Chapter 29: I Accidentally Became the Ghosts’ Nightmare

It was time to get up, but the sky remained gloomy, and the rain was still falling, making a faint pattering sound against the windowpanes.

Pei Liu opened his eyes, almost thinking it was still the middle of the night.

He lingered in bed, lying there like a salted fish that refused to roll over.

He blinked groggily, slowly waking up, and felt that something was missing.

He reached out to touch the other half of the bed—it was empty and cold.

Where is Xie Wuyu?

Pei Liu turned his head to look, his face full of confusion. How did he get up so early?

Pei Liu instinctively looked toward the bathroom; there were no lights on, and it didn’t look like anyone was inside. He got up and walked over, and sure enough, saw no one.

Did the production team give him a new task?

I thought we could hang out together next.

Pei Liu picked up his toothbrush and squeezed some toothpaste onto it.

Actually, it felt quite surreal. He clearly felt uncomfortable being hugged to sleep, yet in reality, he slept very soundly every night. Now, waking up in the morning and not seeing Xie Wuyu even made him feel unaccustomed to it.

Don’t they say it takes 21 days to form a habit? It hasn’t even been ten days yet. Do I really have such a strong connection with Xie Wuyu?

He brushed his teeth while lost in thought, then lowered his head to spit out the foam, rinsed his mouth, and put the toothbrush and cup back in their places. His gaze inadvertently met the mirror above the sink, clearly reflecting his image.

But in the next second, his reflection in the mirror suddenly grinned—an eerie, terrifying smile that instantly made his scalp go numb.

Pei Liu’s breath hitched, and he hurriedly turned to open the door. People tend to make mistakes when panicked; he twisted the knob several times, his hand slipping, before finally managing to yank the door open and escape the bathroom.

He couldn’t help but think: Why isn’t Xie Wuyu here? If only he were here.

Fortunately, the ghost merely showed its face in the mirror to scare him and didn’t attack further.

Pei Liu quickly left the room, intending to go downstairs and meet up with the others.

But because he was in a rush, he casually stuffed the cloth doll into his pocket without securing it. After running for a short while, the doll wobbled out, fell to the floor, and rolled a few times forward.

Pei Liu froze, instinctively stopping in his tracks.

If the doll fell out, shouldn’t it have landed behind me? Why is it in front of me instead? Did the doll move on its own?

A chill ran through Pei Liu’s heart. He pressed his lips tightly together, his body tensing and stiffening, as he stared warily at the tattered doll lying on the floor not far ahead, terrified it might suddenly stand up.

What he expected didn’t happen, but a small, pale hand reached out from behind the wall. It was clearly a child’s hand, sneaking out to grab the doll.

Pei Liu didn’t know what he was thinking. Perhaps worried that the item to keep the ghost in check would be gone, he actually took a step forward instinctively, as if trying to retrieve the doll.

But in the eyes of the little ghost, it looked more like he was reaching out to grab her hand and devour her alive.

Too terrifying!

The little ghost froze instantly, shivering as the horrifying image of Pei Liu devouring half of the hanged ghost’s hand flashed through her mind.

Almost instantly, the little ghost begged for mercy without hesitation.

“Don’t eat me! I’m not delicious at all, my meat is tough, and my ghostly energy is pitifully thin—not even enough to fill the gaps between your teeth.”

The little ghost suddenly screamed at the top of her lungs, sounding incredibly miserable. It made Pei Liu look like the cruel, grand villain.

Pei Liu: “…???”

He was completely bewildered, not understanding what was happening at all.

The little ghost thinks I want to eat her?

What kind of joke is this?

…Is there madness in the ghost realm too?

What was happening before his eyes was so absurd that Pei Liu was too shocked to speak.

Hearing no response and seeing his expressionless face, the little ghost thought he was refusing. Terrified, she burst into loud wails and even blurted out indiscriminately: “Daddy! I’ll steal incense to feed you from now on, please don’t eat me! Waaah!”

Suddenly becoming a father and getting a daughter.

Pei Liu was completely dumbfounded.

Who wants a ghost for a daughter? And I don’t eat incense, I’m not a ghost!

The little ghost cried incessantly, giving Pei Liu a headache.

