He looked at the prop team, somewhat puzzled. “Why are the lights off again? It’s not time yet. Let’s wait until the viewer count reaches 130,000 before we begin the next round of scares.”
However, the prop team’s mouths trembled as they watched the live stream with terror. Trembling and stammering, one of them pointed to the screen and spoke, “Th-the ghostly face appeared again. R-right at the moment when the screen turned black.”
“And, it wasn’t me who turned off the lights. Look,” the prop team member said shakily as he handed over the remote control. The button labeled “Lights” was still in the “On” position.
The organizer looked at the screen with confusion.
Normally, even if the lights went out, the cameras would immediately switch to infrared mode. Although what they saw wouldn’t be in color, they should be able to see a black-and-white image.
But now, the live stream’s feed had turned completely black, as if a black cloth had been placed over the camera.
The barrage of comments In the live stream had exploded.
[What’s happening? Why did it turn completely black just as we were getting into it?]
[Is this live stream even reliable? If not, let’s switch to another channel.]
[I’m both cowardly and addicted. It’s so thrilling. Is this the live stream where something happened to Lin Mu?]
[Lin Mu?!]
[Is there too much traffic, causing the screen to freeze?]
[Live stream or we’ll complain!]
[Complain! I want to complain!]
The voices in the barrage were rising. The organizer held onto the table with both hands, his face nearly glued to the screen.
He wanted to see clearly what had happened in Studio No. 8.
As he stared, his eyes almost about to plunge into the screen, a pair of bloody pupils suddenly appeared before him.
“Ah!!” The organizer yelled in fright, his body uncontrollably tilting backward as he plopped down onto the ground.
His terror stricken eyes were fixed on the screen. The screen that had just been black was now dominated by a blood-soaked, terrifying face.
The face was unrecognizable, covered with crisscrossing blood trails. Decaying flesh protruded from it, and a pair of eyes were embedded in eye sockets that revealed white bones underneath. It seemed that with just a bit more force, those bloodshot eyes might fall out of their sockets.
Half of the ghostly face’s mouth hung down while the other half was lifted upward. Its sharp, pointed canine teeth jutted out from between its lips, resembling a beast yet bearing traces of humanity.
This time, the ghostly face didn’t immediately disappear. It lingered steadily in the frame.
Its terrifying eyes rotated within their sockets and finally lowered slightly, fixating on a certain spot.
Seeing where it was looking, the organizer screamed again.
The gaze of the ghostly face’s eyes happened to align precisely with the organizer’s.
It was as if this ghostly face had seen through the screen and was now staring at them through the screen.
The prop team was on the verge of wetting themselves but still kindly helped the organizer up from the ground.
They supported the organizer, who was staggering on shaky legs. When the organizer finally managed to stand up, the prop team noticed an unknown liquid puddle on the ground.
Their gaze uncontrollably shifted to the organizer’s pants leg, which was now soaking wet.
The organizer, who had just been proclaiming that he wasn’t afraid of ghosts, had actually wet himself in fear.
The ghostly face stared unblinkingly at the organizer. Just as the organizer was about to faint, the ghostly face’s mouth stretched open, and an eerie laughter instantly filled the room.
——Hee-hee-hee
——Hi-hi.
——Ha-ha.
The horrifying laughter seemed to come from all directions, like a volley of arrows, turning the room of people into a hornet’s nest.
Terrified, the organizer looked at the prop team and the sound team. He roared angrily, “Stop it! Stop it right now. I was wrong, don’t tease me anymore!”
However, the prop team and the sound team were equally terrified, shaking their heads to show their innocence.
“We really have nothing to do with this. I’ve been saying it all along: the ghostly face really wasn’t our doing.”
“We can’t produce this laughter either, boss. It’s not that we don’t want to, but our abilities just aren’t that good. You should know our capabilities. If we had this technology, we would have gone to another TV station a long time ago! Who would stay at this shabby TV station!”
The organizer: “…”
‘There’s no need to state such blunt truths.’
The organizer frantically picked up the remote control from the ground, trying to turn off the screen.
But no matter how much he pressed, the screen remained illuminated.
The eerie face continued to dominate the entire screen, and the terrifying laughter still persisted.
The organizer was utterly dumbfounded.
He knelt on the ground in panic, begging, “I was wrong, I shouldn’t have targeted Studio 8. I’ll end the broadcast right now!”
His words finally had an effect. The laughter from the eerie face softened a bit. Just as the organizer was about to try harder, a hoarse beastly voice sounded in their ears, “Remember what you said today. If you target Studio 8 again, there will be no mercy!”
