Chapter 47: Rainstorm Wild Temple 9 Part 2
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From the moment Yan Shixun entered the main hall of the Mountain God Temple, the viewers watching the live broadcast on their screens became highly interested in this place.
Many of the viewers had spent their lives in the city and had only heard of temple festivals but had never witnessed one in person, let alone a Mountain God Temple. Seeing Yan Shixun in the main hall of the Mountain God Temple, they couldn’t help but feel excited and curious.
Some viewers had heard of the Mountain God’s existence through folklore, but they had been somewhat dismissive of it. However, as a place steeped in folk tradition, they were still interested in taking a look.
[A friend from college once told me they have rituals like this in their hometown, I always thought it sounded fascinating. Now I finally get to see it!]
[But the lighting is a bit dim, isn’t Yan Shixun considering turning on some lights?]
[Maybe they’re afraid of being noticed by the person in charge? Didn’t Brother Yan specifically check what the person in charge was doing before coming in?]
[I didn’t notice that earlier, but I guess it doesn’t matter if we keep the lights off, right? It’s not like one of those staged haunted house explorations where you need to create a scary atmosphere with flashing lights. Why turn on the lights.]
[When the car stopped on the road earlier, I was a bit worried too. I was afraid they’d be stranded in the middle of nowhere, and Brother wouldn’t find a place to sleep. I lived in a village for a few years when I was younger, in these mountainous areas at night, there are indeed animals like wolves that come out. It’s not safe to be alone in a car outside.]
[And it’s mainly because of the cold. The car has been sitting in the rain for a while, and the temperature drops a lot at night, even in the summer. It’s very possible to catch a cold. I can see from the camera that the rain is quite heavy, almost like the torrential rain we have here. I didn’t expect it to rain here at Wild Wolf Peak.]
[Rain? Wait a minute, I just realized, isn’t Wild Wolf Peak in the Mountain Province? Has it rained this heavily in the Mountain Province? I heard the sound of the rain hitting the ground in the camera, it’s almost like hail. I’m from the Mountain Province, and I don’t remember ever seeing such heavy rain.]
[I don’t know, but thankfully, the Brothers found a place to stay in time. That’s great~ That young brother Anthony is really good-looking. He was just taking a shower and live streaming earlier, even though it was only his upper body (covers my face, I know showing more would get him banned, but I really want to see it, oh). I used to like An Nanyuan, but he’s too conservative. Like Anthony said, it’s not a big deal, just consider it a special treat for us.]
[…I don’t understand why you all think Anthony is handsome. I just find him too slick, always talking about taking care of girls. His expressions seem so fake.]
[What right do you have to criticize our Anthony at home! Do you have the guts to post your photo for everyone to see? You just can’t stand that there’s someone as handsome and caring towards women as our Anthony, right? When my Anthony makes his debut next year, I will definitely vote like crazy for him!]
[Stop arguing, this is Brother Yan’s split-screen, go argue on Anthony’s side if you want.]
[Exactly, look, the camera is now focused on the murals. They look so beautiful… Is this our folk culture? I suddenly feel so moved. These murals are amazing, lifelike, and vivid.]
[Uh… wait, why do I feel like these murals are moving? I just saw a child on the wall wink at me.]
[Y-You saw it wrong, right?]
Although they claimed it was an illusion, as more and more viewers sent messages in the live chat, expressing that they really saw the murals moving, doubts began to emerge. Some viewers even took screenshots of a few seconds of footage, clearly showing that in the blink of an eye, the figures in the mural changed direction!
Furthermore, one of the children in the mural seemed to sense the camera and suddenly opened his bright red mouth, smiling towards the camera.
Brother Goose who unsuspectingly clicked on this animated image was instantly scared to the point that he threw his phone away.
“Oh my God!”
Brother Goose covered his pounding heart, unable to recover for a long time.
He had originally wanted to find something else to divert his attention, but to his surprise, when he turned his head, he saw the poster on his wall.
In his dazed state, he even felt that the person on the poster was grinning at him.
Brother Goose jumped up from his bed, tore the poster off the wall in one swift motion, and only stopped when he couldn’t see the characters on the poster anymore. He gasped for breath.
Thud.
Thud.
Thud…..
In his room, where he was alone, it was so quiet that he could hear the sound of his heart beating clearly.
After a long while, Brother Goose, feeling drained, finally sat back down on the carpet, his body weak. He reluctantly picked up his phone.
