Welcome to the Nightmare Live

Chapter 79: Thank you for purchasing the clown doll produced in our shop

As the pale ghost mask was retracted by the mechanism, the piercing laughter finally stopped.

Yun Bilan stood at the door, raising the flashlight to shine into the doll’s house.

The room was pitch black, with arms and legs made of cloth hanging from the roof with thin threads and various doll things half-suspended in the air, slowly spinning in circles.

On the bed, on the cabinet, and on the dressing table, there were all kinds of dolls everywhere; some were palm-sized, some were half-human height, and some were the same size as ordinary humans. The dusty lace skirts filled the entire space, so much so that people had to cover their mouths and noses so as not to choke.

In the pitch-black space, the faces, big or small, with sweet smiles were extremely pale and stiff, and pairs of dim eyes were looking toward the door, which made the fine hair on one’s body couldn’t help but stand on end.

A palm-sized doll sat on the dressing table.

It sat on the table with a smile, holding an exquisite box with the lid open in its two small white porcelain hands, with a few words posted beside it: “Please check in here.”

It seemed that this was the check-in place.

Yun Bilan looked at Brother Fatty: “You wait at the door. As soon as there is a problem, use the props.”

Brother Fatty: “Understood.”

The blue-haired girl looked at Wen Jianyan: “And you, will you come in with me?”

Although they were acting together for the time being, Wen Jianyan was not an official member of their team after all, and it was not easy for Yun Bilan to issue orders to him.

“Of course.”

The young man with amber eyes smiled and bowed: “How can a gentleman let a girl enter a dangerous place alone?”

In the “Integrity First” live broadcast room:

[Hahahahahahahahaha! Don’t act cool, handsome. Aren’t you the one who jumped up in fright just now?!]

[Wake up, dog liar, you are the least daring among everyone!]

[I know the truth, but my heart still can’t help but beat faster. So hateful. (50 reward points)]

[Woooo, me too. Dammit, I’m always fascinated by beauty; I’m such a superficial dog! (100 reward points)]

Wen Jianyan and Yun Bilan walked toward the room one after the other, carefully avoiding the various cloth limbs hanging from the ceiling, and came to the dressing table.

“In the real world, in this kind of haunted house where one needs to do tasks, there will usually be some strange happenings after touching anything.”

Yun Bilan looked at Wen Jianyan and said, “It’s just that we are in an instance now, so we don’t know whether those things will be real or fake. No matter which one, we have to be prepared.”

Wen Jianyan nodded.

Yun Bilan took a deep breath, stretched out her hand, and picked up the card with the words “Please take me away” from the dressing box.

“Snap!”

There was a crisp sound, and the dressing box in the doll’s hand slammed shut.

It slowly raised that pale face, opened and closed its mouth, and let out a sharp and piercing laugh: “Hee hee hee hee hee hee!!”

The next second, the door opened and closed, making a harsh friction sound.

Brother Fatty, standing at the door, took a cautious step back as if ready to drag the two of them out of the room at any time.

All the dolls in the room also started to move. They twisted their necks stiffly and made creaking noises. The giggling sound of children came from their abdomens: 

“Play with me, play with me!”

As time passed, the strange noise disappeared, the mechanism stopped working, and the room became quiet again.

Except for the things that these haunted houses use to scare people, nothing more happened.

“It seems to be fake.”

Yun Bilan shrugged and concluded.

She took the card, turned, and walked out, but before she could take a step, her arm was suddenly grabbed by the young man beside her: “Wait.”

His order was calm and short, and it echoed in the deadly silence of the room.

Yun Bilan was taken aback.

The next second, she saw something drop in front of her eyes and hit the ground.

Yun Bilan raised her head and looked at the top of her head.

On the surface of the cloth limbs suspended in the air, black and red bloodstains slowly smeared out, gradually soaking the bottom, as if it contained a real human stump.

“Blood?” Yun Bilan was startled.

Wen Jianyan narrowed his eyes: “Do you still remember the sixth rule outside the thriller zone?”

He repeated it accurately and word for word: “There are no real NPCs in the haunted house; they are all sounds, lights, and dolls, and there is no water-related mechanism on the scene. If you hear the sound of water, please stay away from the area immediately and get in touch with the green-haired clown staff as soon as possible.”

Yun Bilan’s pupils shrank, and she immediately understood what Wen Jianyan meant:

” …related to water.”

Blood, which was also a liquid, was a mechanism related to water.

With this notice, all the artificial limbs began to slowly drip blood, and the blood on the ground spread little by little, making it impossible to leave the room at all.

Brother Fatty’s voice came from outside the door:

“What happened inside?”