After the beastly voice fell, the eerie face let out a loud laugh and disappeared from the screen in an instant.
The organizer stared at the pitch-black screen, his eyes almost brimming with tears.
This was the first time he felt that a black screen was so beautiful.
‘Wuuu, Studio 8 is truly cursed.
Ghosts indeed exist in this world.’
The organizer glanced at the live stream, noticing that the number of viewers had dropped from a peak of 130,000 to 100,000, and the trend was decreasing. In the barrage, the audience’s emotions were intense and irritable, loudly demanding the screen to be displayed.
Clearly, they hadn’t seen the earlier figure in the darkness. In their line of sight, it had been a black screen the whole time.
‘Ah, I envy those who haven’t seen the ghosts.’
The organizer no longer coveted these viewer numbers and quickly ended the broadcast.
—————————–
In the live broadcast room
[Hahaha, justice came too quickly.]
[Did anyone get so scared they peed?]
[This fierce ghost is unexpectedly reasonable, it only scared people away and didn’t harm anyone.]
[Haha, but the priests twisted their ankles.]
[That was from falling by themselves, they weren’t pushed by the fierce ghost.]
[In a world where only the priests got hurt.]
————————-
“In fact, this room doesn’t have any ghosts at all,” the shaman said casually, glancing at the other apprehensive masters. His lips curled into a faint smile, “The holy water is just dry ice water, the lights are controlled directly by the TV station, and the sounds are released by the TV station behind the scenes for us to hear.”
The masters’ expressions changed at his words, and the Taoist priest looked at the shaman, “Are you saying that the TV station deliberately played these sounds to scare us?”
“Why?”
Bai Lixin: “To make us look ridiculous.”
“We’re here, shouting our heads off, and who knows how many people behind the camera are laughing at us, treating us as a joke.”
Now not only the Taoist, even the monk’s expression changed.
Sweat beads formed on the monk’s forehead, and he pressed his palms together in a prayer gesture, “Amitābha,” before bowing to Bai Lixin, “So that’s it, many thanks for informing us. I shouldn’t disgrace our sect any further. Since they’ve seen through me, I have no intention of staying, so I shall take my leave.”
The Taoist slammed the bronze coin sword in his hand down angrily, “Damn it, bamboo has its integrity, let alone a human. They’ve toyed with us like this, karma will catch up with them sooner or later!”
After pausing for a moment, the Taoist glanced at the shaman, “I’m entrusting this to you.”
With that said, he followed the monk and left.
The priestess’s face turned bright red, and she shyly stuck out her tongue at the three of them, whispering, “Actually, I just came to join in the fun and boost my courage. Thank you for letting me know. Otherwise, I’d have lost face nationwide. Are you leaving or shall we go together?”
Bai Lixin did want to leave, but the task didn’t permit it. He shook his head, “I’ll leave later, you go ahead.”
The priestess hesitated as she glanced at the direction of the camera. She was just about to leave when she seemed to remember something and turned back: “The explanation for the lights and sound is reasonable, but what about the ghostly figure we saw earlier and the disappearing bloodstains and the bloody message? Is there any scientific basis for those?”
Xia Chi replied, “The ghostly figure is quite simple. It can be achieved using 3D projection. As for the bloody message, it’s even simpler. They likely used the principle of disappearing ink. When the temperature is low, the color becomes visible; when the temperature rises, the color disappears. Didn’t the two priests just throw dry ice on the ground earlier? Dry ice removed heat, causing the message to appear naturally. Once the dry ice vanishes and heat returns, the bloodstains naturally disappear.”
The priestess suddenly realized, “I see now. Thank you for clarifying things for me. Your high school knowledge must be quite solid, unlike mine. I studied arts and forgot everything a long time ago.”
Watching the retreating figures of the Taoist and the monk, the priestess didn’t linger either. She quickly said, “We’ll meet again,” and jogged to catch up with them.
After seeing them off, Xia Chi stretched lazily. “So, it was all just chemical and physical tricks. You could’ve told me earlier. You made me remain scared all night.”
Baili Xin glanced at Xia Chi and pointed upward, “Xia Chi, take a look and see where the 3D projector is.”
Xia Chi suddenly froze.
Baili Xin then gestured to where the bloodstains had appeared and disappeared earlier. “Take another look here. Even if the writing disappears, there should still be traces. Try touching it, see if there’s anything different.”
With a bewildered expression, Xia Chi lowered his head and touched the spot where the bloodstains had been. He didn’t feel anything unusual.
