Chapter 5: Ghost Mountain Villa 5
<Previous Chapter<Table of Contents>Next Chapter>
Yan Shixun didn’t immediately open the door for Zhang Wubing outside.
The knocking sound and Zhang Wubing’s anxious pleas continued.
He slowly climbed out of bed, and as he raised his head, he faced the mirror in the bathroom. In the pitch-black room, only the screen of his phone, which he had just illuminated to check the time, emitted a faint light, illuminating half of his face from bottom to top.
In the mirror at this moment, it appeared as if a terrifying and ghastly face was floating in mid-air.
Upon suddenly waking up, Yan Shixun met this face head-on, and his hand that was pulling back the blanket couldn’t help but pause.
However, he wasn’t frightened. Instead, he raised an eyebrow and admired himself, touching his chin, “Not bad, quite handsome.”
When Yan Shixun finally made his way lazily to the door, Zhang Wubing outside had become so anxious that he started pounding on the door forcefully, producing a sound like a hammer striking a living heart.
“Is that you, Youbing?” Yan Shixun asked nonchalantly.
Note: He intentionally called out Youbing instead of his name Wubing.
“Yes, it’s me, Brother Yan. I’m Youbing.” The person outside finally heard a response and quickly continued, “Brother Yan, please come out and take a look. What should we do?”
Yan Shixun chuckled softly, “No need to rush. Before that, Youbing ah….”
“Do you remember what you said before you came, about calling me ‘Dad’? Well, you can call me ‘Dad’ now, and I’ll come out.”
The person outside clearly hadn’t expected Yan Shixun to make such a request in the midst of this life-or-death situation. They were momentarily speechless and didn’t know how to respond.
When they finally spoke again, there was a hint of annoyance in their tone, “Brother Yan, please don’t joke around at a time like this. You…”
“Am I joking? Haven’t we said in college that anyone who jokes will have their descendants cursed for 18 generations?”
Yan Shixun retorted firmly and adopted a tone of deep sorrow, “Seeing you like this, Dad is truly heartbroken.”
The person outside the door：“……”
Zhang Wubing and Yan Shixun were college roommates, and due to Zhang Wubing’s peculiar constitution, he often encountered supernatural occurrences.
Once, Zhang Wubing had cried out in agony in their dorm, disturbing Yan Shixun’s sleep. Annoyed, Yan Shixun had intervened and helped him.
Since that incident, Zhang Wubing had clung to Yan Shixun like glue. He would call him anything, from “Dad” to “Ancestor,” without hesitation, as long as it meant protecting his own life. He was willing to blow rainbows and sugarcoat words for the rest of his life if it ensured his safety.
This travel variety show was Zhang Wubing’s first step toward achieving his dream.
The mysterious disappearance of a guest would be a significant blow to a fledgling live-streaming program. Zhang Wubing was determined not to let his hard work go to waste.
If the person outside the door was indeed Zhang Wubing, then as soon as Yan Shixun uttered “Dad,” Zhang Wubing would probably call him “Dad” hundreds of times without hesitation. He’d do it with great relief.
However, the person outside the door seemed unable to accept this common joke among modern young people.
When Yan Shixun took on the role of “Dad,” he distinctly heard an irritated, forced exhalation from the person outside, as if they were angry.
Taking advantage of this moment, Yan Shixun quickly called Zhang Wubing.
There was no ringtone from outside the door.
As soon as the call was answered, Yan Shixun hung up the phone and sent a message to Zhang Wubing: [Did you come to find me?]
Just woken up by Yan Shixun’s phone call, Zhang Wubing was clearly still groggy. It took him a while to reply: [It’s in the middle of the night. Why would I bother Brother Yan? Besides, didn’t you tell me to sleep and not open the door at night?]
Seeing Zhang Wubing’s response, Yan Shixun could tell that Zhang Wubing was unaware of the missing guest, and most likely, there was something outside the door trying to trick him into opening it.
However, to be cautious, Yan Shixun still asked Zhang Wubing: [There are no cameras pointing inside the villa on the streaming platform. Can you switch the live feed to show the interior of the villa to me?]”
Receiving this message, Zhang Wubing was puzzled. He had adjusted the camera angle before leaving the living room and had two people watching it. How could there be nothing?
But when he accessed the program backstage on his tablet, he was shocked to find that the live camera was completely dark, with no lights even in the living room visible.
The dark screen reflected Zhang Wubing’s face, and it startled him, jolting him awake from his drowsy state, and causing him to break out in a cold sweat as he became fully alert.
[Brother Yan, there’s nothing on the live camera, and I haven’t received any messages from the two staff members I left there. What should we do?]
Thinking about what Yan Shixun had said earlier and the incident of using the phone to wake him up but communicating through messages. He managed to suppress his urgent desire to call the two staff members to confirm the situation.
He was in his room, with the door locked, but the two staff members were nowhere to be found.
Not knowing what was happening outside and fearing that his phone’s ringtone might attract trouble, he didn’t take any rash actions. Instead, he decided to follow Brother Yan’s instructions, trusting that it would keep him safe, just as it had for many years.
Yan Shixun stood behind his room door, holding his breath, and listening intently to the silence outside.
There was no sound from beyond the door.
It looked as if the entity that had pretended to be Zhang Wubing and knocked on the door realized its disguise had failed after being toyed with by Yan Shixun had left.
