Jumpscare

"I need five mannequins," Cui Len'an shot a glance at the mannequins before him, "They must look as human as possible."

"I think I have those in my basements," Artisan Feng narrowed his head as he stared at Cui Len'an with distrustful eyes, "Before you purchase them, I need you to do something."

"Whatever it is along as it doesn't concern my safety and, in my capabilities," Cui Len'an nodded passively, he guessed something by now.

I have a feeling it is linked more to his safety rather than my own…

Artisan Feng returned with a piece of paper and pen, appearing rather solemn and stiff as he glanced at Cui Len'an.

"I want you to sign a non-disclosure contract first," Artisan Feng glanced at him meaningfully, "To protect both of our safeties."

It appears he is rather guarded with this job of his, I can completely understand where this is coming from…

To create human-like mannequins require skills but to completely escape the inquiring and suspicious eyes of others required silence.

He took a close look at the piece of paper and read them inwardly,

'Both parties shall not disclose any of the transactions.'

'Both parties protect one another's privacy by maintaining a non-disclosure of each other's identity.'

Cui Len'an agreed, and it benefited both parties. He took the pen, signed his signature onto the piece of paper, and added his name.

"I didn't intend to do any more business," Artisan Feng smiled in relief as he added, "Due to Wang Ling's convincing, you shall be a special customer of mine."

"Thank you, I am grateful," He lowered his eyes as he spoke with a hidden smile, "I hope both parties will uphold this agreement."

"Of course! I do not wish to implicate any of our secrets into this transaction," He let out a sincere laugh, "I had many customers whose wives caught them buying my mannequins."

"…"

-

Cui Len'an came out wearing a mask, carrying five mannequins and placing them onto the back of his car. One of the mannequins had its legs extended out of the back due to the back having limited space.

Cui Len'an proceeded to take it out and placed it into the passenger seat, making it imitate a sitting human. He winced slightly as he glanced at the mannequin with a bit of fear.

This is way too realistic! I have to cover it with a cloth so I don't have to deal with the police intruding on my car and finding a mannequin and I don't want to glance in the mirror to find a mannequin staring at me!

He couldn't help but imagine himself staring into the mirror and finding the mannequin suddenly twisting its head toward him.

He shuddered and grabbed a black cloth, covering its body and face.

After a while, a ringing noise was heard. Cui Len'an immediately took out his phone and glanced at it. They were messages from Cui Xue, it consisted of a list of attachments.

One of them was the location of Cui Kan's whereabouts, which he forwarded to Wang Ling after receiving them.

After a while, a phone call came in and he immediately accepted it.

"Kan is doing alright, I am afraid he has been starved for quite some time now," A cold voice reverberated from his phone, "Have you hired those fighters yet?"

"Yes, I have," He held back the urge to laugh and continued speaking in a flat tone, "Although I made an agreement with them as well and they want you to uphold it as well."

"What is it?" She asked suddenly.

"They had hoped none of us approach them ever again after us asking them for their help," Cui Len'an lied with closed eyes and raised eyebrows, looking rather complicated.

"Okay," she said almost immediately.

"Also, they had hoped we would stay quiet about ever hiring them, especially with father…"

"That is fine," Cui Xue replied with a nonchalant tone, "As long as Kan is fine, I am willing to do anything."

Very well, I can rest assured. She is rather easy to talk to and understanding of the current situation.

I used to be quite close with her as a child and the one thing I am certain of about her is she always keeps her words; she had always upheld her promise to buy me ice cream after school.

He sat in the driver's car and glanced out the window, with a mysterious smile.

I have a feeling this is going to be fun!

-

Deep within the gloomy and murky forested territory, there situated a rusted and hoary building; appearing abandoned for many decades. Inside the rusted building, lights radiated and lit up the gloominess of the area.

"Master Kao, what should we do with them?" A bald man with missing front teeth spoke as he pointed a handgun toward a group of people with their hands tied to their backs.

"Relax…We shall keep them here for a few days before ransoming them," A well-built man with a mustache spoke with a wicked grin as he stood with his arms placed behind his back, "I wonder if anyone would even be interested in ransoming them free…"

"Even if it is the case, the best thing we can do is have them sold," He grinned widely with wickedness and cruelty.

A child amongst the group of people shuddered as he struggled to keep his tears at bay, an older woman stuck with him shot him a glance and whispered a few words to him, eventually calming the child.

"It is going to be okay…We will be saved soon…" She gave him an assuring smile.

"Hark? Saved? In your dreams!" Another man with exposed tattoos spoke with an amused smirk as he glared at the woman, "No one will save you!"

"Once you are in our hands, no one shall escape," He continued to speak as he drooled at the thought of money.

"Silence!" Master Kao cried out, "We have something to celebrate!"

