My Landlord is an Idol Singer - Chapter 144

“???”

“???”

Not only was the actor playing the terrifying doctor completely stunned, but even the observer listening through the earpiece was dumbfounded after hearing Gu Zhinan’s voice.

What the hell? You’re in a haunted house asking the ghost for directions? Are you playing or not???

The actor playing the scary doctor froze on the spot, losing his grip on the fake mannequin’s hand with a loud thud. The hand holding the long knife was trembling, he couldn’t decide whether to raise it or lower it. 

“Hey, the girl who came in with me, where is she?” But Gu Zhinan didn’t care about any of that. He opened his mouth to ask without hesitation.

“Come on, come on, this way, let’s talk over here.” Gu Zhinan dragged him to the wall. Looking at the actor’s appearance up close, he couldn’t help but sigh. This makeup is seriously impressive!

“Bro, seriously, you’re messing me up here! I can’t keep acting like this!” The actor finally couldn’t hold it in anymore and gave a bitter smile.

“I know, I know. But I’m in a hurry to find someone, okay? This place is huge and there’s more than one floor, right? Where’s the way up?”

Gu Zhinan knew full well that asking an NPC for directions was probably disrespecting the actor’s job, but he had no choice. He’d been searching for almost ten minutes now and still couldn’t find his landlady.

He knew there had to be multiple floors, but he just couldn’t find the stairs. This haunted house was designed like a real mental hospital, it’s massive. No wonder Beijing’s famous Luminous  Amusement Park was so well known!

“Did you get the key fragment? There’s also a map, the location of your last key is marked on it!”

The actor sighed helplessly, hanging his head as if deeply wronged. In this haunted house, he had never once failed to scare anyone before! His wildest moment had even made a guy wet his pants, but now? He’d run into some clueless fool who not only broke the scene early but even started chatting!

“Map?” Gu Zhinan’s heart skipped a beat, his expression turning awkward.

What the hell?! Why didn’t you guys put that in a more obvious spot?! I thought it was just the key pieces!

“Just tell me where that girl went. She should have the map too, right?” Gu Zhinan gave up, he had to find his landlady first!

“She’s on the third floor. You’re on the first floor right now.” The actor was just about to explain more when another observer’s voice came through the earpiece.

“Hahaha, that little girl is heading straight for the third key! Actors, get ready to jump out!”

Then came another message, “Old Lu, how’s your side going? Has the actor come out yet? Did that guy go upstairs? Is he so scared he went back to grab the map? It’s been ten minutes already!”

Observer Old Lu gave a wry smile but said nothing. What could he say? They were chatting, bro! A man and a ‘ghost’ standing in the corner having a heart-to-heart!

“Soon, soon.” He could only brush it off.

The actor quickly turned back to Gu Zhinan. “Your girlfriend’s about to reach the spot where the third key fragment is hidden. How’s her courage? There are two actors waiting for her there!”

The actor asked this nervously. Please don’t let this be a couple of clueless lovebirds… Otherwise, the actors upstairs would lose their minds too!

“Where are the stairs?”

Gu Zhinan was getting anxious. The actor immediately knew. Yep, her courage must be normal. No wonder this guy was worried!

Relieved, the actor smiled. At least the colleagues upstairs wouldn’t have to question their life choices. “You have to find it yourself, bro, it’s called ‘player immersion’!”

“Cut the crap. You gonna tell me or not? If not, I’m filing a complaint that your costume’s too funny to be scary!” 

Gu Zhinan didn’t have time for nonsense. With the way the landlady got scared so easily, she was probably already unsteady on her feet before even going in, where’d she find the nerve to hunt for keys?!

“???” Funny costume?! Do you even know how much effort I put into this? The painted cuts and bloody flesh, the mannequins covered in red paint all down the hallway… This is top-level scary, okay?! But who would’ve thought that this would be the day when an NPC like him ended up chatting in a corner with a player?!

