In the distance, the giant Ferris wheel turned slowly. Under the layers of green tree shade, the sounds of laughter and play were unceasing. Various food and snack stalls along the roadside, mixed with enchanting fragrances, assailed the tourists’ senses.
She Yi held two drinks and handed them to Qin Tian and Zheng Yuwei, who were resting on a long bench.
After coming out of the animal viewing area, the group headed straight for the amusement park. Thrilling games like the roller coaster, the pendulum, and the drop tower had all been experienced one by one as dragged along by Zheng Yuwei, who played with great excitement.
She Yi checked the time it was already after four in the afternoon and then said to Qin Tian, who was drinking water: “Young Master, it’s getting late. Should we head back?”
Unexpectedly, he received a roll of the eyes from Zheng Yuwei beside him. “First, I haven’t ridden the Ferris wheel, and second, I haven’t seen a movie. Why go back so early!”
She Yi maintained his gentle and smiling appearance, not at all annoyed by her words, and simply looked at Qin Tian: “Mr. Qin gave instructions that if the Young Master goes out to play, he must return by 5:30 at the latest.”
Bringing up Qin Zhuang’s words made even Zheng Yuwei deflate. Suddenly, her gaze, which had been darting around randomly, abruptly paused; she stared intently at a poster not far away for two seconds and quietly curled her lips.
Placing her unfinished drink on the bench, Zheng Yuwei glanced nonchalantly at She Yi. “Is it 5:30 yet?”
She Yi: “It is 4:36.”
Zheng Yuwei jumped off the bench, clapped her hands, and with a flash of light seemingly passing through her eyes, she smiled: “Isn’t there still time? Let’s play one last game, and it won’t be too late to go back then.”
In She Yi’s silence, Qin Tian suddenly crushed the empty drink bottle in his hand, throwing it forward with a casual toss; it traced a graceful arc before landing accurately in the trash can.
He also stood up and looked sideways at Zheng Yuwei: “Play what?”
Zheng Yuwei didn’t keep them in suspense either; her slender finger pointed in a certain direction: ” The haunted house!”
Seeing that they had already self-consciously started walking toward the haunted house, She Yi shook his head with some helplessness and lifted his feet to follow.
“If we return a bit late, I will explain the situation to Father.”
“…Yes, Young Master.”
…
Outside the cave entrance of the haunted house were demons and monsters with hideous countenances. Looking further inside, there was a terrifying purple-black glow, accompanied by whistling sharp shrieks and heart-wrenching screams assailing the hesitant crowd outside the door.
At this moment, most of those lingering outside the haunted house debating whether to enter were couples. The girl would grab the boy’s arm, her face turning pale with a hesitant expression; the boy would pat his chest, indicating that with him there, everything would be fine! Then the couple would finally walk in.
In some cases, it was the opposite: the girl looked as if she feared nothing in heaven or on earth, while the boy’s face was instead ashen and miserable to behold, yet he was desperately holding his breath to act tough in front of his girlfriend. After the girl said, “You wouldn’t be afraid to go in, would you?” the boy’s brain would snap, “Who’s afraid of whom?” and they would rush in headfirst, hand-in-hand.
When She Yi returned from buying the tickets, he saw a scene where Zheng Yuwei was laughing so hard that tears were coming out. His gaze swept over the surrounding crowd, and he understood the general idea in his heart.
Shaking the tickets in his hand, She Yi smiled: “We can go in now.”
It was still Zheng Yuwei leading the way as the group of five, including the two bodyguards, entered the haunted house.
The settings and facilities inside the haunted house looked quite realistic. After walking for a stretch in the darkness where chilly winds blew in gusts, pale green flames suddenly ignited in the air. While everyone was stunned by this sudden turn of events, a “zombie” with green skin and sharp fangs, a yellow talisman pasted on its face, and dressed in an ancient official’s robe suddenly popped up beside them.
The zombie bared its fangs and brandished its claws while the surrounding “ghost fires” floated back and forth, yet despite the zombie’s hardworking performance, not a single audience member reacted.
Finally, as if she should, Zheng Yuwei placed her hands over her chest and tried her best to look scared, blinking her eyes and saying piteously: “I’m so scaaared…”
She Yi: …
Qin Tian: …
The two bodyguards: …
The zombie: …
The first terrifying event encountered after entering the haunted house ended with Mr. Zombie automatically withdrawing from the stage, weary of life.
