Chapter 47#
Those Who Listen to Stories (Part 14)#
The Luohu villa complex was built around Luohu Lake, with canals and waterways, so almost every house had water flowing around it. The promotional slogan here was “secluded and elegant,” and the construction also leaned towards these words.
Bamboo forests rustled, with dense green shadows, and the river was just wide enough for a small boat. The lake in front of the haunted house was also artificially made. The construction team widened the river halfway, allowing it to collect water and form a lake.
The haunted house had been abandoned for decades, and weeds and vines grew wildly, even climbing onto the white stone bridge standing in the lake.
But thinking of the hostess who died in the lake, no one dared to look closely at that bridge.
Several young people sighed.
“My grandpa told me that this area of Luohu was a hot real estate market in Huaicheng back then. It’s a pity that after what happened, most of the rich people moved away. The villas had a price but no market, and couldn’t be sold. Later, the developer’s capital chain had problems, and the second phase of Luohu was not continued. After so many years, it’s rebuilt, and this event is probably to whitewash it.”
“Haha, stop talking, even if it’s whitewashed, I can’t afford it.”
For most people, not wanting to buy a villa was not because of ghosts but because of poverty.
However, villas were not meant to be sold to the majority of people. Just thinking about it makes one want to cry.
“Little Ye, do you want to wear a hat?”
Ye Sheng’s appearance and temperament, even among a group of elaborately dressed streamers, stood out like a crane among chickens, frequently attracting attention from all directions.
Qi Lan saw his impatient expression and kindly suggested.
Xia Wenshi knew Ye Sheng didn’t like being watched, so he thoughtfully bought him a black mask: “Come, come, Little Ye, put it on.”
“Thank you.”
Ye Sheng nodded and didn’t refuse.
Brother Hu rubbed his bald head and smiled honestly: “I’m envious, haha. I probably won’t experience the troubles of a handsome guy like Little Ye in my life.”
After Ye Sheng put on the mask, he was no longer so conspicuous. After all, among outdoor male streamers, half of those who took the male god route wore masks.
The haunted house was very large, and the organizers divided the exploration into groups of twelve people to ensure everyone had camera time.
Ye Sheng helped hold the camera and took pictures for Xia Wenshi. He had long legs and a slender waist, wearing a white T-shirt and a black mask, revealing only a pair of beautifully shaped, sharp almond eyes.
When a person’s pupil color is excessively clear, the boundary between black and white is like a deep, cold vortex.
Among the other people in their team, the only ones Ye Sheng remembered were a pair of best friends.
Because these two were both from Huaian University, and both were members of the Huaian University Ghost Research Society, the same club as Xia Wenshi in college, which made Xia Wenshi regret not meeting them sooner.
Two girls, one tall and one short.
The tall one was Liang Qingqing, from Huaian University Medical School; the short one was Su Wanluo, from Huaian University Civil Engineering Department.
Xia Wenshi was stunned when he learned that Su Wanluo was studying civil engineering, and said in disbelief: “Junior, you’re studying civil engineering?!”
After all, Su Wanluo was really too petite.
She was less than 1.6 meters tall, with fair skin and delicate features. When she smiled, she had two dimples at the corners of her mouth. It always felt a bit out of place for such a girl to wear a hard hat and go in and out of construction sites.
Su Wanluo smiled quietly and nodded: “Mm, I’ve been interested in civil engineering since I was a child, and it was my first choice.”
Xia Wenshi gave her a thumbs up: “Amazing! The admission score for civil engineering at Huaida is not low.”
Liang Qingqing was more lively, affectionately holding Su Wanluo’s arm: “Senior, can you believe it? Luo Luo is the only girl in her class. There are already few girls studying civil engineering, let alone a big beauty like Luo Luo. The boys in her class were initially excited and boasted on the forum that they would spoil Luo Luo like a princess. But once school started, they all gave up. They couldn’t beat Luo Luo in studies, and they couldn’t even beat Luo Luo in strength, hahahaha, how embarrassing.”
Xia Wenshi: “Can’t even beat her in strength? That amazing?!”
Su Wanluo shyly tugged at Liang Qingqing’s sleeve and explained: “My father used to work on construction sites, and I often went to play there when I was little, so I built up my strength that way.”
She seemed reluctant to talk about herself and quickly got to the point: “Did you receive the information from the event organizer?”
Qi Lan interjected: “What information?”
Su Wanluo smiled and said: “The official said that to increase the viewership of the live broadcast, we will be forced to play games after we enter and are grouped. I heard that our phones and cameras will also be confiscated.”
