Chapter 24

Chapter 23 Shan Hai 1

Saturday. As time approached 9:15, Shizong and Zuo Sanqiu each returned to their rooms, quietly waiting for the game to start.

Of course, before that, Shizong specifically asked Zuo Sanqiu: “So your character this time is also called ‘San San’?”

“Yes,” Zuo Sanqiu said. “The system’s exact words were that I am a crow named ‘San San.’”

“What’s going on?”

“I don’t know. By the way, you’re the screenwriter for the movie ‘Shan Hai,’ He Zhen is the male lead… normally, everyone’s roles revolve around the movie. Could there be an animal character in the film? Am I supposed to play a crow?

“That doesn’t make sense. This should go to special effects. Me, playing a crow at my age? Unless it’s like the eagle in ‘The Return of the Condor Heroes.’

“Maybe ‘crow’ is a codename? Hiss… Could this ‘Shan Hai’ be a spy drama?”

Zuo Sanqiu couldn’t help babbling: “Actually, I’m kind of looking forward to having a romance scene. I wonder if there’s any hope.”

Shizong said: “Romance in murder-mystery scripts is usually not very pleasant. Are you sure?”

Zuo Sanqiu: “……”

9:15. Following the rule to remain alone when entering the game, Shizong closed his room and entered the game on time.

【You are a film screenwriter, currently participating in a movie project called ‘Shan Hai.’】

【‘Shan Hai’ tagline: “The mountain kills the sea, the sea engulfs the mountain.”】

【The director values this project highly. After selecting the filming location, he called you and the main cast here.】

【This location is an ancient castle, where you will conduct a three-day script reading session.】

【Today is the first day of the reading session.】

【Upon arrival, all your phones were collected by the director. He is worried about script leaks and project information. This is therefore a completely closed script reading session.】

【At noon, you, the director, and the main cast had lunch together, getting acquainted. You remember drinking a lot and having a headache, so you returned to your room for an afternoon nap.】

【Upon waking, your head still hurts, and you notice you cannot remember your own name, nor the names of the director or other actors.】

【But this is not important; you still clearly remember the content of ‘Shan Hai,’ which is enough.】

【This project is your labor of love. Completing it with the actors fulfills your lifelong dream.】

【Dinner is at 6 PM, followed by the first script reading. You will attend on time, eager to see whether the actors can handle their roles…】

As the screenwriter, this is all the information Shizong currently has.

A clock hangs in the room. He climbed out of bed and noticed it was 5:30 PM.

His head was still pounding. He sat on the bed for a while until the dizziness subsided, then got down.

The room is decorated elegantly, objects slightly old but still clean.

Light fills the room, it is warm, barely comfortable enough to live in.

After a brief look around, Shizong washed his face in the bathroom, taking the opportunity to examine himself in the mirror—

The person in the mirror has delicate, handsome features, but sunken eye sockets, heavy dark circles, stubble on the chin, looking like he hasn’t slept for days.

His brows and expression carry some hostility, some world-weariness, eyes filled with “the world is wrong, not me,” “You don’t like me, too bad, I am like this,” “I feel like dying at any moment.”

This is the screenwriter’s image for the movie ‘Shan Hai.’

He exudes a decadent, almost neurotic artist aura.

After washing, seeing it’s about time, Shizong headed downstairs.

Downstairs, on the fourth floor of the castle, is a grand banquet hall for meals and the reading session.

The castle is an important filming location for ‘Shan Hai’ and the venue for the reading session.

It is built on a cliff, roughly five stories high, with all cast and crew staying on the top fifth floor.

Pushing open the door, Shizong entered a dark corridor and quickly assessed it.

The corridor matched his memory—

The staircase is in the center, twelve rooms arranged around it in a circle. Six rooms are occupied by the director, screenwriter, male lead, second male lead, female lead, and second female lead. The remaining rooms are empty.

Shizong didn’t delay, quickly heading to the fourth-floor banquet hall.

The first person he met was the director.

The director sits at the head, hair graying but face youthful.

With a red glow in his face, energetic, he waved and smiled at Shizong.

“Screenwriter, you’re here? Come, sit.”

A few lines of text hovered above him for a few seconds before disappearing—

【Identity: NPC】

【Name: ???】

【Role info: Director of the ‘Shan Hai’ film crew】

Next to arrive were the male lead, second male, female lead, and second female.

The director is an NPC, but these actors are all players.

They are portrayed by He Zhen, Zhou Lv, Zhang Qijun, and Zhu Shuangyun.

However, Zuo Sanqiu is not among them.

Where did he go?

Shizong was puzzled when the director clapped three times.

Two people wearing white chef hats immediately appeared, pushing food trolleys.

They looked somewhat similar, similar height, identical serving movements.

