The Haunted House Encounter

“Wait, Si Yi!”

At a pitch-black corner, I quickly raised my hand to stop Chen Si Yi, who was about to rush forward.

“What’s wrong?”

Chen Si Yi was clearly displeased with my action.

“Didn’t I say? If you want to go back, go alone. Don’t drag me along.”

“No, no, I’m not trying to persuade you to go back. Besides, I wouldn’t feel safe leaving you alone in a haunted house.” I said, sweating, then pulled out my phone and handed it to Chen Si Yi.

“Si Yi, look. I found a map of this haunted house online. Take a look.”

Chen Si Yi didn’t speak. She gave a proud snort, then reluctantly took my phone and muttered impatiently, ‘Fine, so what?’

“Not ‘so what’—look at the content first.” I stood on my tiptoes and pointed at the bottom corner of the screen.

There, detailed strategies for this famous haunted house were written. According to the text and pictures, the place where Chen Si Yi and I stood was exactly the entrance to the most terrifying area.

In other words, once we turned into this corridor, we would face staff dressed as ghosts. If we didn’t stop here to prepare ourselves mentally, we’d definitely be scared out of our wits later.

“Oh, I see. So there’ll be an ambush ahead, right?”

After glancing at the strategy on the phone, Chen Si Yi nodded slightly, her tone still calm. But maybe my eyes were playing tricks on me—though she looked confident, her shoulders seemed to tremble a little.

“Right,” I nodded. “So we need to be fully prepared. If we just barge in, we’ll be scared stiff on the spot!”

I was exaggerating, but recalling the previous terrifying encounters raised my alertness a few notches.

Yes, the usual run-of-the-mill haunted houses were nothing compared to this big shot. To deal with this house, whose motto was ‘scare first, make money second,’ we needed to be cautious, cautious, and even more cautious.

Fortunately, Chen Si Yi’s thoughts rarely aligned with mine.

Standing at the corner, Chen Si Yi patted her chest and took a few deep breaths. When she had calmed down a bit, she suddenly crouched, grabbed me under my armpits, and lifted me up without warning.

“Hey? Wait, Si Yi, what are you doing?” Realizing my view had risen, I woke up and started struggling.

“Don’t move.” Chen Si Yi tapped my head with her chin, her voice both cold and shy. “This is for your own good… If you get scared later, I can protect you…”

No way! As an elder brother being held in my sister’s arms for protection, I’d be so embarrassed I’d have to commit seppuku!

I wanted to resist, but then I remembered that when Chen Si Yi was little, she always hugged her doll when she was scared. I suddenly understood.

Ah, this girl Chen Si Yi, scared but forcing herself, was using me as a doll to dispel her own fear!

Just like the previous scare mode, after stepping into the staff’s ghost area, we didn’t encounter anything strange for a long time. Everything seemed calm, which only made us more anxious.

After all, before a storm, isn’t it always peaceful?

Having gone through so many levels, I was well aware of this haunted house’s tricks. Making me let my guard down? Not so easy.

Clearly, my clever sister also understood this.

At a corner leading to another corridor, Chen Si Yi, still carrying me, slowly stopped, and her grip on me tightened.

Yes, no need to think twice—this corner was definitely not ordinary.

After such a nerve-wracking journey, I figured it was time for the ghosts to come out and scare us.

“Careful, there’s something ahead.” I whispered a warning to Chen Si Yi.

Chen Si Yi nodded slightly, took a deep breath, and only after calming down did she tiptoe forward slowly…

—Swish.

As soon as we turned the corner, a gust of eerie wind hit us, making both Chen Si Yi and I jerk our heads back, our screams dying in our throats.

Darkness. Everything before us, as far as the eye could see, was still pitch black.

“Whew, scared me. So no ghost was lying in ambush here.”

I patted my chest, relaxing my guard. But just as that tense string loosened, the ground beneath our feet suddenly shook violently.

As if a secret door had been opened, after a crisp creak, a bloody hand grabbed Chen Si Yi’s ankle from below. Then, a disheveled, pale-faced female ghost with bloodshot eyes slowly crawled out from under us. As she rose, she kept letting out miserable wails—”Ahh, I died so horribly! Come down and keep me company!”

“Aaaah!”

“Who would keep you company? Go to hell!”

Just as different people react differently to danger, when the ghost’s ferocious face appeared before us, Chen Si Yi and I had very different reactions.

Although she was bolder now that she was in high school, this terrifying scene was still beyond her limit, so she screamed instinctively, all her previous bravery gone.

As for me, when the ghost stretched out her pale hand to touch my face, I instinctively threw a punch and hit her squarely in the face…

….

