Read at: https://blogspot-translatedstories.blogspot.com/?m=1
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"The fog, if you didn't make it, did a ghost make it?" The man in the hat shouted.
"Zzz... It really wasn't me. Do you have something against me? Honestly, apart from being a bit taller, a bit more handsome, and a bit younger than you, there's nothing else going on. Why do you always pick on me? Yesterday too, I told you I cleared up the fog, but you wouldn't believe me and insisted it was my doing." A dissatisfied voice came from the walkie-talkie, accompanied by static.
The man in the hat twitched at the corner of his eye, veins bulging, but he ignored the fool on the walkie-talkie.
Turning to the young man beside him, he asked, "Who hired this guy? Make sure he's fired tomorrow!"
"That's not a good idea. He's a student from the nearby Ninth Beastmaster High School, working a summer job." The young man offered his opinion.
"Most of our customer base comes from that school. If he goes back and bad-mouths us, it could cause significant losses."
The man in the hat calmed down a little.
The shop primarily made money off young people. After all, it was originally opened here to cater to students from the nearby school.
Especially since that school was a beastmaster high school, the customer base included not just students but also their pet beasts.
"Fine, summer break's almost over anyway..."
The man in the hat begrudgingly conceded, but added to save face, "Once summer's over, he’s out!"
"Understood..."
The young man hadn’t even finished speaking when he was stunned by what he saw on the monitor.
In the surveillance footage, the room that had caught fire was suddenly illuminated, but in the next second, it plunged into darkness again.
Not only that, but the ambient lights that helped create the eerie atmosphere had also shut off, leaving only the flickering firelight to vaguely outline the room’s interior.
"Who the hell turned off the lights?! Turn them back on, now!" The man in the hat yelled into the walkie-talkie, having also seen the footage.
But the only reply was a static "Zzz..." with no response from the other end.
The man in the hat, now seething with rage, was just about to curse out the whole family of whoever was on the other end.
At that moment, the young man next to him, with a serious expression, said, "Something's wrong with the color of the fog."
The artificial fog in the shop was supposed to be purple, but in that brief moment when the lights flashed, the fog had turned black.
---
At the same time.
"I didn’t expect this place to be so dedicated to their service." Qiao Sang commented as she watched the scene on the virtual screen, momentarily forgetting her concerns about the height of the building.
The place was on fire, yet instead of putting it out right away, they kept the horror atmosphere going. That’s real dedication!
But the fog seemed a bit too thick...
It was starting to obscure the whole scene.
Fang Sisi snapped out of her thoughts, looking at the screen uncertainly.
"I don't remember this room having such a scenario."
She’d been here all day, keeping the cotton moth company, watching a dozen scenes. She knew exactly when each scary sound effect was supposed to hit and when the NPCs were meant to appear.
It wasn’t the first time she’d seen pet beasts destroy props in the room. Just yesterday, a flat-billed fire duck had burnt most of the props in the second room, though it wasn’t as severe as now...
But back then, they had put out the fire immediately and used Black Mud to move the flat-billed fire duck to the next room.
Hearing this, Qiao Sang was startled. She looked back at the screen and saw the mist had completely shrouded the scene.
The burning smoke and the mist had merged, making it impossible to see anything clearly.
Qiao Sang furrowed her brows, a sense of unease rising within her. After a moment’s hesitation, she formed a hand sign to summon Yabao back.
Three seconds later, her face darkened.
Summoning had failed...
"Can you summon the cotton bug back?" Qiao Sang turned and asked Fang Sisi.
Fang Sisi froze for a second. She wasn’t sure what was going on, but from Qiao Sang’s earlier hand signs and serious expression, she could tell something was wrong.
"Okay."
She nodded and began forming the hand signs to summon the cotton bug.
"What the hell! I can’t summon it back!" Fang Sisi’s face paled in panic.
Everyone else in the observation room, hearing this, quickly formed hand signs to summon their pet beasts back.
One by one, their faces turned pale.
"How is this possible..."
"I failed too!"
"Me too!"
Seeing this, Qiao Sang said nothing more. She strode out of the room.
Her brain capacity had already exceeded 10%, and as long as Yabao wasn’t too far away, she should be able to sense his location in her mind, making it impossible for her not to summon him back.
The fact that no one could summon their beasts back only confirmed her suspicions.
Something had gone wrong...
"I’m coming with you!" Fang Sisi quickly stood up and followed.
"I’ll come too!"
"Count me in!"
"Me as well!"
The others joined them.
Just as the last person stepped out of the observation room, a red eye suddenly appeared on the virtual screen.
The eye filled the entire screen, moving slightly as if it were pressed right up against the camera.
The next second, the screen flickered twice and then shut off.
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"You can’t go in there!" The staff tried desperately to stop them.
"Why not? Our pet beasts are still inside! Who’s going to take responsibility if something happens?" One man, still jumpy after being scared by a Little Treasure, exclaimed emotionally.
"Exactly! You tried calling in there just now and no one answered! Something’s definitely wrong! Let me in!" A girl nearby, eyes red, chimed in.
"We’ve already sent someone to check it out. He’ll be out soon. Please calm down. If something really did happen, we’ll call the police to handle it." The staff tried to reassure them.
"By the time the police arrive, it’ll be too late! You do know there’s a Flame Hound inside, right? Do you even know what a Flame Hound is? Its beastmaster is right here! Miss, tell them..." The man turned, but was stunned.
Where was the Flame Hound’s beastmaster?
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The room was pitch dark.
Qiao Sang turned on her phone’s flashlight, shining it ahead.
She had managed to sneak in while the staff wasn’t paying attention, dragging Fang Sisi along with her.
Sometimes, it pays to bend the rules a little. Otherwise, no amount of reasoning would’ve gotten them inside.
"Turn left." Fang Sisi directed.
Having worked there with the cotton moth, she was familiar with the Lost Town setup of the room.
This was also why Qiao Sang had brought her along.
They soon reached the first room where Yabao had been in the footage.
The fog had dissipated, and for some unknown reason, the fire had been extinguished, leaving only the charred remains of the props and a suffocating smoky smell.
Qiao Sang closed her eyes to sense Yabao’s location.
Fragments of an image formed in her mind. The background was pitch black, making it impossible to discern Yabao’s exact location, but she knew he was within a hundred meters.
"It’s not here. We need to go further in." Qiao Sang opened her eyes and said.
"Wait."
Fang Sisi shone her phone’s flashlight on the ground, took three steps forward, then two steps to the left. She knelt down and tapped on the stone floor.
"What is it?" Qiao Sang asked.
"There’s a room beneath here. Remember the NPC that got dragged underground? That was Black Sludge using its special ability. If I’m not mistaken, they should still be in the room below. We could ask them; they might know what happened." Fang Sisi explained.
"Is this what you mean by Black Sludge?" Qiao Sang asked, picking up a pitch-black object from the ground.
Fang Sisi froze, shining her flashlight on the black lump in Qiao Sang’s hand.
"...Yes, that’s it."
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