Chapter 43: My Date with a Corpse (Part One)
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An Bu then followed Ge Tingting to familiarize herself with the town’s surroundings and roughly got to know the main characters in the script. Besides the external actors, many townspeople were also involved. This supernatural story had three key points: the inn, the ancestral hall, and the back mountain. The participants needed to find clues scattered around and follow them to reach the key points. Clues could be hidden under the bed, in the wardrobe, kitchen, or under a big tree. Whoever found them would be responsible for completing the task.
Ge Tingting invited An Bu not on a whim but after understanding her basic situation. An Bu was bold, quick-witted, liked to try different types of work, had strong adaptability, and, especially when silent, exuded a cold and mysterious aura. After observing her reactions to various places in Kangquan Town, Ge Tingting was even more certain that she hadn’t chosen the wrong person. Considering the town’s eerie atmosphere, even men might be frightened, but An Bu remained calm, as if appreciating historical sites.
“An Bu, this is the basic process of the program. Do you have any questions?” Ge Tingting, with An Bu in tow, arrived at the planning team’s residence, opening her makeup box while asking.
“No questions.”
“Okay.” Ge Tingting arranged the makeup tools and said, “Next, I will apply makeup to you. Try to remember the steps. Once the program starts, you have to do your own makeup because you’ll be a ghost among the living and can’t casually interact with us. But don’t worry; the makeup for the living is relatively simple. With a slight adjustment, your image will change drastically.”
An Bu nodded in understanding.
Then, while Ge Tingting applied makeup to her, she explained the key points. An Bu had learned makeup before, so as long as she distinguished the colors well, she could easily handle it.
Ge Tingting’s makeup skills were excellent. With just a few simplified steps, she highlighted An Bu’s cold temperament. Even An Bu herself felt a bit shivery, exclaiming, “An Bu, I feel like you have a natural potential to be a ghost. With just a casual makeover, you look like a dead person.”
An Bu: “…”
After removing the makeup, Ge Tingting let An Bu try it herself. Once she confirmed there were no flaws, she nodded in satisfaction. Then, she handed An Bu a set of makeup and the necessary tools, saying spiritedly, “Alright, the preparations are all done. The rest will be left to those poor folks who will come here to suffer.”
Two days later, a bus slowly entered Kangquan Town, and more than ten people got off one after another. There were both men and women, tall and short, fat and thin. Most were ordinary people who had signed up for the program, except for two special guests, minor celebrity Yi Zheyan and Zhu Shanhu.
“Oh my, oh my.” A young man in his twenties exclaimed, “This town is really run-down. Can’t the local government support it a bit?”
A girl with a ponytail beside him looked around cautiously, “Are we going to stay here for the next week?”
“Don’t worry, Qianqian. I’ll protect you,” said the girl’s boyfriend, patting his chest.
During the discussions, the photographer opportunistically captured their reactions.
At this moment, a townsperson walked over, smiling, “Welcome, everyone, to Kangquan Town. We have arranged accommodation for you. Please follow me.”
The group immediately followed the townsperson towards the center of the town. After about four or five minutes, a cold and dilapidated old house appeared before them. The wooden door was half open, the walls were mottled, the roof was uneven, and in the courtyard stood a twisted old locust tree, emitting an ancient and gloomy atmosphere.
Seeing this house, most people showed resistance on their faces.
“We’re staying here?” the chubby young man asked dryly.
The townsperson calmly replied, “Yes, this is the only inn in our town. We hope you’ll be satisfied.”
Everyone: Haha, who would be satisfied.
The group walked into the house, passed through the courtyard to the hall, which wasn’t small but had only one dim light. Seven large wooden tables were placed in the middle, and in front was a long counter with a bell on it. Behind the counter stood a shelf with some cigarettes and liquor scattered on it.
“Where’s the boss?” a tall, thin young man turned to the townsperson but found he had disappeared at some point, leaving everyone standing dumbfounded in the hall.
A short-haired girl chuckled, “It truly deserves to be a supernatural show. This opening scene alone deserves full marks.”
The chubby man walked to the counter, picked up the bell, and rang it, shaking it left and right while looking around.
But soon, the tall, thin young man walked over, stopping his actions, motioning him to look ahead. The chubby man turned his head and was surprised to see a woman standing quietly behind the counter. She wore an outdated floral blouse, her hair was tied up, bangs covering her eyebrows. She looked pretty, but her face was pale, with blue bags under her eyes, resembling someone suffering from insomnia, making her look a bit eerie.
This person was naturally An Bu, playing the role of the widowed female ghost.
“Are you the innkeeper?” The chubby man was startled by her appearance and wasn’t in a good mood.
An Bu nodded and took out a guest register and a menu from under the counter, indicating the prices.
After a quick glance, the chubby man asked, “Can you show us the rooms first?”
An Bu picked up a bunch of keys, walked out from behind the counter, and led them to the corridor. She opened the first room and then stepped aside, allowing them to inspect the room layout.
The group found that the room wasn’t as scary as they had imagined. Aside from being a bit dim, it was relatively clean. However, for people accustomed to city living, these rooms felt as cramped as prisons.
After inspecting all dozen or so rooms, each person chose one.
The chubby man called out, “Alright, everyone come over and register.”
Saying that, he was the first to run to the counter and write his name in the register: Huang Wei.
The other six guests also gathered around, and under the photographer’s lens, each wrote down their names: Cheng Ziming, Wan Feng, Gao Liqian, Xiao Qing, along with Zhu Shanhu and Yi Zheyan.
