Granny Wang

Granny Wang

Before his death, Han Dong was not merely a bookworm who buried himself in studies and research. He had his own hobbies too; he simply spent less time on them.

Whenever there was a long wait during an experiment, Han Dong would watch movies in the laboratory to pass the time.

Film itself was an art form. In Han Dong's view, some movies had great depth, and watching them seriously helped broaden his thinking...

Science fiction was Han Dong's favorite, while he watched relatively few horror movies.

It was not because he was afraid. He simply was not very interested in ghostly beings that science could not directly explain.

He believed they were merely products of people combining their fears with real-world species in their imaginations... not particularly worth watching.

As for the words "domestic horror film," Han Dong associated them with trashy, cash-grab movies.

The Jiuzhou film, "The Hex."

Han Dong vaguely remembered seeing a brief introduction and review of "The Hex" when he had posted his own review online.

A rookie director had spent seventy thousand yuan making this low-budget horror film, including twenty thousand yuan in medical expenses after the male lead was injured during filming... Yet the finished movie crushed domestic "thrillers" with budgets of millions or tens of millions, and could even stand toe-to-toe with horror films from other countries.

It won quite a few awards, but trouble arose on the eve of its release.

Who knew whether the production crew had truly been hexed.

Han Dong had been quite curious at the time and tried to search for it, only to find that resources for "The Hex" were incredibly scarce online—harder to find than even pornographic films.

While searching for the movie, Han Dong discovered that "The Hex," which had originally been scheduled for release, had suddenly been pulled... apparently because of some strange incidents.

One particularly significant incident had taken place at an international film festival in a certain port city.

While the movie was being screened, a female audience member became so stimulated during the viewing that she began running wildly back and forth through the theater, suffering some kind of mental problem.

Han Dong believed that films shot in a mockumentary style could resonate with viewers to some extent. That female audience member had most likely seen a similar scene as a child, causing her to be completely drawn into the movie and fall into "panic."

Since he had failed to find the movie, and the experimental interval had ended, requiring Han Dong to immediately isolate the bacteria, he later forgot about it.

What a pity! If I'd watched this movie back then, my chances of survival would be much higher.

I only remember that it was filmed in a mockumentary style... It was about two college students going to the countryside to shoot a documentary about fortune-telling, only to encounter strange events during filming.

I know nothing else.

An evil-spirit incident... It seems we really will encounter ghosts and monsters that science cannot explain along the way.

Three days. As long as we survive, we'll become the "Returners" the Knight Order spoke of.

From the information we have so far, the Mortality Rate is extremely high. One wrong decision could send us down a road of no return.

Time to get serious. Cherish this life.

It was impossible not to be nervous.

When any Lifeform faced an unknown entity it could not resist, the primal emotion of fear would surge forth... It was merely that different people had different levels of resistance and reactions to fear.

Having already experienced death once, Han Dong was able to suppress the terror in his heart to a great extent.

The team consisted of six people.

Aside from their changed clothing, each of them was equipped with a one-handed camera, a student ID, and five hundred yuan in cash.

Naturally, the Clockwork Devices on their wrists were still there, their Countdowns reset to exactly seventy-two hours—three days.

Moving together, they soon arrived before a courtyard, where many simple and honest-looking village men and women had gathered.

"Look, even foreigners have come to Granny Wang to have their fortunes told... This really brings honor to our village."

Han Dong asked around in Mandarin spoken with a Western accent.

He learned that this was Granny Wang's home, and these people were all waiting in line to have their fortunes told... However, Granny Wang was not home at the moment. She had gone to the village in the east to make a house call.

After learning this, the group quickly hurried to eastern Liba Village and found the household where Granny Wang was located.

At this moment, the ritual had reached its final stage.

A bizarre red paper effigy stood at the entrance. Granny Wang stirred the talisman water in a bowl with her finger and had a pale-faced woman drink it.

Han Dong quietly said to the captain, "Edward, there's only Half an hour left to establish a relationship with Granny Wang.

"Out of courtesy, let's wait until the ritual is finished before approaching her... I need to use the restroom. I'll be right back."

"Alright, go ahead."

There were plenty of public latrines in the village.

Of course, Han Dong was not actually heading to the restroom. Before the incident officially began, he wanted to use this time to investigate something extremely important concerning himself.

Han Dong came to a small shop and first checked the date on a calendar—November 5, 2015.

"Hello, how much does it cost to use the public phone?"

"...Make as many calls as you want. It's free." It was the shopkeeper's first time seeing a foreigner in the countryside, so she did not care about a few cents.

"Thank you."

"Your Mandarin is even more standard than mine. That's amazing."

Out of politeness, Han Dong smiled slightly and picked up the landline receiver.

Screeeech!

But the moment the receiver neared his Ears, a sharp sound erupted in his mind, making his head feel as though it were splitting apart.

Direct or indirect use of communication devices to contact the Outside World is prohibited within an incident scenario.

"Could've said so earlier..." Han Dong felt helpless.

In truth, he had wanted to use the phone to search for loopholes in the system.

He wanted to call his friends from before his death and confirm whether this movie world was the same as the world he had lived in. Even if it was not... Han Dong had planned to obtain some horror movie resources from the Outside World.

Even if they were useless in the current incident, they would surely be useful someday.

Since that route to contacting the Outside World had been sealed off, Han Dong could only use the five hundred yuan provided by the system to buy some things that "might come in handy" at the general store, stuffing them all into a Climbing the Mountain Backpack.

Just then, the ritual ended.

Granny Wang bid Farewell gesture to the old man and the family whose exorcism had been successful.

"Hello, Granny Wang. We are..."

They handed over their student IDs and introduced themselves.

A group of international students had traveled all the way to the countryside to film a documentary, so it was naturally difficult to turn them away... Of course, Granny Wang also had her own selfish motives. If she could become famous through the documentary, her business would certainly improve in the future.

Thus, Granny Wang readily agreed to let the six of them interview and follow her.

Just Then, the system's voice rang out again.

A correct relationship has been established with the important figure "Granny Wang." Please follow "Granny Wang" by vehicle to the location where the incident will occur.

During the new book period, there would be two updates a day, so everyone could stock up first... After it was put on the shelves, there would be three updates a day. I also feel the pace is a little slow, haha~~