My organs are too abstract.

Xu Yuan stared at the sculpture in front of him.

The sculpture stood against the wall, about the height of a person, its surface painted a pale white, its features blurred, and the corners of its mouth slightly upturned, as if it were smiling.

The workmanship is not exquisite, and it is no different from the other sculptures in the corridor. It is rough, dull, and looks like a horror prop used to make up the number of people in a haunted house. There is nothing special about it.

Yang Minghao moved closer to Xu Yuan, followed his gaze, and casually asked, "What's wrong? It's just a mannequin, what's so interesting about it?"

Xu Yuan turned to look at them, his brows furrowing slightly: "Didn't you smell anything strange?"

"Smell?" Yang Minghao sniffed the air, looked around for a moment, and shook his head blankly. "No, there's no smell."

Xu Yuan then looked at Meimei beside him, and the girl gently shook her head: "I didn't smell it either."

"Am I the only one who can smell it...?"

A sense of doubt arose in Xu Yuan's heart as the strong smell of blood once again filled his nostrils, even stronger than before.

The heavy, fishy smell was firmly locked inside the sculpture, as if something was tightly sealed by this thick wooden shell, and not a single breath could escape.

"Is it because of my own abnormality that I can perceive all of this? Wait... this situation seems to have happened before."

Xu Yuan suddenly recalled his encounter with Brother Guang at the karaoke bar. When he was dealing with the mark on Brother Guang's head, only he could hear the opera music coming from the mark, while Brother Guang, who was right next to him, was completely unaware. A conjecture formed in his mind:

"Could it be that this sculpture is tainted by some kind of calamity-like power?"

But whatever the truth may be, he was certain of one thing—

This haunted house... has a lot of problems.

"Could the 'treatment' that the staff member mentioned refer to murder? No, if that's the case, this haunted house wouldn't be open until now; perhaps there's something else going on..."

Just as Xu Yuan was deep in thought, a dull thumping sound suddenly came from the front of the corridor.

"Thump, thump, thump..."

The rhythm was neither too fast nor too slow, like something repeatedly striking the ground. The sound wasn't loud, but it was exceptionally clear in the empty, deathly silent corridor.

Xu Yuan looked up and saw a thin figure crouching in the heavy shadows at the end of the corridor. The person was wearing an ill-fitting hospital gown and had their back to them, intently patting something.

"Is that an NPC from the haunted house?" Yang Minghao also noticed the figure and immediately became interested, scrutinizing it with great interest. "That physique... could it be a character actor playing that role?"

Meimei was a little scared and subconsciously moved closer to Yang Minghao, asking in a low voice, "What is he doing over there?"

Yang Minghao stared at the figure for a while, and feeling that he had figured it out, he said confidently, "It must be a headless body patting its own head. It's the same old trick."

Meimei asked skeptically, "Really?"

"If you don't believe me, let's go take a look." Yang Minghao was indeed bold. He took two steps forward, glanced back at Meimei whose face was a little pale, and said righteously, "If you're scared, you can hold my hand. It's nothing for me to suffer a little loss."

"Pah, dream on."

"If you don't want to grab my hand, you can grab somewhere else."

Meimei's face flushed instantly, and she stared at him in shock: "What are you talking about?"

Xu Yuan's eyes widened even more: "I'm still a child, I can't stand hearing this."

"What I mean is, if you don't want to hold hands, you can hold my sleeve," Yang Minghao looked at the two of them, scratching his head in confusion. "What are you two thinking?"

Xu Yuan then looked at Meimei, feigning confusion, and asked, "Yeah, what were you thinking?"

"Hmph, hurry up and leave!"

Meimei's cheeks flushed slightly. She gave Yang Minghao a reproachful look and urged him to leave quickly.

Yang Minghao chuckled and took the lead, with Meimei following closely behind him. The two of them walked cautiously toward the figure, while Xu Yuan followed behind them at a distance, observing their surroundings discreetly.

