A tangled romance on a horror travel livestream?

Lucky Inn had only been streaming for two days, yet its livestream already had over a million followers, with numbers climbing rapidly as it dominated every trending topic chart.

Its rising popularity came not only from its eerie horror aesthetic, but also from all sorts of romantic rumors and gossip, a full-blown barrage of publicity stunts.

The top five headlines on the entertainment chart read:

#Shocking! Jian Ran and Ji Yuanming's romance#

#Breaking! Jian Ran and Yu Fengyi's romance#

#Bombshell! Jian Ran and Lu Yanting's flirtation#

#Lu Yanting and Ji Yuanming suspected of falling out#

#Who will Jian Ran choose in the end?#

Didn't this feel exactly like a dating show?!

A tangled romance on a horror travel livestream?!

Even ghosts wanted in on the gossip, okay?!

And so, fans from every camp on Weibo began battling it out. The comments were awash with insults, every faction out in force, creating such a toxic uproar that they actually crashed the servers in the middle of the night. No new posts could be refreshed for a full hour, setting a historic new record for chaos.

Just as Jian Ran had expected, Yu Fengyi's luxury sedan never made it out of the thick white fog. Dinner had been reheated over and over, but there was still no sign of him.

Li Yuan, who sat waiting on the sofa, yawned endlessly. Beside him, the little assistant Qi Rui was so sleepy he could barely keep his eyes open. Their heads slowly leaned together, and just as they were about to fall asleep,

an icy, cutting voice came from behind them. "It's almost midnight. Why aren't you back in your rooms? Sitting here waiting for ghosts?!"

Li Yuan and Qi Rui jolted, scared out of their wits. They shrieked and turned, their legs already poised to launch them into a sprint, only to see Jian Ran's beautiful, gloomy face. His eyes were astonishingly bright, sharp and reproachful.

"J-Jian Ran," Qi Rui swallowed, trying to force the heart lodged in his throat back down. "Why aren't you asleep yet?"

"What do you think?" Jian Ran rolled his eyes and plopped down on the sofa. "Our line of work pays well, but it's exhausting too, because..."

"Because someone is always trying to get themselves killed!"

"You're willing to throw your lives away just to be a couple of simps?!"

And so, simp number one and simp number two nodded in unison and chorused, "We're going back to bed right now!"

Li Yuan slipped away with astonishing speed, as though his soles had been greased.

After all, the cold gusts creeping down the back of his neck were no illusion...

Qi Rui sensed something wrong too. His scalp prickled, and he tried to run, only for Jian Ran to suddenly stick out a long leg and trip him to the floor. He turned his head, on the verge of tears. "Jian Ran, what are you doing? We can talk this out..."

"What are you crying for? Hold it in." Jian Ran leaned closer, looking secretive. "Let me ask you something."

Seeing him like this only frightened Qi Rui more. "Go ahead, Jian Ran. I'll tell you everything I know!"

"Lu Yanting said he's never been in a relationship." Jian Ran paused. "Is that believable?"

Qi Rui shook his head furiously. "No way. With his looks and powerful background, wouldn't women be throwing themselves at him?"

Jian Ran drew back and nodded to himself. "That's what I thought too."

"Jian Ran, can I go now?" Qi Rui sounded tearful.

"If you're scared, why stay up this late?" Jian Ran curled his lip. "Get lost!"

The lounge gradually fell silent. An icy breeze from somewhere stirred the curtains into a rustle, like restless spirits whispering in the dead silence, drifting and swaying as they spoke of resentment and venom.

Jian Ran sat on the edge of the sofa, his beautifully jointed fingers tapping the leather armrest over and over. A red light glowed in the corner, as though a camera was running.

He didn't notice it, however. He held his breath and concentrated fully, his lips trembling faintly as a weak sound emerged.

Suddenly, his phone alarm went off. The sound spread swiftly through the first-floor lobby, so shrill and abrupt it could frighten someone's heart right out of their chest.

Utterly composed, Jian Ran switched off the alarm without hurrying and slowly stood.

Almost simultaneously, fierce winds erupted through the lobby. The white gauze curtains flailed like the claws and fangs of evil spirits, trying to devour everything.

Jian Ran stayed where he was, but the night owls in the livestream noticed something wrong.

[Holy shit, who's standing behind Jian Ran in the middle of the night?! They've even got a red cloth over their head!]

[What the fuck? I just opened the stream and saw this. Talk about a thrill!]

[Jian Ran, turn around! There's someone behind you-]

[It's scripted, right? What a ridiculous prank!]

[Look, they're reaching out! Holy shit, those nails are long!]

[Are they going to strangle Jian Ran?! They're going for his neck!]

[...]

Jian Ran had no idea so many people in the livestream were worried about him. He merely tilted his head slightly and dodged the "long nails."

The figure beneath the red bridal veil seemed to grow angry with embarrassment and screeched, "Didn't you want to marry me?!"

"Why are you still avoiding me?!"

Jian Ran turned around, looking unrestrained, a nonchalant smile tugging at his lips. "Miss, who hasn't run into a few scumbags? Why cling so hard to your obsession, give up your chance at reincarnation, and hurt people here?"

"You're not Li Zongsheng!" The figure beneath the red bridal veil instantly realized she had been tricked. "Why did you lure me here?! If you want to die, I'll oblige!"

"She" raised both hands again. Icy winds howled through the lobby, lifting the red bridal veil to reveal Ji Yuanming's face as she clawed straight at Jian Ran's face.

"Die-"

Jian Ran froze for a moment at the sight of that face begging to be punched, then rolled his eyes and swung his fist without mercy.

Golden light flashed, and the six-foot-three figure toppled to the floor. "Fuck, I thought this girl was wearing sky-high heels. Turns out she fucking borrowed your body!"

"You useless idiot! All you do is make things worse!"

The female ghost had thought Jian Ran would hold back because she was possessing his companion. Instead, she got beaten even harder.

Where did this Daoist come from?!

Didn't he care about accumulating any merit?!

The fans in the livestream were stunned too.

[Is that Ji Yuanming getting beaten up? Why is he wearing a red bridal veil in the middle of the night?! Is he a pervert?!]

[What's wrong with Jian Ran? Isn't he hitting too hard? Could someone die? Why isn't anyone coming downstairs to stop him? Can't they hear all that noise?!]

[Why did Ji Yuanming sound like a woman just now? And he wanted Jian Ran to marry him? This is so creepy!]

"Ji Yuanming" finally managed to scramble up and flee toward the kitchen. He stumbled and nearly fell flat again. In his panic, he thrust his entire face right in front of the running personal-use camera.

White pupils, blood streaming from all seven facial orifices, and long, tangled hair like withered grass appeared starkly before the lens.

And so, the fans staring intently at their screens all cried out the same thing: "Holy shit! What is that thing?!"

Yet in the very next instant, Jian Ran appeared behind the "thing" like a god, grabbed it by the back of its collar, and hurled it away.

"Aaaaah-" The shrill, piercing voice instantly sailed into the distance.

Jian Ran didn't chase after it. Instead, he bent slightly and peered closely ahead, his entire exquisite, beautiful face filling the lens. His thin lips parted, and he enunciated elegantly,

"Which dumbfuck put a camera here?"