"There's a new storm on the horizon, how can we afford to stay still..."
"Stop singing, it sounds awful," Xing Yuanzhi scolded angrily.
"Jinqi, do I sing that badly?" Cheng Jinyang turned and asked.
"Brother Jinyang, your singing is the best!" Cui Xiaoniang immediately clapped her hands, tilted her head, and said playfully with a smile.
"Yuanzhi, you need to improve your music appreciation skills," Cheng Jinyang turned again and said earnestly.
Xing Yuanzhi ground her teeth in frustration.
Cheng Jinyang walked down the shopping street, flanked by two beautiful girls on either side.
Xing Yuanzhi walked on his left. It was rare for her not to wear her veil hat today; instead, she was dressed in a white down jacket, long pants, and snow boots. Her black hair was tied up and tucked into the hood of her jacket.
Her originally swan-like fair and elegant neck was also wrapped in layers of scarves—truly a dust prevention expert.
Cui Jinqi walked on his right, wearing a thick goose-yellow cotton coat, looking like an adorable little bear.
Unlike Xing Yuanzhi, who carefully protected her hair, she had her hair tied into a beautiful bun at the back of her head, adorned with a soft cosmos hairpin, boldly showing it off.
She left a few strands of hair hanging on either side of her face, following the curve of her oval face lightly—after all, it made her face look slimmer.
As for Cheng Jinyang himself... let's not even mention it. As the dignified head of a clan, his demeanor was imposing enough without needing any particular clothes to enhance it.
In short, he was dressed like a typical guy, and just half an hour ago, Cui Jinqi had complained about his mismatched outfit colors, insisting on buying him new clothes.
Then they ran into Lu Qingyun, and Cui Xiaoniang made some outrageous comments, prompting the intolerant Xing Yuanzhi to step in and suppress her on the spot. The scene was truly unbearable to watch.
But Cui Jinqi, being from one of the Five Great Families, couldn't be killed to silence her (if that were possible, Miss Wang wouldn't have survived back then). So Xing Yuanzhi just gave her a good thrashing.
Cui Jinqi was bullied to the point of tears and looked pitifully at Cheng Jinyang, who immediately looked up at the sky, indicating he was powerless.
Thus, Cui Xiaoniang understood that this man who once saved her with a giant steel golem was not invincible... Even the mighty King of Western Chu had to bow to Lady Yu. What could he do?
Jinyang had his own difficulties; I can't rely on him too much. I must confront this cold-faced girl head-on!
So, for the rest of the way, the two girls bickered, sniping at each other with sarcastic remarks, their verbal sparring evenly matched. They argued from one end of the shopping street to the other, leaving Cheng Jinyang unable to get a word in.
After all, the two girls were fighting over him (or so they thought). If he sided with one, it would be inappropriate, and siding with neither would make him unpopular with both. After much contemplation, Cheng Jinyang finally came up with a brilliant tactic: the Great Shift of the Universe.
Also known as the "topic change" technique. He would divert the girls' attention just before a conflict erupted.
"Jinyang, Jinyang!" Cui Jinqi suddenly pointed ahead and exclaimed, "That hotpot place is really good! Their beef and lamb are freshly slaughtered, incredibly fresh. And the plates of ingredients even have warm, thick blood on them!"
In just a few words, she made Xing Yuanzhi's skin crawl, showing that Cui Xiaoniang had completely grasped her opponent's weakness and was skilled at backstabbing.
"Ahem!" Cheng Jinyang quickly employed his topic change technique, "By the way, did you know it's supposed to snow heavily next week?"
"Isn't it too early to eat now?" But Ah Zhi didn't fall for it. Perhaps she was too angry to be distracted and countered immediately, "Why don't we play a bit more? Hey, is that a haunted house up ahead? Jinyang, will you go with us?"
According to intelligence from the Ground Network, Cui Jinqi loved variety shows and romantic dramas in various videos, but there was one genre with zero views: horror movies.
"Haunted house?" Cui Xiaoniang was a bit scared at first, but her habit of lying kicked in at the wrong time, and she forced herself to say loudly, "Sure, sure, just don't cling to Jinyang and cry."
For Cui Xiaoniang's childish remark, Xing Yuanzhi gave a disdainful sneer, showing a look of contempt.
