"Let's go. Hurry up and get out of here..."
Shi Lezhi could no longer keep his cool either. He moved to walk beside Yun Kang, feeling as though his shoulders were getting heavier and heavier. His neck was starting to hurt too.
Seeing Si Yan still at the back, Jiang Nuo sidled over to secretly absorb spiritual energy. When Si Yan held out his hand, he took it.
To his surprise, Si Yan stiffened this time, then quickly shook him off and shoved his hand into his pocket.
"Huh?"
Jiang Nuo looked down at his own hand in confusion, then at Si Yan. "You're not scared anymore?"
What a shame. With direct physical contact, his absorption of spiritual energy was still weak, but much faster than it was now.
Something deepened in Si Yan's eyes as he frowned at him...
At his hand.
His phoenix eyes held conflict, along with a hint of distaste.
Jiang Nuo fell silent for a few seconds, strangely understanding what he meant.
"You think my hands are dirty because I just helped dress that puppet?"
"Yes."
This time, Si Yan didn't beat around the bush.
Jiang Nuo tilted his head and suddenly chuckled to himself several times. His handsome face looked even more dazzling with a smile, making Si Yan stare fixedly at him.
"What are you laughing at?"
Si Yan lowered his eyelids, his eyes full of confusion.
"I'm not laughing at you. I just think you're pretty cute."
Jiang Nuo tugged the disinfectant wipes Si Yan had prepared out of his hand, leisurely opened them, and wiped his hands clean.
The whole process wasn't particularly quick. His hands were slender and rather thin, and he wiped them carefully. Si Yan lowered his gaze to look a few times too.
Once his hands were clean, before Jiang Nuo could say anything, Si Yan took his dangling hand, as though he couldn't wait.
The camera operator captured their interactions as they walked in perfect detail.
...Oh my god...
Wait, you... huh? You two? Si Yan??
As a fan, let me go first. Si Yan, you're done for! You've been bewitched by Jiang Nuo's beauty!
Fuck! Drop dead, Jiang Nuo!! Stealing my husband!
Never in my life did I expect to hear someone call Si Yan... cute? Even his own fucking fans can't bring themselves to call him that!
Shocked by the scene, the bullet comments descended into incoherent babble, even burying the messages about losing contact with them.
After leaving the room through the hidden door, they entered a passage. It was extremely dim inside, with barely enough room for two people to walk side by side.
Now the candles they held, which hadn't gone out yet, and their phones' flashlights came in handy.
"Why is it so cold in here..."
Yang Xiaoxiao pulled her clothes tighter around herself and clung fearfully to Xu Jing's arm. "Sister Jing, are you cold?"
"Yes. The temperature in here has dropped by at least ten degrees."
Xu Jing's voice was trembling a little too.
Shi Lezhi and Yun Kang, who were leading the way, suddenly stopped, their backs rigid.
Panting, Shi Lezhi forced himself to stay calm, exchanged a glance with Yun Kang, and slowly turned around.
The camera operators behind them were so frightened that their cameras shook, and they hastily backed up several steps.
The end of this passage was actually a red-brick wall!
But when they had come in, they had also heard the hidden door shut tight!
"Damn it! The production team really is messing with us, aren't they?!"
Unable to bear the oppressive atmosphere, Shi Lezhi slammed a fist into the wall.
"Huh?"
Hearing the sound from the back, Jiang Nuo raised a hand toward Shi Lezhi past the people between them. "Hey! Punch it again so I can listen."
Shi Lezhi: "..."
He couldn't help turning around and swearing.
"Jiang Nuo, are you fucking sick?!"
"Stop cursing people all the time. Too much resentment, and you'll end up in a miserable state."
Jiang Nuo gave his right shoulder a pointed look, then shot him a glance. "You know what I mean."
Shi Lezhi stiffened even more.
His instincts told him Jiang Nuo definitely knew something!
Jiang Nuo led Si Yan forward by the hand. "Come on, everyone, make some room."
Only then did everyone realize that he and Si Yan weren't just walking shoulder to shoulder-they were holding hands!
