Rescue in the Haunted House

Qin Yage ran and ran, covering her flushed face with her plush toy.

She was like a rampaging bull, forcing pedestrians to dart left and right.

She couldn’t stop now—it was too mortifying. She had actually taken the initiative to do something so shameless. Auntie Xia had always said that kind of thing was supposed to be the boy’s job.

“Miss, your ticket—” The ticket taker at the entrance tried to stop her, but Qin Yage had already slipped inside like a wisp of smoke.

Qin An chased after her, watching in disbelief as she blindly dashed into the haunted house.

This place wasn’t even on his itinerary. Qin Yage might claim she wasn’t scared, but deep down she was terrified. Now she’d probably have nightmares for days.

The haunted house was a special attraction for couples. Couples walked in pairs, the idea being that fear would bring them closer. After all, in a place like this, girls would naturally cling to their boyfriends.

Eerie music filled the air, accompanied by long, pitch-black corridors. Flickering lights cast unstable shadows. Cobwebs and skulls were everywhere.

The moment Qin Yage entered this dark space, she slowed down. She clutched her plush toy tightly, her body trembling. “Brother, brother, where are you?” she murmured.

She turned her head, but behind her was nothing but darkness. She had already walked quite a distance from the entrance.

She crept forward hesitantly, hearing only the echo of her own footsteps and the mournful wails of ghosts.

Gradually, moving phantoms began to appear, flickering on the walls. Summoning her courage, Qin Yage covered her head with the plush toy and charged forward. But before she could run two steps, she didn’t notice a bloody hand reaching out from the ground.

“Help me.”

“Ah—”

Qin An barely managed to shake off the ticket lady’s pursuit. He tossed down the couple’s ticket pack and rushed in without looking back. He thought he heard Qin Yage’s scream, and his heart was uneasy.

That hand, coming from nowhere, sent Qin Yage sprawling face-first. Luckily, the big plush toy in her arms cushioned her fall, or her pretty face would have been ruined. Still, her calf was scraped, and she winced in pain. Worse, the hand still clung to her leg—cold and lifeless.

Qin Yage’s body went limp. She knelt on the ground, sobbing quietly.

Qin An sprinted at full speed. The chilling mix of a girl’s cries and the familiar scent of blood made him more and more anxious. Yage, you absolutely cannot be in trouble!

Otherwise, I’ll make this world pay for it.

“Wuwuwu… wuwuwu…”

Qin Yage’s sobs came in fits and starts, heartbreaking to hear.

Qin An slowly approached her. Qin Yage looked up and noticed him. Her face was pale, devoid of color, and her eyes were swollen as if bitten by a poisonous mosquito. Seeing her brother, she gradually stopped crying, though her shoulders still shook.

She tried to stand, but as she straightened her leg, a sharp pain shot through her. Losing her balance, she fell forward into her brother’s embrace—small but warm.

Qin An held her tightly with his left arm while gently stroking her hair with his right. “Are you okay?” he asked softly.

“Brother, it was so scary… so terrifying…”

“It’s okay. Big brother is here.”

Qin An looked down at the hand still gripping Qin Yage’s ankle. It was a dead man’s hand, covered in real blood that had oxidized to black.

With a kick, Qin An sent the hand flying. He planned to carry Qin Yage out of this eerie place.

But a scream came from the distance: “Let me go!”

Both Qin An and Qin Yage were shocked—they recognized that voice. It was the young mistress of the Dongfang family, whom they had left at home.

“Brother, let’s go check!” Qin Yage’s voice still trembled, but her eyes were resolute.

Qin An carried her on his back and headed toward the exit. The next section was a bit brighter, just a gray-white corridor set up as a scene. In the distance, they saw a half-bodied figure lying on the ground, drenched in blood.

The thick smell of blood in the air told Qin An this was no ketchup.

“Lean on my back. Don’t look.”

“Mm…” Qin Yage obediently closed her eyes, resting her head on his back, gently nuzzling. His back wasn’t big, not much flesh, a bit bony—but somehow magical. Leaning on it made her feel so at ease, as if the earlier terror had been driven away.

“Brother, I’m sorry. I got the plushie dirty.”

“It’s okay. I’ll get you an even bigger one later.”

Qin Yage murmured softly, “I don’t want the biggest. I just want what you give me.”

Instead of following the exit, Qin An followed the trail of blood and the smell of it to a seemingly ordinary wall. He kicked it twice, and it echoed with a hollow thud.

He soon found the mechanism—a single, ugly stone on the floor, so obviously placed that it screamed “hidden switch.” But as he twisted it, he hesitated.

Sensing his pause, Qin Yage asked, “Brother, what’s wrong?”

Qin An laughed bitterly. “Nothing.”

What was he afraid of?

He twisted the mechanism. The wall groaned and slid upward, revealing a crooked passage. The floor wasn’t even paved with cement; weeds grew in patches.

“This craftsmanship… at least try to make it look like a secret passage!”

The tunnel was deep and silent. Fluorescent lights flickered. Qin An expected his sister to scream, but instead, he heard only her steady breathing from his back.

He smiled slightly and said nothing.

The tunnel was dim, with only a faint white light ahead, the size of a cigarette ember. That was probably the end of their journey.

The light was soft, not dazzling. If you looked closely, you could see tiny dust motes floating in it.

The closer he got to the exit, the more cautious Qin An became. He maintained intense training every day. He wished he could be an ordinary kid, carefree and reading books. But the more he wished, the more uneasy he grew. Only those who had touched darkness knew how much filth and sleaze hid beneath the surface of a peaceful life. He felt increasingly insecure. To protect this quiet everyday, he had to grow stronger—even stronger than his former self.

He crouched in the corner of the tunnel’s entrance, peering out from the corner of his eye.

To his surprise, outside was the old dock of Nan’an City. It had a long history, but a few years ago, a new large-draft ship sank without warning during its trial run. Rumors spread about ghosts and monsters, and eventually the government, unable to bear the pressure, built a new dock. The land here was said to have been sold to a powerful figure surnamed An, who later built an amusement park for his daughter.

“Tian Tai, are you sure it’s okay that you killed so many people? Our employer only wanted us to kidnap this little girl.” A man in blue casual clothes asked.

“Don’t worry, absolutely fine. Luo Quan, do you have any idea how happy I was to find out this place was run by that An guy? If not for the mission, I’d gladly kill a few more.”

“Are you really sure?” Luo Quan asked quietly. He had just graduated from the Hunter Academy, but Tian Tai was an old hand in the industry. This was his first mission. During training, he’d only killed in the dark, never so openly.

“Relax. Once this deal is done, I’ll go kill that bastard An Tie.” Tian Tai grinned sinisterly. I didn’t expect you to run from the north to the south, but so what? Last time your wife and my woman took bullets for you. Let’s see who blocks my guns this time. You’re just a merchant after all.

“Here, this is the girl you wanted.” Tian Tai said coldly, then casually tossed Dongfang Kelian to the ground. The suited man opposite was startled but caught her in time, sighing with relief.

Then the man snapped, “How dare you handle her like that? If she gets hurt, I’ll deduct your pay.”

“Deduct my pay?” Tian Tai asked with a strange tone, pulling out a gun.

“How could I?” the man laughed nervously. “Here’s the money…”

Qin An’s mind raced, trying to figure out how to save Dongfang Kelian.

Then, a voice came suddenly, without warning.

“Lü Zhiyuan, you’ve got some nerve touching my daughter without my permission.”

The voice roared from afar. Lü Zhiyuan was so startled he dropped the briefcase full of cash on his foot, not even feeling the pain.