Whose Gaze

He took out the self-heating rice, opened the package, and poured the rice, side dishes, and seasoning packets into a plastic bowl. He added water, then opened the self-heating pack and placed it at the bottom of the outer packaging bowl. He added water, placed the plastic bowl on top, and closed the lid.

Now all that was left was to wait for his meal.

Some classmates might ask, "In such a strange and unpredictable place, can Lu Ban even eat?"

The answer is yes, he absolutely can.

Man is iron, rice is steel; no one can stop Lu Ban from eating.

While waiting for the rice to cook and become edible on its own, Lu Ban shone his flashlight around the main hall.

Due to the holes in the dome, the main hall of the theater was actually more heavily eroded than the corridors and dressing rooms. This was especially true of the area directly beneath the largest opening.

Apart from the pristine stage, the rest of the floor was covered in a thick layer of moss, making it very slippery and easy to fall. This dampness also spread from the damaged ceiling, where some plants grew, but only near the holes.

As night fell, the temperature dropped, but Lu Ban didn't feel cold.

"This tastes pretty good."

Lu Ban picked up his chopsticks and popped a piece of beef brisket coated in tomato sauce into his mouth, savoring it.

The self-heating rice wasn't actually very hot, just enough to steam the cooked rice. The beef brisket had been prepared beforehand, and the rich sauce masked any industrial production flavors. For instant food, it tasted quite good.

Eating his meal and drinking his cola, Lu Ban felt as though he wasn't on a secret realm exploration, but rather a mukbang streamer in the wilderness.

"Maybe I could actually try this next time?"

Lu Ban thought of some outdoor eating vloggers whose videos featured them eating better food in the wild than in restaurants. If he were to do a mukbang in such a terrifying and eerie place, eating a lavish meal, would he also be popular?

While eating, he also watched some videos he had downloaded to his phone. The signal in this barren area was practically nonexistent, but thankfully, Lu Ban had come prepared.

He was watching paranormal investigation videos.

The video was about exploring a hotel rumored to be haunted. He didn't know if it had eighty stars, but from the outside, the building looked extremely dilapidated. Combined with the dark green "underworld" filter and the narrator's spooky voice-over, it did have a certain eerie feel.

As he watched the video, Lu Ban ate the rice in his bowl.

When the streamer's flashlight beam swept across and illuminated a human face, Lu Ban gasped.

"So scary!"

He couldn't help but take a large bite of rice.

The video ended without revealing the hotel's actual problem.

He watched, but it felt like he didn't fully watch.

Lu Ban finished his meal, gulped down his cola, and put the trash into a bag, setting it aside. He checked his phone; it was only 8 PM.

Picking up his flashlight and crowbar, Lu Ban prepared to check the situation in the control room on the other side.

Habitually, he shone his flashlight towards the control room on the other side and saw the mannequin figures, whose eyes had been drawn on, still standing by the window, monitoring Lu Ban's every move in the theater's main hall.

He then shone his light on the control room directly opposite the stage. It was empty.

Lu Ban also shone his light on the window of the control room he had visited earlier.

He saw that in the previously dark control room, behind the broken glass, the mannequin figure with its black, strange eyes was standing there.

Thump—

Lu Ban felt his heartbeat suddenly become incredibly loud, blood rushing to his eardrums, making his ears ache. Then, he felt as though everything was receding from him. His gaze fixed on the faces of the mannequin figures, and he met those eerie eyes for a moment.

"It's starting..."

Lu Ban suppressed the various imaginations and speculations surging within him.

At this point, he felt nothing to be afraid of anymore.

There really were ghosts in the Jiangcheng Grand Theater.

If Lu Ban hadn't known what was causing the disturbances, he might have worried about being crushed by a falling steamroller. But now that he understood ghosts were the cause, Lu Ban had a clear enemy.

Moreover, based on what he had seen and heard, Lu Ban quickly drew some conclusions about the ghosts.

"The ghosts in this theater can interfere with reality. Whether it's making the piano play music or moving the mannequin figures, they have to rely on physical means."

"The ghosts here aren't malevolent spirits that immediately appear to slaughter when they see a living person. Either their power isn't strong enough to significantly affect me, or they have other motives. In any case, if these ghosts were extremely dangerous, I would have already died upon entering the control room."

"The mission objective is to find the performer. Since there's only one piano here, I'm certain I'll eventually find the performer on this stage. There's no need to explore other areas."

With this information, Lu Ban sat down again.

Although the mission had an exploration evaluation, Lu Ban felt that as an ordinary person with no strength, exploring the Jiangcheng Grand Theater at night was not a wise choice.

Wasn't it more enjoyable to sit here and watch videos to pass the time?

He took out his phone again and continued watching another cached video.

This video was about a woman who thought her house was haunted, so she invited two "professional exorcists." The two men installed surveillance cameras in the house and slept in a guest room. As a result, they managed to capture footage of the female homeowner twisting her head and crawling on the wall with her limbs.

As he watched the woman in her pajamas slowly crawl up the wall like a spider, her head twisted around, Lu Ban distinctly heard a thudding sound, like something rolling onto the floor, coming from the main hall entrance behind him.

He paused the video and turned his head.

The area far from the dome's opening was very dark, especially the entrance. Lu Ban only saw the situation clearly by the light of his flashlight.

The entrance was empty, with only the dense darkness outside. Even the beam of his flashlight couldn't penetrate it.

Nothing.

No.

Lu Ban had an idea, and shone his flashlight upwards, illuminating the control room directly facing the stage.

The mannequin in the tattered formal wear had appeared there at some point, its face pressed against the still-intact glass, its distorted, eerie eyes staring directly at Lu Ban.

Lu Ban's breath hitched.

The deeper it got into the night, the more restless these things became.

Lu Ban picked up the crowbar and used his flashlight to check the mannequin dolls in the other two control rooms.

Then he discovered that the mannequin doll in front of the window of the first control room was gone!

"Do these mannequin dolls move on their own at night?"

Lu Ban guessed.

"Are the performers among these mannequin dolls? Were they victims of the fire, their grudges keeping them at the accident scene?"

"What exactly happened back then?"

As he pondered these questions, his flashlight swept across the theater lobby.

The circular beam of light passed over the second floor, the VIP boxes, the back rows, the front rows, the safety exit entrances, and backstage.

Just then, Lu Ban suddenly noticed that someone in a red dress seemed to be standing at the safety exit entrance!