Chapter 112

Zhu Chu found relevant information about Yan Xingwei.

Originally, he thought that with Yan Xingwei’s current miserable situation, any news related to him would be hard to find. But surprisingly, it only took a quick search to find plenty.

“Yan Xingwei, well-known writer, screenwriter, and director. His representative works include...” Zhu Chu froze when he saw the title of the movie listed under his works. “What the heck, he directed this film?”

Xie An and An He Guang leaned over to take a look, both equally shocked—

The film Zhu Chu was talking about was a dark comedy, a mix of warm tones with black humor, chaotic scenes, and a hidden horror undertone beneath the comedy. It was an entirely new artistic form in domestic cinema, and it instantly exploded at the box office, becoming the biggest dark horse among the New Year films at the time.

Not only that, but the film also won international awards for the country for the first time, filling the gap in the country’s film industry in that field.

This film was a surprise, catching everyone off guard.

Even ten years later, it still holds the top spot on the domestic comedy rankings, unbeatable, and it served as the introductory work for many into the genre of dark comedy.

What made the film even more remarkable was that its director was just in his early twenties, a student from the director department of a film academy.

It was as if the future of the domestic film industry was suddenly bright before their eyes.

“Back then, it’s said that even the most prestigious foreign film academies came to our country to recruit him. It was a huge sensation,” An He Guang explained to Ke Xingzhou. “But unfortunately, after that, we never heard from this director again. A few years ago, people even speculated online, wondering if he had run out of ideas and couldn’t make new films anymore…”

At this point, An He Guang suddenly fell silent.

It was only then that he realized the scruffy, disheveled man sitting in front of them was the genius director he had just mentioned.

“Holy shit.” He couldn’t help but curse, then quickly lowered his voice. “So this Yan Xingwei is the same one from ten years ago?”

Zhu Chu hesitated for a moment but then carefully looked at Yan Xingwei's face and had to admit, “It’s definitely him. A person’s appearance changes only to a limited extent, especially the contours, which don’t change much. Look at this photo—ignore his skin condition, the contours are exactly the same as his now.”

“…” An He Guang couldn’t believe it.

He had been a loyal fan of that dark comedy ten years ago, rewatching it almost every six months. He had memorized many of the iconic lines from the movie.

In fact, a large portion of the domestic audience who enjoyed dark comedy regarded this film as a masterpiece.

Therefore, when rumors spread online suggesting that Yan Xingwei might have run out of ideas, his fans immediately came to his defense and shut down those malicious speculations.

He would rather believe that Yan Xingwei had spent the last ten years perfecting an even better work than to think that he truly couldn’t make another film and had turned into this scruffy, disheveled man.

An He Guang stared at Yan Xingwei, feeling a complicated mix of emotions, unable to reconcile this person with the idol he had admired as a teenager.

Zhu Chu also found it hard to believe. He looked at Yan Xingwei from different angles, leaned closer to Ke Xingzhou, and whispered, “Master, I think his face looks pretty good. Why has he ended up in this situation?”The Taoist priests nearby, upon hearing his way of addressing Ke Xingzhou, couldn't help but glance over in surprise.

A young man of Ke Xingzhou’s age, in their Taoist temple, would at most just be a newly promoted apprentice Taoist, not even someone who could take on disciples, let alone start doing so himself.

It seemed that the Xiaoyao Sect was so short on people that even such a young Taoist could start taking disciples?

However, the question Zhu Chu asked did indeed hit the mark.

Facial features can be divided into bone structure and skin appearance. To determine one’s recent circumstances, the skin appearance is generally analyzed. It can show how a person’s luck is shifting in a short time through features like their eyebrows and skin.

But to understand someone’s overall destiny, one needs to look at the bone structure.

The bone structure determines a person’s life, aging, illness, and death. A Taoist with deep cultivation can tell a person’s life trajectory with just a glance, almost without error.

However, Yan Xingwei’s situation was somewhat special.

