translator: baumkuchen editor: glitterypanda
As night fell, only then did rain start to fall.
The earth, dampened by the rain, started to emit a pungent, foul smell. Numerous earthworms were driven out of the soil in droves, writhing and thrashing as they tried to avoid being suffocated.
Chi Xiaochi was about to enter the little black room. In a rather subdued mood, he began to silently chant the Great Compassion Mantra to alleviate his worries.
Gan Yu was dusting shadows onto his cheeks, making him look more haggard to make his appearance more in line with his character. “What are you reciting?”
Chi Xiaochi sang, “Namo, ratna, trayāya……”
Gan Yu immediately pressed the handle of his contour brush against Chi Xiaochi’s lips.
……He suspected that if he continued to sing, the Buddha would remember this disrespect.
Chi Xiaochi opened his mouth and bit his contour brush.
Gan Yu, helplessly, “Let go.”
Chi Xiaochi raised his eyebrows, clearly wanting to do something else to divert his attention.
Gan Yu gently pinched his chin, but at the same time, was afraid that if he used too much force, he’d hurt him, so he only shook it, his tone helpless yet tender, “Don’t make trouble, let go.”
Chi Xiaochi looked at him, himself thinking that this move was very childish.
Chi Xiaochi had been afraid of the dark and of ghosts since he was young. In this aspect, his childishness and imagination came out in full force. Whenever he got scared, he would run over to where Lou Ying was, because that place was the safest and he wouldn’t be laughed at.
In his childhood, getting up at night was to him the no. 1 of life’s three biggest challenges.
The biggest feature of the tube-shaped apartments was its communality; its kitchens, washrooms, toilets, all without exception public, and all without exception public property.
If Chi Xiaochi needed to go to the toilet in the middle of the night, he would have to put on his slippers, and walk from one end to the other end of the corridor lit by sound-activated lights that never activated.
This, to Chi Xiaochi, was no less difficult than the 25,000 li Long March.
In order to overcome this issue of his, Lou Ying bought some yellow kraft paper from the school shop, cut it, drew a talisman on its surface in red ink and told him if he held this when going to the toilet at night, ghosts wouldn’t dare to approach him.
Chi Xiaochi said, “You’re lying.”
Lou Ying said, good-temperedly, “It’s true.”
Chi Xiaochi rolled his eyes, then stuffed the yellow talisman that had been folded into a triangle into Lou Ying’s pocket. “Then you hold it.”
——Lou Ying would hold the talisman, and he would hold Lou Ying’s hand. That way, he wouldn’t be scared.
His grasp of circuitous tactics could be said to be exquisite.
After Lou Ying died, he was no longer so scared. Occasionally, when he got up in the middle of the night, in his half-asleep state, he would drag himself back and forth through the corridor, wanting to bump into a ghost surnamed Lou. But that hope failed to be realised every time, making him finally begin to doubt the existence of ghosts.
If Lou-ge had a soul, why wouldn’t he come back to visit?
Gan Yu didn’t know what he was thinking about. He just thought that this kind of childish Chi Xiaochi was adorable, he really wanted to kiss him.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
He lightly brushed away the contour powder with his hand. After confirming that his makeup was in order, he let Chi Xiaochi torture Xi Lou with his Great Compassion Mantra while he turned around and drew out a talisman on a piece of toilet paper with a lipstick, then folded it into a triangle.
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……Worried about Pigtail guy’s safety, she didn’t even need makeup to look haggard.
Chi Xiaochi got up. Just as he was about to walk out, Gan Yu stuffed something into his shirt pocket.
Chi Xiaochi raised his eyebrows slightly, using his gaze to ask him what it was.
Whether it was Gan Yu or 061, they both preferred to manifest their comforting into something tangible.
A line of “don’t be scared”, was nothing more than empty words.
He stroked his head and said, “I’ll be waiting outside. If you run into danger, just shout Gan Yu.”
Chi Xiaochi walked into the room and stood in a corner. Feeling out the shape of the triangle in his shirt pocket, he let out a sigh, becoming slightly absent-minded.
But it was just slightly. He hadn’t forgotten where he was.
Pigtail guy had left his mid-length hair completely loose. His lips were deathly pale. His eyes were fixed on his feet, a feigned fierceness in his gaze.
