Chapter 38: A World Without Ghosts

The end of the second episode stopped right at the perilous moment when Pei Liu was about to escape but was grabbed by the ankle by a hideous statue. It left viewers in immense suspense, prompting many captivated fans to riot in the comments section of the show’s official Weibo.

“I advise you to release the remaining episodes immediately, don’t be ungrateful. Otherwise… otherwise I’ll kneel and beg you!”

“Thank goodness I paused, or Liu-liu would have been dragged into the basement by the statue.”

“Ahhhhh, it’s scratching my heart and liver! I want to see what happens next so badly. Let’s form a team to kidnap the director.”

“Agreed! Plus one!”

However, the official Weibo remained cold and unfeeling, unmoved by their pleas. They waited until Saturday to release it, though they did drop it half an hour early. Eager netizens immediately swarmed in.

“Do you think releasing it half an hour early will make me forgive you? Hmph.”

“Awoo, here I am volunteering to be tortured again. Sleeping with the lights on tonight.”

“Liu-liu, lick lick.”

In the show, Pei Liu managed to escape the basement with a narrow margin of safety, and the others hurriedly held down the trapdoor. Tong Jiaqi discovered he had a fever.

“Liu-liu’s health was already frail, yet he’s still pushing himself so hard. My heart aches for him.”

“He shouldn’t be able to film like this, right? When I have a fever, I have no energy at all. How can he deal with ghosts?”

“I have sinned. Seeing Liu-liu’s flushed face and hazy, fragile gaze actually looks so alluring to me. I want to make him cry so badly. pants“

“The guests in this episode are all so loving, everyone is caring for the sick. Liu-liu looks like the group pet.”

“I’m more concerned about why the statue suddenly moved just now. Weren’t they all staring at it?”

“Someone must have blinked. After all, several minutes is too long; your eyes can’t hold out.”

“Hahahaha, the ghost infant wants milk, and Jian Yongge turns into a male mommy in a second. Dying of laughter.”

“The ghost infant gnawing on the table corner is inexplicably cute.”

Only then did Pei Liu learn that the ghost infant treated Jian Yongge as its mother. He couldn’t help but laugh. Later, seeing netizens praising the ghost infant as cute, his expression turned deeply shocked. He thought: If you had actually seen it in person, you wouldn’t feel that way.

Pei Liu skipped to the parts he was more concerned about: the first time he realized ghosts truly existed, and after Jian Yongge changed into a dress.

“???! Does Jian Yongge have a cross-dressing fetish?”

“Is it part of the script? Or was he possessed by a female ghost? Every move he makes is so seductive.”

“Trash production team, actually bullying our gege like this. I’m so mad!”

“I have to say, Jian Yongge’s acting is really good here. Pei Liu’s terrified reaction is hilarious.”

“Vengeful spirit appears: Liu-liu is calm and composed. Jian Yongge winks and twists his waist: Liu-liu: Help, I’m scared to death. Hahahaha, dying.”

Finally, they reached the master bedroom where the female ghost was. The guests started eating eyeballs like crazy, leaving the bullet comments terrified.

“Wait, why did the grapes change? What happened to Kai-kai and the others?! Could there really be a ghost!!!! Holy shit, so scary!”

“The eyeballs popped. I’m eating right now, barf—”

“Should we call the police…”

“The person above is too immersed. Have you forgotten this is a pre-recorded show? The guests are all fine now. Yesterday, Wu Kai even posted a goofy selfie with a Husky, and Pei Liu liked and teased him.”

“Even knowing they’re acting, I’m still so scared. Pausing to take a breather.”

“Suddenly craving roasted pig eyes. slurp Super bouncy.”

Outside the screen, Pei Liu, sitting on the sofa, watched tensely, curled into a ball and shivering cowardly. Remembering the feeling of being overwhelmed by fear back then made it a bit hard for him to breathe.

The entity sitting beside him reached out and pulled him into his embrace, just as it had back then, tightening around his waist like a dense, inescapable net trapping its prey.

At the same time, a hand rested on the slight indentation of Pei Liu’s spine, stroking gently downward to soothe him tenderly.

At this moment, the show inserted a clip of Wu Kai and the others standing in a corner with a staff member, plotting to fake being bewitched by the ghost.