His bone structure indicated that he should be a person with very good fortune, yet everything he was currently experiencing was the complete opposite of what his bone structure suggested.

If this had happened to someone else, it would usually be attributed to the interference of evil spirits or someone using dark and sinister means to take over their life.

But with so many Taoist priests present, they could not detect any signs of human interference with Yan Xingwei’s fate.

One of the Taoist priests pondered, wondering if the inn was the cause of the issue, but before he could speak, Zhu Chu shook his head and sighed, “It must be that my cultivation is still lacking, which is why I can’t see it.”

Taoist Priest: “…”

While this was happening, it seemed that the discussion had concluded, and Yan Xingwei called over the key creative members of the crew. The hall instantly became very lively.

It was clear that Yan Xingwei was indeed facing financial difficulties, as the actors he had brought were all very young, unfamiliar faces that even An He Guang, the young prince of the entertainment industry, had never seen before.

These young actors were quite bold, as none of them had quit the crew despite the strange happenings. But even so, their faces were all quite haggard, clearly shaken by the events.

Yan Xingwei had the key crew members walk in front of the Taoist priests. His weary eyes looked hopelessly at the Taoist priests: "Did you figure out anything?"

The Taoist priests exchanged glances and shook their heads.

The creative team looked exhausted, but it was mostly because they hadn’t rested well and had been overly worried, which showed on their bodies.

Some of them had arrived early and walked around with ritual tools. Apart from the inn Yan Xingwei had mentioned earlier, they hadn’t found anything suspicious.

It could be ruled out that it was caused by wandering souls, but the exact reason remained unknown.

Yan Xingwei seemed to have anticipated this outcome, his expression darkening slightly: “So, it’s really like this?”

Seeing this, Taoist Qian from Changsheng Temple couldn’t help but shake his head.

Yan Xingwei had originally been a believer of their temple. Years ago, due to continuous misfortune, he had stayed at their temple for a period of time.

This time, when these strange events occurred, Yan Xingwei naturally sought help from Changsheng Temple first.

Unfortunately, whether it was when Yan Xingwei first sought them out or with the current situation, Changsheng Temple had been unable to find any reason behind it.

Since this year’s ceremony was being held in the capital, the Taoists of Changsheng Temple deliberated and eventually decided to ask their fellow Taoists for help, hoping that someone else could find the key to solving the problem.

But now it seemed that everyone’s skills were on par, and there was little hope.Although the Taoist priests said this, they weren’t completely helpless.

The group quickly agreed on a time and decided to perform a ritual to drive away evil and quell the disturbance.

After all, the groups causing the disturbance in the human realm were few in number, so they would just go through the rituals one by one, targeting ghosts, demons, and malevolent spirits.

The key creative members of the crew, upon hearing the Taoist priests' plan, were somewhat reassured.

The Taoist priests then began discussing the procedure of the ritual.

The usually very conspicuous Xiaoyao Sect, however, was surprisingly low-key this time. Taoist Qian couldn't help but glance over at Ke Xingzhou, only to see him looking somewhat downcast, leaning against the window, gazing outside.

Honestly, with so many Taoist friends invited, Taoist Qian had still been hoping that Xiaoyao Sect might detect something unusual—he had personally witnessed Ke Xingzhou’s abilities and was very aware that despite his young appearance, Ke Xingzhou’s cultivation might even surpass that of anyone present.

But unexpectedly, Ke Xingzhou had barely stood out since his arrival.

Taoist Qian walked over, followed Ke Xingzhou’s line of sight, and looked outside. There was only a dense thicket of trees—while it wasn’t as desolate as near Jincheng, the trees didn’t have many leaves, and there wasn’t much to look at.

Taoist Qian coughed lightly and spoke, "Daoist Ke, have you noticed anything unusual?"

Ke Xingzhou pulled his gaze away from the window and realized that he had zoned out.