The rain outside became heavier, raindrops pitter-pattering onto the window and converging into tiny streams, contrasting against the dead quiet of the room and making it seem all the more terrifying.
Chi Xiaochi sang, “Freezing, icy rain beats against my face.”
Chi Xiaochi, “Heehee.”
……Xi Lou began to wholeheartedly hope for that female ghost to put in more effort, and scare this shriveled calf to the point of paralysis with her next move.
And this time, the one who would bump into the ghost, was indeed Chi Xiaochi.
According to “Guan Qiaoqiao”’s script, “Guan Qiaoqiao” would pop up in the middle of their game. When Chi Xiaochi saw his dead girlfriend, he would be first shocked, but then happy. In the end, he would actually grab onto her and refuse to let go. The room would fall into chaos, but when the lights were turned on, everyone would find that Chi Xiaochi was holding nothing more than a coat hanging on the wall.
“Guan Qiaoqiao” was a ghost, so she came and left without a trace, not even needing any special effects. It could be said to be a fundamental benefit to the later staff.
Before the lights were turned off, “Guan Qiaoqiao” specially entered the room to say apologetically to Chi Xiaochi, “Don’t be scared, it’s all just acting.”
The contents of her words and the guilty look in her eyes were all sincere enough, but when he thought of her cold gaze that had been sharp as a knife in the boat that morning, Chi Xiaochi only felt his neck go cold.
The lights turned off.
The entire room fell into complete darkness, leaving only the sounds of their breaths rising and falling audible.
Chi Xiaochi counted the number of breaths. Very good, considering himself the fourth, there was no “fifth person” as of now.
For the first round, he was at position D, where “Guan Qiaoqiao” had once stood.
Pigtail guy stood at position A, one of his hands braced against the wall as he walked over to Ponytail lady at position B. His footsteps sounded like they were dragging on the ground, making a rustling noise.
There was a light source in the room, and the windows weren’t completely covered. Occasionally, bright white lightning would flash across the horizon, lighting the figures of the four people in the room, each and every one of them looking exceedingly like ghosts.
Pigtail guy’s plaster-covered hand landed on Ponytail lady’s right shoulder, both cold and soft. Through her clothes, Ponytail lady’s skin prickled from the icy touch.
She didn’t even dare to look back before she set out walking, hurrying over to Freckles in position C at a slight jog.
Freckles stumbled forwards at her slap on his back. He turned back to shoot her a resentful look before starting to feel his way over to Chi Xiaochi.
A warm hand patted his shoulder. Chi Xiaochi began to walk forwards, his heart both dark and heavy, thinking, would she be at the next corner, her hands hanging at her sides, her head lowered, waiting for me?
He subconsciously reached into his pocket. With the strength granted to him by the toilet paper talisman, he continued to walk forwards.
However, the thing he was worried about never happened.
The next corner, due to Pigtail guy having left it, was empty.
Following the rules of the game, he coughed once, then walked towards the corner where Pigtail guy currently was.
When he reached, he raised his hand and patted Pigtail guy on the back. His hand was met with cold sweat.
Pigtail wasn’t in a hurry to walk. He turned back slightly to look at him, as if confirming that this person was indeed human.
At that very moment, lightning flashed, casting a pale light on the faces of everyone in the room.
The look in his eyes was so crazed it could no longer belong to a normal person. It even held the dark gleam of a beast, like a blunt knife, slicing into Chi Xiaochi’s nerves and making them go numb.
But Chi Xiaochi could indeed endure.
He stood there as if he hadn’t seen anything, letting Pigtail guy walk forward.
“Guan Qiaoqiao” didn’t appear for a long time, making them simply walk around in circles in the empty room.
Slowly, everyone’s mood became more or less anxious.
When would she be coming?
The wait for the object of the fear to come was even more terrifying than the object of fear itself.
Chi Xiaochi had gone in so many circles that he’d become a little numb. As he stood in the corner, waiting for the next round of Freckle’s arrival, out of boredom, he snarked to Xi Lou, “Feels like I’m an old donkey turning a grindstone.”
Xi Lou, “Hi, donkey.”
Chi Xiaochi, aiyo, he’s learned how to retort.
After waiting for a while, Xi Lou said, “Donkey, why aren’t you talking?”
