Chapter 151 The Horror Club
Carrying a heavy burden?
Was this a really good joke?
The person who asked couldn’t understand the nuances. He looked at Wen Shi with more vigilance. Could this guy have been possessed by a ghost?
Just looking at Wen Shi’s condition at that moment, his conclusion couldn’t have been wrong.
Wen Shi, with a strange aura, got closer to the City Lord. Perhaps intentionally, perhaps not, the City Lord happened to stand up, creating more space between them.
The ghost children behind him oddly didn’t bother the City Lord. They behaved quietly, and even the child on Wen Shi’s back nervously gripped his clothes.
Wen Shi: This is a bit interesting.
The City Lord’s gaze passed over him subtly. The child almost hid their face.
Silently, Wen Shi observed everything, pretending nothing had happened. Ever since the roller coaster ride, the City Lord had given him an indescribable sense of unease, and that feeling was only growing stronger now.
At the same time, his rationality dropped by eighty-nine. He couldn’t tell whether it was because of the ghost children or the City Lord.
Wen Shi took a quick glance at the current number of viewers, over nine hundred, almost reaching a thousand. The live chat was filled with the same comments, tempting him to self-harm for the audience’s amusement in exchange for promotional assistance. Some were saying he was crazy for carrying so many ghosts.
Wen Shi once again confirmed that there was a bit of a masochistic streak in the monsters’ nature. Even though he hadn’t interacted much with the viewers throughout, they were still eagerly watching, like that Scissor Grandma who was still in the live stream room.
Wait a bit longer.
Wen Shi thought calmly. Getting an unrealistic ten thousand viewers through the monster was impossible. While he was at the Lin family mansion, he had a certain speculation. All he needed was to find the right moment to verify it.
“Maybe it doesn’t need to be so complicated,” Wen Shi suddenly had an epiphany, “if I’m lucky, asking Li Nan might give us answers.”
【Skinny as a Lightning-Struck Starved Ghost: Excitement Bar moved, what exactly is he excited about?】
Skinny as a Lightning-Struck Starved Ghost’s question remained unanswered as Wen Shi once again ignored the electronic board.
The one-armed bodyguard was taken away by the driver. Upon returning, Black-Clad Man, looked at the City Lord with an inquiring gaze.
The City Lord nodded, and Black-Clad Man immediately signaled the others to follow him, heading towards the southwest area.
Even though he was the youngest among those present, Wen Shi was sweating profusely. He sat directly in the City Lord’s former seat and said, “You all go ahead. I just took a stroll over there and need to catch my breath.”
One of the bodyguards saw this and spoke up on his behalf, “It’s not easy to search such a large area.”
It wasn’t out of camaraderie but because the thought of a ghost possession had crossed the bodyguard’s mind. He felt it would be better to split up.
The City Lord chose to ignore this, so Wen Shi was left behind by default.
“You’ve worked hard,” Xiao Hua said as she looked at him.
Wen Shi waved weakly, “Go to a place where time is calm and tranquil.”
As the group moved farther away, Wen Shi’s limbs felt a bit weak due to the chill seeping into him. He gently lowered the child from his back. Compared to the few ghost children he had encountered before, these kids didn’t seem too dangerous.
Perhaps it had something to do with the absence of adult ghosts. Whether it was humans or other creatures, they tended to display their strength when they had the upper hand.
Wen Shi thought with a blank expression, “Once I get them away from here, it’ll be a good deed for the day.”
Otherwise, this amusement park would sooner or later turn into a crematorium.
Nearly an hour later, the City Lord’s group finally returned.
Seeing the relaxed expressions on everyone’s faces, the words “chill seeping in” in Wen Shi’s status bar constantly reminded him of what he was facing.
The attendant’s face brightened up again, promising that this time they would surely create a heartwarming promotional video.
With no other tourists around, Black-Clad Man made a call, and the modified vehicle drove right in to pick them up. The Celebrity Museum and the amusement park were in opposite directions, and the drive would take nearly an hour. As usual, Wen Shi rode with Black-Clad Man. On the way, Xiao Hua mouthed, “Have you figured out how to handle it?”
With so many ghost children, he was bound to be “darkened” sooner or later.
Wen Shi nodded.
He had already formulated a preliminary plan. If things got out of control, A’Yu could provide assistance at any time.
Xiao Hua did a quick online search about the Celebrity Museum. There weren’t any strange legends about it, but they needed to pay attention to the curator himself.
There were many unverified rumors about him in the city. For example, it was said that the curator was actually over eighty years old, but he looked no older than fifty or sixty. There was a rumor that when he made wax figures for others, he used some secretive method to extend their lives.
However, the curator’s craftsmanship was impeccable, and the wax figures he created were almost indistinguishable from real people.
Wen Shi couldn’t help but shake his head. This City Lord seemed to go wherever danger lurked.
Because the curator liked peace and quiet, the Celebrity Museum was located in a relatively remote area.
The outside walls of the museum were adorned with special colored glass, creating optical illusions. From a distance, it appeared that the central area of the building protruded outward, resembling the belly of a recently fed wild beast.
Dressed in a black uniform, the curator personally came out to greet them. His face had some wrinkles, but he looked alert. However, his eyes behind the lenses didn’t appear as clean and lively as his exterior. They had a rather greasy feeling, almost like… wax.
“It’s our utmost honor that you’ve chosen to leave your wax figure here.”
Despite his humble words, the curator’s gaze didn’t linger on the City Lord for long. Instead, he looked more at the recently arrived and vigorous bodyguards.