In just a short while, many viewers had already seen the clipped GIFs in the program’s discussion area, revealing that under Yan Shixun’s split-screen, the mural in the Mountain God Temple was animated.
Many people didn’t believe it and made joking comments: “Nice special effects.”
“Is this a marketing gimmick from the production team? It’s a bit lowbrow. Doing these scary things won’t get you far. It’s better to focus on improving the quality of the program content.”
“They’re clever, making the mural come to life. My entire room is filled with posters, character drawings, and anime merchandise. If it were real, why don’t they make them come to life too?”
However, those veteran viewers who had their worldview shattered by the Ghost Mountain Villa didn’t share the same sentiment.
With heavy hearts and unease, they clicked into Yan Shixun’s split-screen livestream to see what was really going on.
And then, they were left dumbfounded—
The people in the mural were not just moving, those painted villagers could run, jump, and even children would smile and make faces at the split-screen camera. Some painted individuals even, right in front of the camera, took off their heads, shook them, and put them back on.
Moreover, as Yan Shixun moved around the main hall, the painted figures’ gazes followed him, their eyes tracking his every move.
The eyes painted on the figures were dark and lifeless as if blackness had completely consumed their pupils.
The eyes painted on the figures were dark and lifeless as if blackness had completely consumed their pupils.
Their grinning mouths, filled with lifelessness, welcomed the visitors with eerie smiles.
Even the colorful silk and satin knots in the main hall no longer appeared festive in this dim and eerie atmosphere. Instead, they seemed to be exuding a strange and ghostly aura, like something out of the netherworld…
However, hundreds, if not thousands, of eyes remained fixed on Yan Shixun without blinking, yet he seemed completely unaffected, continuing to focus on his own tasks.
Viewers: “AHHHHHHHHH!!!”
“The murals, the murals are moving, OMG!!!”
“I have so many paintings on my wall too. I’m so scared right now. What do I do? Let me out, please!”
“Is this what they call special effects? This is what they call special effects! If we had this level of special effects in China, who would say horror movies aren’t scary!”
“I’m someone who doesn’t get scared even when watching horror movies because I know it’s all fake, acted by actors. But when I watch this, I’m really on the verge of tears. Because this is real! It’s real!”
“Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!!! I’m scared out of my mind! I’ve always been afraid of paintings of people, I don’t understand why some people hang them in their bedrooms or even right across from their beds. I always feel like they might suddenly come to life and watch me while I’m sleeping. My friends used to make fun of me for being a scaredy-cat, but now I’m going to record this live broadcast and show it to them. The thing I’ve always been most afraid of has actually come true!!!”
“I’m in tears. I thought I could escape by hiding under my blanket. Just now, when the car stopped in the pouring rain, I was relieved. But I never expected that I would still see moving murals! I have posters of the An Nanyuan Original group on my wall, what should I do? Now, I don’t find them handsome at all; I just feel like they’re watching me, and it’s so scary.”
While viewers in the comment section were terrified and trembling, many rushed from the video platform to social media. They covered their pounding hearts, afraid to let the video platform app run on their phones. With trembling fingers, they typed messages on social media, venting their fear and participating in the conversation with other frightened viewers, collectively expressing their fear.
#MovingPaintings#
On the real-time trending list of social media platforms, this hashtag was skyrocketing, and more and more viewers who had migrated from the video platform joined discussions under this hashtag.
There were also curious onlookers who stumbled upon the hashtag and asked, “Is this a trailer for a domestic horror film? It looks quite interesting, I got quite a scare earlier, it should be thrilling. What’s it called? Share it.”
Immediately, someone vehemently discouraged them, saying, “Don’t watch it! Otherwise, you’ll be so scared you won’t dare to close your eyes. That’s how I feel now. I keep thinking that every time I close my eyes and turn around, the paintings in my house will come to life!”
However, curiosity is a human instinct. The more people are dissuaded from doing something, the more rebellious they become, and they insist on doing it.
So, the passersby who were curious and clicked on Yan Shixun’s split-screen livestream because of the trending hashtag, as soon as they opened the video, they were confronted with countless eyes from top to bottom in the Mountain God Temple.
Those painted murals surrounded them from all directions, even on the ceiling above. The characters and animals depicted on them silently looked at Yan Shixun with completely dark, emotionless, and expressionless eyes, all ice-cold gazes directed at him.
Directed at the camera.
In that moment, many of the newcomers to the split-screen live stream, overwhelmed by the pervasive gazes converging from all sides, felt their scalps tingle with fear.
