Chapter 220

“Boss! Mr . Han! Look behind us!” Xiao Du ran to the rest of the group . He gasped for air, and his face was white .

“Behind us?” Guo Miao looked behind them, and the long corridor did not have anything weird in it .

“The mannequins! The mannequins are chasing after us!” The scream from Xiao Du caused the group, which had walked several meters into the Third Sick Hall, to stop moving again .

“Are you sure you’re not mistaken?” Song An asked Xiao Du softly as his body moved closer to Guo Miao .

“I’m sure! They really did move!” Xiao Du gasped for air . “Come talk a look for yourself . Those mannequins were at the end of the left corridor earlier, right? But now, they’ve reached the point between the two scenarios!”

“Don’t fret,” Han Chu said calmly . “I saw something like this in a Japanese Haunted House three years ago . It was a doll-themed Haunted House . The smaller dolls were equipped internally with machines, so they could move and change facial expression . Only four fifths of the larger dolls were props; the rest were played by actual actors . ”

“So, these mannequins are real people?” Mr . Han’s explanation confused Xiao Du, and he felt even more unsettled .

“I noticed the mannequins when we first came in . ” Han Chu crossed his arms before his chest . “The mannequins are life-size, as if they were meant to model actual humans . You have to understand something, even for Tian Teng Medical School, there are natural deficiencies to the mannequins that are used at normal props . This is because manufacturing a custom-made mannequin requires too much money . One of them costs about 30,000 and requires a master dollmaker . This is not something a normal Haunted House can afford . ”

“Then, why would this Haunted House invest so much money into making these mannequins?” Ye Xiaoxin kept writing on her notebook, but no one knew what she was writing .

“Very simple . This goes to show that these mannequins are an important scare point for his Haunted House!” Han Qiuming held his chin as his gaze fell on Ye Xiaoxin . “Mixing real actors among mannequins could have startling effects—just look at what happen to Xiao Du . It looked like the mannequins had moved on their own, but it was actually the live actors who moved . If we hide in the dark to observe, perhaps we might even see them in motion . ”

Song An nodded . “Mr . Han has a point . We’ve used similar tactic in Tian Teng Medical School last year, but the mannequins were too fake . The visitors identified the real actors immediately . ”

“That has to be it . ” Color returned to Xiao Du’s face . “I was really spooked just now . Those mannequins look so real that I though they knew how to move on their own . ”

“You know that’s impossible . ” Mr . Han said confidently; he had logic on his side . “If not for the time limit, I would hide in this room to record the whole scene of the Haunted House’s actors moving the mannequins for you to see . ”

“Alright, let’s move on . We still need to find the tape recorder . ” Guo Miao had a feeling that things were not as simple as that, but he had no basis to counter Mr . Han .

“Ol’ Guo, we have to pay attention to two things with regard to that tape recorder . ” Mr . Han might have said that he was not afraid, but it was clear that he was extremely cautious . “That Chen fella told us that our tape recorder is hidden inside this place, so he must have put down some traps around the tape recorder . ”

“I know that . ” Guo Miao moved forward . The mattresses made a mess of the place . Stepping on them had a curious feeling like he was stepping on bundled up hair .

“That is only the first point . I have to tell you another thing . Don’t you think that the game rules that he laid down are also very weird?”

“How so?”

“Finding the tape recorder won’t clear the scenario . We have to bring it out of the Third Sick Hall to end the game . ”

“But that recorder belongs to us . Isn’t it normal for us to take it out with us?” Xiao Du chimed in .

“You have underestimated this boss’ cunning . ” Han Qiuming took out a cloth to wipe his glasses . The glasses were very thick . “The recorder itself is probably tied to some mechanism inside this place . In other words, when we find the recorder, the scary stuff will start to appear inside this scenario . Until then, we should be safe . ”

“That sounds logical, but no one can guarantee that . ” Song An was the largest of them all, but he was quite a coward .

“In any case, I personally don’t think we have any reason to be scared . Familiarizing ourselves with the environment and memorizing the route should be the most important . After all, this scenario is open-ended . The environment will be complicated . Only by retracing our steps will we be able to leave as quickly as possible when the recorder is found and the actors start to move in earnest . ” Han Qiuming finished his analysis . It was unclear whether the others bought his words or not, but he believed himself .

“You have a point . Haunted Houses still need to rely on actual actors to scare us . As long as we’re collected and don’t scare ourselves, we should be fine . ” Ye Xiaoxin shoved the notebook into her pocket .

Han Qiuming was validated after getting the approval from Ye Xiaoxin . The fear in his heart slowly dissipated . He was about to increase his pace to walk beside Ye Xiaoxin when someone pulled on his shirt . He turned to look, and this moment-wrecker was none other than the witless and youngest Du Chaojin .

“Mr . Han, look . ” They turned to look outside the Third Sick Hall . In the middle of the entrance that led to the Third Sick Hall stood a female mannequin in a school uniform . Her head was lowered, and her limbs were slightly twisted .

While they were busy with their analysis, the mannequins had moved closer to them .

“This is nothing out of the ordinary, the most basic of psychological tricks . The Chen fella is probably hiding inside the control room to give the actors their commands . He wanted to use this group of advancing mannequins to pressure us, to make us lose our footing . ”

Han Qiuming tried to rationalize everything . “At the end of the day, this is all fake . A few years ago, I used something similar . Don’t worry, these mannequins won’t dare to come to within five meters of us . Five meters is a safe distance . Once the mannequins got too close, the actors will have a hard time controlling them . I can use my decade of experience to promise you that . ”

Then he ignored Xiao Du and ran to walk beside Ye Xiaoxin . He started to judge the various decorations inside the Haunted House .

“This guy . ” Guo Miao sighed . He told his group, “All of you stick close to me . Don’t touch anything in the corridor, and don’t enter a sickroom alone . ”

“Okay . ” Xiao Du walked at the back of the group, but he did not realize that when he moved, the mannequins outside the door also started to move .