Chapter 214: The Young Couple Is Holding Each Other Awfully Tight
Besides Chen Mo and his friends, other visitors were also screaming their way through the haunted house, which surprisingly lent a bit of liveliness to the terrifying atmosphere.
It wasn’t as scary as it had been at the start.
Soon, the four of them entered a narrow corridor, one after another.
After they rounded a corner, the lights suddenly went out completely!
A few seconds later, several sickly green emergency lights snapped on, accompanied by a piercing alarm and the grinding of mechanical gears.
Just as a wave of panic began to set in, a ragdoll-like "corpse" plummeted from the ceiling, dangling right in front of the group. Its hollow eyes stared straight at them!
"AAAAAAH—!" This time, the high-pitched scream came from behind them.
Zhao Yuanyuan tripped over something and instinctively stumbled forward, knocking into Su Yuqing, who was walking behind Huang Mao.
On reflex, Huang Mao reached out to grab the "person" beside him, only to seize a staff member in a nurse’s costume with a deathly pale face!
"Holy crap!" Huang Mao and the costumed staff member startled each other. Huang Mao, in particular, jumped dramatically and stumbled back several steps.
In the chaotic darkness, all Chen Mo could perceive was a rush of people running past him.
When the lights came on again, casting a ghastly green glow, both Chen Mo and Su Yuqing discovered they were now alone with each other.
Zhao Yuanyuan and Huang Mao had vanished, swept either forward or backward by the chaos and the crowd. Only the two of them remained in the corridor.
This sudden solitude, paradoxically, created a strangely intimate atmosphere in such an extreme environment.
Having lost the security of her friends, Su Yuqing instinctively drew closer to Chen Mo, her body practically pressing against his arm.
The corridor remained eerie, with an endless barrage of realistic special effects: a bloodstained white sheet suddenly whipping off a hospital bed, a contorted "patient" shuffling around a corner, a bloody handprint suddenly slapping against a glass window...
With every sudden scare, Su Yuqing would jolt like a startled fawn, clutching desperately at Chen Mo’s arm or his sleeve. She would even instinctively bury her face in his shoulder.
Chen Mo held her steady, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and tucking her securely against his side.
Her every flinch and every desperate grasp sent a jolt like an electric current through him. His heart pounded like a drum, and he couldn’t tell if it was from the thrilling environment or from the sweet scent and subtle trembling of the girl in his arms.
"Don’t be scared. Just hold on to me." Whenever she tensed up, Chen Mo’s voice, laced with a smile, would sound by her ear. His warm breath brushed against the shell of her ear, making it tickle.
In this environment, those simple words carried an extraordinary sense of security.
Su Yuqing’s frantic heart quickly settled under the reassurance of his firm, low voice and his warm embrace. Though her body still jumped at the scares, her grip on him gradually changed from one of uncontrolled force to one of trusting dependence.
A short while later, they finally reached a relatively "safe" area: a room filled with mirrors.
Light and shadow intertwined, distorting and overlapping countless reflections of Chen Mo and Su Yuqing in the glass.
Suddenly, Su Yuqing recalled the strange dream she’d had that morning—she had dreamt of another version of herself...
Just as Su Yuqing was lost in thought, a "ghost" draped in a bloodstained sheet burst out from a hidden door in the corner, brandishing a plastic scalpel and letting out a hoarse growl!
Even though she knew it was fake, the multiplied reflections amplified the scare beyond anything she was prepared for. Su Yuqing let out a yelp and threw herself completely into Chen Mo’s embrace, her arms wrapping tightly around his waist as she buried her face in his chest.
Her soft body crashed into him with panicked force, and Chen Mo instantly tightened his arms, pulling her into a fully protective embrace.
Through their thin clothes, their body heat and heartbeats were exceptionally clear, a more direct sensory overload than any of the jump scares had been.
Her ragged breaths puffed against his chest, and Chen Mo could feel his own heart instantly accelerate and his cheeks grow warm.
The eerie sound effects seemed to fade into the background; the center of his world had become the soft, warm person in his arms.
The countless embracing reflections in the mirrors seemed to freeze the moment, stretching it out, solidifying it into a pocket of time that belonged only to the two of them.
Just then, Chen Mo saw the staff member playing the "ghost" give him a smug little nod, as if to say, ’Nice work, huh?’ before slipping back through the hidden door, not wanting to be a third wheel.
Chen Mo couldn’t help but grin. ’This haunted house employee really gets it,’ he thought. ’Doesn’t he deserve a bonus for that?’
After a good while, Su Yuqing belatedly realized she was still clinging to Chen Mo with both arms, in an embrace so tight that even established couples rarely held each other like that in public.
She jerked her head up, her cheeks burning as if they were on fire, and hastily released her arms from around his waist.
Chen Mo loosened his arms slightly but didn’t let her go right away. With an amused glint in his eyes, he purposely lowered his voice to a volume only they could hear and said, "It’s okay. You can hold on longer if you’re scared."
He was referring to her embrace.
His words made Su Yuqing even more flustered, and even her neck flushed red. "I-I’m not scared anymore," she stammered in a barely audible whisper. But the force with which she tried to pull away had lessened considerably, and she ended up half-leaning against him as he guided her out of the room.
His arm remained loosely around her shoulder, and at some point, her hand had, quite naturally, found its way back to his waist.
...
"Oh my God! We’re finally out!" Upon seeing the light of the exit, Huang Mao practically scrambled out, gasping for fresh air, his forehead slick with cold sweat.
Zhao Yuanyuan followed close behind him, hands on her hips and a smug look on her face. "How about it, Yellow Hair? Scared enough to piss your pants? Call me Big Sis, and I’ll protect you next time!"
"Screw you!" Huang Mao shot back, flushing with embarrassment and anger.
Stepping out of the haunted house, the blinding sunlight made both Chen Mo and Su Yuqing squint as their eyes adjusted.
"Well, well, look at you two lovebirds, holding on so tight."
Before Chen Mo and Su Yuqing could even adjust to the light, a familiar, teasing voice reached their ears.
Only then did Chen Mo and Su Yuqing see that Zhao Yuanyuan and Huang Mao were already out.
The pair was looking at them with wide, knowing grins.
It was only then that Su Yuqing realized she was still clutching the front of Chen Mo’s shirt with one hand, while her other arm was wrapped around his firm waist. Mortified, she quickly let go and took a step back. The blush on her face had yet to fade as she lowered her head, not daring to meet the eyes of the other three.
Watching her bashful reaction, the amusement in Chen Mo’s eyes deepened. He let his arm slide naturally from her shoulder, as if their earlier intimacy had been nothing more than a perfectly natural act of protection.