Chapter 31

Ke Xingzhou spoke rapidly, but his voice didn’t seem rushed. It had a calming effect, as though it naturally soothed the listener’s heart. The second and third men, who had been so frightened they were nearly losing their sanity, slowly stopped vomiting and began to calm down.

But this voice was not as comforting to the ghost infants.

As soon as Ke Xingzhou uttered his first incantation, the crying of the ghost infants paused, as if sensing something that terrified them. Their crying abruptly shifted, becoming even more high-pitched and piercing.

This sound was similar to the shrill screams of the death-dealing ghosts they had encountered before. The surrounding streetlights flickered again, and the leaves on the trees shook, with leaves and small branches continuously falling.

Recalling their earlier encounter, the second and third men instinctively covered their ears, their bodies curling up as they tightly closed their eyes, waiting for the pain to come.

However, contrary to their expectations, the ghost infants' cries did not cause them much harm.

Cautiously opening their eyes, the third man quickly noticed the difference.

In the howling wind, there was a talisman standing next to Ke Xingzhou. When the sound reached them, the talisman shook. A layer of nearly invisible transparent light, centered on the talisman, spread out like ripples in water, enveloping the few ordinary people.

The third man was stunned.

It was as if he had no memory of when Ke Xingzhou had removed the ghost infants from them, and he had no recollection of Ke Xingzhou bringing out the talisman.

Did Ke Xingzhou predict even this?

While the third man was still in shock, the second man, beside him, screamed in excitement: “Holy shit! Ke Xingzhou! You’re amazing! Ahhh, you’re a god! You’re my idol now! I’ll make a statue of you, and my descendants will worship you!!”

The third man: “...”

He was momentarily speechless but had to admit that he had the same thought.

Recalling the boundless indulgence that Xie An had shown toward him earlier, the third man suddenly seemed to understand something. He looked toward Ke Xingzhou, his expression becoming more complicated.

But the ghost infants didn’t care about the humans’ rambling. They grew even more enraged, their pupil-less eyes bulging to their maximum size, their ghostly energy surging wildly as they recklessly charged toward the talisman.

The three ghost infants stopped crying and started screaming in unison. The piercing sound reverberated through the empty base’s narrow path, echoing back and growing louder.

Even after the weakening effect of Ke Xingzhou’s talisman, the few people still felt as if their heads were about to explode, feeling as if they were motion-sick.

The closest streetlight had its lampshade shattered by the sound waves, and the area was completely enveloped in darkness.

The situation suddenly became tense again.

Everyone’s hearts jumped to their throats. Their eyes widened in the dark, not missing any small movement. The lingering fear crept back into their hearts, rising steadily…

Just as they were about to scream in panic, Ke Xingzhou’s chanting suddenly stopped.The surroundings suddenly brightened, and the ghost infants' cries abruptly stopped.

The group nervously opened their eyes and saw that the three ghost infants had actually been grabbed by Ke Xingzhou.

Ke Xingzhou’s long, fair fingers pierced directly into the ghost infants' souls. With one hand, he held the back of their necks, and with the other, he held onto their umbilical cords, his posture tense as if he was exerting force.

The stark contrast was shocking.

Even though Ke Xingzhou’s features were extraordinarily delicate and beautiful, in this situation, he looked like a demon, even more terrifying than a typical ghost-faced demon.

But even the second man, who was the most afraid of such things, couldn't help but stare at the scene for a long time, his gaze fixed on Ke Xingzhou, whose clothes fluttered. The light from the streetlamps reflected in his eyes, like shimmering waves.

However, the next second, Ke Xingzhou yanked with force, pulling apart the ghost infant's umbilical cord in a simple and brutal manner.

Everyone: “...”

Such a violent scene was impossible to compare with the earlier one, where Ke Xingzhou had radiated an aura of immortality and solemnity. The sense of disconnection was too strong, and the second and third men’s expressions froze, their eyes wide in shock.

Wait… big brother, what are you doing!?

