Chapter Thirty-Six: Unusual Visitors

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“Hello, boss. My kid here wants to take a look inside the haunted house right now. Would that be possible?”

Shang Yi shook his head. “Not right now, we’re not open yet. Come back after nine, please.”

“Also, our haunted house has an age restriction—no one under fourteen is allowed in. Is this your son? He doesn’t look fourteen yet, does he?”

The thin, dark-skinned man wore a look of distress. “Could you make an exception? I have to go to work soon. The boy’s name is Zhuang Ming—he’s ten. I’m his uncle.”

“He saw your video and insisted on visiting this haunted house. I just can’t stop him.”

“I have work in a bit and not much time, so I was hoping we could get in and out quickly.”

Shang Yi glanced at Zhuang Ming, who was rolling his eyes at him. “It’s a park rule—I can’t make that decision on my own.”

The man patted Zhuang Ming’s head. “How much is a ticket for your haunted house? What if I pay a hundred yuan extra?”

“There’s nobody inside right now. Just let the kid take a quick look—it won’t affect your business.”

“If you’re worried he’ll get scared, could you temporarily put away the scary props?”

Shang Yi looked at the man. “Since you’re so sincere about wanting to visit, I don’t want to make things difficult for you.”

“But breaking the park’s rules means we need to add some new conditions.”

“First, you’ll both have to sign a waiver, with your names, phone numbers, and home addresses.”

“Second, I’ll accompany the child through the scenes while you wait outside. In that case, we won’t charge you. How does that sound?”

The man nodded. “No problem. Bring me the form—I’ll sign.”

Shang Yi exchanged a look with Su Xiaoxue, who immediately understood, quickly found a contract and a pen in the drawer, and handed them to the man.

The man speed-read through the waiver, didn’t hesitate, signed his name, and wrote down his phone number and address.

“The kid’s name has to be signed by himself,” Shang Yi reminded him.

“All right, Xiao Ming, sign here.” The man handed the pen to Zhuang Ming.

Zhuang Ming took the pen in his left hand and scrawled his name across the waiver.

“So it’s not Zhuang Ming as in ‘bright’ but Zhuang Ming as in ‘dark’. Why would his parents give him such an ominous name?” Shang Yi mused, studying the boy’s handwriting and feeling a flicker of curiosity about him.

He snapped a photo of the contract with his phone, told Su Xiaoxue to file it away, and asked her to keep an eye on the two for a moment.

He hurried to the surveillance room, used the walkie-talkie to instruct all employees in the prison scene not to appear, then emerged and led Zhuang Ming into the prison set.

He wasn’t sure what this unusual young visitor wanted to see, so he let the boy walk ahead alone, trailing a few steps behind.

With no ghost actors visible in the scene at the moment, it didn’t matter how the boy looked around.

Zhuang Ming strode quickly through the front, only glancing into rooms like the security office and interrogation room—already empty of any ghosts—before moving on.

He paused at the locked bathroom door, tried pushing it, found it wouldn’t budge, and glanced back at Shang Yi.

Shang Yi smiled, “That room’s broken—temporarily closed.”

Zhuang Ming shook his large head, clearly intrigued by whatever was behind the door, but after lingering a moment and seeing no sign of Shang Yi letting him in, he reluctantly moved on.

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When they reached the cell block, Shang Yi noticed that Zhuang Ming’s pace slowed considerably, and he often stopped to peer curiously at the doors of cells where invisible ghosts lurked.

Noticing this odd behavior, Shang Yi grew suspicious. “Could this child have the ‘third eye’? Is he able to see ghosts?”

He began to carefully observe the direction of Zhuang Ming’s gaze and where he paused, using his left eye to check if there were indeed invisible ghosts in those spots.

He couldn’t be absolutely certain yet, but the boy’s every move was definitely unusual.

Zhuang Ming quickly made his way to the second floor and entered the physical examination room. Confronted with a floor strewn with severed limbs, organs, and black blood, he showed no fear at all—instead, his eyes fixed unblinkingly on a particular spot.

“Mr. Gao, why are you here?” Zhuang Ming tilted his head, speaking to an empty operating table, his words entirely inexplicable.

Shang Yi used his left eye to look where Zhuang Ming was staring, and sure enough, there stood a ghost surnamed Gao.

Normally everyone called him “Dr. Gao,” never “Mr. Gao.”

Dr. Gao was also surprised to hear Zhuang Ming say this. He looked at Shang Yi as if to ask, “Who is this kid?”

It was remarkable enough that the boy could see him, but to know his surname? That was beyond belief.

When had he ever been a teacher called Mr. Gao? He had no memory of such a thing—could this child know something he didn’t?