“Stop crying.”

The bizarre atmosphere made Pei Liu forget his fear. Feeling like this was incredibly surreal, he wondered if he was dreaming, or if this was some trick by the ghosts.

The little ghost was very obedient and actually stopped crying immediately. She just looked at him with teary eyes, cautious and pitiful, giving Pei Liu the illusion that he was bullying a child.

Pei Liu: “…I don’t eat ghosts.”

The little ghost looked full of disbelief.

Pei Liu emphasized again: “I really don’t eat children.”

The little ghost frowned and glanced at him, then glanced again, half-believing and half-doubting. Then, she pulled a piece of paper from her pocket, placed it on the floor, and cautiously slid it toward him with her hand, looking eager: “Daddy, I don’t have incense right now, so please accept this as a temporary tribute.”

Pei Liu refused: “Stop calling me Daddy.”

This is so weird.

The little ghost looked wronged: “But you were the one who told me to call you that.”

Pei Liu thought back and remembered the first time he encountered the little ghost while sleeping… that did seem to have happened.

The little ghost blinked and asked softly: “Then… Mom?”

Pei Liu shook his head even more decisively.

The little ghost called out crisply: “Daddy!”

She seemed convinced that only by establishing a familial relationship could she avoid being eaten.

Pei Liu had no energy to argue with a ghost, so he resorted to tactical silence.

Having recognized her “Daddy,” the little ghost sneakily backed away and left.

By the time Pei Liu snapped back to reality, the little ghost was gone, leaving only the doll and a piece of paper on the floor.

The little ghost had originally wanted to sneak away with the doll, but after stealing a glance at Pei Liu, she hadn’t dared to act recklessly and fled completely.

Pei Liu stared at the empty corridor, paused for two seconds, then walked forward to pick up the items on the floor.

Drawn on the paper was a woman. Her appearance was familiar—it was the female ghost they had seen—and in the bottom right corner was a signature: Z.

Pei Liu was a bit confused.

Why are clues being delivered to my door automatically?

In the twenty-two years of his life, not only had Pei Liu seen ghosts for the first time, but he also gained the highly novel experience of being recognized as a father by a ghost and offered a tribute.

The whole situation was so bizarre and surreal that his footsteps felt light as he went downstairs, like he was walking on cotton.

Seeing him, Wu Kai and the others greeted him: “Morning, how did you sleep?”

Pei Liu mechanically repeated their words: “Morning, how did you sleep?”

Wu Kai: “Huh?”

Pei Liu: “Huh?”

Tong Jiaqi laughed: “Little Pei isn’t fully awake yet, he’s turned into a repeater.”

Zhao Hai’s attention fell on Pei Liu’s hand: “What’s that?”

Pei Liu finally reacted sluggishly, answering blankly: “…The ghost gave it to me, a clue.”

Zhao Hai: “…???”

Wu Kai: “…???”

Tong Jiaqi: “…???”

Jian Yongge remained silent, but clearly believed it completely, even imagining Pei Liu looking like a terrifying ghoul, threatening the ghost to hand over tributes. The ghost gave him the clue, and was subsequently eaten.

So terrifying.

Jian Yongge gasped silently and took a few quiet steps back.

Thinking Pei Liu was joking, Tong Jiaqi smiled and said: “Little Pei is so funny. Let’s talk while we eat breakfast, or it’ll get cold and won’t taste good.”

The group sat down and began to eat.

The drawing was placed in the middle.

“A drawing is different from a photo; it carries the artist’s filter for that person. The strokes are delicate, making the person look so beautiful, as if she’s glowing. There’s a very extraordinary emotion hidden in it. The person who drew this must really like the older sister.”

“Look, she’s wearing that necklace.”

The vintage style was familiar; it was the pendant they had found in the box under the bed earlier, which contained the nanny’s photo. Even if they had forgotten, this mention brought it back.

“It was drawn by that boy, right? In the VHS tape interview, the moment the older sister was mentioned, he blushed. He was also saved by her once. In idol drama terms, that’s like a god descending—it must have been a huge emotional impact. The daughter’s death earlier was deemed an accident; it’s highly likely that the two of them cooperated to make it happen.”

