translator: baumkuchen editors: glitterypanda, serefina
TW: Rape scene towards the end. Not involving/between our two leads.
061 hugged Chi Xiaochi tighter, using the warmth of his body to slowly drag Chi Xiaochi’s boiling body temperature back to normal.
The next morning, Chi Xiaochi, sleeping alone on his bed, was back to a normal temperature.
He moved his arms and legs experimentally, and found that other than being a little dizzy, he actually didn’t feel unwell at all. He couldn’t help but click his tongue in wonder. “This body of Song Chunyang’s is really good.”
Xi Lou, “Heh.”
Chi Xiaochi vaguely remembered whom he’d collapsed onto last night, and chose to ignore the Yuan Benshan on the ground. “Doctor Gan’s skills really are amazing.”
Xi Lou: Yes, amazing in all aspects, especially in the area of stealing other people’s boyfriends, this next door Old Gan’s skills are absolutely top-notch.
Xi Lou, who’d seen everything that had happened last night, had long since seen through it all.
Very good, one and now two, all-inclusive, all of them are old rogues.
Fortunately, he remembered Chunyang telling him that he didn’t like people who were older than him by too much.
Xi Lou did some mental calculations. Gan Yu was a resident. Even though his face looked very tender, according to his qualifications, he had to be at least thirty four or thirty five.
Xi Lou had heard that in the field of medicine, the workload was heavy but the amount of hair was light. Don’t be fooled by how thick Gan Yu’s locks were now, after another two years, his hairline will have receded by at least five centimetres.
Upon thinking of this, he let out a long sigh of relief.
It had to be said, after a night of mentally psyching himself up, Xi Lou had already become at peace with himself.
Chunyang was good in every aspect, except that his ability to evaluate other people wasn’t very good.
When he got his body, the first thing he had to do would be to go to Song Chunyang’s side, and keep this person, who already had glaucoma at such a young age, close to himself.
The first people to come visit Chi Xiaochi that morning were, unexpectedly, “Guan Qiaoqiao” and “Liao Wu”.
……The combination of these two “people” was a strange one.
“Liao Wu” had left that crazed state from last night behind him, and now had a gentle expression on his face. He had cleaned himself up neatly, even re-tying his hair into a pigtail. His broken skull had been fixed, and he even had a bit of makeup on his face, looking exactly the same as he’d used to.
It seemed, “Guan Qiaoqiao” had another “actor” to act along with her.
Chi Xiaochi remembered seeing a photograph of a woman sitting before a sewing machine, her eyes lowered in concentration, and her tools all arranged next to her as she focused on repairing a broken drum.
……Chi Xiaochi vowed that he absolutely wouldn’t think too carefully about how Liao Wu’s broken head had been fixed.
“Guan Qiaoqiao”, appearing very concerned, asked about how Chi Xiaochi had fallen ill so suddenly.
Chi Xiaochi pulled his attention away from “Liao Wu”, smiled, and replied with a joking tone, “Why do you care about me so much?”
Next to him, upon hearing this, an expression like he’d eaten a fly appeared on Yuan Benshan’s face.
The female ghost’s wanting him to stay in good condition was because she thought of them as props, and naturally didn’t want her props to be damaged, instead wanting them to accompany her in quickly finishing filming.
Unexpectedly, “Guan Qiaoqiao”’s face reddened slightly. She replied honestly, “Because…… you’re really good. You’re really good at acting, and you’re really good to me.”
When not acting, “Guan Qiaoqiao” didn’t seem at all like a typical female ghost. She was shy, gentle and soft, seeming just like an actual living human being.
Chi Xiaochi’s attitude was warm. “I’m fine, I already feel a lot better. I can still act with you today.”
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.
“Guan Qiaoqiao” let out a brilliant smile, revealing a pair of small tiger teeth.
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Lewjc cjaegf kjr ugfs. Pa kjr mbwqifz jcv mbcrajcais mtjculcu, kjr mbcoerlcu jcv tjgv ab ecvfgrajcv, jcv mjwf lc jii obgwr. Dea ktfc ojmfv klat j atgfja ab bcf’r regnlnji, tewjc cjaegf kbeiv gfaegc ab atja wbra yjrlm vfrlgf.
I don’t want to die, I want to live.
