Chapter 35#

Those Who Listen to Stories (Part 2)#

After happily concluding his revenge plan for the evening, Xia Wenshi opened his live stream. Switching to the front-facing camera, he cranked up the beauty filter to level ten, and with a messy mop of yellow hair, he appeared before everyone, cheerfully greeting his “family”: “Hehe, good evening, brothers and sisters in the live stream, I’m back again!”

However, he was met with a barrage of haters.

“What are you back for? Who wants to see you? Quickly, let your assistant show his face!”

“I want to see a handsome guy! Yellow hair, get out of the way!”

“If you don’t want to lose me as a fan, quickly tell your assistant to say something, streamer! [Angry][Angry][Angry]”

“You guys can give up, Xiao Ye won’t show his face.”

Xia Wenshi had fully expected this situation.

With Ye Sheng’s looks and voice, he could easily dominate the top streamers in the beauty section in minutes.

It was common for these superficial bullet comments to be captivated by Ye Sheng’s voice.

To be honest, Xia Wenshi wasn’t bad-looking either, but his demeanor was too unkempt. With his yellow hair and earrings, fighting mosquitoes tooth and nail in the small woods by the summer lake, it was hard for people to appreciate his delicate features.

After all, handsome guys rely on atmosphere.

Xia Wenshi thought sourly, it seems there’s no way for funny guys to survive these days.

Holding his phone, he watched the bullet comments and replied, “Is the assistant handsome? Yes, of course he’s handsome. No exaggeration, Xiao Ye is the best-looking person I’ve ever seen in my life. Oh, Xiao Ye doesn’t have a girlfriend, nor a boyfriend. His contact information? Haha, don’t even think about it. Xiao Ye looks like he wouldn’t love humans. Oh, aren’t you guys bored? In this day and age, only little girls are still obsessed with silent and cool guys. Truly smart girls know that dating a cool guy is cold and boring. Funny guys are gentle, considerate, and good at talking, like me.”

Tonight was the peak of his popularity, even higher than the number of viewers he had in the haunted house. After all, the hype was good; the “True Bridge” and “Scum Abuse” script attracted a bunch of bored spectators. Coupled with Ye Sheng’s voice, a group of people spread the word, forwarding the live stream and calling friends to watch the academic handsome guy.

However, his heartfelt words did not receive approval from the bullet comments.

[Senior Xia, what you said makes so much sense, but I still want to see a handsome guy [Rose][Shrug]]

[Yellow hair, the only funny thing about you funny guys is calling yourselves funny guys.]

[Hahahahahahaha, but funny guys are usually paired with beautiful women [Single Dog][Aggrieved]]

[Can you stop teasing us? Just let the assistant appear on camera, it won’t kill you.]

“Nonono.” Xia Wenshi shook his head. As an outdoor streamer, he had his principles and would never let unrelated people appear on camera without permission. Of course, scumbags were an exception; scumbags had no right to privacy.

“Xiao Ye isn’t interested in the internet, so don’t ask about him. I will defend my employee’s portrait rights to the death. If you’re really interested in Xiao Ye, then welcome to apply to Huai’an University.”

He laughed, finally doing some positive publicity for his alma mater.

Xia Wenshi never expected that his live stream would trend again after he went back.

When Ye Sheng’s photo first trended, a group of people flocked to the “Scare You Jump” haunted house.

Although they didn’t see the legendary handsome guy, they had some impression of the haunted house owner, this “yellow hair.”

This time, the Lover’s Lake live stream also had unprecedented popularity. Coincidentally, a few tourists remembered Xia Wenshi’s face and were stunned.

If this streamer was the owner of the “Scare You Jump” haunted house. And Xiao Ye was his employee, with a pleasant voice, and a cold handsome guy—

Hmmmm? It felt like the truth was coming out.

So, #ScareYouJumpHauntedHouse# and #484848LiveStream# trended together.

Li Guangyun’s luck had truly run out this time, and he was humiliated in front of the entire nation.

