Chapter 25: Ghost Mountain Villa 25
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Just as the viewers before the live broadcast were puzzled by Yan Shixun’s sudden disappearance, several Taoists from Haiyun Temple rushed to Gui Mountain as quickly as possible. The rescue team, which had already arrived near Gui Mountain, set up a perimeter to prevent curious villagers from inadvertently entering.
This incident couldn’t escape the attention of the viewers who were already following the program. On the real-time trending topics list on social media platforms, nearly half of the hashtags were related to this show. The first to post updates about the program was the popular variety show Vlogger, Brother Goose. His comment section quickly filled with discussions about the lockdown of Gui Mountain.
“Why is it locked down again? Weren’t they saying that they couldn’t find anyone in the mountain despite several drone searches?”
“But based on the on-site videos shared by some small internet celebrities who went to Gui Mountain for attention, it seems like there are people dressed as Taoists? What’s going on? Are they using mystical methods to recruit people?”
“I don’t think so. Actually, I work as an editor for a news website, and some people near Gui Mountain called us with tips before. They claimed that many people around Gui Mountain had seen strange creatures. However, before we could release our news report, the next day, the authorities told us not to spread rumors and superstitions about this matter. From what I know, other websites and media outlets that had paid for tips were also informed, so this incident didn’t get much traction online. But based on the descriptions from the tipsters, I think it’s very similar to those blood-red creatures in the program’s footage.”
“Oh! That explains it. My home is next to the highway from the urban area of Binhai City to Gui Mountain. I’ve seen many official convoys heading towards Gui Mountain in the middle of the night before, accompanied by a lot of Taoists from Haiyun Temple. The presence was quite grand. I thought the temple was praying for no typhoons hitting Binhai City this year, but it seems not.”
“So, if that’s the case, it’s like the authorities themselves are acknowledging that Gui Mountain is haunted! Does that mean the things appearing in the show are all real?”
“My worldview is shattered… I used to be a firm atheist, but now—WTF, does anyone know Brother Yan’s phone number or social media account? I feel like I need a friend like him for survival now!”
“In fact, my friend is a Taoist from Haiyun Temple. Yesterday, I showed him the screenshot of Yan Shixun drawing the talisman that you all missed. His expression at that moment was truly frightening. Those things should be real, and my friend’s master went to Gui Mountain today.”
“Oh, please save the child. The child shouldn’t have been curious. I watched the live stream video before going to bed last night, thinking that a travel show would help me sleep, but now I couldn’t sleep all night… I’m home alone! My dark circles are about to touch my lips. I am huddled under the covers, scared but wanting to watch. Whenever I close my eyes, those monsters from last night automatically appear in my mind. What should I do!”
“Sigh, who isn’t like that? I haven’t eaten breakfast or lunch today. I’ve locked my door tightly and haven’t dared to leave my room. I always feel like there’s a monster outside waiting for me.”
“I’ll watch the show all day today! Unless everyone is safe and rescued, I won’t go to sleep. It’s really too scary; everyone must be safe.”
On social media platforms and in the discussion section of the program, people exchanged information they knew and silently prayed with their hearts in their mouths.
While there were also many people reveling in the misfortune or watching for the spectacle, saying they had never seen a ghost and wanted to see the program kill a few people to satisfy their curiosity, or questioning the unethical program for hype, such comments were immediately countered by others.
It was a noisy exchange.
Meanwhile, in the villa, Zhang Wubing and others discovered that even the previously stable live signal had become unstable, as if it were being interfered with. The equipment was making crackling noises, raising concerns about whether it might suddenly fail at any moment.
Not only that, even the internet signal weakened. The interface on Zhang Wubing’s tablet kept spinning little flowers but couldn’t load the program’s page on the video platform.
Originally, Zhang Wubing had intended to take advantage of this rare moment without any unexpected incidents to manage the program’s comments and bullet screen. However, he was taken aback.
The other participants also looked at him with confusion when Zhang Wubing suddenly halted. “Director?”
