Why Did the Top Alpha Suddenly Stop Acting Out? - Chapter 33.2

The ghost, who had popped out to scare people only to get scared instead: “Why were you screaming?”

Yi Qian shrugged. “Just playing along. Done screaming? Then you can leave. Don’t interfere with my mission.”

The shooed-away ghost: “……”

“If you’re reluctant to leave, how about finding another coffin to lie in?”

The green-faced, fanged ghost gave Yi Qian a thumbs-up (or more accurately, a “6” gesture) and obediently left.

With the obstacle gone, Yi Qian bent over and rummaged through the coffin, finally unearthing a small flat box beneath the straw. She opened it to confirm its contents before turning around.

Seeing the obedient figure in front of her, Yi Qian smiled faintly in satisfaction and gently patted Ye Shuyi’s back.

Ye Shuyi turned around immediately, her voice tinged with concern. “Are you okay?”

The earlier screams had been too loud to ignore. She had almost turned around to check, but the screams ended too quickly, so she had kept waiting as instructed.

The sudden concern caught Yi Qian off guard. She froze for a moment before shaking her head. “I’m fine.”

Holding up the small box like a child seeking praise, her voice carried barely concealed delight: “Found the clue.”

The atmosphere between them instantly lightened in the darkness.

Ye Shuyi restrained the urge to pat the other’s head, merely nodding faintly.

Gathered around the faint green flame, they opened the box to retrieve the clue card:

[Please locate the sun lamp in the haunted house and light it together (Hint: The sun lamp is in the duty room)]

With clue in hand, they left the coffin chamber, feeling their way down the dimly lit corridor toward the duty room.

As they reached the corridor’s end and turned the corner, the green flames suddenly swayed violently, as if excited by their arrival yet on the verge of extinguishing at any moment.

Yi Qian and Ye Shuyi paused at the corner, observing cautiously.

The flames stabilized after a moment.

Exchanging a knowing glance, Yi Qian nodded to Ye Shuyi before proceeding.

Approaching a door, Yi Qian checked the placard not the duty room yet and closed the unsteady wooden door. As she turned, her peripheral vision caught movement: a door slowly opening to her right, a straw-covered head gradually emerging.

Noticing Ye Shuyi hadn’t seen it yet, Yi Qian swiftly stepped over. With one hand, she pushed the straw head back inside; with the other, she shut the door.

“What’s wrong?” Ye Shuyi asked, walking over.

“Nothing,” Yi Qian replied, ensuring the ghost inside had released the doorknob and abandoned its escape attempt before letting go herself. “Just thought this door looked unstable. Better close it properly to avoid any… startling disturbances.”

Ye Shuyi accepted this without question.

Continuing onward, they finally spotted the duty room placard at the corridor’s end.

The duty room floor was littered with crumpled paper and wig-adorned skulls. The storage cabinets stood in disarray, as if ransacked.

Occasional gusts of cold wind through broken windows sent scraps of paper drifting, while torn window coverings emitted eerie rustling sounds.

Yi Qian surveyed the room. Four wall-mounted cameras all pointed toward the center space, none specifically directed elsewhere.

Guess we’ll have to check every cabinet…

Noticing the jumbled books inside a cabinet, Yi Qian’s eyes gleamed as she suggested, “No camera indicates a specific spot. We might need to check everything.”

“Let’s divide tasks, you examine those books while I check the cabinets. Faster this way.”

[Wow, what a perfect excuse to protect the wife!]

[Production team: Repeat after me sun LAMP. You think we’re idiots? That thing can be tucked in books?]

[Yi Qian: Don’t care! Love wins! If I say there’s a lamp in the books, there’s a lamp.]

Ye Shuyi eyed the harmless books, voicing the same doubt as the comments: “Can a lamp really be tucked in books?”

“Not necessarily. There are some really thick books, and the production team might have had nothing better to do than hollow out the middle of one and hide the light inside,” Yi Qian patiently explained. Seeing the other person pause, she continued, “Let’s just start as I suggested. We shouldn’t waste any more time.”