The second terrifying location was a mortuary, with all four walls splashed with bright red liquid. Just as the group walked in, with a snap, the door was automatically closed.
This time, the atmosphere seemed much more real, real enough that the smiles vanished from everyone’s faces.
Just as She Yi was about to take action, he saw Qin Tian beside him move at high speed to block in front of everyone; simultaneously moving were the other two bodyguards.
In this moment of hesitation, She Yi was completely included as an object of protection, along with Zheng Yuwei.
“Come out!”
Qin Tian shouted at the empty mortuary.
The tip of the nose was filled with a scent of human blood so thick it was pungent. The bright red liquid splashed on the walls was real human blood; looking at that fresh color, the massacre had likely occurred not long ago.
And as for the victims, one wouldn’t need to think twice: besides the haunted house staff, who else could it be?!
The air was silent for a while. Faint blue electrical arcs began to surface on Qin Tian’s fingers; this was his Esper ability Lightning.
“Come out!”
He shouted once more. Seeing that there was still no movement around, his face couldn’t help but sink. His splayed fingers swung out, and the electric current originally attached to his hand was violently flung out along with his movement.
Sizzle—
Almost at the same time, several dark shadows whooshed as they threw off the white sheets over them, and weapons gleaming with cold light struck directly at Qin Tian’s face! The bodyguards’ movements were not slow either, meeting them in an instant.
“She Yi, protect Zheng Yuwei well!”
Leaving this sentence behind, Qin Tian also joined the combat.
She Yi swept a glance at those black-clothed men, who numbered as many as six. Following orders, he shielded Zheng Yuwei behind him and retreated all the way to the door, responding: “Understood, Young Master.”
However, looking at the posture of those men in black, it’s obvious they are all coming for you, right?
Indeed, seeing Qin Tian take the initiative to meet them, the offensive originally rushing straight for this spot immediately changed, all greeting Qin Tian with every move being lethal.
The chaotic fighting inevitably threw open some of the white sheets covering the “corpses.” On the nearest bed, a pale face covered in blood was suddenly exposed, with eyes full of resentment staring straight over here.
Zheng Yuwei let out an exclamation of surprise and then immediately covered her own mouth, her face pale.
That corpse was actually a cruelly murdered staff member.
Zheng Yuwei’s exclamation caught the attention of the black-clothed men.
The black-clothed men never expected that the target, despite being young, would not be weak in strength; after fighting for so long, they couldn’t cause him fatal injury. The exclamation that came just now gave them an excellent idea.
Two black-clothed men pulled themselves out of the melee and approached the direction of She Yi and Zheng Yuwei.
Noticing this scene, Qin Tian immediately became anxious; he could not let anything happen to Zheng Yuwei. But with this anxiety, a gap appeared in his movements, and the situation which was already difficult to deal with instantly became even more severe.
Zheng Yuwei seemed to guess that they might want to use her to threaten Qin Tian, so she hurriedly pulled at the door behind her, attempting to open it.
The two black-clothed men walking over also saw through her intention and suddenly quickened their pace.
“Big Brother She, hurry and help!”
Seeing that She Yi seemed to still be standing there blankly looking at those two black-clothed men, Zheng Yuwei shouted urgently.
She Yi glanced once more at the black-clothed men coming this way. After a brief thought, he turned to help Zheng Yuwei. Once the door opened, Zheng Yuwei grabbed She Yi and rushed out rapidly. Looking back, those two black-clothed men also followed and chased after them with dogged persistence.
At a corner, a dozen or so coffins appeared standing against the walls, with a path next to them leading further inside.
Zheng Yuwei rushed directly to those coffins, opened one, and squeezed inside, saying to She Yi in an urgent tone: “You hide quickly too!”
She Yi stared blankly at the re-closed coffin, then revealed a smile and entered another coffin before the black-clothed men arrived.
In the darkness, Zheng Yuwei held her breath. Sweat trickled down from her forehead. The surroundings were extremely quiet; only the sound of her heart beating violently remained in her ears, beat after beat.
Suddenly, a sound of footsteps entered her ears. It seemed to stop outside for a moment and then was the sound of gradually walking away. Zheng Yuwei’s tensely strung nerves slowly began to relax.
However, before she had time to heave a sigh of relief, the lid of the coffin was suddenly thrown open!
Reflected in her suddenly constricted pupils was the cold face of the black-clothed man. Although she knew the other party probably wouldn’t take her life, she couldn’t stop a surge of terror from rising in her heart.
