gu must have been paid to say so many good things.
A little-known haunted house—how fun could it be?
Purely a scam for money!
Haunted houses weren’t fun alone, so Skinny brought along his friend Fatty, Zhang Qiang, and Zhang Qiang’s girlfriend, Wan Ling.
Wan Ling wasn’t interested in haunted houses; she was just accompanying her boyfriend.
Seeing Fatty staring at the gate in amazement, she was impatient. “When are we going in? Are they even open? It’s only seven.”
Just as she spoke, the main gate opened, and a woman wearing a creepy smiling mask appeared.
“Oh! Masked Boss!”
Fatty exclaimed, pointing at Li Miao. “She must be the boss Niu Gu talked about.”
“Welcome,” Li Miao said to the four. “You’re very early; you’re the first batch of guests. It’s not opening time yet, so there are no other players inside. Do you want to wait in the lounge or go straight in?”
“Straight in,” Skinny said.
He had come early on purpose. Fewer people meant more time to explore the haunted house.
“Please come in.” Li Miao stepped aside to let the four enter.
All four had booked tickets through the group-buying site.
Li Miao verified their tickets with her phone and let them go to the second floor themselves.
Fatty was curious. “Boss, do your employees come this early too?”
“They live here, ready for business anytime.”
“24/7?!” Fatty’s eyes went wide. “Boss, you capitalist! You work your employees too hard, making them work 24 hours a day.”
Li Miao laughed. “I pay high wages.”
“Let’s go, the elevator is here.” Skinny tugged at Fatty, stopping him from chatting with the boss.
The four took the elevator to the second floor.
“This door looks very atmospheric too.” Fatty loved to make a fuss.
“Open it and let’s go in,” Skinny said with a cold face. “I want to see what’s inside, if it’s really as spectacular as Niu Gu said.”
The four pushed open the door.
Before they even stepped in, their jaws dropped in unison.
Holy crap! Holy crap! Holy crap!
Ahhh—
This is too spectacular! This isn’t a haunted house; it’s a ghost city!
Niu Gu hadn’t lied, and that photo wasn’t photoshopped.
Before them lay an ancient-style town.
Fatty was dumbfounded, completely frozen.
It was his first time seeing such a spectacular haunted house.
Skinny was even more incredulous, in a daze for a long time before recovering.
The four looked at each other, speechless.
Finally, Wan Ling spoke first. “Did you notice? It’s chilly here. So scary.”
Zhang Qiang nodded. “Such a huge ghost city, and not a single person. It’s empty and creepy.”
“Let’s go in and see. Check out the plot, see if it’s scary.” Skinny took the lead.
First Floor.
Li Miao was washing her face and brushing her teeth. She had to hurry; someone else might arrive early.
Xiaoqian floated in mid-air, watching Li Miao wash her face. When she finished, Xiaoqian immediately handed her a dry towel and the toothbrush with toothpaste already applied.
Ruhua was making breakfast for Li Miao in the lounge.
Painted Skin was scaring people on the second floor.
Only the Dream Tapir was idle.
Afraid of being useless and killed for meat by its master, it hurriedly said, “Master, Master, Dreamy will spit out dreams for Master to watch, okay?”
Li Miao spat out the foam in her mouth and said, “You don’t need to do anything. Hurry and find a place to hide. Don’t let the guests see you.”
Ruhua and Xiaoqian were fine; although they were ghosts, they were in human form. If customers saw them, she could say they were employees.
The Dream Tapir was tricky. Not quite a pig, not quite an elephant—hard to explain if seen.
“Okay, Master! Dreamy will hide right now. Hide fast!” With that, the Dream Tapir vanished with a whoosh, running off to who knows where.
While Li Miao didn’t know its exact hiding spot, she could roughly sense where it was—probably on the top floor.
After washing up, Ruhua had finished making the food.
A bowl of fish fillet porridge, a steamer of crystal dumplings, and a stir-fried vegetable dish.
“Mmm, delicious. This fish fillet porridge is so good.”
Li Miao was satisfied. “Ruhua, your skills are amazing.”
Since running the haunted house, Li Miao felt she was finally living a human life.
Before, living in her uncle’s storage room and eating their leftovers…
She had felt like a dog.
“If Master likes it, I’ll make it for you every day.” Ruhua was very skilled at Hong Kong-style breakfasts.
“Stop calling me Master all the time. Call me Miaomiao,” Li Miao said.
Then she looked at Nie Xiaoqian. “You call me Miaomiao too.”
Nie Xiaoqian said softly, “I still want to call you Master Sister.”
Respectful yet intimate, a form of address unique to her.