Halfway there, Meimei suddenly stopped, bent down and squatted down: "You go ahead first, I'll tie my shoelaces and be right there."

"No problem, take your time."

Yang Minghao thought she was scared, and a desire to show off arose in his heart. He puffed out his chest and strode towards the figure.

The thin figure remained squatting in the same spot, the patting motion mechanical and repetitive, without the slightest pause.

Yang Minghao went around to the side and looked down—it was indeed a headless body with a clean cut at the neck, and you could even see the wood grain underneath. It was mechanically pounding the ground, one blow after another.

"So it was a prop, not an actor?"

Yang Minghao was stunned for a moment. Just then, his shoulder suddenly felt heavy, as if something had been placed on it.

He assumed it was Meimei who had followed him and didn't pay much attention, casually saying, "I knew it, it's the same old trick, there's nothing to be afraid of..."

As he spoke, his gaze fell on the object the other person was patting in his hand, but it was completely different from what he had expected. It was not a head, but just an ordinary old ball.

"That's it?" Yang Minghao was stunned for a moment, then muttered to himself, "This routine is so boring, it's not as good as the one I guessed."

No sooner had he finished speaking than a beautiful voice came from behind him, several steps away: "Minghao, what did you see?"

"Me... um?"

Yang Minghao was about to speak when his expression suddenly froze.

Meimei didn't get any closer; she stayed in the same spot. What was that thing on his shoulder...?

He stood frozen in place, his neck stiff as he slowly tilted his head, and the next second, his pupils suddenly contracted.

A little boy's head rests quietly on his shoulder, with delicate features, pale skin, and an innocent smile on his lips.

"Uncle, is this tactic interesting?"

Its eyes curved into two crescent moons as it gazed deeply into Yang Minghao's eyes.

After waiting a few seconds, the head's smile suddenly vanished, a violent dark light surged in its eyes, and its mouth opened wide, biting down hard on his neck!

"Holy crap, are they serious?!"

Yang Minghao was so frightened by this sudden turn of events that his heart stopped. He tried to dodge, but it was too late. He could only watch helplessly as the other party approached.

At this critical moment.

"call out--"

A sharp, piercing sound suddenly rang out.

A black rope, like a nimble venomous snake, shot out in an instant, the noose precisely looping around the head's mouth, and then it was pulled sharply backward.

As his head was dragged away in mid-air, Yang Minghao felt a cool breeze brush past his neck, and then heard a soft "snap" behind him.

He turned around, still shaken, and saw Xu Yuan holding a black rope between his fingers, lightly lifting the head and examining it closely. Mei Mei stood not far away, covering her mouth, staring at Xu Yuan in shock, speechless for a long time.

Under the pressure of the black rope, the head returned to calm and remained motionless. Xu Yuan stretched out his left hand and gently touched the head with his fingertips.

"It reacts to the black rope, which is unusual for a prop, and..." Xu Yuan's eyes showed a hint of confusion, "This texture... is exactly the same as that of the previous staff member."

"Wow, Xu Yuan, you're amazing! Your throws are so accurate!" Yang Minghao walked over quickly, his eyes full of admiration. "I thought you were only good at juggling toys, but I didn't expect you to be so good at juggling other things too."

His gaze immediately fell on the head, staring at the wooden texture of the neck, filled with doubt: "Is this a mechanism? How can it be so realistic?"

Xu Yuan chuckled and said, "It must be a prop, otherwise, what else could it be but a real head?"

"You're right, I was overthinking it." Yang Minghao came to his senses, but still looked indignant. "But even if it was a prop, the way it bit people just now didn't seem fake. It was clearly a deliberate act of creating danger. Is this haunted house really that wild?"

Meimei nodded, still shaken: "It was indeed very dangerous and scary."

"That's right, we must file a serious complaint against them once we get out!" Yang Minghao nodded vigorously.

