Chapter 38: Donkey Meat Burger¹

Xie Sui was a bit concerned about the filming schedule.

They were set to depart on March 28th, but the contract stated filming would begin on April 4th. Why had it suddenly been moved up by a week? He didn’t have any personal objections, but would those celebrities with packed schedules be okay with such a casual change in timing?

Xie Sui took out his phone and carefully re-read the contract Yayun Entertainment had sent him.

He noticed the contract stated the official start of the variety show was April 4th, but added that they might depart five to seven days early because reaching the destination would take time. It suggested keeping one’s schedule clear from the 28th onward.

When he first received the contract, Xie Sui had only focused on the filming date, overlooking the time required for the round trip.

When he accepted Second Uncle Lin’s request, he had said he was free until April 4th. If Second Uncle Lin really wanted him to protect Lin Zixin for a month, he would likely have to take Lin Zixin along to the variety show.

Recalling Lin Zixin’s behavior at the hospital, Xie Sui fell silent.

Lin Zixin was so timid that taking him to such a dangerous place might actually scare the fragile rich boy to death.

While in the studio, the other five guests participating in the recording introduced themselves to one another and exchanged contact information. However, no one took the initiative to speak with Xie Sui, subtly ostracizing him.

Xie Sui didn’t mind. It was just a job; he didn’t care what his colleagues thought of him as long as he got paid on time. After all, he wasn’t made of gold; he couldn’t expect everyone to like him.

After recording their self-introduction clips in the studio, everyone left with printed sheets detailing the precautionary measures.

Watching the black aura of misfortune drifting away with them, Xie Sui paused as he was about to leave.

These were all ordinary people who couldn’t even truss a chicken; they would have no way to resist if they encountered supernatural entities.

If it were just the five of them, Xie Sui might be able to protect them. But following behind them was a large group of production staff, and each guest was bringing two assistants…

Xie Sui found Zhou Yayun before leaving the studio.

“Ms. Zhou, do you happen to know where this variety show will be filmed?”

Zhou Yayun smiled at him. “Cheating isn’t good behavior, you know. I won’t tell you. And to be honest, I don’t know where the filming location is either. This show is handled entirely by our company’s gold-medal producer. As a competent boss, I don’t micromanage things I’m not an expert in, nor do I interfere with the filming progress.”

Seeing Xie Sui’s disappointed expression, Zhou Yayun paused and said somewhat helplessly, “However, I can reveal a tiny bit. The production team won’t send you directly to the filming location. You’ll need to find the entrance yourselves.”

Xie Sui was suddenly at a loss for words.

No way. They weren’t actually doing a wilderness survival plot, were they? This was a supernatural exploration show, not… wait, exploration.

Fine, there were exploration elements. Viewed that way, it was normal to have a wilderness survival segment.

No wonder they had to leave seven days early.

Xie Sui felt he should do some homework beforehand and watch the previous seasons of this show to see what their usual routines were.

Under the current circumstances, it was hard to tell if the misfortune clinging to those people was because the filming location itself was dangerous, or because they would encounter danger while trying to find it.

This variety show was becoming a real hassle. He used to think a daily appearance fee of three hundred thousand was a lot, but now it didn’t seem like much at all. Truly, there was no such thing as a free lunch.

He wondered if Zhou Yayun would agree if he suggested canceling the recording.

Most likely not… He probably didn’t carry enough weight to interfere with the development of Zhou Yayun’s company.

From what Zhou Yayun said when she thanked him earlier, Xie Sui could guess that she was definitely the type who didn’t believe in ghosts or gods.

When he first met Zhang Shengrui, the boy told him that when he was haunted by the Shiduo Hariti, he had asked Zhou Yayun for help, but she hadn’t taken it seriously.

Furthermore, after Zhang Shengrui returned home, it was impossible for him not to tell his mother what happened during those days he was missing. Yet, meeting her at the TV station today, Zhou Yayun hadn’t mentioned the Yin-Yang Gap or the matter of his fate clashing with Yuanchen at all…

Zhou Yayun had only said “thank you for helping find the child” just now. She likely dismissed Zhang Shengrui’s words as the nonsensical ramblings of a frightened child. Her agreement to go offer incense was probably just because she was emotional over getting her child back, which was why she listened to Zhang Shengrui and went to the temple to apologize to the Yuanchen Statue.