Seeing his confused expression, Taoist Qian originally thought that he wouldn’t get much of a response. But unexpectedly, Ke Xingzhou paused for a moment and then asked, “Has the boss not come?”

He was probably the only one who had realized this. Everyone else froze when they heard his question.

To be honest, they hadn’t even thought about calling the boss. From Yan Xingwei’s description, the boss seemed to be connected to the mastermind behind all these disturbances.

If they called the boss, wouldn’t they be revealing their secrets to the enemy?

So, even though Ke Xingzhou brought it up, no one at the scene was planning to call the boss.

Taoist Qian, however, knew some inside information: “Our Changsheng Temple sent someone to investigate earlier. The boss is just an ordinary person. The strange events happening to the crew members are likely not related to her.”

Yan Xingwei hesitated for a moment and then spoke, “The Taoists at Changsheng Temple gave me a few talismans. I tried them on the boss, but there was no reaction.”

Changsheng Temple was considered a prestigious Taoist temple in the capital, and even across the country, few temples were stronger than them.

Since the Taoists at Changsheng Temple said this, it was likely that the boss wasn’t the source of the problem.

Zhu Chu, however, strongly disagreed with this idea: “So what if she’s an ordinary person? Before you all started practicing Taoism, weren’t you all ordinary people? Now, you still command the winds and the rain.”

Command the winds and the rain...

There indeed were Taoist spells capable of changing the weather, rituals for praying for rain or wind, and so on. But hearing a disciple from Xiaoyao Sect speak this way felt... strange.

Anyone invited to participate in the ritual would have some level of power, and the fact that Xiaoyao Sect had received an invitation proved that they had recognized strength.

So, even though the other Taoists were displeased, none of them confronted Zhu Chu. Instead, they tried to explain: “Those who practice Taoism transcend the Six Realms and are no longer considered ordinary people. Moreover, if someone can use their methods to alter the destinies of others and cause these strange phenomena, they will inevitably accumulate unequal karma, which will not escape our notice.”

“So, you’ve already met the boss?” Zhu Chu’s attention shifted. “Oh, so you just said you didn’t need to meet her, but it turns out you’ve already secretly seen her! That’s quite the heavy scheme!”

Taoist Priest: “…?”Just as he was about to explain that he hadn’t secretly gone to see her, a sharp scream suddenly came from upstairs.

Everyone’s expressions immediately changed, and the key creative members of the crew instantly recognized the voice: “Oh no, Xixi is still upstairs. She said she felt really tired today and didn’t want to come down, so I told her to stay in her room and keep sleeping…”

Before the actress could finish speaking, everyone had already dropped what they were doing and rushed upstairs.

This inn was only three stories high, but it had a large floor area, so the source of the sound was easy to pinpoint.

Following the sound, the group quickly found the female lead Xixi’s room, just in time to see her running out, tearfully and frantically.

Upon seeing Yan Xingwei, the female lead seemed to see a savior, rushing straight toward him.

Yan Xingwei raised his brow and stepped aside, allowing the female lead to run straight into the arms of another key creative member.

At this point, there was no time to worry about propriety, so the Taoist priests quickly assessed the female lead’s condition, then hurriedly entered her room to search.

Several key creative members immediately protected her, and the actress who had spoken earlier gently cradled her, comforting her and asking what had happened.

The female lead’s face was ashen, and after sobbing for a long time, the group finally understood that she had encountered something strange again.

The female lead shakily pointed at the window, saying that when she woke up, she didn’t see any of the other actresses from the group, and the room was pitch dark. As she was about to pull open the curtains, she noticed a pair of eyes staring at her from outside.

She was so frightened that she backed away several steps before finally screaming.

This was what had led everyone here.

The Taoist priests exchanged glances, all feeling that the reaction seemed a bit over the top: “I just checked outside the window, and there’s no trace of any evil spirits. Could it have been an animal from the mountains climbing onto the window?”

