Chapter 42

The old man claimed he lived alone, with no one to rely on, but Shi Jian had clearly seen a shadow inside his open room earlier—it was the silhouette of an adult, holding their breath by the door, waiting for prey to walk in.

Even if Shi Jian hadn’t seen that shadow, she still wouldn’t have entered the house with the old man or taken the child home.

“Can we please be a little more vigilant?”

After ignoring both the old man and the little boy, Shi Jian quickly led the female streamer away. Once she was sure there was no one else around, she turned to her companion with a look of frustrated disappointment.

“Where’s your sense of caution? Even if this wasn’t a dangerous environment, you should still be careful in real life... There were so many villagers around—why would that little boy seek help from a single outsider woman?”

Didn’t that seem suspicious at all?

As for the candy from the old man... even kindergartners know not to eat things from strangers!

Shi Jian wasn’t just lecturing the female streamer—she also addressed her livestream audience.

“Helping others is a good thing, but don’t do it blindly. In a real situation like that with a child, you should call the police right away.”

【Got it, wifey! Noted!】

【The streamer is absolutely right. There was someone in the old man’s house—I saw it. And the boy? He was brought there by an adult hiding nearby!】

The streamers didn’t have a god’s-eye view, but the viewers did.

In fact, not only was a malicious man hiding in the old man’s house, the little boy hadn’t truly gone missing either—he was just bait.

It was all a setup.

【Aaaah, got chills. I’ve seen news stories about people using the elderly or children to lure single women, taking advantage of their kindness, and those women end up hurt. Ladies, please take this seriously.】

【Boost your personal safety awareness!】

【Totally learned something today! Side note: Wifey looks so good—even when she’s mad, she’s stunning. Mwah.】

Shi Jian was visibly passionate as she spoke. Her gorgeous face had turned serious, brows furrowed, her expression intense.

The female streamer who had just been scolded listened sincerely and let out a sigh, then gave Shi Jian a thumbs-up.

“I wish more people had your level of vigilance—there’d be far fewer heartbreaking cases.”

Shi Jian: ?

The delicate-looking female streamer gave a bright smile, now carrying a hint of confidence in her demeanor. She extended a hand to Shi Jian.

“Let me introduce myself—my name’s Zhou Fan. Before becoming a streamer, I was a police officer.”

“I knew there was something off about the boy, and I was mentally prepared. But because of my profession, I couldn’t just ignore him.”

“Don’t worry—I can protect myself.”

Just moments ago, Shi Jian had been yelling about finding a cop when there was trouble, and now—one was standing right in front of her. Her frustrated expression immediately turned docile, and she shook hands with Zhou Fan.

“Hi, I’m Shi Jian. I’m an actress.”

Zhou Fan and Shi Jian chatted a little more, but since villagers were constantly moving around and the houses were close together, they didn’t talk for long.

But the main takeaway was clear—

There was something very wrong with this village. The more they explored, the more obvious it became. Whether or not the villagers were monsters, something was definitely off. Extreme caution was necessary.

…The dinner that night was cooked by Granny Yu. Other than being terrible, there was nothing wrong with it. Granny Yu's household was simple—one son, one daughter-in-law, and a grandson.

Although the grandson was already an adult, he looked like he was a generation younger than Granny Yu—not like a grandson, more like a great-grandson.

Granny Yu explained on her own, “Sigh, my son and daughter-in-law had children late...” Once she started chatting about family matters, she wouldn’t stop. Shi Jian wasn’t particularly interested in such rambling, and it was putting her to sleep. But Granny Yu mentioned one important thing after dinner.

“You can wander anywhere you like, just don’t go to the ancestral hall.”

She emphasized it three times.

Important things must be said three times.

Shi Jian took note: Got it! Absolutely not going near the ancestral hall.

Only an idiot would go to a place that screams “death flag” and guarantees nothing good.

After returning to the room, Shi Jian’s roommate told her, “Other streamers also got warned not to go near the ancestral hall. Some are asking if we should form a group to check it out.”

Shi Jian had just been thinking no one would be that foolish—and now she found out someone really wanted to go. She scoffed, “How is that any different from marching to our deaths?”

It was just a suggestion anyway. Most of the streamers felt the same as Shi Jian. Going to the ancestral hall this early on would be plain suicide. Right now, the priority was to lie low and observe the situation.

So, for now, the ancestral hall was not part of anyone’s plan. It was also their first night in Xingfu Village.

Time for bed.

The sleeping conditions varied wildly—Shi Jian had just gotten comfortable on the royal cruise, and now she was on a kang bed again.

The kang was a bit hard, but Shi Jian didn’t pay it much mind. She was sleeping relatively late tonight and needed to rest up and conserve her strength.

The village night was eerily quiet. There weren’t even streetlights—just pitch darkness. In the room, only soft breathing could be heard.

In that total darkness, the wooden door creaked open—“Creak—” It wasn’t loud, but in the dead of night, it was enough to send chills down one’s spine.

A woman in white floated into their room, ignoring the locked door. Her hair fell completely over her face, hiding her features entirely, as she drifted slowly to stand beside Shi Jian’s head.

The village kang bed had two sides against the wall and two exposed. Shi Jian was sleeping on the outer edge because her roommate had admitted to being a restless sleeper and was afraid of falling off.

