Bai Yuhuai stood at the door for a few seconds.
Jing Jiujiu looked at him and asked, "Is someone outside?"
"Mm-hmm."
Jing Jiujiu tensed up at first, but quickly realized, I'm the ghost, they should be afraid of me!
So he sat more firmly and righteously in his blanket.
Bai Yuhuai, however, didn't want others to see ghosts. It could easily cause chaos, and if things got out of hand, he would have to kill the young man.
"Wait a moment," Bai Yuhuai said, opening the door and backing out.
"Everyone's tired today. You two should head back first. If there's anything, we can talk later," Bai Yuhuai said with a slight frown, looking fatigued.
His awards weren't for nothing, of course.
Without needing much emotional display, he made people feel like he was a taut bow - cold, sharp, and weary, needing to relax and rest.
Old Cao and his companion didn't dare disturb him further and left disappointed.
"Is some evil thing threatening Actor Bai?" Old Cao couldn't help but worry. "Should we go find a spiritual master?"
Ji Meng was silent for a moment before saying, "Actually, there's another possibility."
"What?"
"The person meeting Bai privately isn't from the production team or a guest MC. It's someone else from outside."
Old Cao suddenly saw a new perspective, muttering, "That must be someone really crafty, huh? Remember that starlet who tried to get close to Actor Bai on the red carpet last time? She faded into obscurity pretty quickly after that."
Hearing the latter part of the statement, Ji Meng felt a chill but didn't say more.
In the short time Bai Yuhuai was talking outside, Jing Jiujiu had gotten bored in the room and closed his eyes, switching all the chandeliers on the second floor. Round ones became square, big ones became small, brass ones became crystal...
When Bai Yuhuai pushed the door open again, Jing Jiujiu's eyes snapped open.
One light on the second floor couldn't be changed in time and fell to the ground with a "crash," startling Old Cao and his companion as they passed by.
"It must be worn out from age..." Old Cao patted his chest, trying to reassure himself.
"Are you going to sleep?" Jing Jiujiu asked from upstairs.
Bai Yuhuai nodded slightly but went to lie down on the sofa himself.
Jing Jiujiu wasn't disappointed. He lay down too, burrowing deeper into the blanket while muttering softly, "I think I heard someone say my house is worn out..."
Jing Jiujiu couldn't stand such baseless accusations.
He closed his eyes and started renovating the house.
"Sister Yun, did you hear something?" Kong Xiangqi asked tremblingly.
To avoid a repeat of last night's situation, Kong Xiangqi and Yun Xin were sleeping in the same room. Yun Xin turned over with difficulty on the other side of the bed: "Yes... it sounds like... hammering?"
"Thump thump thump"
"Bang bang bang"
Sometimes light, sometimes heavy, as if the old castle had come to life.
Nothing is scarier than seeing ghosts in broad daylight. The two didn't even dare to get up and check if these sounds were deliberately made by the production team. They just tried to keep their eyes tightly shut, feeling somewhat comforted by having someone else beside them.
The male MCs weren't faring much better on the other side.
Yu Shaoguang, with dark circles under his eyes, sighed and said, "I feel like we won't even last the full eighteen days before giving up and going home... Didn't the production team's tricks used to follow a pattern? Why are they not distinguishing between day and night this time?"
Old Cao's face was equally dejected: "Why don't we just not sleep tomorrow and push through... See if the production team has set up something?"
As soon as Old Cao finished speaking, the sound of knocking wood started outside their window.
It sounded like hammering, or like something knocking on the door.
The more unclear the source of these sounds, the more endless the imagination of the human brain becomes...
"I can't take it, I'm going out to look."
"The scarier the sound, the more likely it's a hidden clue from the production team."
Old Cao sat up abruptly and walked out.
Meanwhile, Bai Yuhuai, lying on the sofa, fully experienced the commotion of yin energy flying all over the room, up and down.
No ghost would dare to play like this under his nose.
Bai Yuhuai couldn't bear it anymore and suddenly sat up.
"You're awake?" Jing Jiujiu stretched his head to stare at him, asking with particular concern: "Did you sleep enough?"