In this situation, if he told her, “This show can’t be filmed, there’s something wrong with the location, look at how the guests’ foreheads are darkening with misfortune, people will die if you continue,” Zhou Yayun would probably just suspect he had mental issues.

Xie Sui sighed and gave up on the idea of persuading Zhou Yayun to stop the filming.

Returning to his home in the urban village, Xie Sui took off his suit and tossed it casually over the back of a chair.

Detaching from his body along with the suit were over forty Little Ghosts.

After confirming the number of Little Ghosts, Xie Sui stuffed them back into their respective ash urns.

Knowing that the filming location was an exceptionally dangerous place, he couldn’t take his younger brothers and sisters with him. It would be terrible if they were tainted by unclean malevolent energy or resentment.

Afterward, Xie Sui went to the studio Old Liu was renting.

For this variety show recording, Xie Sui had originally planned to take Liu Wuyong and Xiao Wu along, treating it as a company-funded trip to let them relax.

But after his visit to the studio, Xie Sui abandoned that idea. Given the current situation, forget relaxing; they’d likely lose their lives if they went.

The reason he still went to see Old Liu was because he planned to hand over his house keys. He wanted Old Liu’s help in looking after the children at home.

Since Xie Sui was leaving all the Little Ghosts at home, someone needed to offer incense and help provide for them while he was away.

However, after seeing Liu Wuyong, Xie Sui changed his mind once again.

When Xie Sui entered, Liu Wuyong was in the living room editing a video. With a single glance, Xie Sui saw a very familiar cloud of misfortune hovering over Old Liu’s head.

Furthermore, unlike the misfortune clinging to the guests in the studio, the black Qi spreading from Old Liu’s forehead actually had faint flickers of blood light within it… This wasn’t just bad luck; it was a Calamity of Blood², the kind that would manifest within three days.

Xie Sui felt a bit of a headache coming on.

He hadn’t intended to bring Old Liu along to film the variety show at all, so what was going on with him?

“Old Liu, where is Xiao Wu?” Xie Sui decided to check on Xiao Wu’s condition.

If Xiao Wu was in the same state as Liu Wuyong, then the variety show couldn’t be blamed. It would likely mean that everyone who came into contact with Xie Sui would suffer bad luck. If that were the case, Xie Sui would need to consider whether to withdraw from the program.

Liu Wuyong stopped what he was doing. Before he could say anything, Xiao Wu walked out of the bedroom wearing an apron and holding a vacuum cleaner and a mop.

Xie Sui looked at Xiao Wu. The honest, six-foot-three young man was perfectly clean, with nothing unusual about him.

This meant the Calamity of Blood on Old Liu wasn’t caused by Xie Sui’s influence, nor was it due to the upcoming variety show. It was because of something else.

Looking at the video still being edited on Liu Wuyong’s computer, Xie Sui suddenly thought of something.

If he had been able to tell that Old Liu was connected to the person using the Life-Swapping Talisman based on the Bixian video, there was no reason others couldn’t do the same.

The Calamity of Blood on Liu Wuyong was very likely a result of retaliation from Zhang Dadao’s associates.

When those evil cultivators saw that the Horror Old Liu account was still active after Zhang Dadao’s death, they would surely start with Old Liu to investigate the cause of Zhang Dadao’s demise.

To prevent anything happening to Liu Wuyong, Xie Sui decided it was best to keep him close.

Having decided to take Old Liu to the filming, Xie Sui handed his house keys to Xiao Wu and took him back to his own place. He showed him where the incense was kept, explained the frequency for lighting it, and let the Little Ghosts in the Ash Urn get to know him.

After arranging everything at home, Xie Sui used the five days of preparation time to take Old Liu back to Xiangcheng. There, he re-integrated the previously sealed Ghost Infant into his body.

Suppressing a soul as ferocious and mindless as a Ghost Infant within one’s own body placed a heavy burden on the physical form. However, considering the unlucky filming location of the variety show, Xie Sui felt it was worth enduring the hardship for two weeks.

Although suppressing the Ghost Infant was exhausting, their combat power was undeniable. They would be a great help in a moment of crisis.

