The familiar scenery disoriented Gu Wang.

A moment later, he realized that the snake’s inner core and skin, when combined, could create illusions.

The Candle Maiden and Lamp Shadow Hag, fiercely protective of their master, rushed over. Seeing the snake’s inner core, they relaxed. “So it’s that senior’s relic.”

Gu Wang asked curiously, “You know them?”

The Candle Maiden curtsied. “Reporting to you, Master, over four hundred years ago, when we became ghosts, this senior had already occupied Beiyuan Mountain for a long time. It’s just that later, during their transformation into a flood dragon, they couldn’t endure the thunder tribulation and sadly perished.”

The Lamp Shadow Hag added, “That senior’s illusionary techniques reached perfection. This inner core contains the spiritual power from their attempt to transform into a flood dragon, and their cultivation was comparable to that of an Earth Immortal, even able to materialize illusions.”

Gu Wang reached out and touched it; the vermillion door pillar felt rough to the touch. It was actually tangible!

What was he worried about earlier?

With this snake’s inner core, couldn’t he immediately upgrade the infrastructure?!

And it wouldn’t cost a dime!

Thinking this, he immediately closed his eyes and used his divine sense to communicate with the snakeskin and snake’s inner core in his hand.

The Taoist temple scene shattered and vanished. The true look of the amusement park appeared, then started to change quickly.

The simple surrounding wall transformed into a green brick and stone wall. Green shoots sprouted from the soil at the base of the wall, quickly growing into vines that entwined around the wall, blooming with tiny flowers.

A ticket booth, a few square meters in size, appeared outside the entrance. It was designed like a cute, cartoonish ghost. The ticket window was located at the ghost’s mouth, making it not scary at all but rather quite adorable.

The changes within the park were even more significant. Unused areas were covered in a white mist, like an unlocked map in a game.

Only Gu Wang’s small concrete house and the haunted house remained visible.

Pebbled paths connected various areas, with green pebbles as the base and white pebbles forming round, grinning skulls, perfectly spaced for an adult’s stride.

In the empty spaces were seats shaped like various exotic beasts from the Shanhaijing (Classic of Mountains and Seas), some smooth, some fluffy, allowing visitors to choose according to their preference.

Along both sides of the path were street lamps, tall pillars with intricate patterns.

Delicate chains hung down, suspending red lotus lanterns that would transform into fiery lotuses to illuminate the area at night.

The appearance of the haunted house also changed.

The once ordinary small house had transformed into a two-story traditional Chinese embroidered building, but its exterior was run-down, with shriveled mice and spiderwebs hanging from the corners, instantly giving it a haunted house vibe.

The most outlandish part was the area for the signboard. A stone tablet gradually solidified from an illusory state, and two large characters appeared on it, radiating a chilling, ghostly aura: Fengdu.

Legend says Fengdu is where the underworld is located. Gu Wang used this word to add a halo to his amusement park.

Anyway, people from the underworld didn’t come to the human realm, so no one would care if he was basically pulling a bait-and-switch.

The transformations gradually ceased.

Gu Wang opened his eyes with regret. He had initially wanted to transform his small concrete house as well, but although he possessed a lot of spiritual power, most of it was used to suppress the Yin energy in his body, so he could only accomplish this much.

Fortunately, these changes greatly improved the amusement park’s appearance and will likely attract more tourists.

He looked back again; the small black snake was wiggling happily in a wavy line, clearly enjoying this transformation.

Gu Wang flicked its head. “Stop thinking about stealing things, and focus on proper cultivation.”

Coincidentally, on the second day of the amusement park’s renovation, Xu Xiaoming returned from his business trip and immediately went to the amusement park to shoot a promotional video for the “big shot.” He had contacted Boss Lin and knew what the amusement park had been transformed into.

On the way, he was still planning how to handle the post-production to make the “big shot” amusement park more attractive.

