Chapter 1: Paranormal Photos

The New Year had just passed, but there was no sign of the weather warming up. In the mountains, it still felt like the dead of winter. No matter how many layers one wore, the biting wind cut straight through.

Xie Sui leaned against the car door, a lit cigarette between his fingers, the other hand swiping rapidly across his phone screen.

The mountain wind howled, yet he wore only a thin shirt. The smoke from his cigarette rose in a perfectly straight line, undisturbed by the gusts.

It was nearly midnight. The night was pitch black, with no stars or moon in sight. The wind screamed like a chorus of ghosts, and now and then, the eerie cry of a night owl pierced the darkness, adding an extra layer of dread to the already desolate mountain.

In such oppressive darkness, the harsh white light from a high-powered camping spotlight offered a measure of comfort.

Zhang Yun, who was helping carry the livestream equipment, quickened his pace. All he wanted was to finish the job and get the hell out of this creepy place.

As he passed by Xie Sui, Zhang Yun couldn’t help but glance over.

Xie Sui was still engrossed in his phone, his medium-length black hair falling over the side of his face with each movement. His features were so flawlessly sculpted he looked like a porcelain doll, every line of his face meticulously carved. Under the harsh glare of the camping light, he seemed more like an illusion than someone who belonged to the real world.

Even though he wasn’t into men, Zhang Yun had to admit the guy was ridiculously good-looking. Some people were just born to be in the spotlight. Just standing there, they drew every eye in the room.

What Zhang Yun couldn’t figure out was why someone like him would come to a haunted place like this to do a paranormal photo livestream. With a face like that, he could easily become a singing or beauty streamer and blow up online. If he was really strapped for cash, he could just find a rich woman to sponsor him. Why come here and risk his life? Was he out of his mind?

Zhang Yun shook his head helplessly, set the travel bag on the ground, and began taking out the livestream gear to start setting it up.

Xie Sui didn’t pay any attention to Zhang Yun’s curious glances. He was still focused on his phone screen.

Tonight, the top trending topic on social media wasn’t celebrity gossip or breaking news, but a set of paranormal photos.

The photos had been taken a month ago by a travel blogger visiting tourist spots in Zhaoping City. The main subject was a scenic mountain forest, but in the corner of one shot, a dilapidated old house appeared by accident.

A user from a paranormal forum stumbled upon the photos while browsing online. Something about them felt off, so he shared them on the forum.

With the collective effort of the forum’s users, they cropped and enlarged the section with the old house. That’s when they noticed something chilling: a figure of a long-haired woman standing in the window.

She wore a white dress, her body gaunt, skin pale, and eye sockets sunken like a skull.

The most terrifying part was that she appeared in every single photo. Sometimes hidden in the shadows of the trees, other times lurking near the broken tiles of the house. In every shot, she was turned slightly, staring directly at the travel blogger.

Once the photos made their way from the paranormal forum back to mainstream social media, they exploded in popularity.

Some skeptics questioned their authenticity, while others egged the travel blogger on to return and take better photos of the house, hoping to catch the mysterious woman again.

But the travel blogger was a coward. Forget going back—after noticing the strange figure in his photos, he abandoned his plans to continue exploring Zhaoping City and fled to another city overnight.

Over the past month, the buzz around the paranormal photos only grew. Just a couple of days ago, an outdoor adventure streamer saw an opportunity and brought his livestream gear to the old house.

Then he became the next headline.

That streamer vanished into thin air during his livestream inside the house.

Some people suspected it was a publicity stunt cooked up by the streamer and the travel blogger. Others believed the place was genuinely haunted. Either way, after the streamer’s disappearance, the photos went completely viral.

With the rising popularity came a flood of other streamers hoping to ride the wave.

As of today, counting the first streamer who vanished, three groups had entered the haunted house—and none had come out. Three streamers and their assistants, six people in total, all disappeared during their livestreams, right in front of the camera.

After the third group vanished, to prevent further incidents, the Inspectorate Bureau¹ cordoned off the haunted house with police tape.

