PD -Chapter 31 The Exclusive Haunted House Designer

“Big bro, don’t think I’m some kind of idiot,” Li Zi said with a grin, scratching his head. “Like I told you earlier, I’m a livestreamer. This business is tough…”

What followed was another lengthy round of complaints before he finally got back to the haunted house.

As it turned out, he had bought the haunted property specifically for the sake of his livestreaming career.

Over the past two years, the short-video industry had exploded in popularity, and livestreaming had grown right alongside it. Besides comedy skits, all kinds of strange and unusual content had started flourishing, including people like Li Zi—members of the exploration crowd.

Their broadcasts mainly revolved around exploring unknown locations and supposedly terrifying places, satisfying viewers’ curiosity for the bizarre and mysterious. Of course, most of those streams were staged or completely fabricated.

But the Li Zi sitting in front of me was an honest guy, and one who genuinely loved the livestreaming industry.

He had originally been a comedy streamer.

Then he noticed the enormous business potential in the exploration niche and decided to switch careers. Not only that, he had even come up with an entire online-to-offline monetization plan. First, he would use livestreams investigating haunted houses to make his newly purchased haunted villa famous. Then he would convert it into a real-world haunted exploration attraction open to the public.

“I’m telling you, big bro, once I make this haunted house famous, I’ll never have to worry about money again! Then I’ll keep buying haunted houses—every single one will become a hit! Eventually I’ll have an entire chain of haunted tourism attractions!”

Li Zi spoke excitedly, spitting words as fast as his mouth could move. His tiny eyes sparkled as if he could already see stacks of cash piling up before him.

His plan definitely sounded immature in many ways…

But I had to admit, I was beginning to look at him in a different light. The kid was surprisingly clever.

“Well, when you get rich someday, don’t forget about me. I’ll take all your haunted house renovation projects.”

I joked along with him.

“You really are my big bro! Don’t worry—we’re going to work together for a long time. From now on, you’ll be the official designer for all my haunted house projects. My exclusive haunted house designer!”

“That’s a great title—Exclusive Haunted House Designer!”

Li Zi repeated it over and over as though he had just invented the coolest job title in history.

I could only laugh awkwardly.

No matter how I looked at it, that title sounded incredibly unlucky.

If word got out, how was I supposed to take on any normal jobs afterward?

After chuckling twice, I asked:

“If that’s the case, why didn’t you just livestream your exploration first? Why are you in such a hurry to hire me for renovations?”

The moment I asked, Li Zi’s expression darkened.

After hesitating for a long time, he finally said:

“To be honest, bro… I already went in there. That house is seriously messed up. My buddies and I are considered pretty brave around here, but even we got scared out of our minds.”

“I figured that if the place is really that dirty, then it wouldn’t be safe to open it to the public. So I wanted you to come take a look first and get rid of whatever nasty stuff is inside. We’re selling the haunted house adventure concept, after all—it doesn’t necessarily have to be a genuinely haunted house, right?”

Li Zi gave an embarrassed laugh.

I asked him to tell me exactly what unusual things had happened during the livestream a few days earlier.

After thinking for a moment, he began recounting what had happened that night.

It had been about a week ago.

Li Zi had just received the property deed to the villa and couldn’t contain his excitement. He immediately invited two of his friends to accompany him on a livestream exploration.

They deliberately arrived at the villa around midnight.

Their equipment was well-prepared: flashlights, high-powered filming lights, cold-flame fireworks, and even a signal flare gun one of them had bought online.

The three of them started streaming and entered the villa.

At the time, no demolition work had been scheduled yet, and the original interior remained untouched. From the peeling wallpaper and decaying furniture, it was obvious that nobody had lived there for a very long time.

At first, the three of them wandered through every floor of the villa while streaming live.

Nothing unusual happened.

Aside from old floorboards and doors creaking whenever they touched them, the entire house was silent.

Eventually they grew tired and made their way to the former owner’s bedroom.

Sitting on a dust-covered bed, they chatted casually with viewers.

Then suddenly—

Click.

The bedroom door outside made a distinct locking sound.

Since they had come specifically to find something exciting for their audience, they weren’t scared when they heard it.

If anything, they were thrilled.

Encouraged by viewers in the livestream chat, they decided to investigate.

But when they went to open the door, they discovered something shocking.

The door had been locked from the outside.

That clicking sound they had heard moments earlier…was someone—or something—locking them inside the room.

The three of them instantly panicked.

The door itself creaked loudly whenever pushed, but it had been built from quality materials. The lock was still surprisingly sturdy.

With the door locked, none of them could force it open anytime soon.

So they came up with another idea.

The villa was old, and the gaps around the door were fairly wide.

They turned on a high-powered filming light and aimed it through the crack beneath the door. Then they pressed a phone camera against the gap and asked viewers in the livestream to help watch the hallway outside.

That only made things worse.

The livestream chat exploded.

Many viewers claimed they could see a woman in a qipao standing outside the door.

Others accused them of staging everything and hiring an actress to perform.

But only the three of them knew the truth.

There were no other people inside the villa.

Soon afterward, the phone battery died, ending the livestream.

At that point, all three felt something was seriously wrong.

So they decided to escape through the window.

The room was on the second floor.

For energetic young men like them, that height wasn’t particularly intimidating. Even if they fell, the worst outcome would probably be a sprained ankle.

Without hesitation, they grabbed a wooden clothes rack from the room and smashed the window.

Then they climbed out onto the exterior ledge and made their way down.

Fortunately, their car was parked directly below the window.

They jumped down and immediately got inside.

At that moment, they believed they had escaped danger.

Just as they were about to start the engine and leave—something suddenly covered the windshield.

All three of them jumped in shock.

To their disbelief, it was the same filthy old quilt from the bedroom.

The tattered blanket had somehow followed them down.

And when Li Zi said followed, he meant it literally.

He swore repeatedly that, from inside the car, he had personally watched that blackened, dust-covered quilt crawl onto the windowsill by itself and leap down after them before slapping itself across the windshield.

The instant the windshield was covered, a loud BANG!

A tremendous force slammed into the front of the vehicle.

The passenger-side airbag exploded outward immediately, nearly knocking one of Li Zi’s friends unconscious.

The quilt plastered against the windshield completely blocked their vision.

None of them could see what had collided with the car.

Or what had attacked them.