However, upon arriving, the chubby guy’s eyes widened in surprise; he almost didn’t recognize it!

Where was the promised single, dusty-looking haunted house?

Where was the simple, chicken-coop-style wall?

Was his girlfriend’s father pulling his leg?

The amusement park in the morning was just breathtaking.

Xu Xiaoming didn’t even get a chance to meet Gu Wang. He grabbed his camera and started filming, even using his new drone.

Through the lens, the green walls were covered in verdant growth, especially after the morning rain. The vibrant green leaves and scattered small flowers looked delightful.

Yet, every detail within the park subtly conveyed the “supernatural” theme: the pebbled paths forming skulls, the ghost-shaped ticket booth… and the red lotus street lamps even emitted a faint, eerie glow!

Especially the haunted house building, standing amidst the misty rain, it looked almost unreal.

The entire amusement park embodied this theme: from high above, the park was surrounded by barren land and forests, yet it stood beautifully in the center, much like the homes of ghosts and foxes in Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio that hosted banquets at night and turned into desolate graves by day.

Xu Xiaoming filmed enough material and contentedly put away his camera. He said to Gu Wang, “Big shot, how did you build this amusement park? Which construction team did you hire?”

Gu Wang shook a finger. “It’s a secret.”

Xu Xiaoming understood immediately. “Big shot, don’t worry. I’ll work quickly on the post-production over the next couple of days, and it’ll be online next week. It’s a shame I don’t have many followers. If some big blogger with millions of followers posted it, it would definitely go viral. It’s really beautiful!”

Gu Wang smiled. “Take your time, no rush.”

Xu Xiaoming: “Right, you’re opening an amusement park in such a remote place, you probably aren’t short on money.”

Gu Wang: “Oh, I still am.”

Soon, it was the weekend.

Xu Xiaoming’s video hadn’t been released yet, but the amusement park welcomed other visitors.

Gu Wang looked at the police officers in front of him, utterly bewildered. “Did you just say someone reported me for what?”

The lead police officer, a female officer, said sternly, “Someone reported you for engaging in feudal superstition. We need to conduct an inspection.”

Gu Wang couldn’t help but smile wryly, immediately knowing who had reported him. That Zhang Lei, after being scared once, didn’t learn his lesson and was still thinking of revenge.

He stepped aside, allowing them to inspect, and produced his business license and other documents as requested, which had all been processed initially.

After the inspection, the police understood the report was groundless. They saluted and said, “Sorry to interrupt your business. Your amusement park has a unique theme, so please pay attention and don’t cross the line.”

Gu Wang smiled. “Understood. Sorry for the trouble.”

The female police officer also smiled. “It’s our duty.”

Gu Wang watched them leave. It seemed that scaring people indiscriminately wouldn’t work. Encountering a few more people like Zhang Lei would be utterly annoying. He needed to find another approach.

Thinking this, he called the Lamp Shadow Hag, Candle Maiden, and the persistent little black snake for a meeting, conducting a job training session.

At Yaoguang University, gossip quickly spread.

It was said that a sophomore boy went to a haunted house, got so scared he held a grudge, and reported the place for engaging in feudal superstition. The police went to check and found it to be groundless. They drove a police car to give him a lecture.

The gossip became more and more detailed. Even the reason for the boy going out to clear his head was revealed: he was reportedly rejected by a girl he liked.

Some busybodies couldn’t help but laugh, saying how timid this guy must be, first rejected by a girl and then scared by a haunted house.

It’s just a haunted house. How scary could it be?

Zhang Lei, who cared a lot about his reputation, couldn’t handle being lectured by the police. Now, as the subject of campus gossip, he felt like everyone in school was laughing at him and didn’t even want to leave his dorm room.

However, not many people were paying attention to him now. Most people were asking, “Where is that haunted house? Is it really that scary? Is it fun?”

