"My daughter Lili started acting strange half a month ago..."
Liu Lili was seventeen that year, in the demanding final year of high school. Liu Ze and his wife had set aside time to stay with her through that last stretch.
But one day, Liu Lili came home from school and sat on the living room sofa, staring blankly instead of doing her homework.
When Liu Ze passed by to pick something up from the coffee table, he suddenly heard a faint remark.
"You must have seen wrong."
"No, I just came to get a blanket. Are you not feeling well today? Why aren't you doing your homework?"
Liu Ze sat down and asked his daughter.
Liu Lili fell silent again, curled up on the sofa with her long hair hiding her face.
She had always been introverted. Liu Ze merely assumed his daughter had something on her mind that she didn't want to tell him, so he thought little of it.
But after dealing with his messages, he headed upstairs and saw Liu Lili standing at the foot of the stairs, her head still lowered, repeating the same words.
"You must have seen wrong."
That was where things started going wrong.
Liu Lili grew more and more withdrawn, as though she could no longer say anything besides that one sentence.
At night, even with the doors and windows firmly shut, she could still enter their master bedroom. She would stare at their bedside for a long while before speaking.
"You must have seen wrong."
The room was dim, and Liu Lili wore a pure white nightdress, her long hair hanging loose. Her voice was faint and eerie, frightening her mother terribly.
After several nights in a row, even the villa's servants grew jumpy and suspicious, taking leave one after another.
Liu Ze hurriedly requested leave from school for her and took her to all sorts of hospitals, but none could find anything wrong.
His wife was already so frightened that her nerves were beginning to fray.
Just yesterday, Liu Lili's condition seemed to worsen. In the middle of a meal, she suddenly vomited large clots of black blood.
She stared at those blood clots and said only one thing.
"You must have seen wrong."
Liu Ze had made horror films himself and was half skeptical about such things, but he had no connections and knew no Taoist priests.
Only after stumbling across this variety show had he thought of seeking out Jiang Nuo.
He was a director. Naturally, he could distinguish the real from the fake in a livestreamed variety show. Claims that it was all for entertainment might fool the audience, but not him.
"That's what happened... I-I really have no other options left."
When Liu Ze finished, the livestream chat fell silent.
Oh my god... that's terrifying!
Is this really not a made-up story??
Could this be to build hype for Jiang Nuo...?
Jiang Nuo's a scandal-ridden celebrity, and Liu Ze's such a big director... how could that be possible?!
After listening, Jiang Nuo suddenly suggested that Liu Ze turn on his camera.
Liu Ze did as he asked.
On camera, he looked deeply troubled, with heavy dark circles under his eyes. Those were things anyone could see.
The chat could no longer bring itself to call it fake.
But in Jiang Nuo's eyes, the black aura lingering between the man's brows was downright thick.
And that was merely from having contact with Liu Lili.
[Side quest triggered: The girl who lost her soul]
0732's voice sounded in his mind.
[Quest completion reward: 10 points]
Jiang Nuo's expression shifted slightly. After a few seconds of thought, he said, "Director Liu, if it's convenient, send me your home address in a bit. I'll come take a look."
He had agreed to take it on.
Liu Ze repeatedly said yes and hurriedly disconnected from the call.
Yang Xiaoxiao had listened in a daze. Only now did she collect herself enough to ask Jiang Nuo a question.
"Can you really solve this? It sounds so scary."
Jiang Nuo returned to his smiling self. "Who knows? I'll have to go take a look."
Once again, Jiang Nuo had plainly stolen the spotlight in this livestream.
Tian Dong's malice emboldened him, and he suddenly said with a smile, "Jiang Nuo, since you're so capable, let us see too. Why don't you livestream the whole thing that day?"
Si Yan, who hadn't spoken the entire time, glanced at him, his gaze darkening slightly.
Tian Dong continued, "That's the only way to prove that none of us in today's livestream are your shills."
The chat loved watching drama unfold and immediately chimed in.
Jiang Nuo had little reaction. After all, he wouldn't be the one getting scared by the livestream.
"If Director Liu agrees, I don't see why not."
The chat started tagging Liu Ze in droves again. Before long, he actually posted a comment agreeing.
As long as they could save his daughter, anything was fine.
The matter was set aside for the time being. The staff strictly screened the next few fans who joined the call, and nothing else went wrong.
Soon, the two-hour livestream ended.
After going off air, Jiang Nuo blinked innocently at Cui Ming, who had charged into the room.
Cui Ming's eyes went wide.
"Director Liu... that thing was real?!"
The charlatan thing wasn't just a persona?!
Jiang Nuo shrugged. "I explained, didn't I? You didn't believe me."
He opened his Weibo private messages, automatically filtering out the sea of abuse. He found Liu Ze's message and replied with an okay.
Then he noticed a new friend request on WeChat. It was from Si Yan.
He accepted, and the status immediately changed to typing.
Si Yan: You're going to Director Liu Ze's house. It's dangerous.
Si Yan: Can I go with you?
What kind of non sequitur was this?
He knew it was dangerous and still wanted to go along. Wasn't he really afraid of ghosts?
Jiang Nuo pulled Cui Ming, who was darting around the room in shock, over to show him the messages.
"Brother Cui, what do you think Si Yan means by this?"
Cui Ming scratched his head and racked his brains before suddenly seeing the light.
"Oh! Aren't you supposed to livestream the whole thing that day? Si Yan must think it's the perfect opportunity for you two to promote your CP!"
Jiang Nuo drew out an "Oh." "So that's it."
Si Yan really was dedicated to his work.
He hurriedly replied.
"Sure!"
Catch ghosts while absorbing spiritual energy-points and spiritual energy, both at once! Sweet!
He arranged a time with Liu Ze, settling on the afternoon of the day after tomorrow. At Cui Ming's suggestion, he also posted a preview on Weibo.
"Hello, everyone. Good afternoon."
Jiang Nuo started the livestream as soon as he got into the car. Viewers from all over had been pestering him relentlessly for the past two days.
On camera, he wore simple casual clothes, his face still bare of makeup and his hair only casually tousled.
The influx of viewers made the livestream freeze for several seconds.
Here to watch him make a fool of himself! No way do I believe this is real!
Jiang Nuo actually dared to livestream this. Isn't he afraid he'll get torn apart for faking it?!
Sorry, I'm guilty... as a shameless passerby, all I want to shout is, Jiang Nuo, you don't even have pores!! You look good even from such a deadly angle... I'm crying.
Aren't you going to Director Liu's house? Where are you?
"We're almost at Director Liu's house, but we're waiting for someone before going in together."
Jiang Nuo picked out a useful question and glanced out of the car window. "He should be here soon."
The chat started scrolling again, speculating that he had found a real Taoist priest to bail him out.
The more they discussed it, the more plausible it seemed.
Then Jiang Nuo got out of the car. When the viewers saw the other man on camera, they all fell silent.
Si Yan fans who'd crawled over to watch Jiang Nuo's livestream: ??
Si Yan, why are you here!!
Si Yan came up to him, glanced at the camera, then stopped beside Jiang Nuo, his gaze fixed on him.
Jiang Nuo blinked, somehow understood what he meant, and handed the camera to the cameraman Cui Ming had found.
Then he held out his hand.
Si Yan immediately took it, his brow relaxing in complete satisfaction.
"Please come in, both of you."
The butler who had come to greet them hurriedly led them inside.