The creeping numbness started from their scalps and spread downward, even chilling their blood. Their feet wanted to run, but they were immobilized, unable to move a muscle.
Many people felt like their subconscious survival instincts had been triggered, and all they wanted to do was run for their lives. They extended their fingers, which had nearly stopped flowing blood due to fear, desperately trying to make their bodies move, to close the live streaming screen, but they failed several times. Their fingers were as stiff as useless sticks.
They could only watch in horror as those gazes, ice-cold, crawled up their bodies from their feet, freezing them almost to the point of despair.
“Yan, Shixun…”
A low, magnetic call suddenly came from the screen.
In that instant, all the cold malice disappeared.
Blood began to flow again, noses started working, and their oxygen-deprived lungs caused them to breathe fresh air in large gulps as if they had just been strangled and nearly suffocated.
People who had reacted quickly took the opportunity to turn off the screen and exit Yan Shixun’s split-screen.
Even now, many people’s hearts were still pounding intensely, as if they were about to burst out of their chests.
The terrified passersby, still in shock, weakly climbed back onto the social media platform, and in trembling replies, they admitted that the comments they had just ignored were right.
“Goodness! You’re right, I shouldn’t have watched. But why is this hand so disobedient, so difficult to control?”
“I was so scared, ahhh!”
The veteran viewers who had managed to escape from the split-screen: “…”
Ignoring the advice of the elderly can lead to misfortune right before your eyes, tsk.
Some curious viewers went to the social media account of the variety show influencer “Brother Goose” and asked, “Brother Goose, Brother Goose, did you watch the show? Aren’t you a Yan Mai? Did you check out Brother Yan’s split-screen today?”
After a good while, Brother Goose climbed up shakily and replied with a “QAQ.”
……
Since Yan Shixun only had the equipment for the split-screen live broadcast, he didn’t bring a tablet with him to the main hall, so he couldn’t see the viewers’ barrage and comments.
Without any additional influence, Yan Shixun and the assistant director walked through the rain curtain and the corridor, returning to the place where the guests were staying.
Seeing the figures of the two of them leaving side by side, two villagers who had been drinking in the cabin next to the main hall shook their heads and stood up from the table, walking to the window.
“That guy surnamed Yan seems to have just gone to the temple.”
“The temple? Isn’t that perfect? Let the god see if he’s satisfied with this year’s offering.”
One of the villagers chuckled slowly, “Thanks to the god for giving us a bountiful life. Since the god has been so good to us, we need to repay the god, so we can ensure that next year’s income will be just as good as this year’s.”
“That’s right.”
The villager who had spoken first laughed heartily, showing his agreement.
Their voices were muffled by the house and the rain curtain, and the faint sound remaining was hardly enough to carry outside.
However, the tall man walking beside Yan Shixun tilted his head slightly. His long hair, concealed under the duckbill cap, covered his ears, but it seemed like he was listening to something.
Then, amidst the noisy sound of the rain, the man made a nearly inaudible cold snort.
……
When the assistant director went to find Yan Shixun, he said that the guests had prepared some food and wanted Yan Shixun to come back to eat dinner.
However, when Yan Shixun returned to the room where the guests were staying, he found that several of the guests had tense expressions. Anthony and the female actress stood on opposite sides, showing a confrontational posture.
“Why are you standing here? Enjoying the rain?” Yan Shixun asked coldly. “Have you all finished showering? Then go to sleep quickly. We’ll leave when the rain stops, maybe we will even set off before dawn.”
Seeing that Yan Shixun was the one who had come over, the nervous expressions of the guests slightly eased. Even Anthony, as if he had found a referee, suddenly displayed a look of unsubmissive grievance.
Yan Shixun: “?”
Yan Shixun was chilled by Anthony’s expression and felt like he was about to vomit. Did he think he was a minor? Or a student forming cliques in the restroom? How did a grown man make such an expression?
However, even though Yan Shixun couldn’t stand that expression and wanted to find a piece of cloth to cover Anthony’s head, Anthony’s fans from the split-screen actually felt sympathetic.
[Our little brother is so handsome and cute, he definitely wouldn’t lie! It’s more likely that those people have ulterior motives for our little brother’s beauty.]
[Wuwu, my baby, don’t cry, let Mommy hold you. Seeing Ni Ni making this expression breaks my heart. Why is this show like this? Look at how they’ve made Mommy’s baby look so wronged! The stronger my Ni Ni is, the more Mommy’s heart aches.]
