Chapter 195 - Tian Teng Medical Schools Haunting Past (2/2)
“Maybe the visitor was playing a prank on you?” Chen Ge asked with a weird expression. “She might have been kidding.”
“That happened more than once. After that day, more and more visitors saw Xu Zhenzhen.” The man took out the Buddha pendant that was around his neck. “Everyone of us has something to ward against the such things, but weirdly enough, until now, none of the workers have seen Xu Zhenzhen.”
“Since there is a real haunting, why did you insist on placing hints related to Xu Zhenzhen all over the Haunted House? Aren’t you afraid of calling her back?” Chen Ge thought this bunch of people had something wrong with their minds. “Or are you still acting now? The note and recording are also tricks to scare me?”
“I swear to God, we’re not acting,” both actors promised.
“First you have to understand one thing. Since our first stop was Xing Hai, we decided to incorporate the set design with a real case to increase the scare factor to draw in more visitors. Xu Zhenzhen’s suicide case is quite famous in Xing Hai. The sight of the name pulls out the visitors’ memories about her case.”
The man did not look so good. “We were forced to do this. For the past two years, the number of visitors has been dropping, and we have tested many different types of set designs. To preserve our popularity, we have to try something new.”
“So, you decided to incorporate a real case into the design?” Chen Ge felt like these people were more courageous than he was; at least he had a safety net for everything he did at the Haunted House.
“Reality has proved that it works. After we did this, the reputation and fame kept rising. Many visitors came back to solve Xu Zhenzhen’s secret after they found the hints.”
“If everything was going so well, why did you come to Jiujiang? Wouldn’t it make more sense for you to stay in Xing Hai to reap in the money?” The recorder in Chen Ge’s arms continued to scream, but the man did not seem to hear it. The two actors looked at Chen Ge and did not know what to say. As Chen Ge took one step forward, they both took one step back in unison.
“The fact that many visitors have surprisingly seen Xu Zhenzhen was a good promotion for our Haunted House. We enjoyed quite a period of very high popularity, but the fame came with a price. It attracted the ire of Xu Zhenzhen’s family, and her little sister came to find us.”
The female actor explained the secret past of Tian Teng Medical School. While he listened, Chen Ge turned off the audio recorder.
“During the negotiation, Xu Zhenzhen’s sister said that she felt we were ruining her sister and father’s names. She requested for a high amount of compensation and wanted us to edit the content of our design.
“Our boss only agreed to remove Xu Zhenzhen’s name. Compensation and editing the entire design was impossible. In her anger, she threatened to sue. I don’t know what happened next, but in any case, the Haunted House closed not long after that.”
The woman should have been telling the truth. It was difficult for large moving Haunted Houses to get approval from the government, so they could get banned easily if they got into any trouble. Chen Ge knew this well because his parents had originally managed a mobile Haunted House. It was not until they had found enough popularity that they settled down at New Century Park.
“We collected the props, changed the layout as well as name, and moved to another city, but the result was horrid. The Haunted House only managed to stay in business for two weeks before the visitors dried up. After a discussion, we felt the problem lay with Xu Zhenzhen. Therefore, we moved to Jiujiang, which is very far from Xing Hai, and returned everything to how it was when we were at our prime.”
The two actors had already retreated to the door. Looking at Chen Ge, who held the tape recorder, they had revealed everything.