The ancient town lay shrouded in gloom. As dusk fell, two or three crows flew low, landing on withered branches that rustled under their weight.
A group of five—three men and two women—walked along, led by a handsome, sunny-looking young man carrying a military-green backpack, his thick hair somewhat disheveled.
“Tsk, have you even found the way or not?”
The boy at the back, with rosy lips and bright eyes, cast a disdainful glance at the leader.
“Almost there. Just a few more steps.”
Yang Feng had always been a good-natured person with a gentle temper, but Bai Yiyi, who was holding onto him from behind, grew impatient.
“Hey, if you have so many opinions, why don’t you lead the way yourself?”
Hearing this from the girl he liked, Lin Luo quickly tried to appease her. “No, no, I don’t have any opinions at all.”
Bai Yiyi rolled her eyes.
A thick fog rose, enveloping the entire ancient town. Just when they thought they were about to find their way out, they circled back to where they started.
The chubby boy, spotting the gate they had passed earlier, immediately crouched down, scratching his head in frustration. “We’ve been walking for so long, and we haven’t gotten out at all!”
The petite and timid girl clung tightly to Bai Yiyi’s arm, her voice trembling with tears. “Yiyi, will we really make it out?”
Yang Feng was about to comfort them when, as if heaven itself were against them, a torrential downpour began. Amidst flashes of lightning and rumbles of thunder, flickering lights appeared, and an impenetrable white mist shrouded the center of the lake.
Seeing this, Lin Luo’s first reaction wasn’t fear but to push past Yang Feng and approach Bai Yiyi, assuring her that he would protect her and telling her not to be afraid.
Unexpectedly, Bai Yiyi merely responded with a cold “Oh,” then took a few steps back, distancing herself from Lin Luo, and went to comfort Su Yuting instead.
The group didn’t linger any longer. They found a nearby house and knocked on the door, but no one answered. Growing impatient, the chubby boy pushed the door open, only to find the place empty, covered in a thick layer of dust, clearly abandoned for a long time.
“Let’s rest here for a while and wait for the rain to stop before we continue searching,” Yang Feng suggested to the group.
Bai Yiyi smiled and nodded, her eyes filled with undisguised admiration.
Lin Luo clenched his fists in anger, his nails digging deeply into his palms, leaving bright red marks.
The courtyard was built in the Huizhou architectural style, with a dry well in the center, long devoid of water.
Curious, Su Yuting leaned over to peer inside. To her horror, she saw a pale, purplish face with closed eyes. As she stared in disbelief, the eyes suddenly snapped open, dark red blood streaming from them.
“Ahhh! There’s a ghost in there! A ghost!”
The group stared wide-eyed. The chubby boy told Su Yuting not to talk nonsense, while Bai Yiyi gently held her. Yang Feng stepped forward to look into the well, but there was nothing inside—only a few withered leaves.
“Yuting, calm down. There’s nothing in there,” he said.
Lin Luo, hands in his pockets, his wet bangs swept to the right, revealing his fair forehead, glanced at Yang Feng. Seeing his calm expression, he assumed there was truly nothing in the well and took a few steps forward as well. Sure enough, the well was empty.
“Yuting, you’re too timid. You’re even hallucinating now,” the chubby boy remarked.
Su Yuting shook her head frantically, her forehead damp with either rain or sweat. Bai Yiyi sighed and, seeing her state, led her toward the front hall.
In the front hall stood two grand master’s chairs, clearly of considerable age. The chubby man, who knew his antiques, lit up at the sight of them.
Taking two steps in three, he ran his hand over the pearwood armrests and couldn’t help but marvel, “Tsk tsk, this wood, this craftsmanship—these could sell for millions if taken out.”
Lin Luo shot him a disdainful glance. “Are they even yours to sell?”
Having grown up in luxury, Lin Luo looked down on the chubby man’s behavior. Rolling his eyes slowly, he put on an air of lofty indifference to money. The chubby man secretly spat in his direction but, mindful of often mooching off him, put on an ingratiating smile and said, “Right, right.”
The group had originally planned to make do in the front hall for the night. Unexpectedly, as night fell, a tile on the roof was blown loose, and rainwater began pouring in incessantly. They had no choice but to head upstairs.
The second floor was divided into several small attic rooms, all rather cramped, with cobwebs hanging from the doors. Bai Yiyi and Su Yuting entered one of the rooms together. Before going in, they lingered reluctantly. “If anything happens tonight, just call out. I’ll come right away.”
Bai Yiyi blushed and nodded.
Watching their affectionate display, Lin Luo narrowed his eyes slightly, determined to teach Yang Feng a lesson and keep him away from Bai Yiyi.
In the latter half of the night, Lin Luo quietly opened his eyes. Seeing Yang Feng sleeping like a dead pig, he thought of dragging him out with the chubby man’s help to give him a beating. At worst, he could pay off that money-grubbing guy—otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to move Yang Feng alone.
Strangely, after looking around, he couldn’t find the chubby man anywhere. He got up, opened the door, and headed downstairs.