The chaotic yin energy briefly stopped. The out-of-control hammer, at the moment Old Cao opened the door, fell heavily to the ground with a "thud," startling Old Cao so much that he leaped back onto Yu Shaoguang.
"Damn! Is this really the production team's doing?"
"Why is the style so different from before?"
Old Cao was on the verge of tears.
Bai Yuhuai listened to the noisy commotion downstairs while looking at Jing Jiujiu's particularly serious face in front of him.
Forget it... He probably didn't even know what he was doing.
Bai Yuhuai moved his lips: "...Mm, I just suddenly woke up." Bai Yuhuai lay back down.
"Did you have a nightmare?" Jing Jiujiu asked.
Bai Yuhuai perfunctorily responded: "Mm."
Being with him, the ghost was more likely to have nightmares.
"Are you very scared now?" Jing Jiujiu's voice suddenly sounded right next to his ear.
Bai Yuhuai turned his head to see Jing Jiujiu crouching beside the sofa.
The young man's question was so earnest that Bai Yuhuai couldn't help but wonder if he was deliberately trying to scare him, or if the young man had simply forgotten he was a ghost and had teleported over.
Bai Yuhuai considered for a moment before saying, "A little bit."
Even a little fear is still fear!
So this person can be afraid too!
Jing Jiujiu felt like he had found an ally and suddenly felt less embarrassed about himself.
"Then you go back to sleep. I'll watch over you, and you won't be scared," Jing Jiujiu said.
All of the young man's words seemed to come from the heart, spoken unhurriedly and with a touch of gentleness.
He probably really wasn't aware he was a ghost, even trying to comfort him in return.
The young man still had the polite demeanor of a well-bred young master from when he was alive.
Bai Yuhuai thought about this as he closed his eyes, still not exposing the fact that Jing Jiujiu had been causing yin energy to fly all over the room.
Jing Jiujiu leaned on the edge of the sofa, staring more intently at the man's face.
Surely nothing could be more chilling than having a ghost watch you sleep!
He'll definitely have an even more terrifying nightmare soon!
This is just too perfect!
...
The hour hand quickly pointed to 4 PM.
To gather enough footage for editing, the MCs who had slept uneasily through the afternoon nap had to get up.
Bai Yuhuai opened his eyes too.
Jing Jiujiu was a bit disappointed.
He didn't seem to have had any nightmares at all...
Bai Yuhuai hadn't expected this little ghost to be so serious, saying he would watch him sleep and actually doing so until he woke up.
At this moment, the young man was still eagerly looking at him.
Bai Yuhuai hesitated for a moment, then looked up and said to Jing Jiujiu, "I slept very well."
No nightmares.
He simply doesn't have nightmares.
The young man should be reassured now.
Jing Jiujiu: "...Oh."
Is being a ghost so unimpressive?
Not only did he not have nightmares, but he even slept better!
Damn it!
Next time, he'll try entering his dreams to scare him!
Jing Jiujiu ground his sharp little fangs, turning away unhappily.
Bai Yuhuai quickly finished washing up and went downstairs.
The previous day's cold and aloof Actor Bai suddenly took charge of the rhythm that afternoon. The others only vaguely sensed this change but didn't find it strange. They probably just felt too unfamiliar the day before, and it was already quite good that Actor Bai was willing to lower himself to interact with them.
Bai Yuhuai led them to find many clues left by the production team.
The MCs finally breathed a sigh of relief, at least the show's progress hadn't been delayed.
"Hey, this symbol... Haven't we seen it in the basement?" Kong Xiangqi asked curiously.
Old Cao leaned in to take a closer look: "Now that you mention it, I think I saw it on another wall just now."
"Where?"
"Where we just found the password box, I think it was a laundry room. I saw a small elevator there with a laundry basket inside."
"Is there going to be a fish tank down there too?" Yu Shaoguang laughed.
Everyone's mood had lightened considerably by this point.
"There shouldn't be, right?" Kong Xiangqi said as she pushed aside the table under the symbol.
Then she paused.
Yu Shaoguang: "Holy shit!"
