Jing Jiujiu covered his ears with his hands and asked softly, "Is someone dead?"
What dead person?
Jing Jiujiu quickly added, "Did that female ghost eat that person?"
"No eating," Bai Yuhuai now understood what he was asking about.
"Is the ghost gone then?" Jing Jiujiu asked again.
"No," Bai Yuhuai said, adding a more detailed description: "It's crawling."
Jing Jiujiu wanted to whimper and beg him to stop talking.
But he couldn't lose face in front of the ghost.
Bai Yuhuai clearly felt the young man in his arms clinging to him even tighter.
He was obviously more scared now.
Bai Yuhuai let Jing Jiujiu burrow into his embrace, supporting him with one arm while walking towards the bed to find the remote control.
He pressed the power button.
The eerie background music abruptly stopped.
Jing Jiujiu: "Huh?" "Why is there no sound?"
The more Jing Jiujiu spoke, the more terrified he felt: "Did she crawl out of the TV?"
After saying this, he hurriedly looked up to check Bai Yuhuai's expression.
His face was cool, but full of vitality.
Still very much alive.
Jing Jiujiu was relieved.
"I turned it off," Bai Yuhuai said.
So that's what happened.
Jing Jiujiu felt even more at ease now.
"Then it's fine," Jing Jiujiu jumped down from him.
Feeling a bit awkward, Jing Jiujiu muttered to himself, then turned his head and said "Thank you."
"Why watch horror movies late at night?" Bai Yuhuai asked coolly.
Jing Jiujiu certainly couldn't say it was to learn intimidation techniques to use on him! He smacked his lips and said, "It's lonely being alone."
Bai Yuhuai remained cool: "Having one more ghost makes you less lonely?"
Jing Jiujiu imagined a scene with a ghost beside him.
He shook his head repeatedly.
One castle can't accommodate two ghosts! Better not to have any!
"Then don't watch horror movies at midnight. Yang energy is low and yin energy is strong at this time, it will attract ghosts."
Jing Jiujiu responded with an "Oh."
Then he'll watch during the day next time.
Bai Yuhuai had no idea what he was thinking. Seeing the young man sitting properly back on the edge of the bed, he turned around and said, "I'm leaving."
Jing Jiujiu blurted out, "Wait!"
Bai Yuhuai stopped and turned back: "Hmm?"
Jing Jiujiu licked his lips and asked, "Have you watched many horror movies?"
Bai Yuhuai: ?
Little Robot: ?
The Little Robot outside the door secretly muttered, could he be trying to get scary tricks from the man empty-handed? And after getting them, turn around and use them to scare the man?
You really are a little genius!
Before Bai Yuhuai could answer, Jing Jiujiu continued, "Do you think... the female ghost from the TV will come out later? Will she bite off my head while I'm sleeping? Is that how it always happens in horror movies?"
Bai Yuhuai looked at him and realized the young man seemed to be genuinely worried about this.
Bai Yuhuai: "It won't happen."
Ghosts can eat other ghosts.
But the prerequisites are extremely high, not just anyone can be eaten.
"Then will it attract other ghosts? Is the yin energy very strong here now?" Jing Jiujiu asked him again.
It is very strong, but it's coming from the young man himself.
Jing Jiujiu muttered to himself, "In horror movies, ghosts always appear unexpectedly. I probably can't guard against them..." He looked at Bai Yuhuai: "Weren't you going to take me back to your room?"
At least he's a living person!
Jing Jiujiu thought to himself, no matter how scary, it's better than a contorted female ghost crawling around.
After all that talk, just for this sentence?
Bai Yuhuai raised an eyebrow slightly.
Should he be happy?
In the young man's heart, he was better than a female ghost.
Seeing the man not speaking for a long time, Jing Jiujiu couldn't help but ask again: "Can I still go now?"
"Let's go," Bai Yuhuai said, turning to lead the way.
Jing Jiujiu hurried to follow.
When they reached the door, Bai Yuhuai held it open with one hand. Jing Jiujiu glanced at the intimidating door, then walked out close to Bai Yuhuai's arm.
