This theater took seventeen years from construction to completion and use. During this time, a total of five people died due to accidents.
The young man said, "It's looking for replacements. When one goes, it finds the next. So if we don't destroy this evil thing and just leave it be, people will keep dying. It's targeting human lives."
Master Zhou, having played the role of a master before, often said such things to people, so he wasn't afraid.
Even Jing Jiujiu didn't feel much.
He was already a ghost.
Ghosts looking for replacements always look for humans.
Only the Director was scared out of his wits, involuntarily clutching Jing Jiujiu's sleeve.
There was no helping it, the youth looked beautiful and seemed to have a good temper.
Jing Jiujiu turned his head to look at the Director, who immediately said, "I'm sorry, I... I'm really a bit scared."
The light in the theater wasn't very strong, and with everything being enclosed, it created a somewhat dead and terrifying atmosphere.
Jing Jiujiu could empathize with fear, so he nodded casually, "Mm, don't be afraid."
Bai Yuhuai: "..."
You're grabbing the sleeve of the most powerful ghost in this theater.
"There's something quite strange," the young man said, "Of the five people who died, four of them died within the first seven years. The last person died in the eighth year, and then no one ever died again."
Jing Jiujiu paused: "Could it be a good ghost?" But, it had almost broken someone's neck, how could it be a good ghost?
Still not as good as me.
"Not necessarily," Bai Yuhuai paused, "It could be quite the opposite, it might be the most vicious one."
The Director, hearing that people wouldn't die anymore, felt more at ease.
The Director asked, "Could it be some kind of mischievous ghost that doesn't know its own strength? I've seen such things in Western ghost stories."
Bai Yuhuai: "It's not."
"Now go and find out who that person was, their identity and background," Bai Yuhuai instructed the young man.
The young man didn't complain and obediently went off.
The Director, who had been quiet for a while, spoke up: "I remember now, his name was Liu Dongfeng. Many years ago, he was in the seafood business in Huai City. He had some reputation in the wealthy circles there. He came to watch 'Romeo and Juliet'. When the audience was leaving, a janitor saw him motionless and discovered he was dead."
"At the time, they said it was sudden cardiac arrest."
"Thinking about it now, tsk, what a terrifying way to die..."
"Cardiac arrest? Scared to death?" Bai Yuhuai spoke up.
The Director responded blankly, "Who knows?"
If it wasn't for these incidents at the theater, he would never have known that ghosts existed in this world, let alone figure out how people become ghosts.
Jing Jiujiu frowned slightly: "Isn't that troublesome?"
"To kill a ghost... you have to make it die again in the same way it died before."
Actually, it didn't have to be that complicated.
At least, it wasn't that complicated for Bai Yuhuai to kill ghosts.
"Yes, so, can you guess how I actually died?" The Director's voice changed, followed by a string of laughter, both giggling and cackling, piercing and unpleasant to the ear.
Jing Jiujiu: !!
Without thinking, he turned and dove into Bai Yuhuai's arms, a familiar refuge.
His legs also wrapped tightly around him, afraid that Bai Yuhuai might leave him behind if he ran.
Bai Yuhuai held his waist with one hand.
He looked towards the Director.
This ghost was audacious enough...
However, within just a few seconds, the Director collapsed unconscious on the ground.
Master Zhou patted his chest: "That was really scary."
Compared to Jing Jiujiu, though, his fear seemed quite half-hearted.
The Director woke up after being unconscious for half an hour.
His whole body felt cold, and seeing the blanket prepared nearby, he immediately grabbed it and wrapped it around himself: "What happened to me just now? I'm still alive, right?"
"Still alive," the young man had already returned, he said: "You were just possessed by a ghost. You might have some bad luck for the next couple of days. If you could absorb some..." The young man turned his head to look at Bai Yuhuai, but quickly shut his mouth: "Never mind, forget I said anything. You definitely can't do that method anyway. Just deal with the bad luck for now. It's nothing major, you might just choke on water, burn your tongue while eating, or almost get run over while crossing the street."