A chilling, bone-piercing draft blew through the front hall, rattling the windows.
“Drip.”
“Drip.”
“If I can get these two grand master’s chairs out, I’ll be rich, hahaha!”
The chubby man’s eyes gleamed greedily, as if he could devour the two chairs. Though he couldn’t tell which dynasty they were from, the wood alone was already rare.
He no longer wanted to be Lin Luo’s lackey. Once he struck it rich, he’d make everyone look at him with newfound respect!
“Chubby! Chubby!”
Lin Luo took long strides, descending the stairs in two or three steps. He saw the chubby man staring eerily at the two grand master’s chairs in the front hall, not even noticing his voice. Frowning, he thought, Is it really that serious?
Just as he was about to step forward and pat the chubby man, a black-and-white photograph suddenly appeared on the wall between the two chairs. The old man in the photo smiled at him.
Lin Luo was shocked, his mouth agape. But after rubbing his eyes, the photo vanished.
Was he hallucinating?
Regardless, this haunted place was no longer fit to stay. He turned to leave, no longer caring about the chubby man’s fate. Unexpectedly, someone suddenly patted his shoulder and spoke close to his ear, accompanied by a chilling coldness.
“Why didn’t you wait for me?”
The voice sounded wooden, as if it hadn’t spoken in a long time, yet it was utterly unfamiliar. Lin Luo whipped his head around and screamed in terror. There was no chubby man—instead, a hanged woman dangled before him, her tongue and hair suspended in mid-air, grinning at him eerily.
“Why didn’t you wait for me?”
“Ah!”
“Cut! Great, let’s prepare for the next shot.”
Song Xun was still shaken, his heart racing. The set was absolutely terrifying, leaving him drenched in sweat. Thankfully, he wasn’t too easily frightened, or he might have wet his pants on the spot.
The director praised him for his good performance and told him to rest well, as the remaining scenes were all interactions between the male and female leads.
Song Xun nodded and sat on the sidelines, watching the male and female leads film their scenes. Xiao Deng walked over, handed him a bottle of mineral water, and said with bright eyes, full of admiration, “Wow, Brother Song, you acted so well! You really looked like you were genuinely scared.”
She had heard a little about it. Song Xun’s acting skills were notoriously poor, with room for improvement as vast as the entire Earth. But seeing it firsthand was quite a surprise.
“Thank you.”
Because he really had been scared.
“Do we have any other arrangements later?”
Lin Luo’s scenes were also nearing their end, and Song Xun had nothing scheduled for the next few days.
Xiao Deng nodded, took out her phone, opened the schedule, and handed it to Song Xun.
“Yes, yes. We have a few commercials to shoot, and tomorrow you need to go to the company for a meeting.”
“Okay.”
The schedule was packed over the next few days. The drama “Moonlit Painting” was also nearing its conclusion, and the director mentioned holding a banquet where all the cast members would attend.
Song Xun really couldn’t refuse, so he squeezed out the time. When he arrived at the private room, he saw everyone already seated at the tables. At the main table sat a tall man in a well-tailored suit, his hair slicked back. “Hi~ over here!”
The man waved flamboyantly at Song Xun and pointed to the seat next to him, signaling for him to sit there.
Song Xun blinked and noticed that Mu Heng had already taken his seat. He politely smiled at the man and then sat down next to Mu Heng.
“Why didn’t you accept my friend request?”
Song Xun looked at Mu Heng with a pout, pretending to be upset to express his dissatisfaction.
Mu Heng opened his mouth slightly, then took out his phone. “I just noticed it now, sorry about that.”
With that, he accepted Song Xun’s WeChat friend request.
He even raised his phone slightly, as if trying to show Song Xun that he really had just noticed it, afraid of being misunderstood.
Song Xun couldn’t help but laugh. He had only meant to tease Mu Heng, but Mu Heng had taken it seriously. He quickly nodded at him and said with a smile, “I know, I was just teasing you.”
Mu Heng looked at Song Xun’s smiling face, somewhat puzzled. Why did this person love to smile so much? And yet, when he smiled, he looked so beautiful.
Jin Yirui didn’t mind Song Xun’s rejection and instead took the initiative to walk over.
“Hello, I’m Jin Yirui, the investor for the drama ‘Moonlit Painting.'”
This man wasn’t bad-looking; in fact, he had a rugged handsomeness—dark-tanned skin, a high nose bridge, and a smile that always made people feel good about him.
“I know, Mr. Jin, right? Nice to meet you.”
The two shook hands, and Jin Yirui even lightly brushed his fingers over Song Xun’s hand, startling him and sending shivers down his spine. Song Xun quickly let go.
Jin Yirui, however, acted as if nothing had happened and started chatting casually with Song Xun. Song Xun wasn’t foolish either. Recalling what Sister Zhang had told him, he subtly distanced himself from Jin Yirui without making it obvious.
Although Jin Yirui was a difficult person to deal with, the situation didn’t last long. Soon after, the director entered the room with Yan Jiayu.
“Ah, Mr. Jin! You’re here so early. I was just about to pick you up so we could come together.”
