Does anyone need a life-saving protective talisman?

"What's going on up ahead?"

Jian Ran bent slightly, his gaze falling beyond the windshield. The knuckles of the hand gripping the driver's right shoulder had turned white. Anyone standing nearby would have noticed something was wrong.

Wisps of white smoke actually rose from the spot beneath his grip and quickly dispersed in the air, hidden perfectly by his lean, tall frame.

The assistant director, cameraman, and guests behind him couldn't see what was happening at all, and resentment welled up in them.

Crammed into a secondhand bus, they were already hot and stuffy, and the air conditioner was broken.

Everyone had been praying they would reach their destination soon, only to be stopped halfway there. Their moods immediately soured.

"Jian Ran, could you stop making trouble? Let the driver deal with it. If worse comes to worst, we can call for help!" The assistant director rose from his seat and reached for Jian Ran's arm.

Yet somehow, with a casual sway of the arm right in front of him, his grasp missed entirely.

Before he could register his surprise, that beautiful yet punchable face suddenly turned toward him. "There was a landslide just now," Jian Ran said lazily. "Nothing too serious. We can get past it by going around."

The assistant director didn't believe him and looked toward the driver. "Sir, is that right?"

"If we can't get through, we can take a detour..."

Before he could finish, the driver whipped his head around and barked in a voice steeped in years of cigarette smoke, spittle flying. "Detour, my ass!"

"How much are you even paying?!"

"It's just a landslide! You've got the guts to stay in a haunted house, but now you're scared of dying?!"

"Get back to your seats! I'm about to floor it, and if you fall, that's not my problem!"

The middle-aged man's forceful tirade left the assistant director stunned.

Was this really the same driver who had only said "Mm" earlier?!

He was practically a machine gun!

Still shaken, the assistant director edged toward the cameraman and lowered his voice. "Cut this part. Don't air it."

The cameraman looked deeply troubled. "Sir, we're livestreaming..."

The driver had shed his lifeless demeanor, instantly becoming a fighting cock with his head high and chest puffed out. Yet when he glanced at Jian Ran from the corner of his eye, a trace of fear and wariness appeared, and he hurriedly looked away.

As the secondhand bus slowly started moving, the previously quiet livestream unexpectedly came alive.

[Was that part of the show?! That was hilarious! Cut it and don't air it? Did the driver scare the assistant director stupid?!]

[Why does Jian Ran act like he's such hot shit on camera?! Just looking at him makes me want to puke. If it weren't for darling Lu, I'd boycott this outright!]

[Am I the only one who noticed what the driver said? What did he mean, they've got the guts to stay in a haunted house? Are those rumors online actually true?! Mommy! This is way too exciting!]

[I don't care about anything else. If anything happens to darling Lu, I won't go on living either! Also, go die, Jian Jianjian!]

[...]

Jian Ran returned to his seat and folded his arms across his chest. As they continued along the road, he looked out the window toward the landslide, and suddenly, a white figure drifted past.

He craned his neck, about to take a closer look, only for a curious voice to sound beside his ear.

"What did you do to the driver just now?"

Jian Ran glanced back, a strange light gleaming in his amber eyes, but his voice was evasive. "What do you mean, what did I do?"

Du Yunmeng, who had been little more than invisible scenery, wore a mysterious expression. "Don't play dumb. I saw everything."

Jian Ran narrowed his eyes. "You saw wrong."

"Impossible!" Du Yunmeng sounded certain. She was about to say more when Yang Ruoxi suddenly turned around from the row ahead. "Yunmeng, don't say I didn't warn you. Anyone who gets involved with Jian Ran gets torn apart online."

"Stay away from him."

Du Yunmeng opened her mouth as though she wanted to explain.

But Jian Ran spoke faster-having once been an occult master, he had put plenty of practice into his verbal skills. "There's nothing wrong with staying away from me, but, ma'am, no matter how far away you stay, you still won't escape your fate of getting ripped to shreds."

Yang Ruoxi's expression instantly changed. "Who are you calling ma'am?! Who are you saying gets ripped apart?! You've got some nerve talking about me!"

"Exactly." Jian Ran curled his lips and rolled his eyes lazily. "Everyone on this bus knows what everyone else's reputation is like, don't they?"

"You've got some nerve talking about me!"

Having her own words thrown back at her verbatim nearly made Yang Ruoxi's lungs burst with rage. But the livestream camera suddenly aimed right at her face. Sure, her public persona was hotheaded, but who went on a variety show without hoping to salvage their image and become popular again?!

So, after turning it over in her mind, Yang Ruoxi swallowed her anger and turned back around.

Seeing how things had gone, Du Yunmeng couldn't keep asking either. She slunk back to her own seat and resumed being invisible.

They drove along the forest path for a while longer. Dense branches and leaves clustered tightly together without a gap, and the farther in they went, the eerier it became.

Finally, the driver hit the brakes and yanked up the handbrake, his tone still fierce. "We're here. Get out!"

"Thanks for your hard work!" The assistant director pressed his palms together in humble gratitude.

The driver ignored him completely, opened the driver's door, and jumped down to smoke.

Rebuffed, the assistant director scratched his head irritably and took it out on his crew. "What are you standing around for? Hurry up and unload!"

"Get everyone checked in before dark!"

His assistant finally found a chance to approach and whispered into his ear. "Assistant Director Li, mind your image. We're still livestreaming."

Li Yuan turned his head and snapped, "Nobody asked you to run your mouth!"

Looking aggrieved, the assistant drew his head back and didn't dare offer any more advice.

He knew the assistant director was resentful. After all, nobody wanted to take on a lousy variety show like this, and its budget had even been cut.

Even with Emperor Lu joining the cast, if the show became a hit, the director would still get both fame and fortune. Li Yuan probably wouldn't get anything.

Not only that, he also had to take care of these washed-up celebrities' meals and accommodations. Never mind getting no benefits-he was worked half to death and even had to put up with being angered...

As the young assistant was thinking this, a complaining voice suddenly reached his ears.

"I'm just asking, is this place even fit for people to stay in?! And they want to open an inn here?! Are they insane?! Who would come?!" Yang Ruoxi had barely stepped off the bus before she started complaining irritably, looking ready to pick up her luggage, turn around, and leave.

Shen Jiafei, the comic relief, appeared in front of the camera. "Ruoxi, don't say that. Even if no people stay here, there could still be other things..."

Before he could finish, Du Yunmeng lunged forward and covered his mouth, lowering her voice with deadly seriousness. "Dude, there are things you can't just say!"

"Do you want to die?!"

The people busy setting up were suddenly startled by her low voice and cast complicated looks her way.

Just then, a cool forest breeze blew past, bringing an inexplicable, eerie chill.

Not far away, Jian Ran was studying the mountain estate. Hearing that, he suddenly turned his head.

"Good awareness of precautions."

"Does anyone need a life-saving protective talisman?"

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"If you're interested, please call..."

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