Ye Sheng wasn’t the kind of person who spent all day on his phone browsing junk information. After returning, he had intended to contact Cheng Ze about the “ps” (post scriptum), but this “post scriptum” was something he only learned about through a search.

Ye Sheng thought for a moment and changed the question, asking Cheng Ze about the Seventh Section’s “Story King.”

Cheng Ze replied quickly, saying:

[The Story King, as its name suggests, has the ability to make grotesque things real. It loves to write stories, and the anomalies born from its stories can be of very high or very low levels.]

[The Huaguo Bureau of Non-Natural Affairs has dealt with several stories born from its pen, and I can provide you with some references.]

Soon, Cheng Ze sent him several files: “Peeping Woman,” “Couple in the Wall,” “Slit-Mouth Hanged Corpse,” and “Swinging Person.”

Cheng Ze said:

[If an anomaly is born from the Story King’s pen, Tian Shu will give us a special signal, but ordinary people won’t notice it.]

[If you encounter some widely circulated ghost stories, be careful. Because the Story King is a section administrator who loves to write stories, and no ‘storyteller’ doesn’t want their stories to be heard by more people.]

Ye Sheng sent a “thank you” and then began to read the materials Cheng Ze sent him.

The information compiled by the Bureau of Non-Natural Affairs simply stated the anomaly’s level, ability, and location. But when Ye Sheng searched these keywords online, a bunch of well-circulated ghost stories immediately appeared.

They were widely spread on various social media platforms. For example, the first story, “Peeping Woman.”

Narrated in the first person:

A story has always circulated in our village: if you see a strange long-haired woman squatting by a grave on the mountain, never make any sound or look at her. Just quietly leave as if you saw nothing.

Because once you look at her, the Peeping Woman will look back at you; if you make any sound, it will startle the Peeping Woman into turning around.

People cannot be “seen” by the Peeping Woman, because once she “sees” you, she will haunt you, “watching” you to death. The Peeping Woman spends her life “peeping,” in the toilet, by the bed, in the back seat of a car, in the mirror. She will follow a person until she “watches” them to death. After death, she will also remain motionless by your tombstone, continuing to “watch” until the next person passes by, makes a sound, and is seen by her when she turns her head.

The information provided by the Bureau of Non-Natural Affairs was brief:

[Name: Peeping Woman

Level: E-level

Ability: Tracking]

Ye Sheng expressionlessly moved on to another story.

Couple in the Wall: I lived in Beiwang Community before it was renovated. I had just graduated then, didn’t have much money, and lived in a cheap urban village. The sound insulation in the urban village rooms was terrible. Every night, I would be woken up by the sound of the couple next door arguing. I couldn’t understand how that woman could tolerate such a rude husband. The woman cried almost every night, and the man cursed every night.

The worst part was one early morning, I heard the woman’s painful screams, and the man was hitting her with a heavy object.

Was this domestic violence? I was terrified and hastily called the police. But soon after, there was a knock on the door. I opened the door and found it was the police.

The police frowned and told me, “Your neighbor reported that you were being domestically abused.”

I was confused. What? At this moment, the door of the room next door opened, and a frustrated college student walked out, cursing me for not getting a divorce, asking if I had water in my brain.

My face turned pale, and I suddenly understood. It turned out that I wasn’t living next to a couple; it had been this third-year student studying for postgraduate exams all along.

It was just that in the wall between him and me, there was another family living.

[Name: Couple in the Wall

Level: F-level

Ability: None]

The third story.

Slit-Mouth Hanged Corpse: This happened when I was in elementary school. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen those unfinished buildings, where the beams, slabs, columns, and walls are done, and the roof is also finished, looking like a bare concrete building from afar. The building on my way to school looked like that. It had been unfinished for a year, and suddenly one day, I saw a person in black standing on the top floor. It was too far away for me to see clearly, but I remember that person’s mouth seemed very big, grinning.

He stood motionless at the window, and I thought the developer had a change of heart and came back to inspect.