If you can directly tear apart the ghost infants, then what was all the chanting and drawing symbols for earlier?!

A ritual?!

The second and third men touched their still-painful necks and then glanced at Xie An, who had only a slight scratch but was protected by Zhu Chu with the cat. In that instant, they seemed to understand something and suddenly felt a sense of discomfort.

On the other side, the ghost infants were in a worse state than them.

Their souls were directly torn apart, bringing pain that was a hundred times worse than death. After struggling in vain, the ghost infants finally felt the threat of their souls scattering and began to scream and struggle frantically.

Ke Xingzhou, however, ignored their struggles. After severing the connection between the ghost infants and the placenta, he continued his actions, casually pulling out a few yellow talismans from his pocket.

Soon, golden light flashed, and those yellow talismans transformed into a massive alchemy furnace illusion, which directly enveloped the ghost infants.

The golden light grew stronger and stronger, soon becoming so bright that it was unbearable to look at.

At first, the second and third men squinted their eyes, staring blankly, but soon, they couldn't tolerate the intense light and had to close their eyes.

It was only a few seconds, or maybe half a minute; in any case, not long later, the ghost infants’ howls stopped.

All sounds around them disappeared in that instant. The lingering wind brushed their faces, and the second and third men involuntarily shuddered.

When they opened their eyes again, seeing that everything around them had returned to normal, they all felt as if they had survived a disaster.

The second man’s legs gave way, and he sat down on the ground. His eyes were filled with awe as he looked at Ke Xingzhou. “Ke Xingzhou... no, Ke Daxian! Did, did you solve it? That quickly!”

Before Ke Xingzhou could speak, Zhu Chu proudly spoke up, “Of course! Just three little Kalami. My master personally acted, what’s there that can’t be solved? You guys don’t know, but last time, my master only appeared in a video and wiped out dozens of evil ghosts!”

Others: “Wow—!”

The second and third men looked at Ke Xingzhou with admiration, took two steps forward, and instinctively reached out to massage his shoulders and legs to show their pure respect as young boys.

However, Ke Xingzhou avoided them.

Ke Xingzhou looked at them oddly, as if thinking of something, and seriously said, “I politely decline.”Second and Third: "……"

The two immediately felt awkward, but when they thought about how strong the other person’s abilities were, it was normal for him to look down on them. That subtle feeling quickly disappeared.

They exchanged a glance, both rubbing their hands, somewhat hesitant, and said, "So... Master, we don’t know how much your fee is for a ritual? We can gather the money together when we go back today, and if we pay tomorrow, will you help us check our fortunes?"

Xie An immediately became excited.

He had been diligently promoting for a few days, and finally, someone had come to ask his older brother for fortune-telling! As expected, his brother’s abilities were so powerful that he attracted two customers in no time!

Xie An looked at Ke Xingzhou with starry eyes, feeling inexplicably proud.

But then he noticed that Ke Xingzhou’s face was not relaxed at all. He was still staring intensely at something, and his expression seemed even more serious than before.

Following his gaze, Xie An saw Lu Deben still sitting on the ground, looking dazed and terrified.

Since earlier, Lu Deben had been strangely silent, not making a sound, and Xie An had almost thought he had passed out from fear, feeling somewhat worried about him.

However, now upon closer inspection, Lu Deben seemed perfectly fine, showing no signs of fainting.

But his mental state was still not good. His face was pale, and he had not even noticed that he was safe. He was trembling uncontrollably, sweat dripping down his face as though he had just been pulled out of water.

Xie An thought he was still scared from the ghost babies earlier and was about to pat his shoulder to reassure him.

Unexpectedly, before his hand could touch Lu Deben, Lu Deben suddenly jolted awake, crawling away in panic.

"Don’t!"

His scream caught everyone’s attention. The second and third brothers, as well as Zhu Chu, looked over and, seeing his state, turned confused eyes toward Xie An.

Xie An shrugged innocently and was about to say something when Lu Deben screamed again, "It wasn’t me, really! It wasn’t me!"

