Redemption from the Abyss: The School Beauty Insists on Pulling Me Out of the Mire

The air pressure was extremely low in the chairman's office on the top floor of Tianlong Building.

Gu Tianlong smashed the bone china teacup in his hand against the wall.

Broken porcelain shards were scattered on the Persian carpet.

Gu Yan stood in the center of the office, his head bowed.

The office area outside was in chaos, the public relations department's phone was ringing non-stop, and the online outcry had turned into a tsunami.

Gu Yan swallowed hard, trying to explain.

"dad."

Gu Yan's voice trembled.

"That photo is fake; it was photoshopped."

Gu Tianlong walked up to him and slapped him hard across the face.

The sound echoed in the empty office. Gu Yan was knocked to the side, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.

"Synthesized?"

Gu Tianlong pointed to the lit computer screen on the desktop.

"The whole internet is talking about that picture of you stepping on someone's head, and they've even dug out the details of the wear and tear on your limited edition sneakers."

Gu Tianlong's chest heaved with anger. He had been running his business in this city for twenty years and had never been in such a passive position as he was today.

"I told you long ago, you have to do things cleanly."

Gu Tianlong placed his hands on the table.

"You not only spared their lives, but you also had someone take pictures of them and post them online."

"What's in your head?"

Gu Yan covered his face; he dared not talk back.

"I've already driven Lu Yi out of the capital."

Gu Yan gritted his teeth.

"Who knew he still had the negatives, and the person who posted them?"

There was a knock on the door, and the public relations director pushed it open, sweating profusely.

"Chairman, the trending topic can't be removed."

The PR director's voice sounded weak.

Gu Tianlong grabbed an ashtray from the table and threw it at the PR director, who dodged it by tilting his head. The crystal ashtray shattered into pieces against the door frame.

"Do you think I'm employing your PR department just to freeload?"

Gu Tianlong roared.

"Spend money, spend two or three times the amount to bet."

The PR director wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"It can't be suppressed."

The PR director swallowed hard.

"Money can't solve this; our servers have been hacked."

Gu Tianlong was stunned for a moment.

"Backend system permissions have been locked, and all negative entries about Young Master Gu have been forcibly pinned to the top."

The PR director dared not look Gu Tianlong in the eye.

"Their technology is too advanced; our engineers can't even get close to the firewall."

It's the same tactic again, just like last time.

Gu Tianlong immediately thought of that name.

He turned to look at Gu Yan, his eyes filled with disappointment.

Gu Yan was unaware of the seriousness of the matter; he thought it was just netizens making a fuss.

"Dad, let my eldest brother take action."

Gu Yan raised his head.

"My brother knows so many top international hackers. Let him take down their hideout and then issue a statement saying it's a rumor."

Gu Tianlong's expression softened slightly upon hearing Gu Nan's name.

He turned and picked up the internal phone on his desk.

Where is Zhao Yuan?

Gu Tianlong asked into the phone.

"Have Gu Nan come to my office."

There was silence on the other end of the phone.

Several seconds passed before the chairman's secretary answered in a very soft voice.

"Chairman, Young Master Gu is not at the hotel."

The secretary's voice was clearly flustered.

"Where did you go?"

Gu Tianlong frowned.

"Young Master Gu booked a first-class flight to Vancouver last night."

The secretary gasped.

"The flight has been in operation for ten hours now, and he took the keys to those offshore companies from the finance department."

Gu Tianlong's hand holding the microphone trembled slightly.

"Gu Nan, I'll fuck you!"

……

In the spacious office area of ​​Xinghuo Network, Lu Wen slammed the security agreement he had just signed onto the table.

"Brothers." Lu Wen looked around at the high school seniors in the rest area who were studying for the "Five Years of College Entrance Examination and Three Years of Simulation" course.

"Let's go to that newly opened immersive horror hospital in Jiangcheng for team building."

Lin Lu raised his head.

"A horror hospital?" Lin Lu's eyes flashed with excitement mixed with a hint of fear.