When I went back, I told my dad about it. Dad pointed to the community across from our house and told me that this place used to be an unfinished building too, and it took ten years to build. Then the developer, that beast, said it was “ten years of grinding a sword.” I laughed so hard, but when I looked up again, I suddenly broke out in a cold sweat and couldn’t laugh anymore.

Because I just realized that from my angle, looking up at the roof, all I could see was the ceiling. The person in black I saw wasn’t standing inside the house; he was hanging from the ceiling. He wasn’t smiling at me; he was staring at me expressionlessly, his mouth just split open.

[Name: Slit-Mouth Hanged Corpse

Level: F-level

Ability: None]

These ghost stories were experienced by different people in different cities. One strange and bizarre short story after another, told by people.

It was like a publication called “Story Collection” that was popular in Huaguo a long time ago. But “Story Collection” had been discontinued decades ago.

Ye Sheng was a little curious what kind of “ps” he would get from the Story King if he used “search” to photograph these three stories.

The first three stories were basically F-level or E-level anomalies that couldn’t cause harm to humans. The Story King himself, as a super S-level anomaly and section administrator, seemed to be caught in a strange loop when it came to telling stories; his stories were all very “down-to-earth.”

The last anomaly finally reached a higher level, a C-level anomaly.

The Swinging Person.

The Swinging Person: During the New Year, my best friend and I visited our teachers at our junior high alma mater. As we left, reminiscing about our school days, we went to the rooftop. There was a swing on the rooftop, and almost every student from No. 12 Middle School had played on it. Swinging on the rooftop was very exciting, but there was no need to worry about safety. Because the swing ropes weren’t long, and after a few people jumped to their deaths here years ago, the school built a fence at the edge of the rooftop.

The wooden board of the swing was very long. My best friend and I originally sat on it together, pushing with our feet, but the swing was very heavy, and we were both a bit weak, so we couldn’t swing very high even with all our strength. So I got off, and I pushed her from behind. My best friend was having a lot of fun.

After pushing her for a while, my stomach started to hurt, so I left to go to the restroom.

Outside the restroom, I met the auntie who was cleaning the hallway. The auntie rolled her eyes at me and told me that she had just cleaned the rooftop, and that we should remember to take all our trash with us since there were so many of us. I retorted, “Where are there so many people? How much trash can two people make?”

The auntie said, “Two people? Do you think I’m blind? I just passed by when you were swinging, and at least seven people were squeezed onto that wooden board.”

Seven people. I was instantly scared silly. I ran to the rooftop like crazy and saw a scene I would never forget in my life. My best friend was sitting in the middle, her face pale. Indeed, people were squeezed all around her, wearing No. 12 Middle School uniforms, their faces smashed and bloody. The swing couldn’t fit them all, so they sat on top of each other, piled on the swing.

The swing was swinging very high! So high that it seemed like it would throw her off the rooftop!

I saw a person pushing the swing behind her. It was an old man with a hunched back, backlit, his face kind yet strange, gripping the ropes tightly, pushing the swing towards the edge of the rooftop like crazy. I shouted my best friend’s name. When she saw me, her lips trembled and her eyes turned red. I knew she also felt something was wrong, but she couldn’t move.

Finally, I don’t know how I found the courage to run over and pull her off the swing.

The old man pushing the swing gave me a resentful look and disappeared into the midday sun.

Anyway, after that, I never wanted to swing again in my life.

[Name: Swinging Person

Level: C-level

Ability: Super Strength, Immobilization]

These were all anomalies that had been dealt with, grotesque beings from the Story King’s pen. After Ye Sheng read through them one by one, his expression was slightly stunned; he truly felt like he was listening to stories.

He felt that the Story King had a particular pursuit of “story atmosphere.”

The Story King didn’t like to create extremely high-level, world-destroying anomalies. He liked these bizarre, strange, and very mundane little stories. For example, these four, which took place in a rural lonely grave, an urban village, an unfinished building, and a school rooftop, respectively.

Just like the short articles in “Story Collection” found in a bookstore corner.

You might hear it during a late-night dorm chat, or from a eloquent stranger on a train.