Liao Wu’s companions’ anger was real, their pain was real, but their desire to survive was also real.
Having lost the dagger, they’d lost the capital to fight for their lives. They could only listen to Chi Xiaochi’s blend of truth and lies, acting with fear and trepidation in their hearts, hoping for the “death qi” around them to lessen slightly.
The death of their companion made them still hate “Guan Qiaoqiao”, so malice might still breed in the dead of night, but when they saw “Guan Qiaoqiao” and “Liao Wu”’s faces the next day, it would disappear entirely.
There was only one reason: they still wanted to live.
Originally, Chi Xiaochi had still been worried that the female ghost would still have a kill quota to meet, but as time went on, Chi Xiaochi found that she was completely absorbed in acting, unable to extricate herself.
It couldn’t compare to acting, killing couldn’t compare to acting.
As long as there weren’t any violent or murderous people, she was willing to dig out her heart to treat others well.
Her malice, had always only been directed back to those with malice in their hearts. She was a mirror, only reflecting the dirtiest part of one’s heart, and returning it hundredfold.
But Gan Yu didn’t think that them being able to pass through this second half safely and without any problems was merely due to luck.
The prompt of “acting” given by the system couldn’t be any more straightforward. The meaning was exactly as it stated, act well, and don’t think about anything else.
However, the tragic deaths of two people occurring in a row, made it impossible for them to not think more.
If that day, Chi Xiaochi hadn’t been able to wrest control of the room, or hadn’t thought of snatching the dagger out of their hands ahead of time, then how things would have proceeded afterwards could completely be imagined.
——Ponytail girl, Tan Yue, would continue with a plan to kill “Guan Qiaoqiao”, and would undoubtedly become the next victim.
——Tan Yue’s death would result in even more turbulence in the group, directly impacting the filming progress. And when the progress of filming was interrupted, if “Guan Qiaoqiao” even showed a hint of dissatisfaction, it would deepen the cracks in the task-taker’s hearts. They would worry about themselves “going out of character”, and being the next target that “Guan Qiaoqiao” would set her eyes on.
——If things continued in this way, they would either be all the more determined to kill her, or break down mentally.
——Or even, in situations of extreme fear, some people would turn their attacks inwards, resulting in internal strife.
In the end, they would collectively die from their own fear, suspicion and unease.
All in all, if not for Xiaochi, this eighth world wouldn’t have passed so smoothly.
Going a little further, Chi Xiaochi is the awesomest, not accepting any disagreement.
The task was completed with extraordinary success.
Half a month passed in a blink of an eye. The film hadn’t yet been finished, but they already had to leave.
The night they were to leave, there just so happened to be a dinner organised for the cast and crew.
There was a rich array of food, with even a redwood branch barbeque. Lamb meat was skewered onto those branches, gradually seeping golden oil. A natural, crispy crust formed around the meat, completely enveloping the fresh lamb meat, ensuring that the juices would continue to overflow. When the lamb meat was fully roasted, fresh chili peppers were sprinkled on top, arousing the appetites and stomach acid of the people who loved spicy food.
As the end of the task approached, everyone’s heart was set on speeding home, finding these delicacies utterly tasteless.
……Other than Chi Xiaochi and the Gan siblings, who were busy helping Chi Xiaochi roast meat.
“Guan Qiaoqiao” had drunk a bit of alcohol. She was an extreme lightweight. After just half a cup, she was slumped onto the reclining chair next to Chi Xiaochi, dazed.
Seeing that she had been holding a bottle of mineral water this entire time, Chi Xiaochi was going to use it to let her rinse her mouth.
Who knew that she would hug the bottle to herself in a death grip. “Don’t touch this bottle…… I can’t bear to drink it.”
Chi Xiaochi had already become really familiar with her. He couldn’t help but laugh as he said, “Did you fill it with the water of immortals?”
“Guan Qiaoqiao” started laughing as well.
She blinked, then quipped, “It’s even more precious than the water of immortals.”
As they ate barbeque, they talked a lot.
Afterwards, with the gradual opening of the door to her heart, she told Chi Xiaochi a story.
Once, there was an acting student who had yet to graduate from university. Her family background was ordinary, but since she was young, she’d dreamed of acting.
It wasn’t because she liked the world of frivolity and beautiful clothes, but because she liked to analyze and appreciate different kinds of lives.