It was already past 3 AM.
Jing Jiujiu, pretending to be human, yawned, and his eyes even welled up with a few tears. After entering the adjacent room, Jing Jiujiu curled up on the sofa and asked Bai Yuhuai, "Can you check under the bed..."
Bai Yuhuai: "Hmm?"
"Check if there's a ghost under the bed?" Jing Jiujiu hurriedly added, seeing he didn't understand.
Bai Yuhuai paused.
When he was telling ghost stories downstairs, was the young man eavesdropping from upstairs? And he remembered it so clearly?
Bai Yuhuai silently walked to the bedside and bent down to look. Actually, he didn't need to bend down to know there was nothing under the bed.
Those things were all afraid of him.
Who would dare to hide under his bed, waiting to be burned by raging fire, soul scattered, with no chance of reincarnation?
Bai Yuhuai stayed bent for a few seconds before straightening up and saying, "There's nothing."
"That's good." Jing Jiujiu paused, "I think I'm sitting on something?"
He pulled out an A4-sized printed booklet from under him: "What's this?" He looked at the words on it: "...A script?"
Bai Yuhuai walked towards him and responded, "Mm-hmm."
"Are you here to film a movie?"
"No, we're recording a show."
"Oh." Jing Jiujiu nodded, then asked, "Are you an actor?"
"Yes."
Jing Jiujiu no longer found this man so cold and frightening. Although he spoke little and seemed aloof, he answered every one of his questions!
This, to some extent, soothed Jing Jiujiu's heart that had been terrified by the female ghost.
"What's your name?" Jing Jiujiu asked curiously.
No one had ever asked Bai Yuhuai this, because he was too famous in China.
And no ghost would ask him this either. Ghosts would flee for their lives upon seeing him.
"Bai Yuhuai," he still answered the question.
"I'm Jing Jiujiu," the young man reciprocated.
But as soon as he said it, Jing Jiujiu regretted it. Did he make the news when he died or not? If the man looked him up, wouldn't he discover everything about him? How could he create an air of mystery to scare people now?
Bai Yuhuai had already heard this name from Kong Xiangqi's mouth, but hearing it from the young man himself was different.
The name suddenly matched his appearance.
Like fine wine buried for years under thorny brambles, with a gorgeous color and rich aroma.
"How old are you?" Bai Yuhuai asked him.
"Eighteen..." Jing Jiujiu paused, then quickly corrected himself: "No, it should be... twenty-four, twenty-five?" He had been dead for seven years, so he should be twenty-five now, right? He hadn't celebrated a birthday in seven years.
Ah, right.
Jing Jiujiu suddenly remembered, in a month, it would be his birthday! On that day, he would truly turn twenty-five!
So he was an adult now.
Bai Yuhuai stared at the delicate and beautiful young man before him, but he had been forever frozen on that day when he was eighteen.
Jing Jiujiu immediately asked in return: "Mr. Bai... is it okay to call you that? How old are you, Mr. Bai?"
This was the most peculiar moment in Bai Yuhuai's twenty-some years of life.
He was actually sitting with a ghost, exchanging personal information.
"Isn't a celebrity's age supposed to be a secret? Never mind then, you don't have to tell me," Jing Jiujiu retracted his question before Bai Yuhuai could answer.
"It's late, I need to sleep," Jing Jiujiu looked up at the wall clock, then promptly lay down on the sofa, "See you in the morning."
Bai Yuhuai opened his mouth, then closed it again.
This entire castle belonged to the young man, so logically, there wasn't a single place where he couldn't sleep.
The only strange thing was that, despite being a ghost for several years, he still stubbornly slept like a human. Unlike any ghost Bai Yuhuai had ever encountered.
Bai Yuhuai put away the script and also went to bed.
Downstairs, the MCs and the cameraman huddled together, shivering for a long time. Forget about sleeping, they were even careful about blinking.
Old Cao even contacted the production team in the middle of the night.
"Who's going to check on Bai's situation?"
"Bai might already be asleep."