By now, Shang Yi was sure that Zhuang Ming could see invisible ghosts.

But the fact that he called Dr. Gao “Mr. Gao,” and Dr. Gao’s own confusion, suggested only the boy could explain it.

He walked over to Zhuang Ming. “Do you know this Mr. Gao? Where from?”

Zhuang Ming glanced at him. “From the orphanage I used to live in.”

Shang Yi looked up at Dr. Gao, who shook his head in bewilderment, indicating he knew nothing about it.

“Maybe you’re mistaken? Maybe he just looks like the Mr. Gao you remember?” Shang Yi suggested.

Zhuang Ming shook his head. “No mistake. Mr. Gao has a dark birthmark on his left wrist and a mole on his right leg.”

Shang Yi looked at Dr. Gao, who stared back in astonishment, then nodded to Shang Yi—everything the boy said was true.

How strange—Dr. Gao had always been at the Jiuyin Mountain Prison. When had he gone to an orphanage? And how could he himself not know?

This cascade of questions left both Shang Yi and Dr. Gao a little dazed.

“Zhuang Ming, where was this orphanage you stayed at?”

“In a forest, beside a mountain.”

“Do you know the name of the mountain?”

“Jiuyin Mountain.”

Hearing this, Shang Yi and Dr. Gao exchanged glances. The boy was telling the truth.

So there was an orphanage within Jiuyin Mountain.

It was possible that Dr. Gao, who had always been at the Jiuyin Mountain Prison, had appeared at the orphanage too, even if he didn’t remember.

Neither Dr. Gao nor Shang Yi could answer Zhuang Ming’s questions. After staring at Dr. Gao for a while, the boy let the matter drop.

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Zhuang Ming wandered through the remaining rooms, then exited with Shang Yi through the second-floor exit.

At that moment, floating text appeared before Shang Yi’s eyes: “Side Mission Complete—The Special Visitor.”

“You have obtained [Murderous Doctor’s Uniform] and [Zombie Patient’s Mask]. Please check your personal inventory.”

Shang Yi hadn’t expected the boy to trigger a side quest, but he had no time to check his inventory now and decided to leave it for later.

It was nearly nine o’clock. A line of tourists had already formed at the entrance, ready to come in.

He realized yesterday’s good reviews had paid off. Handing Zhuang Ming back to the thin man, he had no time to ask more about the orphanage and hurried off with Su Xiaoxue to welcome the guests.

He and Su Xiaoxue worked non-stop until lunchtime, by which point the morning’s waves of visitors had all left safely. Only then did he have a chance to eat takeout with Su Xiaoxue.

“Xiaoxue, have you ever heard of an orphanage in Jiuyin Mountain?” Shang Yi asked, not really expecting an answer.

“Sure, my uncle’s a psychologist—he worked at that orphanage for a while.”

Shang Yi perked up. “Really? The boy who came today claims he was from the Jiuyin Mountain orphanage. He seemed a bit odd—could you ask your uncle, Dr. Zhao, about him?”

“Of course. I’ll ask him after work today and have him get in touch with you.”

“Thank you.”

Shang Yi saw Su Xiaoxue’s expression—eager to help her boss, feeling honored to be useful. He mused that if only he had a few more employees like her, ready to execute any request without question, things would be much easier.

After lunch, the surveillance equipment he’d ordered online arrived right on time. With nearly two hours before two o’clock, he hurried to help the technician install cameras in every corner of the Luen Apartments.

After over an hour’s work, all the cameras, monitors, and recording devices were installed and tested.

Finally, with a bit of free time, he took out the two new items the system had rewarded him from his inventory.

The “Murderous Doctor’s Uniform” was a doctor’s outfit soaked in black-red bloodstains, covered in terrifying bloody handprints.

The “Zombie Patient’s Mask” was a face mask sewn from the skins of many patients, sending a chill down the spine—a mask radiating a hysterical horror.

Donning the uniform and mask, Shang Yi took a selfie with his phone—a grotesque, frighteningly deranged killer glared back at him.

“Are these actor props the system gave me for the haunted house? It can’t be that simple.”

He touched the mask and blood-soaked uniform, remembering he hadn’t yet tried out his ghost hand ability—now was the perfect chance.

He activated the ghost hand on the mask and uniform, picturing the Dr. Gao he had just seen.

Within seconds, his face became identical to Dr. Gao’s, and the uniform transformed into an exact copy of Dr. Gao’s white lab coat.

He took a selfie to check the disguise—there wasn’t the slightest flaw.

He had completely transformed into Dr. Gao, even mimicking the hairstyle and height.

Such a convincing transformation reminded him of the Mission: Impossible films—scan the face, print it in 3D, and you could instantly become someone else.