She had originally gotten a pretty good score on her college entrance exams, and had even passed independent recruitment. She could have gone to a certain school to study law, but she still chose to enrol at the acting school that she’d taken the exams for half a year ago.
After enrolling in school, she played a lot of small roles in many films. Even as she ate ten-yuan boxed meals outside in sub-zero temperatures, wrapped in a military coat, she still found joy in acting, never tiring of it.
She believed that she would be favoured by fate as long as she kept working hard like this.
One day, she was suddenly chosen to act as the female ghost in a horror film by a director she’d worked with before.
After reading the script, she immediately agreed.
She really loved this story, to the point that even if she had to act as a ghost, she was willing to join.
However, only after she joined the cast did she learn that the person playing the male lead had been stuffed in by the investor, and he was a famous, frivolous young master, who’d managed to make ripples in the acting world by depending on his looks and his father.
He felt that this script was too pretentious. As acting went on, he stopped having fun, so he wanted the script to be changed.
She went to the director and begged him to not change the script.
But no one listened to her.
The film slowly became completely unrecognisable, changing from a literary horror film reflecting on the impacts of school bullying, to a third-class trash film that couldn’t be any more cliche if it tried.
She knew that she had no power to get people to listen to her, so she had no choice to just bear with it, privately trying to stay as far away from the male lead as she could.
Who knew that her reluctance to interact with him would arouse the male lead’s interest? He began to say obscene things to her, trying to flirt. Later on, he got even worse, knocking on her door in the middle of the night.
She would hide in her room, using her pillow to cover her ears, thinking, please let my part in the film be over soon, when it’s done, I can finally leave.
However, no one would have expected that, being unable to get the girl, the male lead would actually make the rape scene real.
When she was penetrated, she almost went crazy, kicking and punching in despair, even biting, but how could a girl’s strength overpower that of a man’s?
Countless cameras were aimed at her, like cold eyes, silently staring at her from all directions.
They only watched, watching her along with the people behind the cameras.
No one came to save her.
The director and assistant director lowered their heads, not yelling for him to stop, just taking it as him going too deep into the act.
The crew members at the scene would impercibly suck in cold breaths from time to time, asking “they’re acting, right” in small voices.
The rape went on for a whole five minutes, until she passed out.
When she woke up, she had already been sent back to her room. The male lead was sitting smugly next to her. He asked her to be his girlfriend, saying he would “take responsibility”.
She completely descended into insanity, chasing after him and beating him, saying that she’d expose everything.
By the time she realised something was wrong, the drunk male lead had already wrapped the curtain he’d torn down from its rods around her neck and hung her on the chandelier.
She died. The authorities concluded it was an accident.
She wanted to tell everyone that she didn’t commit suicide.
So, on the day filming was completed, she went to the male lead, but no one could see her. They were only able to take photos of the male lead as he ran around crazily, having lost all control over his bowels, and of his figure as he, in a panic, fell off the diving board.
When she saw his crushed skull, she cried.
Then, she was pushed into this secret realm by an unknown force.
This place was very different from her original world. There were only ghosts, no living people.
She wasn’t bound to one place, so she went to many different places and took a lot of photographs, then returned to this place, developed them one by one and hung them on the walls. Occasionally, she would take on a role in one of them, and experience their different joys and sorrows.
But she still had one wish: to finish that movie that had been changed into a completely different one.
“Guan Qiaoqiao”’s, or rather, her, expression was incomparably gentle. Her drunken eyes were watery.
“They weren’t good to me.” She looked at the other task takers who were sitting far away from her, then turned to face Chi Xiaochi, looking a little naive and shy. “You were good to me, you’re a good person, you even helped me open this water bottle.”
Chi Xiaochi looked down, only then suddenly remembering where that bottle of water she was holding had come from.
It was the water bottle Chi Xiaochi had once opened for her. She held it carefully in her hands, like she was protecting a weak and sensitive heart.
……She was a ghost, but she was also human.
Song Chunyang had once been killed by her. Maybe after he’d died, she’d used his body.
Because after Song Chunyang had his eyes stolen, the hate and despair in his heart produced a malice that far exceeded that of Guan Qiaoqiao and Yuan Benshan.