Xia Wenshi’s eyes widened: “Confiscate phones and cameras? —What will we broadcast if they’re confiscated?”
Su Wanluo: “Every room in the villa has surveillance cameras, and Xingyun Outdoor Platform has ten official live broadcast rooms. Anyway, the purpose of this event is to go big or go home. To whitewash the haunted house, we’ll do whatever it takes to make it scary. Losing tools to communicate with the outside world will double the horror atmosphere.”
Xia Wenshi immediately looked nervously at Ye Sheng.
Ye Sheng’s action of adjusting the aperture paused, and he frowned almost imperceptibly, subconsciously looking towards the main entrance. He told Ning Weichen that he was coming to Luohu today, but he didn’t know when this young master would arrive.
At this time, the event organizer blew a whistle and called them all to go in first. Xia Wenshi went over and said to Ye Sheng: “Let’s go, Little Ye.” Ye Sheng handed the camera to Xia Wenshi and whispered: “Senior, you guys go in first, I’m waiting for someone.”
Xia Wenshi: “Huh? Who are you waiting for?” On the other side, Brother Hu and Qi Lan urged him impatiently and pulled him away.
Ye Sheng was bored standing alone in the front yard, so he simply walked to the lake.
Duan Shi said that her feet were entangled by water plants when she fell into the water. Ye Sheng found that the lake was quite deep, and even under the midday sun, he still couldn’t see the bottom clearly.
Before long, Ye Sheng received a message from Ning Weichen.
[I’m at your ten o’clock direction.]
Ye Sheng was stunned and looked up, finding that his ten o’clock direction was another six-story villa.
Ning Weichen stood on the top floor of the villa, waving at him with a brilliant smile.
Ye Sheng had a card that could open all the doors in the Luohu area, so he didn’t hesitate and quickly walked over.
When he reached the sixth floor, he found that not only he was there, but also a group of people from the Xingyun Live organizing committee.
“Mr. Ye.”
“Mr. Ye.” A group of people in suits nodded to him, showing flattering expressions.
Ye Sheng was stunned, took off his mask, and frowned at Ning Weichen.
Ning Weichen blinked and said with a half-smile: “Brother, I found you an excellent spot to watch the event.”
Ye Sheng: “…”
As the owner of the entire Luohu area, Ning Weichen could be said to be the rule-maker for this event. However, Ning Weichen probably couldn’t be bothered to put much thought into it, and just pulled Ye Sheng into a room similar to a control room.
The room was filled with large screens, showing surveillance footage of various rooms inside the haunted house. On the screens, the hall on the first floor of the haunted house was full of people, all looking nervous and expectant.
The event hadn’t started yet. The host in the broadcast room introduced Ning Weichen with a smile: “Young Master Ning, this event was originally held to promote Luohu. We and Xingyun Live plan to jointly create an outdoor supernatural adventure show.”
“At the beginning, we will group the participants, twelve people per group, one room. On the first night, everyone will not go out and will play games indoors. The game content, the first is Pen Fairy, the second is Four Corners Game, and the third is Truth or Dare.”
The host even thoughtfully showed them the script.
“Take a look, do you need any changes?”
Ning Weichen took it and handed it directly to Ye Sheng: “Brother, do you see anything that needs to be changed?”
Ye Sheng: “…………” Thank you, Ning Weichen. He really never thought in his life that he could participate in a supernatural adventure event like this.
Ye Sheng lowered his head and quickly scanned the content of the script. The script briefly introduced the origin of Luohu Mansion and the murder case of that year, then led to this Xingyun event.
[Here there is bottomless lake water, and a refrigerator that can never be closed again. Crying sounds always come from the kitchen in the middle of the night, and the bloodstains on the desk on the third floor can never be washed away. This ancient villa has too many unsolved mysteries waiting for us to discover. Welcome everyone to this Luohu Mystery event.]
[Paper and pens are prepared in each room. So on the first night, let’s say hello to the deceased owner of the villa.]
The host said: “The first game is Pen Fairy. Do you want to add any rules?”
Ye Sheng returned the script to the host and said: “No need.”
He immediately turned his gaze to Ning Weichen and frowned: “I want to go inside the haunted house to investigate.”
Ning Weichen: “These surveillance cameras record everything. Everything you want to investigate will be investigated for you.”
Ye Sheng shook his head and said: “They won’t think of what I want to investigate.” His focus was never the refrigerator, nor the lake, nor the deceased male protagonist.
Ning Weichen spread his hands: “Alright.” He chuckled softly: “I think this will save time, but if brother wants to explore the haunted house, I will naturally accompany you.”
Ye Sheng said: “Thank you.”