His gaze unconsciously swept around, and when it landed back on the pale white sculpture, he suddenly exclaimed in surprise, "Huh?"

Yang Minghao took a half step forward, his fingertips hovering over the surface of the sculpture, his eyes full of confusion: "Wait a minute, this thing... why does it look a little different?"

Hearing this, Meimei came closer, curiously examining the sculpture: "What's different?"

"Look here." Yang Minghao pointed to a spot slightly below the sculpture's chest, covered in a ghastly white paint, almost imperceptible at first glance. "There's a seam here, running from the chest all the way to the waist, with signs of closure. It looks like... it can be opened?"

Meimei took a closer look and exclaimed in surprise, "It really is!"

Unable to contain his curiosity, Yang Minghao reached out and grabbed the edge of the gap, intending to try to pry it open.

Xu Yuan, who was still examining the head, felt a chill in his heart upon seeing this and reached out to stop him: "I think it's better not to touch it."

Yang Minghao looked puzzled: "Why?"

Xu Yuan pondered for a moment, then reminded him, "If you touch everything in a haunted house, I'm afraid you might find something terrible and have nightmares."

"How could that be!" Yang Minghao chuckled dismissively, his heart filled with excitement at finding hidden surprises in the haunted house. "Maybe I'll just randomly open one and find some unexpected delights?"

Xu Yuan couldn't help but say, "What if it's not a surprise, but a shock?"

"No way!" Yang Minghao raised his right hand, grinning smugly. "This hand of mine is known as the Supreme Lucky Hand; it's never lost money opening items. Today, I'm definitely going to open a gold item for you to see!"

Seeing that he was determined to do so and could not be persuaded otherwise, Xu Yuan stopped talking.

Yang Minghao enthusiastically exerted force with his fingertips and tried to pry it outwards.

With a dull, dry creaking sound, like the friction of an old wooden axle, the life-sized human-shaped sculpture slowly flipped open from the center to both sides.

The sound of hinges turning was particularly jarring in the deathly silent corridor, followed by an overwhelming, irrepressible stench of blood that instantly enveloped the three of them.

"Holy crap, what is this thing...?"

Yang Minghao's excited smile froze on his face, his pupils contracted sharply, and he stared in disbelief at the scene before him—

The sculpture is hollow inside, just big enough to accommodate an adult, and inside the cavity is a headless corpse curled up.

The cold body was forcibly stuffed into a wooden shell, the pale skin contrasting sharply with the paint on the exterior of the sculpture, making it appear even more eerie and terrifying.

The cut on the neck was clean and smooth, as if it had been severed by a sharp blade in one stroke. The dark red bloodstains were still moist and shiny, sticky and congealed on the wooden inner wall, slowly seeping out along the gaps, without any signs of drying or turning black.

Suppressing his fear, Yang Minghao tentatively touched the corpse's skin, then immediately recoiled in disbelief, his voice trembling: "Holy crap...it really is a corpse?!"

"How could there be a corpse in a haunted house...?"

"What's this? Is it a guaranteed win?" Xu Yuan shook his head when he saw that Xu Yuan's face was pale and he was talking incoherently. "I told you not to mess around, or you'll have nightmares."

He turned to look at the corpse inside the sculpture, observed it carefully for a moment, and his expression became slightly more serious.

He didn't know the deceased, but he clearly sensed that the body was still very fresh and had been dead for a very short time, probably only recently.

Regardless of who died, it means that a murderer is lurking in the haunted house. If that's the case, will Zhao Ze and his group, who had already entered the haunted house, be in danger?

Thinking of this, Xu Yuan's originally calm attitude turned into a bit of urgency. He turned to look at Mei Mei and Yang Minghao, who were frozen in place, and said in a deep voice, "Don't stand there, something's wrong inside. You two get out of here right away and contact the security guards."