[Hahaha, the production team with nothing better to do, and she even threw shade at them. Classic Yi Qian!]

Outside the haunted house, Director Lu twitched at the corner of his mouth, thinking to himself: If you want to protect someone, do you have to drag me into it? I don’t want to be part of your little game!

Ye Shuyi looked at her for a moment before deciding to accept Yi Qian’s kindness and nodded.

Yi Qian started opening the first cabinet, quickly searching through it before moving to the next when she found nothing. Meanwhile, Ye Shuyi obediently sifted through the messy pile of books.

Most of the closed cabinets were filled with random clutter, and there was no sign of the so-called sun lamp. Yi Qian stopped to scan the cabinets. The lighting was too dim to spot any differences, but based on her earlier experience, she relied on her intuition and walked to the far end of the duty room, opening the innermost cabinet first.

As soon as she opened it, she hit the jackpot.

She found herself face-to-face with a “ghost” whose eye sockets were dripping black liquid.

The “ghost” inside the cabinet, caught off guard by the sudden opening of the door, didn’t react immediately. Seizing the opportunity, Yi Qian moved faster before the ghost could jump up and scream, she raised a hand to cover its mouth and pressed a finger to her own lips with the other. “Shh! Don’t scare my manager.”

The “ghost,” still muffled by her hand, blinked rapidly and nodded like a bobblehead.

Yi Qian narrowed her eyes at it, her tone dangerous. “You won’t go back on your word, will you?”

The “ghost” shook its head frantically, practically turning into a human rattle to prove its sincerity.

Yi Qian let go and glanced over at Ye Shuyi’s position. Seeing that the other woman hadn’t noticed the commotion, her heart, which had been in her throat, finally settled back into place, and she exhaled slowly.

“Do you know where the sun lamp is?” Yi Qian whispered to the “ghost” still staring at her.

The “ghost” obediently raised a finger and pointed to the cabinet next to it.

Yi Qian confirmed, “Right next to here?”

A nod.

Yi Qian thanked it and was about to close the cabinet door when the ghost inside tugged at her pant leg. From its wide sleeve, it pulled out a pen and paper, miming writing before clasping its hands together in a pleading gesture.

“An autograph?”

The “ghost” nodded eagerly.

Yi Qian nodded back, took the pen and paper, quickly signed her name, and handed it back to her “ghost” fan.

[Ahhh!! I’m turning into a lemon right now! Yi Qian even covered its mouth this fan is the ultimate winner in the world of stardom, wuwuwu!]

[And it even came prepared with a pen and paper. This sister clearly planned ahead, hahaha. First time I’ve seen someone successfully fangirl in a haunted house. If the lighting weren’t so dim, this fan might’ve been remembered by Yi Qian for life!]

[Another case of acute jealousy reported in Star City, terminal stage!!!!]

Yi Qian opened the neighboring cabinet, pushed aside the clutter blocking the way, and spotted the wooden box hidden inside. She took it over to the green firelight, opened it, and confirmed its contents.

It was a lamp resembling a crystal ball.

Yi Qian pulled out the sun lamp, pressed the switch on its base, and it immediately lit up, casting a clear golden glow that illuminated the entire duty room.

Leafing through the books, Ye Shuyi was drawn by a sudden light. She turned her head to see Yi Qian walking toward her step by step, carefully cradling a sun lamp in her hands.

Yi Qian stopped before her and presented the sun lamp with utmost grace, as if performing a grand ceremony offering her most precious possession to the person she cherished most.

“Found it.”

Ye Shuyi gave a slight smile and nodded.

Yi Qian placed her hand on the base’s switch and said, “The clue says we need to light the lamp together. Let’s do it.”

Ye Shuyi nodded again, covering Yi Qian’s hand with her own.

The golden light dimmed momentarily before flaring up again, this time even brighter than before.

As the two held the same lamp, their gazes met, soft smiles playing on their lips. Something seemed to melt away between them in that moment, starting anew with the relit glow.

When the lamp fully illuminated, the room’s speaker crackled to life with a mechanical voice:

[Congratulations players on completing the task and successfully clearing the level. Please stride boldly toward your bright future together.]