Xia Wenshi and his group had been to Luohu Mansion once, and nothing happened. It was estimated that the male protagonist who was dismembered in the mansion was not that resentful.
The first floor was a large reception hall, with the kitchen on the left, where the refrigerator containing the dismembered body parts was located.
Now everyone had dispersed and gone into their respective rooms.
Ning Weichen and Ye Sheng were the last to enter. The staff didn’t dare to confiscate their phones and respectfully led the way for them.
At six in the evening, the villa was cleared, and all staff left, leaving only a hundred participants inside. The cabinets were filled with bread and water, enough for them to spend four days inside.
When Ye Sheng and Ning Weichen walked into the room, Xia Wenshi was sitting on the ground chatting with Liang Qingqing.
Xia Wenshi boasted: “I’ve been to this place before, it’s just so-so. Besides the abnormal coldness next to the refrigerator, there’s nothing special.”
Liang Qingqing smiled and said: “Senior, I actually watched your live broadcast.”
Xia Wenshi was stunned: “Ah, you’ve been to my live broadcast room?!”
Liang Qingqing said: “Yes, every time I click into the Xingyun Live platform, I can see your title, hahahaha, a senior who graduated from Huaian University, it’s hard not to click in.”
Xia Wenshi: “…” He suddenly wanted to stop this topic.
Liang Qingqing’s eyes sparkled and said: “Senior, don’t give up. Although everyone is scolding you for riding on the school’s popularity, I believe that one day the school will be proud of you.”
Xia Wenshi was moved to tears: “Thank you, junior, I will work hard.”
Thump. At this moment, the door opened, and all communication ceased.
The ten people heard the sound and looked towards the door in unison. Seeing the two people who came in, their eyes instantly showed deep astonishment and admiration.
Ye Sheng needs no further introduction, the cold and cool guy who attracted countless covetous glances by the lake during the day. And the young man next to him, with his noble temperament and smiling face in this old and gloomy villa, truly gave off a feeling of radiating light when he looked up and smiled.
Ye Sheng was not used to talking.
Ning Weichen’s fingers rested lightly on Ye Sheng’s shoulder. He curled his lips, leaned close to his ear, and whispered in a voice only the two of them could hear: “Baby, what relationship do you want us to have this time?”
Ye Sheng: “…Classmates or no relationship.”
Ning Weichen snorted lightly, put down his hand, and looked at everyone generously, with a slightly apologetic smile.
“Sorry, there was a bit of traffic jam on the way, delaying everyone’s time.”
Liang Qingqing’s face flushed at his smile, and she quickly waved her hand: “It’s okay, it’s okay, the event hasn’t started yet.”
Xia Wenshi was stunned: “Little Ye, so you were waiting for Junior Weichen?” Although he hadn’t chatted with Ning Weichen more than ten times, he had a very good impression of Ning Weichen. It was hard not to have a good impression of a junior who drove a ten-million-dollar Bentley at eighteen.
Besides Brother Hu and Qi Lan, there was also a live broadcast team of three men and two women present, all now showing intense interest in Ye Sheng and Ning Weichen.
Ye Sheng didn’t say a word after coming in. He disliked talking when there were many people.
But this time, no one present thought he was strange or aloof, because Ning Weichen was by his side.
Ning Weichen’s few smiling and understated words could put Ye Sheng in a position where he was neither ignored nor awkward. It was as if Ye Sheng had participated in every conversation in a friendly manner, even though he had kept his mouth shut the whole time.
This was probably the social control ability of a movie star.
“…”
He would never learn this in his life, nor did he want to.
After Ye Sheng observed all the details in the room, he turned around, and Ning Weichen had already finished chatting and was smiling at him from the side.
Ye Sheng said: “Finished chatting?”
Ning Weichen: “Mm.”
Ye Sheng looked at Qi Lan and the others again, and found that everyone’s interest in Ning Weichen and him had not dissipated, but due to some social rules, they didn’t continue to ask questions and turned to chat about their own topics.
Ye Sheng began to believe Ning Weichen’s words on the train.
—I haven’t met many people who are impatient chatting with me in my life.
Ning Weichen had the ability to initiate conversations at any time and was also very skilled at ending them.
Ye Sheng asked a question he had wanted to ask for a long time: “Ning Weichen, does the Siren’s superpower include enchantment?”
Ning Weichen was slightly stunned, then couldn’t help but turn his head and laugh several times.
Ye Sheng felt that the question was quite stupid after asking it.
Ning Weichen laughed enough, curled the corners of his lips, and looked at him with sparkling peach blossom eyes: “Then did I enchant you?”