Today, Chi Xiaochi was using Song Chunyang’s body and was sitting side by side with her, talking candidly with her, and even made a request to her. This couldn’t be described as anything other than fate.
Chi Xiaochi turned and whispered quietly into her ear, talking for a long time.
She was stunned for a moment, then nodded, a complicated expression on her face.
Chi Xiaochi stuffed something into her hand and nodded at her cordially.
“Guan Qiaoqiao” hid the item up her sleeve, then smiled warmly.
In the next moment, the air before Chi Xiaochi’s eyes twisted.
The half a month was up, they’d returned to the ancient castle.
The author has something to say:
061: I can’t not praise Chi Xiaochi, I can only keep on living as long as I praise him in the morning, in the afternoon, and at night, three times every day.
President Chi’s made a dirty deal with Miss Balloon √
sere: damn that was a big twist im sad for miss balloon 🙁 but also O.O 8th task done!
The Ghost Miss seemed happy at the end, how wholesome. ☺ Also… Well, I liked this chapter. Made me smile. 🙂
Poor ghost. I hope she’s able to get her revenge at some point. Or is able to pass on.
Fuc*ing hell.
i’m just thankful the ghost part is done. 😂🤣😂
this arc is really scaring the shit out of me. even though i sympathize with miss balloon, she still scares the hell out of me.
thanks for the chapters!❤️
+1 scares the hell out of me
+2 scares the hell out of me
+3 i had a nightmare of her QAQ
+4 she kinda became my sleep paralysis demon 😂
(Jokes aside, her backstory is really sad 🙁
+5 scares the hell out of me…
I’m actually so heartbroken for Ms Ghost. The way she was holding that water bottle as if that was the only kind gesture she’s experienced in a long time… was so sad.
Still… glad this arc is over 😅
+6 scared the heck out of me..😱
+7 scares me, but not that much. She was kind to Xaochi. Also, I turned my phone off and had to stablize my breathing when we came to the rape part.
…I must read to much horror..both times I read this arc I wasnt scared at all..well I’m never scared when it comes to horror novels…I only once got a tiny bit of chills..I forget which novel. Horror movies and games tho…I get super scared…
F*ck, is it rain here or im crying?
Im very love this story for its deep plot and good stories. Thank you for translation.
I do hope the balloon lady and the other people he interacted with the past would male a comeback on future chapters, like helping them against the brain god/dude
Me too, me too!!! Kind of expecting it wholeheartedly!!
+1!
Liu-laoshi really is Xiaochi’s braindead fan!
Miss balloon! ⊂(・﹏・⊂)
I’m curious what kind deal Xiaochi made with her? Hmmmmm… maybe to help in a later task or to help deal with that human wate/dumb fuck surnamed Yuan? Hmmmm..
Thanks for the chapter! (≧▽≦)
Maybe he gave her the dagger? Because I don’t think she wanted to stay as a ghost
Did he pass the knife to her? But if yes, why? x’D Her story wasn’t that nice D: But at least she seemed happy at the end?
Thx for the ch (ㅅ˘ㅂ˘)
Many thanks for the update : D
Ah?! I didn’t expect “Liao Wu” to reappear…
The setting was twisted to break people, but I was still happy to see that she wasn’t a “bad” ghost after all!
Thanks for the update
Thanks for the chapter!
I’m a bit curious to know what CXC sad to the ghost lady in the end.
Man, this author knows how to make f*cked up back stories, cause everyone of these make me so uncomfortable and pissed 😰😰.
That makes the face slapping and he ends all the more satisfying tho.
Thanks for the chapter!
Ummm I WANNA KNOW WHAT HE TOLD HER AAAAA. Miss ghost’s story is terribly depressing too 🙁
I love this arc so much, thanks for the chapter <3
Also Xi Lou eating vinegar and self comforting himself skskskskks it’s okay… Gan Yu isn’t interested in Chunyang at all…. our Liu laoshi has his eyes set on his childhood sweetheart hehe….
God I really want Xiaochi to get as far away as possible from Yuan Benshan ASAP ;_;…. move out and everything since our Liu laoshi won’t be able to be there to provide sleeping pills to knock out that scum ;;;
Thank you for the chapter!!!
That was a saaaad story. I hope this Lady can find closure in the deal she made with Chi Xiaochi.