Director: "..."
How is that nothing major?
"What do we do now?" the Director asked tremblingly.
The young man clicked his tongue: "Maybe it's as Mr. Bai said, this ghost is no good thing. I used big data to search for related information about him, apart from basic stuff like his name and identity, I also found a few deleted complaint posts. The posts mentioned Liu Dongfeng. They called him a sasaeng fan. Said he used to rely on his wealth to book the same hotel as the celebrities he liked. He didn't even interact with them properly. He'd just stay in the room next door, then secretly climb over to their room from the balcony..."
"Isn't that just being a psycho?" the Director cursed.
After cursing, he shrank back again. Afraid that the ghost might hear and possess him again. If it happened a few more times, wouldn't he be unlucky for half a year?
"Then what?" Jing Jiujiu asked.
The young man shrugged: "Nothing else, he would just sit by their bed each time, not making a sound, just staring. Sometimes he'd quietly reach out and touch..."
Jing Jiujiu had never heard of such a disgusting person, so disgusting that it gave him goosebumps.
Director: "Fuck."
Director: "Old per..." vert.
He swallowed the last syllable.
Although Jing Jiujiu didn't hear clearly, he roughly knew it was a curse word.
Jing Jiujiu: "It's an earth-bound spirit. We're outside the theater now, it can't hear us."
The Director felt much better after hearing this.
Young Man: "At first, no one discovered him. Later, there was a celebrity who suffered from neurasthenia, woke up in the middle of the night, and was almost scared to death. They quickly called the police. Liu Dongfeng tried to run, but apparently that celebrity had practiced Muay Thai. So he didn't manage to escape..."
Director: "The light of justice shines upon the earth."
Young Man: "Liu Dongfeng was detained for a few days, and when the celebrity's fans found out about this, they went online to curse him out. But the posts were quickly deleted. Probably Liu Dongfeng paid to have them removed. After that, he came to Capital City and died."
Director: "Good riddance!"
Jing Jiujiu took a light breath and asked, "What were the celebrities he targeted like?"
The young man had a very good impression of Jing Jiujiu, and hearing his question, he immediately thought of that cup of water, and blushed a little embarrassedly, saying, "They were all good-looking." Just like the young man.
The young man quickly added, "Regardless of gender. The one who practiced Muay Thai was a male celebrity."
Jing Jiujiu: "Oh."
Then he turned and started whispering to Bai Yuhuai.
The young man thought for a moment and said, "He was probably scared to death by the ghost before him. I'll go check what the person who died before him looked like. Then we can try to carve a wooden doll, write their birth date and time on it, and make it look like that person. When he sees the ghost that scared him to death, he'll be afraid, right? After all, who isn't afraid of death? Humans fear death, ghosts fear it even more. As long as he's scared, wouldn't that make him die again?"
Bai Yuhuai didn't even turn his head: "Mm, you can try."
The young man immediately left with Master Zhou to prepare the things.
The Director then took them to the milk tea shop across the street, to sit and wait slowly. The Director thoughtfully ordered a cup for Jing Jiujiu, osmanthus wine-flavored milk tea. Jing Jiujiu knew without tasting that it must be fragrantly enticing.
They waited for about three hours.
Jing Jiujiu had even received a reply from Meng Hexin and chatted with him for a bit.
Jing Jiujiu couldn't wait any longer, and Bai Yuhuai, looking at Jing Jiujiu's phone, couldn't wait either.
Jing Jiujiu put away his phone, whispered a few words with Bai Yuhuai, then asked, "Do you think I can scare him?"
You can't.
The words reached Bai Yuhuai's lips but were swallowed back.
Those words would hurt the young man's pride too much.
Bai Yuhuai: "You can."
Jing Jiujiu made an "OK" gesture: "Then let's go." "No, no, forget it, you'd better wait at the door. It's not very safe."
Jing Jiujiu didn't have much faith in his abilities as a ghost either.