Because Xie Sui kept Liu Wuyong by his side over the next few days, never parting from him regardless of where they went, the blood calamity on Old Liu remained unfulfilled. In fact, it had even dimmed considerably.

The five days passed quickly. Xie Sui and Old Liu arrived at the location designated by the production crew with their luggage.

Old Liu had been running around with Xie Sui for several days. This kind of high-intensity outdoor activity was pure torture for a middle-aged homebody like him.

He stood beside Xie Sui, clutching his suitcase with a look of utter despair. He looked like a salted fish washed up on the beach, or a piece of cured meat that had been hanging from a rafter for over a year. A seasoned aura of despondency radiated from him, his exhaustion reaching deep into his bones.

The production crew had rented a tour bus. The thirty-three-seat vehicle was exactly full. Between the five guests and their assistants, plus Xie Sui and Old Liu, there were seventeen people in total. The rest were staff members.

This was actually a small number of accompanying staff; apparently, most of the crew had already gone to the filming site in advance.

Looking at the tour bus, which was so shrouded in black Qi it looked as if it were on fire, Xie Sui let out a weary sigh.

Thinking about what was to come, he suddenly felt like not going.

But there was no helping it; he had to earn a living. He would just have to deal with the exhaustion.

He only hoped the guests and staff would be obedient. Otherwise, he might truly be unable to look after everyone.

Before boarding the bus, the producer had the six guests draw lots to divide them into two groups.

Xie Sui was grouped with two women, while the other team consisted of two men and one woman.

Having watched previous episodes of this Supernatural Variety Show over the last five days, Xie Sui knew this was a standard trope.

Dividing people into two competing teams and then opening a vote during the broadcast to let the audience guess which side would win was a tactic used to increase viewer engagement.

The reason for grouping them before arriving at the recording site was because the production crew wouldn’t be taking them directly there.

The producer said they wanted the guests to build rapport before the official recording began, and also to familiarize them with the environment surrounding the filming location.

Whichever group reached the filming site first would receive an important clue before the official recording started.

The show was already so gimmicky before it had even begun. Xie Sui could already imagine how complex the activities would be once the official filming started.

In previous episodes, the segments usually involved the crew giving the guests information about supernatural entities and having them search for those entities in haunted houses or abandoned hospitals. During the search, the crew would set up jump scares to frighten the guests.

The show’s selling points were the horror atmosphere, various novel supernatural entities, and the “reaction shots” of celebrities being so terrified that their faces twisted and they lost all composure.

While previous seasons had outdoor segments, the exploration element was minimal. It seemed they had never required the guests to perform “wilderness survival” or find the recording location themselves like this.

The other five guests seemed to have learned through various channels that the crew wouldn’t be dropping them directly at the site.

They were all very pragmatic, and their desire to win was obvious. The two assistants each guest brought were less like assistants and more like bodyguards, all of them hulking figures over six-foot-three. Carrying the outdoor gear distributed by the crew, they looked like mercenaries at a glance… It seemed they really wanted to win.

Old Liu looked down at the single abdominal muscle beneath his shirt, then glanced at the other assistants who were covered in rippling muscle. The expression on his face grew even more hopeless.

Judging purely by physical appearance, he couldn’t compete with the other assistants. He felt like he had lost before the game even began.

He was a salted fish by nature. His motto in life was to coast whenever possible and to lie down wherever he failed, never making things difficult for himself. Old Liu didn’t have a drop of hot-blooded competitive spirit in him, but to avoid embarrassing his boss, he still forced his eyes wide, trying his best to look energetic.

The travel bus soon drove out of Zhaoping City’s center and headed toward increasingly remote areas.

Xie Sui watched as the road changed from asphalt to dirt, becoming narrower and more bumpy. They drove up and down winding mountain roads, traveling from dawn until dusk, eventually reaching a desolate, uninhabited region.

Even when they encountered service stations along the way, the production crew didn’t let the guests get off to eat. Instead, they told them mysteriously that they were taking them to a great place and to save their appetites for delicious food.

Xie Sui didn’t have much of a need for food, but he was highly skeptical of the crew’s words. The surrounding area was all wilderness with weeds half as tall as a person. Who would open a restaurant in such a godforsaken, desolate place? The production crew was probably just trying to save money by intentionally messing with the guests.

