Since it was a haunted house, a terrifying atmosphere was the whole point. Even though the staff took pity on the fact that they were mostly minors, they only provided two flashlights—one for the person leading the way and one for the person bringing up the rear—with a warning to watch their step.
Before entering, Jiang Wei wordlessly shifted a step closer to Tang Zihe, his expression tight with tension.
Xia Shan marched ahead, making a racket and yelping at the slightest movement. He was doing a stellar job of setting the mood.
The scenes within the haunted house shifted constantly. They had started in a school classroom, but the setting had now transformed into a hospital ward.
A flash of white darted past up ahead, successfully scaring the living daylights out of Xia Shan once again.
“If you’re really that scared, give the flashlight to me,” said Ding Banfan. He was currently having the back of his shirt hauled by Tang Wanbai, but he still reached out toward the pale-faced Xia Shan. “I’m worried you’re going to hurl it across the room.”
“Who… who said I’m scared? I-I’m… I’m not scared at all…” Xia Shan clutched the flashlight tightly, refusing to hand it over.
“Then keep moving,” Ding Banfan sighed helplessly. He didn’t dare move much himself, though not out of fear—he was just afraid that Tang Wanbai’s inexplicable strength would rip his clothes right off his back.
“I’m… I’m going,” Xia Shan gulped. Summoning his courage, he pushed open a slightly ajar hospital door. A long, slow creak echoed through the air, but before anyone could see what was inside, Xia Shan let out a shriek that nearly shattered their eardrums.
“AAAAAAAHHHH!”
While the group in the front was in total chaos, the ones in the back weren't exactly quiet either.
“Does this place look familiar?” Shen Yannan asked with a grin, swinging his flashlight to scan the surroundings. He looked at Lu Zisheng beside him.
“Very,” Lu Zisheng nodded helplessly. Back then, he had put in a lot of effort to "lure" this person to his side from a place just like this. “Are you feeling nostalgic?”
“Who would feel nostalgic for a hellhole like this?” Shen Yannan shook his head.
“Excuse me… I’m a little scared… Could I… could I hold onto your sleeve?”
Walking just ahead of the two were the girls who had joined their group. The one speaking was a girl with twin tails, her face already as white as the hospital walls.
Under normal circumstances, anyone seeing such a pitiful sight would feel a spark of chivalry and find it hard to refuse.
Lu Zisheng turned to look at Shen Yannan, but the latter pointedly avoided his gaze. Hearing the commotion from Xia Shan’s end, Shen Yannan walked straight ahead.
This room wasn't a normal ward at all. It was a crude laboratory.
“They actually put some effort into the production,” Tang Zihe remarked. He walked over, picked up the flashlight Xia Shan had dropped, and began looking around.
Jiang Wei followed him in.
The corners of the room were filled with various jars and bottles. Likely too lazy to invent names, the staff had simply slapped blank labels on them. The test tubes were filled with colorful solids disguised as liquids—mostly blue and pink—and a few common lab instruments were scattered nearby, all bearing "Fragile Glass" stickers. Dried bloodstains covered the room, with dark red splatters even on the ceiling, making the entire space look gruesome.
The heaviest concentration of blood was on the medical bed in the center, which had been stained almost entirely crimson.
Jiang Wei’s expression flickered, but he quickly smoothed it over before Tang Zihe could turn around.
“Why is your face so pale?” Tang Zihe tossed the flashlight to Ding Banfan, telling him to look for the exit to the next room, then walked back to Jiang Wei’s side.
Jiang Wei replied with a faint, amused huff, “You’re shining a bright white flashlight right at me. How could I not look pale?”
*Fair point.* Tang Zihe shrugged, his suspicions successfully dispelled.
However, the room was clearly not as "peaceful" as it appeared.
Tang Zihe reached out to open a small box behind him, triggering a mechanism designed to pop out a scary prop. Jiang Wei had already mentally prepared himself, bracing to catch whatever jumped out. But just as a red shadow flickered before his eyes, there was a loud *thud*—the box had been slammed shut again.
Tang Zihe was crouching by the box, expressionless.
Jiang Wei’s lips twitched.
This guy’s reflexes were insane. He had slammed the lid back down before the prop could even fully emerge.
“...” Tang Zihe was silent for a moment before suggesting, “Should we… try that again?”
Jiang Wei nodded, stifling a laugh.
Xia Shan followed closely behind Shen Yannan and Lu Zisheng, seeking a sense of security.
The girl from earlier was still persistently making her second attempt.
“It’s really scary in here…” She leaned toward Lu Zisheng, closing the distance between them to just a few centimeters.
Lu Zisheng wordlessly took a step back, shifting to Shen Yannan’s left side.
Shen Yannan gave his boyfriend a half-smile, clearly having no intention of helping him out of his predicament.
Whether the girl was numb from fear or simply a die-hard fan of handsome faces, she seemed to have recovered from her initial trembling. She prepared to press her advantage.
“Honey…” Lu Zisheng acted quickly, grabbing Shen Yannan’s wrist. The moment Shen Yannan turned around, Lu Zisheng put on a terrified expression, though it was so over-the-top it looked ridiculous.
Shen Yannan looked at his captured wrist with exasperation and tried to shake him off.
