The King of Hell Came and Went (21): The Final Scene

When Bai Cha returned, the first to breathe a sigh of relief were Yu Xiaohe and Tao Lele, who had never had much to do with him.

"Of course I don't want anyone else in this crew to get hurt!"

Tao Lele looked as though that went without saying.

"It's just that He Li is still in the psychiatric hospital... Forget it. He tried to kill An Ya before, and even got Mr. Li hurt. Better he stays there."

Yu Xiaohe had another reason as well.

"If we haven't got everyone back by the time filming wraps, will the others be in danger...? Thank goodness Bai Cha came back. He must be scared too."

Was Bai Cha scared?

Li Qing didn't think so.

He couldn't see what Bai Cha had been doing these past few days, but he could clearly tell that, since returning, Bai Cha had shed his former listlessness, as though he had found something to keep him going.

In yesterday's shoot, the imprisoned Tao Lele had died mysteriously in jail.

Before his death, this atheist had screamed, "A ghost! There's a ghost!" Yet the surveillance footage showed only Tao Lele, frantically smashing his head against the wall.

The shoot for this scene had gone unusually smoothly, without any supernatural incidents threatening anyone's safety.

Filming had reached the final scene. The only actors with appearances left were Gong Yao, An Ya, and Yu Xiaohe.

After Tao Lele was detained, An Ya, still unaware that he would soon die in prison, happily went to Gong Yao's house to tell him the good news.

"Everything we've been through lately, including the deaths of He Li and Tian Tian-it was all Tao Lele's doing!"

She hugged Gong Yao, both shaken and delighted, tears streaming down her face. "Yao, there are no ghosts in this world. Yu Xiaohe died long ago. We... we're finally free!"

Gong Yao looked up blankly. "There's no... Yu Xiaohe?"

"That's right. Tao Lele created Yu Xiaohe with projections and props. She wasn't real!"

"Not... real?"

In Gong Yao's golden eyes, beneath his tousled hair, the figure of the white-dressed female ghost still floated quietly.

Then he saw her give an inscrutable smile before vanishing from his sight.

"...None of it was real."

At last, he felt free.

With the truth revealed, the two decided to celebrate with a road trip.

Next came the scene of the two of them in the car.

To save time and money, the crew mounted cameras directly on the car to film them driving across a bridge.

After all, this scene required no additional acting. They only needed to convey the pair's relaxed, happy mood.

Beforehand, the crew working with the two had repeatedly checked that the vehicle was in good condition, afraid of a repeat of the crew member's accidental death in the explosion while filming He Li's death scene.

Once preparations were complete, Gong Yao and An Ya got into the car.

The director and another filming unit followed in their own vehicle, leaving the two actors Tao Lele and Bai Cha behind.

"We're finally almost done..." Watching the live feed transmitted from the shoot, Tao Lele was half relieved and half worried.

Bai Cha rarely spoke to him, so he sought out Li Qing, who was just as "unoccupied" as he was, and drew him into conversation.

"Mr. Li, everyone spent so long checking this time. Surely there won't be another accident?"

"Not necessarily."

Li Qing pushed up his black-framed glasses.

"Generally, by horror movie logic, once the crew abandons a safer filming method, something is bound to happen."

Tao Lele immediately stared at him in horror.

The next moment, a commotion suddenly broke out among the crew.

On the screen, Gong Yao's and An Ya's expressions abruptly changed.

"The brakes have failed! The car's still accelerating!"

Gong Yao's voice came through the monitor.

"How could this happen? We checked everything on this car!"

"Quick! Call the police!"

Everyone instantly descended into chaos.

Li Qing, however, shifted his gaze from the monitor to Bai Cha.

All this time, Bai Cha had been leisurely sipping his tea, seemingly unconcerned about Gong Yao and An Ya.

Noticing his gaze, Bai Cha looked up as well.

Then he gave Li Qing a flippant smile and raised his teacup.

Li Qing walked straight over and sat in the chair beside him.

Bai Cha clearly hadn't expected Li Qing to approach. He froze for a moment, then raised an eyebrow. "You don't look worried in the slightest."

"Neither do you," Li Qing said.

Bai Cha gave a soft snort. "Death can come at any moment. No one can escape it."

"Then did you come back ready to embrace death?" Li Qing tilted his head and asked.

Bai Cha didn't answer, merely shifting his gaze slowly toward the monitor.

"Gong Yao and An Ya really are a golden couple, aren't they? Too bad Gong Yao is selfish. No matter how much An Ya fawns over him, when it comes down to life or death, he'll abandon her to save himself... Tsk."

Bai Cha shook his head.

"This time, they can die together. How nice."

"No," Li Qing said calmly.

Bai Cha turned a hostile gaze on Li Qing.

Li Qing was watching the monitor too. Its light reflected in his glass-marble eyes, and his voice was gentle but certain, as though stating an established fact.

"Gong Yao won't leave An Ya behind. That's something I can be certain of now."

Bai Cha sneered. "How well do you know him? You're just a set assistant who only came into his life on this production."

Li Qing's eyes shifted slightly.

Then he turned to look at Bai Cha and asked slowly, "And you? Why do you think you know him?"

Bai Cha's expression stiffened.

Li Qing leaned a little closer.

"Because you've worked with Gong Yao before, haven't you? On this very film, The King of Hell Is Here, over and over... Am I right?"

Bai Cha's face went white. He shot to his feet. "How do you know? Who the hell are you?! You shouldn't be here!"

Amid the chaos, no one noticed Bai Cha's outburst.

Li Qing turned his eyes back to the monitor and said softly, "Don't worry. This time, it will end."

Bai Cha stared at Li Qing, slowly clenching his fists.

"Oh, and," Li Qing spoke again, "Gong Yao probably won't die this time."

His clear eyes reflected the man's body, taut as a black panther's, and his voice was cool and utterly devoid of emotion.

"Even after forgetting who he is, that man is still so hard to kill."

Inside the speeding car.

Gong Yao steered to the right, occasionally scraping against the railing beside them to slow the car a little.

"There's a construction site ahead!" An Ya's voice held a note of despair. "The road's blocked. If we crash into it, we're both done for!"

"There's still a chance."

Gong Yao stared into the rearview mirror, his expression growing calmer instead.

"There aren't any cars in the lane behind us now. An Ya, I'll steer a little to the left in a moment. Open the door and jump out."

An Ya said, "Are you kidding me? I..."

"You can do it." His voice was firm, with a strangely soothing quality. "Stay calm and pick your moment. You might get hurt a little, but that's all right. You'll survive."

An Ya gritted her teeth and took a deep breath. "What about you?"

Still watching the rearview mirror, Gong Yao gave her a brilliant smile.

"Of course I'll survive too. All right, now."

"You-"

"Three."

An Ya had wanted to say more, but when she heard him start counting down, she stopped wasting words, opened the car door, and kicked off her high heels.

"Two, one-"

Two figures tumbled out of the car at the same time.

An Ya rolled instinctively, then sprang swiftly to her feet. This left her bewildered for a moment; she clearly hadn't known she was capable of moving like that.

Then she quickly looked toward Gong Yao and screamed, "Watch out-"

A dump truck came roaring down the lane behind them, straight through the spot where Gong Yao's momentum was about to carry him!