In an instant, Xia Chi, who had just relaxed, tensed up like a spring doll. “Brother? You—you said it was all staged by the TV station. Could there really be ghosts?”
The shaman: “There are no ghosts.”
Xia Chi looked at Baili Xin and then at the shaman, his confusion evident. “What do you mean? Do ghosts exist or not?”
Baili Xin shrugged, “I don’t know. Although the lights and sound were orchestrated by the TV station, the shadow and bloodstains were not. There’s likely something else here, possibly not a ghost but a monster.”
Xia Chi gazed at the spot where the Taoist and the monk had left with a complex expression. “But they’ve left.”
Baili Xin replied, “The priests were charlatans, and the priestess was just playing along. The Taoist and the monk might actually possess real abilities.”
Xia Chi asked, “Then why did they leave?”
The shaman explained, “Because they have real abilities. They sensed the vast difference between the two sides. If it was just a simple competition, losing wouldn’t be a big deal. However, if the TV station broadcasts this, it’s not just their personal reputation at stake, but the reputation of their sect. They can bear losing, but they can’t let their sect be disgraced. So, they left.”
Only then did Xia Chi focus on the shaman again. “Then why aren’t you leaving?”
The shaman asked, “Guess why the Taoist said ‘Please’? In the end.”
Xia Chi’s eyes gradually widened in astonishment.
With a faint smile, the shaman added, “Because I’m strong enough, the kind of strength that ranks first in the world.”
After saying that, he glanced in Baili Xin’s direction with an almost indiscernible look in his eyes.
Xia Chi: “…”
‘What’s with the sudden chuunibyou behavior?’
“So, you’re saying it’s not a ghost, and Brother said it could be a monster.”
“So, the question is, where is this monster?”
Both the shaman and Baili Xin looked toward the ceiling of the stage. Baili Xin said, “Actually, the Taoist pointed out the creature’s location from the beginning.”
The shaman agreed, “Exactly, and the monk also revealed its true nature.”
Following suit, Xia Chi raised his head in confusion. Aside from the scattered steel frames, was there really nothing else on the dilapidated, pitch-black roof.
Just as Xia Chi was perplexed, a dot of light moved.
The next second, a shadow descended straight toward the dumbfounded Xia Chi.
Just as the shadow was about to hit Xia Chi’s face, a pleasant jingle suddenly rang out, freezing the descending figure in mid-air.
Xia Chi stared at the frozen shadow with shock. The next second, the pleasant jingle rang out again. The shadow, as if pushed by something, tumbled in mid-air and crashed onto the ground.
With a “bang”, dust filled the air, and a small pit was smashed into the ground.
As the dust cleared, Xia Chi looked closely and his gaze held a moment of astonishment. He pointed at the shadow on the ground with confusion , “Is this the monster you guys were talking about?!”
In the small pit, a gray-furred wolf cub about the size of an adult’s arm was lying on the ground. It panted heavily, its tongue hanging out as it looked up at the three people on the stage.
Its bloodshot eyes carried a fierce sense of killing intent and anger.
Opening its mouth, it growled in resentment, “Awoo~”
Xia Chi’s expression froze: “…”
‘Don’t laugh.
What to do, it’s so cute!
Whose adorable wolf cub is this? I don’t want to hold it, but it’s so cute.’
The wolf cub’s two furry paws scratched at the dirt beside it, as if trying to dig itself out from the pit. However, its short legs struggled for quite a while, and after a roll of its belly, it fell back into the pit.
Xia Chi: “Pfft.”
‘Sorry, I didn’t mean to be offensive.
Ah, what a cute baby!’
Xia Chi clenched his fists secretly, struggling not to cheer on the little wolf cub in the pit.
‘Come on, little wolf, you’re the best, stand up! You can do it!’
Baili Xin glanced at Xia Chi, “Or how about you go down and help it?”
Xia Chi was instantly surprised: “C-Can I?”
The shaman’s lips curled into a smile, and though his face appeared gentle, he said something cruel: “Since Xinxin has already said so, of course you can. If it dares to bite you, I’ll knock out its teeth one by one and make a necklace out of them.”
The wolf cub in the pit seemed to have understood the shaman’s words. Its efforts to dig the pit stopped for a second as its small body froze.
It looked at the shaman with a mixture of fear, let out a muffled whimper, and then continued to diligently dig the pit.
Xia Chi: “…”
‘Why treat the wolf cub this way? It’s just a child.
Look, it even wants to cry.’
😂😂 poor wolf cub, can’t wait for the next update 😍😍