The viewers were baffled for a moment as they watched Sha Chuan type nonstop on his phone.
[Honest question, what is he doing?]
[If I remember correctly, Sha Chuan once said he sends his ex-girlfriend's account messages about his feelings whenever he's unhappy. He said that made it feel like she was still around.]
[Oh...]
[That's heartbreaking.]
[Waaah, this made me cry. He just survived a brush with death. He must have so much he wants to tell his girlfriend.]
Sha Chuan caught sight of the comments. He hadn't expected these viewers to have such wild imaginations, and for a moment, he worried about the terrifying treatment he would receive if they later discovered he had a girlfriend.
But he soon reconsidered. He had all three of his girlfriends wrapped around his finger. How could they possibly tell anyone about this?
And so, as he typed, his expression grew even more sorrowful and desolate, as though he really were mourning his girlfriend.
Who didn't like someone devoted, especially in this fast-paced age?
As long as he could capitalize on this persona, signing with Wei Cai would only be a matter of time.
Although he'd heard that Wei Cai used dirty tactics and often forced newcomers under him to entertain clients over drinks or sleep with them... what was off-limits if it could make him famous?
His three current girlfriends were all merely from moderately wealthy families, nowhere near the level he wanted to reach.
Once he had achieved fame and success, he would find an excuse to break up with them.
Sha Chuan's plans were rosy, but he had no idea that the three girlfriends he was scheming to discard were currently sitting together because of an offhand remark from Qi Gu, playing Fight the Landlord while discussing how to destroy the scumbag.
Lili suggested that simply exposing him would let him off too easily.
They might as well play along with his scheme. The three of them could start a livestream too, make a fool of Sha Chuan first, then leave him with no chance of ever making a comeback.
Xiao Mo and Xinxin immediately agreed.
The three girls had chatted all night. Discovering that their family backgrounds, interests, and tastes in clothing were very similar, they hit it off immediately and became friends. They even agreed to visit Floating Mist Temple together once it opened, to offer their respects and thank Qi Gu for giving them a warning.
The moonlight was as cold as water, spilling over the rugged mountain woods and lending Qingji Mountain an added air of chilling horror.
Braving the cold wind and all manner of terrifying noises of unknown origin, the group finally reached the mountainside.
According to the post, there was a Moon-Worship Pavilion here. Standing in the pavilion at the cliff's edge, one could see the full moon in the pitch-black sky clearly and without obstruction, and admire its beauty.
To liven things up and prove that there were no ghosts here, the five hikers before them had even played the Wine-Cup Game in this pavilion.
In the Wine-Cup Game, each person held a cup of wine and stood in one of a room's four corners. The first person walked toward the next corner and, upon reaching the second person from behind, poured their wine onto the floor. Hearing the wine splash onto the floor, the second person walked toward the third, and so on. The fourth person only needed to reach the empty spot where the first person had originally stood and pour their wine onto the floor. All four then faced the walls at the same time, with their backs to one another. Supposedly, if a spirit was present, a wine-loving ghost would appear in the middle of the room. Everyone could then ask it questions before reciting an incantation to send it away before the wine on the floor dried up, ending the game.
Qi Gu: "..."
What was this mash-up of Pen Fairy and the Four-Corners Game?
Human creativity really was boundless when it came to courting death.
By the time Song An finished explaining the rules, everyone was picturing four people standing with their backs to one another in an empty, four-cornered pavilion, a puddle of wine that had yet to dry at their feet. In the pavilion's center stood a ghost, slowly sucking up the wine on the ground, its greedy gaze fixed on the four humans with their backs to it...
Lin Hanzhi performed exactly as expected. The moment he finished listening to Song An, he pressed himself even closer to Qi Gu. "We're not going to play this game too, are we... Can I walk with you?"
The warmth of his body seared Qi Gu, who momentarily forgot to put some distance between them.
"You can walk together?" Mu Xingchen was stunned. He immediately turned to Pubu Gesang without hesitation. "Then I'll walk with you. I'll protect you!"
Pubu Gesang glanced at Mu Xingchen's still-trembling legs. "..."
There really was no need.
Song An was still hesitating.
If they skipped the game, he feared the viewers would think the production team was just going through the motions. If they played it... he feared they might actually summon something, and the gains wouldn't make up for the losses.
So he handed the decision over to the only master present, Qi Gu.
[This game sounds pretty interesting, but there are so many people on the production team. Do the people who aren't playing have to turn their backs to the ghost too? What about us esteemed viewers?]
[This game sounds seriously sinister. Why don't we just forget it?]
[But I'm watching a paranormal variety show for the thrills. If you're going to agonize over everything, what the hell am I even watching for?]
[Totally backing this.]
Qi Gu didn't immediately give a definite answer. There was little expression on his handsome face. "Were those all the rules?"
"Yes. The hiker who made the post even recommended that everyone try it, so he described the steps in great detail," Song An said.
"They were very detailed, but they left out the most important point." Qi Gu's thin lips curved. "While moving, players must not step in the wine on the floor, because the incantation recited at the very start of the game promises it to the wine ghost as an offering. It's the ghost's food."
"Think about it carefully. If someone stepped on something you were about to eat, what would you do?" Qi Gu asked.
[Throw it away?]
[Stop eating it and make them pay for it!]
[A ghost would probably be a little more extreme?]
"To ghosts, humans are also a kind of food. Naturally, it would eat them too. After all, who would turn down free food? It's practically manna from heaven. After eating, the ghost might even give thanks for nature's bounty." Pubu Gesang naturally picked up Qi Gu's explanation, delivering those chilling words with his sweet, adorable face.
"Exactly," Qi Gu said.
[Well, damn. Kid Bro actually knows his stuff.]
[Wow, I'm stunned. Kid Bro, what do you usually read? You even know about obscure horror games like this?]
[LMAO, Mu Xingchen's going to be reeling for a century after swearing just now that he'd protect Kid Bro.]
[Ah... thank goodness this show has Qi Gu. Otherwise, the whole group could've been wiped out in episode one, then wiped out again in episode two for stepping in wine.]
[Wait, so one of the hikers left out a rule, and that's why none of them were human by the time they reached the summit?]
[This game sounds pretty fun. Kind of want to try it.]
"No, the hiker who made this post probably wasn't human by then. He likely fell victim during an earlier stage. The ghost impersonating him deliberately provided these incorrect rules to trap people." As Qi Gu spoke, he seemed to see through the viewers' thoughts and added, "Everyone, don't casually try horror games with unusual rules that you've never heard of before... After all, some of those games may have been posted by those things themselves as bait. You already don't know enough about the games, so you could unknowingly violate a taboo and lose your life."
After hearing Qi Gu's explanation, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
Thank goodness. Thank goodness Qi Gu was here!
Otherwise, their ignorance of the rules would have turned them into peanuts for that wine ghost to snack on with its drink.
Before you continue