Chi Xiaochi supported himself against the wall, using that to cover up the weakness in his legs.
Seeing Chi Xiaochi still not speaking, Xi Lou fell silent for a moment. “Talk to me a little.”
Even though Chi Xiaochi’s personality was childish, his mouth was cheap and he needed a lashing, his cowardice and his fear of ghosts was something Xi Lou knew about.
Having him come here to do this kind of task was, after all, hard on him.
Chi Xiaochi thought for a moment, and understood Xi Lou’s effort.
Moved, he began to sing to foster his spirits, “Even when I see a cockroach I’m not afraid of it.”
Xi Lou, “……” Fuck your mother, why do I suddenly want to eat donkey meat.
Chi Xiaochi stood where he was. When he heard Freckles start walking over towards him, step by step, he prepared himself to start walking to the next corner.
A hand landed on his shoulder.
Chi Xiaochi was just about to walk forwards when his throat suddenly contracted. The place which had been touched by that hand became as if it had been bitten by a snake, his blood and flesh slowly freezing bit by bit.
——That wasn’t Freckles’ hand.
It was a woman’s hand, slender, soft, yet strangely cold.
Chi Xiaochi stiffly turned.
Even the lightning cooperated with this scene. With a loud bang, a bolt of snow-white lightning broke through the sky——
“Guan Qiaoqiao” was standing behind Chi Xiaochi, watching him. There was a pretty smile on her face, as if she wanted to speak some loving words to her old lover, but when she opened her mouth, inside were teeth like that of a lamprey eel, undulating in circles, leading all the way to her throat.
Moving the relevant part of the A/N over:
【On another note, a friendly notice: Don’t look up “lamprey” without preparing yourself mentally first, it’s a kind of creature that if you searched it up on Baidu its picture would come with the notification “This image might make you feel uncomfortable, do you wish to proceed?”】
baum: I don’t think lampreys’ mouths look that terrifying, but I decided not to include an image just in case lol
anyways, when you guys make your guesses as to what the trick behind this task is, do remember that Song Chunyang triggered it too, in his last life. Plus, there’s nothing that depends solely on luck in this world.
links for songs in case the links in the tn don’t work:
Icy Rain by Andy Lau
song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7U4LKLD5F4
Fearless by Jocie Kok (eng title of the song is according to what I could find on wikipedia)
song+lyrics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_OKCMbm2Ts
All SCY did was not go to the shoots cause he became blind… what could it be… thanks for the update!!
So he went OOC, cause as an actor one should be professional and do their shoots.
Don’t do anything and you die? It’s a flag?
Many thanks for the update!
… This cat is somehow scared…
hide in a room / corner ? she was hiding inside the room when xiaochi told the scum about the painting and chanyung was also hiding in a room to not attract the ghosts ?
If I were Master Chi I’d be scared witless too, shaky legs and all. ⊂(・﹏・⊂)
Thanks for the chapter! (≧▽≦)
Have a nice week!
My IQ isn’t high enough so I have no idea what the trick to this task is (>w<)
Can only wait for the reveal haha
+1
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GQQ must look pretty…interesting with a mouth and teeth like that. Horror movies should start using that type of thing instead of only one set of rotten or sharp teeth
Thanks for the chapter! 🙂
I really want to give the whole comment section a +1
If only this site had a like button
Thanks for the update
I think that the flag here is when the actors are distracted by other things and aren’t focus on acting. Thanks for the update !!
Humm.. SYC was attacked by the ghost 3 days after he went blind. I wonder if it is because he didnt play his part it triggered the death flag.
Thanks for the chapter.
My other theory was because of resentment. SYC and the original GQQ were betrayed
Ch 90.2, after three days of being blind and watched by “countless gazes,” Song Chunyang is dragged out of hiding and killed, but he doesn’t know how or by who. (His soul was left to wander in the room until he made the deal with Lord God/Pig Brain.)
Ch 95.1, CXC guesses Guan Qiaoqiao was chosen first because her role is the girlfriend who dies in the movie. Ch 96.2, it’s not stated specifically up to this point, but it looks like Guan Qiaoqiao was possessed/killed on the third night like Song Chunyang was in the past.