“Wow, so mean. So they planned it beforehand, and Liu-liu was the only one who didn’t know.”

“When I used to watch horror movies, my biggest fear was the people beside me suddenly turning into ghosts.”

“Liu-liu was really scared. Poor thing, Mommy gives you a hug.”

“Although it’s for the show’s effect, it feels a bit much. If it were me, I’d have been scared to death long ago. Even without a heart condition, I’d get one. Plus, Pei Liu just had a fever and was still weak.”

“Heartache +1.”

While the audience was placated by this explanation, Pei Liu stared intently at that staff member. The show’s director liked on-the-spot improvisation to capture better reactions; it was normal for someone to suggest a change. But that faceless staff member… was he really human?

Because they had become friends while filming the variety show, Pei Liu had exchanged contact information with everyone except Jian Yongge. He called Wu Kai to ask if that really happened. Wu Kai seemed to have a poor memory, thinking for a while before nodding and apologizing for scaring him by keeping it a secret.

After hanging up the phone, Pei Liu’s expression deepened. He was even more certain that ghosts were behind this, aiming to interrupt the recording.

After that, he returned to his room, bewitched by the ghost, mistakenly thinking it was Xie Wuyu…

“Xie Wuyu…”

Pei Liu mumbled unconsciously.

Suddenly, a cold wind brushed past, seemingly answering him.

Pei Liu shuddered involuntarily and abruptly turned his head to look at the window, terrified that a terrifying black shadow might be standing outside, a hand pressed against the glass leaving a blurred, damp, and gloomy handprint, staring sinisterly at him.

Pei Liu walked over quickly, closed the window, and drew the curtains tight, blocking everything out completely.

Only then did he return to the sofa and sit down, continuing to watch the show.

He didn’t know there was no ghost shadow outside the window because the entity had already been by his side for a long time. From behind, black mist enveloped him, like a pitch-black cocoon.

On the screen, he walked into the room naturally; there was no pale, slender hand pulling him inside.

Afterward, Xie Wuyu didn’t appear either, as if there never was such a person from start to finish, and everything was merely his hallucination. But Pei Liu knew very well that he was in that abandoned villa, truly existing, and was an extremely dangerous ghost.

As he watched the show closely, he realized that ghosts couldn’t actually be recorded directly by the cameras.

They attached themselves to props or staff members and largely followed the production team’s arrangements, which was why they didn’t arouse the director’s suspicion.

Even Jian Yongge being possessed by a ghost had a scripted explanation.

The faceless suit-wearing ghost crawling on the floor like a spider, the upside-down hanged ghost approaching with thump thump footsteps during hide-and-seek—they all looked similar.

But what he saw in reality and what was broadcast on the show had clear differences. In the recorded show, if you looked closely, you could still spot traces of makeup.

But at the time, the eerie ghostly aura and terrifying appearances Pei Liu faced were incredibly real, making his heart race and triggering an instinctual awareness of severe mortal danger.

But the netizens had no idea, watching the thrilling yet entertaining show.

“Holy crap, the NPC makeup is amazing. I screamed so loud my mom came in to hit me.”

“My cat overlord was watching with me, and now it’s climbed up to the ceiling, hugging the light fixture, too scared to come down hahaha.”

“Everyone else ran, but Pei Liu stayed so calm. As expected of the boss of bold moves. With him around, I’m not afraid.”

“Wait, why do I feel like Liu-liu’s legs actually gave out from fear?”

“How is that possible? He wasn’t scared at all before.”

During the hide-and-seek game, when chased by the ghost, he truly couldn’t run anymore, sliding down the wall and kneeling on the floor.

“Jian Yongge lured the ghost over, and he just ran away?! What garbage!”

“f*ck, my heart breaks for Liu-liu.”

“Liu-liu curled into a ball, is he crying? Hugs, don’t cry.”

“Heh, I told you the vase would definitely cry. Like a woman, useless trash.”

“Motherfucker, did you go blind when Liu-liu handled everything calmly earlier? You didn’t praise him then, but the moment he cries a little, you jump out to insult him. Did he dig up your ancestors’ graves?!”

