"Did something just float past?"
Lu Ban's voice in the video sounded a little tense.
The camera zoomed in as he reached the entrance to the emergency passage and looked down at the floor.
"There's a newspaper here. Strange, it wasn't here just now."
Lu Ban reached down and picked up the newspaper.
Qin Tiantian had a feeling that something terrifying would appear once the camera lifted, so she hurriedly covered her eyes with her hand and watched the screen through the gaps between her fingers.
"The newspaper describes the incident from back then. It looks like there was more to the fire here than meets the eye."
Lu Ban briefly flipped through the newspaper, then headed toward the stage.
"The fire was caused by the electrical switchboard backstage catching fire. Let's go take a look."
Qin Tiantian steeled herself and looked at the screen, though instead of watching Lu Ban's video directly, she looked at the comments in her own livestream.
That woman in red just now was obviously much more suspicious, hey!
I paused it to take a look. You can't make out her face at all, only that she's wearing a red dress. Is this the legendary red-clothed female ghost?
Putting on an act and pretending to be ghosts. The exploration was still fine at first, but now that this kind of scene has appeared, you can basically tell it's a staged shoot with a script.
Is there anything scary ahead? Any good brothers who've gone in to check it out?
Chuanbao, how about we end the stream? Watching videos like this in the middle of the night isn't good for your health.
"You—you don't have to worry about me. I'm suuuuper brave~~~~."
As she spoke, she glanced at Lu Ban's video, and even the final note of her voice began to tremble.
What Qin Tiantian saw were those fused mannequin dolls. In the dim surroundings, illuminated by the flashlight, they possessed a strange otherworldliness, as though they weren't props at all, but human limbs.
As the flashlight moved, Qin Tiantian saw the electrical switchboard.
But at the same moment she saw the switchboard, her gaze was drawn to a mannequin doll illuminated at the edge of the flashlight's beam.
Unlike the ordinary mannequin dolls, which only had eerie eyes, this one seemed to have a human face!
"!!!"
Qin Tiantian watched as Lu Ban's flashlight and camera drew closer and closer to that human face. Her own head moved farther and farther from the screen until her back was pressed against the headboard and she curled into a ball.
"There doesn't seem to be anything wrong here."
Lu Ban's sudden voice made Qin Tiantian cry out, but she quickly covered her mouth again.
Because she had heard a piano note.
One note, then two, then three. The goosebumps on Qin Tiantian's body grew denser with each note. Every sound was like fingernails scraping at her skull, making her tremble uncontrollably.
The camera turned toward the piano on the stage.
There, sitting in front of the piano, was a performer.
The performer's face looked as though it had been burned by raging flames. Dark-red flesh and gray-white bones showed through his charred skin. He wore a tattered formal suit, and his mangled fingers played smoothly across the black and white keys.
The melody was unnerving yet carried a certain weight. It seized Qin Tiantian's ears in an instant and drew her unconsciously into a trance.
In the video, Lu Ban clearly realized that something was wrong and walked toward the performer.
The camera switched to a panoramic view of the theater lobby. The audience could see Lu Ban heading toward the piano, but beside him, several mannequin dolls with eerie eyes slowly climbed to their feet and tried to stop him.
Qin Tiantian stared blankly at the scene. She could no longer think.
Fortunately, Lu Ban suddenly began singing "Good Luck." The cheerful melody drowned out the piano and allowed Lu Ban to start running. With several swings of his crowbar, he smashed the mannequin dolls apart.
"Huh? 'Good Luck'?"
Only then did Qin Tiantian come to her senses. Yet in that brief moment, her face had already ended up pressed against the screen, as though she were trying to squeeze herself into the computer.
At the end of the video, Lu Ban only had time to escape from Jiangcheng Grand Theater. He hadn't dealt with the performer.
"This place is very dangerous. I advise everyone not to come exploring out of curiosity. Of course, if I get the chance, I'll come back after making proper preparations. I hope everyone can follow me and support me with a triple interaction. See you next time."
Even after narrowly escaping with his life, Lu Ban hadn't forgotten to ask for followers. The video ended completely.
As the video ended, the comments in Qin Tiantian's livestream exploded.
Was that last thing a special effect? It couldn't really have been a ghost, right?
That's it? That's it? That's it?
At the beginning, I thought this was a video exploring a haunted house. In the middle, I thought it was a sponsored food-streaming video. I never expected it to end up being a promotional video for a special-effects studio.
How many years has this UP been studying animated special effects? That looked incredibly realistic!
Seriously, when the piano started playing just now, I really did space out for a moment. That music really did seem a little sinister.
To be honest, I don't think this video works. It had such a good suspenseful atmosphere at first, so why did a few monsters suddenly show up at the end? The effects are very realistic, but it just doesn't make sense when you think about it.
Still, this UP's video style is pretty good too. Just based on the effects in that final segment, I think it's excellent. At least it's better than that so-called sci-fi blockbuster Fortress that came out before. Followed!
". It wasn't scary at all!"
Qin Tiantian crawled over to the desk and forced a laugh into the microphone.
"E-especially at the end. I laughed as soon as that monster appeared. It wasn't scary at all!"
She puffed out her nonexistent chest.
To be honest, Lu Ban's exploration at the beginning really did seem plausible. The dilapidated buildings, somewhat eerie scenes, and props all stirred fear in the hearts of those watching.
But the food-streaming segment in the middle had truly diluted much of the horror. Still, the appearance of the red-clothed figure later, along with the newspaper and the mannequin dolls near the electrical switchboard, was all quite frightening—right up until the piano started playing.
It was the final segment, where the mannequin dolls fought Lu Ban, that changed the entire video's feel. At least Qin Tiantian was certain that part had been made with special effects. Once she knew it was an effect, the video was no longer scary.
But still.
Qin Tiantian thought about it. The strange noises she had made while watching the video had probably been recorded by some nosy clip channel. Maybe when she woke up early tomorrow morning, Old Days Video Network would be full of clipped videos of her screaming.
More importantly, the video itself was pretty good. Although it was frightening, it wasn't too terrifying, disgusting, or unhinged. The contrast created by the special effects accompanied by "Good Luck" at the end was actually quite funny. She wouldn't mind watching it a second time herself, but she was even more eager to watch other people view the video.
"I can't be the only one enjoying this blessing!"
Qin Tiantian forwarded it to the small group chat for streamers she belonged to, just as Li Bai Tu had done back then.
After forwarding it, she got up to wash up.
Holding her toothbrush, she looked into the mirror with her shoulders drooping.
Suddenly, Qin Tiantian had the strange feeling that something was wrong with the mirror.
She leaned closer and discovered that there seemed to be dark-yellow grease around the edge of the mirror.
". No, it can't be."
Qin Tiantian shook off the images in her mind, washed up at lightning speed, and hid under the covers.
But she tossed and turned, and even after two hours, Qin Tiantian still couldn't fall asleep.
". No, this won't do. I'm going to make that guy take responsibility!"
The wrongdoer had a head, and the debtor had an owner. She climbed out of bed, changed her clothes, and prepared to go find Lu Ban.
*
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