"Today, we have caught quite a catch!" Master Kao quickly scanned the group of people and smirked viciously as he pointed his finger at a young man with a battered and dirtied shirt.

"Third Young Master of the Cui Family!" Master Kao roared happily as he instructed his men to grab him.

The young man appeared extremely frail and pale, not having eaten a full meal for days now and had only eaten the leftovers. The young man was in his mid-20s and had a handsome face, his sharp jawline was the most striking. He was none other than the older brother of Cui Len'an, Cui Kan.

Cui Kan didn't resist as he was roughly pulled and pushed onto the ground, breathing heavily and obediently.

He didn't even know how he appeared here! He had only remembered coming home after having a drink and gambling…

"Money! Money! Money!" They shouted in unison as they pulled each other in a tight huge, glancing at Cui Kan as though he was a bank machine.

"Our Master would be extremely joyful with this sight of you," Master Kao grabbed a handful of his hair as he whispered fiercely and with unrestrained thirst.

Master Kao proceeded to throw him to the ground and smiled coldly, "Your life will be exchanged for our meals, Gambling Prince."

Before he could continue speaking, a commotion of jarring sound boomed, catching everyone's attention.

BANG!

BANG!

BANG!

"What!" Master Kao immediately turned his head toward the source of the sound in astonishment as he glared ruthlessly toward his own men,

"Did anyone leak our location?" Master Kao shouted in a panic as he pulled his gun out. All of them were also astonished, discovering their hideout was found by someone.

"F*ck!" He kicked one of his own men in the stomach as he commanded loudly, "Some of you guys will come with me! We will figure out what is the source of that noise?"

Master Kao pointed at the bald man and the tattooed man with furious eyes, "Both of you! Guard everyone here!"

"If he escapes, I will have both of you killed," He threatened angrily as he pointed his gun toward the both of them. They shuddered as they nodded their heads repeatedly as the determination was shown in their eyes.

Master Kao immediately ran out with some of his men as they tried to figure out the source and the place. As soon as he stepped foot out of the abandoned warehouse, he lifted his head above.

A thread of dark smoke was coiling from above!

"Immediately, scatter!" Master Kao commanded as they all gripped the guns in their hands tightly, "Immediately shoot any target!"

"We can't have any of our locations disclosed!"

Master Kao dashed forward straight into the forest along with his men, one of them held a flashlight in their hand as they scattered to find the culprit.

It was dark and dreary; they couldn't see their tracks clearly due to the darkness of the night and the trees blocking the moonlight.

They were all extremely restrained as they observed every movement closely, Master Kao was focused on his surrounding as he held his gun up.

A sudden bustling sound immediately caught their attention as one of them immediately held his gun up and shot at it a couple of times.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

It wasn't a person's movement but rather some leaves swaying…

"…"

After a couple of whiles, they stepped foot onto a tiny open field where there were car tracks and grassed fields.

A patch of black dirt was huddled together in one place, Master Kao approached it and crouched down to see it. As soon he touched the black dirt and took a whiff of it, he immediately figured out what it was.

It is the remains of firecrackers!

He jolted up as he glared at his men with fiery and bloodshot eyes, "There were someone lighting firecrackers here!"

Firecrackers! Is there anyone this stupid to play with them in the middle of the night? It must be some sort of prank!

Or was it a way to distract them!

All of them thought in unison and before long, a cold and windy breeze hit their face from the side. This sudden breeze caused them to turn their heads to the side.

The sight they saw caused their knees to buckle as they shook tremendously…

What appeared in their visions were five human figures, all dressed up in bloodied clothes as they stared at them motionless. They all stared at them from the same direction, never once taking their eyes off them

One of them held up a knife stained with blood; his shirt was all stained with fresh blood as he stared at them emotionlessly with unmoving eyes as if he was eying his next target.

The second one had a slit throat as she laid lifelessly on the ground and one of her arms was missing, her eyes stared at them lifelessly. Her dress was stained with dirt and sweat.

The third one was holding a shovel with blood on its edge as he placed his feet onto it and dug the dirt off the ground, he glared at them with undisguised disgust.

The fourth one was holding a detached arm as her mouth was covered in blood and appeared to be chewing on something, she glanced at them with unrestrained thirst as though they were snacks.

Master Kao and his men felt like they were caught creeping on them, shivers ran down their spines as they became stiff and unable to move. They have never come across such a terrifying scene in their lives…

Pat! Pat!

Master Kao felt a pat on his shoulder as his body tensed and he contemplated whether he should turn around or not. He gripped his gun tightly and hurriedly turned around.

It was of another figure!

The figure was smiling softly at him with lifeless eyes and before Master Kao could pull his trigger, the figure's head suddenly fell off and landed on the ground.

The body of the figure remained standing as Master Kao stood his ground with wide eyes.

"…"