Keep playing if you want. I'm done.

The dark red blood flowed slowly, like a venomous snake flicking its tongue as it searched for prey to fill its belly.

The stench it gave off was foul and pungent, like a corpse left rotting for a long time, nauseating to smell.

Anyone else might have covered their nose and screamed, fleeing the scene at once.

Jian Ran, however, studied it with interest. He even felt he wasn't getting a close enough look and extended his well-defined fingers, wanting to dab some onto them...

Unexpectedly, a furious shout came from behind him, distracting him.

While Jian Ran turned his head, the dark red blood actually flowed back, leaving not the slightest trace.

When he discovered this, he irritably punched the old floor. "Damn it!"

Ji Yuanming approached swiftly in a rage and grabbed Jian Ran's arm.

He wanted to fling him against the wall as he had before, but somehow the force reversed, and his own body went weightless and was thrown out instead.

"You-"

Ji Yuanming hadn't seen at all how Jian Ran had approached or how his slender hand had clamped around his throat. His eyes widened, panic rising in his heart.

"Ji Yuanming, do you want to die? Do you just have to provoke me?!" Jian Ran forced the words through his teeth.

His beautiful face was fiercer than it had ever been. Compared with his former affected manner, it actually held a good deal more unusual allure.

Ji Yuanming stared, somewhat dazed.

"I'm warning you for the last time." A ruthless glint showed in Jian Ran's eyes. "If you dare cause trouble again, I absolutely won't let you off lightly."

Ji Yuanming opened his mouth, and his voice suddenly softened. "Didn't... didn't you say you loved me?"

"I love plenty of people. Who the hell do you think you are?!"

Jian Ran withdrew his hand and turned to leave, only for his gaze to meet a pair of pitch-black eyes as he turned his head.

His expression briefly froze, then he curled his lips indifferently and continued on his way as though he recognized no one.

He only paused slightly as he brushed past someone.

Because Emperor Lu suddenly leaned close to his ear and whispered something.

Whether deliberately or not, the hot breath from between his lips wafted into Jian Ran's ear, tingling and tickling in a thoroughly annoying way.

Jian Ran was just about to roll his eyes and dodge away, but the very next second, his interest was piqued...

Dinner was served on time that evening. Assistant director Li Yuan enthusiastically gave a speech before the meal. "It's thanks to everyone's hard work that we have such a sumptuous dinner."

"I'm sure you've all fully appreciated the thought our production team has put into this. We set the inn deep in these remote mountains because we wanted to..."

Just as he reached this point, a sudden crack of thunder sounded outside the Mountain Villa. It seemed to strike a thick tree branch, followed by a rumbling crash.

Everyone seated around the dining table shuddered in fright. Then, faint, intermittent sounds came from upstairs.

"I'm so hungry-"

"So hungry-"

Qi Rui abruptly stood up. "Assistant director, this Mountain Villa is too creepy. We should..."

"Shut up!" Li Yuan glanced apprehensively at the camera, then snapped viciously, "It's just a hungry guest. What are you panicking about? Take some food up later!"

"Assistant director, was our guest last night a man or a woman?" Shen Jiafei struggled to smile, looking worse than if he were crying.

"A man, of course!" After saying this, Li Yuan froze.

Shen Jiafei kept the corners of his mouth raised, but the terror in his eyes betrayed him. "Then did the guest upstairs just have sex reassignment surgery?"

Hearing this, Jian Ran couldn't hold back a snort of laughter.

This guy was all right.

Even at a time like this, he hadn't forgotten his comedic persona?

Yang Ruoxi's belated scream rang throughout the Mountain Villa.

With a bang, the power went out.

Their surroundings plunged into darkness.

Yang Ruoxi seemed to pause for a moment before continuing, "Aaaaaaah-"

Not far away, Jian Ran rubbed his ears. "Lady, could you keep it down?

"You're about to burst my eardrums."

Perhaps provoked, Yang Ruoxi became even more worked up. "Jian Ran, you all planned this trick together, didn't you?"

"Keep playing if you want. I'm fucking done!"

"Li Yuan, hurry up and find a car to take me away! I can't stay in this place another moment!"

As they slowly adjusted to the darkness, and with the sky outside not yet completely dark, everyone in the dining room could make things out by the remaining light.

Yang Ruoxi saw Jian Ran sitting as steady as a rock, his eyes glittering with starlight like the Milky Way, his entire being exuding a convincing presence.

She froze, actually regretting her impulsiveness a little, but with the words already spoken, she couldn't back down...

"Weren't you leaving? What are you waiting for?" Jian Ran looked over with a faint, ambiguous smile.

Yang Ruoxi snorted in a show of defiance. "It's just a little breach-of-contract penalty. I can afford it."

With that, she stood up and quickly left the dining room.

Li Yuan was deeply worried. "It's so late, and these are mountain roads. All by herself..."

"Don't worry," Jian Ran said quietly. "Even if I agree to let her leave, those 107 gravestones out back won't let her off..."

Du Yunmeng interrupted in a tearful voice. "Jian Ran, stop. I'm scared!"

Sure enough, Yang Ruoxi had barely opened the Mountain Villa's front door when she paused for half a second, then slammed it shut without hesitation. She returned to the dining room with a completely stiff face and sat down without a word.

Shen Jiafei leaned over curiously. "Sister Yang, what did you see?"

Yang Ruoxi turned her head stiffly, her tone a little strange. "Want to know that badly?"

"Why don't you go look for yourself?"

Shen Jiafei waved his hands. "I'd better just stay put."

And so, with the power out, no one in the dining room dared move, while a ghostly female voice still came from downstairs from time to time: "I'm hungry," and "Who's going to bring me something to eat?"

Finally, Jian Ran stood up.

Beside him, Du Yunmeng hurriedly asked, "Jian Ran, where are you going?"

"What do you think?" Jian Ran replied irritably. "To fix the circuit breaker, obviously."

With that, he started to leave, and someone followed close behind. "I'll go with you."

Jian Ran looked back and saw that it was Lu Yanting. He pressed his lips together but didn't object.

Mainly, he could use the chance to be alone with him to ask what exactly he'd meant by what he'd said earlier.

But someone just had to fail to read the room and join in too. "I'll go as well."

Ji Yuanming stood straight at his full height of 1.9 meters. As though afraid he wasn't convincing enough, he added, "I earned an electrician's certificate abroad."

"Heh, aren't you impressive." Jian Ran's lips curled in a sneer, and he turned to leave.

And so, the three of them, plus the camera, made their way briskly up to the second floor.

The windows were at either end of the corridor, and the light couldn't reach inside, making the guest room area seem even darker and gloomier.

After a few steps, the old floor creaked, sounding eerie and hollow.

The cameraman couldn't help asking, "Jian Ran, how did you know the circuit breaker was on the second floor?"

With the back of his head facing the screen, Jian Ran said, "I guessed."

The cameraman: "..."

As he carried the camera on his shoulder, hesitating over whether to turn back, a deathly pale ghost face with blood pouring from all seven orifices and bulging eyeballs suddenly lunged into view.

The fans in the livestream: [Holy shit-]