Despite being hungry for half the day, none of the seemingly fragile celebrities on the bus complained. They appeared to be used to the production crew’s unpredictable way of doing things.

Just as the travel bus started up another winding mountain road, an unexpected situation occurred. The vehicle broke down.

The accompanying producer looked embarrassed and hurriedly told the driver to go down and check.

The girl sitting in front of Xie Sui, who was also a guest performer participating in this variety show for the first time, was starting to lose her patience.

They had gathered at 8:00 AM, and now it was nearly 8:00 PM. After bouncing around on a bus for a whole day while hungry, even the most good-tempered person would reach their limit.

Nie Pengpeng complained huffily, “We aren’t going to just stay out in the wild on an empty stomach all night and then go look for whatever recording location, are we? Isn’t your production crew just torturing people in disguise? We’re a supernatural variety show, not a wilderness survival crew. Are we expected to dig up wild vegetables and hunt for our own dinner?”

Nie Pengpeng was the daughter of a director at Hunpeng Real Estate and a newcomer that Hunpeng Entertainment had been heavily promoting recently. Her father had opened an entertainment company just for her debut.

Nie Pengpeng had a sweet and cute appearance, and her marketing persona was that of a blunt, sweet girl. This persona was essentially her true self; because of her privileged background, she was the type who couldn’t stand being mistreated and was very straightforward. She couldn’t read the room or understand subtext, and her family’s wealth meant she never needed to suppress her feelings to please others.

The fact that a newcomer like her could squeeze into this variety show was entirely due to her family’s financial power. Because this supernatural variety show was a massive hit that had made many stars famous, Nie Pengpeng, who was very interested in the paranormal, had taken the initiative to participate.

But she hadn’t expected to suffer so much at the hands of the production crew on the very first day, before official filming had even begun.

If she had been scared during a horror segment, Nie Pengpeng wouldn’t have said a word. But making them go hungry and then having the bus break down were clearly accidents caused by the crew’s incompetence. Why should she have to endure this inexplicable grievance?

The producer, who knew the little princess’s true identity, scratched his head in embarrassment.

He couldn’t afford to offend Nie Pengpeng. Aside from Xie Sui, she was the second person Zhou Yayun had specifically asked him to look after.

Just then, a piece of bread was handed to Nie Pengpeng by the actor sitting next to her.

“Eat some bread to line your stomach first. Don’t be too angry; it’s not good for your health. This should just be an accident. The crew wouldn’t intentionally mess with us before we even start filming.”

Even Xie Sui, who didn’t pay much attention to the entertainment industry, knew this person. The actor was Shi Shen, a famous action star whose movies were all box-office hits. He was also the most physically robust of all the guests present, with muscles that rivaled those of the “mercenary” security guards.

Although Shi Shen’s face looked a bit fierce and intimidating, his temperament was unexpectedly gentle. Based on previous variety shows, he was known for being very caring toward others.

Despite her resentment toward the crew, Nie Pengpeng couldn’t bring herself to get angry at a nice guy like Shi Shen. She took the bread from his hand and muttered a sullen “Thank you.”

The producer looked gratefully at Shi Shen for defusing the situation. To fix the bus as quickly as possible and avoid further trouble from Nie Pengpeng, the producer grabbed the spare toolbox next to the driver’s seat and got off the bus to help the driver check the vehicle.

Nie Pengpeng tore open the bread packaging and silently stuffed it into her mouth.

Only a few minutes after the producer got off the bus, the interior lights flickered twice and then went out completely.

Nie Pengpeng, who was still eating, froze, feeling another urge to curse.

What was wrong with that producer? Was he capable of doing anything right? He went down to help fix the bus and ended up fixing the lights until they went out. He was literally making things worse.

Nie Pengpeng was so annoyed she couldn’t even finish her bread. She silently put it away and stared blankly out the pitch-black window.

Being in such a dark environment didn’t actually scare her. There were over thirty people on the bus, so she wasn’t alone in the middle of nowhere. Furthermore, she was sitting next to Shi Shen, who looked very reliable.

Regarding the sudden blackout, Nie Pengpeng felt nothing but irritation.