Zhang Wubing quickly turned off his tablet and nonchalantly walked over. “No worries, I just found the wine cellar here. Let’s go check it out. Maybe there’s some stored food.”
To avoid causing panic, Zhang Wubing didn’t inform the others about the loss of signal.
For modern people, the internet and smartphones were as essential as their own brains and hands. People accustomed to obtaining information through the internet, when suddenly deprived of a signal in the depths of the mountains, would become isolated, unable to call for help, agitated, and possibly emotionally unstable, leading to rash actions.
Currently, they were already in a situation with no food or medicine, and they were only holding on with the belief that “Yan Shixun will definitely find a way to get everyone out.”
If the group were to suddenly learn about the loss of signal while Yan Shixun was not present…
Zhang Wubing’s heart sank.
Over the years, he had been well-protected by his parents and Yan Shixun from various angles, like a big child. However, now that Yan Shixun was not around, he gritted his teeth and shouldered the responsibility and role of being the director of the entire program, acting like a true adult for the first time.
At the very least, he needed to stabilize the situation before Yan Shixun returned, ensuring that nobody’s spirits wavered or that they didn’t panic.
——However, without internet access, Zhang Wubing was effectively cut off from the outside world.
Standing in the dining room, he was unaware that Yan Shixun was no longer on the stairs leading to the fourth floor, and he had no idea that even Haiyun Temple had been alarmed.
Zhang Wubing took a deep breath and put on his usual friendly smile as he walked over.
During the recent search of the villa, a staff member had discovered a wine cellar next to the kitchen. They were now preparing to follow that staff member into the cellar.
This wine cellar used a century-old hidden design, ensuring that not only could the wine be stored under the most suitable environmental conditions, but in times of crisis, it could also serve as a shelter to ensure the safety of the villa’s owner.
The staff member fumbled and pressed the newly discovered mechanism button. With a muffled sound, the sturdy stone wall in the dining room shook, releasing a cloud of dust. It slowly slid to the side, revealing the dark space hidden behind the stone wall for centuries.
In that instant, the cold breeze blowing up from below made everyone involuntarily shiver.
“Is there really food down there?” Ding Xi grabbed the arm of the person next to her, looking hesitant. “It seems like it hasn’t been used for a very long time.”
“Don’t worry, what if there is?” An Nanyuan comforted her. “Even if we find a bottle of vintage wine or some honey, it’s better than nothing. Having food and drink will give us some peace of mind. So we won’t have to worry about starving.”
Behind the stone wall was a stone staircase that led straight down.
Zhang Wubing stood at the entrance and glanced downward. Perhaps because the wine cellar had also served as a shelter during air raids in the past, it was constructed quite deep. The flashlight on his phone could only illuminate a small area, and he couldn’t see the details below.
The stairs were covered in thick dust and cobwebs, with no footprints in sight, indicating that no one had been here for a long time.
Zhang Wubing had initially thought about taking a few staff members down while the guests waited above. Due to his constitution, he had been prone to seeing dirty things and even ghosts since he was a child, making him somewhat accustomed to the supernatural. However, at the moment the stone door opened, he felt a suffocating pain welling up from the depths of his heart, like a dangerous premonition.
With Yan Shixun absent, Zhang Wubing couldn’t accurately determine where this danger might come from, but because of humanity’s fear of darkness, he instinctively inclined toward the danger being in the wine cellar.
Even though the situation was unusual, and in search of even a glimmer of hope for finding food, he knew he had to go down and search. However, he mustered the courage to take on what he considered a riskier task himself, allowing the guests to remain in a safe place.
But this proposal was rejected by An Nanyuan.
“Director, don’t you watch Hollywood movies? They’re all shot like this. We’ll be safer if we all go together.”
An Nanyuan, with his excellent imagination, felt a bit timid when he thought of the movies he had seen before. No matter what, he refused to stay in the living room.
The other male guests also believed that there was safety in numbers. If something were to happen, having more people would provide greater security.