People would feel scared, but also couldn’t suppress their curiosity, because no one thought they would be as unlucky as the people in the stories.

Ye Sheng was not yet a student at Huai’an University, so he couldn’t get a student ID to access the campus network or log into the campus BBS. But he knew—if he logged into the BBS and searched for the keyword “Lover’s Lake.”

He would definitely see countless similar first-person ghost stories.

So what about the Fetus Girl? The A-level anomaly Fetus Girl. What did the Story King try so hard to bring her to Huaicheng for?

The forum was only showing him the tip of the iceberg.

Ye Sheng suddenly felt that if he needed to adapt to changes by remaining calm and pretending to study at Huai’an University, then Lover’s Lake might be a breakthrough for him to access the Seventh Section.

He took out the gun from the cabinet again. When he gently stroked the gun, Ye Sheng always felt a strange sense of calm.

Guns were banned in Huaguo, and bullets couldn’t be bought online. Moreover, Ye Sheng felt that this gun probably didn’t require ordinary bullets.

Ye Sheng finally bought a bottle of eye drops and some black needle and thread online.

The next day, when he went to work at the haunted house, he unexpectedly learned that he had trended.

Huang Qiqi’s eyes sparkled: “Junior, you’re famous! Do you want to open a Weibo account? With your face, a million followers would be a matter of minutes. You could live off traffic and wouldn’t need to work anymore!”

Of course, she knew Ye Sheng was from Yinshan, and she could guess from his clothes that his family wasn’t well-off.

Huang Qiqi was genuinely happy for Ye Sheng.

Ye Sheng was not interested in these things and gently shook his head: “Thank you, senior, but I’m not good at managing social accounts, so I won’t.”

He didn’t like anything lively, and he especially disliked the tide of enthusiasm rushing towards him.

Xia Wenshi had long understood his employee’s personality and said, “Xiao Ye, I think these people will flock to see you again in a few days. These days, why don’t you come with me to set up the ghost bride scene?”

Xia Wenshi had finally tinkered out the haunted house’s second scene. He planned to set the theme as an ancient mountain village wedding.

Ye Sheng: “Okay.”

Although Huang Qiqi was regretful, she still respected Ye Sheng’s decision. At this moment, the doorbell rang, and as the receptionist, she immediately put on a bright and sweet smile: “Welcome to ‘Scare You Jump’ haunted house.”

However, her smile vanished when she saw the visitors.

Because the people who came were none other than Li Guangyun, the scumbag she had scared into the lake yesterday, and Huang Qiqi’s former fake best friend, Cheng Xiaoxiao.

Cheng Xiaoxiao and Li Guangyun were completely a green tea bitch and a playboy, a scumbag and a scumbag fishing for each other. Both only cared about the other being good in bed and having fun, with no genuine feelings.

But Cheng Xiaoxiao had been fiercely scolded and blocked by Huang Qiqi not long ago, and everyone knew she was a homewrecker, losing all face and spitting blood in anger.

Now, holding Li Guangyun’s arm, she came specifically to infuriate Huang Qiqi.

Li Guangyun had also seen the trending topics yesterday and was so angry he hadn’t slept all night after realizing Huang Qiqi had been playing him all along.

Since she could put a radio underwater, she probably also put a projector.

That ghost turned out to be a projection.

Thinking of the fool he made of himself yesterday, Li Guangyun wished he could tear Huang Qiqi apart.

Cheng Xiaoxiao forced a smile: “Qiqi, long time no see. Aren’t you a rich and beautiful woman from Huaicheng? Why are you working here?”

Huang Qiqi felt refreshed after last night’s events and rolled her eyes: “When did I ever claim to be a rich and beautiful woman? But you, posting stolen pictures to show off your wealth on Moments all day, big sister, is it easy to be an online goddess?”

Cheng Xiaoxiao gritted her teeth in anger: “It’s easy! A bunch of men are rushing to curry favor with me, and your boyfriend is among them. I’m so sorry, Qiqi.”

