"Protection"

"I don't know. Let's hurry and find him. He even left the cameraman behind." As he spoke, he pulled Su Li up, and the two chased after Zhao Yuhao in the direction he had run.

Meanwhile, the live comments had already erupted.

[?????]

[What's going on? Why did Zhao Yuhao run off?]

[He screamed even louder than Meng Chichi.]

[It's all Su Li's fault. If he hadn't mentioned that box, why would our Yuhao have gone back!]

[As far as I can tell, Su Li was talking to award-winning actor An. Your precious idol eavesdropped and went to open it himself. He totally deserved to get scared off.]

[You Rat Fans are all nuts. Su Li got shoved to the floor and hasn't even said anything.]

[Awww, Li Bao sitting on the floor holding that bear is so adorable. Come give Mommy a hug!!]

[Seriously, he already has mom fans??]

[No male mom fans!!!]

By then, Zhao Yuhao was running blindly in panic. He no longer wanted to find any key fragments. All he wanted now was to get out of there as quickly as possible.

He couldn't understand how a person could fit inside a box in that position. It would have been fine if it were a prop, but its expression and eyes had looked far too real. Most importantly, it could move!!

The sudden, overwhelming terror made him turn and run.

The storage room was huge, and the furniture and clutter formed a winding maze. He hadn't noticed that the spot where the hanging person had been was now completely empty!

Zhao Yuhao ran with all his might, then suddenly tripped over something and fell. He turned to look and discovered a bloodstained corpse with an elongated neck and a pale, rotting face!

"Aaaaah!!!" His voice had already gone hoarse from screaming.

It was actually the hanging person he had seen earlier!

Hadn't it been up on the ceiling? How had it ended up here??

Zhao Yuhao could no longer think. All he felt was that this place really was haunted, and he had to escape!

He shakily got to his feet, paying no attention to the pain from his fall, and staggered toward the exit.

When he saw the storage room doors, he felt as though he had seen a ray of hope.

Three more meters... Almost there. I'm almost out.

Just then, a terrifying, raspy voice came from behind him. "Why did you kick me?"

Whose voice was that? Zhao Yuhao faltered in fright, then sprinted madly toward the doors. But he felt something tighten around his neck, preventing him from moving another step.

A pale, rotting face with bulging eyes suddenly appeared before him from above. Its mouth slowly opened. "Why... are you ignoring me..."

His thoughts froze. It felt as though something had struck his heart with a heavy blow, and no sound would come out of his throat.

It's... that corpse...

That thought suddenly flashed through Zhao Yuhao's mind before he passed out.

When Su Li and An Hui arrived, they found Zhao Yuhao unconscious in front of the doors, covered in dust and twitching all over. They had no idea what he had gone through.

An Hui went forward, propped him up, and pressed the point above his upper lip. He pulled back his eyelids to check his eyes. His gaze was unfocused, as though he had seen something utterly terrifying before fainting.

"What happened to Yuhao...? Why did the production team make this so scary? Who could take this?" Su Li held the stuffed bear in his arms, his eyes full of concern. He kept complaining about the production team, as though he were standing up for Zhao Yuhao.

Under An Hui's ministrations, Zhao Yuhao slowly regained a little awareness and gradually opened his eyes.

"Are you okay, Yuhao? Don't be scared. I'll protect you!" He saw a meaningful smile on Su Li's face. Behind Su Li, the rotting dead face that had frightened him unconscious slowly appeared, smiling at him with malice too.

"A... a ghost... There's a ghost..." He passed out completely.

"Yuhao!"

"Yuhao, Yuhao!! Hurry, get him out of here and call an ambulance!!" An Hui shouted.

Seeing Zhao Yuhao faint, the viewers already felt that there was more to this. The related topics were now ranking high on Feibo's trending searches.

#Brave Challenge Zhao Yuhao#

#Zhao Yuhao faints#

#Brave Challenge variety show scares guest into shock and unconsciousness#

[Holy shit, did something really happen? Why did he faint?]

[Is this really not an act??]

[His acting isn't good enough to make it look this real.]

[The production team had better come out and explain this! Why did our Yuhao end up like this!]

[What right did the production team have to give Yuhao such a difficult setting?? Was it deliberate!]

[This variety show has no boundaries at all. Sisters, come storm the production team's page with me!]

[And that Su Li deliberately scared him! Get out of the entertainment industry!!]

[The Rat Fans are at it again. Award-winning actor An and Su Li are both fine, so why did only your idol faint? He really is as timid as a mouse.]

[I'm dying. Earlier, someone in the live comments said her idol could clear this setting with his eyes closed. Well, they're really closed now.]

The number of comments skyrocketed, with people saying all sorts of things.

The production staff hurried over too and called an ambulance. Medical personnel carried Zhao Yuhao away on a stretcher and loaded him into the ambulance.

Wang Xiang felt a terrible headache coming on. Why was this episode going so badly? The previous two hadn't been like this. This time, things had kept going wrong even before filming started. Meng Chichi had been scared to tears, and Zhao Yuhao had been taken to the hospital.

Could there really be something wrong with this Manor? No, absolutely not. The locations I picked for the previous two episodes were rumored to be haunted too. Why hadn't anything happened there?

The problem must be with the guests chosen for this episode. They're far too timid. Forget it. The show has to go on no matter what. I'd better figure out how to calm the public backlash first.

After the ambulance left, Wang Xiang told the remaining guests, "Everyone, go get your electronic devices first. Tomorrow's livestream will probably be postponed until three days from now. You can all use these two days to get yourselves back into shape."

Just then, a sound came from Su Li's direction: metal hitting the floor.

A key fragment had actually fallen out of a pocket in the stuffed bear's clothes!

Su Li picked it up. "This is... a key fragment! An Hui, we found it! Yuhao's efforts weren't wasted either!" He smiled like a child.

"Where did you get that bear??" An Hui was amazed.

Holding up the bear, he said, "When I fell, I landed right beside the pile of toys. It cushioned my fall, so I picked it up without thinking. I never imagined the fragment would be here!"

[Oh my god, what kind of luck does Su Li have?]

[Is this really not scripted?? This is way too ridiculous.]

[Scripted, my ass. Zhao Yuhao's been taken to the hospital and you're still calling it scripted?]

[I checked the replay. Su Li really did pick up the bear after falling. Looks like he really is insanely lucky.]

[Let me soak up some of that god-tier luck.]

[Wouldn't Zhao Yuhao be furious if he knew?]

[Who knows when he'll even wake up?]

[Our Yuhao is in the hospital. Why does Su Li still get to film this show!!]

[Great, the Rat Fans are losing it again.]

The director was stunned. At a time like this, he was still thinking about the key? Although displeased, he could only force a smile. "Good. Well done. I'll go take care of some other things. Go get your belongings and have a rest."

With that, he left, though his retreating figure seemed weighed down.

Everyone was in the hall now. Cheng Sirong and Chen Zhuo immediately came over and asked Su Li and An Hui, their faces full of curiosity:

"What happened? As soon as Chen Zhuo and I came out, we heard something had happened on your end. Then we saw Zhao Yuhao being carried onto a stretcher."

Her and Chen Zhuo's Piano Room task had been moderately difficult: they simply had to compose a piece that met the requirements. They were both singers, so this wasn't hard for them, but the distractions around them meant it had still taken an hour.

Su Li shook his head. "An Hui and I don't really know what happened either. Yuhao opened a box and suddenly ran off. By the time we found him, he'd already fainted."

"Are you okay, Su Li? How about coming over to my place for something tasty?" Chen Zhuo didn't like Zhao Yuhao and thought he was very fake. He was more concerned about Su Li.