My Landlord is an Idol Singer - Chapter 143

Under the deadpan stares of the two men in the observation room, Gu Zhinan wordlessly pulled a piece of the yellow key fragment out from under the surgical table’s white cloth. It was exactly one-third of the full key, cleanly cut with smooth edges, and had a slot designed to fit with the other pieces. The other half was with the landlord, he wondered if she had found hers yet.

As for the last piece? No clue where that one was.

What was supposed to be a haunted house game had turned into a full-blown horror-mystery escape room-psychiatric hospital themed, no less! His phone had been confiscated when they entered and was probably sitting at the exit. With that in mind, Gu Zhinan pushed open the creaky, unstable door and stepped out.

The atmosphere was definitely creepy.

He was suddenly reminded of the years he spent pretending to be a Daoist priest back when he was just a Maoshan novice.

Ah, memories from chasing all those webnovels. Maybe once he finished The Legend of Sword and Fairy, he could start a new one like this!

The corridor was chillingly cold, and the flickering lights only added to the eerie vibe. Gu Zhinan felt a chill down his spine. He wondered where the landlord was. She wasn’t wearing a jacket, just a sweatshirt.

Meanwhile, on Xia An’ge’s side, she carefully removed her blindfold. Her peach blossom eyes squinted open a sliver, instantly sensing the oppressive cold and the flashing white light.

The moment she took it all in, her entire body tensed up. As her vision adjusted, she slowly took in the room, it looked like a small storage area.

Streaks of red were smeared on the walls, and the floor was scattered with disordered items. Her face paled. Narrowing her eyes again, she barely dared to move her feet.

“Gu Zhinan?” She called out softly, but there was no response. An uneasy tension crept up her spine. She tiptoed around to examine the room’s layout, forcing herself to stay calm. It wasn’t fear, she told herself, just the shock of the sudden change in environment.

Xia An’ge kept repeating this to herself. She remembered the broadcast saying there was a key in the room. And thinking back to her earlier promise to Gu Zhinan, she summoned her courage and began searching.

This was where the difference between men and women became clear. Gu Zhinan had blindly swept the room with no method, completely ignoring the most obvious spots.

Xia An’ge, however, started with the most obvious place first. She gently nudged a cardboard box aside with her foot and immediately spotted a yellow key-shaped fragment glinting in the flickering light.

She picked it up with delight and clutched it tightly in her hand. Beneath the key was a folded piece of paper, she took that too. A quick glance told her it looked like… a map?

Could this be the map the broadcast had mentioned, the one showing where the third of the key fragment was? Maybe Gu Zhinan had a map like this too? If she followed the map’s path, would she run into him?

She tucked the key fragment into her pocket, gripped the map, and cautiously tiptoed to the door. Peeking out, she saw the flickering fluorescent lights and felt a cold breeze that made her shiver.

Swallowing nervously, Xia An’ge stepped out of the storage room, checking the map. According to it, she had to take the corridor to the right, she was at the center point. She hesitated. Should she stay here and wait? Maybe Gu Zhinan would come find her?

But then she thought, his map was probably centered around his location. If she stayed still, how would they ever meet up?

“Gu Zhinan?” She called again, and this time, the corridor echoed her voice back at her. Xia An’ge jumped back in fright, her peach blossom eyes wide with panic, her legs trembling.

This wasn’t anything like the horror films she used to watch with her mom. Even the college sleepovers where they watched Haunted Midnight weren’t like this!

“Gu Zhinan?!” Her voice cracked with panic now, but the only response was the faint echo in the hall. No sign of Gu Zhinan at all. Taking a deep breath, she forced herself to calm down and moved slowly down the right hallway. She dared not glance into the rooms on either side.

Her bucket hat was pulled so low it almost covered her eyes. To say she was walking would be generous, it was more like waddling. Like a terrified little penguin.

Back on Gu Zhinan’s end, only a few minutes had passed. He was relaxed and breezy, completely unaware that a small map had been left on the table under the white cloth.

He’d only seen the key, grabbed it, and left. Now he strolled down the hallway like he was window-shopping, even checking each room for clues.

“These dummies look too fake. Wait, if they weren’t fake, they wouldn’t be called dummies, huh?” He lifted the blanket from one bed to reveal a dummy in a hospital gown. He frowned and covered it back up.

Another room, no clues.

He passed by a suspended dummy in the middle of another room, he didn’t even blink. He’d already searched several rooms by now and was honestly impressed, this haunted psychiatric hospital was huge. He had no idea where the landlord was.

Damn it.

Judging by the vibes, she was probably too stubborn to give up on the game. Hopefully she could keep her cool, none of this was real. Hopefully she remembered that.

Finish the haunted house, watch some fireworks, and sleep like a baby, that was the plan!

Sure, he was a little scared of heights, but this? This was nothing. In his past life, he and his buddies had done even crazier stuff to blow off steam from their 9-9-6 work weeks. And growing up in the countryside, he’d seen way worse.

Back in the observation room.

“This guy…”

“I don’t think he picked up the map?” The observer watching Gu Zhinan was dumbfounded. This dude was treating it like a casual stroll, flipping through rooms like he was shopping.

“Call the actor out. Scare him a bit. Get him to go back and grab the map.” He grabbed his walkie-talkie and called in the actor.

“Calling the doctor, there’s a guy on your floor who missed the map. Come out of the room at the end of your corridor, drag out the prop, and scare him back into the original room to get the map!”

“Got it!” A young voice replied from the other end.

Back with Gu Zhinan, he was still enjoying his leisurely stroll when the door ahead suddenly creaked open on its own.

A figure stepped out into the flickering light, wearing a bloodstained white coat, his face grotesquely made up, brandishing a gleaming long knife. He gave Gu Zhinan a twisted smile as he stepped fully into the corridor.

Gu Zhinan now saw that in his other hand, the man was dragging another limp figure with disheveled hair, leaving a long red smear on the floor. At the same time, all the lights in the hallway started flickering violently. From the rooms he hadn’t entered yet came eerie sobbing sounds.

Heavy and suffocating. Even the hospital beds in the hallway began to rattle.

Gu Zhinan sucked in a sharp breath. He froze.

“Kuku… hahahhaha!” A deep, growling laugh echoed through the corridor. The actor noticed Gu Zhinan wasn’t reacting at all. Was he frozen in fear?

“Wave the knife again!” a voice crackled through the earpiece from the observation room.

The actor quickly raised the knife and let the flickering light glint off the blade. Then he even pretended to lick it, his expression turning more deranged.

As he stepped closer, Gu Zhinan could now see, thanks to the flickering lights, that the guy’s face had a huge painted scar with fake flesh curling outward, and bloodshot eyes.

The actor prepared to let out a final terrifying roar. Then, he saw the most ridiculous thing he’d ever witnessed in all his years working haunted houses.

The guy who he thought was frozen in fear… calmly took a step forward. He even looked a little embarrassed.

With an awkward smile, he said, “Excuse me… could we pause for a second? I want to ask for directions.”