Because she had suddenly moved from a bright environment to a dark one, her eyes couldn’t see anything for a moment. After a short while, her eyes adjusted to the darkness, and she could slowly make out the scenery outside.

Nie Pengpeng was sitting in the first row near the rear door. From her position, she could vaguely see two figures repairing the bus in front.

Nie Pengpeng felt it was a bit strange. She didn’t know what was wrong with the driver and the producer. Didn’t they use flashlights when they got off to fix the bus? No wonder the lights went out if they were just fumbling around in the dark.

Bored, she watched the two dark silhouettes outside the car, trying to use her gaze to urge the driver and the producer to finish the repairs quickly.

With her vision compromised, her other senses became exceptionally sharp.

Nie Pengpeng could clearly hear the sound of the wind blowing through the weeds in the wasteland, the chirping of crickets, the fluttering wings of unknown birds, and the sound of footsteps and tapping against the window getting closer and closer…

Wait, tapping on the car window?

Hadn’t only the producer and the driver gotten out just now? Those two figures had been at the front of the car repairing it the whole time, so who was tapping on the window?

With this doubt in mind, Nie Pengpeng, whose attention had been focused toward the front of the car, slowly turned her head to look at the glass beside her.

As she expected, it was pitch black outside; she couldn’t see a thing.

Nie Pengpeng simply turned her whole body sideways, gripping the window frame with both hands and pressing her face close to the glass to look carefully.

The dull tapping sound continued.

A bloodshot eye suddenly appeared outside the window.

Someone was leaning against the window frame, looking into the car in the exact same posture as her… separated from her by only a single pane of glass.

It was a woman with long hair. The excessively long black hair blended perfectly into the darkness, covering half of her face and leaving only one eye visible.

Nie Pengpeng was momentarily struck speechless by terror. Her mouth hung wide open, a scream stuck in her throat, and her heart skipped a beat.

She stared blankly out the window, watching blood-red tears gush from the woman’s eye socket. Lubricated by the blood, the eyeball slowly rolled once within the socket before falling out with a wet “thud.”

To catch the falling eyeball, the woman slammed her face against the glass. Her forehead hit the window with a dull thud.

Nie Pengpeng clamped her hand over her mouth, stifling the scream that had nearly escaped her throat.

She jerked her body backward, trying to put some distance between herself and the person outside.

Perhaps because she leaned back too violently, she bumped into Shi Shen, who was sitting next to her. Nie Pengpeng felt Shi Shen steady her shoulders, preventing her from falling back onto him.

The moment Shi Shen held her, Nie Pengpeng noticed that the person outside the window, the one shedding bloody tears, had vanished.

She breathed a sigh of relief and turned around with tears in her eyes, preparing to thank Shi Shen.

But to Nie Pengpeng’s surprise, after she sat up straight, Shi Shen’s hand remained on her shoulder. Their posture had turned into an overly intimate state, with Shi Shen’s arm draped around her shoulders.

Nie Pengpeng frowned uncomfortably. She was just about to say something to Shi Shen when she discovered with utter despair that the person sitting beside her, the one with an arm around her shoulder, wasn’t Shi Shen at all! It was the long-haired woman from outside the window!

Bloody tears continued to pour from the woman’s eye sockets. she dipped her fingers into the sockets, coating them in blood, and then used those blood-soaked fingers to slide slowly across Nie Pengpeng’s knee.

Nie Pengpeng finally broke. She stood up, forced her way out of the long-haired woman’s grasp, and ran toward the aisle while screaming.

The long-haired woman didn’t stop her.

Just as Nie Pengpeng reached the aisle, she stopped on her own.

She stood there blankly, her expression wooden as she looked at the scene inside the car. Her legs gave way, and she collapsed to the floor in despair.

Every single seat in the car was occupied by an identical long-haired woman. Bloody tears streamed from their eyes, and every single one of them was looking at her.

There was no escape.

“Ghost sister, could you please move aside? We’re strangers, after all. It’s not quite right for you to be sitting on my lap.”

At Nie Pengpeng’s moment of deepest despair, she suddenly heard a voice that sounded like a gift from heaven.

Her spirits lifted, and she looked up toward the source of the sound.