He hadn’t run far before he tripped, causing Xie An and the second and third brothers to jump in shock, thinking that the strange situation from before had happened again. They nervously watched his neck.

To their surprise, there was nothing unusual about Lu Deben’s neck, but he still immediately "plopped" down to his knees and began to kowtow in front of Xie An.

"Master, Master, please spare me. This time, it wasn’t me who made the deal with you! I told you, tomorrow is the performance, tomorrow! I’m no use to them now, they’re gone, and if I’m left alone, I’ll be killed!"

Lu Deben rambled incoherently, and at first, Xie An and the others didn’t notice anything odd. But when "performance" and "harming people" were mentioned, they felt a chill run down their spines.

"Old Lu? Lu Deben! What are you talking about? Who are you trying to harm?" The second brother, anger rising, pushed Lu Deben’s shoulder. "Tell me clearly! I thought you were brainless before and helped you out. What are you planning to do behind our backs?!"

The third brother was startled and quickly grabbed him. "Second brother, calm down, we don’t know the whole story yet. Let’s figure it out first..."

Though he said that, the third brother’s expression when he looked at Lu Deben was complicated, and he couldn’t help but furrow his brow.

Xie An was even more confused.

He didn’t understand why he just came over to help someone up, and things had turned into this.

He wanted to pull Lu Deben up to clear things up, but Lu Deben seemed to be in a trance, not recognizing him at all. Instead, he treated him as a threat and started struggling violently.

"Master! Master, I was wrong! I shouldn’t have been afraid of the final step. I never got you a sacrifice. But Master, I’m in the program right now, I really can’t get you a living creature! I can’t... I can’t really find someone... ah!"Lu Deben was halfway through his words when he suddenly let out a terrible scream.

Immediately following that, just like what happened to Old Second and Old Third earlier, his breathing started to become difficult. He began scratching his neck with his nails, his eyes bulging out as he looked at something ahead of him with horror and fear.

Xie An froze, and for some reason, an ominous feeling suddenly arose in his heart.

The others also realized something at this moment. They quickly looked up and followed Lu Deben’s gaze.

Before they could fully react, the same childlike "giggle" echoed through the small path that had just returned to normal.

The sound was exactly the same as the three ghost babies earlier, almost identical.

At this point, everyone understood what was happening. Their faces turned ashen.

The timid Old Second remembered the painful experience earlier and immediately turned pale, nervously backing towards Ke Xingzhou.

Old Third wasn’t much better off, stammering in confusion, "W-what’s going on? Didn’t we already escape?"

Ke Xingzhou didn’t answer. He simply once again clenched a few sheets of unmarked yellow paper in his hand.

The streetlights above flickered again, but this time, they completely went out. The entire small path plunged into darkness, with only the distant and faint starlight above their heads.

Their vision was now pitch black, and everyone’s expression changed instantly.

Around them, there were rustling noises. Old Second, unable to resist, screamed out, "It’s over here! It touched me! It grabbed my foot! Aaaaah! Ke Xingzhou, Master Ke, help me!!"

Xie An was startled. He focused and listened carefully, and sure enough, amidst the chaos, he could hear something unusual.

He couldn’t describe the sound, but it was somewhat like the sound of bare feet walking on the ground, though slower and dragging, as if dragging something.

Just as he was about to lean forward to listen more closely, Ke Xingzhou’s voice stopped him.

"Don’t move," Ke Xingzhou’s voice came from the darkness, calm and steady, as if to soothe them, "This ghost baby is the mother entity, harder to deal with than the previous one, but it should be blind, relying on sound for positioning. Stay where you are, and I’ll handle it."

Xie An immediately stopped upon hearing this.

As expected, because of Old Second’s earlier loud screaming, the footsteps in the darkness gradually moved towards his direction.

Old Second, who had quieted down because of Ke Xingzhou’s words, was about to scream again when the sound suddenly stopped.

He froze, his head lowering, staring at his ankle.

