Chapter 161: Summoning failed

“If you didn’t make the fog, was it a ghost that made it?!” the man in the hat roared.

“Sizzle… It really wasn’t me. Do you have a problem with me? Actually, besides being taller, handsomer, and younger than you, there’s nothing special about me. Why do you keep harping on me? It was the same yesterday. I already said I made the fog disappear later, but you still don’t believe me and insist it was my doing,” the person on the walkie-talkie complained, accompanied by static.

The man in the hat’s eye twitched, and veins bulged. Ignoring the idiot on the walkie-talkie, he turned to the young man beside him and said, “Who hired this guy? Tell him to get lost tomorrow!”

“That might not be good. He’s a student from the nearby Ninth Yu Beast High School, working a summer job,” the young man offered his opinion.

“Most of our customer traffic comes from students at that school. If he goes back and exaggerates a few things, we might suffer a great loss.”

The man in the hat calmed down slightly.

Running this kind of shop primarily earns money from young people. The shop was opened here specifically for the students from the nearby schools.

Especially since this school is a Yu Beast High School, the customer traffic includes not only students but also their Pets.

“Forget it, there aren’t many days left in summer anyway…” The man in the hat felt a bit embarrassed after saying this, so he added, “Once summer is over, tell him to get lost!”

“Understood…”

The young man’s words were cut short as he stared, stunned, at the scene on the monitor.

The lights in the burning secret room on the monitor screen suddenly brightened, but the next second, they completely darkened again.

Not only that, all the background lights that created the horror atmosphere were turned off, leaving only the burning firelight to barely illuminate the outline of the scene.

“Damn it, who turned off the lights! Turn them all back on immediately!” The man in the hat also saw the scene on the monitor and roared into the walkie-talkie.

However, only “sizzle…” static came from the walkie-talkie, and no one answered him.

The man in the hat’s temper flared, and he was about to curse someone’s entire family.

Just then, the young man beside him, with a solemn expression, said, “The color of this fog isn’t right.”

The artificial fog in the shop was purple, but in that brief moment when the lights came on, the fog seen was black.

…

At the same time.

“I didn’t expect this shop’s service to be so thorough,” Qiao Sang exclaimed, looking at the screen, momentarily forgetting to consider if the room was tall enough.

It was on fire inside, yet they didn’t extinguish it immediately; instead, they continued to create a horrifying atmosphere. Truly dedicated!

It’s just that this fog seems a bit too dense…

It’s almost obscuring the entire scene.

Fang Sisi came back to her senses, looking at the screen uncertainly, “I don’t remember this secret room having this plot point.”

She stayed here with Cotton Section Worm, watching a dozen shows a day. She already knew by heart when the horror sound effects would play and at which stage the NPCs would appear.

It wasn’t unheard of for a Pet to damage props inside. Just yesterday, a Flat-billed Fire Duck burned most of the props in the second stage, though it was far less severe than now…

But even then, they extinguished the fire immediately and then used Black Mud to take the Flat-billed Fire Duck to the next stage.

Qiao Sang was startled by her words. When she looked at the screen again, she found that the mist had already enveloped the entire picture.

The burning smoke and the mist merged, making it impossible to see the scene inside.

Qiao Sang frowned slightly, a wave of unease rising in her heart. After a moment of hesitation, she formed a hand seal, preparing to summon Yabao back.

Three seconds later, her expression was a bit grim.

The summoning failed…

“Can you summon Cotton Section Worm back now?” Qiao Sang turned and asked.

Fang Sisi was stunned for a moment. Although she didn’t know why, seeing Qiao Sang’s hand seal just now and her serious expression, she knew something might have happened.

“Okay.”

She nodded and began forming the summoning hand seal.

“Oh no, why can’t I summon it back?!” Fang Sisi’s face changed, and she said in a panic.

The others in the observation room heard this and quickly formed hand seals, preparing to summon their Pets back.

Soon, everyone present turned pale.

“How is that possible…”

“I actually failed!”

“Me too!”

Seeing this, Qiao Sang said nothing more and walked directly outside.

Her brain region had already reached over 10%. As long as she wasn’t too far from Yabao and could sense Yabao’s location in her mind, it should be impossible not to summon it back.

The fact that everyone else couldn’t summon their Pets back just now further confirmed her suspicion.

Something had happened…

“I’ll go with you!” Fang Sisi quickly got up and followed.

“I’ll go too!”

“Let’s all go!”

“And me!”

Everyone else followed.

Just as the last person stepped out of the observation room, a red eye suddenly appeared on the screen.

This eye filled the entire screen, pressing against the camera and rotating slightly left and right.

The next second, the screen flickered twice and then shut off.

…

“You can’t go in!” The Staff tried their best to stop them.

“Why can’t we go in? Our Pets are all inside! Who will be responsible if something happens?” the man who had just been startled by Little Treasure Hunting Ghost said emotionally.

“Exactly! Didn’t you just call inside and no one answered? Something must have happened! Let me in!” a girl next to him said with red eyes.

“We’ve already sent people in to check. They’ll be out soon. Please calm down. Once they’re out, if something really happened, we’ll call the police to resolve it,” the Staff reassured them.

“By the time the police get here, it’ll be too late! You know there’s a Yan Ling Dog inside! Do you know what a Yan Ling Dog is? Its Yu Beast Master is right here! Beautiful lady, tell…” The man turned around, startled. Where was the Yan Ling Dog’s Yu Beast Master?

…

The secret room was dim.

Qiao Sang used her phone as a flashlight to illuminate the way.

She had pulled Fang Sisi and run in when the Staff weren’t paying attention.

It proved that sometimes one needs to be flexible and not too rigid, otherwise, she might not have been able to enter even if she talked herself hoarse.

“Go left,” Fang Sisi directed from beside her.

Cotton Section Worm worked here, so she had naturally been inside and observed the Lost Town secret room before.

This was also why Qiao Sang didn’t mind bringing her along.

Soon, they reached the first secret room, where Yabao was originally located on the screen.

The mist inside had dissipated, and the fire had also extinguished for some unknown reason, leaving only the wreckage of props and a choking smoky smell.

Qiao Sang closed her eyes and sensed Yabao’s location.

Fragments of images pieced together in her mind. The background in the image was all black, making it impossible to see its exact location, only that the distance was no more than a hundred meters.

“It’s not here. Let’s keep going,” Qiao Sang said, opening her eyes.

“Wait,” Fang Sisi used her phone’s flashlight to shine on the ground, walked three steps forward and two steps to the left, then squatted down and tapped on a stone slab on the ground.

“What’s wrong?” Qiao Sang asked.

“There’s a room underneath here. Remember the NPC that was sent underground? That was Black Mud using its ability. If there’s no accident, the two of them should still be in the room below. Ask them, maybe they know what happened,” Fang Sisi explained.

“Are you talking about this Black Mud?” Qiao Sang stepped forward, picked up a dark, lumpy object from the ground nearby, and asked.

Fang Sisi was stunned. She held her phone and shined the flashlight on the dark, lumpy head in Qiao Sang’s hand.

“…It is.”