"What was that sound?" The couple looked suspiciously in the direction of the noise.
"It sounded like a gunshot..." JoJo muttered. In a space invisible to her, a figure flashed past, rushing toward the source of the sound.
Sothing's happened to Lu Li!
Anna's lips tightened. She transford into a translucent shadow and instantly crossed the remaining distance, materializing in the room with the well.
Without a glance at the well itself, she burst into the next room, from which a flickering light emanated.
In the glow of an oil lamp, Anna saw the scene in the hall of mirrors: Lu Li held a pistol in his right hand, and the young haunted house visitor JoJo had been with was writhing in pain on the floor.
Anna didn't bother to hide her presence. Sensing the unfamiliar ghostly aura, the young man cowered like a frightened quail, too scared to lift his head.
"Were you attacked?" Anna scanned Lu Li and, seeing he was unhard, relaxed slightly.
"They don't have the nerve," Lu Li said, holstering his pistol. He turned his head and asked, "Did you have fun?"
Anna, distracted, nodded without much enthusiasm.
"Yeah, but it wasn't that great..."
Perhaps because she'd spent so much ti with Lu Li, or maybe because the local ghosts were just too weak, Anna felt neither fear nor terror.
Had she simply grown bolder?
"I never thought there'd actually be real ghosts in a haunted house..."
"Bring the other ghosts from the haunted house here," Lu Li instructed. There was no longer any need to hide his purpose.
Anna was surprised. Wasn't their goal just to see if there was anything supernatural in the haunted house? Why gather all the ghosts? Still, she obeyed, chirping, "On it!"
And with that, she flew out of the room, vanishing in an instant.
Her aura faded rapidly into the distance.
"Hey? Is soone hurt?" a surprised voice called out. JoJo and the couple appeared in the doorway. The couple flinched in fear and hastily asked what had happened. JoJo walked past the man on the floor and went straight to Lu Li.
"Talk to them and ask them to leave," Lu Li said.
"Got it." JoJo turned back to the couple and declared with a serious expression, "We're investigating a paranormal incident. We'd like you to leave the premises."
"What...?" The couple exchanged a look, completely bewildered.
"Ahem... Allow
to explain," a voice said from the entrance.
A portly man in a colorful shirt and suit trousers, who looked like the manager, shuffled toward the couple.
As he passed the young man on the floor, he caught his eye and gestured for him to get up. "My apologies for the inconvenience," he began. "Allow
to introduce myself. I'm the manager of this haunted house—that is to say, the owner. And this is one of our employees. His job is to hide among the visitors and jump out to give them a good scare. Unfortunately, we've just had a small incident. Our employee, in an attempt to startle this... gentleman, may have gotten a bit too close, and the gentleman accidentally injured him. The haunted house is closing temporarily while we sort this out, so I'm afraid you won't be able to continue. However, we'll count this as a successful run for you, and our staff at the exit have gifts waiting. How does that sound?"
The young woman glanced suspiciously from one person to another before reluctantly agreeing. They headed for the exit the owner had indicated.
The mont the couple was gone, the manager's welcoming smile vanished, replaced by a sour grimace.
Just then, Anna reappeared at the entrance, rcilessly herding three sobbing ghosts into the hall of mirrors.
"Did I... say sothing wrong?" JoJo asked thoughtfully, returning to Lu Li's side.
It wasn't that JoJo was unintelligent... but her behavior was certainly odd.
"It doesn't matter," Lu Li replied. He didn't care about potential leaks; achieving his goal was all that mattered.
"All done!" Anna announced, clapping her hands as she returned to Lu Li. "Five ghosts in total," she declared proudly. "Hey, you lot! Line up!"
The five shadowy ghosts trembled and obediently ford a line before the more powerful spirit—Anna.
JoJo slanted a look at Anna, finding it hard to believe that the girl who usually seed so aristocratic could be this domineering.
Clack-clack-clack... The sound of chattering teeth ca from sowhere in the room.
Lu Li calmly surveyed them and said, "Introduce yourselves."
"My na is Lou—"
"I'm—"
"Please, I'm begging you—"
"Let
go—"
"Waaaah..."
A chorus of voices erupted. Lu Li disliked noise and frowned slightly.
"Quiet!" Anna, Lu Li's ever-loyal assistant, snapped. The five ghosts fell silent at once.
Lu Li's gaze fell on the first one on the left—the young man.
"You first."
The five ghosts, varying in shape and appearance and radiating a sinister chill, stood obediently in a line, their faces etched with fear.
"My na is Louis, twenty-seven, unmarried, a local from Belfast..." the young man began, his voice trembling. A scorched bullet hole was visible on the chest of his leather jacket. The ghost himself was unhard, but his form had grown slightly more transparent.
"Cause of death."
"I fell off a carriage and was run over by another one coming the other way..."
"Why are you here?"
The young man lifted his head, darted a glance at the ghost on the far right—the owner of the haunted house—and slowly explained, "The owner brought
here. Said I could work..."
"Anything else to add?"
The young man was taken aback and shook his head in confusion.
"N-no, I don't think so..."
Lu Li shifted his gaze to the second ghost, a young woman in a white dress.
"And you?"
The ghost in the white dress stepped forward timidly.
"My na is Lilis, twenty-six, unmarried. I don't rember where I was born... everyone calls
Sweet Potato... My... my boyfriend drowned
in a well..."
"Anna, find a telephone," Lu Li said, preparing to call the police.
"Wait, sir! Please, hear her out!" the manager exclaid, realizing what Lu Li intended to do. He tried frantically to stop him, wanting to step out of line but not daring to.
Lu Li and Anna looked at the woman in the white dress, waiting for an explanation.
"And then... my boyfriend jumped in after , and we drowned together... Except I beca a ghost, and he didn't."
"You arranged it?"
"Yeah."
Lu Li was silent for a mont. It was a suicide, not a murder, and he couldn't interfere in such matters.
Seeing the disappointnt on Lu Li's face, Anna grumbled to herself, "You really do love calling the police, don't you..."
"Why are you here?"
"The owner brought
here too. He said he'd provide room and board, but I don't need to eat."
The next was a distorted ghost.
"Twenty-two. We were playing Truth or Dare. I was doing a headstand on the edge of a roof, lost my balance, and fell," he recounted briefly.
"I can see that. Next," Lu Li said, his gaze lingering on the mangled body before looking away.
The fourth was a headless ghost. He was holding his own head in his hands, like a motorcyclist carrying a helt.
Judging by the ghost's condition, this one might actually warrant a call to the police.
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