What if he couldn't save Bai Yuhuai?
Bai Yuhuai didn't argue, just responded, "Alright."
Even if the place was crowded with ghosts later, he could still bring Jing Jiujiu back safely.
Jing Jiujiu returned to the theater, just in time to bump into the young man walking back with a grim expression, cursing, "Fuck his ancestors."
Jing Jiujiu: ?
The young man startled upon seeing him, immediately softening his anger, and said, "That ghost isn't afraid of the ghost that originally scared him to death. He even laughed and said being a ghost is quite nice, and thanked him."
Jing Jiujiu: "..."
The young man became increasingly agitated as he continued, "He said that after becoming a ghost, it's so much more convenient to peep at people. Humans can't do anything to him, let alone beat him up with Muay Thai again. Not only that, but he can also mess with people as he pleases. He can play with whoever he wants. If he doesn't like someone, he can make them break their legs or crush their hands... He even said being a ghost is too enjoyable. He wants to be a ghost for life and doesn't even want to reincarnate."
Jing Jiujiu was shocked.
He had never seen such a shameless ghost before.
The young man strode towards the exit: "I'm going to find Mr. Bai!" "If I don't kill him today, I'll write my name backwards!"
Jing Jiujiu: "Go ahead."
Jing Jiujiu walked deeper into the theater, then stood under a dim light and softly called out, "Lin Zhi."
A figure immediately walked out.
The man had redrawn his eyes, nose, and mouth, looking handsome again.
Lin Zhi was no longer very afraid of Jing Jiujiu.
He felt that compared to the young man before him, the big star called Bai Yuhuai was more frightening.
Lin Zhi asked, "I saw you come in with them earlier, but those people looked too fierce, so I didn't appear."
Lin Zhi inquired further, "Do you think I can still be someone's teacher?"
Jing Jiujiu felt a hint of coolness.
This was the sensation he was most familiar with.
He had been trapped in the ancient castle for seven years, living with yin energy day after day. Yin energy felt just as cool as this.
A hunched, curled-up shadow crouched behind the curtain, its eyes fixed intently on Jing Jiujiu.
Beautiful.
Not just ordinarily beautiful.
The young man surpassed every star he had ever seen.
The shadow slowly approached, getting closer and closer.
When he suddenly turns around and sees me, he will surely be scared and shrink back, and more alluring colors will appear on that beautiful face...
Lin Zhi suddenly said loudly, "Oh! Let me introduce you to my friend!" Lin Zhi pointed at the shadow: "His name is Liu Dongfeng."
Liu Dongfeng, lurking in the darkness: "..."
Jing Jiujiu turned to look.
Liu Dongfeng froze in place.
Does he still look scary now? Liu Dongfeng thought about how he looked before he died. Lin Zhi had exposed his mystery, which might make him look not only not scary but a bit ridiculous now.
Lin Zhi's voice grew even louder: "Let me introduce you to him as well. He's a new friend I just met..."
"His name is..." Lin Zhi looked at Jing Jiujiu, his tone somewhat shy, "What's your name?"
"Jiujiu."
"Jiujiu. What a nice name. It sounds like it has a great meaning." Lin Zhi said softly, "May our friendship last forever and ever (jiujiu)."
Jing Jiujiu: ?
Is there even a friendship?
Lin Zhi thought to himself, first befriend the ghost, this way I won't be afraid of ghosts anymore.
Liu Dongfeng pondered for a while, unable to contain himself any longer, he moved closer. He deliberately fixed a gloomy gaze on Jing Jiujiu, visually violating the young man before him, as disgusting as if a snake's tongue were licking: "Hello..."
"You're really beautiful," he said, then waited for the young man to show a disgusted expression.
He just wanted to see the young man look disgusted and scared, yet helpless.
Jing Jiujiu paused: "You're so short."
Liu Dongfeng: "..."
Liu Dongfeng flew into a rage.