The inn’s floors weren’t very high, and there were some wild monkeys and other animals in the surrounding mountains, so it wouldn’t be strange if one of them climbed to the third floor to spy on humans.

The Taoist priests were still quite scientific about it, but the female lead immediately broke down in tears.

She insisted that the eyes she saw were definitely not from an animal, but she couldn’t describe the appearance of the entity clearly. In the end, due to the extreme shock and mental strain, she fainted.

The Taoist priests were left somewhat puzzled.

After all, they had found no traces of ghostly or demonic energy, but the female lead’s attitude was so certain that they couldn’t help but start to doubt themselves, wondering if they had missed something crucial.

The creative team members hurriedly helped the female lead to another room for safety. When they returned and saw the Taoist priests’ troubled expressions, their hearts sank.

Was it really hopeless?

Yan Xingwei’s face grew even more exhausted. He wiped his face forcefully: “Let’s try performing the ritual first. If that doesn’t work… if it really doesn’t work, then forget it.”

This movie was his last desperate attempt, having invested all of his savings. If it were just him alone, no matter what difficulties arose, he would have pushed through to keep filming.

But the crew wasn’t just his—these young people had also invested a great deal of time and energy.

Their lives were valuable too. He couldn’t put everyone in such a dangerous situation because of his own personal desires.

The creative team members shuddered upon hearing this, but after exchanging glances, none of them could bring themselves to speak up in objection.

They were young and eager, but they weren’t reckless.

The events of the past few days had already scared them half to death. Not to mention that someone had fainted. Although it was a pity to lose an opportunity to star, if the director had already decided to give up, they didn’t feel they could say anything.Everyone looked dejected, even the Taoist priests who had just arrived seemed to be affected by the atmosphere, their expressions a bit disgruntled.

Zhu Chu thought to himself, what's so scary about this? Ke Yuanbai was chased by a ghost and slept on the main road of the base for an entire night without getting this frightened.

Turning to seek his master's approval, he found his master leaning on the window, looking outside.

He followed Ke Xingzhou's line of sight and glanced outside, but didn’t notice anything unusual. “Master, what are you looking at?”

Ke Xingzhou pointed at the edge of the windowsill. “What is this?”

Zhu Chu looked down and saw a dried-up leaf stuck at the edge of the windowsill, swaying in the wind.

He reached out and plucked the leaf, intending to say it was just a normal leaf, when he noticed a black, greasy handprint on the leaf.

Zhu Chu cursed, “What the hell!”

This exclamation immediately drew everyone’s attention. They looked at the handprint on the leaf, their expressions varied.

The Taoist priests’ faces changed at once because it was obvious the handprint was not from an animal, but from a human.

Yan Xingwei seemed to remember something, and his face immediately darkened.

He took a couple of steps forward, grabbed the leaf, and crushed it with his hand, his face looking very grim. “I know what’s going on.”

Everyone: “??”

The Taoist priests also felt puzzled. The answer they hadn’t been able to figure out after much thinking, Yan Xingwei had figured out on his own?

Taoist Qian hurriedly asked what had happened, but Yan Xingwei’s face turned even redder.

At first, he didn’t seem to want to answer, but then he thought about how many Taoist priests had come specifically for his situation, and he felt he couldn’t keep quiet any longer.

“I’ve received this leaf before. At first, I thought it was a prank, and I was shocked. Later, I found out there was nothing to it, it was just a normal leaf with a handprint on it.”

The Taoist priests gathered around and examined the shattered leaf, confirming there was no trace of any evil energy.

It was just a leaf with a handprint on it. What kind of method of intimidation was this?

Using such a childish trick to scare people, it seemed unlikely to be related to the strange phenomena occurring with the crew.

Yan Xingwei saw that they didn’t quite believe him, sighed, and said, “Taoist Qian should know, the things happening with the crew, I’ve actually experienced them before. Aside from this leaf with the handprint, I kept hearing inexplicable sounds, and I felt like I was being watched. These things happened to me years ago, but I didn’t dare confirm it was the same thing until now.”