"I heard it's as big as a six-story building inside."

Xu You shrank closer to Shen Hao.

"I will protect you." Shen Hao patted his strong chest.

Xie Wang saved the code.

"Mr. Lu," Xie Wang stood up, "you can buy the tickets."

……

On the day of assembly.

A large crowd gathered at the entrance of Jiangcheng Happy World.

Xie Wang and Su Qinghe stood by the fountain, while Shen Hao held two huge pink cotton candies in his hand. Xu You took the cotton candies and smiled sweetly.

Lu Wen is putting a fluffy devil horn headband on Lin Lu.

"Why hasn't Lu Yi arrived yet?" Shen Hao took a big bite of cotton candy.

A pink steamed fish head with chopped chili peppers was parked on the side of the road. The door opened, and Lu Yi, wearing a large black trench coat, walked over.

"I'm late." Xie Wang glanced at his watch.

"Don't be so scared when we get into the haunted house that you start doing your Eight-Section Brocade exercises on the spot."

Lu Yi stood up straight.

"Fear stems from ignorance of the unknown." Lu Yi straightened his trench coat collar. "As an artist who has witnessed the abyss, these cheap, mass-produced frights cannot shake my noble soul."

The six people, plus a single poet, walked toward the entrance of the horror hospital.

The hospital's exterior walls were artificially aged to a peeling green finish, with mottled bloodstains and graffiti on the main gate, and cold lights flickering deep in the corridor.

Suppressed screams could be heard from time to time from the queue.

A staff member wearing a white coat stained with red paint walked over, holding a stack of disclaimers in his hand.

"Players," the staff member said in a low voice, "it contains extremely scary and frightening elements."

Staff members distributed red distress bracelets.

"If you can't take it, press the button on your wristband." The staff member coldly glanced at them.

"Zombies will bring you out."

Lin Lu swallowed hard. She grabbed Lu Wen's arm with both hands.

"I'm a little scared of Lu Wen." Lin Lu hid behind Lu Wen.

Lu Wen patted his chest and assured him.

"With your fiancé here," Lu Wen said with a smug grin.

"Even if a ghost comes, I'll make him do a backflip for you."

Xu You's palms were sweaty, and she gripped Shen Hao's clothes tightly.

Shen Hao shielded Xu You to his side.

"Don't be afraid, little one." Shen Hao clenched his fist. "If any NPC dares to touch you, I'll smash their prop with one punch."

Lu Yi stood at the very back of the line, his hands clasped together in front of his chest, muttering something under his breath.

"Baudelaire, may you be blessed." Louis said with his eyes closed. "The flower of evil will bloom in the darkness."

Su Qinghe was looking up at the ceiling at the entrance.

"The flickering light tube was deliberately loosened by disconnecting the neutral wire, and the low-frequency sound waves in the background noise are around 30 Hz."

"This frequency directly causes resonance in the body's internal organs," Su Qinghe summarized. "Thus generating a physiological sense of panic."

"Teacher Su is so professional." Xie Wang squeezed her fingers.

The line moved forward to the entrance ticket checkpoint.

"Enter this area in pairs," the ticket-checking NPC announced in a sinister tone. "Three-minute interval."

Shen Hao grabbed Xu You and rushed in first.

Lu Wen and Lin Lu entered as the second group. Soon, Lin Lu's screams and Lu Wen's soothing voices echoed through the corridor.

Xie Wang and Su Qinghe stood at the ticket gate. Lu Yi stood alone behind them.

"Um," Lu Yi raised his hand. "I'm the odd one out."

The ticket inspector glanced at Lu Yi.

The NPC waved, and a nurse NPC with a pale face and black eyeshadow walked over.

"Follow this nurse through the staff entrance to fill in," the ticket checker coldly announced.

Lu Yi took a deep breath as he watched the terrifying nurse walking towards him.

Xie Wang led Su Qinghe across the rusty iron gate.

Darkness instantly engulfed them.