Even though the six people had only been missing for two days, the fact that they vanished live on camera caused a massive public uproar. The Inspectorate Bureau in Zhaoping City mobilized nearly all available Law Enforcement and Rescue Teams.

After thoroughly searching the house and finding nothing, the Law Enforcement Team suspected the streamers might have gotten lost in the surrounding forest. They were now leading the Rescue Team in a search through the woods, leaving the house itself temporarily unattended.

That’s when Xie Sui showed up.

Yes, he was here to chase the hype too.

After a family crisis and suddenly getting laid off, Xie Sui was desperate for money. In this world, there weren’t many ways to make fast cash without breaking the law. If all it took was a few insults to earn money, then hype-chasing livestreams were clearly the best option.

Besides, he wasn’t planning to go inside the house. Livestreaming from outside wouldn’t interfere with the Law Enforcement or Rescue Teams’ operations.

Glancing at his nearly finished cigarette, Xie Sui put away his phone and lit another one from the pack.

White smoke rose steadily in a straight line, and the cigarette burned even faster than the last.

Watching the smoke vanish into the night, Xie Sui let out a soft sigh. “I really don’t get why you guys like this stuff… Take it easy with it. I don’t have the money to buy more right now.”

Hearing the voice, Zhang Yun suddenly looked up, startled. He stared at Xie Sui with suspicion, his hands frozen mid-motion as he set up the tripod, tightening his grip on the wrench.

There was no one else around Xie Sui. Whoever he’d just spoken to, it definitely wasn’t Zhang Yun.

Was this guy schizophrenic?

Zhang Yun started to panic. Out here in the middle of nowhere, it was just the two of them. If Xie Sui really was mentally unstable and decided to kill him, he could bury the body on the spot. No need to even look for a hiding place.

Anyone willing to livestream in a creepy place like this in the middle of the night was definitely not normal. If the boss hadn’t called him personally, Zhang Yun really wouldn’t have come out here to help Xie Sui pack up the livestream equipment.

Just then, a ringtone suddenly rang out. Xie Sui paused and answered the call.

A deep, resonant voice came through the phone. “Xiao Xie², how’s it going? You’re about to start the stream, right? Did Zhang Yun finish setting things up for you?”

Xie Sui glanced at Zhang Yun, who was sitting not far away. Sensing the look, Zhang Yun quickly sped up his adjustments on the tripod, trying to look as busy as possible.

“Yeah, almost done,” Xie Sui replied sincerely. “Old Zhao³, thank you for lending me the livestream gear and for having Zhang Yun drive it over. If I had to do this alone, I honestly wouldn’t know where to start.”

“No need to be so polite. We’ve known each other forever. Just treat me to a meal sometime. The equipment’s all second-hand stuff I picked up, not worth much. No need to return it.”

Old Zhao was Xie Sui’s college roommate, full name Zhao Haotian. Like Xie Sui, he majored in media. Back in freshman year, when short video platforms were just taking off, Zhao had already started livestreaming. After graduation, he went full-time and was now a fairly well-known streamer.

After Xie Sui got fired from the TV station, Zhao, knowing he was in urgent need of money, suggested he join the Blue Sea Platform⁴ to start livestreaming. In the early days, Zhao even helped him attract viewers.

It’s easy to offer help when things are going well, but rare to lend a hand in hard times. Xie Sui remembered this kindness.

Still a bit concerned, Zhao Haotian continued, “Xiao Xie, don’t mind me nagging, but in our line of work, you’ve got to be lively and willing to interact with the Water Friends⁵ in the chat… uh, that’s what we call the audience here on the platform. It makes things feel more friendly.”

“Whatever you do, don’t act all aloof. I know you used to be a TV host, and switching from such a serious work environment to livestreaming must be a tough adjustment. But we’ve known each other a long time, so I’ll be blunt – you’ve always been a bit too cold. Honestly, it makes you hard to approach sometimes. You’ve got to loosen up!”

Zhao was way off on that one. Xie Sui wasn’t cold, just mildly socially anxious. That’s why he came off as distant when meeting people for the first time. In truth, he was quite talkative… as long as it wasn’t face-to-face.