“Not at all, Director, you’re too kind. Hey, Jiayu, why are you so late? You should drink three glasses as a penalty.”
Yan Jiayu smiled and nodded. “Alright, I’ll definitely drink as a penalty.”
With a few words exchanged, the culture of the drinking table began to take shape.
Yan Jiayu, the director, and Mr. Jin sat together. The director stood up, raised his glass, first thanked Mr. Jin for his generous investment, then expressed gratitude for the hard work of everyone in the crew. Finally, just before downing his drink in one go, he looked at Song Xun.
“Song Xun, you really surprised me. I thought we were done for earlier, but you turned things around later on. That was truly remarkable.”
Song Xun let out an awkward laugh for a moment. Jin Yirui added fuel to the fire, “Song Xun, shouldn’t you toast the director?”
Song Xun wasn’t much of a drinker. In the past, he would avoid drinking whenever possible at social gatherings, either dodging it or secretly pouring it out. But with so many people watching, he couldn’t do that. He had no choice but to brace himself, stand up, and toast the director.
“Then I’ll toast the director. Thank you for taking care of me all this time.”
“Hahaha, good, good.”
After a few drinks, Song Xun’s face flushed slightly red. Mu Heng asked worriedly if he was okay, and Song Xun gave him an “OK” sign. Meanwhile, Yan Jiayu glanced discreetly at Song Xun and saw his face as radiant as peach blossoms, his delicate lips as crimson as if stained with blood.
Song Xun noticed the gaze, looked at him, his mind buzzing, and gave him a wink.
Yan Jiayu silently averted his eyes.
After several rounds of drinks, everyone was chatting happily. When it was time to leave, Mu Heng was picked up by his assistant. The lively atmosphere gradually faded as people slowly dispersed.
Song Xun sat quietly in his seat, like a child waiting for an adult to pick him up.
Rarely so well-behaved, he picked up the glass of wine in front of him, intending to finish it in one go, but someone stopped him.
“Still drinking? You’re already this drunk. Why aren’t you leaving?”
Song Xun looked up, revealing two dimples. “Xiao Deng is a girl. It’s not good to have her come over so late at night.”
Yan Jiayu was taken aback, not expecting Song Xun to be so considerate. His patience grew a bit more as he crouched in front of him. “Then how are you getting back?”
Song Xun didn’t answer, but Jin Yirui, after sending the director off, returned and saw Song Xun still there. He approached again.
“I’ll take him back. I didn’t drink much.”
Yan Jiayu gave him a cold glance. “Even if you didn’t drink much, you still drank. I assume Mr. Jin wouldn’t want to be fined by the traffic police for drunk driving.”
Jin Yirui was left speechless. Before he could react, Yan Jiayu helped Song Xun up. “Do you remember where you live?”
“You drank too. That’s also drunk driving.”
Jin Yirui was displeased that Yan Jiayu had ruined his opportunity and spoke disdainfully.
Without looking back, Yan Jiayu replied, “I have an assistant. He can drive.”
The assistant had been waiting outside for a while. When he turned around, he saw his boss supporting someone, as if in a dream—especially since that person was someone his boss disliked the most.
“Open the door.”
The assistant snapped out of it, jogged over to open the back door, held the roof of the car, and carefully helped Song Xun inside.
Song Xun was heavily intoxicated. He felt as if he were floating on clouds, weightless and powerless, like a puddle of soft mud.
“Where do you live?”
Yan Jiayu gently patted Song Xun and asked again.
Song Xun opened his eyes, which shimmered with a watery gleam. He frowned, as if pondering a difficult problem. Just as Yan Jiayu thought he wouldn’t get an answer, Song Xun spoke up, giving the name of his residential complex, the building number, and even the floor. He was about to blurt out his ID card and bank card passwords too.
“Alright, alright, let’s go.”
Yan Jiayu quickly covered his mouth and told the assistant to drive to the address Song Xun had given.
But Song Xun was extremely displeased at being silenced. He shook off the hand and demanded, “Tell me! Why did you block me on WeChat?!”
“?!”
Yan Jiayu had long forgotten about this. Back then, Song Xun had been bothering him every day, and he had blocked him out of annoyance. After that, Song Xun had indeed stopped pestering him, so he had completely forgotten about it.
“I…”
For the first time, he felt utterly flustered. Song Xun looked at him with innocent, aggrieved eyes, as if he were some kind of criminal.
“Do you know how much I typed?! Hah, you don’t! You have no idea at all!”
Yan Jiayu instinctively blurted out, “I’m sorry.”
Song Xun snorted coldly. “If apologies were useful, what would we need the police for?”
He even said it with a Taiwanese accent.
“…”
Wait, why was he even reasoning with a drunkard?
The assistant, listening to the commotion in the back, occasionally glanced at the rearview mirror. It was the first time he had ever seen his boss at a loss, and it was absolutely hilarious.
After a brief moment of quiet, Song Xun crooked a finger at Yan Jiayu, stared at him intently, and smiled.
“I have something to tell you.”