Chapter 49#
The Storyteller (Part 1)#
The host’s facial muscles trembled, and his eardrums twitched in spasms, a sharp pain shooting to his brain.
His bloodshot eyes seemed to have sensed an extremely dangerous aura.
With a “snap”.
He gasped for breath and individually pressed the camera switch for this room.
At the same time, the few people in the room at Luohu Mansion were stunned, not knowing what to say.
Ning Weichen’s story was too brief, only mentioning a kind of butterfly that eats people, and the story took place on an unknown island abroad, completely out of place. But the host didn’t specify that the strange tale had to be about a person. They looked at each other, and finally looked at Ning Weichen in confusion, waiting for the rest of the story.
There was no rest of the story.
However, after Ye Sheng heard it, he turned his head and looked at him quietly: “Red butterfly?”
Ning Weichen blinked and smiled: “Mm, yes.”
Ye Sheng didn’t speak again.
After the twelve people finished a round of storytelling, the candles were already half burned.
Su Wanluo withdrew her gaze, lowered her head, and fiddled with the paper and pen in front of her, whispering: “It’s still early. I think after telling the stories, the host will continue to arrange games. After all, these props won’t be placed here for nothing. Let’s still follow the original personnel arrangement.”
Qi Lan nodded.
Xia Wenshi rubbed his arms, which were a little hairy from listening to the stories: “Help, why do I feel so cold here, so eerily quiet.”
Brother Hu next to him frowned and said awkwardly: “Yes, I also feel uncomfortable all over. Listening to the sound of water outside makes me feel very uncomfortable.”
Xia Wenshi sensed it and quickly pressed his temples: “Incredible, this sound of water is making me dizzy too.”
The surrounding environment and atmosphere were really too damn weird. It made his hair stand on end.
Su Wanluo knocked on the ground and comforted: “Don’t panic, everyone, nothing will happen. There are so many of us.”
Having more people can indeed share the fear. Everyone calmed down a little, waiting for the host’s next instruction, but after waiting for a long time, the host still didn’t speak.
Su Wanluo frowned.
Tang Jiahao was like a deflated balloon, in a very bad state, and said with a pale face: “Could it be that the game on the first night was actually that simple, and the rest of the time is for us to rest?”
Su Wanluo’s expression was complicated, but there was indeed no more sound in the room. She looked at the camera direction in confusion, and after hesitating again and again, she finally compromised and said: “In that case, everyone, let’s get a good night’s sleep on the first night. We still have to investigate the truth of the haunted house tomorrow.”
This room was not equipped with beds or sofas. So-called sleeping was just finding a corner to lean against or lying on the ground like Xia Wenshi without any regard for image. The night was quiet, and the candlelight was dim.
Liang Qingqing found joy in hardship and sighed: “With two handsome guys accompanying us, it’s not a loss to sleep in a haunted house.”
Su Wanluo nodded absentmindedly. She had been more sensitive than others since she was a child. She knew that the cold, aloof, and taciturn young man with a mask was not easy to approach, but the one next to him, who smiled and greeted everyone as soon as he entered, easily gaining everyone’s favor, was actually more indescribably weird.
Ye Sheng didn’t squat in a corner or lie on the ground like the others. He stood up, walked to the window, and looked at the lake in the center of the garden with his cold almond eyes.
Ning Weichen followed him, looked at the scenery with him by the window, tilted his head and said with a smile: “Brother, did you find anything?”
Ye Sheng said calmly: “The host is being controlled.”
“Mm.” Ning Weichen smiled: “And it’s a B-rank anomaly.”
Ye Sheng: “B-rank?”
Ning Weichen nodded: “Yes, B-rank. The good news is, we have now discovered its first ability, possession.”
Ye Sheng was stunned.
Possession. Having this ability in a haunted house is equivalent to placing a deadly scythe on everyone’s head.
“Is he Duan Shi’s husband?” Ye Sheng frowned slightly and said quickly: “Why did he wake up now?”
“Luohu Mansion is a famous haunted house in the entire Huaicheng. Countless supernatural exploration streamers have been here before, and no one has had an accident. Moreover, if a B-rank anomaly is active, it will definitely be detected by Tianshu. It has been silent for forty years and suddenly woke up,” Ye Sheng was stunned and asked: “Was it continued by the Story King?”
