After the breakup, I was taken in by a group of trendy young women.

The entrance to the haunted house is a gaping monster's mouth, with plaster fangs coated in fluorescent paint that gleam with an eerie green light under the ultraviolet light.

The line at the entrance wasn't long, but everyone had to wait for the previous group to scream and run out of the exit before they could go in.

The ticket inspector, a young woman wearing a skull hair clip, expressionlessly took the ticket from Lin Ye without even glancing at the throng behind him. She simply read out the routine: "Those with heart conditions, high blood pressure, or who are pregnant are not allowed to enter. NPCs won't touch you, and you shouldn't touch the NPCs either. Welcome to Scream Night."

The iron gate creaked open, and a cloud of cold air mixed with dry ice billowed out from the cracks, hitting everyone's faces.

The blond guy was the first to shudder, and his honey-brown twin tails twitched twice.

She glanced back at Lin Ye, her deep brown pupils shining brightly under the ultraviolet light: "Brother, you can hold my hand if you're scared."

"Take care of yourself first."

Lin Ye took the cigarette out of his mouth and stuffed it back into his pocket—smoking was prohibited in the haunted house, and a huge "No Smoking" sign was posted at the entrance.

The tattooed man walked at the front, the chains on the cuffs of his newly bought black work pants clanging in the dimly lit passageway.

She pushed open the first narrow door covered with rubber spiderwebs, and without turning her head, said, "This is it." As soon as she finished speaking, a mannequin hanging upside down from the ceiling suddenly fell down, and its plastic head hit her right in the face.

With a scream, the tattooed arm jumped back half a step, colliding with the tattooed leg. The tattooed leg staggered from the impact, and their screams exploded in the narrow passage, mingling with the underworld sound effects playing on a loop from the hidden speakers on the ceiling, making the foam skulls on the walls tremble.

"You said that was all you were going to do with your full-sleeve tattoo?!"

The woman with the flower-patterned leg stood firmly against the wall, the rose tattoo on her leg flickering under the strobe lights.

"I said just this! Not saying just this won't scare me!" The tattooed man covered his forehead and said matter-of-factly.

The blond guy was laughing so hard he couldn't stand up straight, his honey-brown pigtails swinging like two propellers.

The green-haired and pink-haired creatures huddled together, their earrings rubbing together, making it impossible to tell which strand was mint green and which was peach pink.

Qi Liuhai, holding Wangcai, decided not to go in at the door. He was sitting on a bench at the exit of the haunted house, with the space capsule cat carrier on his lap. Wangcai was peeking out from the hemispherical window with one ear, probably wondering what was going on with the screams inside.

Sisters Shen Qing and Shen Na walked side by side in the middle of the group. Shen Qing's hand was on Shen Na's arm, and Shen Na's hand was clasped in her sister's. The sisters' expressions were surprisingly similar—the corners of their mouths were slightly curved, and their eyes were bright. Rather than being afraid, they seemed to be enjoying the thrill of being startled.

Wang Xiaoying walked at the very back.

As she followed Lin Ye through the second corridor, two skeletons suddenly popped out of the fake coffins on either side of the wall. The mechanical arms made the skeletons creak and vibrate, and one of the skeletons' fingers brushed against her high ponytail.

She gasped, instinctively lunging forward, her forehead colliding with Lin Ye's back.

"Afraid?"

Lin Ye paused for a moment, but did not turn around.

"I'm not afraid."

Wang Xiaoying's voice was very low, but her forehead was still pressed against his back, her nose brushed against the fabric of his T-shirt, and her breath sprayed between his shoulder blades through the thin cotton fibers.

She smelled a faint scent of soap, mixed with the aroma emanating from his own body heat.

After passing through vampire coffins, zombie wards, and a mirrored maze filled with blood-stained wedding dresses, the group finally entered the last and most crucial scene of the haunted house—the abandoned mental hospital themed area.

The lighting here is dimmer than in the previous areas, and the soft cushions on the walls are tattered and hanging down, revealing the hard, cement-like panels underneath.

Overturned IV stands and rusty hospital beds were scattered on the ground, and the sprinklers on the ceiling sprayed out a stream of cool, misty water vapor every ten seconds or so, simulating the refrigeration effect of a morgue.

In the corner stood an NPC wearing a blood-stained white coat, holding a fake chainsaw. The plastic chain of the chainsaw rattled and whirred in the dim light.

The NPC was very fat, and the white coat he wore was so tight that the buttons were stretched open in several places, revealing the striped hospital gown he was wearing underneath.

