“If you didn't create the fog, then did a ghost do it?!” the man in the hat roared.
“Sizzle... it really wasn't me. Do you have some kind of problem with me? Honestly, other than being a bit taller, handsomer, and younger than you, I'm not that special. Why do you keep picking on me? It was the same yesterday; I told you I already got rid of that fog later on, but you just wouldn't believe me, insisting that I was the one who made it.” Accompanied by the sound of static, the person on the walkie-talkie replied dissatisfiedly.
The man in the hat's eyelid twitched, veins bulging on his forehead. Ignoring the idiot on the walkie-talkie, he turned to the young man beside him and said, “Who hired this guy? Tell him to get lost tomorrow!”
“That might not be a good idea. He's a student from the nearby Ninth Beast-Taming High School, just here for a summer job,” the young man offered his opinion. “Most of our customer traffic comes from students of that school. If he goes back and adds a bit of spice to his stories, we might suffer a huge loss.”
The man in the hat calmed down slightly.
The kind of shop they ran was designed to make money from young people; the shop had been opened in this location specifically for the students of the nearby schools. Especially since it was a Beast-Taming High School, the foot traffic included not only the students but also their pets.
“Fine, there aren't many days left of summer break anyway...” After saying this, the man in the hat felt he had lost some face, so he added, “The moment summer break is over, tell him to get lost!”
“I know...”
Before the young man could finish his sentence, he was stunned by the images on the surveillance monitor.
In the monitor, the lights in the room that was on fire suddenly flared bright, but in the next second, they went completely dark. Not only that, but the background lighting intended to create a terrifying atmosphere also shut off, leaving only the glow of the fire to allow a faint glimpse of the scene's outlines.
“Dammit, who turned off the lights! Turn them all back on right now!” The man in the hat also saw the footage and roared into the walkie-talkie.
However, there was only the “sizzle...” of static from the walkie-talkie; no one answered him.
The man in the hat's temper flared, and he was just about to wish the other person's entire family a bad day.
At that moment, the young man beside him spoke with a solemn expression: “The color of this fog isn't right.”
The artificial fog in the shop was purple, but in that brief moment when the lights flashed on, the fog they saw was black.
...
At the same time.
“I didn't expect the service at this shop to be so thorough,” Qiao Sang remarked while looking at the virtual screen, momentarily forgetting to wonder if the ceiling was high enough.
The place was on fire, yet they didn't extinguish it immediately; instead, they continued to build a terrifying atmosphere. Truly professional!
It was just that the fog seemed a bit too thick... it was almost obscuring the entire scene.
Fang Sisi snapped back to her senses and looked at the screen uncertainly. “I don't remember this escape room having this plot point.”
She spent her time here accompanying the Cotton-Joint Bug, watching a dozen sessions a day. She had committed to memory exactly when the horror sound effects triggered and at which stage the NPCs appeared. It wasn't unheard of for a pet to destroy the props inside; just yesterday, a Flat-Billed Fire Duck had burned more than half of the props in the second stage, though it was nowhere near as severe as this...
But even then, they had extinguished the fire immediately and used Black-Black Mud to transport the Flat-Billed Fire Duck to the next stage.
Qiao Sang was stunned by these words. When she looked at the screen again, she found that the mist had already enveloped the entire image. The smoke from the fire merged with the mist, making it impossible to see the scene inside.
Qiao Sang frowned slightly, a surge of unease rising in her heart. After a moment of hesitation, she formed hand seals, preparing to summon Ya Bao back.
Three seconds later, her expression turned grim.
The summoning failed...
“Can you summon the Cotton-Joint Bug back right now?” Qiao Sang turned and asked.
Fang Sisi blinked. Although she didn't know why, seeing Qiao Sang's hand seals and her serious expression, she knew something might have happened.
“Okay.”
She nodded and began forming the summoning seals with her hands.
“Holy crap, why can't I summon it back?!” Fang Sisi's expression changed, and she cried out in panic.
Hearing this, the others in the observation room hurriedly formed seals to recall their pets.
Soon, every person present turned pale.
“How is this possible...”
“I actually failed!”
“Me too!”
Seeing this, Qiao Sang didn't say anything more and stepped directly toward the exit.
Her brain domain had already reached over 10%. As long as she wasn't too far from Ya Bao and could feel its position in her mind, it was impossible for the summoning to fail. The fact that everyone was unable to recall their pets further confirmed her suspicion.
Something had gone wrong...
“I'm coming with you!” Fang Sisi quickly stood up and followed.
“I'm going too!”
“Me too, me too!”
“And me!”
The others followed suit.
Just as the last person stepped out of the observation room, a red eye suddenly appeared on the virtual screen. This eye filled the entire screen, pressed tight against the camera, shifting slightly from left to right.
In the next second, the screen flickered twice and shut off.
...
“You can't go in!” the staff member tried his best to block them.
“Why can't we go in? Our pets are all inside! Who's responsible if something happens?” the man who had just been startled by the Little Treasure-Hunting Ghost shouted emotionally.
“Exactly! You just tried calling inside and no one answered, right? Something must have happened! Let me in!” a girl beside him said, her eyes reddening.
“We've already sent someone in to check; they'll be out shortly. Please calm down. Once they come out, if something really has happened, we will call the police to resolve it,” the staff member tried to soothe them.
“By the time the police get here, the opportunity will be long gone! You should know there's a Flame-Listening Hound in there! Do you know what a Flame-Listening Hound is? Its beast-tamer is right here! Miss, tell him—” The man turned and paused. Where was the Flame-Listening Hound's tamer?
...
The interior of the escape room was pitch black.
Qiao Sang used her phone's flashlight to illuminate the way. She had pulled Fang Sisi inside while the staff member wasn't paying attention.
It proved that sometimes one must know how to be flexible and not be too conventional; otherwise, she probably wouldn't have gotten in even if she talked until her lips were sore.
“Go left,” Fang Sisi pointed the way.
Since the Cotton-Joint Bug worked here, she had naturally been inside and watched the "Lost Town" escape room. This was why Qiao Sang didn't mind the trouble of bringing her along.
Soon, they reached the first-stage room where Ya Bao had originally been on the screen.
The fog inside had dissipated, and for some unknown reason, the fire had been extinguished, leaving only the wreckage of props and a choking smell of smoke.
Qiao Sang closed her eyes to sense Ya Bao's position.
Fragments of images pieced together in her mind; the background was entirely black, making it impossible to see the exact location, but she knew it was less than a hundred meters away.
“It's not here. Let's keep going deeper,” Qiao Sang said, opening her eyes.
“Wait.” Fang Sisi shone her phone's flashlight on the ground, took three steps forward, two steps to the left, and then crouched down to knock on the stone slab.
“What is it?” Qiao Sang asked.
“There's a room beneath here. Remember the NPC who got pulled underground? That was done using Black-Black Mud's characteristics. If nothing unexpected happened, those two should still be in the room below. If we ask them, they might know what happened,” Fang Sisi explained.
“Is this the Black-Black Mud you're talking about?” Qiao Sang stepped forward and picked up a black, unsightly object from the ground.
Fang Sisi froze, then used her flashlight to shine on the black, unsightly head in Qiao Sang's hand.
“...Yes, that's it.”
(End of Chapter)