Exiting through the back door, Yi Qian and Ye Shuyi returned to the production team’s base camp, noticing the other guests hadn’t emerged yet.

Yi Qian blinked in disbelief, she’d assumed they’d be the last ones out, especially after their dramatic “quarrel” performance inside.

Director Lu greeted them and, from his omniscient perspective, explained the situation. The haunted house pairings had worked surprisingly well this time each team had one scared participant and one fearless one. Huang Xin and Long Xiaoqin were both unafraid, similar to Yi Qian’s level. The key difference was that in Yi Qian’s team, the scared member didn’t hold them back or rather, the frightened partner had been well protected, allowing them to progress smoothly.

The other two teams weren’t so fortunate their scared members not only disturbed their partners but actively prevented them from approaching clues.

Yi Qian glanced at the monitors. On screen, Cai Yunyou was dragging Huang Xin toward the exit, refusing to enter the corridor corner, while Long Xiaoqin was being physically restrained by He Tong, barely able to move.

Catching Ye Shuyi’s eye, Yi Qian curved her lips meaningfully. “By comparison, my situation was absolutely perfect.”

A highlighted bullet comment floated across the screen, voicing Yi Qian’s unspoken thought:

[Yi Qian you brat, just say you want to praise your wife directly!! Stop with this sneaky flirting!!!]

Director Lu cleared his throat behind his hand, removing his microphone to tell them, “Your recording wraps up here today after completing the mission. Just do individual interviews over there and you’re free to go. Good work these two days.”

While Ye Shuyi went for her interview first, Yi Qian waited nearby. Watching the interview session for a while, she suddenly remembered something and pulled out her phone to research restaurants for their return trip.

She’d just selected one when a staff member called her for her own interview session.

But when she emerged post-recording, Ye Shuyi had already left. Checking her phone revealed no messages. Stopping a staff member, Yi Qian asked, “Did Manager Ye leave any message for me?”

The staff member shook their head. “But I saw her get picked up by a purple luxury car earlier.”

A purple car?

She remembered Song Chichi driving a purple vehicle during their group dinner…

Finding Ye Shuyi’s contact, Yi Qian dialed the number.

“The number you have dialed is currently switched off…”

In the passenger seat of the purple Maybach, Ye Shuyi stared at Grandma Sun in the driver’s seat, still visibly shocked. “Grandma, why did you come yourself?”

Granny Sun flashed a smug smile. “I missed you, so I came over.”

As expected, Ye Shuyi responded, “Does Ke Chi know you drove her car here?”

At the mention of Song Kechi, Granny Sun immediately pursed her lips, clearly displeased. “Hmph, don’t mention her to me. That unfilial granddaughter wouldn’t even accompany me to the disaster relief!”

“Disaster relief?” Ye Shuyi’s eyes widened slightly. “Granny, with your health…”

“Oh, oh… pah! Not disaster relief, but to inspect the donated supplies. Since she wouldn’t go with me, I had no choice but to come fetch you.” Granny Sun said matter-of-factly, shooting Ye Shuyi a pitiful glance through the rearview mirror. “Little Ye, don’t tell me you don’t have time for this old lady either?”

Ye Shuyi couldn’t help but chuckle at Granny Sun’s woeful expression. “Of course not. I happen to be free today.”

What started as a sunny afternoon stretched into a moonlit night.

Ye Shuyi opened her front door. One glance at the pitch-black interior instantly brought back images from the haunted house earlier that day.

She shook her head, quickly reaching for the light switch. The room brightened immediately, revealing everything exactly as she’d left it.

Stop imagining things!

After setting down her belongings, she washed her face in the bathroom. Returning to the living room, she turned on the TV, only to be greeted by a blood-red ghost face leaping from the screen. Startled, she stumbled backward, frantically changing the channel.

Finding a comedy to play, she settled onto the sofa with her tablet to work.

But focus eluded her.

Her eyes darted around the living room. No one was there.

She swallowed nervously, wrestling with herself before finally pulling out her phone. After prolonged hesitation, she scrolled through her contacts and made a call.

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