“Speaking of which, did the older sister like him?”

“Probably not, otherwise why would she marry someone else? And wearing the necklace with his photo inside was probably just a tactic to win him over, using him as a tool for revenge. In that case, the CEO is truly miserable: lost his wife, ended up sleeping next to his wife’s murderer, and later both his daughter and he were killed.”

“Wow, that’s actually true, how tragic.”

Wu Kai let out a sigh, then derailed the conversation: “Tomorrow is the last day. Damn, just thinking about it makes me happy. I want to leave this hellhole so badly.”

Tong Jiaqi smiled and pointed at the camera: “You know that’s being recorded, right?”

Wu Kai waved it off dismissively: “It’s fine. I want the production team to hear it. Director, you’re inhuman, inhumane! Do you hear me? Do you hear me?!”

He even yelled at the camera on purpose.

Honestly, just imagining the director being scolded on the other end without being able to retort felt quite satisfying.

Talking about the approaching end, everyone couldn’t hide their happiness. The truth didn’t seem so important anymore; failing the escape didn’t matter as long as they could wrap up filming.

Perhaps the ghosts sensed their lazy, “salted fish” mentality and felt deeply insulted. Just after they walked into the living room, the main doors of the villa suddenly burst open with a startling crash.

A chilling, evil wind suddenly swept into the house, and a blurry black shadow even rushed in.

It was still raining outside; the rain had lasted a long time and hadn’t stopped once.

A streak of purple lightning tore across the sky, ripping the heavens apart, followed by an explosive crack of thunder.

Without anyone touching them, the doors slammed shut heavily again.

Contrasted with the lightning just moments ago, the interior of the house felt even darker, so pitch-black they were practically half-blind.

Wu Kai’s heart gave a heavy thump. In a daze, he thought he had just seen a pitch-black head fly in, heading straight toward them.

“Ah—! There’s a ghost biting my pants!” Tong Jiaqi screamed.

Startled, Wu Kai hurriedly reached out to grab her.

The inability to see clearly in the dark environment bred even more fear.

Almost instantly, he also felt something bump into his calf. A shiver ran through his entire body, and he exploded on the spot, vividly performing the scream of a breaking-down groundhog.

Pei Liu was also tense and vigilant, instinctively trying to widen his eyes to locate the ghostly shadow. He was terrified it would come near him, yet also afraid his teammates would be hurt by it.

After a moment of chaos, he finally located the pitch-black mass. When Wu Kai screamed, he vaguely saw the fluffy mass tremble, seemingly startled, and it even… let out an awoo?

Pei Liu froze, a thought flashing through his mind.

Inexplicably, he grabbed a spherical ornament from the table and yelled at the ghostly shadow: “Good doggy.”

The ghostly shadow’s tail perked up and wagged side to side. In the dim light, a pair of glowing green eyes stared at him, and it let out an excited woof.

Pei Liu raised his arm and swung it forcefully toward the distance. Instantly, the ghost dog shot out like an arrow, chasing after the ball, its tail wagging joyfully.

…

I didn’t expect that to actually work.

Pei Liu breathed a sigh of relief and put down the ball in his hand.

After a while, Wu Kai finally realized what had happened.

He had long since abandoned his idol image. Pretending he wasn’t the one who screamed like a groundhog earlier, he decisively gave Pei Liu a big thumbs-up: “As expected of the boss, awesome!”

He even dared to toy with a ghost dog.

Pei Liu had only mimed the throw and hadn’t actually tossed the ball. The dog would never find it.

Pei Liu smiled, a hint of pride flashing in his eyes. He also thought he was pretty impressive.

He felt like he had found a way to deal with the ghosts, and surviving until the show ended tomorrow shouldn’t be a problem.

The atmosphere in the living room relaxed again.

While they were talking, they suddenly heard footsteps.

Pei Liu turned to look.

A tall, slender figure stood by the window. Lightning flashed outside, the interplay of light and shadow making the person’s features appear even more sculpted and profound, like a classic scene from a movie.

Pei Liu unconsciously curled his lips into a smile, feeling very happy.

Until.

He noticed that Xie Wuyu had no shadow beneath his feet.