The three members of the photography team registered last, and Cheng Ziming, on the side, keenly noticed that they signed as “Old Zhao,” “Little Q,” and “Ah Fei.”
He suddenly felt a pang, realizing that registering names might be a trap. They shouldn’t have written their full or real names. But now it was too late to change it; the register had been collected by the innkeeper, who then handed out room keys.
No one dared to stay alone, so they all opted for double rooms. Huang Wei with Cheng Ziming, Wan Feng with Gao Liqian, Xiao Qing with Zhu Shanhu, and Yi Zeyan with Old Zhao, Little Q with Ah Fei.
“Are you hungry?” After arranging the rooms, Huang Wei picked up the menu and looked at everyone.
Xiao Qing was the first to say, “I brought instant noodles; I’ll eat that today.” She leaned on the counter, smiling at An Bu. “Innkeeper, is there hot water?”
An Bu pointed towards the kitchen, indicating she could get it herself.
Xiao Qing wasn’t afraid; she went to the kitchen alone to fetch water.
The others discussed and decided to order food. After all, they would be staying here for a week, and their food and accommodation depended on the innkeeper.
The menu had limited options, but since there were many people, they ordered two of each dish to ensure there was enough to eat. To their surprise, the portions provided by the inn were twice what they had expected, served in large bowls, filling two tables like feeding pigs.
Wan Feng was astonished, “Innkeeper, you rural folks are really honest. If we knew the portions were this generous, we wouldn’t have ordered two each; it’s a waste if we can’t finish.”
An Bu kept her head down, counting the money bill by bill, seemingly completely ignoring his words.
Gao Liqian whispered to Wan Feng, “Brother Feng, do you think this woman might be a ghost?”
“Possible,” Wan Feng picked up chopsticks, hesitated for a moment, and finally picked up a piece of meat to eat. After confirming there was no strange taste, he felt a bit more at ease.
They all knew this was a supernatural game, and finding the “ghost” among the living was one of their tasks. Although the environment here was eerie, they weren’t particularly scared.
“Huh?” At this moment, Cheng Ziming suddenly spoke, “Where’s Xiao Qing? Why hasn’t she come back yet?”
Everyone realized that Xiao Qing, who had gone to the kitchen to fetch water earlier, hadn’t returned. They immediately stood up and hurried to the kitchen.
In the kitchen, they first saw a steaming stove and unopened instant noodles placed on it, but Xiao Qing was nowhere to be found.
“Surely it’s that innkeeper!” Huang Wei analyzed, “She was the only one who entered the kitchen.”
Cheng Ziming agreed, “I also find that innkeeper very suspicious.”
At this moment, Gao Liqian curiously lifted the lid covering the soup pot, peeked inside, and screamed abruptly, dropping the lid on the ground.
“What’s wrong?” Wan Feng quickly came over, turned his head to look at the soup pot, and his face changed.
In the steaming soup, there was a bundle of black hair rolling, emitting a nauseating smell.
“What the h*ll!” Huang Wei shouted, “Did that innkeeper add something to our food?”
Their faces turned somewhat unsightly, as if they had eaten something as awful as feces. Even though they believed the planning team wouldn’t be so outrageous, they couldn’t help feeling disgusted. Now, no one dared to eat the food.
“Let’s go and settle the score with that innkeeper.” Huang Wei angrily ran out of the kitchen. The others exchanged glances and followed suit.
Cheng Ziming, walking at the back, took out his phone, intending to call Xiao Qing. However, he found that his phone surprisingly had no signal.
“Weird, where’s the innkeeper?” When the group returned to the hall, the innkeeper who had been standing behind the counter was nowhere to be found.
Now, let’s rewind time by a few dozen minutes. Xiao Qing, holding instant noodles, arrived at the kitchen. As she lifted the water kettle to pour water, she suddenly noticed a note under it. The note read: “There is a bow tie in the bottom layer of the cupboard.”
Xiao Qing’s eyes lit up, immediately realizing that she had discovered a clue task.
She stuffed the note into her pocket and approached the cupboard. As she opened it, she saw a reflection of a woman’s face staring back at her. Startled, she almost screamed, but quickly realized that it was just a mirror and the face was her own reflection.
Cursing the planning team inwardly, Xiao Qing placed the mirror aside and discovered a bow tie inside the cupboard. Carefully reaching for it, the moment she grabbed the bow tie, her wrist was also caught by another hand.
Xiao Qing gasped, her heart pounding as she peered into the darkness, seeing a pair of shiny green eyes staring at her. Even with Xiao Qing’s courage, she was almost scared out of her wits.
With a strong pull, she yanked her wrist out of the other person’s grasp, stumbled a few steps back, and unintentionally dragged out the bow tie as well. However, the sensation on her hand felt strange. Lowering her head, she was shocked to see long hair scattered on the ground, and the bow tie was attached to that hair.
Clearly, she had just pulled off the wig of the “ghost” in the cupboard…
Watching the “ghost” in the cupboard about to come out, Xiao Qing keenly noticed the second note tied to the bow tie. It read: “Throw the hair into the soup pot immediately, or you will die.”
Without hesitation, Xiao Qing quickly stood up from the ground, threw the wig in her hand into the soup pot, and swiftly left the kitchen, rushing to the backyard.
As her figure disappeared, the guy who had been pretending to be a ghost in the cupboard finally crawled out. Not forgetting to make a hideous ghost face towards the hidden camera in the kitchen, he stood up, touched his hair, and lamented, “That girl must have grown up eating spinach; her strength is incredible. She actually pulled off my wig, it hurts like h*ll.”
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