Huang Qiqi said: “Wow, you’re so diligent in picking up my unwanted trash. This spirit of recycling trash is truly worthy of public praise!”

Cheng Xiaoxiao: “…”

Li Guangyun now completely understood that he and Huang Qiqi had fallen out, so he didn’t indulge her anymore.

As an athlete, Li Guangyun, relying on his tall and muscular build, walked forward with a dark expression, reaching out to pull Huang Qiqi from the front desk, cursing: “Huang Qiqi, I shouldn’t have given you face yesterday.”

But before his hand could touch Huang Qiqi, it was firmly grabbed by someone.

A beautiful and delicate hand, yet incredibly strong, as if it could crush his bones.

Li Guangyun’s pupils constricted in pain, and at the same time, a cold voice sounded in his ear: “Get out.”

Cheng Xiaoxiao froze, looking up, and saw a tall and slender young man walk out from inside the haunted house. The young man wore a black T-shirt and black trousers, his black hair slightly covering his sharp eyes, his thin lips pale, but the fierce and cold aura in his almond-shaped eyes was enough to intimidate everyone.

Although Li Guangyun was muscular and bulky, he was almost dislocated by Ye Sheng’s single hand. He looked at Ye Sheng with shock.

“Who, who are you?”

Behind him, Xia Wenshi came out with a spiked club.

“I should have put up a sign at the door: No dogs allowed.”

Li Guangyun was often a bully who picked on the weak, so he swallowed hard and cursed in a cowardly but fierce tone: “Huang Qiqi, you venomous woman!” Then he hurriedly dragged the unwilling Cheng Xiaoxiao away.

Huang Qiqi snorted, then her eyes welled up with tears of gratitude, saying that to celebrate her return to singlehood, she enthusiastically wanted to treat them to dinner.

Xia Wenshi, of course, had no objections and clapped happily. Ye Sheng originally wanted to refuse, but he had just bought eye drops and needle and thread yesterday, and also delivered documents to his counselor. The printing fees and school bus fees amounted to dozens of yuan, leaving him with only five yuan.

…Well, it’s just a meal, it’s nothing.

The place Huang Qiqi chose this time was at the food street at the South Gate of Huai’an University.

This was the most frequented place for students in the university town.

“I’m not as rich as my boss, haha.” She led them to a bustling skewer shop on the food street, smiling and saying, “I can’t treat you to the most expensive, but I can treat you to what I think is the most delicious.”

As soon as Ye Sheng entered the shop, he was met with everyone’s gazes, as expected.

Those people were first amazed by his face and demeanor, but after seeing his faded clothes, they all showed subtle expressions and whispered to each other.

Various daily necessities during the enrollment season prevented Ye Sheng from saving money to buy new clothes. And Ye Sheng didn’t feel he needed to buy clothes. As long as clothes could be worn, wasn’t that enough?

“Junior, what do you want to eat! Don’t be shy with me!”

Huang Qiqi handed him the menu.

When Ye Sheng took the menu, he had a very strange feeling. He had imagined such a vibrant university life. He always felt like a monster trying to integrate into human society.

But the feeling now was okay, not making him very resistant.

Huang Qiqi knew Ye Sheng didn’t like to talk much, so she and Xia Wenshi always initiated topics.

“Junior, do you know about the campus promotional video?”

Ye Sheng: “…I know.” When he went to submit his poverty application materials, his counselor stared at him for a long time before smiling and telling him about it.

Xia Wenshi winked: “Junior, are you interested in auditioning for the freshman promotional video? Your face is simply the best admissions brochure for Huai’an University.”

Huang Qiqi also said: “Exactly, exactly. Every year, Huai’an University’s freshman promotional video is reported by major TV stations and trends wildly. It used to be handled by the performing arts department, but this time it’s different. Junior, I think you are the undisputed campus heartthrob of Huai’an University, the undisputed male lead.”

Ye Sheng poured cold water on their enthusiasm, truthfully saying: “No, I can’t act.”

He had also used this reason to refuse his counselor. He couldn’t act, and if he were forced to smile in the promotional video, it would probably turn into a horror movie.