It was the man sitting behind her! The other “resource hire” just like her!

In this dark environment, even though his bloodless, pale doll-like face looked even more eerie than the long-haired women, and even though his body was so thin he looked weaker than her… even if he looked unreliable, he was a living person!

A living person just like her!

What was his name again? Xie… Xie…

“Xie Sui…” Nie Pengpeng called out his name with a sob.

“Mm, I’m here.”

Xie Sui squeezed through the crowd of female ghosts, walked into the aisle, and reached out a hand to Nie Pengpeng.

Like a drowning person grabbing a lifeline thrown from the shore, Nie Pengpeng gripped Xie Sui’s hand tightly.

Xie Sui took Nie Pengpeng’s hand and led her back to her seat. As if waving away dust in the air, he waved his hand at the female ghost in the seat next to Nie Pengpeng’s.

The long-haired woman went silent for a moment, then picked up her red dress and stood up from the seat, making room for Xie Sui and Nie Pengpeng.

Then, ignoring Nie Pengpeng’s struggles, Xie Sui firmly pressed her back into her seat.

Seeing that Nie Pengpeng was about to say something more, Xie Sui soothed her softly, like one would a child who refused to sleep. “Alright, alright, don’t move. It’ll be fine once the lights come on.”

As soon as Xie Sui finished speaking, Nie Pengpeng suddenly felt the seat beneath her shudder violently. It was like dreaming while asleep and dreaming of falling from a great height… the seat beneath her seemed to vanish for a split second, and the sensation of weightlessness caused her to snap awake.

She sat bolt upright, leaning forward and gripping the railing as she gasped for air.

At the same time, the lights inside the car flickered on.

Nie Pengpeng’s eyes widened as she looked around in a daze. There were no long-haired women in the car; everyone was sitting properly in their seats. Beside her, Shi Shen was looking at her with concern, and the driver and producer were boarding the bus from the door, carrying two toolboxes…

Shi Shen handed her a pack of tissues. “Wipe your tears. Are you okay? Are you afraid of the dark?”

Everything that had just happened seemed like a dream.

Nie Pengpeng blankly took the tissues from Shi Shen’s hand.

She looked at the pure white tissue in her hand, and for a moment, she thought she saw a flash of blood-red through the paper.

No, that blood-red was real.

Nie Pengpeng gripped the tissue tightly and looked down at her knee.

Because she was coming to participate in a variety show recording, she wasn’t wearing a skirt, but a pair of khaki cargo pants that were easy to move in.

On the knee of her pants, two words were written in stark, bloody script: “Don’t go.”

Nie Pengpeng’s body could not stop trembling.

Sitting next to her, Shi Shen looked even more worried, asking repeatedly, “Miss Nie? Miss Nie, do you have claustrophobia? Just relax, take a deep breath. It’s okay, it’s over now.”

The commotion from Nie Pengpeng and Shi Shen’s side caught the attention of the others in the vehicle. The staff and other guests all looked toward them with curiosity.

Hearing Shi Shen’s voice, Nie Pengpeng snapped out of it. She pointed at her own knees and asked with a shaking voice, “Can… can you see what’s on my knees?”

“What’s on them?” Shi Shen’s expression was completely blank, showing no sign of feigning ignorance.

Nie Pengpeng took a deep breath and asked another question: “Just now… how long were the bus lights out?”

Shi Shen checked his watch. “About two minutes or so.”

Nie Pengpeng stood up abruptly. Ignoring the strange looks from the others, she leaned over the back of her chair to look at the seat behind her.

The person who had pulled her from the darkness back into the light paid no mind to the disturbance she was causing.

He was staring out the window in a daze.

The warm yellow light inside the bus cast a hazy, ethereal vintage filter over his exquisite face, adding a touch of warmth to his bloodless skin. The eyes looking out the window were also tinged with a warm glow, like melting honey.

His hand rested by the window, a cigarette held between his fingers. The white smoke from the burning cigarette curled upward, remaining perfectly still and rising vertically despite the whistling winds of the countryside.

Nie Pengpeng instinctively sniffed the air. She didn’t smell any tobacco; instead, she caught a strange fragrance… like the scent of incense ash in a temple.

As if sensing her gaze, the man slowly turned his head.

