Lost

"That's it. Who are you trying to scare?" Ye Jing'an shook his finger with a disdainful tone.

"Have you forgotten the snake just now?" Qiu Zimu sneered.

Ye Jingan: “…”

They walked towards the second floor, but the staff at the stairwell stopped them and said, "You need to hand in your flashlight."

"Huh?" Qiu Zimu gripped the flashlight tightly. "It's pitch dark and I can't see anything. How can I find the props?"

The staff member explained: "The second floor is full of special props. You can see them even without a flashlight."

The three of them handed in their flashlights and continued forward. In the darkness, they could only follow the bright green arrow on the ground.

"Hey, Ye Jingan, why are you running to the back? Don't grab my hand!" Qiu Zimu said.

"Who arrested you?"

Qiu Zimu heard Ye Jing'an's voice coming from the front. He touched the hand that was holding him, and it was icy cold. Suddenly, a beam of white light appeared in the darkness, illuminating a face with blood flowing from all seven orifices and pus-filled sores.

"Ah!!!" Qiu Zimu shook off his hand and ran away.

Ye Jingan saw the ghost face, ran over to take a look and said, "Oh, man, you're standing there scary, pretty mean, look how scared my friend is."

The staff member felt quite accomplished when he saw someone being scared, and he laughed.

"Let's go." Ye Jing'an let Qiu Zimu go ahead, and reached to the right to grab the corner of Liu Muze's clothes. "You're still here. I thought you were taken away by a ghost."

"Are you scared?" Liu Muzhe shook his hand that was grabbed by his sleeve.

"Who's afraid? I'm holding you because I'm afraid you'll get lost in the dark." Ye Jing'an simply grabbed his wrist.

Liu Muzhe smiled but said nothing.

"Let me grab Qiu Zimu too, or he'll be grabbed by someone else." Ye Jing'an shouted twice, but got no response from Qiu Zimu. He took two more steps forward, but still didn't touch him. "Don't scare me! If I catch you, I'll kick you!"

There was still no response, Ye Jingan became anxious, Qiu Zimu would not joke like this.

"Go back and look for it." Liu Muzhe said.

"Hey, he was walking in front just now. We should go forward to look for him!" Ye Jingan pulled him.

"Trust me." Liu Muzhe said.

He shouted all the way back, but didn't hear Qiu Zimu's response. After searching the second floor, he returned to the stairs where he handed in the flashlight. Ye Jingan asked, "Handsome guy, have you seen the boy we were with just now?"

The staff member shook his head and said, "Maybe he went to the third floor. I didn't see him go down."

"Just say he walked forward." Ye Jingan wanted to go to the third floor to look for him, but was pulled to the first floor by Liu Muzhe.

Ye Jingan thought it was impossible that he was on the first floor. Seeing his certain attitude, he followed him downstairs to look for him. Finally, they saw Qiu Zimu huddled in a corner, trembling, at the corner with the clown doll. Ye Jingan walked up to him and kicked his shoes with his foot: "Hey, why did you run down here? I was looking for you for so long."

"Ah... go away! Don't come over here!" Qiu Zimu became even more frightened after hearing Ye Jing'an's voice. He huddled in the corner and kept shouting.

Ye Jingan: “???”

Liu Muze squatted beside Qiu Zimu and whispered, "Don't be afraid, it's us."

Qiu Zimu calmed down after hearing Liu Muze's voice, turned around, grabbed his hand and said, "Brother Liu, there really is a ghost here!"

Ye Jingan: “…”

"Okay, I understand. Let's go out first." Liu Muzhe comforted.

Qiu Zimu said "hmm" obediently and followed Liu Muzhe.

"Are you leaving just like that? The fun isn't over yet!" Ye Jing'an widened his eyes, and seeing that the two didn't respond, he had no choice but to follow them.

The three of them found the staff on the first floor and came out from the emergency exit.

As soon as Ye Jingan saw the sun, he asked Qiu Zimu with an unhappy look on his face: "What happened to you? When did you sneak back to the first floor? The staff didn't see you go downstairs."

"I saw you." Qiu Zimu stared at him with a strange look.

"What nonsense are you talking about?" Ye Jingan rolled his eyes.

"That's not what I meant. You told me to go in front at Guilian, right?" Qiu Zimu had a sad face and waved his hands to explain.

Ye Jingan nodded.

"I hadn't walked a few steps when I turned around to talk to you, but you were gone. Then you suddenly came out from behind, patted my shoulder, and said you'd found a fun place and wanted to take me there. I even asked why Brother Liu hadn't come with you, and you said he was waiting for us there. As we were walking, I felt that this road was different from the one we came from. I realized something was wrong, so I pulled my hand away and asked who you were. You turned around, gave me a sinister sneer, and then turned into a bloody mess and pounced on me. I retreated to a corner, and not long after, you guys arrived."

Ye Jingan blinked a few times and looked at Liu Muzhe.

Seeing that the two of them were silent, Qiu Zimu said anxiously, "Everything I said is true. I didn't lie to you."

"I know you didn't lie to me. Go back and rest for a while." Liu Muzhe saw that he was a little agitated and didn't want to say anything more to scare him.

Qiu Zimu nodded and walked ahead in a depressed mood. Ye Jingan was curious about what was going on, but seeing that his whole body seemed to be drained of strength and he looked stupid, he didn't dare to ask more questions.

After sending him back to his room to rest, Ye Jing'an pulled Liu Muze aside and asked, "What's going on? I didn't take him to any fun places. I was always with you."

"There's something wrong with that haunted house." Liu Muzhe stared at Ye Jing'an, looking forward to his reaction.