He then took out a pen and paper he had with him, sketching a simple drawing with just a few strokes.
“What do you think of this design?”
The curator’s drawing depicted the moment they had just stepped out of the car, not only featuring the City Lord but also the bodyguards behind him, giving it the appearance of a gangster movie scene.
It did have quite an imposing aura.
Wen Shi raised an eyebrow. Black-Clad Man asked first, “Do we also need to leave wax figures?”
The curator nodded. “The City Lord will have a separate exhibition hall. If it only contains one person’s wax figure, it might feel empty.”
The pavilion’s interior walls displayed an array of colors. Besides wax figures, it also featured clay sculptures, stone carvings, and more.
Wen Shi had been staring at the sculptures, which gave off a sense of similarity to the one in his study. Just as he was pondering if this similarity stemmed from the vivid color schemes, he noticed the display cabinets ahead were filled with little shrines.
Art pieces usually don’t have so many similar items. He asked, “Are those meant for sale?”
The curator flashed a strange smile, very enthusiastically making a recommendation, “These are on consignment. If you want one, you can get it at a discount.”
Wen Shi waved it off.
Inside, he was calculating. Apparently, the demon’s business had expanded to the Golden City long ago. It was highly likely that the demon had provided the curator with some sort of life-extending method, and in return, the curator helped create and sell various shrines.
Wen Shi discreetly glanced at the City Lord, now suspicious of the purpose behind his visit here.
Someone was clearly using the demon’s influence for their own gains. As the ruler of the city, could he really be completely unaware?
Regardless of his inner doubts, at least there was nothing unusual in the City Lord’s behavior.
The City Lord and the curator engaged in brief conversation. The wax figure production area was on the third floor. After the elevator doors closed, it didn’t immediately ascend. A mechanical female voice issued a safety reminder, “Ride the elevator courteously. Do not overload.”
Everyone exchanged glances. The elevator had plenty of space, and it wouldn’t be an issue if two more people got on.
The outermost Black-Clad Man stepped out, yet the elevator continued to sound its warning.
Wen Shi looked at the bunch of children clinging to the smooth interior wall of the elevator and sighed, then voluntarily walked out.
Thinking others couldn’t see the ghost children, he had believed they didn’t add much weight, but now it seemed he had been overly optimistic.
The warning sound abruptly stopped. As if the elevator had shaken off a heavy burden, it shoot upward with a ‘whoosh.’
Black-Clad Man, who step off the elevator first, wore a somewhat unpleasant expression, “You…”
Wen Shi interrupted with a smile, “Probably just an elevator malfunction.”
He decided to take the stairs. Anyway, three floors weren’t too high.
Third Floor.
Upon entering this area, a sense of emptiness and disorder surrounded them.
The level was spacious, its smooth tiled floors devoid of much decoration. Disorder reigned with small objects scattered all around.
With a quick scan, Wen Shi noticed many plaster molds of disassembled facial features.
The curator led the way, warning them to steer clear of the buckets and to avoid touching the plaster mix on the floor.
At the end, there was a small room. The curator stopped and said, “This is the place for data measurement. It’s quite limited in space. It won’t fit everyone.”
He unlocked the door with a fingerprint, and as he had mentioned, it was slightly larger than a typical storage room. Measuring an ordinary wax figure would take several hours, but in the Golden City, they had specialized equipment resembling an MRI machine. Once a person lay inside, it provided the most precise data in less than two minutes.
The curator said, “We only have one machine. The City Lord goes first. The rest of you, please queue up and wait for your turn.”
Currently, Wen Shi wasn’t worried about the City Lord’s safety. It was clear that the curator had other plans regarding the bodyguards.
Black-Clad Man stayed in the small room, supervising the machine’s operation. Wen Shi found a spot to stand outside the door, his fingers nearly frozen as he typed a message.
Xiao Hua stood beside him, and Wen Shi didn’t make an effort to shield the screen. With a sidelong glance, she could see the contents of the messages.
“Are you meeting Li Nan tonight?”
Wen Shi nodded. “Just confirming something with him.”
They hadn’t spoken for long when the door opened.
The City Lord emerged unharmed, and the other bodyguards immediately started queuing up. Wen Shi darted to the front with his usual excuse, “I’m in a hurry to be reborn.”
When he stood next to the City Lord, it felt like the temperature dropped all around. The other bodyguards maintained some distance, avoiding a scramble for position.
When it was the bodyguards’ turn for measurements, the curator appeared even more spirited. The metal door behind him slowly closed, and he urged Wen Shi to lie down on the examination bed.
Facing away from the curator, Wen Shi appeared cooperative, crossing his hands over his abdomen and lying down peacefully.
As the curator walked toward the control panel, Wen Shi gazed at one of the ghost children lying on the circular magnetic bed and whispered, “Could you go play a game with him?”
Carnage was a monster’s nature. The ghost children constantly entertained thoughts of turning Wen Shi into a specimen. However, he had a bell given by A’Yu hanging from him, which had a certain intimidating effect on the little ghosts. Moreover, with his record’s aura, they preferred this face that could display a variety of expressions.
Specimens, on the other hand, could only have one fixed expression.
As for the curator, the ghost children didn’t have so many considerations. They detected a rather perplexing aura around him, indicating that he was a durable and fairly good toy.
The bony fingers were about to touch the green start button when a pair of small hands suddenly reached from behind, and darkness enveloped the curator’s vision.
A ghost child lay on his meager back, thinking that his mom’s back was more comfortable. He giggled and said, “Guess who I am?”
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