Chapter 23 Who laughed just now?

Xie Xun wanted to regain control of his body, but found himself like a ghost trapped in a puppet, only able to feel but unable to intervene.

He could clearly feel his heart pounding violently in his chest from excitement and nervousness, as well as the breathing of Xiao Chen and Ye Zi behind him.

When they first came in, they were afraid, but more than that, they were eager for traffic and to become famous.

The corridor was dilapidated; due to long-term neglect, large patches of plaster had peeled off the walls, revealing the dark concrete beneath, and even some weeds. A faint, musty smell permeated the air, pungent and unpleasant.

"Family members, did you see that? These marks on the wall, don't they look like bloody handprints?"

Qiangzi's voice rang out uncontrollably, with a deliberately trembling tone, as he reached out to touch the stain. "The stench here is also very strong, and there's a pungent smell in the air from time to time, like the smell of dead rats."

As soon as he finished speaking, a sudden buzzing sound filled his mind, and a cold, sticky gaze enveloped him from all directions. Xie Xun shivered violently, and fear gradually spread from the bottom of his heart.

He wanted to leave, hoping to use talismans or Taoist magic to dispel the strangeness before him.

However, he couldn't do anything, as if he were trapped inside Qiangzi's body, forced to watch the people in front of him perform.

"Qiang, Brother Qiang..."

Ye Zi, her voice trembling with tears, looked around anxiously, "I think I heard someone crying, it's so scary..."

Don't scare yourself!

Xiao Chen interrupted gruffly, but his hand holding the camera trembled almost imperceptibly. He quickly added, "That's just the sound of the wind, don't make a fuss!"

Seeing this, Brother Qiangzi tacitly agreed with Xiao Chen's statement and continued to introduce the haunted house to the camera.

Behind those tightly closed doors in the corridor, something seemed to be wriggling, not like a physical entity, but more like a malevolent aura formed from resentment.

They seeped out like a tide through the cracks in the door, silently gathering all around, greedily absorbing the vitality brought by the living.

"Don't be afraid!"

Qiangzi mustered his courage and took the lead, opening the door to 1674 first.

The live stream chat became even more active because of the strange reaction earlier, with donation effects flashing constantly. His strong desire for popularity and money gradually overcame his fear.

Following the information they had found earlier, they prepared to open the door and go to the living room first.

"Family members, the house is haunted when we open the door! The exciting moment has arrived!"

Qiangzi spoke to the camera, trying to encourage himself. He took a deep breath and pushed open the heavy door.

The door hinges creaked loudly, and several beams of flashlight light immediately swept inside.

This is a typical old-style village living room, small and cramped. The floor is covered with stained green tiles, and the lower half of the walls are white tiles, some of which have peeled off, revealing yellowish-brown mold.

Upon entering, you are immediately confronted by a tall, dark wooden cabinet that almost covers an entire wall. The cabinet is crammed with miscellaneous items, and in the very center stands a shrine.

The shrine does not enshrine Guanyin or Guan Gong, but a strangely shaped black smiling Buddha.

The Buddha statue sat cross-legged, with a round belly and an extremely exaggerated smile on its face, the corners of its mouth almost reaching its ears, and its eyes were smiling, but it made people feel uneasy.

The Buddha statue had an eerie, greasy sheen. The incense burner in front of it was not filled with incense ash, but rather with a viscous liquid that looked like congealed blood, with a few small bones stuck in it.

Qiangzi swallowed hard, steeled himself, and walked forward with his phone camera, turning the lens around to point at the Buddha statue.

"This doesn't look like a proper Buddha statue; it looks more like some kind of evil god."

He suppressed the unease that inexplicably rose in his heart and spoke to the camera.

The flashlight beam swept across the eerie face of the black, smiling Buddha, and I instinctively wanted to move it away.

However, just as he was about to turn the camera away, he caught a glimpse of the rapidly scrolling comments on his phone screen out of the corner of his eye, one of which was particularly glaring.

[The streamer chickened out? Dare to pick up that bone in the incense burner and take a closer look, and I'll gift you 10 Carnival gifts! I'll give you one now!]

Ten carnivals!

Qiangzi felt his breathing quicken instantly, and all the blood rushed to his head.

