At the entrance of the Death House, a burst of blinding light heralded Ian's arrival as he plummeted from the sky, already unconscious.

  Next to him, the entire Liam's family was sprawled out in a neat row.

  "Click..."

  The sound of a lock turning echoed from the wooden house, followed by Jake pushing open the door and stepping inside.

  "Wake up..."

  "Can you guys not sleep like you're all dead?"

  Jake went to each person in turn, shaking them.

  It wasn't long before someone reacted.

  Liam was the first to wake.

  He shot up from the ground, yelling, "Stay away! Stay away!"

  Ethan also woke up at that moment. Without thinking, he pushed himself up and bolted.

  "What are you doing? You're out of Demon's Town," Jake said casually.

  "Out?"

  Hearing Jake's voice, they realized they were no longer by the ancient well but at the entrance of the Death House.

  "Boss," Ethan wailed, throwing himself at Jake, tears streaming down his face. "Please, I beg you, don't make me test any more equipment."

  Liam, equally covered in snot and tears, cried, "Boss, I don't want to test equipment either!"

  "I've tested equipment three times for you!"

  "Three times!"

  "Do you know how I've survived those three times?"

  Jake stared at the two weeping messes, instinctively touching his nose.

  He started to wonder if he had gone too far.

  "I'm sorry. I'll make it up to you later," Jake said sincerely.

  Liam stopped crying and looked at Jake hopefully. "So, about next time..."

  "Of course, you'll still be leading the charge next time!" Jake said without hesitation.

  "Wah!"

  Liam burst into even louder sobs.

  Amidst their wails, Ian and Cindy also woke up.

  The first thing Ian did was check his human feet. Only after confirming he hadn't lost a single toenail did he breathe a sigh of relief.

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  Just then, he heard a series of bone-cracking sounds coming from behind him.

  He turned his head.

  Ethan was staring at him, his fists clenched and a dark expression on his face.

  Ian stammered, "W-what do you want?"

  "Remember the little trick you taught us?" Ethan said through gritted teeth. "That was a really good little trick!"

  Ian gave a sheepish smile, sweat beading on his forehead. "I, I didn't think there'd actually be ghosts in there!"

  "It's not my fault!"

  "I mean, who expects ghosts to be real, as a normal person!"

  Ethan fell silent.

  Yeah, he'd never dreamed that ghosts could actually be real.

  "You guys all encountered ghosts? Real ghosts?" Cindy sat up, her beautiful eyes filled with regret.

  "What's wrong? You didn't?" Liam asked.

  "Nope." Cindy shook her head. "I just entered the ancestral hall when a dark figure rushed at me, yelling that I had trespassed into Demon's Town forbidden territory, and then I passed out. When I woke up, I was here."

  "You're so lucky. If I'd known, I would've gone to the ancestral hall with you," Ethan said, a look of envy on his face.

  "Enough about me, what were the ghosts you encountered like? Tell me all about it!" Cindy asked eagerly.

  "Well, us..."

  "It's a long story."

  Liam and Ethan sighed and began recounting their experiences.

  Cindy covered her mouth and giggled. "They say, 'Die under a peony flower, even as a ghost, one is still romantic.' If that's the case, then you didn't lose out, you could even say you gained something."

  "Let's leave that kind of good fortune to others in the future,"

  Liam and Ethan both shook their heads in unison.

  "What about you?" Cindy then looked at Ian.

  Ian's face flushed red, suddenly at a loss for words.

  Liam and Ethan were relatively normal, at most they had a buy-one-get-one-free situation, which wasn't too outrageous.

  But what about him?

  He'd excitedly rushed into the restaurant and then...well, he'd instructed the ghost how to eat him!

  If that got out, people would laugh their teeth off.

  No way!

  He absolutely couldn't let anyone know!

  Ian made a swift decision, shaking his head vigorously, his cheeks flushed. "I was just like you. I don't know what place I entered, then everything went black, and when I woke up, I was here."

  "Really?" Cindy looked at Ian suspiciously.

  A woman's intuition told her there was more to the story.

  "Really, it has to be true!" Ian raised his hand, looking at Liam and Ethan. "I swear everything I said is true, or I'll acknowledge you as my dads."

  Liam nodded. "He's making such a serious oath, it should be impossible for it to be fake."

  Ethan scratched his head, feeling like something was off, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

  Cindy caught on, but she couldn't focus on that now. Her beautiful eyes lit up like little light bulbs as she looked expectantly at Jake.

  She shook Jake's sleeve and pleaded, "Boss, just tell me, how did you get those ghosts? I want to get one for my house so I can look at it when I'm bored."

  Jake pretended to be confused. "What are you talking about? What ghosts?"

  Liam scoffed. "I ran into a female ghost as soon as I entered the village, Boss. And you still say there are no ghosts in this world!"

  "But I really don't know what you're talking about?" Jake spread his hands, looking innocent. "You have to trust science. Don't attribute everything to demons and monsters!"

  "Boss, then how do you explain what happened to them?" Cindy pressed.

  "You have to ask science about that. I'm just a haunted house owner who hired some actors to play ghosts. How am I supposed to know what they did?" Jake replied. "Besides, if you really encountered ghosts, how could you have gotten out alive?"

  "Did the vengeful ghosts suddenly turn Buddhist, become vegetarian, and stop killing?"

  Seeing that Jake was determined to deny everything, the group felt helpless.

  Moreover, they really couldn't explain why the vengeful ghosts had let them off the hook.

  "If you're going to insist that the actors in the village are real ghosts, then you can provide evidence to convince me!" Jake said with a smile, confident that they wouldn't dare enter Demon's Town again to look for evidence.

  As he expected, the group shook their heads violently, refusing to enter Demon's Town again under any circumstances.

  Except for Cindy.

  She looked towards Demon's Town, her heart set on a plan.

  She would definitely come here often in the future to find out whether the villagers inside were actors or real ghosts!

  And what exactly was in the church...