“Go into the second room ahead, push aside the plastic cabinet, and you’ll find the stairs.”

Grumbling in his heart, the actor still gave in and pointed the way, getting complaints meant a pay deduction. And that was a game of money he couldn’t afford to lose…

“Seriously? Who designs like this?” Gu Zhinan was shocked. What kind of mental hospital puts the stairs inside a patient’s room?! This was some serious fantasy remodeling.

“Fate willing, we’ll meet again! Later!” Without wasting another word, Gu Zhinan dashed into the room, shoved the door open, and spotted a big cabinet right away. Grabbing it with ease, he tossed it aside, revealing the stairs going up!

The same creepy setup greeted him, dim, flickering white lights; bloody handprints smeared on both white walls; and right by the entrance, a mannequin standing in the corner, hair draped over its face, arms stretched forward.

Gu Zhinan shuddered involuntarily. But there was no time to linger, he charged straight up the stairs!

“Old Lu.”

“I get it, just pretend nothing happened. Get back in position… ah, such a sin.”

“…”

The actor dressed as the scary doctor sighed deeply, quietly dragging the mannequin back to the room he came from.

His figure seemed a little…lonely.

“Hehehe…”

As Gu Zhinan reached the stair landing on the second floor, a woman in a red dress suddenly stepped out from the corner, smiling eerily, it was the Slit-Mouthed Woman!

“Next time! I’ll react next time! No time today!” Gu Zhinan didn’t stop for even a second, he dashed right past her.

“???” The Slit-Mouthed Woman was stunned! Observer Old Lu felt his chest tighten watching this.

“Ahhh!!!” A clear scream rang out from the third floor, Gu Zhinan’s heart tensed. That was the landlady’s voice!

Just as he reached the third-floor landing, he heard the sound again. He bolted for the third-floor exit, another plastic cabinet blocked the way. Gu Zhinan shoved it aside and rushed out.

Xia An’ge had already made it to the third floor, very close to the third key fragment. She nervously inched toward the room’s door, gathering her courage. She pushed open the door and saw neatly arranged beds inside, each covered with white sheets.

There were even red stains on the walls. She instantly took a few frightened steps back.

“Gu Zhinan? Gu Zhinani!” Xia An’ge practically sobbed as she called out.

No answer.

Just as she was about to step further in, the figure on the bed in the back sat up. It turned its head toward her with a wide grin, red liquid dripping from its mouth. In the flickering light, Xia An’ge could see that its face was deathly pale, with no trace of life!

As if that wasn’t enough, a man with only half a body crawled out from under the nearest bed. A twisted, grinning face. He was crawling toward her, leaving a bloody smear on the floor as he dragged himself closer!

Xia An’ge’s legs gave out, she collapsed onto the ground with a loud scream and, nearly in tears, scrambled backward before forcing herself up to run!

The scene was just too terrifying!

“Gu Zhinan!” She screamed with all her strength! Xia An’ge didn’t dare to look back. She hadn’t even dared lift her head when she came in and now that she looked around, her heart felt like it was going to burst.

“Gu Zhinan! Gu Zhinan! Where are you?!” She shouted desperately, as if calling him could give her the strength to keep running.

Bang!  The door ahead was suddenly kicked open with force and a familiar figure burst through at lightning speed.

Gu Zhinan had heard her frantic cries the moment he pushed the cabinet away, he quickened his pace and launched a flying kick that blasted the door open. 

He charged straight out, and immediately, a girl in a fisherman’s hat flew into his arms. The sudden impact nearly knocked Gu Zhinan over. He stumbled two steps back before regaining balance.

Then he realized he was being tightly locked in place. Two arms wrapped firmly around his neck, her face buried against him, legs wrapped tightly around his waist.

“Ghost! Gu Zhinan, there’s a ghost!” The landlady’s tearful, trembling voice rang out.

Xia An’ge clung to him, her body shaking violently, and she refused to let go. She stayed wrapped around Gu Zhinan as if her life depended on it.