Jiang Nuo dodged the falling objects.
Everyone in the room suddenly felt their breathing constrict, as though wrapped in moisture so thick and sticky it had become tangible.
Bloodstained scraps of cloth.
They gave off a powerful, rotten stench, as if they had been soaking in an old fermentation jar for hundreds of years.
Si Yan immediately backed away without any hesitation.
At the same time, he pulled wet wipes from his pocket, frowning as he wiped his hands and covered his nose in one smooth sequence, as though he had not been the one who had just offered to stay with Jiang Nuo.
Yang Xiaoxiao said, "Wh... what is that?"
Chu Xiu went straight over and crouched beside Jiang Nuo to look. "The blood on this looks pretty fresh."
Jiang Nuo found a long stick in the room and poked through the pile of foul-smelling cloth, locating the piece that contained the most yin energy.
The yin energy climbed up the stick, trying to attach itself to Jiang Nuo's arm.
"Oh, this one's pretty strong."
He muttered, took a talisman from his pocket, and stuck it on.
Chu Xiu's eyes widened as she watched the cloth sizzle as though scalded by hot oil, its foul stench evaporating completely.
Then flames sprang up and burned it clean away.
Chu Xiu stood up and exclaimed, "Jiang Nuo! You're amazing!"
???? What is this?
Mom, this world is so fantastical!! Jiang Nuo, he... he has magic, too!
Holy shit, this is the first time I've seen such direct proof of how uncanny Jiang Nuo is...
Jiang Nuo clapped his hands clean and stood up, looking at the enormous framed photograph directly in front of him.
The wife's gaze in the photograph seemed to have changed.
"Si Yan, come here."
He beckoned to Si Yan, who had slipped over to the door.
The latter warily looked at the cloth, now reduced to ash, and only slowly approached after confirming that there would be no more strange smells.
"It stinks," Si Yan explained, still holding a wet wipe over his nose.
He meant that he had not been trying to slip away just now.
"I know. Look at the wife in this photograph. Do you feel anything?"
A natural spirit body was highly sensitive to yin energy and resentment.
At his words, Si Yan looked over. The instant he met the wife's eyes, a bone-deep chill spread through him, and he instinctively grabbed Jiang Nuo's arm for warmth.
He distinctly had not felt this when they first entered.
"She's become very strange."
Si Yan glanced at the others, who dared not make a sound, and whispered to Jiang Nuo, "Very heavy... yin energy."
"Looks like I wasn't imagining things."
Understanding dawned on Jiang Nuo. He rubbed the cold fingertips in his palm. "We can leave."
Only at those words did everyone breathe a sigh of relief.
Yang Xiaoxiao had also witnessed Jiang Nuo's abilities. Linking arms with Chu Xiu, she told her what had happened in the previous episode as they walked.
Lin Yu lagged at the back of the group, a dark look flashing through his eyes as he watched Jiang Nuo and Si Yan walking side by side, holding hands.
"Xiao Tian, Jiang Nuo is really impressive. He has so many skills."
Looking at Tian Dong, who was also trailing behind, Lin Yu spoke as though casually.
Tian Dong, who had still been caught up in his fear, immediately gave a harsh scoff. "He has plenty of skills, sure, but it's all arranged by the production team. Don't let him fool you, Lin Yu."
"So that's how it is."
Lin Yu sighed, seemingly indignant on Tian Dong's behalf.
"Out of all of us, you have quite a lot of fans, and you're a popular idol, too. I thought..."
He left it at that, abruptly stopping himself and smiling at Tian Dong.
"I'm just talking nonsense. Forget I said anything."
But Tian Dong could tell what he had left unsaid.
That's right!
He was a hugely popular star. Now that the show had become so popular, probably more than half the credit went to him. Why should Jiang Nuo get to steal all the screen time?
Since all this stuff was fake, he could do it, too!
Tian Dong clenched his fists and glared at Jiang Nuo's back.
...Did these two forget they're livestreaming??
So what? Our Yuyu just made an offhand comment, and you're twisting even that into something?
Everyone knows Lin Yu is kind... What's wrong with saying something when he can't stand watching this? Jiang Nuo's fans need to stop getting so triggered.
Everyone came out into the corridor, ready to head to the next room.
The production team had clearly cleaned the corridor. It was very clean, but only in the physical sense.
It was packed with little ghosts, some crying and some laughing, but every one of them wore the same white bellyband and had two bright red circles on their faces.
Ritual paper effigy ghosts.
They had actually absorbed resentment and turned into this.
As soon as Jiang Nuo stepped into the corridor, little ghosts tried to grab his ankles.
Their hands were bigger than their heads, making them look extremely eerie. They sucked away people's life force by grabbing their ankles.
Jiang Nuo glanced down at the little ghosts. "Please move aside."
He was always very patient with these adorable little ghosts.
The little ghosts reaching for his feet froze, then withdrew their hands in surprise and hugged themselves, trembling.
How could this human see them?
He seemed really powerful!
So they tried to grab Si Yan's feet instead, coveting the spiritual power they could sense in him.
"Cold..."
Si Yan moved closer to Jiang Nuo, his voice a little weak.
So Jiang Nuo glanced at the little ghosts again.
The little ghosts: "..."
So annoying! Why was this one off-limits, too?
One of the bolder ones bared its teeth, trying to scare Jiang Nuo.
Then he flicked its forehead, sending it flying three meters away.
Others in the corridor also had their calves grabbed, but they had no other reaction and only felt that it had suddenly become colder.
Tian Dong slowly let his guard down. Emboldened again, he mocked Jiang Nuo. "Sure enough, as long as you don't stir up trouble, there aren't any ghosts this time."
Well said. Jiang Nuo rewarded him with three little ghosts.
At Jiang Nuo's signal, the little ghost whose forehead he had flicked lunged at Tian Dong, baring its teeth and claws as it frantically sucked away his life force.
It seemed to be venting its anger.
Tian Dong shivered all over, hugging his arms against the cold.
"Why is it so cold..."
He murmured, his face looking somewhat ashen.
Once everyone had entered the corridor, the lights suddenly came on, revealing clues the production team had placed on the walls.
They were pictures of children being abused and murdered in various ways.
When they pushed open the second door, strange arrows and squares greeted them.
"Is this a puzzle? We have to hop across along the correct route?"
Yang Xiaoxiao poked her head in, puzzled.
Just then, the lights flickered.
A woman suddenly appeared at the far end of the room, grabbing a little girl and beating and scolding her.
Yang Xiaoxiao pulled her head back, hugging Chu Xiu's arm in fright.
"That NPC appeared way too suddenly!"
Chu Xiu pulled out her left pigtail, which Yang Xiaoxiao had pinned down, and remained perfectly calm. "With Jiang Nuo here, I don't think even real ghosts would be scary!"
Yang Xiaoxiao gave two dry laughs.
That was because they hadn't seen any real ghosts yet!
"Why don't you like your little brother! Why!"
The woman held the little girl's hand and struck her hard, her gaze especially vicious.
"I hate him! I just hate him! Why did he have to be born!"
The little girl wailed under the beating, looking extremely pitiful.
Both NPCs were deeply immersed in their performances.
Suddenly, the little girl was beaten until she bled. She shoved the woman away and ran out of the room, not forgetting to leave one last line.
"Even if you beat me to death, I still won't like my little brother!"
The lights went out, leaving only the one above the woman's head.
Her chest heaved with anger as she stared after the girl with malice and disgust.