What he had said earlier about something touching his calf wasn’t a lie, but now, he could distinctly feel that the thing earlier had body heat. However, right now—

The hand on his ankle was tiny, and there was no warmth. It felt like his skin was being touched by a block of ice just taken from the freezer, the icy cold making his whole body tremble uncontrollably.

In this situation, all of Old Second’s senses were heightened.

He distinctly felt that the thing was exploring his ankle, and when it touched the red string on his ankle, it seemed to raise its head.

"Papa?"

The word "papa" was pronounced very awkwardly, like a child who had just learned to speak. If it had been in any other situation, the clumsy pronunciation might have earned praise from passerby for its childlike charm.But at this moment, no one who heard this voice dared to move.

Old Second tightly covered his mouth, tears finally breaking free and streaming down his face. His mind was blank, not knowing what he should do to escape the ghost child’s entanglement.

However, the thing seemed to have little patience. Seeing that he did not respond, it raised its hand and tugged at the red string around his ankle.

"Papa! Papa!!"

Its voice grew smoother but also more eerie and angry, as if questioning Old Second why he was ignoring it.

Old Second was nearly scared to death, but remembering what Ke Xingzhou had said earlier, he dared not make a sound. He could only widen his eyes and frantically look in the direction where Ke Xingzhou's voice had come from.

The starlight above was too faint, and his eyes couldn't adjust to this level of darkness. All he could see were vague shadows moving around in the darkness, unable to determine whether they were Ke Xingzhou or some filthy creature.

Just as Old Second was about to break down, Ke Xingzhou’s voice sounded near him: "Don’t make a sound. I’ll lead it away."

Ke Xingzhou’s voice was very low, almost a whisper.

Old Second’s mind had turned to mush, and before he could even understand why Ke Xingzhou was being so cautious, he felt someone crouch beside him, the edge of their clothes brushing against his body.

He stiffened, hearing Ke Xingzhou's voice by his feet: "Looking for your papa?"

Xie An's eyes gradually adjusted to the light and he could finally make out the figures of the others. He quickly looked toward the direction where the voice came from. He saw Ke Xingzhou crouching beside Old Second, his head lowered as he spoke to something behind Old Second.

The darkness in that spot was too thick for Xie An to see clearly, but from Ke Xingzhou’s posture, it was obvious that the thing was very small.

Connecting it to the earlier muffled "papa" sounds, this was likely another ghost baby.

Xie An couldn't understand.

According to the strange tales he'd heard from the master his family had hired, most vengeful ghosts couldn’t leave the place where they died. This meant that riverbank ghosts were typically drowned ghosts, and there were many suicide ghosts in tall buildings.

They were in a filming location, and such large-scale locations were usually for talent shows. Where did all these ghost babies come from?

Before he could think more, he heard Ke Xingzhou speaking to the ghost baby, and his heart leaped to his throat.

Up until now, Xie An had no idea about Ke Xingzhou's true abilities. His earlier thanks were based on the fact that Ke Xingzhou had indeed helped him.

In fact, whether Ke Xingzhou could really tell fortunes or not, Xie An would repay him for his help.

In Xie An’s heart, Ke Xingzhou was a very good friend, and he naturally didn’t want Ke Xingzhou to be put in danger while trying to save others.

He looked at Ke Xingzhou with worry, glancing at the dark corner.

Unexpectedly, the ghost baby didn’t attack Ke Xingzhou but instead fell silent for a moment, asking, "Do you know where my papa is?"

Xie An felt his breath nearly stop.

He nervously watched Ke Xingzhou’s blurry figure, thinking that the only thing he needed to do now was to deceive the ghost baby. Maybe by the time dawn came, and the sun rose, the ghost baby would disappear.

Even if that wasn’t the case, delaying for a little while was good!

Xie An clutched his phone, repeatedly double-tapping the volume buttons, praying that Ke Xingzhou could hold the ghost baby off.This was the emergency distress button he had set up when he learned that there was another side to this world. As long as it was dialed, his parents would know that something had happened here, and it was something beyond science’s ability to solve.