Yan Shixuan quickly walked to the window and looked outside.
It was 1 AM, and the deep darkness enveloped the entire Gui Mountain. There was no light around the villa, making it impossible to see outside or even determine one’s own location.
It felt like being abandoned in the darkness, surrounded by lifeless eyeballs that stared at the window, waiting to choose their prey.
[Since you only made the payment when booking the villa, you’re still only responsible for paying now, right? Remember to give me extra for the work I usually do.]
Yan Shixun’s long fingers quickly typed on the screen: [Don’t leave your room before daylight. Don’t open the door even if I die at your doorstep.]
After sending his last message, Yan Shixun turned around, walked towards the door, and grabbed a small bag placed on the bed, slinging it over his shoulder.
Then, he pushed open the door.
“Squeak—creak——”
A cold light seeped in as the door slowly opened, illuminating Yan Shixun’s handsome and unrestrained face through the widening gap.
With one hand hooked onto the backpack strap and the other hand raised, his five fingers delved into his somewhat messy black hair, gently pushing the stray strands backward.
It revealed Yan Shixun’s eyes, brimming with excitement.
His lightly tinted lips curved into a mischievous smile, and he began to hum an off-key tune.
“Little bunny, be a good bunny…”
“Open the door now…”
“Hurry up and open it, let me see what kind of creature you are…”
……
Zhang Yan was a designer who often needed to work overtime.
To stimulate her creativity, she often reversed her day and started working in the afternoon. She had a habit of playing some videos on her tablet as background while working.
On this particular day, just like usual, she habitually opened a video platform and looked for a video suitable as a background.
One new show squeezed into the corner caught her attention.
It was a travel livestream show where a tour guide led eight guests on a journey starting from Binhai City, exploring some less-popular domestic destinations. The show aimed to bring viewers a delightful and relaxing experience, allowing them to savor the slow-paced life.
As soon as Zhang Yan opened the show, the lush trees of Gui Mountain came into view.
The serene and leisurely mountain woods shrouded in white mist seemed like a place forgotten by time, a world outside of the human realm. It immediately captured Zhang Yan’s heart.
She started the video on her large screen, muted the sound, and placed her tablet beside her. Satisfied, she lowered her head to focus on her work.
As Zhang Yan finished her work, it was already late at night. She sighed in relief, massaging her shoulders as she looked up.
Then, she was confronted with a horrifying, bloodied face on her tablet screen.
“AHHHHHH!!!”
Zhang Yan let out a piercing scream.
Her nearby colleagues were startled by the sudden scream and rushed over to inquire.
Pale with fear, Zhang Yan shivered as she pointed at the live video on her tablet, “Ghost, a ghost…….”
Her coworkers looked at the screen and nearly had a heart attack.
“What the heck!”
“What on earth is this?”
The same questions and concerns began to spread on social media and forums in a small circle.
Initially, it was just discussions among the fans themselves.
Some die-hard fans stayed up late to watch the livestream, claiming that their “Brother” or “Sister” was sleeping in the program, and they would sleep with their phones, considering it almost as if they were sleeping together.
Then, they all witnessed the horrifying and seemingly lifeless face that appeared in the livestream.
Shocked fans began sharing their experiences on social networks and in their respective fan groups, discussing the matter.
However, what ultimately ignited the topic was a post by a prominent variety show analysis Vlogger.
@VarietyShowEnthusiastBrotherGoose: I made such a terrible mistake! A few hours ago, I shouldn’t have posted a sarcastic and mocking update about the show “Heart-Pounding Journey of Ninety-Nine Days.” Now, karma has come to bite me… But this is happening too quickly! Is it possible that I’ve encountered a ghost in the middle of the night? F*ck! How on earth am I going to sleep tonight?
The emotionally charged post by the Vlogger, along with nine consecutive screenshots from the livestream, piqued the curiosity of many night owls who hadn’t yet gone to bed.
They were then shocked by the blood-drenched, ashen faces in the pictures, nearly dropping their phones in the process.
“What the heck is this?”
“Ghosts! Ghosts!! Mom, I want to go home, I don’t want to play anymore, waaah.”
“What ghost, who’s playing this prank?”
“Is this show insane? Scaring people like this in the middle of the night? I’m reporting it.”
“It looks so realistic; could it really just be a prank?”
“Why don’t we go take a look for ourselves? Didn’t the goose guy post the name of the show?”
“You guys are so naive and laughable. In my opinion, this is definitely fake. They just pasted an image on the camera lens, and now they’re using Brother Goose to promote it. This way, the show gets publicity, right? It’s a reverse marketing strategy.”
But no matter what people said after seeing this post, they were indeed frightened by the face in the screenshots that looked nothing like a living person.
Driven by curiosity or anger, these people all rushed to the livestream of the show.
However, many of them, despite their initially strong words and insults, found themselves unable to speak when confronted with a face that looked far from human.
Everyone who entered the livestream room had the same reaction, and their initial anger and disbelief turned into primal fear.
“Holy ****!”
“Ghosts!!!”
“If you like what I’m doing please show your support by donating me a cup of coffee through Kofi, or join membership tier to get access to 5 early chapters every month!’
<Previous Chapter<Table of Contents>Next Chapter>
Thanks for the translation
Aaaaaaaahhhh showbiz and supernatural combined! I love this!
Thank you for the mass update! 💕