Yang Xiaoxiao sucked in a sharp breath, her eyes darting between Jiang Nuo and Si Yan.
Jiang Nuo knocked on the red-brick wall and pressed his ear against it to listen, then straightened and faced everyone.
"Good news! This isn't a solid wall!"
Xu Jing asked tentatively, "Is there bad news, then?"
"Bad news! There's someone inside!"
"What?!"
Everyone was stunned.
After saying that, Jiang Nuo paused to think, then corrected himself. "Don't be scared. It's not really a person, just a corpse that's been dead for a long time."
Everyone who heard this remained stunned.
Did he think calling it a corpse was reassuring?!
That just turned it from eerie to terrifying!
By now, Yang Xiaoxiao and Xu Jing had more or less realized that this mansion was definitely far from ordinary, and that Jiang Nuo might be the only one who could handle it.
But there was always someone who refused to believe.
"What nonsense are you spouting?! You knocked a few times and knew there was a corpse inside? Are you a tomb raider?"
Shi Lezhi marched forward, his neck stiff. The horror he had felt at the sight of the wall had actually vanished completely in his anger at Jiang Nuo.
"I don't believe it. This has to be another obstacle the production team set up!"
"Move! I'll push it! Tian Dong, Brother Kang, come give me a hand."
"All right. Be my guest."
Jiang Nuo obligingly pressed himself against the wall to make room, his eyes full of anticipation.
The instant the three of them pushed the wall, a strange noise suddenly came from the darkness at the opposite end of the passage.
Jiang Nuo heard it first and turned to look, his left eye, hidden from the camera, flickering faintly.
As though he had seen something interesting, he tilted his head and curled his lips into a smile.
But the sight was truly rather unsettling.
What the fuck... does anyone know what Jiang Nuo is doing?
He's been acting all spooky ever since they entered the old mansion! That look is seriously creepy!
Still no one's managed to contact them!!
Si Yan followed his gaze for a glance, then looked away, his probing eyes settling on Jiang Nuo's face.
"Hey, Si Yan, mind the cameras. You're the nation's film emperor."
Jiang Nuo also looked back, taking the opportunity to stare at him teasingly.
"...Mm."
Si Yan still didn't contradict him.
He agreed readily enough, but his gaze didn't restrain itself in the slightest.
"Fuck! What is that?!"
Shi Lezhi abruptly stopped pushing the wall. He felt something clamp around his throat and lift him upward. His hands grabbed wildly at the air but found nothing to hold on to.
He struggled wildly, but the grip only tightened. In his daze, he seemed to see a woman's figure.
"I can't pull him free! What's going on?!"
Tian Dong and Yun Kang tried to pull Shi Lezhi down, but the two grown men couldn't budge him. The camera operators abandoned filming and rushed to help.
It was still no use, as though some inexplicable force was fighting against them.
"Jiang Nuo! Jiang Nuo! Come save him!"
Out of options, Yun Kang could only shout for Jiang Nuo, his voice hoarse with effort.
Jiang Nuo turned to look and gave a little exclamation. "What a spectacle."
He had only just taken a step and hadn't even had time to raise his hand when that force seemed to sense something. Grabbing Shi Lezhi, it dragged him toward the other side of the wall.
It actually forced him straight through the wall. Red bricks crashed to the ground, and the corpse inside toppled over, its limbs flying everywhere.
"Oh dear. Too late."
Jiang Nuo patted the brick dust off his clothes, looking rather regretful.
"Poor Shi Lezhi."
Oh my god!! There really was a corpse in that wall!
Shi Lezhi got snatched away, fuck! Jiang Nuo, aren't you able to save people?! Hurry up and save him!
I'm seriously losing my mind. Is this something the show deliberately set up or not?!
The fallen red bricks, the scattered corpse, and Shi Lezhi, who had been dragged away.
Every one of them stretched everyone's nerves taut.
Yang Xiaoxiao began to cry quietly. "What... what should we do?"
"Jiang Nuo! Aren't you going to save him?!"
Tian Dong suddenly stared at them, like someone making a desperate last struggle. "Shi Lezhi was dragged away! Aren't you going to save him?!"