Until this leaf.

Yan Xingwei’s face looked very grim, and his reddened ears also seemed a bit strange.

Zhu Chu stared at him for a moment, and for some reason, the image of his master and junior brother together suddenly flashed in his mind.

He had never felt anything wrong before, but today, seeing Yan Xingwei like this, he suddenly felt like his master seemed really shy back then…

Thinking this, Ke Xingzhou suddenly looked at him, and Zhu Chu immediately snapped out of his thoughts, quickly discarding the inappropriate thoughts from his mind.

Seriously, it was his master and junior brother. How could he think such dirty thoughts!However, Yan Xingwei, with his messy hair and stubbled face, still had a bit of charm left. He couldn't help but lean towards Ke Xingzhou and whisper, "Master, Director Yan looks so shy."

Yan Xingwei: "......"

Since Yan Xingwei had mentioned he had experienced something similar before, things became much easier to handle.

"It’s probably the same thing that bothered you earlier that's followed you here," Taoist Qian said. "There’s no time to waste. We should put the filming on hold and go to your home to check it out."

The Taoists, with great urgency, got up and prepared to leave under the cover of night, but were stopped by Yan Xingwei.

Yan Xingwei’s expression was a bit awkward as he cleared his throat. "I sold my only house... I don't have a home now."

Everyone was stunned.

Fortunately, Yan Xingwei quickly explained that he had brought all his belongings with him and they were now in the inn's room.

Everyone followed Yan Xingwei to his room and watched as he struggled to drag a large box from under the bed, which was filled with various odds and ends.

Apart from the leaf with the handprint Yan Xingwei had mentioned, there were also things like broken flower pots and chewed-up tree branches.

It looked like things that small animals might give, but the tooth marks and handprints on them were definitely human.

Zhu Chu, not knowing where he found a pair of chopsticks, picked up a piece of cloth from the corner of the box and lifted it. "Was this also from the voyeur?"

After the earlier discovery of the leaf, everyone had started to reassess the situation, and their eyes immediately focused on what Zhu Chu was holding. However, they fell silent when they saw what he had picked up.

It was a pair of underwear…

It was a pair of men’s boxer shorts, clearly well-worn, with the part around the buttocks becoming slightly transparent after years of washing. In the light, it was unmistakably clear.

Yan Xingwei's face turned bright red, and he immediately stepped forward to snatch the underwear back.

"No… it’s not what you think." He explained, "This was something I lost, but the next day, it appeared on my windowsill again, and it was even washed. I kept it as evidence…"

Everyone looked at the worn-out underwear, their gazes lingering on Yan Xingwei’s face, which was still quite outstanding even in his disheveled state. Their expressions were difficult to read.

After hearing the story, Zhu Chu also gave the underwear a disgusted look, though his focus was not on the underwear. "They want to steal even this old underwear, and they return it washed. That pervert doesn’t expect you to wear it again, does he?"

Yan Xingwei: "..........."

He had never thought in this direction before, and now, Yan Xingwei suddenly felt his scalp go numb. He was starting to feel really uncomfortable.

The Taoists, looking at these items, had already figured out the problem.

Taoist Qian's face darkened. He signaled for Yan Xingwei to dismiss the other key members of the crew, and then said to him, "Apart from these, what else has that pervert… I mean, what else has he sent you?"

Yan Xingwei looked confused for a moment, then finally remembered something. "Oh, right, there’s also a figurine."

He said, turning around to find his suitcase, pulling out a beautifully crafted figurine of a nine-tailed fox.

As the others gave him suspicious looks, he scratched his messy hair, feeling a bit embarrassed. "I thought this was really delicate and might be a valuable figurine. I was planning to sell it and get some money to shoot more scenes..."

Everyone: "......"

It might have been a trick of the ear, but as he said this, a faint sound of crying seemed to echo in the room.