Wedding Night
A'Luo walked out of Ye's house slowly with a well-trained smile on her face. Behind her, several girls stood beside her, holding red lanterns in an orderly manner.
"Welcome everyone to the haunted house: The Ghost Stories of the Ye Mansion. Here, you're not spending money, you're buying a thrilling life!"
Qi Mingxiu interrupted impatiently.
"Tell me, how much can you buy the secrets of the Ye Mansion for?" Qi Mingxiu raised his chin, like a proud cat owner, which was completely inconsistent with his gentle appearance. "I have plenty of money."
Ah Luo was calm and composed, her voice clear and bright. "We won't share the truth behind the Ye Mansion's massacre. You need to enter the mansion and explore it yourself." She stepped aside, making way for the door. "There are several checkpoints inside. You can choose to play the role of someone in the Ye Mansion, relive the events of that year, and search for clues."
"You can choose to play the newlywed Master Ye, or an ordinary guard or a maid."
The crowd exploded immediately——
"What kind of a livelihood is this? I have to spend money and do it myself?"
"That's right! Isn't this asking for trouble?"
Ah Luo was well prepared. She picked up the gong and banged it. The deafening sound suppressed the anger of the crowd.
"Don't be anxious!" She waved with a smile, and several girls immediately came out with scrolls in their hands.
Exquisite paintings unfold in front of the door: dilapidated houses covered with vines, red candles dripping tears in the bright wedding room, and tablets in the deep ancestral hall are crooked... Every detail is breathtaking.
"We've made some modifications to the Ye Mansion," A'Luo tapped the painting with her fingertips, "It's an absolutely one-to-one restoration."
A few murmurs came from the crowd: "It seems really good..."
Seeing that everyone's interest had been piqued, Ah Luo immediately struck while the iron was hot, her voice as clear as a silver bell: "Dear guests, our Ye Mansion Strange Stories is divided into three acts."
She held up three fingers. "Act One: The Wedding. You'll experience the lively wedding banquet at the Ye Mansion. Act Two: The Haunted Mansion. Find out the source of the mansion's strangeness. Act Three: The End. Uncover the mystery of the family's annihilation."
She flipped her wrist and, like a magician, produced a gilded clepsydra. "Each act is limited to two hours. Only those who have found all the clues can begin the next act. I wonder if anyone in the audience would like to be the first guest. The first five people can go for free."
"he."
Qi Xiuming didn't hesitate at all and immediately stepped back, revealing the strong man behind him.
Isn't this young man very interested? Why doesn't he go by himself?
The strong man cursed in his heart and was extremely anxious. If he had known earlier, he would not have been the first to take action and get himself into trouble.
Seeing him hesitate, Qi Xiuming snorted coldly: "Add me in."
Tsk, it’s useless to be so big.
"Okay."
Ah Luo smiled and invited the two into the house. The vermilion lacquered carved door closed silently behind them, completely isolating the noise outside.
"I wonder who will play the eldest son of the Ye family?" She tilted her head, her eyes wandering between the two of them.
Qi Mingxiu touched his jade-like cheek, and a haughty arc appeared at the corner of his lips: "Do I even need to choose?"
He glanced at the hunched-over burly man beside him, "Unless one is blind, anyone can see that..." He raised his fingertips to lift the hair at his temples, his eyes gentle and playful, "Who else could be more suitable than this young master?"
The sturdy man nodded and bowed, no longer showing his previous arrogance: "Yes, yes, the young master is a dragon and a phoenix, and I am just a rough man."
Ah Luo smiled, turned around and took out two sets of clothes from the sandalwood cabinet. When Qi Mingxiu's wedding dress appeared, the whole room was bright and beautiful. The bright red brocade was densely woven with gold threads, with auspicious dragons and phoenixes, the cuffs were decorated with pearl buttons, the jade belt around the waist was inlaid with seven treasures and colored glaze, and even the uppers of the shoes were embroidered with lotus flowers.
Qi Mingxiu's pupils dilated slightly, and his fingertips involuntarily touched the cloud pattern on the cuffs of his wedding dress. The stitching and embroidery were even better than those of the embroiderer he hired at a high price.
However, he frowned, his eyes flashing with hesitation. Is it right to wear wedding clothes before getting married...
Ah Luo saw his hesitation and said, "This dress is just for the guests to have a better immersive experience. If you don't want to..."
"I didn't say no." Qi Mingxiu snatched the wedding dress, but his ears turned red.
What if I don’t wear it now and then I won’t have the chance?
In front of the dressing mirror,
Qi Mingxiu stared at the person in the mirror. Her red dress was as bright as fire, her waist was bound by a jade belt, and her features were picturesque beneath a golden crown. He couldn't help but spin around, his dress blooming like a blood-red peony. He was extremely satisfied and said arrogantly, "It has to be this young master. Who else in Chuzhou City could be more handsome than me?"
"The embroiderer in your shop is quite good. I'm willing to pay a large sum of money..."
Qi Xiuming sensed something was wrong, paused, and turned around abruptly. A'Luo had left without him knowing, leaving the burly man standing in the corner, pondering the guard uniform in a daze.
"Where is she?" Qi Mingxiu grabbed the strong man by the collar. The gold thread on the cuffs of his wedding dress shone coldly in the candlelight.
The strong man turned pale and stammered, "No, I don't know..."
"Useless trash!" Qi Mingxiu shook him off and looked around calmly.
The candlelight in the room flickered, casting the shadows of the two people on the wall, making them look mottled. Qi Mingxiu's eyes suddenly focused on the desk, where a piece of yellowed rice paper was placed.