Yun Bilan and Wen Jianyan stood in the corner of the room near the dressing table, which happened to be where the blood on the limbs could not drip. She raised her voice and briefly informed Brother Fatty of the conclusion they had just come to.

“I see!”

Through the rain of blood, Brother Fatty’s voice seemed a little erratic: “So according to the rules, we have to contact that clown employee now, right?”

Yun Bilan: “No need, use the props first—”

However, before she could finish her words, she was interrupted by Brother Fatty’s voice:

“Wait a minute, I saw an emergency button!”

The other party’s voice came through the wall, which seemed very far away, even a little dazed.

Wen Jianyan sternly yelled:

“Don’t go yet!”

He hadn’t forgotten that on the haunted house rules that only he could see, the second rule was “The emergency button set in the haunted house has failed, please do not touch it at will.” 

However, outside the corridor, Brother Fatty’s voice had completely disappeared.

Yun Bilan frowned and turned to look at Wen Jianyan:

“What’s the matter? Didn’t the clown say that if we encounter any strange things in the haunted house, we should contact the staff through the emergency button?”

Although Brother Fatty did not obey her, there was nothing illogical in the way the other party handled it. Instead, Wen Jianyan stopped her in such a stern voice, which seemed a little unusual.

 Yun Bilan looked at the other party inquiringly:

“Do you know something?”

Wen Jianyan’s face remained unchanged: “But you didn’t see this rule with your own eyes on the back of the ticket; you just learned it from the other party, right?”

“……”

Yun Bilan frowned, and her expression became serious.

She took out her mobile phone from her pocket, quickly redeemed points, and started calling Brother Fatty.

“Beep…beep…beep…”

Soon, the phone was connected.

Brother Fatty’s loud voice came from the other end of the phone: “Bilan, what’s the matter? I’m right outside the door, why are you wasting the point?” 

“Have you pressed the emergency button yet?”

Yun Bilan’s voice was cold and calm.

“Of course.” Brother Fatty’s voice sounded the same as before: “Just wait a minute; you’ll be out soon.”

The phone was hung up.

Yun Bilan frowned. Her eyes fell on the mobile phone in her palm.

In the dark room, Wen Jianyan narrowed his eyes slightly, quickly processing all the information he had learned in his mind.

Regarding the haunted house, he now had three sets of rules on hand.

The first ones came from the sign posted at the entrance of the thriller zone, which said “Trust the clown staff” and “If you hear the sound of water, get in touch with the green-haired clown staff as soon as possible.” 

The second came from the clown at the entrance of the haunted house, who gave the anchors three pieces of advice.

The third one he saw on the back of the ticket, which gave three suggestions that were completely opposite to the clown at the door of the haunted house.

Which of these three rules was false?

Also, who was that sixth man who got mixed into their team? Was it related to the authenticity of these rules?

At this moment, the sound of approaching footsteps came from outside the door.

“Tap tap, tap tap…”

The speed at which the blood dripped slowed down and finally stopped.

Soon, a familiar voice came from outside the room: “Okay, you can come out!”

Wen Jianyan and Yun Bilan, who were trapped in the corner of the house, looked at each other in surprise.

The two carefully walked around the blood-stained place on the ground and walked out slowly, step by step. Soon, they left the doll’s house and returned to the corridor.

They saw Brother Fatty still standing there in good shape, with the green-haired clown standing beside him.

The clown waved and said, “Follow me; you must get away from this area as soon as possible.”

Yun Bilan walked quickly to Brother Fatty’s side and asked in a low voice, “Why didn’t you follow my instructions just now?” 

“It wasn’t about saving points.”

Brother Fatty scratched his cheeks: “It’s just… Wasn’t this a good way to verify whether these rules are useful? I think they are quite useful. You come out at once.”

That’s true.

There was nothing doubtful about the entire logical chain. Hearing the sound of water → calling the staff with the emergency button → the green-haired clown came to rescue, which verified the credibility of this rule.

Wen Jianyan was startled and suddenly thought of something.

He opened his backpack and quickly opened the bag he had just bought from the gift shop.

The cat doll was still obediently lying on the bottom, but the clown doll had changed its appearance at some unknown point. It had a mournful face, its upper body had separated from its lower body, and its head was tilted with its body torn apart.

He didn’t know when, but a lot of words appeared on the invoice.

Wen Jianyan took out the invoice, unfolded it, and quickly read the words that appeared on it in the dim light.

[Work Diary of Haunted House Staff]

This is my first day working at Fantasy Amusement Park. The salary and treatment here are very high. I don’t understand why the seniors who left the company told me not to work here for more than a month.

This is my first week working at Fantasy Amusement Park. For some reason, I always seem to hear the sound of gurgling water. Did I forget to turn off the faucet?