A flash of white light reflected before her eyes. It was the black-clothed man raising a knife toward her!
Zheng Yuwei reflexively closed her eyes, her nails almost sinking into her flesh. Could it be that she had thought wrong? He was going to kill her?! At this thought, a sudden surge of desperate fear rose from the bottom of her heart.
Despite transmigrating into a first-rate great family and being greatly pampered, and possessing a bit of cleverness herself, in essence, Zheng Yuwei was still that otaku girl who liked various novels and anime.
She had not awakened an Esper ability. The only thing she knew was her familiarity with the plot; she could use the plot to make the male lead develop favorable feelings for her and help him avoid various crises, but when facing a moment of life and death, she was still just an ordinary weak woman who needed help.
She had not yet changed the future ending; she did not want to die so absurdly like this…
Someone, please… save me—
“Miss Zheng Yuwei, are you alright?”
A gentle, magnetic voice sounded by her ear. Zheng Yuwei opened her eyes in a daze; the young man’s handsome and gentle face appeared before her eyes, and those gentle eyes were watching her with concern.
“Big Brother She…”
She murmured, her heart seemingly skipping a beat.
[Zheng Yuwei’s Current Favorability: 65]
This leap in favorability is quite large; jumping directly from 5 to 65. It seems not stepping in just now was truly the correct choice.
The corners of his lips curled slightly. She Yi extended his hand and said with a gentle smile: “Sorry, I am late.”
Zheng Yuwei stared blankly at the hand extended toward her; it was long and fair, with well-defined joints, and exceptionally good-looking. She involuntarily grabbed that hand—large, and carried a sensation that made one feel at ease.
[Zheng Yuwei’s Current Favorability: 75]
She Yi smiled slightly, applied a gentle force with the hand holding Zheng Yuwei’s, and pulled her out smoothly.
“Everything is fine now.”
Zheng Yuwei stepped out of the coffin and looked away, not daring to look at those deep eyes overflowing with gentleness. As her gaze swept over the surroundings, she saw those two black-clothed men lying not far away.
“What happened to them?”
“Don’t worry, they’ve just fainted.”
Zheng Yuwei nodded, then suddenly thought of something and said urgently: “We must go back quickly, Qin Tian’s side.”
At this time, the mortuary.
Although two of the black-clothed men had left, Qin Tian’s side had also lost a bodyguard under the black-clothed men’s siege. Furthermore, worried about the safety of Zheng Yuwei and She Yi, he inevitably became agitated.
Even though Qin Tian was exceptionally gifted in martial arts, he couldn’t overcome the fact that he was currently only fourteen years old. Compared to the battle-hardened men in black, he appeared relatively young.
At the beginning, he was still able to barely cope, but with the passage of time, he felt increasingly unable to do as he wished; several times he had nearly brushed past the God of Death.
Qin Tian’s fingers trembled slightly; he was drenched in cold sweat, his face was somewhat pale, and his body was injured in many places. He pursed his lips tightly, and his gaze looked abnormally calm.
“Young Master, let me protect you and escape quickly!”
This was the Qin family bodyguard; he was blocked in front of Qin Tian. The wounds on his body were even more than Qin Tian’s, yet his gaze was firm, loyally protecting his master.
Qin Tian swept a glance at the black-clothed men in front and nodded. While moving, he intended to head toward the door, but how could those black-clothed men let him escape?
Two black-clothed men pinned down the Qin family bodyguard, while the other two black-clothed men attacked Qin Tian with aggressive momentum.
“Ugh!”
His back slammed against the wall, and a thread of fresh blood meandered down from the corner of his mouth. His fingertips trembled slightly; faint blue electrical arcs flickered in and out, finally dissipating abruptly as if losing their subsequent power.
His Esper ability was completely exhausted.
Qin Tian propped himself against the wall to stand up. The consequence of exhausting his Esper ability made his body exceptionally weak. Wiping the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand, Qin Tian stared coldly at the black-clothed men approaching him.
Lying on one side was the corpse of the Qin family bodyguard.
Just as the black-clothed man raised the weapon in his hand toward Qin Tian, a bang suddenly came from the doorway, accompanied by a girl’s worried shout.
“Qin Tian we’ve come to save you!”
The black-clothed men in front of him instantly turned into popsicles at a speed visible to the naked eye.
“Young Master, sorry I am late.”
A gentle voice sounded in his ear. Qin Tian relaxed his body and fell into darkness.