Chapter 364: 364
“I’m not going.”
Tan Ying had barely finished her sentence when Fu Qian showed his refusal directly.
“Why?”
It was evident that although Tan Ying was somewhat prepared for a refusal, she was still taken aback by the degree of decisiveness.
“Not interested.”
Fu Qian’s expression was unchanged.
...
In the face of such self-confined establishments as haunted houses, he had little interest even as a child.
Moreover, most businesses lack imagination and simply splatter blood everywhere.
And now?
As a veteran driver who had been through numerous battles, he was already aesthetically fatigued.
The scenes tediously arranged by the merchants had less visual impact than one of his own skills.
Visiting such places felt like watching a low-quality action movie. Hence, Fu Qian’s refusal was quite straightforward.
…
Given Fu Qian’s posture, the atmosphere undoubtedly became somewhat tense for a while.
Tan Ying’s classmates obviously didn’t expect Fu Qian to be so definitive, and they were all somewhat taken aback.
Jiang Yuanliang, who was standing by, was even more dumbfounded.
Still sticking to his guns even with a soft approach? The lad has some backbone! An example for my generation!
Whew!
Amid such an atmosphere, Tan Ying took a deep breath.
However, just when everyone thought she was about to explode, she reached out and grabbed Fu Qian’s hand the next moment.
“Don’t be like that!”
Tan Ying looked as though she was on the verge of tears.
“We’re all friends, and that place is so dark and scary; I really can’t go there by myself!”
If the hard approach doesn’t work, try the soft one, huh? What flexibility!
Fu Qian shook his head.
A beautiful girl acting coquettishly was undeniably pleasant to the eyes, but as a professional consultant with keen insight, he saw right through her ulterior motives.
Although she looked pitiable, when Tan Ying mentioned the haunted house, she showed not a trace of fear but instead, eager anticipation. Clearly, her frailty was merely a pretense.
And Fu Qian could almost guess her intentions.
It’s well-known that men are not significantly braver than women when it comes to fear of ghosts.
Those who put on a brave face and get aggressive at haunted houses mostly do so because they have a girlfriend or a young woman present. In fact, many of them also shake at the knees.
Tan Ying’s fervent performance likely had nothing to do with fear. It was highly probable she wanted to lure him in to see him embarrass himself.
“Sorry, my business partner is here for a rare visit, and I need to show him around.”
You’re kidding me, right? You were about ready to send people packing just now!
“Then let’s all go together. We’re short on people anyway.”
Tan Ying was visibly grinding her teeth in frustration, nearly pushing Fu Qian to move forward.
“I don’t like those kinds of places…”
Jiang Yuanliang put forth a weak protest.
“Come on, let’s go. We’re all young people; we should dare to challenge ourselves.”
Short on people? Interesting!
Unexpectedly determined, Fu Qian couldn’t help raising an eyebrow and graciously gave in.
“Alright.”
…
“Are you sure? Going right now?”
At the same time, as the pair were shopping, they stopped in their tracks. He Xian widened her eyes and looked at Pei Yanqing.
“Haven’t you always been scared to go?”
She had been itching to check out the newly opened haunted house nearby, persistently lobbying her roommate about it. Unexpectedly, she became proactive today.
“I don’t know. I just suddenly got interested. We young people should dare to challenge ourselves, right?”
Pei Yanqing playfully winked.
…
“I’m done with work. Fancy a cup of coffee together?”
In the bright room, Qin Mingze glanced at the stocking clad high heels wiping against his trouser leg, then looked back up at the face.
It’s a pity, though; the charms of this client were not enough to make him breach professional ethics.
That being said, Fu Qian’s client for the security consultancy, isn’t she some exceptional wealthy lady?
Just as the thought crossed his mind, Qin Mingze suddenly felt that working overtime on the weekend was utterly inhumane.
After turning down the young woman’s invitation, he stepped out the door and immediately took out his phone to call Fu Qian.
“What’s up?”