"No," Ji Meng said, still shaken, "Bai should still be reading the script. When I... when I went just now, he was doing that."
The others couldn't help but give him an extra look.
But since it had already slipped out, Ji Meng didn't care anymore. He gritted his teeth and stood up, saying, "I'll go check."
How could the others really let him go alone?
"Let's go together," Old Cao said, picking a cameraman to go up with them.
Ji Meng knocked on the door in front.
He shrugged his shoulders and said, "It seems like there's no more sound. It's quiet again."
Old Cao had calmed down a bit by now and couldn't help saying softly, "If Mr. Superstar has already gone to bed, it would be awkward if we woke him up..."
Just as he finished speaking, the door opened.
Bai Yuhuai's face was cold, with a hint of weariness between his brows. He indeed looked like someone who had just fallen asleep and been woken up.
"What is it?" His tone was the same as in his previous conversation with Ji Meng, only this time it had an added touch of impatient coldness.
Not just Ji Meng, but even Old Cao behind him shuddered.
"There was a bit of commotion downstairs just now, we were worried about you, so..." Ji Meng stammered.
Old Cao pulled Ji Meng back, quickly smiling awkwardly at Bai Yuhuai and bowing his head, "It's nothing, please rest."
Ji Meng, however, seemed rooted to the spot, not moving an inch, his eyes staring straight into the room.
Old Cao thought to himself, Ji Meng is usually quite perceptive! Why is he being so stupid today?
Old Cao pulled Ji Meng harder, "Let's go, let's go. You rest, sir."
Only then did the two turn and walk away.
When they reached the second floor, Ji Meng said dazedly, "There's someone in Bai's room."
"What nonsense are you talking about?" Old Cao frowned.
"It's true! I saw it clearly, lying on the sofa, young in age. Although I couldn't see the face clearly, but it looked..." Ji Meng paused, his tone slightly sour, "well-proportioned and fair-skinned. Should be quite good-looking."
He had come to the door voluntarily, but Mr. Superstar had coldly rejected him without any room for negotiation. Who among them was this person who was allowed in?
There were only these people living in this castle... It should be easy to guess in a while.
Old Cao was stunned for a moment, "Really? Are you sure you didn't see wrong?"
"Damn, you can't spread this around. This secret... it's too big. Since Bai entered the industry, forget about rumored girlfriends, he hasn't even had rumored boyfriends. It's just gossip sites writing nonsense. ...A superstar participating in a reality show, but it's actually to secretly meet a young girlfriend. I wonder who in our show is so impressive to have secretly hooked up with such a big superstar. If this news is confirmed, it would blow up a mountain!"
"I was wondering, someone of his caliber, why would he come to our show for no reason? Even if all of us were combined and multiplied by thirty, we wouldn't match his significance alone!" Old Cao was probably too shocked, muttering all the way.
When they got downstairs.
Old Cao reported to everyone that all was well, but Ji Meng discreetly scanned the room.
Then he felt his hair stand on end again.
"Old Cao." Ji Meng grabbed Old Cao's sleeve, leaning to his ear, cold sweat breaking out as he said, "I didn't notice."
"What?"
"...No one is missing from our group."
"Huh?" Old Cao was stunned for a moment, then suddenly realized. If everyone was here and no one was missing, then... who was that figure in Bai's room?
The two of them froze in fear.
The Little Robot watched as the intimidation progress bar shot up again.
Little Robot: ?
Wasn't Jing Jiujiu still slacking off???
No one slept well that night, except for Bai Yuhuai.
When Bai Yuhuai woke up in the morning, he saw that Jing Jiujiu was already dressed neatly, sitting on the edge of the sofa.
"It's so comfortable lying here," Jing Jiujiu said with a reluctant expression.
It really was very comfortable.
It felt like everything had relaxed and calmed down.
Jing Jiujiu closed his eyes and opened them again, truly feeling the satisfaction of having slept.
It's not my place, this is originally your home.
The reason it feels comfortable is probably because it's far from the mark on the door. After all, no ghost has ever felt comfortable staying with him.
Bai Yuhuai thought to himself.