At that point, his parents would immediately contact the masters they knew to help, and they would be saved!

However, to his surprise, Ke Xingzhou quickly shook his head.

"Don’t know him," he said淡淡ly, as if he didn’t feel the ghost baby’s angry emotions at all. "But I can take you to find him."

The ghost baby, initially furious, had a tense presence in the air even though its eyes couldn’t see. Everyone could feel the tension.

Strangely, after Ke Xingzhou spoke, that tense atmosphere suddenly disappeared.

The ghost baby seemed to have carefully scrutinized Ke Xingzhou, and asked in a naive, unclear voice, "Do you really know where my papa is?"

Ke Xingzhou didn’t answer directly, only saying, "You were just touching the red string on his ankle. Does your papa have one of these too?"

Xie An and the others were initially relieved when the ghost baby didn’t attack Ke Xingzhou, but when they heard this, they tensed up again.

It wasn’t that they didn’t trust Ke Xingzhou, but they suddenly remembered that they also had a red string on their ankles.

In fact, the red string was given to them by Lu Deben. At the time, they all thought the gift was a bit strange. A group of big boys, all preparing to practice dance, sweating every day, they didn’t want to wear such jewelry.

But Lu Deben had persistently invited them to wear it, even saying that "if you don’t wear it, it means you don’t respect me." So, they reluctantly put it on.

Fortunately, the red string wasn’t heavy or susceptible to corrosion like gold or silver jewelry. They didn’t have to take it off even when bathing, and it didn’t get in the way. So after a few days, they got used to it and didn’t bother to take it off, just wearing it as is.

Now, hearing Ke Xingzhou’s words, they were all startled.

If they didn’t know they hadn’t even held a girl's hand, they would almost suspect that they had created the ghost baby themselves!

While they were thinking, Ke Xingzhou seemed to have reached some agreement with the ghost baby. He suddenly reached out and lifted the ghost baby by the neck, pulling it away from Old Second.

Old Second finally broke free from the looming death threat, immediately letting out a sigh of relief. The joy of surviving washed over his nerves, and he couldn’t hold back his tears as he quietly sobbed.

He had thought that with the surroundings being so dark, it wouldn’t matter to cry as long as no one saw. However, just as he wiped his tears, the streetlight above him suddenly "clicked" and lit up again.

He happened to be standing right under the streetlight, and in an instant, all eyes were on him.

Old Second: "…"

Sigh... he felt like crying even more.

Old Second, embarrassed and furious, was grateful that everyone knew what he had just gone through. Seeing this, they deliberately averted their gaze, and soon their attention shifted to Ke Xingzhou’s hands.

Ke Xingzhou held the ghost baby by the back of its neck, much like picking up a cat, lifting it into the air, and observing it closely.

This ghost baby didn’t resemble the previous three. Instead, it looked more like a fully-formed baby who died after birth. It wasn’t tangled in an umbilical cord or placenta, and was clean, even wearing a well-chosen baby outfit.

If it weren’t for the completely black eyes without any whites, it would almost look like a normal human baby.

However, now that they knew it was a ghost, they couldn’t look directly into its eyes. Instinctively, everyone avoided eye contact.

Zhu Chu, gathering his courage, asked, "Master, aren’t you going to take him too?"

The ghost baby, held by its neck, didn’t resist much. It heard the question, turned its body slowly, and stared expressionlessly at Zhu Chu.The soul at the back of its neck naturally stretched a great deal.

Zhu Chu: "…"

He wanted to cry but had no tears. With an awkward expression, he smiled at the ghost baby and made a zipper gesture across his mouth, indicating he would stay quiet.

Only then did the ghost baby move back, continuing to hang helplessly from Ke Xingzhou’s hand.

"…"

Everyone was speechless at this scene, and even the terrifying atmosphere couldn’t be maintained.

