Xiao Jingxi stood in a small grove, glaring at Xie Mi's avatar on his phone, his brows furrowed tightly enough to crush a fly.
His avatar and Xie Mi's overlapped perfectly, yet there was no one around him. He could not even see her phone.
Even if she had thrown her phone on the ground and run off, there should at least have been some sign of it, right?
[Xiao Jingxi]: @Director Niu Is the location tracking broken?
[Director Niu]: The locations are accurate. If anything goes wrong, I'll notify you immediately.
[Xiao Jingxi]: Then Xie Mi is breaking the rules. I don't see her.
[Director Niu]: She hasn't broken any rules.
[Xiao Jingxi]: ?
[Qiu Chengye]: What's going on? Did you not look carefully enough? Send a video so I can see.
Xiao Jingxi quickly uploaded a video.
He filmed a full sweep of his surroundings, even checking overhead, but the entire frame contained nothing but trees and leaves. Where was Xie Mi?
[Liu Woxing]: What about up in the trees?
[Xiao Jingxi]: Already checked. She's not there.
[Liu Woxing]: That's strange.
The viewers in Xiao Jingxi's livestream were equally puzzled.
[Wait, where is she?]
[You can see this whole area at a glance. There's no sign of Xie Mi anywhere.]
[She must've hidden her phone and run off. She doesn't even have it on her. How is that not against the rules?]
[I told you ages ago, Xie Mi's a total nutcase...]
Xiao Jingxi was stubborn, too. Despite finding nothing, he insisted on searching, turning the whole area upside down as though he wanted to lift every leaf and look beneath it.
Eventually, Director Niu could not resist giving him a hint in the group chat.
[Director Niu]: Half the time is already gone, and you haven't found anyone. Try switching targets, or you'll finish last. @Xiao Jingxi
Xiao Jingxi was furious, but there was nothing he could do. He had to switch targets.
This time, he set his sights on Shen Yeqing.
Interestingly, Shen Yeqing was also the person farthest from him.
[He's already running out of time. Why is he still going after whoever's farthest away?]
[I can understand him going after Xie Mi because he hates her, but why Mr. Shen?]
[Don't try to figure out a handsome guy's mind. He can catch whoever he wants. Why does he need a reason?]
[I think there is a reason. Mr. Shen and Xie Mi agreed earlier to pick each other. Could Xiao Jingxi want them to lose so they won't get a chance to choose?]
[LOL, why would Best Actor Xiao do that? He'd love nothing more than for Xie Mi to pick someone else.]
To save time, Xiao Jingxi broke into another all-out sprint. By the time he reached Shen Yeqing's location, he was visibly tired.
But another problem arose.
[Xiao Jingxi]: @Shen Yeqing Mr. Shen, I don't see you.
[Shen Yeqing]: That's the idea.
[Xiao Jingxi]: ...?
Xiao Jingxi lowered his phone and stared silently at the tranquil lake before him.
[Xu Shuangrong]: Unless I'm seeing things... Mr. Shen's location seems to be on the lake?
[Qiu Chengye]: Does this lake have boats? If I'd known, I would've gotten on one too.
[Xiao Jingxi]: No.
[Xiao Jingxi]: There aren't any boats.
[Liu Woxing]: Huh?
This time, everyone fell silent.
[Why is this getting creepy in broad daylight? Xie Mi disappearing was one thing, but now Mr. Shen's vanished into thin air too?]
[Holy shit, it's a horror show.]
[Did Best Actor Xiao run into a ghost?]
Just as the live comments began veering toward supernatural explanations, Director Niu posted another time reminder in the group chat.
[Director Niu]: Friendly reminder: only ten minutes remain. If you still can't find anyone, you'll finish last. @Xiao Jingxi
Left with no choice, Xiao Jingxi gritted his teeth and switched targets again.
This time, he had no time to pick the farthest target. He headed straight for Liu Woxing, who was closest.
He successfully found Liu Woxing in the lakeside pavilion.
[Director Niu]: Ding! Liu Woxing has been found. She now joins the [Ghost] team to search alongside Best Actor Xiao.
They split up. Liu Woxing would look for Xu Shuangrong nearby, while Xiao Jingxi would search for Qiu Chengye, who was farthest away.
Soon, Liu Woxing found Xu Shuangrong behind some bushes.
[Director Niu]: Ding! Xu Shuangrong has been found. She now joins the [Ghost] team to search alongside Best Actor Xiao.
By then, Xiao Jingxi was closing in on Qiu Chengye.
After all that sprinting, Xiao Jingxi was beginning to run out of steam. But as a real man who never admitted defeat, he could only grit his teeth and keep running.
Then Qiu Chengye's avatar suddenly began moving.
[Here we go! The chase is on!]
[Qiu Chengye spends all day partying, but he's pretty fast.]
[Best Actor Xiao's face has gone white. Can he even keep running?]
On-screen, Qiu Chengye sprinted with everything he had, with Xiao Jingxi charging after him, like two wild men tearing through the jungle.
Just as he was about to be caught, Qiu Chengye turned onto a bridge, and Xiao Jingxi followed close behind.
Director Niu's voice rang out from the drone overhead.
"Counting down! Ten, nine, eight..."
Xiao Jingxi's heart sank. Looking at Qiu Chengye just an arm's length away, he gritted his teeth and launched himself at him.
As though sensing something, Qiu Chengye looked back in terror.
Bam!
Xiao Jingxi knocked Qiu Chengye down with a wild-boar charge, forgetting how narrow the bridge was. Two splashes later, both men were in the water.
Underwater, three pairs of eyes met.
Yes, three pairs.
They saw Shen Yeqing lurking peacefully beneath the surface, breathing through a single reed that protruded from the water.
Shen Yeqing saw them. Shen Yeqing looked surprised. Shen Yeqing smiled. Shen Yeqing raised a hand to say hi.
Xiao Jingxi and Qiu Chengye shuddered, lost the air they had been holding, and sank in a stream of bubbles.
The production crew hurriedly hauled all three men out.
To resolve everyone's confusion, they returned to the location shown for Xie Mi.
"There really isn't anywhere to hide here." Liu Woxing looked around.
"This is so strange." Xu Shuangrong was puzzled too.
Whap!
A hand suddenly thrust out of the ground, its fingertips black with embedded dirt and its skin deathly pale, like a corpse clawing its way out of a grave.
Everyone froze.
Then earth-shattering screams erupted.
"Aaaaaaaaaah!!!"
[A GHOST!!!!]
[Fuck, that scared me so badly I punched through my bed frame. My three-year-old brother's crying too.]
[Holy shit holy shit holy shit holy shit holy shit!!]
The scene in the livestream and the live comments were remarkably alike.
A warm hand clasped the filthy one and pulled her out of the ground.
Shen Yeqing tilted his head with a smile. "Ms. Xie, you're truly dedicated."
"Likewise."
Xie Mi finally revealed herself, covered in dirt from head to toe, with an oxygen tank strapped to her back.
That was how she had been able to breathe underground.
"Holy shit, you scared me to death."
Qiu Chengye was still shaken. The moment he spotted Xie Mi's oxygen tank, he felt aggrieved again, but he did not dare confront her directly. Instead, he turned on the production crew. "Why didn't you tell us earlier that we could use props in this game?"
"The rules don't allow props, but Ms. Xie won yesterday's secret mission and earned a privilege card. This was the privilege she used," Director Niu explained.
Before you continue