Huang Qiqi and Xia Wenshi exchanged glances and both sighed. Alas, it was indeed the junior’s personality.

Just as Ye Sheng was waiting for the food, a call suddenly came in.

A completely unfamiliar number.

Ye Sheng frowned, but he still answered.

Then, amidst the noisy clamor of the food street, he heard Ning Weichen’s characteristic smiling and lazy tone.

“Good evening.”

“…”

Ye Sheng immediately gripped his phone. He calmly said, “What is it?”

Ning Weichen chuckled: “Do I have to have a reason to call you?”

But he knew that if he didn’t give a reason, Ye Sheng would hang up the phone in the next second, so he could only sigh: “Andrew is in Huaicheng. I’m here to pick you up to deal with our ‘child’s’ matter.”

Ye Sheng: “…” As soon as he heard “child” now, he thought of the feeling he had when he swallowed the anomaly whole, and instantly lost his appetite.

Huang Qiqi and Xia Wenshi didn’t know who was on the other end of Ye Sheng’s call, but seeing Ye Sheng’s expression, they vaguely guessed it might be something important, and both immediately fell silent.

Ye Sheng lowered his eyes and said, “Okay, I’ll come find you.”

Ning Weichen smiled: “No need, I’ll pick you up.”

Ye Sheng was surprised: “You’re picking me up?”

Ning Weichen: “Mm, I’m on Huai’an Road now. I originally wanted to go to your workplace, but it was closed. I guessed you might be eating nearby, so give me an address.”

Ye Sheng’s first reaction was still: “Do you have a driver’s license?”

Ning Weichen chuckled lightly and said, “Thank you for the reminder. After that day, I went through the procedures, and now I have a Huaguo driver’s license.”

Ye Sheng said succinctly: “I’m at the South Gate Food Street.”

Ning Weichen: “Mm.”

Actually, it was best not to let anyone know about the Fetus Girl. But Ye Sheng was wary of everyone around him, yet he seemed to have an inexplicable trust in Ning Weichen.

Ye Sheng hung up the phone, looked up, and said to Xia Wenshi and Huang Qiqi: “Sorry, I might have something to deal with.”

Huang Qiqi worried: “It’s okay, junior. Is it serious? Do you want us to go with you?”

She knew Ye Sheng was alone and helpless in Huaicheng.

Ye Sheng: “…”

He really didn’t want anyone to know about “seeing the fetus.”

Ye Sheng vaguely said: “No need, someone is coming to pick me up.”

Xia Wenshi was stunned: “A relative?”

What kind of relative was he to Ning Weichen?

“Not,” Ye Sheng said, “a friend.”

After speaking, he stood up and walked outside.

“Look outside!”

Suddenly, the entire small shop fell silent. As he walked, Ye Sheng vaguely heard someone whispering about a car, its price, its brand. Now, both men and women were looking outside, their expressions stunned.

This was a food street near a university, where cars worth tens of millions were rarely seen. And the black sedan parked on the street, even in Huaicheng’s affluent district, full of elite new rich and second-generation heirs, was still eye-catching.

Xia Wenshi’s eyes widened: “Damn! I know this car, thirteen million, Bentley Mulsanne Limited Edition.”

After hearing Xia Wenshi’s price, Huang Qiqi’s jaw dropped. She looked at the luxury car waiting quietly amidst the chaotic lights of the food street. Her pupils widened, and for a moment, she felt like she had stepped into some novel. Having read all sorts of online CEO romance novels, she said:

“Thank you, boss, I’m totally immersed. Which CEO brought his pampered wife to eat university town barbecue and experience life?”

Ye Sheng had already walked out of the shop at this point.

Ning Weichen called again, asking with a smile: “I think I see you. Do you want me to get out and pick you up?”

Ye Sheng said calmly: “No, I see you too.”

Huang Qiqi’s mind quickly conjured up a bunch of stories about caged canaries, from abusive love to campus sweet romances, all sorts of scenarios flashed through her mind.

Until she saw her junior walk towards that car???