Du Yan touched the pistol at his waist; the magazine was filled with specially made gold bullets. He gestured for Su Yu to follow.
The two pushed open the heavy soundproof door of the theater.
The screen is lit.
This is strange, because the power to the cinema had already been cut off, suspected of being involved in a Supernatural event.
Even stranger, the film playing on the screen was a black and white movie, and the scene in the movie was exactly the theater they were in. The camera seemed to be shooting from the perspective of the projection window on the second floor, and you could see the empty seats.
"Wait a minute..." Su Yu suddenly grabbed Du Yan's arm. "It seems like... there are audience members on the screen."
Du Yan squinted and then noticed that there were indeed people in the corner seats of the theater on the screen, while in reality there was no one around them.
On the screen, the few "audience members" all sat upright, their heads tilted back slightly, as if they were watching the movie with complete concentration.
Strangely, the screen within the screen—that is, the movie within the movie—only showed static.
"Record it." Du Yan immediately turned on his personal camera, "Pay close attention to the correspondence between the screen and reality."
Su Yu nodded and turned on the camera as well, filming from another angle.
Just then, the scene on the screen suddenly switched to a close-up: a middle-aged man turned his head and looked directly into the camera—that is, directly into the real-life Du Yan and Su Yu.
The man's lips slowly parted, revealing a sinister smile.
Su Yu was startled and said in a trembling voice, "I've seen this person before. He's Wang Zhiqiang, one of the people who went missing here."
Du Yan felt a chill run down his spine. According to the Investigation Bureau's records, Wang Zhiqiang was probably the first person to disappear from Starlight Cinema. And now, he had actually appeared in the movie!
The scene on the screen changed again, now showing a young girl shaking her head frantically, her mouth opening and closing as if screaming, but no sound came out. Then the camera panned, and she disappeared from the screen.
"It's another missing person, college student Lin Man." Su Yu's voice began to tremble. "It's confirmed, this is a Supernatural event. The moviegoers in this theater have inexplicably entered the film. This should be an important clue; I should be able to write a decent mission report, right?"
Du Yan's expression was grave. "Forget about the report. Now that it's confirmed to be Supernatural event, let's retreat immediately."
Su Yu nodded in agreement. The Investigation Bureau sent these two investigators over precisely to determine the authenticity of the Supernatural event, so as to avoid making a false alarm and wasting the Investigation Bureau's human resources.
In fact, the Investigation Bureau has also emphasized that after confirming the authenticity of a Supernatural event, investigators should try their best to explore the murder pattern of this Supernatural event.
But Du Yan and Su Yu dismissed these remarks as mere empty talk from their leader.
They are just ordinary people; it's already quite an achievement for them to survive Supernatural events. Asking them to explore the patterns of murder is simply asking the impossible.
Professional issues should be handled by professionals; Du Yan and Su Yu haven't lived long enough.
Just as the two were quickly backing away, the screen suddenly switched to a live feed of the theater, and the two of them appeared in the frame.
Even more terrifying is that the "Du Yan" and "Su Yu" characters on screen made the exact same movements as the two real people.
Su Yu turned around in alarm and glanced behind her. "Are we already in a movie, like those other people?"
Du Yan pinched his arm sharply. "Calm down, don't worry about anything, don't look at anything, let's continue retreating."
As soon as they finished speaking, the two of them rushed out of the movie theater at almost breakneck speed.
A terrifying scene unfolded: the theater doors were right there, yet no matter how fast they ran, they couldn't reach them.
"Sizzle--"
The screen suddenly went completely black, then a blinding light shone on, and a man wearing a director's vest appeared on the screen.
Du Yan and Su Yu heard the sound, turned around, and immediately gasped – the man had no face; where there should be facial features, there was only blank space!
"Cut!" the director suddenly shouted, his voice booming from the theater's surround sound system. "The two new actors aren't ready yet! Makeup artist! Script supervisor!"
Du Yan was drenched in cold sweat. To his horror, he discovered that more than a dozen staff members had suddenly appeared in the theater—some pushing costume racks, some holding reflectors, all dressed in old-fashioned movie uniforms, and none of them had faces.
"Look!" Su Yu screamed, pointing to the seats. Sometime during the day, "audience members" had appeared in the empty seats in the corners, all of them looking up. Du Yan recognized several of them; they were all faces on the missing persons list.