“I’m afraid of the dark…” Lu Zisheng abandoned his usual cold and aloof persona, continuing his pitiful—and incredibly fake—performance.
It was enough to give Shen Yannan goosebumps. This was a man who hadn't even flinched when a ghost popped out of a wardrobe right in front of his face earlier.
The two girls standing nearby were even more stunned.
“Your hand,” Shen Yannan said, his fingers twitching. He knew Lu Zisheng was only acting like this because he hadn't stepped in to help. “If you’re scared, just hold my hand.”
Lu Zisheng gripped Shen Yannan’s hand with satisfaction, following him happily. There wasn't a trace of fear left on his face.
Judging by the "my world is crumbling" look on Xia Shan’s face, even if a real ghost manifested out of thin air right now, he probably wouldn't even scream.
On the other side of the room, Ding Banfan was being hauled toward a cabinet by Tang Wanbai.
“Tang Wanbai, loosen your grip. You’re going to strangle me…” Ding Banfan said helplessly.
As expected, his request was met with a firm, “No… I won’t…”
Ding Banfan had no choice but to let her cling to him while he shone the flashlight on the cabinet.
Jiang Wei held the key they had found in the box. Using the stray light from the flashlights, he and Tang Zihe fumbled in the dark for a keyhole.
Tang Zihe rarely had to navigate in such conditions. Unable to see the floor clearly, he stumbled forward cautiously, afraid of knocking something over.
Beside him, Jiang Wei seemed perfectly composed, as if he had already memorized the room’s layout. He didn't even look at his feet, yet he managed to smoothly avoid every bloodstain on the floor as he paced along the edge of the room.
Tang Zihe decided to take the easy way out and simply followed in Jiang Wei’s footsteps. He couldn't help but wonder: *Since when did this guy have such incredible night vision?*
As Jiang Wei felt his way forward, he calculated that since two NPCs had already been triggered in this room, there shouldn't be any more. His movements became bolder, opening every cabinet he encountered.
However, he had underestimated his own abysmal luck.
*Roar—*
The moment Jiang Wei pulled open a cabinet door, a dark shadow lunged out. Before he could even see it clearly, the roar hit him, and his body reacted with lightning-fast instinct.
He scrambled back two steps, but his feet moved faster than his balance could keep up. His knees buckled, and he began to fall toward the floor—only to tumble into a firm embrace a second later.
As they both crashed to the ground, he heard a muffled groan from behind him. It was soft, but very close to his ear.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
Hearing that the other person sounded alright, Jiang Wei instinctively reached out to find a point of leverage to push himself up. His hand brushed against a somewhat rough fabric, and he impulsively pressed down to test the surface.
It felt quite hard.
While Jiang Wei was still wondering what exactly he was touching, a voice tinged with suppressed amusement reached his ear: “Have you felt your fill?”
Jiang Wei jerked his hand away as if he’d been electrocuted. He moved it a few inches to the side, finally finding the cold floor, and used it to push himself up.
To his surprise, the person beneath him let out another groan.
“Sss…” Tang Zihe caught Jiang Wei’s elbow. “I’m the victim here. Did you have to be so rough? You nearly broke my ribs.”
*Victim, my foot.*
Jiang Wei remembered clearly that when he opened the cabinet, Tang Zihe had been two steps behind him. If Tang Zihe hadn't suddenly lunged forward, Jiang Wei wouldn't have landed on him no matter how he fell.
Wait.
A sharp thought flashed through Jiang Wei’s mind.
*If he hadn't suddenly lunged forward…*
Jiang Wei felt his heart skip a beat. He found himself unable to speak.
“Jiang Wei? Did the fall turn your brain to mush?” Tang Zihe waved a hand in front of Jiang Wei’s face, forgetting that they were in near-total darkness. With the flashlights so far away, the gesture was useless.
Fortunately, Jiang Wei snapped out of it in time. “Ah, sorry. I wasn't paying attention. Let me move…”
He struggled to avoid the other’s torso, using Tang Zihe’s strength to flip himself over like a fish out of water.
He didn't know how many times he had smelled the other’s pheromones by now, but it was always that same refreshing fragrance—like the first breeze of midsummer, captivating and sweet.
Before Jiang Wei could fully regain his composure, a beam of intense light hit them.
Shen Yannan walked over, flashlight in hand. “Banxian found the exit. Jiang Wei, Tang Zihe, where are you guys?”
“Hurry up and—” The word "go" died in his throat as he saw the scene before him. He suddenly clicked his tongue and turned around, dragging Lu Zisheng away while muttering, “The youth of today… how scandalous.”
Jiang Wei: “...”
***
**Glossary**
Chinese | English | Notes/Explanation
---|---|---
半仙儿 | Banxian / Half-Immortal | Ding Banfan's nickname; "Banxian" implies someone with supernatural or divining abilities.
非酋 | Abysmal luck / Rotten luck | Literally "African Chieftain," internet slang for someone with very bad luck (often used in gaming).
信息素 | Pheromones | Biological markers in the ABO (Alpha/Beta/Omega) setting.
世风日下 | Moral decay / How scandalous | A four-character idiom (chengyu) meaning public morals are declining.
Enjoying the story? Rate this novel:
Take a Whiff: The Alpha's Hidden Scent | Chapter 45 | Falling in the Dark | Novela.app | Novela.app