Ning Weichen thought for a moment, smiled and shook his head, his eyes obscure: “No, brother, you overestimated the Story King’s ability. After you said last time that it uses strange tales to create strange tales, I felt that the Story King’s continuation ability may also have many limitations—it can only continue the stories it has written itself.”
“An unknown B-rank anomaly cannot be from its hand. You know, the Story King’s stories are all told to others.”
“I’m more inclined to believe that something that deterred and sealed the haunted house anomaly has disappeared.”
Ye Sheng was stunned.
The thing that deterred and sealed the male protagonist has disappeared? What was the male protagonist afraid of, what was he deterred by, that he didn’t dare to move for so many years.
Soon, Ye Sheng thought of an answer… Duan Shi. His brain turned quickly, and the more he thought about it, the more he felt that this answer was the truth.
The male protagonist was dismembered alive by Duan Shi. That pain of being cut piece by piece came from the hands of the wife he had loved for many years. No one knew his mood at that time. But even after turning into an anomaly, he was still afraid and slept in the haunted house, which should be an eternal nightmare and shadow.
He should indeed hide well. After all, Duan Shi’s ability included tracking.
Knowing that there was only one B-rank anomaly in Luohu Mansion now, Ye Sheng was relieved.
Ning Weichen: “The host will not die before the event ends. The male owner should still use this identity to do many things.”
Ye Sheng naturally knew this too and said with lowered eyes: “He actually asked us to tell stories…”
Hearing these two words, Ning Weichen laughed out loud: “Yes, stories.” The smile on his lips dissipated under the moonlight: “Why is everything after coming to Huaicheng related to stories? Duan Shi is a C-rank anomaly written into the story of Lover’s Lake by the Story King. Brother, has the Non-Natural Bureau shown you other strange tales written by the Story King?”
Ye Sheng said: “I’ve seen them. Peeping Maiden, Couple in the Wall, Slit-mouthed Hanging Corpse, and the Person on the Swing.”
Ning Weichen said lightly: “As the moderator of the seventh section, the strange tales written by the Story King rarely have particularly high ranks, basically D-rank or E-rank. Besides the Fetal Maiden, Duan Shi is the second highest rank I’ve seen. Isn’t your purpose in coming here to find the reason why the Story King chose Duan Shi? Perhaps, the problem can be found from this male protagonist.”
Ye Sheng didn’t speak, taking it as a tacit agreement. He had already talked to Ning Weichen to this extent, and Ye Sheng didn’t want to hide anything, so he said directly: “I think the Story King may be an anomaly transformed from a dead person.”
Ning Weichen raised his eyebrows.
Ye Sheng’s almond eyes looked at the night sky and said quietly: “Now, he writes the story of the urban vigilante under his pen; and I want to find… his own story.”
This was his main purpose in coming to Luohu Mansion.
On the first night, Ye Sheng did not go out alone. As a person who was written “unsociable”, “cold”, and “aloof” from head to toe, he actually took the initiative to say two sentences during the idle chat of the others.
Two sentences, both addressed to Liang Qingqing.
One was to ask about her grandfather’s and father’s work units.
The other was to ask the name of that mall.
Liang Qingqing was stunned for a moment, but still answered honestly.
The former was Huaicheng Third People’s Hospital. The latter was Jiahe Mall.
“???”
Xia Wenshi was a little dumbfounded. Usually at this time, as a bad friend, he should tease “Little Ye, you ask so detailed, are you interested in that girl?”, but Ye Sheng’s expression was really too calm and plain, without any ambiguous atmosphere worth teasing.
He finally understood why Little Ye rarely took the initiative to speak. Because if it was you asking and he answering, this cool guy just seemed cold. But if Ye Sheng were to take the initiative to find a topic in a conversation, his tone and attitude would really be no different from an interrogation.
Xia Wenshi: “…” So Little Ye really can’t chat normally.
“Jiahe Mall?” Ye Sheng muttered these four words.
Liang Qingqing said nervously: “What’s wrong?”
Ye Sheng said: “Was there a private hospital here before, Cheng’en Gynecology Hospital?”
Liang Qingqing was stunned and nodded: “Yes.”
Ye Sheng was about to speak again.
Suddenly a scream came from outside!
