Chapter 45: Mistaken Kiss

Gu Jiayan glanced at Ruan Wei’s pale face but said nothing. His mind was filled with the conversation he had just overheard between Gu Zhenzhi and the others. So, it seemed they weren’t together?

Ruan Cha returned quickly, just as it was their turn in the line. The staff member briefly explained that all the ghosts inside the haunted house were actually employees, then led them inside. Once they entered, the staff member slipped away without a sound.

Suddenly, darkness swallowed everything before their eyes, strange and inexplicable noises echoing in their ears. Ruan Cha instinctively reached out and grabbed Gu Zhenzhi’s hand, their fingers interlacing.

The moment her soft little hand slipped into his palm, Gu Zhenzhi was taken aback. Then, nervously, Ruan Cha pried his fingers apart and entwined them with her own, their ten fingers interlocked.

A violent tremor ran through Gu Zhenzhi’s heart.

They’d barely taken two steps when a ghostly woman with disheveled hair leaped out before Ruan Wei. Terrified, she let out a piercing scream and scurried behind Gu Jiayan.

Ruan Cha, not yet frightened by any ghosts, was startled first by Ruan Wei’s deafening shriek. She pressed herself closer to Gu Zhenzhi, sticking tightly to his side.

As they walked, she tiptoed and asked him in a trembling whisper, “Gu Zhenzhi, aren’t you scared?”

Gu Zhenzhi didn’t catch what she said. Lowering his head, he leaned in closer to her, his voice deep and magnetic, “Hmm? What?”

In the darkness, not even an outstretched hand could be seen.

Ruan Cha didn’t realize he’d already leaned in; she tiptoed even higher. As she tilted her head up, a strange, soft sensation brushed her lips, making her heart jolt violently.

Her mind went blank, exploding with confusion. Unsure if she had just kissed Gu Zhenzhi, she forced herself to steady her trembling heart and asked, “I was asking, are you scared?”

Gu Zhenzhi didn’t reply; all she could hear was his breathing, which grew from steady to slightly rushed.

Just as Ruan Cha thought he wouldn’t answer, a low, husky voice, tinged with restraint, slipped into her ear, “No.”

She couldn’t see his face in the darkness or read his expression. She could only sense the suppressed tumult in his heavy breaths—an increasingly unsteady feeling.

Gu Zhenzhi’s deep eyes grew darker. In the pitch black, he felt those lips, sweet with the girl’s scent, press against his cheek. In that instant, his heart exploded like fireworks—blossoming, splitting apart. Each spark beat with an intense, thunderous pulse.

While the two were still lost in the aftermath of that accidental kiss, a ghastly white skull suddenly bounced out in front of Ruan Cha!

Startled out of her wits, Ruan Cha spun around and leaped straight into Gu Zhenzhi’s arms—and screamed.

Gu Zhenzhi, unprepared, caught the petite girl in his embrace. Her slender arms clung tightly around his neck, her face drained of all color.

Looking calmly at the staff member beside him wearing a skull mask, Gu Zhenzhi raised his fist and struck out!

The man in the skull costume barely had time to react before something crashed into him. His mind went blank as he staggered several steps backward, the world spinning with stars.

Dizzy and reeling, he collapsed straight onto the floor.

As one staff member fainted, the others rushed over at once.

Ruan Cha stared in stunned disbelief at the scene before her. All the hidden “ghosts” suddenly swarmed toward them in a frantic rush.

The spectacle was nothing short of thrilling.

She screamed again, clinging desperately to Gu Zhenzhi’s neck.