Shizong noticed their steps were almost the same in size.

They didn’t seem like ordinary cooks, more like specially trained soldiers.

Once the food was served, the director raised a glass of red wine. “It is fate that brings us together in the ‘Shan Hai’ crew—”

Before he finished, a hoarse, deep, piercing sound rang out, like a funeral wail.

Shizong turned toward the sound and saw a crow fly in through the window.

It lifted its feet to grasp the window frame, its black, bright eyes scanning the players.

The eyes seemed to flash danger and ill omen.

Suddenly, lines of text appeared above its head—

【Identity: Player】

【Name: San San】

【Role info: Mysterious crow】

Shizong: “……”

Congratulations, San San.

“Cough cough, everyone, don’t mind—”

The director spoke: “There are a few crows here, no need to worry. Continue eating!”

After expressing hopes for the project’s success, the director started eating first.

Eating is a mainline plot, and players wanted to pay attention to Zuo Sanqiu as the crow but had no chance, so they also bowed their heads to eat.

During the meal, Shizong observed the other players while eating.

The male lead is played by He Zhen.

He Zhen has a solid foundation; the system-generated character based on him has a convincingly handsome male lead face.

Sharp features, distinct contours, perfectly shaped eyes, nose, and jawline.

This character exudes a gloomy, decadent charm.

Pale-skinned, sitting in the castle, he looks like a handsome medieval vampire.

The female lead is played by Zhang Qijun.

Zhang Qijun’s own voice is ordinary, looks plain, but under Li Rongjing’s influence during opera, he gained extraordinary charm.

With system optimization, this character became stunningly beautiful, alluring in every gesture, radiating indescribable charm.

The second male lead is played by Zhou Lv.

Shizong hadn’t seen him in person but had heard Zuo Sanqiu describe him and looked him up online.

A business elite, Zhou Lv speaks fluently, meticulous, fashionable, graceful, and good-looking—a famous eligible bachelor in Jinning City.

In the game, as the second male lead, his eyes are slanted, high cheekbones, broad jawline, making him look ferocious and menacing.

Finally, the second female lead is played by Zhu Shuangyun, previously cast as Li Dashao.

Zhu Shuangyun herself is a sophisticated beauty. In this dungeon, her appearance is softer, shorter, with large eyes, looking cute and adorable.

Most of the meal, Shizong’s gaze remained on Zhu Shuangyun as the second female lead.

Simply because she could eat so much.

She ordered two steaks in a row, finishing them in a minute, then apologetically looked at the director. “May I have a little more? I’m really hungry.”

The director seemed accommodating. Tapping the cup rim with chopsticks, the two chefs came out again.

After a few whispered words from the director, they brought out a roast chicken, a roast duck, and a whole German pork knuckle, placing them in front of the second female lead.

In about ten minutes, she ate them all.

And it wasn’t over.

Soon, she held her stomach, looking pitifully at the director. “Director, I’m still hungry. So hungry.”

“I know you can eat. But you’ll be on camera soon, so endure it a bit,

The second female lead reluctantly agreed.

However, she still stared longingly toward the kitchen, clearly still craving food.

Shizong also noticed that everyone referred to each other using terms like “Director,” “Male Lead,” “Female Lead,” and “Screenwriter.”

Could it be that not just him, but everyone has amnesia?

Everyone had forgotten their own names and the names of others, but they still remembered their roles and knew they were participating in the script reading session.

But does this make sense?

Normally, if people realized they had amnesia, they would panic, urgently ask those around them what happened, and rush to a hospital for checks.

But now?

Could it be that everyone is so dedicated to their work that even after losing part of their memory, they still continue?

After dinner, the two chefs appeared again. They cleared the tables and poured everyone a cup of black tea, and the script reading session officially began.

“Shan Hai” tells a story of cultivation in a modern, alternate-reality setting.

The male lead is a seeker of the Dao, yet his cultivation fails to advance for a long time.

Later, he realizes that his wife is the greatest obstacle preventing his ascension.

He believes his love for his wife has delayed his cultivation.

So he chooses to kill his wife to attain enlightenment—

Kill his wife, sever attachments, to pursue true ascension.

Little did he know, killing his wife was only the beginning.

Afterwards, he kills many others, drifting further from his original path, eventually falling into confusion.

Finally, he arrives at the sea.

Looking back, he finds that his lover, best friend, and younger sister have all left him.

He killed them with his own hands.

He thought killing them would sever bonds of friendship and kinship, disconnect him from the mortal world, and allow him to ascend to the highest Dao.

In the end, he only gains endless loneliness.

He doesn’t understand the meaning of his life.

The male lead commits suicide by the sea.

However, unexpectedly, suicide is not the end.

He opens his eyes again—

Meets and falls in love with the young female lead, works with his former best friend, sends his beloved sister to school…

He has returned to the past. He is reborn.

