Every Grievance Has Its Origin, Every Debt Has Its Master

"Did something just float past just now?"

Lu Ban's voice in the video sounded a little tense.

The perspective zoomed in, and he arrived at the entrance of the safety passage, looking down at the ground.

"There's a newspaper here, weird, it wasn't here just now."

Lu Ban reached out and picked up the newspaper.

Qin Tiantian always felt that something terrifying would appear after the perspective was raised, so she quickly covered her eyes with her hands, only looking at the screen through her fingers.

"The newspaper talks about the incident from that year. It seems there's more to the fire here."

Lu Ban briefly flipped through the newspaper and then walked towards the stage.

"The cause of the fire was a short circuit in the backstage power distribution box. Let's go check it out."

Qin Tiantian mustered up her courage and looked at the screen, but instead of directly watching Lu Ban's video, she looked at the bullet comments in her own live stream.

[That woman in red just now was clearly more problematic, hey!]

[I paused and took a look, her face is completely unclear, I can only tell it's a red dress, is this the legendary red-clothed female ghost?]

[Putting on a show. It was fine during the exploration, but now that scenes like this are appearing, it can be basically concluded that this is a scripted staged performance.]

[Is there anything intense ahead? Are there any bros who have already gone in to check?]

[Chuan Bao, how about we just end the stream? Watching these videos late at night isn't good for your health.]

"D-don't you guys worry about me, I'm super brave~~~~~."

She said this while looking at Lu Ban's video, her voice trembling on the last syllable.

What Qin Tiantian saw were those merged mannequin dolls. In the dim environment, illuminated by the flashlight, they exuded a kind of alien texture, as if they weren't props but human limbs.

As the flashlight moved, Qin Tiantian saw the power distribution box.

But at the same moment she saw the power distribution box, her gaze was drawn to a mannequin doll illuminated at the edge of the flashlight beam.

Unlike the ordinary mannequin dolls with only creepy eyes, this mannequin doll seemed to have a human face!

"!!!"

Qin Tiantian watched as Lu Ban's flashlight and camera got closer and closer to that human face, and her own head moved further and further away from the screen. In the end, her entire back was pressed against the headboard, and she curled up into a ball.

"There doesn't seem to be anything wrong here."

Lu Ban's sudden voice made Qin Tiantian yelp, but she quickly covered her mouth.

Because she heard a piano melody.

One note, two notes, three notes. Qin Tiantian's goosebumps intensified with each note, as if they were scratching her scalp, making her tremble uncontrollably.

The camera turned to the piano on the stage.

There, sitting in front of the piano, was a performer.

The performer's face looked like it had been burned by intense fire. Charred skin revealed dark red flesh and grayish-white bones. He wore a tattered tuxedo, and his damaged fingers played fluently on the black and white keys.

The melody was heart-stopping and carried a sense of gravitas, instantly capturing Qin Tiantian's ears, making her subconsciously immersed in it.

In the video, Lu Ban clearly realized something and walked towards the performer.

The camera switched to a panoramic view of the theater lobby. The audience could see Lu Ban heading towards the piano. But beside him, several of those mannequin dolls with creepy eyes slowly began to crawl up, attempting to block Lu Ban.

Qin Tiantian watched this scene blankly, unable to think.

Fortunately, Lu Ban suddenly started singing "Good Luck." The cheerful melody drowned out the piano music and allowed Lu Ban to run. With a few pries of the crowbar, he defeated those mannequin dolls.

"Huh? Good Luck?"

Qin Tiantian finally came to her senses. But in just that short moment, Qin Tiantian's face was already pressed against the screen, as if she wanted to merge herself into the computer.

At the end of the video, Lu Ban only managed to escape the Jiangcheng Grand Theater and did not deal with the performer.

"This place is very dangerous. I advise everyone not to come here to explore out of curiosity. Of course, if I have the chance, I will come back better prepared in the future. I hope everyone can follow and give me a three-hit combo for support. See you next time."

Lu Ban, having survived, hadn't forgotten to ask for follows. The video ended completely.

As the video ended, the bullet comments in Qin Tiantian's live stream exploded.

[Was the last part special effects? It can't be a real ghost, right?]

[That's it? That's it? That's it?]

[Seeing the beginning, I thought it was a video exploring a haunted house. Seeing the middle, I thought it was a mukbang video for sponsorship. I didn't expect it to be a promotional video for a special effects studio at the end?]

[How many years has this UP owner studied animation special effects? They're very realistic!]

[Don't say it, when the piano started playing just now, I was actually a little dazed. This music does seem a bit eerie.]

[Honestly, I don't think this video is good. The suspense atmosphere was fine at the beginning, why did monsters appear at the end? Although the special effects are realistic, it just doesn't feel right when you think about it.]

[But this UP owner's video style is still okay. Just for the special effects in the last segment, I think it's pretty good. At least it's better than that sci-fi blockbuster Fortress that was released before. Followed!]

". It's not scary at all!"

Qin Tiantian crawled to the table and forced a smile at the microphone.

"Esp-especially at the end, I laughed when that monster appeared. It wasn't scary at all!"

She puffed out her chest, which had nothing to hold it up.

To be honest, Lu Ban's exploration earlier had seemed quite convincing. The dilapidated buildings and the somewhat eerie props and scenes genuinely evoked fear from within.

However, the "eating break" in the middle had really diluted the scary atmosphere. But then the appearance of the person in red, the newspapers, and the mannequin near the electrical panel were quite frightening, right up until the piano music started.

It was just that final segment, the fight between the mannequin and Lu Ban, that made the whole video feel different. At least, Qin Tiantian felt that this part was definitely special effects. Once she knew it was special effects, the film wasn't scary anymore.

But still...

Qin Tiantian thought about it. The strange noises she made while watching the video were probably definitely recorded by the diligent recording crew. She figured that as soon as she woke up tomorrow morning, there would be clips of her screaming on the Old Days Video Network.

More importantly, the video itself was of decent quality. While it was scary, it wasn't excessively terrifying, disgusting, or morbid. The ending, accompanied by Good Luck's special effects, provided a rather contrasting comedic element. She wouldn't mind watching it again herself, but she was more than happy to watch others watch this video.

"I can't be the only one enjoying this blessing!"

Qin Tiantian shared it with her streamer group chat, just like Li Bai Tu had done back then.

After sharing it, she got up to wash up.

Holding her toothbrush, she looked in the mirror, her shoulders slumped.

Suddenly, Qin Tiantian had a strange feeling that something was off about the mirror.

She leaned closer and discovered that there seemed to be a greasy, yellowish stain on the mirror's edge.

"N-no way…"

Qin Tiantian shook off the images in her mind and quickly finished washing up, hiding under the covers.

But she tossed and turned, and after two hours, Qin Tiantian still couldn't fall asleep.

"…No, I need to hold that guy responsible!"

Every debt has its debtor, every wrong its perpetrator. She got up, changed her clothes, and prepared to go find Lu Ban.

*

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