So, except for a few staff members who stayed in the living room, watching over the heavily injured and unconscious Liu Yiyi in the first aid room, the others decided to go down to the wine cellar together. They agreed not to stay too long, to come back as soon as they found a sufficient amount of food, and to return immediately if anything happened or if there was no food downstairs.
Zhang Wubing held a high-powered flashlight he had found in the program’s toolbox, and the others also turned on their phone flashlights, slowly descending the stairs one by one.
Including the staff member who first discovered the deeply hidden wine cellar.
When everyone stepped onto the stairs leading down, the young and handsome staff member who was the last to go in hesitated for a few seconds before following them in. As he passed by the stone wall, his palm casually brushed against it.
The young man’s face was soon engulfed by the darkness of the wine cellar.
Even with over a dozen lights in front, his face couldn’t be clearly seen.
It was as if he had lost his own skin.
And when the cautious Zhang Wubing, who was at the front, finally felt solid ground under his feet, he breathed a sigh of relief.
He raised a flashlight and illuminated the wine cellar.
This was a fairly large wine cellar, especially cold due to being underground. Rows of shelves where barrels were once stored had collapsed and the oak barrels were scattered around. The sound of insects could be heard scurrying as the flashlight passed over.
Even though it was now dilapidated, the grandeur of its former days was still visible.
This gave everyone a glimmer of hope.
“Look, there are some marching supplies over there. Many people used to build shelters in their homes, so this could be one too,”
A male guest said. “Search carefully, we might find emergency rations stored back then. If they’re canned goods or military rations, they might still be edible. We might also find a first aid kit.”
“Now it’s good. Even if we find things that have expired, we could still find some liquor. It doesn’t spoil easily. As long as it’s not contaminated, we can use it as a substitute for water or for disinfection.”
The group breathed a sigh of relief, and the previously tense atmosphere gradually eased. They cautiously searched for usable supplies and tried to avoid venturing too deep into the cellar, so they wouldn’t get too far apart from each other.
Zhang Wubing also went to search through the piled-up oak barrels.
His high-powered flashlight inadvertently swept over a certain corner.
Zhang Wubing didn’t pay much attention to it and turned away naturally.
However, he quickly realized what he had just seen, and his spine stiffened, hairs standing on end. He slowly, mechanically turned his head to look back at that direction.
In his mind, Zhang Wubing desperately prayed that he had just imagined things, and there was nothing there.
However, when he trembled and looked back again—
Among the scattered oak barrels on the ground, only one oak barrel stood upright.
A pale head extended out from the oak barrel, leaning stiffly against the edge of the barrel.
It was the male singer who had left in anger just a while ago!
However, unlike before, his clothes were now completely stained red, and a large amount of red liquid flowed from the corners of his mouth, dripping into the oak barrel, emitting a foul smell of blood.
“Drip, tap…”
A drop of blood slid from the male singer’s lips.
In that moment, Zhang Wubing felt as if his scalp had exploded and gone numb.
“There, there, there…”
There’s a ghost, ahhhh!!! Brother Yan, save me, save me, wuuuuuu (crying sound)!!!
However, despite Zhang Wubing’s continuous attempts to scream, his voice was trapped in his throat, choked by extreme fear, and he could only make a stuttering, desperate sound.
But the others, who were already on alert, heard the abnormal sounds coming from this side and immediately dropped what they were holding, holding up their phone flashlights, and ran over.
“Director? What’s going on?”
“Is everything okay?”
However, when they followed Zhang Wubing’s rigid gaze and looked over, their phones nearly flew out of their hands in shock.
“WTF! What is this thing? A human swine?”
“Wait! Isn’t this our guy? We haven’t seen him for just two hours, how did this happen?”
“How could he be here! Is he still alive?”
“Quick, quick, hurry and help him!”
Amidst the chaos, only one young and handsome staff member stood on the stairs, looking down coldly at the panicked crowd from above
His figure blended into the darkness…..
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