Chapter 225: Li Manman

The dark night gave me dark eyes, but I use them to seek the light. That line fit my current situation perfectly. I gripped the rusted iron tongs, lurking in the eerie Haunted House.

Compared to that doctor in the terrifying mask, I was more like a seasoned hunter. Having been involved in numerous vicious cases, I was used to putting myself in the killer's shoes. I had even simulated murder plots in my own mind—if I were the murderer, how would I kill the victim, and what method would I use to make a perfect getaway?

I slowed my steps, steadied my heart rate, and crept forward in a low crouch.

'He probably doesn't know I'm here yet. I need to make good use of that.' Gripping the iron tongs, I walked silently along the wall, on high alert. Even if I suddenly ran into the doctor at the next corner, I could react in less than a second.

'I can't deal a lethal blow, but I can't let him off easily either. I only have one chance. I have to seize it!'

With the map committed to memory, I followed the left staircase up to the third floor. There was even more clutter on the floor here; discarded medicine bottles were scattered everywhere, and some strange items were mixed in among them.

'Women's clothing?' I picked up the garment from the floor. It was heavily worn, caked in dust, and gave off a putrid stench.

It was a young girl's outfit—a light red dress with a delicate little flower embroidered on the corner.

'So far, the designer of this Haunted House strikes me as someone who pays incredible attention to detail. Why would there be a little girl's dress here? Could it be a hint?' To me, finding hospital gowns in a hospital would have been normal; this dress felt entirely out of place.

I turned over the hem of the skirt. It was just a habitual motion, but to my surprise, it yielded an unexpected find.

A yellowed photograph fell out from inside the dress. It was a picture of a young girl and her mother. The girl in the image looked extremely happy, smiling brightly.

'A photo? A girl's dress? If these two items appeared in the neighboring theme, they wouldn't feel out of place at all, but finding them here just feels strange.'

Holding the red dress, I continued forward. Gradually, I discovered more baffling items. In a foul-smelling trash can in the hallway, I found women's underwear with partial burn marks, along with some severed electrical wires.

'Kidnapping?' The synthetic cotton in the underwear had already rotted; a mere touch tore a gaping hole in it. It looked like something from several years ago.

'The axe and the iron tongs are both the real deal, and the seal pasted on the front gate outside is identical to the ones the police use to cordon off crime scenes. It seems a murder really did take place here a few years ago.'

The Amusement Park was shut down five years ago. Was the real reason truly what the media had reported?

Thinking back to the seal on the iron gate, I felt my certainty waver. The truth was often suppressed—partly to prevent public panic, and partly to cover up the investigators' own incompetence.

Having come this far, however, I only felt more admiration for the Haunted House's designer. Daring to turn a real murder scene into a Haunted House required not just courage and audacity, but also a certain level of imagination and the resilience to withstand public criticism.

The third floor was the top level, and I searched it meticulously. Various traps were set up in the patient rooms, but with the discerning vision of my Chasing Eye, I made it through the entire third floor while barely triggering any of them.

'I haven't run into the doctor, and I haven't found any keys or a secret room either.' I now strongly suspected that Tie Ningxiang and Yi Yi were imprisoned in a secret room, but I still hadn't found the entrance.

I turned to head down from the third floor, but just as I approached the stairwell, the sound of chains dragging something suddenly echoed through the corridor.

'The doctor is here!' Glancing left and right, I quickly calmed myself. I dropped the red dress, slipped only the photo into my pocket, and darted into an adjacent patient room to hide.

About a dozen seconds later, the man wearing the chubby clown mask stepped into the third-floor hallway, holding up a flashlight.

He didn't say a word. As if searching for something, he kicked aside the medical records and pill bottles on the floor.

'Should I make a move?' I slowly raised the hand gripping the iron tongs while pressing my other hand against the door handle, waiting to rush out the moment he turned around.

I waited for an opening, but the doctor seemed to be deliberately working against me. He stared at the floor for a moment, then bent down and picked up the red dress I had just dropped.