"Oh right, contact the security guard..." Yang Minghao finally snapped out of his fear, but quickly realized something was wrong. "We'll go out, what about you?"

"I went in to find Zhao Ze and the others; I was worried something might have happened to them."

Yang Minghao looked incredulous and hurriedly tried to dissuade him, saying, "It's too dangerous. Can't you come out with us and wait for the security guards to arrive before we deal with it?"

Meimei's eyes reddened with fear, and she nodded repeatedly in agreement: "Yes, it's too dangerous. You'd better not go in."

"Don't try to persuade me, I know what I'm doing." Xu Yuan shook his head. "You guys should leave now."

Seeing his resolute attitude, Yang Minghao knew this wasn't the time to dawdle, so he gritted his teeth and said, "Okay, then be careful. I'll contact the security guards as soon as possible!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he dared not linger any longer. He grabbed Meimei's cold hand and turned to run wildly toward the exit of the haunted house.

Xu Yuan watched the two figures disappear completely before wrapping the black rope back around his wrist. He then lifted the head with one hand, gently stroking its face with his left fingertips, a look of confusion on his face.

"It's definitely not a prop... but it's not a calamity either."

If it were a calamity, his left hand would definitely react upon touching it, but at this moment his left hand was completely calm, without the slightest movement.

Freed from the suppression of the black rope, the quiet head seemed to regain its spirit. It froze for a few seconds, then its originally calm face suddenly turned ferocious, and it opened its mouth to bite Xu Yuan's finger hard.

Xu Yuan's eyes didn't move; he raised his hand and slapped her across the face.

His head snapped to attention, the ferocity on his face vanished, and his eyes cleared, as if he were awakening from some kind of control. His voice was hoarse as he said, "Save...me..."

"Hmm, what's going on?"

Xu Yuan was slightly taken aback. This voice was not the child's voice from before; it was exactly the same as the previous staff member's voice.

Before he could ask any further questions, the head's eyes changed, and it reverted to its frenzied state, biting him relentlessly, making communication impossible.

Upon seeing this, Xu Yuan frowned slightly, then suddenly exerted force with his fingertips, crushing the head in one blow.

A piece of skin, along with the hair, completely covering the head, peeled off in a rustling sound. He glanced down at it, his fingertips lightly touching it. The skin was thin and tough, with an eerie, realistic texture, like human skin that had been peeled off.

Beneath the human skin were fragments of wood, with traces of the original polishing still visible on the edges. Xu Yuan examined them and found that the material seemed to be the same as the corpse sculpture next to it.

"strangeness."

Xu Yuan was filled with confusion, but he had no time to linger. He casually tossed the fragment aside and turned to walk deeper into the haunted house.

As I passed a closed room, an even stronger smell of blood entered my nostrils once again.

"Is this haunted house a slaughterhouse? How come so many people are dead?"

Xu Yuan's heart stirred, and he pushed open the door. Inside, he found himself in a strangely decorated operating room, with several pale sculptures, identical to those outside, leaning against the walls.

Xu Yuan stepped forward, casually opened one of the statues, and his expression changed slightly: "This is...?"

What appeared inside was not a corpse, but a mass of flesh and blood stripped of its skin. Most strangely, the mass of flesh and blood was still slowly pulsating, as if it were still alive.

"What is this thing?"

Xu Yuan refused to believe it and opened the other sculptures one after another, only to find that they were all filled with such fresh and vibrant flesh and blood.

Beside a sculpture depicting a female figure, Xu Yuan suddenly noticed a small object on the ground. He bent down and picked it up; it turned out to be a rabbit-shaped hair clip.

"This thing... seems familiar."

Xu Yuan stared at the hair clip for a moment, but couldn't remember where he had seen it before, so he casually put it in his pocket.

Just then, his eyes flickered, and he turned his head to look in a certain direction.

"ah!!"

A piercing, desperate scream came from afar, abruptly shattering the deathly silence of the haunted house.