The reborn male lead tries to be a good person.

He no longer pursues immortality, lives a regular modern life, treats his wife, best friend, and sister well, attempting to atone for the mistakes of his previous life.

Yet one day, he wakes to find himself bound. His wife takes scissors and cuts off his fingers one by one; his sister gouges out one of his eyes; his best friend stabs his rib with a curved blade…

From then on, he endures torture day after day.

Suffering endlessly, in pain, yet no matter what punishment, he cannot die.

He finally realizes, after suicide, he has not been reborn.

He has fallen into an endless hell, suffering for eternity.

He is paying for the mistakes he committed…

In the castle banquet hall,

The actors passionately performed their lines.

The male lead is played by He Zhen.

His wife, best friend, and sister are played by the female lead, second male lead, and second female lead, respectively.

The male lead says: “Yan Yan, I love you. I really love you. I just lost my path. Please forgive me. My final act of suicide is to atone with my death. I beg you, don’t punish me further!”

The female lead, named Yan Yan, replies: “I will never forgive you! Don’t you know? When you killed me, I was carrying your child! Not only did you kill me, you killed our child!

“We shall not leave. We will remain in hell. I will tear you apart again and again. Otherwise, my hatred will not be quenched!”

…

Time has grown late.

The scene demands intense, full emotions, leaving everyone exhausted by the end.

As the screenwriter, Shizong observed the entire performance. He found it extremely boring but couldn’t leave.

Just when he thought it was finally over, his hand twitched—he received another mainline plot notification—

【In the banquet hall, the lights dim, people gradually leave】

【As the screenwriter, you unexpectedly meet the male lead’s gaze. You vaguely feel hatred in his eyes】

【You suddenly recall something. You stole his girlfriend】

【His girlfriend is a rising newcomer in the film industry named Liang Yuyan】

【Thinking of this, you worry he might take the opportunity to harm you】

Shizong: “……”

11 PM.

Following the mainline plot, Shizong returned to his room on the fifth floor, first taking a shower and reviewing his character’s story.

The screenwriter, director, and actors gathered for the script reading session.

Yet everyone has amnesia.

This is clearly unusual.

Shizong couldn’t help but wonder—

If amnesia exists, is his own memory even real?

Is this script reading session actually real?

So far, Shizong has only glimpsed the tip of the story’s iceberg, unable to confirm anything.

But one detail cannot be ignored:

As the screenwriter, he stole the male lead’s girlfriend, and he sensed hatred in the male lead’s eyes.

—Could it be that he has received the “dead character” card from the default plotline?

Of course, in Shizong’s view, having a dead character card isn’t necessarily bad.

As long as he finds the right entry point, he can reverse fate and complete a special hidden task.

Last time, Jiang Wan’er’s plot-altering point was her wedding with Zhang Ye.

This time?

Since his character only interacts with the male lead,

He might as well go find him first.

At 11:30 PM, after showering, Shizong, ignoring water dripping from his hair, roughly dried it with a towel and went out.

The twelve rooms are evenly distributed along a circular corridor. Shizong’s left, first room is empty; second room is the second female lead’s room.

To her left, the first room is empty; the second is the male lead’s room.

At the male lead’s door, Shizong knocked several times, but no one answered.

He tried pushing the door—it wasn’t locked, and the system gave no warning against entering. He pushed it open.

The room was empty, lights off, but the bathroom had running water.

He Zhen seems to be showering.

Shizong made no sound, took out a flashlight, and quietly began exploring.

A few steps in, he smelled blood.

The smell was faint.

But in reality, Shizong’s heightened sense of smell made him extremely sensitive in-game, so he quickly followed the scent to the bed.

If correct, this is the source of the blood smell.

Squatting, he glanced under the bed and shone his flashlight—

—A bloody severed hand!

Squinting slightly, Shizong didn’t hesitate, picking up the hand.

The severed hand was still warm, and blood flowed from the stump.

It seemed freshly cut.

Warm blood dripped from the gruesome wound onto the floor through Shizong’s fingers.

He carefully wiped the blood off with a tissue and examined it—

Of the five fingers, four nails had white crescents, except the index finger.

Moreover, the fingerprints on the four fingers are spade-shaped, only the index is shovel-shaped.

As he was about to examine it further, Shizong suddenly heard several “thuds.”

Following the sound, he saw a bloodied eyeball and a half foot, covered in blood, roll out from the bathroom door gap.

Shizong furrowed his brows, stepping to the bathroom door, listening more closely—

Amid the running water, a “slicing” sound, like cutting flesh, could be heard.

What’s going on?

Someone is dismembering a body in the bathroom?

Is He Zhen the one dismembering someone, or the one being dismembered?