He walked quickly forward and saw a few lines of words written in cinnabar on the paper. The handwriting was crooked and twisted, as if someone had carved them out with a fingernail dipped in blood:
Rules for finding a haunted house:
1. Welcome everyone to participate in the Ye Mansion Strange Stories Escape Room. This is an immersive experience game. Please consciously cooperate with the staff in the haunted house to ensure the smooth progress of the game.
2. All guests have the right to terminate the game at any time. Just call out loudly and our staff will come over immediately to guide you out.
3. The clues to the Ye Mansion mystery need to be explored by the guests themselves. Please don’t miss anything you can see.
4. Guests are requested to take no care of the facilities in the haunted house. If anyone intentionally causes damage, please compensate for the damage accordingly.
5. After the two hours are up, please answer the puzzles of this game at the counter. If you answer all the questions correctly, you will enter the next scene. If you answer none of them correctly, you will be considered to have failed the game.
6. Each person has only one chance to experience the plot. Please seize the opportunity. If the game fails, you can choose to experience it again. In this case, you will be given half an hour to collect clues and answer the puzzle again. If you still cannot get the answer, you can do so again.
Warm reminder: The haunted house is equipped with a variety of thrilling and exciting experience scenarios. If you encounter some events that are not in line with common sense, please do not panic too much, stay rational, and believe that there are no ghosts in this world.
"So troublesome?" Qi Mingxiu crumpled the rice paper into a ball. The gold-rimmed cuffs flashed a cold light in the candlelight. "I hate these twists and turns the most!"
I haven't even been to school many times, and I still have to use my brain here? Could this place be in collusion with my father? Qi Xiuming got a headache when he thought of his father beating him with a stick at home.
The burly man's eyes rolled, and he immediately hunched over and stepped forward. "Master Qi is such a great man, why should he follow these lousy rules?" He rubbed his hands obsequiously, "How about... I show you the way?"
Qi Mingxiu glanced at him sideways and was about to kick open the carved wooden door when a little maid with two buns rushed in in a panic and grabbed the sleeve of Qi Mingxiu's wedding dress.
"Ah! Young Master, why are you still here? The bride has already arrived and is waiting for you to get married!"
Qi Mingxiu stumbled as she pulled him, his gold-studded boots almost stepping on the hem of his clothes. "Wait! Are we going to get married?"
I'm still a novice, this is not good!
Before he could finish his words, the maid had already hurriedly dragged him through the corridor. The lanterns on both sides flickered, emitting a faint light.
Before they even reached the location, Qi Mingxiu's eyes rolled and he was instantly immersed in the role. He held his forehead and pretended to be dizzy: "My head is so dizzy... What's the name of the bride I'm going to marry? I can't seem to remember."
The maid stopped abruptly and looked at him suspiciously, "Master, did you hit your head yesterday?" She lowered her voice and said, "This new wife is called Yao Niang, but you brought her back from outside yourself!"
"New wife?" Qi Mingxiu narrowed his eyes. He always felt that the maid's description was a little strange, but he couldn't tell what was wrong.
In the main hall not far away, "The guests are coming, hurry up!" Ruan Yunsheng called out to the girls to quickly stand at their positions according to the rehearsal, and then quickly left, hiding in the hidden employee passage, secretly directing everything.
Qi Xiuming turned around the corridor and the joyful sound suddenly exploded, and the shrill sound of suona was like the scream of an evil spirit.
In the main hall, red silk was hung high and candles were brightly lit, but the light that should have been festive was instead a strange bluish-white. A woman in gorgeous clothes was sitting on the main seat. It was clearly a happy day, but her face showed no joy at all.
In front of the lady stood the bride wearing a red veil, and the female relatives on both sides stood stiffly, their faces covered with thick makeup like masks, and their eyes were dark and lifeless, like puppets controlled by silk strings.
The entire wedding hall was eerily quiet, with only the crackling of burning candles.
Until the moment Qi Mingxiu stepped in——
“Click, click, click…”
All the women suddenly turned their heads towards him like a stuck old machine, with the corners of their mouths raised in the same arc at the same time, staring at him straight.
Qi Mingxiu felt a chill on his back. Why did he feel like he was looking at a piece of meat on a chopping board?
Not to mention that the employees in this haunted house have such good acting skills, he almost suspected that he had seen a ghost.
If the people present could hear it, they might sigh that the young master of the Qi family has a very accurate intuition and there is indeed a trick hidden in it!
"Li'er is finally here." The mistress spoke, but her voice seemed to come from the bottom of a well, with a buzzing echo. "Hurry up and get married. Don't miss the auspicious time."
Then Qi Mingxiu was pushed to the center of the hall. The bride, covered with a red veil, stood quietly in front of the wedding table, waiting for him to come over.
Are you really coming?
Qi Mingxiu's Adam's apple rolled and cold sweat slid down his back. The more nervous he became, the more uncontrollable his mouth became.
"Let's skip the wedding ceremony, okay?" He gave a frivolous smile, and lifted a corner of the bride's veil with his fingertips. "Mom, I can't wait to have some good time with the bride."
The guests in the hall gasped for breath, and the joyous sounds abruptly stopped. The Ye family's mistress's pale face twitched slightly. She glanced towards the staff passage, and after receiving Ruan Yunsheng's consent, she slowly nodded: "As you wish."
Qi Mingxiu turned around and ran as if he had been pardoned. It was not that he was cowardly. The people in the room had been staring at him without blinking since he came in. Their eyes were so sharp and creepy.
As soon as he stepped out of the door, he heard the mistress's sinister voice from behind him: "Stop."
He froze, and slowly turned his head—
"You forgot to bring your bride." The mistress smiled slightly, revealing her white teeth.
"Oh, oh..." He laughed dryly and retreated into the hall, grabbing the bride's wrist. At this time, he had no time to think about why the temperature of his hand was so low, he just wanted to leave this place quickly.
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