Now the ghost woman in white was staring intently at the sleeping Shi Jian. Anyone else, suddenly waking to that thing standing at their bedside, would have been scared half to death.

The ghost in white blew a puff of cold air toward Shi Jian’s neck.

Shi Jian didn’t move.

The ghost intensified the breath on Shi Jian’s neck, waiting for her to open her eyes in panic.

Shi Jian moved this time.

Like a cocooned silkworm, she tucked herself deeper into the blanket, completely covering her neck.

The ghost in white froze: “……” She felt like even if she blew until her cheeks burst, it wouldn’t matter. How could this woman still be sleeping? How could someone this young sleep through this!?

Feeling ignored, the ghost upped the ante. This time, she dropped her long hair all over Shi Jian’s face.

Hair brushing a person’s face naturally causes itching.

Shi Jian indeed felt it. With her eyes still closed, she grumbled irritably, “What the hell?”

Then reached out and yanked the ghost’s hair. “So annoying!”The ghost woman in white clutched her hair with a cry of pain, then stumbled out of the room.

“Ghost… there’s a ghost!”

That scream came from the female streamer sharing a room with Shi Jian.

Shi Jian had already been half-awake due to the discomfort on her face, but upon hearing the word “ghost,” she immediately snapped to attention.

She sprang up from the kang bed. “Ghost? Where?” Shi Jian flipped on the room light, while her other hand was already reaching for a Barbie-pink high heel.

The female streamer gestured in panic. “A ghost came, you yanked her hair… and she ran off.”

Shi Jian: ???

Though she had been sleeping, the female streamer didn’t rest as deeply as Shi Jian. She wasn’t used to sleeping in a new place, and on top of that, she was worried about potential supernatural activity.

So, she had witnessed most of the ghost in white harassing Shi Jian.

What she hadn’t expected was that Shi Jian would actually pull the ghost’s hair, and that the ghost would run away.

It ended before it even properly began?

Just hearing it made Shi Jian feel uncomfortable all over. She was glad she’d been asleep—otherwise, she might not have dared to pull the ghost’s hair.

Aside from making eye contact, Shi Jian hated anything that involved face-to-face close contact.

Shi Jian had another question: “Was that ghost’s hair oily? Dirty?”

She asked it with a completely serious expression. The female streamer thought Shi Jian was about to say something major—maybe something crucial to their survival—but it turned out to be that.

The female streamer: Maybe… maybe this is actually important information?

She thought carefully. “Yes. Oily. Dirty!”

“Can we deduce anything from that?!”

Shi Jian had already gotten out of bed. She didn’t know what the female streamer was hoping to discover and simply said, “I deduce… I need to go wash my face.”

Hair that greasy and dirty slapping her face? No thanks.

After the ghost attack, both Shi Jian and the female streamer didn’t sleep well for the rest of the night. But the other streamers fared even worse.

Early the next morning, everyone gathered at the village entrance without having coordinated it. Several streamers were yawning endlessly, and their openers were all the same:

“Did you experience anything weird last night?”

“Yeah, I saw a ghost.”

…

Based on everyone’s accounts, some had heard eerie wailing all night long.

“The sound was terrifying. Like a woman crying, but then she’d suddenly laugh. I couldn’t sleep a wink.”

One streamer had come face-to-face with a ghost. “I got up in the middle of the night to get some water. What came out of the thermos was blood. And then I looked up and saw a ghost hanging upside down from the ceiling beam. No warning—we just locked eyes.”

Everyone had been harassed or attacked. Not a single person was spared.

Luckily, no one had lost their life right off the bat.After exchanging information, everyone had to return to the homes they were staying in—after all, there was still work to be done.

Shi Jian was assigned the task of filling the water vat in the courtyard. Not far from Granny Yu’s house, there was a well. Shi Jian picked up a bucket and walked toward it.

The well was deep, but the water was visible to the naked eye and looked relatively clean.

The audience in the livestream had expected to watch a “hard life, superstar fetching water” segment, but instead, a ghost woman in red silently appeared behind Shi Jian and reached out toward her shoulder.

She was clearly intending to give Shi Jian a hard shove just as she approached the well.

【Streamer, behind you! Look behind you!】

【Holy sh*t, is this it for her?】

【I wish I could burst through the screen to warn her.】

【Why is this instance so brutal? The frequency of ghosts appearing is way too high!】

【In the last instance the streamer dodged the chair monster because its mouth couldn’t move. What now? This ghost can move!】

A lot of viewers in Shi Jian’s personal stream were longtime fans. They had seen the tragic scene where the chair monster drooled hungrily over Shi Jian’s butterfly-shaped shoulder blades but couldn’t take a bite no matter what.

But this time was different.

Though it was still a sneak attack from behind, as the barrage comments said, the mouth on the chair couldn’t leave the chair—but this ghost woman could move.

Shi Jian didn’t get pushed into the well. When she got close to the edge, she didn’t immediately start fetching water—instead, she used the well water to tidy her appearance.

Using the well as a mirror.

As a result, the ghost woman following right behind her also naturally appeared in the reflection, and Shi Jian could clearly see herself and the ghost in the same frame.

“……”

Shi Jian swiftly stepped away from the well, turned her head, and said to the ghost woman, “You were trying to push me, weren’t you?”

“Too bad—I saw you.”