Yu Shaoguang: "There really is a fish tank!"
"This is... strange and eerie," Kong Xiangqi swallowed hard.
Ji Meng looked to Bai Yuhuai for help: "Why don't you take a look, Bai? We really can't figure out what clues the production team might have left here."
Bai Yuhuai lowered his gaze and said coolly, "I don't know either."
"Why don't we go back to the laundry room and check if there's a fish tank there too?" Kong Xiangqi suggested.
Bai Yuhuai remained silent.
He had already checked.
He was leading them to search for clues, not because he was particularly interested in the puzzle-solving segment designed by the production team. He was only looking for fish tanks.
In the main building of this castle, on the first underground floor at the four corners - north, south, east, and west - in places where light couldn't reach, there was a fish tank placed in each corner. Above each fish tank was an identical symbol.
This confirmed Bai Yuhuai's suspicions.
The MCs searched around again but still couldn't find anything.
They didn't dare to move the fish tank carelessly either.
Bai Yuhuai didn't want them to touch these things, so he casually remarked, "Who knows how long they've been in this dark place. They might be covered in bacteria."
Hearing this, everyone shuddered inwardly and lost any desire to touch them.
Night soon fell again.
Bai Yuhuai went upstairs alone with some food. Everyone assumed he might be reviewing the script again, so they didn't disturb him.
It was good that they skipped the ghost story session tonight. No need to be more scared at night!
Bai Yuhuai reached the third floor and pushed open the door.
The room was empty.
Bai Yuhuai frowned slightly, closed his eyes, then opened them again. This way, he could make sure he could see things that weren't easily visible.
...Nothing.
The room was still empty.
Had the boy left?
Bai Yuhuai turned and knocked on Jing Jiujiu's bedroom door. After three knocks, he immediately pushed it open.
He saw Jing Jiujiu sitting on his own bed, watching "Tom and Jerry".
Bai Yuhuai: "..."
But thinking about it, he was still young when he died, so it was normal for him to feel bored.
How he had spent years in this castle without electricity was beyond imagination...
Jing Jiujiu heard the door open but didn't acknowledge Bai Yuhuai.
Bai Yuhuai walked up to him and asked, "Would you like dinner?"
He's still treating me like a living person.
Jing Jiujiu turned his head, glanced at the tray in his hands, and shook his head.
Bai Yuhuai didn't stand on ceremony. He sat down on the opposite sofa, slowly enjoying his dinner while casually asking, "Do you know about the feng shui fish on the underground floor of this castle?"
"Feng shui fish?" Jing Jiujiu's attention was finally drawn. He asked puzzledly, "What's that?"
So he doesn't know.
Bai Yuhuai's fork paused.
"These fish are raised from birth in places where they never see daylight. They're not fed fish food, but raw meat. Then gradually, they transition from raw meat to rotting flesh. The more tragically the corpse died, the better its rotting flesh is for them. This is how they develop naturally yin bodies."
Jing Jiujiu got goosebumps all over as he listened.
It was too, too, too disgusting.
His face scrunched up.
Who was raising such disgusting things in his castle?
It made his home so dirty!
Bai Yuhuai observed his expression. Seeing that he wasn't scared off, he continued, "Water represents wealth. Water with fish is considered 'living water', symbolizing endless wealth. That's why there's always been a tradition of hanging fish and water paintings or placing fish tanks in courtyards. But without guidance from a feng shui master, placing them is merely symbolic."
"This feng shui fish, however, is meticulously designed."
"But it's not placed in one's own home, rather in the home of enemies or those one holds grudges against."
"It continuously drains the fortune of the home's owner. When the fortune is drained, it starts draining yin energy. This cycle never ends. On a grand scale, it can even prosper an entire family clan."
This thing was extraordinarily sinister.
Jing Jiujiu was dumbfounded.
Bai Yuhuai observed him. The boy's face was pale, looking even more delicate and fragile. ...How could someone use such a sinister thing on such a beautiful, fragile boy who couldn't bear it?
Bai Yuhuai paused, then put down his fork.
When the boy came to his senses, he would probably be frightened and burrow into his arms again.