Ye Sheng said without thinking: “No.”
Ning Weichen shrugged: “That’s right, I wish I had this superpower.” He knew why Ye Sheng asked this and answered nonchalantly: “I’ve been attending various banquets and meeting many people since I was a child. I’m very familiar with how to chat with different types of people.”
Ye Sheng frowned: “Then how do you chat with me?”
Ning Weichen thought for a moment and said ambiguously: “Chatting with you is a special case, it’s all instinct.”
Ye Sheng: “…You’re disgusting.”
Night fell.
Su Wanluo took the initiative to turn on the lights in the room, but the wiring in the haunted house was severely aged, and the lights flickered, making it especially eerie. Liang Qingqing rubbed the goosebumps on her arms and said: “Luo Luo, why don’t we just not turn on the lights? I just found candles in the cabinet.”
Su Wanluo nodded: “Okay, let’s light candles.”
She opened the cabinet, which was already filled with several candles by the event organizers, as well as a few pens and a piece of paper. These were probably props. She took all these things.
Twelve people sat in a circle on the ground, with five candles illuminating the area.
Click.
The iron gate of the villa made a locking sound.
Even though everyone knew it was the staff leaving, their hearts still trembled, and a chill ran down their spines.
Liang Qingqing was a little scared and deliberately tried to lighten the atmosphere: “Don’t be nervous, everyone, think about the prize money, smile.”
Xia Wenshi had been here last time, but this time he felt very different. The chill that could only be felt when approaching the refrigerator, he seemed to be able to feel it now sitting in this room on the second floor.
He didn’t know if the production team did it on purpose. Even though there were more people than last time, he still felt a creepy chill.
The iron gate locked, cars drove away. The wind blew across the quiet lake, bamboo shadows rustled, and water plants swayed like twisted human limbs.
Su Wanluo whispered: “These pens and paper should be for us to play games with.”
Qi Lan said: “Pens and paper. Pen Fairy?”
Brother Hu nodded: “I think so.”
A boy timidly said: “The Pen Fairy won’t summon the dismembered male protagonist of the villa, will it?”
His girlfriend hit him on the shoulder: “Say less.”
Su Wanluo looked around at everyone. She took a deep breath and said: “Only four people are needed to hold the pen. Besides Pen Fairy, there should be other games later. Let’s each choose a game.”
Everyone was nervous but nodded in agreement. After a long debate, the people were finally assigned.
At this time, tap, tap, tap, the time pointed to eight o’clock in the evening.
Suddenly, a very gentle music sounded in the room.
Everyone was shocked, but the host’s words immediately dispelled their fear.
[Good evening, contestants, welcome to the Luohu Mystery event. I am your host for this event, KK.]
Liang Qingqing breathed slightly: “So it’s the host.”
Xia Wenshi said weakly: “Scared me to death. Why didn’t it feel so scary last time?”
Ye Sheng casually took a piece of paper and played with it. He had never played Pen Fairy, but he knew the rules.
Several people held a pen together and asked the ghost to write answers on the paper.
Ning Weichen was next to him, playing with a pencil. But the moment the broadcast voice came out, he instantly looked up, coldly looking towards the camera.
In the dark room, only five red candles flickered.
The lush branches outside the window gently tapped the wall.
The host sat in the lonely control room, reading from the script.
[Luohu Mansion was built fifty years ago, built around the lake, with a secluded and elegant scenery. Unfortunately, a dismemberment case that shocked Huaicheng that year cast a layer of bloody terror over it. The male protagonist was dismembered and hidden in the refrigerator, and the female protagonist committed suicide by falling. Since then, Luohu Mansion has become a well-known haunted house.]
[Here there is bottomless lake water, and a refrigerator that can never be closed again.
Crying sounds always come from the kitchen in the middle of the night, and the bloodstains on the desk on the third floor can never be washed away.]
[Thank you all for participating in this Luohu Mystery event. Before we start the tense and exciting supernatural adventure, let’s say hello to the original owner of the villa.]
Everyone secretly cursed the event organizers for being unethical, using Pen Fairy to summon as a way to say hello, they were playing with them!
However, the host’s words were not what they expected.
The lights in the control room flickered. The host’s back was stiff, sitting in front of ten large screens. If someone was next to him, they would definitely see how strange his expression was. His face was as pale as paper, covered in cold sweat, but his eyeballs were bulging, with a layer of blood-red floating inside. Containing crazy pain and crazy hatred.
His voice trembled, but it was blurred by the microphone and speakers, so it sounded normal to everyone.
[On the first night, everyone sits together and chats at night. Let’s each tell a story first.]