Horror Movie Set: This extra is too good at playing the tricks.

Chapter 4 Judgment Errors

Under Chen Feng's flashlight, the portraits on the wall seemed to blink slightly.

Some of them had expressions of terror, some had smiles on their lips, and some had ferocious faces, but without exception, their eyes were all fixed on Lu Dan in the middle of the corridor.

A crisp metallic clang broke the silence.

The safety on Chen Feng's pistol was off, and the dark muzzle passed over Lin Xiaoxiao's shoulder, pressing directly against Lu Dan's forehead.

"So it was you!"

Chen Feng's voice was no longer as loud as before, and the veins on his skin throbbed in the sidelight: "No wonder this building felt so eerie, turns out you're the filthy thing! Delivery guy? You lured us in here to kill us, didn't you!"

The cold gun barrel made Lu Dan's forehead ache.

His pupils contracted, and goosebumps rose on his skin: "Officer, use your brain!"

Lu Dan retorted in an even more agitated tone than the other party, "If I were a ghost and wanted to kill you, would I bother to do this? What's wrong with me? It's obvious you're upset that I led the way for you!"

Chen Feng's eyes flickered, and the muzzle of his gun lowered slightly.

Master Zhang, who had been huddled in the corner, finally spoke up. He stared at the portrait on the wall, his face ashen: "What he said makes some sense. This is called a human sacrifice. This young man was marked by that thing. We were implicated."

"What do we do now?" Lin Xiaoxiao cried, clutching Master Zhang's sleeve tightly. "We're trapped, with ghosts in front and walls behind!"

The doorknob of room 404 turned, and the old spring made a soft "click," as if it might pop open at any moment.

The vengeful ghost, wearing red high heels, is about to emerge.

In the darkness, Lu Dan heard Chen Feng's rapid breathing, the sound of the bolt being pulled back, and Master Zhang's hoarse voice chanting incantations.

Amidst this chaos, Lu Dan felt an unprecedented calm in his mind.

The set design in a horror movie must be logical.

Since 404 is a haunted house and the stairwell is blocked, the designers must have provided players with a temporary safe room or buffer zone in such a narrow corridor. Otherwise, this would be a dead end and would not be in line with the balance of the script design.

It also doesn't fit the designer's morbid sensibilities—only by giving hope and then extinguishing it can one truly experience despair.

If he were the designer, where would he place the buffer zone?

Lu Dan's gaze swept across the corridor, and his eyes landed on another door next to 404.

Lu Dan's fingers touched the doorknob of room 403; it was cold and rusty, but not locked.

really!

"Come in!"

Lu Dan roared and suddenly pushed open the door to room 403, pulling Lin Xiaoxiao, who was closest to him, inside.

Chen Feng and Master Zhang reacted quickly as well, practically tumbling and crawling into room 403 the moment they heard the door open.

Lu Dan braced himself against the door and locked the bolt with his backhand.

Almost at the same second the door closed, the sound of high heels hitting the floor echoed down the hallway.

"Da...da...da..."

There were no lights in room 403. By the light of the lightning flashing through the rain outside the window, Lu Dan could make out the furnishings inside.

This is a long-abandoned, unfinished house. The floor is piled with cement bags and old newspapers left over from the renovation, and the air is filled with a heavy smell of dust.

The four of them leaned against the door, none of them daring to make a sound, until the sound of high heels outside gradually faded into the distance.

It seems they went upstairs.

Chen Feng slid slowly to the ground against the wall, still gripping the gun tightly in his hand, his chest heaving violently.

Lu Dan crouched in the corner, his gaze dissecting the three main characters before him in the dim light.

The series of events he had just witnessed made him realize how extremely incongruous and jarring the setup of this main character group was; it all felt so fake.

First, there's Chen Feng. As a criminal police officer, his mental fortitude is far too poor.

When faced with supernatural phenomena, he displayed more of a destructive urge born of rage and frustration.

Furthermore, Lu Dan noticed that a tattoo was visible under the hem of Chen Feng's jacket.

Police officers are not allowed to have large tattoos.

Secondly, there was Master Zhang. His compass spun like a helicopter propeller when it was downstairs, but it exploded in room 404.

When it exploded, he clearly saw several pieces of iron oxide fall out.

That's not a magic artifact at all; it's just an antique-looking handicraft.

This old man is a conman.

Finally, there was the female student, Lin Xiaoxiao.

Lu Dan's gaze fell on Lin Xiaoxiao, who was huddled next to Master Zhang, trembling all over, and looked the most harmless.

But Lu Dan recalled a detail.

When faced with the terrifying red-clad ghost in bedroom 404, Chen Feng immediately fired his gun, and Master Zhang scattered glutinous rice—these were all normal stress responses.

Only Lin Xiaoxiao made a very subtle movement after screaming.

She instinctively covered her left ankle, and the female ghost happened to be missing her left foot.

More importantly, Lu Dan ordered the rice he sent to 404 using his mobile phone.

Who ordered the takeout?

If you are one of these three people, what is your purpose?

Luring the ghost out of its cave.

The word flashed through Lu Dan's mind.

Someone deliberately ordered this takeout, using the delivery driver as bait to trigger the 404 error message and achieve some kind of goal.

Lu Dan suddenly spoke, his voice sounding particularly cold in the darkness: "Just now downstairs, you said that Lin Xiaoxiao's roommate Mengmeng disappeared six days ago, and today is the seventh day after her death, right?"

Chen Feng paused for a moment, then replied irritably, "Yes, what's wrong?"

"Since it's a missing person case, why would you carry such a large-caliber Black Star pistol with you?" Lu Dan fiddled with the lighter in his hand.

"This kind of gun should have been retired 20 years ago. The criminal investigation team now uses the Type 92 or revolvers."

Chen Feng's body stiffened instantly. He abruptly raised his head, a fierce glint in his eyes: "You've talked too much! Stay put!"

Ignoring Chen Feng's threat, Lu Dan turned to the old man: "The glutinous rice you sprinkled in room 404 just now, if I'm not mistaken, had iron filings mixed in with it, right?"

Master Zhang blushed and stammered, unable to speak.

"Actually, you didn't come here to save people at all."

Lu Dan stood up, dusted off his trousers, and said confidently, "Chen Feng, you're not a policeman, you're probably a private investigator or bodyguard. Master Zhang, you're probably just a conman who takes money to do things, right?"

Then Lu Dan took a step forward and looked down at the seemingly weak female student.

Did you order that takeout?

Chen Feng raised his gun again, this time with an even stronger killing intent.

Lin Xiaoxiao stopped trembling. She slowly raised her head, her face, which had been streaked with tears, was now expressionless.

Those clear, large eyes held a coldness and resentment that belied their age.

"I ordered it." Lin Xiaoxiao's voice was soft but clear. "If I didn't order takeout, how would they open the door? If they didn't open the door, how would we get in to find that bitch?"

Lu Dan felt a chill.

The plot has taken a turn.

Lin Xiaoxiao stood up, patted her skirt, and completely lost her previous weak demeanor: "Mr. Lu, your acting was quite good, much better than these two good-for-nothings."

Lin Xiaoxiao glanced at Chen Feng and Master Zhang, her eyes full of disdain: "Since you've figured it out, why don't we make a deal?"

"What deal?" Lu Dan narrowed his eyes.

"If I'm not mistaken, we're probably both horror script designers, right?"

Lin Xiaoxiao stared at the three of them with a half-smile.