"How did this get all the way up here?" he muttered to himself, seemingly surprised by the appearance of the red dress as well.

He tucked the flashlight under his arm and shook out the red dress with both hands. It was exactly this motion that made me realize my chance had come.

Opening the door gently without making a single sound, I raised the iron tongs high, aiming straight for the back of the doctor's head.

A classic horror movie scene was playing out inside the Haunted House, though the roles of hunter and prey seemed to have been reversed.

The doctor hadn't turned around yet. He was completely oblivious to the danger inching closer to him.

"The streamer's face looks so scary from this angle. It reminds me of the uncaught psycho killer from Memories of Murder."

"Such professional technique. You can tell he's a repeat offender at a glance. Holy shit! Could the streamer be a wanted serial killer?!"

"Streamer broadcasts a murder live, earns a million a month!"

Even at such a critical moment, my free hand was still holding the Underworld Live Show Phone. After all this time, it had become a habit.

If I swung the iron tongs down and the strike landed squarely, the doctor's head would definitely split open. But right in front of my livestream viewers, I just couldn't bring my raised hand down.

'Murder is still a bit too technically demanding for me.' My palms were sweating, making my grip on the iron tongs slightly slippery. I abandoned the idea of critically injuring him with a direct blow, my gaze shifting to the iron axe he had leaned against the wall.

'This game should be called Hunting the Serial Killer.'

I lashed out with a kick. Caught completely off guard, the doctor pitched forward and crashed to the floor. I pinned his body down, snatched the axe by the wall, and pressed the cold blade against his neck.

The entire sequence played out in one fluid motion, going even more smoothly than I had imagined.

"Take off your mask!"

My sinister voice sounded beside the doctor's ear. One hand pressed down on his neck, while the other gripped the axe handle tightly.

I waited for over ten seconds, but the man didn't move. Frowning, I yanked the clown mask off his face.

It was a very clean-cut face. Going by his appearance, he looked nothing like a serial killer.

"Hey!" I patted his cheek, only to find the guy making a continuous gurgling sound in his throat, as if he were choking on a fishbone. His eyes kept rolling back, showing the whites.

'What's going on? Is his constitution really this weak?' Looking at the doctor's half-dead state, I wasn't sure what to do, uncertain if he was just faking it.

Just as I was hesitating, the phone the doctor was carrying rang. The caller ID displayed an unknown number.

I answered the call but didn't say a word, waiting for the other party to speak first.

"Xiaobei, did you find that visitor yet?" The person on the other end sounded very worried; from their tone, they didn't seem to be acting.

'That's the broadcaster's voice! Xiaobei? Is this doctor Xiaobei? Was he sent in by the broadcaster to find me?' Looking at the doctor, who was so scared he was on the verge of shock, I pulled open his white lab coat. Rubbing his skin with my hand, I realized that all those faintly visible scars and stitched wounds on his body were just stick-on decals.

'Did I just outsmart myself?' I hurriedly spoke into the phone. "Xiaobei and I have already met up. How is the situation on your end? Have you found Tie Ningxiang?"

Hearing my voice, Li Manman was incredibly surprised. "Why are you the one answering the phone? Never mind, just come out quickly. We saw the person you're looking for on the surveillance cameras."

"You found her?" I felt a surge of excitement. Finding Tie Ningxiang before midnight was a livestream quest for the Underworld Live Show, and it had to be completed. "Alright, we'll be right there!"

Hanging up the phone, I smiled bitterly. I gently patted Xiaobei's cheek and gave him a few chest compressions.

I had scared this young man half to death. He would probably be traumatized for life.

"Hey, wake up!"

He groggily opened his eyes, but upon seeing my face clearly, he started screaming and shouting all over again. It took quite a while for him to calm down.

"With nerves this weak, you actually have the gall to run around a Haunted House scaring people?" I helped him up, though I kept the axe firmly in my own hand. "I'm the person Li Manman told you to find. Let's get out of here."

At my words, a hint of confusion crossed the young man's pale face. "Sister Manman called? That can't be right... She came in here with me..."