The immense temptation, like an invisible hand, fiercely pulled out his deepest desire for money, temporarily suppressing the constant warnings of terror.

"Home, family, can you see this?"

His voice trembled with excitement, carrying a wild, frenzied excitement: "A big brother said that as long as I pick up this bone, I can win ten Carnivals! Guys, type 'Big Brother is awesome' in the chat! We have to take this one!"

"Brother Qiangzi, don't..." Ye Zi tried timidly to dissuade him from behind.

"What's there to be afraid of!"

Qiangzi interrupted her, as if trying to bolster his courage, or perhaps blinded by greed, and said with a forced smile, "It's just a broken bone, what's it going to do, jump up and bite me?"

He took a deep breath, as if trying to inhale enough courage, and then, with trembling hands, reached out and carefully pinched the bone stuck in the dark red, viscous liquid.

As soon as I picked it up, my fingertips felt an unusually cold and slippery sensation.

This was completely different from what Xie Xun had imagined, and he felt a chill run down his spine.

Qiangzi pulled the bone out of the incense burner, held it up to the camera, and said with a forced smile, "Did everyone see clearly? That's it? It's nothing special..."

His words came to an abrupt end.

Because, the moment the bone left the dark red liquid, with a slight cracking sound, the bone he was holding broke in the middle on its own.

At the fracture site, there was no bone marrow; the inside was empty, as if it had been sucked clean by something.

at the same time.

The black smiling Buddha's lips seemed to curve upwards even more, and the temperature in the entire living room suddenly dropped several degrees.

"Waaah—waaah—"

Suddenly, a faint, indistinct cry drifted in from somewhere, like the cry of a baby or the wail of a woman, spreading out little by little like a sticky spider web.

Holy crap!!!

[A broken bone?! Oh my god, that's terrifying!]

Put it down quickly!!!

[I clicked on this by accident, but I wish my whole family good health and all the best!!!]

[It's a script, right? It's a script, right?! This tonic scared me!]

Qiangzi stood frozen in place, his face deathly pale, his fingers gripping the half-broken bone icy cold. A chill ran up his spine, making his hands and feet numb.

Oh no, it seems he's... gotten himself into big trouble.

"Wow!!!"

A twisted, grotesque face with its eyes rolled back suddenly emerged from behind his shoulder, almost touching his face.

"Aaaaaaaahh ...

Qiangzi was terrified, letting out a heart-wrenching scream. He almost threw the bone and the selfie stick in his hand together, his heart feeling like it was going to jump out of his throat.

Immediately afterwards, Xiao Chen and Ye Zi burst into uncontrollable laughter behind him.

"Haha, Qiangzi, what you did just now was hilarious!"

Xiao Chen laughed so hard he slapped his thigh, casually tossing aside the mask he'd deliberately made into a funny face. "The live stream exploded! The effect was off the charts, right?"

Still shaken, Qiangzi looked at Xiao Chen's smug smile after his prank succeeded, and then glanced at the barrage of "hahaha" and countless gifts in the live stream. A feeling of exhaustion from surviving a disaster washed over him.

"Damn! You scared me to death!" he cursed, but his wildly beating heart calmed down a little.

It turned out to be a false alarm; I was just too nervous.

The human prank diluted the eeriness of the moment, and the atmosphere seemed to instantly shift from supernatural horror back to the familiar live-streaming antics.

"whee……"

A child's soft laughter suddenly rang out in the living room.

It wasn't from the headphones, it wasn't from outside the door, it was right beside them.

The three of them froze instantly. The smiles on Xiao Chen and Ye Zi's faces were frozen, and a chill ran down their spines.

"Who...who laughed just now?" Ye Zi's voice trembled uncontrollably.

No one answered.

Immediately afterwards, the screen of the old television in the corner of the living room lit up on its own with a crackling sound.

Amidst the shimmering snowflakes, a blurry black-and-white photo of a family of four faintly appears, with the parents and two young children all wearing happy smiles.

But this normal scene now appears incredibly eerie.

"Dad...why did you kill us..."

"Why……"

"Waaaaah... Don't kill me... Don't kill Mommy..."

A series of tearful, childish voices emanated from the television speakers, echoing throughout the living room.