This is my first month at Fantasy Amusement Park, and I lost my money in gambling. I think I might need to stay here a little longer.

The writing below suddenly became scrawled and messy:

Strange strange strange (smeared with black ink)

My skin is sticky, and my fingers smell strange (the word “sticky” was circled by a black pen and scratched vigorously several times).

Further down, the writing becomes more frantic and illegible:

Strange strange strange strange strange (smeared with black ink)

I see myself. I see myself being taken apart. I see myself stuffed into fabric and being hung up.

I saw that I started to move around again (large swaths of ink marks and water stains had blurred the handwriting).

No one at my post sold tickets, and there is an automatic ticketing system.

Someone is selling tickets at my post.

 I’m selling tickets.

The last stroke of the word “ticket” was not finished, and it was drawn long beyond the border of the first place.

Further down, there was a line of small characters printed by the machine:

【Thank you for purchasing the clown doll produced in our store.】

【If an employee is replaced by “it” in the area you are going to, the clown doll will follow you closely and tell you everything the employee knows in words.】

【The doll will be invalid after one use.】

【Thank you for your patronage.】

Goosebumps suddenly appeared on Wen Jianyan’s arms. He raised his head suddenly and looked at the green-haired clown figure waiting on the stairs not far away.

Under the flickering light, Wen Jianyan didn’t know if it was his illusion, but the other party’s skin looked extraordinarily pale and seemed to be sticky.

It raised its voice and urged:

“Follow me quickly; you must stay away from this area as soon as possible.”

Yun Bilan and Brother Fatty have basically dispelled their suspicions at this moment, and they walked toward the direction of the clown staff, but they were dragged by Wen Jianyan, who stepped forward quickly:

“Don’t go over.”

Wen Jianyan’s deliberately low voice rang in the ears of the two of them.

Yun Bilan was startled and turned to look at Wen Jianyan.

The young man with amber eyes stared fixedly at the green-haired clown employee in the distance, and his voice became softer: “It’s a frog.”

What—?!

Yun Bilan’s pupils suddenly shrank.

“Frog? What do you mean?” Brother Fatty scratched his cheek more and more with a puzzled expression: “It saved you——” 

The young man’s low voice sounded next to their ears:

“Listen to my words.”

His voice was so calm and cold, without any doubt or hesitation, and there was an irrefutable and irresistible determination in his tone, which made it impossible not to obey.

Yun Bilan shook her head at Brother Fatty.

Brother Fatty stopped talking.

“Run.” Wen Jianyan ordered firmly.

In an instant, the three of them turned around without hesitation, took a step forward, and sprinted in the opposite direction!

The green-haired clown employee didn’t catch up either. It just stood there quietly, its sticky, pale skin being swallowed up by the darkness little by little until it finally disappeared.

The three of them almost sprinted to the end of the corridor before stopping.

 “No, no one caught up.”

Fat Brother spoke out of breath.

Yun Bilan also stopped in her tracks and turned her head to look at Wen Jianyan: “You just said it was a frog? What’s going on? How did you know?” 

“Yes, what’s going on?!” Brother Fatty scratched his cheek and spoke very anxiously.

“Plop” “Plop”

The strange sound of water sounded in the corridor.

Yun Bilan was startled and turned to look in Brother Fatty’s direction.

“What’s the matter? Why are you looking at me?” The fat man scratched his cheek more vigorously, his skin was pale and swollen, and he made a strange sizzling sound.

“Stop scratching.” Yun Bilan spoke sharply.

“What?”

“Stop scratching!”

“It’s itching, it’s itching, it’s itching!” Brother Fatty’s flesh was shaking all over his body. His facial features looked very weird, giving off an inexplicable crazy feeling: “Itchy, itchy, itchy, itchy–”

“Plop–”

A whole piece of pale and rotten skin was torn off his face by the hard nails.

However, what overflowed from the wound was not blood but some kind of translucent jelly.

Yun Bilan sucked in a breath of cool air clearly and took a few steps back subconsciously.

Wen Jianyan stared at the fat man standing not far from him; goosebumps suddenly appeared on his back, and a burst of cold slowly climbed up his spine.

“What’s wrong?”

Brother Fatty’s facial features were distorted. He seemed to see the strange and fearful expressions in the eyes of the two people in front of him.

He grabbed the skin of his face with his hands, spittle flew out of his mouth, and he shouted in a sharp voice:

“What are you looking at? What’s the matter?!”

Under the light, one could clearly see that in the gelatinous mucus on Brother Fatty’s face, there were densely packed eggs. The round eggs were crowded together and grew deep in the human flesh. In the white mucus, one could see the black spot, like a needlepoint, in the center of those eggs, which seemed to be still wriggling restlessly.

Just like frog eggs.