He wore a crooked Frankenstein mask, with the whites of his eyes, tinged purple by the ultraviolet light, showing through the eye sockets.

His task is to wait for tourists to walk to the designated spot, then jump out from around the corner, press the switch on the fake chainsaw, and say a pre-trained line—"Welcome to my operating room."

But he didn't jump out at that moment because he recognized Lin Ye.

Sun Bao was hiding behind his mask, thinking he could just stay hidden and get by, but his gaze involuntarily swept over the girls behind Lin Ye—and there the difference was immediately apparent.

The girl I'd seen before, with her honey-brown hair, was now standing on tiptoe, resting her chin on Lin Ye's shoulder. Her deep brown pupils sparkled under the strobe lights, and her lips were curved, the strawberry-flavored lip balm shimmering under the ultraviolet light.

She didn't know when she had climbed onto Lin Ye's back, her arms wrapped around his neck, the hem of her Lolita dress brushing against his lower back, making her look like a koala hanging from a eucalyptus tree.

The short-haired woman with the tattooed arm had been holding Lin Ye's left arm ever since they came out of the mirror maze. The koi fish on her arm gleamed with a faint blue light under the ultraviolet light. She had an unlit cigarette in her mouth and was holding a small fan in her other hand, blowing it towards Lin Ye's face.

The girl in the floral dress leaned against the right side of the woods, pointing at a mannequin hanging upside down from the ceiling. Her tone was full of relaxed laughter. When the pink-haired girl next to her was frightened by the mannequin, she reached out and pulled the pink-haired girl behind her.

Sun Bao mentally counted: I've seen this one before at the park entrance, and I've seen this one before too, and I've seen that one before as well.

But there were three he had never seen before.

Standing slightly behind and to the right of the forest, she had smooth, black hair like a piece of satin, and her features were so delicate that she looked beautiful even under harsh ultraviolet lighting. Her temperament was as quiet and gentle as a cat that had found its home.

She raised her arm slightly, as if ready to support Lin Ye's arm at any moment, her eyes fixed on his profile, intently watching his reaction—the dependence and trust she showed was not the kind of expression one would have between ordinary friends.

The other one was standing further back, but her figure made Sun Bao's gaze linger for a moment longer.

She was wearing an ordinary white T-shirt and jeans, but her figure was like a custom-made, expensive vase—the T-shirt was stretched tightly at the chest, her waist was so thin it looked like it had been pinched, and the lines of her jeans flowed smoothly from her thighs to her ankles, her proportions were simply outrageous.

Her features were about 70% similar to the black-haired girl's, but her temperament was completely different—more radiant, more generous, and with a more sophisticated air about her.

But at this moment, her beautiful eyes looked over the shoulder of the person in front of her at the back of Lin Ye's head, and the corners of her mouth curved into a faint smile.

There's one last one, standing less than a step behind Lin Ye.

The woman was wearing a white quick-drying T-shirt and dark gray yoga leggings, her high ponytail neatly tied behind her head, and her bare skin glowed white under the ultraviolet light.

She looked a few years older than the other girls, but she maintained her figure extremely well—the yoga pants hugged the leg lines she had kept up with years of fitness training, from thighs to knees to calves to ankles, so smooth it looked like it had been drawn in one stroke with the finest brush.

Her ears were clearly red. At this moment, she was walking behind Lin Ye, her gaze fixed on his back. Her breathing had not yet calmed down, and there was an undisguised dependence hidden deep in her eyes.

Sun Bao took in all of this, his lips behind the mask involuntarily twitching—he remembered the treatment he received at the park entrance last time—being blocked by the blond-haired guy who said "you have to attract people to pursue them," being told by the tattooed man that "I've seen live simps," and being asked sarcastically by the tattooed man if "Zhang Qian complained to him again." In the end, he could only squat under the sycamore tree and pour mineral water over his head.

Lin Ye, surrounded by a group of beautiful girls, paraded through the city, basking in the glow of success.

Just then, the ceiling sprinklers suddenly sprayed out a stream of cool, misty water vapor, which landed right on everyone's heads.

Several girls screamed at the same time, crowding around Lin Ye and hugging each other. Shen Qing and Shen Na grabbed the hem of his T-shirt from behind, and Wang Xiaoying instinctively bumped her forehead against him again.

Even after they finished screaming, they were still laughing, pushing and shoving each other. Their laughter echoed through the narrow haunted house, creating a noisy and lively background sound.