“Waaah, so cruel! Why did you hit my face? I’m just doing my job, boohoo!”

In the haunted house’s staff office, a pretty girl in a white dress sat on a chair, crying and covering her face.

This girl was none other than the white-clad female ghost who had scared us out of our wits earlier.

But hearing her pitiful complaints, my first reaction wasn’t to apologize, but…

“Hey? Why is it you again? Are you still working part-time at the haunted house?”

All the way from the haunted house to the staff office, the ghost’s wails sounded oddly familiar. It wasn’t until she removed her makeup under the light that I fully recognized her face.

This girl—wasn’t she the perverted clerk who tried to peek at me changing clothes in the skirt shop two weeks ago?

And earlier, when we ordered takeout, she happened to deliver our food. Is this fate… too deep?

“Eh? That voice…”

Hearing my cute voice, the crying ghost girl immediately stopped sobbing, looked up, and peered through her fingers around the room.

Then, when our eyes met, her sorrow vanished instantly, replaced by sheer delight.

“Oh my, it’s little sister!”

The ghost girl grinned foolishly and clapped her hands excitedly.

“I thought it was weird that despite being punched, I felt warm inside. So it was little sister who hit me!”

No way! You were crying in pain just now! I was really worried!

Looks like I was overthinking. You damn lolicon, your resilience is pretty good.

“Huh? Lin… Ruoxi? Do you know this sister?” Chen Si Yi, seeing me chatting with the ghost girl, looked confused.

I coughed awkwardly, leaned over, and whispered the whole story in her ear. Only then did she understand, her mouth gaping in surprise.

“Um… why is it you again, sis? What a coincidence.”

Not knowing the strange girl’s name but considering her appearance, Chen Si Yi politely called her ‘sis’.

“Haha~ Exactly, I don’t know why it’s so coincidental either.” The ghost girl shrugged on the chair and giggled. “Maybe it’s the destined wonderful fate between little sister and me!”

With that, she quickly stood up from the chair. Under my astonished gaze, she spread her arms and, in front of everyone, pulled me into a hug.

Hey hey, wait! Who allowed you to be so intimate with me!

Being hugged by this pervert, I naturally wasn’t happy, but helplessly, every time I moved, two soft mounds pressed against my skin through the fabric.

Yes, this girl was nothing like Chen Si Yi. Her snowy peaks were completely different from Chen Si Yi’s aircraft carrier!

“Hey hey, little sister, you hit me so hard. As compensation, how about we take a photo together?”

After abusing me in her arms for nearly half a minute, the girl finally spoke up, revealing her true intention.

I was startled. Was this pervert still not giving up on me after all this time? Why did she want my photo so badly? Could it be…?

Because my face was pressed against her chest, I couldn’t respond in time. Just as I lifted my head to breathe fresh air, Chen Si Yi answered for me.

“Um… sis, don’t you need to go to the hospital? Your face is a bit swollen… Don’t worry, we’ll pay the medical fees!”

“No need, it’s just a scratch.” The girl shook her head firmly. “I just need a photo with this little sister to recover. So, how about we take one now, little sister?”

Who wants to take a photo with you!

I was about to refuse sternly, but Chen Si Yi, seeing my thoughts, came over and pinched my cheek.

“Just let her take a photo with you.” Chen Si Yi urged. “This big sister likes you, that’s why she wants a photo. Taking one won’t cost you anything. So, will you agree?”

Uh… since my little sister put it that way, how could I refuse?

Since I was the one who threw the first punch, and the girl was so enthusiastic, I really couldn’t say no. So, after a flash from her phone, a humiliating photo was left on her device.

“Well then, bye-bye! See you again if fate allows!”

When we left the haunted house, the girl, still in her blood-stained white dress, grinned and gave us a friendly smile.

“Yeah, bye-bye, sis!”

“Good… riddance.”

Chen Si Yi and I waved politely, then turned and walked into the elevator, pressing the button for the first floor.

Tonight’s starry sky was still bright. On the way home, perhaps recalling that this was the first night outing we siblings had shared in years, our steps were light.

But little did we know that as the elevator doors closed on the top floor, the strange girl’s smile vanished. She quickly pulled out her phone, opened the gallery, and stared at the photo with the silver-haired girl, frowning deeply.

“Strange. When did Ming Nai get a little sister? Did her dad and Lin Yan’s stepmother have one?”

As she pondered, a bodyguard in a black suit and sunglasses approached.

“Miss, it’s time to return to Japan.”

“I know, I know.”

The girl waved her hand in annoyance.

“Tell Grandpa I’ll be back soon. It’s been so long, and I do miss Ming Nai a bit.”