Old Third glanced at the ghost baby, then at Ke Xingzhou, thinking to himself, what kind of new play is this? Is this one person and one ghost putting on a show for them?

But he only dared to mutter this to himself. When he actually made eye contact with the ghost baby, his legs trembled with fear, and he couldn’t say a word.

The ghost baby didn’t seem to care about them. It didn’t even bother with Zhu Chu’s offense. Its pitch-black eyes swept over the group and soon it lowered its head in disappointment.

Ke Xingzhou then responded to Zhu Chu’s question, "This is just a little ghost, and its connection to the human world is too deep to take it away casually. Otherwise, the people connected to it will also die."

Sometimes, catching a ghost and judging its guilt wrongly could bring about karma and reduce merit, let alone a human.

Ke Xingzhou continued, "The underworld shows great leniency towards the living. Basically, as long as a living person is harmed and dies, their merit will be deducted. As for whether the other person is an evil person or deserves punishment, it’s first judged in the human world, then judged in the underworld. There’s no turning back once they’re in the underworld."

Zhu Chu, who had been learning the basics of metaphysics from Ke Xingzhou these days, had been reading about merit in the e-book Ke Xingzhou gave him, so he had some understanding of this.

Zhu Chu was surprised: "Aren’t you afraid of wrongful convictions?"

Even though souls exist after death, some ghosts scatter their souls after hurting people. If a mistake is made in judgment, there won’t even be a chance to regret it.

Ke Xingzhou was silent for a moment, then gave him a meaningful glance.

"You’re very suited to be a judge."

Zhu Chu: "???"

What kind of nonsense is this?

However, after Ke Xingzhou’s explanation, everyone quickly understood the difference between this ghost baby and the previous three.

In simple terms, this ghost baby wasn’t an ordinary evil ghost but a type of demon called "little ghost" created through a foreign evil method that extracts the souls of the living and uses them to make a protective evil deity.

Most of the time, these evil deities don’t actively harm people, nor do they unconditionally grant the wishes of their worshipers.

The worshipers must not only feed the evil deity with flesh and blood daily but also offer an equivalent price when making a request.

After fulfilling the worshiper’s wish, the evil deity will come to claim the corresponding price from the worshiper.

Ke Xingzhou paused here, his gaze sweeping across the group.

The group felt a chill run down their spines, and then they heard Ke Xingzhou say, "For example, if it kills a few people, and if the number exceeds what this person can pay, the evil deity will take the person's life as the final offering."

With such pointed words, the red string Lu Deben insisted they wear on their ankles, combined with Lu Deben’s previous nonsense and the ghost baby’s strange behavior, all these things connected made the group feel a chill deep inside.Xie An suddenly looked toward the place where Lu Deben had just been, only to find that the group of people who should have been there was gone, and there was only air left in the spot.

His heart skipped a beat as he searched around, and after a while, he finally spotted Lu Deben’s figure—he had already sneaked about seven or eight meters away!

"Lu Deben! Stop!"

His shout shattered the entire silence.

Everyone was startled by the shout, then they realized that Lu Deben had run away on his own. Anger immediately surged in their hearts.

They had been harmed like this! And this bastard still wants to run away?!

Especially Old Second. He had been scared out of his wits all night, from the three ghost babies earlier to the big ghost baby now. Every time, he was the first to suffer. He was already boiling with anger, but because the other party was an evil ghost, he had nowhere to vent.

Now that he realized all his misfortune wasn’t a coincidence, but deliberate, he couldn’t hold it in anymore.

He wiped away his tears with a cold laugh, glaring at Lu Deben’s back and getting into a running posture.

—In less than two minutes, Lu Deben was caught by a scissors kick around his neck and personally experienced the suffocating, near-death pain.

Old Second twisted his arms behind his back and tightened his leg muscles viciously. "Cry! Cry hard for me! Old Third, record it! Post it online tomorrow!"

Daring to make him lose face in front of others would come at a cost!!

Lu Deben: "…"

Others: "…"

Is this really what you care about?