Liu Dongfeng sneered coldly: "What do you know? You don't understand. I'm a ghost, you know? I'm a ghost! This is how I looked before I died..."
Jing Jiujiu: "Oh."
Liu Dongfeng: "Aren't you afraid?" As he spoke, he floated up barely reaching and was about to caress Jing Jiujiu's chin. His skin was very white, and he was young, it must feel smooth to touch.
Lin Zhi frowned: "What are you doing? That's very impolite."
Liu Dongfeng chuckled, to hell with politeness.
Liu Dongfeng's hand touched Jing Jiujiu's chin, it really was... so smooth... At this moment, Liu Dongfeng felt that being human was a bit more enjoyable, as he could feel it more genuinely...
His fingertips became wet.
Did he cry out of fear?
No, how could I feel wetness?
I'm a ghost.
The smile on Liu Dongfeng's face came to an abrupt halt.
The beautiful young man's... head had fallen off!
Jing Jiujiu asked him back: "Are you scared now?"
Under the beautiful young man's skin was a ghost!
Liu Dongfeng screamed in fright, his soul withering.
Lin Zhi also: "Ah ah ah!" "Our friendship was supposed to last forever! Don't scare me like this!"
Liu Dongfeng's screams grew more and more painful, his ghost seemed to be pulled by an invisible force. Finally, his expression froze in a terrified look, and with a whoosh, he returned to a seat in the theater, sitting there stiffly, in the exact same posture as when he died, unable to move anymore.
Meanwhile, the young man left the theater, and only when he saw Bai Yuhuai did he suddenly slap the table: "Wait a minute! That boy was so good-looking, if he goes into the theater alone, won't he be harassed by that ghost?"
That ghost was far less powerful than Jing Jiujiu, he couldn't even hurt Jing Jiujiu.
But harassment?
Bai Yuhuai frowned and stood up: "Let's go in, no need to try other methods."
Hearing him say this, the young man knew he had made a decision.
Bai Yuhuai could kill ghosts directly.
But killing him directly wouldn't break that earth-bound curse. Just like how water ghosts would endlessly look for substitutes. In the future, another person would die here, that person would become a ghost, and harm the next person.
The group quickly strode back into the theater.
They saw Jing Jiujiu standing alone in front of a seat, his figure slender.
And on that seat, a ghost shadow was firmly pinned there, unable to move.
Young man: "Damn! You caught him?"
The young man quickly pulled out a talisman paper from his bag, lit a match, and threw it onto the black shadow. Something seemed to be struggling painfully within the black shadow.
"No!"
"Ah!"
The shadow let out a soul-wrenching scream.
He never thought that after becoming a ghost, he would die again because of his habits when he was alive.
And it was a thorough death.
There would be no reincarnation.
Slowly, slowly, the shadow disappeared, leaving only a patch of ash.
Jing Jiujiu: "Wow, that's amazing."
The young man blushed.
Bai Yuhuai: "..."
Because the director was too scared, he didn't follow them in. At this moment, no one else saw this magical scene.
Only Master Zhou wished he could curl up in a corner.
Who... were they?
Just then, Bai Yuhuai looked at him.
Master Zhou shuddered, hurriedly bowing and scraping: "Please tell me, whatever you want me to do, just say it. I'll do anything I can, even if it means climbing a mountain of knives or diving into a sea of fire!"
Bai Yuhuai: "Do you know that the CEO of Jing Corporation is offering a hefty sum to hire masters who understand feng shui and the mystical arts?"
Master Zhou was stunned for a moment, then cautiously asked: "What do you mean? I've never deceived Jing Corporation... Really... I wouldn't dare."
Bai Yuhuai looked down at him coldly: "I want you to apply for the position at Jing Corporation."
At the same moment, the little robot rolled out of the bushes like a somersaulting donkey and stood up.
Intimidation progress bar 2 - 50%
Congratulations to you and your host for successfully scaring a ghost to death, reward doubled x2
Little robot: ???
My host is awesome! I was too young and underestimated you before!