Since she agreed, Cheng Jinyang couldn't forcibly stop them, so he could only sigh inwardly, "You reap what you sow," and nodded in agreement:
"Let's go, let's go!"
The three of them arrived at the haunted house entrance. The storefront was very narrow, only about 2 meters wide, wedged between a hotpot restaurant and a nightclub. There was no door, just a staircase extending down into the darkness, with a sign next to it reading, "Haunted, not for the faint-hearted."
"This is a haunted house?" Cheng Jinyang expressed doubt.
"It should be," Xing Yuanzhi said uncertainly, clearly having never been to such a place before.
Cheng Jinyang was speechless. If you've never been here before, why did you suggest it? Are you two already resorting to using the Qi Shang Fist(Seven Injury Fist) just to harm each other?
He remained silent, while Xing Yuanzhi glanced at the darkness ahead, her mind slightly unsettled.
She wasn't really afraid of ghosts or zombies, but she had heard that many haunted houses, in their efforts to be realistic, used fake blood, spider webs, and intentionally darkened environments to make visitors bump into things...
Damn it! If I'm walking inside and suddenly get drenched in fake blood, I'll tear this place apart!
While she was hesitating, she was misunderstood by Cui Jinqi as being scared. Cui Xiaoniang then said sarcastically, "Tsk, Jinyang, it looks like Yuanzhi is scared. Maybe we should skip this and go to that hot pot place where they cook the meat right after killing it..."
"Scared?" Xing Yuanzhi sneered at her. "Just be careful not to wet your pants later."
Without looking back, she walked down the stairs. Cheng Jinyang sighed and motioned for Cui Jinqi to follow quickly.
The three of them descended the steps, with Xing Yuanzhi using her phone's flashlight to light the way. Cheng Jinyang was at the rear when suddenly someone grabbed his arm.
"Jinyang..." Cui Xiaoniang whispered fearfully, "I'm not afraid of ghosts, but I'm scared there might be big rats here that could suddenly run across my feet..."
Then why did you agree to come in the first place? Cheng Jinyang thought, feeling exasperated.
They followed Xing Yuanzhi to the bottom, about two floors underground, and saw the passageway open up a bit. A consultation booth was set into the wall, and behind the glass window, a girl with long black hair was sleeping.
"Excuse me." Xing Yuanzhi knocked on the window. "Are you still open?"
After a moment, the girl raised her head, revealing a pretty, innocent face.
Xing Yuanzhi was puzzled.
The girl looked confused for a moment, then her eyes fell on Cui Jinqi.
"Jinqi?"
"Sister Pei!" Cui Jinqi exclaimed in surprise. "What are you doing here? Ah! So it's true that you work all sorts of part-time jobs!"
"Yes." Zheng Qiupei stood up shyly. "I'm working here... Are you guys here to visit the haunted house?"
"Yes." Cui Jinqi was almost in tears. "I thought... Anyway, is this a properly run haunted house? (So, no real ghosts?)"
"Of course." Zheng Qiupei laughed. "The owner is my distant uncle. Since it's winter break and I have nothing to do, I'm helping him out."
"The Wu family runs a haunted house?" Cheng Jinyang was confused.
Aren't they supposed to be involved in high-end industries like finance and asset management?
"Not all members of the Wu family are rich," Xing Yuanzhi whispered, reminding him of his impoliteness.
"The owner just does this as a hobby." Zheng Qiupei smiled. "He works at the construction bureau, but he loves ghost stories. So, he bought some notorious houses and crime scenes, turning them into free haunted houses for enthusiasts."
"Crime scenes?"
"Yes, this used to be a basement rental. One winter, someone used illegal coal for heating, causing a fire in the middle of the night. About sixty people were poisoned by carbon monoxide and burned to death inside."
"My uncle thought, 'Since it's a fire scene with so many deaths, it could become a good 'haunted fire site,' so he bought it from the landlord to make a haunted house!"
Zheng Qiupei walked out from the booth and opened the opposite door. "It's said that in winter, visitors often see ghostly flames inside. But I've been in many times and never saw anything."
"Jinqi, if you see a ghost in there, could you take a photo for me?" She requested sincerely.
Cui Jinqi's legs were trembling, and she was almost hiding behind Cheng Jinyang.