The call was quickly answered.
“At home?”
“No.”
Fu Qian gave his location.
“If you’re interested, you could come along and challenge yourself a bit too.”
“I guess I could…”
Qin Mingze gave it a moment’s thought before agreeing outright.
“Young Master Qin said he wants to come as well, should we wait for him?”
Fu Qian looked at Tan Ying in front of him and said this without changing his expression.
In the time it took for this exchange, they had already arrived at their destination.
The building in front of them was much larger than expected.
And from the design at the entrance, it was clear that the owner had put in considerable effort, no wonder it had become famous.
Including Tan Ying, who probably intended to deceive herself, but she became eager to try after seeing the actual place.
“…Alright then!”
Tan Ying was somewhat dissatisfied, but couldn’t find a reason to refuse on the spot.
And before long at the entrance, Young Master Qin arrived.
“What suddenly piqued your interest in this?”
Qin Mingze looked at Fu Qian with curiosity.
“It’s not me, it’s her interest that’s high.”
Fu Qian pointed at Tan Ying.
“According to her own words, she’s both bad at it and loves playing.”
“Fine, count me in then.”
Qin Mingze was indifferent to this.
Hmph!
On the side, Tan Ying looked at Fu Qian and scoffed.
“I checked before, the limit is six people per group; even with Young Master Qin, there is still a place for you.”
“Is that so?”
Fu Qian replied nonchalantly and suddenly waved his hand towards the distance.
“You all are here…”
Upon recognizing the one waving was Fu Qian, Pei Yanqing hurried over.
“Yanqing, what are you doing here?”
Tan Ying was also quite surprised to see her.
“She suddenly insisted on coming here to have fun.”
Before Pei Yanqing could speak, He Xian, who was beside her, explained first.
“It seems this place is indeed famous!”
Fu Qian smiled meaningfully on the side.
“Yes, I’ve heard people say this place is quite upscale, and it is said that even the props are consecrated by high monks.”
Tan Ying’s classmates all nodded.
Haunted house props, consecrated by high monks.
Girl, do you even know what you’re talking about?
“You guys are here for this too?”
At this moment, Pei Yanqing finally caught on.
“…Yes.”
Tan Ying nodded with difficulty.
“I remember there was a limit of six people, wasn’t there?”
Fu Qian looked at her smilingly.
“Then I won’t go in.”
“It’s not like everyone is interested.”
Tan Ying was not so easily dissuaded and coldly looked at Jiang Yuanliang.
“Mr. Jiang doesn’t seem to like this kind of place?”
It was you who asked people to come, wasn’t it!
Fu Qian shook his head, but he was prepared for this.
“Actually… I am quite interested right now.”
Unexpectedly, facing Tan Ying’s murderous gaze, Jiang Yuanliang struggled with his expression, and finally, he weakly raised his hand.
…
Today is really bizarre!
Tan Ying was now utterly speechless.
A moment ago he acted like he was scared to death, and now he suddenly has so much courage?
But with the conversation having reached this point… In the end, Tan Ying went inside with the others, though clearly unwilling.
As for Fu Qian, the mastermind behind all this, he didn’t hurry to leave but instead started chatting with the front desk manager.
Of course, it wouldn’t be such a coincidence; he had just responded to some calls in his head and gave a little guidance, that’s all.
In fact, as a respectful Demigod, aside from scaring Xu Meng that one time, he generally didn’t do such things.
Yet, when he did it today, the outcome was extraordinarily good, easily forming a six-person team for Tan Ying, preventing his own life from being wasted.
He then learned from the bald, tough-looking manager that the consecration claim was suspected of false advertising — not all props had been consecrated, only some.
All were painstakingly collected from various places by him, and they truly had something supernatural about them.
“Even I don’t know what will happen after you go in.”
The manager’s expression was quite serious, and Fu Qian chimed in with appreciative clucking.
And eventually, this exaggerated dialogue was interrupted by a scream from Tan Ying.