“Don’t worry, I know what to do. People watch streams to have fun. They want a host who’s warm, funny, and chatty. Livestreaming is all about giving the audience emotional value, whether it’s curiosity, joy, or fear. The key is to create a strong vibe that keeps them watching.”

Thinking of the absurd reason the TV station had given for firing him, Xie Sui gave a self-deprecating chuckle. “Besides, there’s no such thing as a job being more respectable or shameful than another. Being a TV host only looks glamorous on the surface. In the end, it’s all about making a living.”

“You really get it, man. That puts my mind at ease,” Zhao said, clearly pleased. “I’ve got a stream coming up too, so I won’t keep chatting. I’ll pin your room number in my stream to send more traffic your way.”

“Old Zhao, seriously, thank you.”

“Say thanks again and I’ll be mad. No need for that between us. I’m hanging up.”

After the call ended, Xie Sui walked over to Zhang Yun.

Zhang Yun had been eavesdropping the whole time, ears perked. Noticing Xie Sui approaching, he jumped up reflexively. The burly man clutched his wrench, trembling like a leaf in the wind.

“W-what do you want? My boss knows I’m here helping you!” The poor guy’s voice had gone shrill from fear.

Blame it on the eerie horror movie vibe of this remote place. Zhang Yun was still caught up in his own imagination. In his eyes, Xie Sui was a potential split-personality serial killer.

Seeing his reaction, Xie Sui couldn’t help but chuckle. “What do you think I’m going to do? I just came to see how you’re setting up the livestream gear. I can’t keep bothering Old Zhao to send you over every time.”

“O-oh…” Zhang Yun scratched his head awkwardly, realizing he might’ve overreacted.

For a regular stream, a phone and a selfie stick would suffice. But this was an outdoor night stream. To improve the quality, Xie Sui had asked Zhao to help him buy a camera that worked well in low light.

Cameras, unlike phones, couldn’t stream in real time on their own. So Xie Sui had been learning how to connect the camera feed to the livestream window.

“…Once the camera’s connected to the platform, you can go live right away. But watch your data plan. Outdoor streaming eats up a lot,” Zhang Yun explained, his voice steadier now that he was in his element.

“Got it. Thanks for the help.”

Once he understood the setup, it was actually pretty simple. With Zhang Yun’s guidance, Xie Sui quickly finished prepping for the stream.

“I’m about to go live. You…”

Before he could finish, Zhang Yun cut him off. “I know, I know. I’ll head back to the car so I don’t get in your way.” Without waiting for a reply, he bolted toward where his car was parked.

No way was he sticking around in the middle of nowhere with a possibly deranged guy in front of a haunted house, freezing his butt off.

Xie Sui didn’t try to stop him. He never intended for Zhang Yun to stay. If something went wrong at the haunted house, he wouldn’t be able to protect a regular person anyway.

Panting as he collapsed into the driver’s seat, Zhang Yun felt an odd sense of having narrowly escaped death. That was terrifying. Even if the boss offered a bonus next time, he wasn’t taking this kind of job again.

He let out a long breath and glanced at Xie Sui through the rearview mirror.

Xie Sui hadn’t followed. He was still standing where they’d been talking earlier.

The camping light cast a strong beam between the car and Xie Sui, like a river of light dividing the living from the dead, separating them into two different worlds.

Xie Sui stood in that narrow space between light and shadow. His dark, bottomless eyes seemed like an abyss that could swallow all light, hollow and cold, devoid of any trace of life.

The shadows of the trees swayed gently, and in the shifting play of light and darkness, five or six hazy, ethereal figures slowly emerged behind Xie Sui. The silhouettes hunched over, greedily inhaling the smoke⁶ from the cigarette in his hand.

Zhang Yun froze at the sight, then suddenly shivered and slammed his foot down on the gas pedal.

By now, he had completely forgotten his boss’s instruction to wait for Xie Sui. All he wanted was to get as far away from this place as possible, far from that figure he couldn’t tell was man or ghost.

Translator’s Notes