"Hurry, don't let them surround us!" Du Yan grabbed Su Yu's wrist, only to find that the theater door had completely disappeared, replaced by a wall covered with movie posters.
Then the scene on the screen changed again. "Du Yan" and "Su Yu" in the movie turned their heads with eerie smiles on their faces.
In reality, Du Yan felt a wave of dizziness and found his head uncontrollably turning towards the screen.
"Don't look at the screen!" he shouted, closing his eyes and groping to Su Yu up.
The two stumbled into the bathroom. Du Yan turned on the tap to wash his face and clear his head, but instead, a dark red liquid came out.
In the mirror, a faceless man in an old-fashioned suit stood behind him, his hand on his shoulder.
Du Yan turned around abruptly—but there was no one behind him.
"Do you think we've already stepped into a movie?" Su Yu said, leaning against the wall, utterly dejected.
"Perhaps." Du Yan forced himself to remain calm, then pulled a cell phone out of his pocket.
This phone is the latest development by the Investigation Bureau, and its materials contain a sufficient amount of gold, so the signal will not be completely lost even in a Supernatural environment.
Su Yu also took out her phone; the battery was full, but the signal was only one bar. "We need to tell the Investigation Bureau everything about this place. This is our only hope for survival. Once Consultant Wen or Captain Feng comes to the cinema, we'll be saved."
Du Yan nodded, then began to embellish the text, deliberately exaggerating the severity of the situation.
After editing the message, he clicked send.
The message was sent, but the dialog box keeps spinning, obviously because of a poor signal, making the transmission slow, and it might even fail to send.
Du Yan didn't want to think about the "send failed" scenario, as it could easily affect his mood.
Just then, footsteps came from outside the restroom, slow and heavy, as if someone was dragging something heavy.
The doorknob began to turn, and Du Yan and Su Yu held their breath, shrinking into the cubicle.
The door opened, but no one came in; only a roll of film slid in through the crack, winding its way across the floor like a snake.
Du Yan and Su Yu hurriedly took cover, and even fired a few shots.
The golden bullets did have some effect, but the number of bullets was limited. Before they ran out of bullets, they had to find a relatively safe location to wait for rescue.
"Let's go to the screening room," Du Yan whispered.
"Why are we going to the screening room?" Su Yu asked.
Du Yan countered, "Is there anywhere else we can go?"
Su Yu choked, realizing that it seemed to be true.
Du Yan fired a few more shots at the film rolls on the ground. The two took the opportunity to slip out of the restroom. The corridor was much longer than expected. Instead of posters, the walls on both sides were covered with portraits of people, who showed expressions of fear, confusion, and even eeriness.
As they reached the end of the corridor, Su Yu suddenly screamed. Du Yan turned around and saw that her calves were entangled in "film reels" extending from the floor, which were dragging her toward a picture frame on the wall.
"Help me!" Su Yu struggled, her fingers scratching the floor until they bled.
Du Yan tried desperately to pull her, but found that he couldn't budge her at all. Instead, he almost got tangled in the film himself.
Su Yu gritted her teeth, let go of Du Yan's hand, and even pushed him in the opposite direction.
Du Yan turned and ran away. There was no melodramatic "You go first" or "No! We'll go together!" There were no sentimental last words or farewells. During the training at the Investigation Bureau, he was repeatedly told not to waste time and not to squander any chance of survival.
Su Yu's body was gradually pulled into the picture frame, and within the frame on the wall, a blurry image of Su Yu was gradually becoming clear.
Du Yan rushed to the stairwell and saw that the door to the projection room was ajar, with the sound of the machine running coming from inside.
Pushing open the door, you'll find an old-fashioned projector inside, running on its own without human intervention.
Du Yan wasn't sure if this thing was the source of the Supernatural events, and he didn't dare to gamble, so he didn't touch it.
I lingered warily in the screening room for a short while, but the film reels didn't follow, nor did the strange audience members or the film crew appear.
The screening room appears to be safe for the time being.
Du Yan dared not relax for a moment. He took out his phone and glanced at it again. The message he had just edited had already been sent.
He breathed a sigh of relief, constantly telling himself that the Investigation Bureau would send someone to rescue him soon, as long as he could hold on until then...
Office of the Director of the Investigation Bureau.