Lu Deben was grabbed by the shoulders and pressed against the curb by the roadside.

Old Second and Old Third held him from left and right, not giving him a chance to escape, while Xie An stood in front of them, staring at Lu Deben with a rather complicated expression.

Although he was naïve, he wasn’t truly stupid. He had simply been too lazy to think deeply, but upon careful thought, he realized that most of the strange events they had experienced were likely related to Lu Deben.

He just didn’t understand why.

As Old Second had said, "We treated you like a brother, and you treated us like offerings? How dare you?!"

Old Third, also unusually serious, did not make any defense for Lu Deben this time.

Now, when he thought back to the times he had spoken up for Lu Deben, he felt his face burning, as if he had been slapped dozens of times.

Xie An said nothing, but when Lu Deben saw that everything had been exposed, and with Ke Xingzhou still holding the ghost baby bound to him, he was already scared out of his wits. In less than five minutes, he had confessed all the bad things he had done to Xie An and the others—

The red string he had given them when they first met was, of course, no good thing.

"You all know my situation, my family can’t help me at all, and they can’t stand me chasing my dream in the entertainment industry. They’ve always wanted me to go back and find any job…" Lu Deben said, his face filled with sorrow, "And I’m too old, I’ll be 26 after the new year. If I don’t debut this time, there won’t even be anyone willing to take me as an idol trainee anymore…"

As he spoke, he remembered the hardships of these years and couldn’t help but tear up, almost breaking down and crying on the spot, but he was glared back by Old Second and Old Third, who were watching him like hawks.

Old Second: "Stop blabbering! Get to the point!"Lu Deben: "…"

He continued with grievance: "That day when I went to the audition site, I met a guy selling clay sculptures on the side of the road. He said he had a sculpture that was perfect for me, and that it had been blessed by a master and could bring me good luck. I was so eager to stand out, like I was possessed by a ghost, and I bought it. It cost me a full 2000 dollars!"

He turned to look at the others, trying to get some sympathy from them, but Old Second and Old Third hated him by now and simply stared at him with blank expressions.

Old Second even kicked him: "Stop talking nonsense. Are you going to say something or not? Don't make me beat you."

Despite his words, the eagerness in his eyes was so obvious that it couldn’t be ignored.

Lu Deben had no choice but to sniffle, suppressing his pain over the 2000 dollars and continued: "The sculpture was so ugly. I thought I had been scammed and wanted to go back to find the seller and return it. But then the city management showed up suddenly, and I don’t know if that vendor got the news in advance or what, but he ran off so fast. I couldn’t catch him, and my refund application was rejected, so I had to just make a random wish to it."

At this point, Lu Deben looked a bit guilty: "I didn’t expect it to actually work! And all I asked for was to successfully get into the live competition, but who knew…"

"Can you just say it already?" Old Second was annoyed and raised his fist, ready to hit him, but Old Third stopped him.

"I know," Old Third said, looking at Lu Deben with a complicated expression. "I’m in the same district as him, and I heard about what happened that day. Apparently, there was a contestant who was performing fine, then suddenly shouted ‘fire!’ and started stripping while crazily running out. He was dragged away by the hospital. Because of this, people started saying he had a mental breakdown, and all the fans he had gained from the audition were lost."

He paused, then added: "A couple of days ago, I saw news about him. It said he kept obsessing over what happened on stage and eventually became delusional, and his family had to send him to a mental institution."

Old Second froze for a moment, then suddenly turned his head sharply and stared fiercely at Lu Deben.

If Old Third hadn’t reacted in time, his fists would have already been landing on Lu Deben. But even so, Old Second's mouth didn’t stop: "Damn! You idiot, are you trying to die or what?! Which contestant in the audition doesn’t want to debut? You pushed someone off, and now you sent him to a mental institution? Once you’re in there, your life is ruined forever!!"

"…" Lu Deben shrank his neck, not daring to retort.

Instead, he inched closer behind Xie An.