The students of Yaoguang University were miserable. In this remote northern suburb, there wasn’t even a KTV nearby, and they had to walk a long way to go to a large supermarket.

If a haunted house was nearby, they’d have to go, even out of curiosity!

In a male dorm room, someone pushed the door open and pulled the person lying on the bed. “Little Six, stop being depressed! So what if you didn’t get the goddess? Zhang Lei didn’t get her either, right? Let’s go, let’s go! I found out where that haunted house that scared Zhang Lei is. Let’s hurry!”

Chang Xu weakly pushed his hand away. “Don’t call me Little Six, you’re still Little Four. Besides, why would I go to a haunted house?”

Old Four said, “Think about it, that Zhang Lei was scared witless by a haunted house and even called the police. I almost died laughing! If you go and aren’t scared, won’t you show him up? See if he still dares to compete with you for the goddess!”

The others chimed in, “Exactly, Little Six! We’ll go with you! All six of us from the dorm will go!”

“We’ll back you up!”

“Defeat that wimp Zhang Lei! He even talks badly about girls behind their backs. I look down on him!”

Chang Xu’s eyes widened. “He talked badly about my goddess? Damn it! Let’s go, quick! I’m going to enter and exit that haunted house seven times! I’m going to record a video to humiliate him!”

The other five in the dorm cheered and left together.

As the group reached the campus gate, Old Four nudged Chang Xu. “Is that your goddess?”

Chang Xu looked up.

At the school gate stood two men and one woman.

The girl in the middle wasn’t tall and only looked delicate. She wore no makeup and very simple clothes, but her large eyes seemed very spirited.

It was none other than Chang Xu’s goddess, Zhou Tong.

However, the two boys beside her looked at her as if she were a peerless beauty, spitting words as they vied for her attention and a date. One invited her to a bar, the other to a hotel, each pulling on one of her arms, not letting her leave.

Zhou Tong stood in the middle, her eyes vacant and dull. She had no idea why she had fallen to this point, thinking she’d rather jump into a nearby sewer if there were one.

Seeing the two about to fight, Chang Xu noticed his goddess’s awkwardness and immediately stepped in to be her hero, inviting her and himself to the amusement park.

Zhou Tong weighed her options. With six people here, those two wouldn’t dare make a move, so she lowered her head and followed Chang Xu.

This girl was truly wronged.

From childhood, she had always been a very ordinary girl. Her family background and looks were average, and her academic performance was only moderately good, not a straight-A student who always topped the class. She had grown up so ordinarily and peacefully, who knew everything would change once she entered university!

She didn’t know if Yaoguang University just didn’t suit her Bazi, but ever since she started university, there were always inexplicable people who, after one glance at her, would declare their love and desperately insist on being with her.

One or two would be fine, but Zhou Tong encountered no fewer than ten such people in a short time!

While people had the freedom to be obsessive, were there really so many obsessives here?!

Moreover, these people seemed not to understand anything she said. Even when she clearly rejected them, they would secretly arrange fights to dispute her “ownership.” She wanted to say she was a person and belonged to herself, alright?!

These experiences made Zhou Tong afraid to even leave her dorm now, only moving between her dorm and classroom. She didn’t even dare to wear makeup, looking dull like an ugly duckling, fearing she’d attract more attention.

Even so, sometimes in class, she would encounter people staring at her like perverts, praising, “Classmate, you’re really beautiful.”

She just wanted to lash out and say: “Beautiful, my foot! Brother, open your eyes! I didn’t even wash my face today!”

Today, she intended to buy some daily necessities quietly, but she was cornered again.

After reviewing her tragic university life, Zhou Tong forced a smile. “Thank you all for helping me out today. I’ll just…”

However, she looked up and froze.

In front of her was a stone tablet as tall as a person, with a word that seemed small but was inexplicably towering, even ghostly: Fengdu!

Zhou Tong was bewildered.

What was going on? Had she gotten so unlucky that she could just walk into the Underworld?!