Gong Yao then had someone investigate the ladder incident, but the investigation came to nothing, just as Li Qing had expected.
His assistant reported that it had merely been an accident. Gong Yao did not believe that for a second, but seeing how indifferent Li Qing seemed, he could only set the matter aside for now.
Because of what had happened with He Li, An Ya went back and had a huge argument with Meng Tian.
By the time Li Qing and Gong Yao returned to the hotel, Meng Tian was covering her face, sobbing uncontrollably.
"I didn't know he would do something like that!" she said. "I never told him anything. The only thing... oh, I remember! He read my script last time..."
Then Meng Tian shed more tears. "It's all my fault. I should have kept a closer eye on my script and never let him find it..."
Even now, she was pinning the blame on An Ya stealing her role.
An Ya's face darkened.
Spotting Gong Yao's return out of the corner of her eye, she immediately approached him and asked him to judge who was right.
Gong Yao: "..."
He draped his jacket over An Ya's shoulders and said gently, "You've been through so much today. You must be exhausted. Why don't you go back and rest for now, all right?"
After Gong Yao patiently comforted her, even someone with a heart of stone would have been moved. Sure enough, An Ya calmed down. She shot Meng Tian another glare, then returned to her room.
Li Qing, meanwhile, saw Meng Tian signal Yu Xiaohe with a look.
Yu Xiaohe paused, then immediately held her phone upright and snapped a photo of Gong Yao and An Ya before making an "okay" gesture at Meng Tian.
Li Qing: "..."
The two had timed that rather well. Although Gong Yao was usually kind to everyone, he rarely got this close to anyone.
For An Ya, though, it was truly an undeserved disaster.
There was clearly nothing between her and Gong Yao, yet she would have to suffer Bai Cha's wrath for no reason.
He gave Yu Xiaohe another look.
Noticing his gaze, Yu Xiaohe immediately looked guilty and whipped her phone out of sight.
Li Qing: "..."
This round's boss still showed no improvement whatsoever in her mental fortitude.
That night passed with everyone harboring their own anxieties.
The next day, everyone received some grim news:
He Li had gone mad while in detention the previous night.
This development caught everyone completely off guard. Even An Ya, who had intended to confront Meng Tian again, was at a loss and could only drop the matter for now.
Meng Tian arrived on set in a state of anxiety.
She had indeed incited He Li, but she had never imagined he would actually go mad like this.
...Fortunately, he had been locked up early. Otherwise, given his fanatical obsession with her, Meng Tian had no idea whether he might have gone on to hurt her himself.
It seemed she would still have to rely on Bai Cha to deal with An Ya.
Bai Cha had been holed up in his room for days without showing himself. Who knew whether that foolish girl Yu Xiaohe could be relied on...
As these thoughts tumbled through her mind, the makeup artist finished preparing her look.
This was Meng Tian's final scene.
In this scene, the heroine's best friend, Meng Tian, would be electrocuted in the bathtub while bathing.
Because the filming conditions were somewhat unusual, no one else came along except Tao Lele and Yu Xiaohe, who still had scenes to shoot.
Before they left, Gong Yao sought Li Qing out privately and repeatedly asked him to keep an eye on the set and intervene immediately if anything like Bai Cha's incident happened again.
Administrator Li Qing could not interfere in conflicts between players, but NPC Li Qing interacting with player Gong Yao and agreeing to his request was a reasonable action.
So Li Qing agreed without much hesitation.
Would something like Bai Cha's incident happen today?
Probably not.
Although Tao Lele's character was a spoiled rich kid, neither the character nor the person playing the role was scheming enough to get into a conflict with anyone.
As for Yu Xiaohe...
She was still wavering. At least for now, she would not openly fall out with anyone.
On set.
Wrapped in a bath towel, Meng Tian hesitantly approached the water-filled bathtub.
"Don't be scared. The water isn't electrified, and we've modified the wiring for that plug."
As Director Li reassured her, he sent a crew member over to demonstrate.
The crew member patiently explained, "If the voltage tester doesn't light up, there's no electricity. Look..."
He tested the water first, then the plug.
Only then did Meng Tian let out a doubtful sigh of relief and step into the bathtub.
Where she could not see, a white figure rose out of the water.
Li Qing: "..."
"Come here," he said quietly.
Hearing him speak, Meng Tian looked over in confusion.
Li Qing shook his head at her, then walked behind the crowd-with the King of Hell, who had not collected a soul in days, beside him.
"What did you call me over for?" the King of Hell complained. "I can definitely take this one!"
Li Qing said, "What you're doing is very..."
He searched his memory for an adjective that seemed to fit.
"...Sleazy."
The King of Hell: "..."
The King of Hell grumbled indignantly, "They're all the same once they become ghosts."
Li Qing fell silent.
As the human and the ghost chatted quietly, the light in the room gradually dimmed.
The chatter faded, and filming officially began.
In the bathroom, Meng Tian was enjoying a leisurely bath when the lights suddenly flickered.
Meng Tian looked up in confusion.
Just as the lights dimmed, a bloodied, blue-black face appeared almost flush against hers!
Meng Tian let out a sharp scream, dropping her phone into the water with a trail of bubbles.
And so she failed to see the phone screen light up, displaying the caller's name-
Yu Xiaohe.
The lights came back on.
Meng Tian looked around in panic, but there was nothing there.
Just a false alarm...?
She picked up her phone and found that the screen had gone black.
"Ugh, what rotten luck!"
Meng Tian angrily tossed the phone aside, only to suddenly feel a chill.
She slowly turned her head.
Directly opposite the bathtub, beneath the overhead light, the female ghost Yu Xiaohe stood in a white dress, her long hair hanging loose, watching her expressionlessly.
Meng Tian let out another terrified scream and shot to her feet!
Then her foot slipped in the bathtub, and she fell backward!
In her panic, Meng Tian grabbed the water heater's power cord-
With a snap, she actually pulled the cord free of the water heater, and it fell into the water with her.
"Aah-!"
A scream of agony rang out as Meng Tian's flesh crackled in the water.
She convulsed helplessly a few times, then slowly sank beneath the surface.
Silence fell.
"Cut!" Director Li's voice broke the silence on set.
"Great performance! All right, we just have the scene where the body is discovered, and then you're wrapped!"
The assistant hurried over.
"Tian Tian!"
"...Tian Tian?"
Meng Tian lay submerged in the water, silent and still.
Leaning against the living room wall on set, Li Qing watched a livestream go dark.
The crew crowded together, blocking the bathroom doorway.
Li Qing raised his head.
The King of Hell floated out of the bathroom, thoroughly satisfied, dragging a white figure behind him.
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