Looking directly into those deep, lightless eyes, Nie Pengpeng felt an immediate sense of peace. The tears she had been holding back suddenly spilled over and ran down her face.

Nie Pengpeng opened her mouth, wanting to tell Xie Sui about the bloody words on her knees, but Xie Sui stopped her.

“I know. Don’t worry, it’s fine.”

As Xie Sui spoke, he pinched out the cigarette butt with his fingers, then took out a pitch-black cigarette case and placed the half-burned cigarette back inside.

Though they were just a few light words of comfort, Nie Pengpeng’s heart, which had been hanging by a thread, suddenly felt much more settled. She wiped away her tears and sat back down in her seat. She began aggressively stuffing the half-eaten bread into her mouth, ignoring Shi Shen’s concerned looks and the producer who had hurried over to check on her.

If she started screaming and shouting about seeing a ghost right now, everyone would surely think she was insane.

At this moment, Nie Pengpeng was very glad she had drawn the lot to be in a group with Xie Sui.

What had happened during the blackout had made her view Xie Sui as a completely trustworthy companion.

She wouldn’t give up just like this. she wasn’t going to throw away her chance at becoming a star just because of some female ghost. She didn’t want to study a boring finance major, nor did she want to inherit the family business.

She had already encountered a ghost. If she didn’t finish filming this Supernatural Variety Show, wouldn’t all that terror she just endured be for nothing?

With reddened eyes, Nie Pengpeng stuffed the rest of the bread into her mouth.

So what if it was a ghost? Xie Sui wasn’t afraid, so next time, she wouldn’t be afraid either.

She, Nie Pengpeng, lived an upright life. She spent her allowance on charity every year and had never harmed anyone or done anything evil. She had a clear conscience, so she wasn’t afraid of ghosts.

The rest of the journey went smoothly. The bus didn’t break down again, and after driving for about half an hour, it pulled up in front of a restaurant.

It was a small restaurant similar to a farmhouse stay, consisting of three single-story buildings and a large courtyard with an area for livestock. White smoke rose slowly from the chimney; it seemed someone inside was lighting a fire to cook.

A particularly eye-catching sign glowed at the courtyard entrance, with large characters outlined in neon lights: [Shao’s Restaurant Authentic Donkey Meat Burger]

The unsuspecting guests looked through the bus windows and were startled to see a small restaurant suddenly appear in this desolate place backed by mountains.

They hadn’t expected the producer to be telling the truth; there really was a restaurant here… Could the production team have built it specifically for the show? Otherwise, who would open a restaurant in such a bleak place? With no customers coming to the door, it would probably go out of business in no time.

The producer looked a bit proud. “I’m a man of my word. I said I’d bring you to eat delicacies, and that’s exactly what we’re doing. I guarantee you’ll be satisfied! This shop only opens once a month. Our production team went to great lengths to get this reservation just so our guests could eat their fill.”

The tour bus drove directly into the small courtyard.

Shi Shen was sitting next to Nie Pengpeng in the first row near the door. The aroma wafting from the small restaurant drifted into the bus through the gaps in the door. He sniffed deeply, an enchanted expression appearing on his face. “This smell is incredible. Just from the scent alone, you can tell this food is top-tier.”

Nie Pengpeng smelled it too. Her mood, which had been a mess from the ghost scare, was instantly soothed by the tempting aroma of meat.

She silently pressed her stomach. Even though she had just finished a whole piece of bread, she seemed to be hungry again.

Others in the bus expressed similar sentiments. “It smells so good. This is the first time I’ve smelled meat this fragrant.”

Only Xie Sui seemed out of place. He covered his nose with his sleeve, a look of obvious disgust on his face.

What was that smell? It was… a bit nauseating.

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Translator’s Notes

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1. Donkey Meat Burger: A translation of ‘Lǘròu Huǒshāo’ (驴肉火烧), a popular street food from Hebei province. It consists of chopped donkey meat and green peppers served in a warm, flaky, rectangular flatbread (huǒshāo). ↩
2. Calamity of Blood: A term from Chinese physiognomy (face reading) indicating an imminent, violent injury or accident. It is often visualized by seers as a red or bloody light (xuèguāng) emanating from the forehead. ↩