"If you want to stay longer, you can sleep on the bed. I have to go record the show now," Bai Yuhuai said, pretending not to notice he was a ghost.
Jing Jiujiu nodded repeatedly.
By the time Bai Yuhuai went downstairs, the production team had already arrived.
They re-examined the environment of the castle, paused the filming, and finally reassured everyone...
"There's no problem here, don't worry."
"But the sound last night..."
Bai Yuhuai finished his breakfast, wiped his mouth leisurely, and then interjected, "It was a faulty TV in a bedroom on the third floor."
"Is... is that so?" The other MCs were stunned.
The production team quickly retreated back to the foot of the mountain.
Yu Shaoguang sighed, "We've been paid, so we should work hard! And don't forget, this is supposed to be a mystery thriller show!"
After all, it was broad daylight now, and they had just seen the production team, so everyone had more or less recovered their spirits. They nodded and sat down.
Only Old Cao and Ji Meng still seemed a bit distracted.
After everyone finished breakfast, they went to explore the basement.
Along the way, they joked and bantered, and despite the dim atmosphere, there was no lack of humor. Slowly, they regained the feeling of doing a reality show.
"Doesn't seem like there's much to see."
"Have you found any clues left by the production team?"
"Does this look like something?" Kong Xiangqi pointed her flashlight at a narrow corner.
Everyone gathered around, "It looks like a symbol, but it's not very clear."
"It's blood-red, written in cinnabar? Ew."
"Wait a minute, let me take a closer look." Kong Xiangqi said as she leaned in closer, but just as she got near—
"Bang."
It sounded like something had hit.
Not just Kong Xiangqi, but everyone, including the cameraman, was startled.
"What the hell was that?"
"A rat, maybe?"
"Try lifting that wooden board and take a look."
"I'm scared..."
Bai Yuhuai, who hadn't spoken until now, reached out from the side and lifted the wooden board.
Everyone's emotions calmed a bit as they all looked under the board.
In the area enclosed by the debris, there was actually a fish tank placed right below the symbol.
"Wow, there are fish?"
"These fish are quite resilient... they're still alive."
"This fish is quite big, pitch black, looks a bit like a crucian carp."
"Wait, aren't you curious about who's been feeding these fish to keep them alive?"
With these words, everyone fell silent again.
"These aren't ordinary fish," Bai Yuhuai said calmly. "They can feed only once every six months." These are feng shui fish.
But why would such a thing be here?
These things are too ominous.
Everyone gathered around Bai Yuhuai to ask about the fish species.
Meanwhile, upstairs, Jing Jiujiu was feeling a bit bored.
He wanted to watch a couple more horror movies, but he didn't dare. Ah, if only that Bai Yuhuai could watch with him. That man was so calm, having him around would surely make it not scary!
Jing Jiujiu didn't have to wait too long. The MCs hadn't slept all night, and now they were all exhausted, so everyone was preparing to go back to their rooms for a nap.
Ji Meng and Old Cao followed Bai Yuhuai upstairs.
"We have something we'd like to ask you about," Old Cao said, rubbing his hands nervously.
Actually, they wanted to see if there really was something in Bai Yuhuai's room.
Bai Yuhuai didn't refuse this time.
He pushed open the door.
Jing Jiujiu heard the sound and thought, he must be coming back for a nap. He very generously patted the spot next to him on the bed and said to Bai Yuhuai, "You're back! Let's sleep together then!"
If he could wake up and watch a horror movie with me, that would be even better!
Bai Yuhuai looked at the young man.
The young man had already comfortably snuggled into his blanket, and had taken off his suit jacket, wearing only a white shirt. One button of the shirt was undone. The loosened ruff collar was like a large, soft white flower, enveloping him, beautiful and delicate.
He was now looking at Bai Yuhuai, his eyes seeming to be filled with a watery light, his whole face writing expectation.
Without a second thought, Bai Yuhuai turned and closed the door.
Old Cao almost got his nose hit.
Ji Meng's voice was slightly panicked, "There's a problem... there must be a problem!"