One good trick was all it took

"An Hui, Zhao Yuhao, there's something here."

The two of them thought Su Li had found the key and immediately came over, only to see a yellowed piece of paper the size of a palm in his hand.

Zhao Yuhao breathed a sigh of relief. Luckily, it wasn't a key fragment.

He reached out and snatched the paper from Su Li's hand. Written on it in crooked letters were the words: I'm right inside the box.

Su Li glanced at him, then asked with a puzzled expression, "I'm right inside the box? What does 'I' refer to? Could this be a hint from the production team?"

"It's definitely a hint from the production team. 'I' should refer to the key." Zhao Yuhao looked confident. He felt that his moment to shine had finally arrived.

"Are you that sure?" An Hui was skeptical.

"The production team wouldn't give us hints or props unrelated to our current task. This storage room is so big and has so much stuff in it. They couldn't possibly make us search without any clues.

"So this piece of paper is the hint. Even if the staff are playing ghosts, they couldn't hide inside a box. There aren't any large boxes here. This must be where the key is!"

Zhao Yuhao thought he was incredibly smart, seeing through the production team's intentions at once. He looked forward to his fans' praise and admiration after he found the key. Whether it was the award-winning actor or Su Li, his brilliance would eclipse them all!

[Yuhao is so smart!]

[I told you, this kind of task is a piece of cake for our Yuhao.]

[Yuhao could do this with his eyes closed.]

[You're already hyping him up before anyone's even confirmed it?]

[Told you his fans were all a bunch of obsessives.]

Clap, clap, clap... A burst of applause rang out.

Su Li was clapping wildly, his eyes full of admiration. "Zhao Yuhao, you're seriously so smart! Why didn't I think of any of that? You could actually figure all that out? Doesn't that mean we'll find the key soon?"

Although Zhao Yuhao felt there was something a little off about his praise, his pride still made him think Su Li was being sincere, so he gave a modest smile.

Su Li truly hadn't expected it. He hadn't expected such a talent to exist. He had planted that note himself, precisely to lead Zhao Yuhao into finding the surprise that was the Box Ghost on his own.

He had initially worried that the two wouldn't believe it and planned to offer a few more hints to guide them. He hadn't expected Zhao Yuhao to fill in the blanks so perfectly all by himself!

"Yuan, there are so many brilliant ghosts and talented people here. I'm so happy." Su Li laughed without restraint in his mind.

Yuan said, "...As long as you're happy, Master." Although this person's ending was already set, he still had some value if he could entertain his master for a while.

As they spoke, everyone prepared to search through the boxes.

Su Li was opposite Zhao Yuhao. After searching one box, he stood up, and his expression suddenly changed as he looked at the mirror behind Zhao Yuhao!

Su Li's expression sent a chill down his back. He turned to look behind him, but there was nothing except a mirror.

Trying to spook him? Zhao Yuhao thought Su Li was deliberately scaring him. Forget it. This was his moment. He would teach him a lesson after today's livestream ended.

An Hui also looked at Su Li. "What's wrong, Su Li?"

"Nothing. Maybe I saw it wrong..." Su Li shook his head, but his expression still looked a little unnatural.

[What did he see?]

[Is he deliberately trying to scare our Yuhao again?]

[Can Su Li just get lost? All he ever does is chase clout and play spooky tricks.]

[Why do you think everyone is chasing your precious Rat Boy's clout?]

['Rat Boy' is killing me.]

The suggestion had been planted. Next came the main course.

Zhao Yuhao was searching through something on a table that looked like a makeup case. There was a makeup mirror on the lid. Just as he realized the key fragment wasn't there and looked up in disappointment, he suddenly discovered that, besides his own face, the mirror showed a hanging figure not far behind him!

"Ah!" He immediately stumbled several steps backward.

"What's wrong, Zhao Yuhao?" "What happened?" Su Li and An Hui immediately came over to ask.

"There's something behind us!" He pointed at the mirror, his voice urgent.

An Hui and Su Li turned to look. Sure enough, a person covered in blood was hanging from the ceiling, swaying back and forth.

[Holy shit, what's that?]

[I thought there weren't going to be any scares after all this time. Turns out they were saving one for here.]

[Why didn't I see that earlier? Am I remembering wrong?]

The production team was unsettled by the sight too. Wang Xiang asked the props crew, "I remember this scene didn't include this bit. Who put that dummy there?"

The props supervisor shook his head repeatedly. "Director, I didn't tell them to put that there. We checked everything yesterday, too. Did they mix up the props for this place and the café and put something meant for over there in here?"

"Probably..." Wang Xiang wasn't sure, but this variety show was a big project, with many places to set up. It was possible something had slipped through the cracks and gotten mixed up.

Although An Hui was afraid, Zhao Yuhao's warning had prepared him mentally, so he hadn't been startled. "This should be something the production team put here to scare us on purpose."

"Probably." Su Li nodded, but the corners of his lips curled up slightly.

That was right. He had told the Shadow Servant to summon the Hanged Ghost earlier. One good trick was all it took. He believed the Hanged Ghost would perform very well in this environment.

Zhao Yuhao had recovered by now. After realizing it was just a prop, he acted as if nothing had happened and calmly told Su Li and An Hui, "Let's keep looking, then. It's just a prop. There's nothing to be scared of."

He thought being startled just now had only been an accident. It didn't prove he was a coward. Anyone would have reacted that way.

[Yuhao is the best!]

[You can do it, Yuhao!]

[Wonder who screamed in fright just now.]

[What gives you the right to say that about him? Let's see you do it.]

[These haters only know how to trash our Yuhao!]

They went to the very back of the storage room to search.

Beside a large pile of toys were many boxes and some household appliances.

The Box Ghost was in a secluded corner, inside an old, moldy-looking wooden box. The box was only half again as big as a shoebox, with all sorts of scratches on it.

Su Li already had a plan. He walked over to An Hui and whispered to him:

"An Hui, doesn't that box look different? All the others look normal, but that one's ugly. Could the key be in there?"

"Probably. It really is different from the others." An Hui agreed with him.

Although he was supposedly whispering, everyone could hear him clearly in such a quiet setting, yet Su Li still acted as though no one else could hear.

Zhao Yuhao's eyes lit up. Then he walked over to the box as if by chance and prepared to open it. Excitement surged through him, and he couldn't help thinking:

Oh, Su Li, you're so stupid. So what if you spotted it? I still got to it first. I can't wait to see the regret on your face!

At that moment, Su Li quietly released a wisp of blue-green energy toward him.

Full of anticipation, he opened the box, only to discover a monster with a twisted, shriveled body curled up inside! A pair of eyes full of venom and rage stared fixedly at him!

Not only that, the monster slowly extended an arm, as though reaching to grab Zhao Yuhao!

Zhao Yuhao hadn't expected such a sight inside the box. It assaulted his brain, his thoughts stopped, and his pupils abruptly contracted as he let out a scream that seemed about to tear his throat apart. "Aaaah!!!"

Then he shoved Su Li and An Hui aside and ran toward the door, screaming as he went. Even the camera operator failed to react in time.

As though he had lost his balance, Su Li was shoved straight to the floor. He sat there, exchanging bewildered looks with An Hui.

"Wh-what happened? Why did Zhao Yuhao run away?" His beautiful eyes seemed filled with confusion. At some point, a teddy bear had found its way into his arms.