“Ahhhhh—!” A scream full of fear tore through the quiet of the night.
Everyone in the room’s face changed.
Su Wanluo was the first to react. She stood up quickly and walked to the door, but did not take the initiative to open it.
But besides them, the people in the other rooms seemed very relaxed. Soon, the sound of a door opening came from the next room.
“What’s wrong?”
“What happened?”
The voices were timid and shocked, but more were worried. After all, most of the people who signed up for this event were outdoor supernatural exploration streamers, and no one was timid.
If the people in the room hadn’t experienced that strange and eerie night talk and were like startled birds, they would have been the first to run out now. People came out of the corridor one after another, and Su Wanluo also opened the door. Click. The lights in the corridor and on the stairs were turned on. The chandeliers were bright and dazzling, as if standing under a clear sky, and the fear in everyone’s hearts dissipated a bit.
They all looked down.
They found that the person who screamed was a small and thin man. He rolled down the stairs and fell with a bruised nose and a swollen face.
The people with him hurried down to help him: “A-Jia, are you okay!”
The man named A-Jia’s face was extremely terrified. He fell to the ground, looked up, and looked at the group of people standing on the stairs.
But the dazzling lights created an illusion, and he seemed to see the gloomy red-clothed girl standing at the top of the stairs waiting for him to go up step by step.
“Ahhhhh—” A-Jia’s despair had driven him to the brink of collapse. He screamed in pain: “Ghost! Ahhhhh, that ghost is on the stairs! Ahhhhh!”
His companion was confused: “What? A-Jia, what are you talking about?”
The boy in the same room as them stood up and frowned: “Brother, is your friend possessed by the story he just told? If I remember correctly, he just told a story about a girl in red on the stairs. He said that if you look up and see that girl while walking up the stairs, you will never reach the end of the stairs in this life.”
The companion suddenly remembered this matter, was stunned and lowered his head: “That’s right. A-Jia, are you hallucinating?”
A-Jia cried bitterly, his face full of fear: “No! Absolutely not! I saw her, I really saw her!”
His friend comforted him: “You must be hallucinating. A couple died in this haunted house, there are no children at all. Even if you encounter a ghost, you won’t encounter that girl.”
A-Jia trembled all over and kept crying, losing his ability to move and speak.
His friend dragged him up and smiled a little embarrassedly at everyone: “Sorry, my friend lived in a tube-shaped building without an elevator when he was a child, so he had to walk the stairs every time he went home. He’s most afraid of this kind of story.”
Everyone shook their heads and said nothing, and returned to their rooms.
Such a small interlude did not bring any strangeness to everyone. The next day, everyone began to search for the truth of the haunted house at their own pace.
“Let’s go out and see that lake. Besides the fact that the refrigerator can’t be closed, I don’t think there’s anything to see during the day.”
Xia Wenshi said proactively.
Ning Weichen smiled and said: “Let’s split up. I’m more interested in the third floor.”
Xia Wenshi scratched his head: “Okay.”
With Ning Weichen’s words, Ye Sheng directly broke away from the team and went to the room where Duan Shi once stood.
Besides the bloody table where the male protagonist’s head was once placed, there was only a bed. In the cabinet were neatly arranged diaries and several unopened boxes of pens.
Duan Shi studied Chinese, and her person was as poetic and picturesque as her name.
The room’s furnishings were simple and elegant, and outside the plain curtains was a green lake and a stone bridge.
The diary full of pain on the table was taken away by the police as evidence in the case. The remaining diaries were all scattered records. She started writing a diary to heal herself, and besides recording the scenery, she would also recall the past.
At least her girlhood was sweet.
In Duan Shi’s diary, those love stories told by others had more reality and details.
Duan Shi was born into a scholarly family. Her great-great-grandfather was the president of a magazine publishing house, but that magazine publishing house closed down a hundred years ago, and the books it published were also submerged in the long river of history, becoming the exclusive memory of the older generation.
Few young people remembered.
Duan Shi wrote in her diary that her family had many collections and stocks of magazines, all specially preserved by her grandfather.
A hundred years ago, the magazine publishing house was also popular for a while, and its well-known journals included “Fantasy World”, “Love Romance”, and so on. But Duan Shi wrote that her favorite journal was called “Night Voyage”.
Even her fate with her husband was because of “Night Voyage”.