Sha Chuan went limp, and Mu Xingchen practically dragged him up to the second floor.
He could no longer spare a thought for his pride and immediately begged Mu Xingchen to hurry up and teach him the incantation and hand seal.
After teaching him a few times, Mu Xingchen realized that Sha Chuan's memory was even more ridiculous than his own, and he had barely scraped through compulsory education. Sha Chuan learned one line only to forget the next.
Was he only like this because he was scared?
Mu Xingchen had heard that Sha Chuan was highly educated. Memorizing these sixteen characters should have been a breeze for him, shouldn't it?
[Already crawling back to beg for lessons? Didn't he just righteously insist they couldn't hold up filming?]
[That slap in the face came out of nowhere.]
[Is Sha Chuan's memory really that bad? He's spent over ten minutes on sixteen characters and is still stumbling. How did he even graduate elementary school?]
[Sorry to disappoint you, but our Sha Chuan went to Q University. He's probably just scared numb and hasn't recovered yet.]
[Honestly, any of the guests would have been terrified by that ghost face. Our Sha Chuan was just unlucky.]
[Why did Sha Chuan suddenly speed up earlier? I didn't get it.]
[He probably noticed something behind him... and wanted to shake it off?]
[Shouldn't he have warned his teammates, then? He secretly ran ahead on his own. What were they supposed to do???]
[Yikes. What a character.]
The camera operators knew the filming schedule. Once the guests reached the second floor, the director was supposed to explain the next steps over their communicators.
Yet after they signaled for the guests to wait at the second-floor stairwell and waited three minutes, they still received no instructions from the production team.
Sensing something was wrong, the lead camera operator lowered his camera and stepped aside to quietly try contacting the production team over his communicator, only to find he couldn't reach them.
He didn't think much of it, assuming the props team had bought shoddy counterfeit communicators that lost their connection over longer distances.
Since this was a live broadcast, the production team had previously discussed how to salvage all kinds of unexpected situations. The lead camera operator took it upon himself to cue the next stage. "Congratulations on safely reaching the second floor of Lotus Town Health Center. Next, please take your registration slips and find your assigned consultation rooms on this floor."
With those instructions, the guests quickly agreed to explore the layout of the second floor together before splitting up to collect puzzle clues in their respective consultation rooms.
Several rows of sheet-metal chairs stood by the second-floor stairwell. On the wall opposite them was an old display screen that no longer scrolled through patients' names.
To the right of the stairs was the check-in desk, beside which stood a plastic mannequin identical to the one downstairs, its presence gloomy.
When Mu Xingchen first came upstairs, the unexpected sight of that mannequin had nearly sent him charging over to hug Qi Gu.
There was only one small room to the left of the stairs. Its door was locked, with no obvious information on it to indicate what the room was used for.
Qi Gu led everyone to the right, where the layout was straightforward: five consultation rooms, each corresponding to one of the guests' registration slips.
Every door stood half closed. The interiors were pitch-black, with nothing visible inside, leaving plenty of room for the imaginations of the guests outside.
After inspecting the rooms, the group returned to the waiting area.
Qi Gu had a hard life but a healthy body and rarely went to hospitals. Not knowing how this "check-in area" worked, he turned to Lin Hanzhi, who looked the most likely of everyone present to end up in a hospital. "Do you know how to check in?"
Lin Hanzhi took the registration slip he offered. "If there's power, you just scan the QR code on the slip with the machine."
As he spoke, he actually pressed Qi Gu's registration slip against the check-in machine, whose dark screen made it look clearly out of service.
Just as everyone thought nothing would happen, a chilling, damp voice, neither distinctly male nor female, sounded from the machine.
"Patient Qi Gu has checked in successfully. Please attend consultation room three between 12:30 and 13:00." The icy voice finished speaking, then gave way to a series of clacking noises, like Sadako crawling out with her limbs twisted.
Next came a heavy, muffled scraping, as though something weighty had been set on the floor and dragged, followed at last by the sound of a cleaver chopping meat on a stainless-steel cutting board.
It was as though the cleaver struck everyone's hearts, each successive chop filling them with dread.
The entire group went pale. The more timid among them had already gone weak in the legs, unable even to crawl back up.
Only Qi Gu remained expressionless, as though what had just happened was not a supernatural incident but a call from his boss demanding overtime.
[Help, I'm watching a variety show and just spotted my company's product. We make that check-in machine, and this model only comes in a plug-in version. There's no battery version!]
[Did nobody notice that this matches the meat-chopping noises the director mentioned earlier?]
[A friend recommended this stream to me. I'm originally from Lotus Town, and that health center really is creepy. Those rumors started over ten years ago. People in town went missing during the first few years, though I haven't heard about any lately. But my cousin who still lives there said those strange noises have been getting more frequent and really loud recently. Everyone who could move away got so scared they left.]
[I'm passing out. This audio could genuinely scare a random college girl to death.]
[Thanks for asking. College guys too.]
[I actually find Qi Gu's expressionless face really reassuring now.]