Other clues up to now: The female ghost has her own script. She likes acting. She can tell when someone’s not thinking about acting. Pigtail guy plans to kill female ghost with Ponytail and Freckles. Now Pigtail is targeted by the eyes and his movie death scene is coming up (he even argued with the director to push the scene back). Being a bad actor/getting NGs isn’t considered OOC.
It looks like trying to hide from the ghost results in OOC and death (SYC, GQQ, Pigtail on his way). CXC has been treated well so far by facing the female ghost and acting along with her. If SYC and GQQ continued trying to play their role in the film, I wonder if they would have been passed over by the ghost. (They both failed to film their scenes.) So it’s like being filmed would actually save your life, because the ghost isn’t out to kill you (for real) if you’re playing your role. So it looks like a player would survive the half a month as long as they set their whole mind on acting and ignored their fear (kind of like what CXC’s doing).
Thanks for the chapter 💕
Yes, I agree with this theory. Each time someone tried to hide from the ghost or not play their role they became a target and are eventually eliminated. Especially, if they are dazed and focused on something unrelated to acting in the “movie”.
I guess her mouth looks funny xDD
Thx for the ch (ㅅ˘ㅂ˘)
Thx for the chapter
I didn’t search for ‘ lamprey’ just in case it scared me too much.
Chi Xiaochi couldn’t NOT see the similarity between Gan Yu’s paper triangle and Lou-ge’s amulet! Another hint to Liu-laoshi’s real identity and his ways to help him through the worlds. Thanks for the chapter!
Thank you for the chapter 😍😉😁
Thanks for the chapter!!
Is it being openly afraid of her? I can’t remember what things SCY did at the beginning of the arc because my memory is sh*t when it comes to anyone other than the main characters.
Thanks for the chapter!!
I don’t think it follows path of “the character that dies in the script next will be the next one targeted” because the ghost wants to act and it doesn’t make sense for her to possess someone who doesn’t have any more scenes. I wondered if it was about professionalism and doing the work, but Qiaoqiao didn’t skip out any acting work? Unless I’m wrong…. I’m really excited to see the answer of the mystery~
The four corners game and Chi Xiaochi’s childhood made me rethink that. Hahaha sweatdrop (￣ー￣；)
Thanks for the update 💕
This chapter be giving me anxiety…
I searched up “Lamprey” and it’s….. It’s… Um, just… You should REALLY prepare yourself if you decide to do it 😂
So i searched up what a lamprey is… and i was not ready for that, that- i can’t stop crying oh my god it’s terrifying- I thought, “how bad could it be?” you know? since i just thought that it looked weird but i really was not prepared for that it’s honestly too disturbing-
Side, side note though: Thanks for the chapter- done great again-
Curious about how this is going to play out, but I started cracking up when I realized he was singing the Chinese version of the Numa Numa song. Then I lost ten minutes to the wormhole that is YouTube listening to stuff and the Numa Numa guy. 😂
watches YouTube video of man dissecting lamprey
i searched up “lamprey” because i was too curious and mentally prepared myself as told but… it’s not that scary and it even looks a bit… cute?
I searched it up b4 seeing the A/N… dam
If anyone’s watched MIB2, Geoff’s mouth is similar to a lamprey, but Geoff’s teeth move.
I think GQQ’s scary reaction in the boat when CXC became distracted was a huge clue… The play’s the thing…
God I already know lampreys.. I was just taking a break from my studying fishes to read this and lampreys was one of them… I didn’t like them since the first day I saw them..
I’m not scared, I’m not scared…. I’m holding my cat’s tail…..
When i saw andy lau, i immediately search the song. And indeed my parents have played it before omg, it’s so nostalgic and fun to found this song in this story.
This is scary!
Truthfully, I’ve seen lampreys’ images they aren’t that scary
Lampreys have small spike-like teeth….well one can imagine it like some kind of monster fish having thorns inside their mouth and compiled with a ghost figure, it could be slightly terrifying, so imagine a mini version of a cute stickman figure with any pose (no need to overthink) but on a side note, this could be one sudden jumpscare alright oof. Hope he (CXC) continues fake acting
🤣🤣 I crack every time CXC starts to sing. Maybe if he tries to sing out loud he might even scare away the ghost 👻
Thank for the music !!! The one about not being afraid of cockroaches, heard it in my childhood and thought I would never find it again.