Note: Ni Ni = Anthony (Ni)
[Someone definitely peeked at our little brother just now! After all, it’s not just our family; that actress named Rourou also said she felt like someone was watching her, right? This show is definitely creepy!]
Feeling the intense atmosphere between the two sides, Yan Shixun asked, “So, something happened when I wasn’t here?”
No one spoke, and even the most easygoing variety show celebrity didn’t come forward to break the awkward silence with a peacekeeping statement. Instead, he chuckled sarcastically and rolled his eyes.
Yan Shixun furrowed his brows, “Yeah?”
Although this questioning tone was brief, it inexplicably made the variety show celebrity open his mouth obediently and reply, “Just now, both Rourou and Anthony said that someone was peeking at them while they were showering.”
Yan Shixun considered the location of the bathrooms he had seen earlier and didn’t pay much attention, “The bathrooms are located behind the temple, facing the mountain at the back. It’s normal for some wildlife to be attracted by the light and come to watch.”
“No, it’s not!” the actress named Rourou said emotionally, screaming, “I really felt someone watching me! And that gaze… it was really disgusting!”
The variety show celebrity immediately fired back, “Well, you don’t need to imply that it was us. We all have split-screen live streaming devices on us, and they’re all turned on. Right now, the devices can show what we’ve all been doing.”
Anthony was not convinced, “Someone definitely peeked at me! I felt it; someone touched my shoulder while I was showering. I had my eyes closed when I was washing my hair, so I didn’t see who it was clearly. When I turned my head, that person had already run away. I was showering while live-streaming just now, and many fans saw it. I’m not lying. What Rourou said should be true too! There are only a few of us in the mountain temple, besides you, who else could it be? A ghost?”
The variety show celebrity had intended to say something but was suddenly pulled back by An Nanyuan.
As the variety show celebrity turned with a puzzled look, silently asking, “Are you with us? Why are you helping them?” he saw An Nanyuan shaking his head slowly. Then, An Nanyuan directed his gaze toward Yan Shixun, waiting patiently for his judgment.
Meanwhile, the actress, nervously clutching the towel around her, attempted to find some comfort in this gesture. Her face displayed anxiety and fear, her slender body trembling.
Yan Shixun observed her for a few seconds, noting that her body language and facial expressions didn’t seem fake. In that moment, the emotions he hadn’t taken seriously earlier suddenly vanished.
“What’s going on? Tell me more.”
His expression turned serious, suggesting that he believed this incident had genuinely occurred, contrary to what Anthony and the actress had suggested.
This took the other guests by surprise, and even the young master Song Ci looked at Yan Shixun with astonishment.
Anthony took a deep breath as if he had found a lifeline. He immediately recounted his experience in the bathroom to Yan Shixun.
However, when describing the incident, Anthony added a lot of personal emotions and actions, and in his state of shock, he didn’t forget to play up his distress for the split-screen viewers, trying to win their sympathy.
“…While I was shampooing my hair, I closed my eyes and was rubbing in the foam when I suddenly felt a chilling hand on my shoulder. At first, I thought it was just my imagination, but when I opened my eyes and looked around, there was no one else in the bathroom. When I closed my eyes again, that hand touched my shoulder once more, but this time it ran down my back. The sensation was incredibly strange. I’m sure it wasn’t my imagination.”
Anthony insisted, “Someone was standing behind me while I was showering!”
The variety show celebrity, ignoring his nice-guy persona, retorted, “You were broadcasting while taking a shower? Do you think this is some indecent show? What’s your real intention? Do you think others don’t know?”
Anthony fired back, “Then why did you come to attack me while I was showering?”
The variety show celebrity, now enraged, said, “Watch the split screens. Who would do such a thing?”
The once quiet scene had erupted into a heated argument.
Shoulders…
Upon hearing Anthony mention the shoulder twice in his account of being touched, Yan Shixun’s expression turned serious and contemplative.
Anthony, in his panicked state, might not provide precise information, but sometimes even an unplanned narrative can help a doctor diagnose an illness.
Yan Shixun speculated that Anthony was touched not only on the shoulder but also from the neck to the spine.
This pathway was crucial for the circulation of vital life force (yang energy) in the human body.
Yan Shixun knew for sure that the other guests wouldn’t have done such a thing. When Anthony experienced the incident, the assistant director and Yan Shixun were with him, and the temple Taoist and two villagers were near the main hall.
So, to touch a living person’s vital life force (yang energy).
Who was it?
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