[+1. He's not panicking at all, just eating as he walks. Apart from getting grossed out by the pig's blood, he's been eating this entire time, as relaxed as if he were on a spring outing. He probably really does have what it takes to deal with whatever's here.]
[I'm already using that incantation and hand seal from earlier, sob.]
[I don't care about anything else. As long as Qi Gu gets these people out alive, I'll be his fan. So what if he doesn't like playing to the cameras? So what if he looks cold? Those are nine living, breathing people, with nine families behind them that could end up shattered!]
[The camera operator who just flashed across the screen is my dad... If he makes it back alive, I'll bow down to Qi Gu and offer him three sticks of incense every day.]
[Qi Gu probably doesn't like eating incense. Buy him QQ gummies, chips, Skittles, Want Want milk, and chocolate. He'd probably be thrilled!]
[You really understand Qi Gu.]
[Honestly, I don't think the foodie thing is an act. His mouth has barely stopped moving, and the moment he starts eating, that cold face gets this incredibly happy expression. It's kind of cute, too ().]
The comments had only been harmonious for a few seconds before people jumped out to insult Qi Gu again.
[What is this? One Taoist incantation and some ghost-fighting footage most people didn't even see, and suddenly Qi Gu's reputation is clean?]
[Lol, you're really forcing yourselves to praise that face of his that looks like everyone owes him eight million. Did he hire paid commenters?]
[People have already posted GIFs of Qi Gu fighting the ghost on Weibo. If you bothered to look for yourselves, you wouldn't be yapping here.]
[+1. Calling other people paid commenters? Aren't you the paid smear brigade?]
With ordinary viewers catching on to his identity as a paid commenter, the sleazy-looking man hesitated at his computer for a moment, then hurriedly abandoned his current account and switched to an alternate one, continuing to rack his brains for ways to attack Qi Gu.
On the second floor of the health center.
Mu Xingchen was nearly scared witless. He pointed at the check-in machine with a trembling hand. "Qi Gu, that's a prop the production team prepared, right? Please give me a definite answer, quick!"
Any longer, and he feared he would be too scared to maintain the facial control expected of an idol, letting his haters take screenshots and call him one of Chinese entertainment's ugly men!
His manager really would kill him!
Thinking of his strict, demonic manager, Mu Xingchen even felt that the vicious ghost within arm's reach wasn't so frightening anymore.
"There, have a candy and calm down." Qi Gu tossed a Skittle accurately into his mouth.
Mu Xingchen, who hadn't eaten chocolate in ages because he was dieting: !
Delicious, delicious!
The single-celled organism was instantly distracted.
"...That check-in machine doesn't seem to be plugged in." Vivian pointed at the plug dangling beside it and spoke faintly. She looked calm, but in reality, she had mentally checked out a while ago.
"Maybe the production team deliberately made a fake check-in machine that looks like it plugs in but actually runs on batteries?" Lin Hanzhi removed the machine from the wall and held it as he felt around, then spread his hands and regretfully announced, "It really doesn't run on batteries. I couldn't find anywhere that opens."
Everyone present except Qi Gu went numb. At first, they had still clung to a shred of hope that they couldn't possibly be unlucky enough to genuinely encounter something like that.
Now it was as good as a death sentence.
No, it wasn't quite a death sentence. They still had Qi Gu!
His hand seal and incantation really worked, and he hadn't shown any fear since coming inside!
Three people immediately moved closer to Qi Gu in unison.
They didn't know how accomplished Qi Gu really was, but there was certainly no way a few Muggles like them could handle this alone!
Lin Hanzhi reacted swiftly, beating the others as he leaned against Qi Gu, delicate and boneless. "Master Qi, I touched that haunted check-in machine just now. It won't set its sights on me, will it?"
"I'm not healthy. I'm weak and sickly. If that thing really crawls out of there, you have to protect me." Lin Hanzhi blinked his shimmering, alluring eyes at him.
Qi Gu kept feeling that Lin Hanzhi hadn't been remotely afraid while touching the machine. How had he ended up draped in his arms a moment later?
But his heartbeat did seem a little fast...
I misunderstood, Qi Gu thought. Lin Hanzhi probably just has a delayed reaction.
Thinking of the wages soon to reach his account, he dutifully but soullessly offered Lin Hanzhi a few words of comfort, then took some effort to peel the clingy man out of his arms like sticky candy.
Now he wanted some sticky candy, too. Unfortunately, he hadn't brought any this time.
Amid his regret, Qi Gu, having confirmed that the job really had become more demanding, resigned himself and told the others, "Once I finish my task, I'll stand guard outside the other consultation rooms. Take turns going inside to look for clues. Shout if anything happens, and I'll back you up."
His expressionless face grew a little colder.
Wasn't I only supposed to explain a little occult knowledge? Why was ghost-catching part of the deal?
That should cost extra.
With his promise secured, Lin Hanzhi, Vivian, and Mu Xingchen hurried to thank him.
Only Sha Chuan still couldn't swallow his pride. He stood like a statue, intense hatred flickering in his eyes.
It was all Qi Gu's fault for not taking the initiative to teach him the incantation sooner. Otherwise, how could that vicious ghost have latched onto him!
Before you continue