"How can there be so many Supernatural events that urgently need to be addressed?" Feng Qian flipped through the field mission list, looking completely bewildered.
Cheng Linzhou looked helpless. "There's nothing we can do about it. Supernatural events, big and small, are breaking out all over the country. When you add them all up nationwide, it naturally becomes a huge number. You're one of only two Ghost Tamer in the Investigation Bureau, so we can only ask that you do more of the work."
Feng Qian's eyelids twitched. "You don't expect me to handle all of this by myself, do you? Don't forget I'm also in charge of the 'Lucky Casino' business."
Cheng Linzhou shook his head. "I'm not a slave owner, I don't just fleece every sheep I catch."
"These unresolved Supernatural incidents, as long as they are not expected to spread in the near future, do not require immediate attention. Simply send people to cordon off the area and prevent the public from approaching the location."
"Only Supernatural events with obvious wandering and spreading characteristics will prompt the Ghost Tamer to take action, and serious cases will be handled personally by Wen Jingyan, so you don't need to worry."
Feng Qian breathed a sigh of relief; as long as he wouldn't be worked to death, that was good.
The Starlight Cinema in Lan City is one of the Supernatural events that is unlikely to spread in the near future. Although two investigators are trapped inside, the matter can only be dealt with later according to the priority order of Supernatural events.
"How is the situation at 'Lucky Casino' progressing?" Cheng Linzhou asked.
Feng Qian's eyes flickered; in fact, he had already gained a great deal.
It wasn't about increasing his betting success rate or cracking the casino's operating rules; rather, he found that the casino itself was a perfect sanctuary for him.
He could use that die to enter the Lucky Casino, avoid other Supernatural events, and even resolve his current predicament at the gambling table, as he had done before when dealing with a Supernatural incident.
Of course, there is a price to pay for doing this; it requires mandatory participation in the gambling.
But he has Good-Luck Koi Constitution and hasn't had a major setback yet.
When questioned by the bureau chief, Feng Qian harbored his own selfish motives; he genuinely disliked the bureau chief and simply said, "There has been no progress. All the volunteers who entered the casino have lost everything."
Cheng Linzhou had no doubts; the success rate for Supernatural events was always extremely low.
However, he also thought of Feng Qian's lucky constitution, so he tentatively asked, "Little Feng, how about participating in the Investigation Bureau's Ghost Tamer experiment? After all, you've always been lucky. Once you successfully control an even more powerful Fierce Ghost..."
"No need!" Feng Qian hurriedly interrupted Cheng Linzhou, "I think it's fine as it is."
Seeing Cheng Linzhou's displeasure, Feng Qian didn't mince words. "Director, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. No one can guarantee my luck will always be this good."
Cheng Linzhou frowned, thought for a moment, and then gave up the idea of having Feng Qian participate in the experiment. If Feng Qian died on the experimental table, it would be a huge loss.
"Alright, go ahead and do your thing. I'll call you if I need anything."
"OK."
Feng Qian turned and left the office, his face instantly darkening where Cheng Linzhou couldn't see him.
Having such an unreliable, self-righteous, and occasionally eccentric fool as a leader really tests one's patience.
It wasn't just Cheng Linzhou; ever since the Black Fog Incident, all the leaders in Jing City seemed to have become like this—stubborn, foolish, and selfish, more like hypocritical parasites and slave owners than public servants.
Feng Qian didn't have much influence or power; he only attracted a lot of people who secretly tried to win him over because he was a Ghost Tamer.
He thus came into contact with some secrets, such as... gold.
Since Wen Jingyan revealed the important information that "gold can ward off the Supernatural," the strategic value of gold has been rising steadily.
Gold was added to the building materials of the Investigation Bureau Headquarters. However, according to Feng Qian, the gold layer on the walls, floors, and ceilings of the Investigation Bureau's laboratory is much thinner than it was originally designed. The missing gold was replaced with other metals.
Gold is highly malleable; even if the gold layer is thinned, it can still ward off the Supernatural, but the whole gold layer becomes fragile.
Even the gold content in the researchers' special protective suits, the Golden Containers used to imprison the Fierce Ghost, and the special bullet weapons used by field investigators was reduced, but the gold consumption on the acceptance report did not decrease; on the contrary, it increased significantly.
Where did all the missing gold go? It's so damn hard to guess!