The poor Xi Lou was the one suffering while Liu laoshi and Chi Xiaochi used his loved one’s body to flirt, hehehe.
Thanks for the chapter!
even tho it’s scared me sometimes, I knew I’m going to love this arc! Ah, miss ghost actress makes my heart ache and warm at the same time
Thanks for the chapter muah 💋
Miss Balloon’s story is tear-jerking. 😓
Thanks for the chapter! 💕
I like the turn around really. Most ‘systems’ would a rational thought to it right? Why not this ‘horror system’? Surely it isn’t purely just for killing people in the most horrific way. Great end to the 8th task. Looking forward to the scenes after they go back to the ‘real’ world of Song Chunyang.
the rape was horrible and i hope if xiaochi gave her the dagger, miss balloon will be able to slice away his cancerous existence from the earth. no one needs that piece of crap.
also i hope 061 can tell xiaochi no matter how he’s changed in the meantime, he’ll still love him no matter what.
thanks for the chapter
At least all the problems are resolved, it was the best thing they could get. Thank you baumkuchen for translating andserefina, glitterypanda for editing
Gods so horrible!! I am glad that she can be at peace now.
Thanks for the chapter.
poor ghost…may she rest in peace
I’m so glad this task is over! I love horror, but this was just…
This ended in a wholesome way.. Thank god Miss Balloon lady got the ending she wanted and deserved. Never being able to feel kindness and even getting raped is a terrible thing which can’t be described with a paragraph. Nice end.
Thank you for the chapter! 💕 (And good job CXC)
Still cant believe we’re in the fifth world AAAAAHHH 2 more task uwu
Xi Luo bashing Gan Yu. Hahahhahaha.
Xi Lou did some mental calculations. Gan Yu was a resident. Even though his face looked very tender, according to his qualifications, he had to be at least thirty four or thirty five.
Don’t be fooled by how thick Gan Yu’s locks were now, after another two years, his hairline will have receded by at least five centimetres.
Hahahahahaha
I’m still scared of her but at least i can’t hate her at all after knew her story 🙁
That fcking male lead deserved it!!! Godaamn reading that part of the chapter made my blood boil!! He shoulda been punished in a even more horrible way fucking asshole, fuck I’m pissed!!!
Also I loved that she and Chi made good friendship, honestly, I was mostly scared throughout this arc but after getting to know this female ghost, I feel good knowing in the end she met Chi who somehow filled her with warmth.
Miss Balloon deserves happiness
Oh no… poor Miss Ghost… legit didn’t expect that twist. I feel so bad for her.. she treasures every bit of kindness, even the small act of opening a water bottle for her is more valuable than gold… QAQ
Really didn’t expect that… Her story’s so painful
Miss ghost had it rough
On to task 9…
Yep i always liked and favored Miss Balloon, I’m glad she was really a good person.
This is the chapter that gave me most chills. Fuxk those people that watched and didn’t do anything.
Miss ghost… is so sad… T ~ T
Fck that whole crew, that police, mls father and family deserve to die fck fck fckkkk omg also her wish needs to be completed
I knew that this ghost had a 10 times more better heart than those scumbags
Not only that ML, but the director and others present there deserve retribution like that d0uchebag…
Thinking back to it now, in the og timeline wouldn’t Song Chunyang have come back to life with his body taken over? I wish I could’ve seen the look on the two traitor’s faces…. On a side note, Ms Ghost treasuring the water bottle was so wholesome I shed a tear.
Oh for sure, I just know those dumb@sses wouldn’t have survived. I’m just sad that it means his suffering was so pointless 😭
xiaochi and miss balloon friendship is something i didnt expect at the start but i now wholeheartedly cherish. congrats on finally filming the original script ms ghostie 🤜
Ah, I love you Ghost-jie. I’ll give u a hug 🫂💕
Aww CXC really does have a way of giving warmth and guidance to others. I can only imagine how excited miss balloon would be if she were to know he’s basically her senior. She really did have a passion for acting, if only that douche had minded his own business 😭
hold on. the original movie had a 5 minute rape scene? in full???????? thats past the level of a trashy horror movie. thats practically a snuff film
You see,anything but huamns have always been far more better. I wish this ghost jie gets live a better life next time and those mofos rotes in hell