"So he really met her?" Ye Jing'an's tone was full of doubt. After all, he had never seen her before.

"Well, didn't you meet him too?" Liu Muzhe raised the corners of his mouth.

"!!!" Ye Jing'an's eyes widened, a chill running down his spine. "When?"

"It's that clown. What you see on the second floor is the one on the first floor, and the blood is real blood." Liu Muzhe said indifferently.

"Ah!" Although the blood on his hands had been washed clean, he still wiped his hands on his trouser legs, "Why didn't you stop me?"

Thinking that there was blood on his face, he suddenly felt a chill and his facial features twisted together.

"Don't you want to play it yourself? You don't believe me even though I told you." Liu Muzhe showed a playful smile.

Ye Jingan: “…”

"Why did it take Qiu Zimu away and not the two of us?" Ye Jing'an asked.

"It dares to pull me?" Liu Muzhe raised his eyebrows. It was estimated that even ghosts wouldn't want to do it.

"Hey, you're incredible! You're even more assertive than my great master." Ye Jing'an was speechless for a moment after hearing his disdainful tone. "Will anyone else be okay? There are still many staff and players inside."

"It's okay now, but it may be okay in the future. I'll go check it out in the evening when the people in the amusement park have left. Want to go with me?" Liu Muzhe said.

Ye Jingan shook his head.

"What? Are you scared?" Liu Muzhe raised the corner of his mouth.

Ye Jingan pursed his lips. What can I say? I have always thought that something does not exist, but now I have encountered it. I need some time to prepare myself mentally.

"Then you stay in the hotel and I'll go by myself." Liu Muzhe smiled.

Ye Jingan hesitated. It would be unfair to let Brother Liu go alone. If anything happened, there would be no one to take care of him. It's just a ghost, so he should fight it anyway! He still has some spells he learned, so maybe they'll come in handy. Ye Jingan said, "It's too dangerous. I can't let you go alone. I'll go with you."

"Okay." Liu Muzhe found it funny when he saw Ye Jing'an's eyes narrowed, as if he was going to die. However, this boy was still very loyal.

Ye Jingan bought dinner. When he walked in, he saw Qiu Zimu huddled in the corner of the bed in a daze. He helped him open the lunch box and said, "Stop being in a daze and eat."

Qiu Zimu hesitated for a minute, then sat down stupidly.

"Oh, it's not like I haven't seen new things before, so why would I scare you like this?" Ye Jing'an put his arm around his shoulders and comforted him.

"I've never seen it before. I've only learned witchcraft, but I've seen quite a few dead people. I've only seen monsters in my ancestors' notes, but this is the first time I've seen you turn into that ghostly look in front of me." Qiu Zimu still has a psychological trauma when he sees Ye Jing'an's face.

"Ah..." Ye Jing'an clasped his hands behind his head, tilting his chair to look at the ceiling. "We were protected so well by our family that we never encountered anything like this. Now that we've left home, all kinds of monsters and demons are coming to find us. We're sure to encounter all kinds of things in the future."

Qiu Zimu sighed. He had always believed in the existence of ghosts and was mentally prepared, but it was really scary to be hit by something like this suddenly.

"Tonight, Brother Liu and I are going to visit the haunted house again. You should have a good rest in the hotel." Ye Jing'an said seriously.

"Are you still going?" Qiu Zimu put down the chopsticks in his hand.

"Well, Brother Liu said there's something seriously wrong with the haunted house, we have to go check it out." Ye Jing'an smiled wickedly, "I'll tell you in secret, that clown is also a real ghost."

"I said it was the same one. The fingerprints on its face were mine." Qiu Zimu recalled the clown's touch, and the hairs on his back stood up, his scalp tingling. "Are you really going?"

"Well, what if that ghost hurts others in the future? We have to deal with it." A trace of worry appeared on Ye Jing'an's face.

"Take this and throw it away if there's any danger." Qiu Zimu was worried and gave him a few more poisonous insects. "You can also ring the bell. I'll help you."

Ye Jing'an looked at the insect jar. This was probably Qiu Zimu's most precious treasure, yet he was willing to throw it away.

"Don't worry, Brother Liu is here." Ye Jing'an patted his shoulder with a smile and returned the insect jar to him.

The amusement park closed at 8 p.m., and Liu Muze waited until midnight before telling Ye Jing'an to leave. Dingcheng District was still ablaze with lights in the early morning, and the roadside barbecue stalls were bustling with activity. The hotel wasn't far from the amusement park, only a ten-minute walk away.

The amusement park was deserted at night. After the bustling scene during the day, this deserted amusement park in the dim moonlight seemed a bit eerie in the early morning. The haunted house with white walls and red blood was no longer popular during the day, giving people a chilling feeling.

"Do we really have to go in? Will anything happen?" Ye Jing'an held Liu Muze, "I haven't even started my travel plans yet, and I don't want to die in there."

"What could happen?" Liu Muzhe said indifferently.

"So confident?" Ye Jing'an asked him, tilting his head. "Aren't you an antique dealer? Do you catch ghosts? Is your family in the business too?"

"I am an orphan and have no home. I learned a lot of skills from my master. He told me to do more good deeds, so I went around helping others." Liu Muzhe sighed.

"I'm sorry for mentioning your sad story." Ye Jing'an frowned slightly, feeling as if a thorn had pricked his heart.

During holidays, when he happily eats and chats with his family, is Brother Liu alone? When he's sick or sad at home, he has his father, sister, and grandfather to care for him and comfort him, and even his great master to protect him. But what about Brother Liu? Who does he have?