“Woman, woman, isn’t your mom a woman? If you have the guts, go call your mom useless trash and see if she regrets giving birth to you.”

“If it were you, you’d have pissed your pants in the first episode and gotten killed by a ghost.”

Seeing so many people speaking up for him, Pei Liu felt moved. When Jian Yongge deliberately lured the ghost over, he was truly terrified. If, after barely escaping, he had to endure a barrage of insults, he would definitely feel terrible.

Since Xie Wuyu never appeared, the VHS tape he brought became a clue Pei Liu found.

“VHS tape… I have a bad feeling about this.”

“High energy ahead!!!”

“Well! Hand! Crawling! My childhood trauma. No, I have to retreat.”

“Are you kidding me? Get back here right now.”

“It feels like it’s really hard to be twins. One has poor health, the other is neglected. If parents can’t balance their love, it’s easy for the kids to develop issues.”

“I bet fifty cents that this boy is definitely problematic.”

“Cross-dressing? Hahahaha Wu Kai wants to make me die of laughter and inherit my Huabei debt, doesn’t he.”

“I’d rather see Miracle Liu-liu changing outfits online. Just thinking about it makes me… slurp slurp.”

“+1, me too!”

Pei Liu was completely baffled, unable to understand what was so appealing about him wearing a dress. Moving on, because the events in the bedroom weren’t recorded, it skipped directly to the next day when Pei Liu met the little ghost in the corridor.

The little ghost, with tear-filled eyes: Daddy! I’ll steal incense to support you from now on!

“Hahahaha Pei Liu suddenly becomes a father.”

“Did I miss an episode? Why is the little female ghost calling him Dad?”

“I was drinking water and spat it all over my computer hahahaha.”

“To get her doll back, the little female ghost went all out.”

“Liu-liu: Don’t call me Dad. Little ghost: Mom!”

“Liu-liu: …Never mind, you should just call me Dad. Hahahaha dying of laughter.”

Before they knew it, the show was coming to an end. The ghost head on the table, the dense ghost hands hanging from the ceiling, the female ghost turning her head 180 degrees weeping tears of blood… it kept netizens on the edge of their seats the entire time. Their feet under their desks were itching to run alongside the guests.

“A parade of a hundred ghosts! The production team went all out, hiring so many extras, and they’re super dedicated.”

“I looked closely with a magnifying glass, not a single NPC moved.”

“I thought they were mannequins. When the eyes rolled, I was so scared I spilled my instant noodles.”

“Pei Liu is really brave. If it were me, I’d definitely have fallen flat on my ass from fear.”

“? Went to lay down on the sofa to rest? There are ghosts all around you, baby!”

“I don’t know why, but I keep feeling like there’s someone beside Liu-liu…”

“The person above, stop scaring me.”

“Seeing Pei Liu lying there like that, I actually feel a sense of tranquil peace? Those ghosts around him look like his loyal guards hahahaha.”

Finally, they successfully obtained the key and managed a thrilling escape out the main gates while being hunted by the ghost horde.

“I almost thought Liu-liu and silly Kai were going to be caught by the ghosts. Thank goodness they all escaped successfully.”

“Congratulations! Tossing flowers for the finale.”

“Tossing flowers for the finale.”

“Finale… wait, there’s still quite a bit left on the progress bar.”

“It’s true. Could there be a plot twist?”

When the letters between the younger sister and the boy were read aloud, netizens were full of question marks.

They never expected that the younger sister, who hadn’t appeared from beginning to end, was the true mastermind, even planning her own death.

At first, they thought the little ghost was a vengeful spirit, then they thought the older sister killed out of jealousy with the boy acting as a lovestruck accomplice. But in the end, the older sister was just an innocent fool kept in the dark?

Netizens: “Oh, my god! I’m such a foolish fellow. I actually believed the words of a ghost. I really want to use my boots to kick their asses hard. I swear, I will definitely do that!”

After watching the truth unfold, netizens were just about to move the discussion to Weibo when they noticed the episode hadn’t finished.

The screen gradually shrank, turning into lines of text that were collected into a book. The pages closed, and the cover dropped, bearing the neatly printed words: An Autobiography of a Murderer.

It turned out that from start to finish, there were no ghosts at all. Everything that had happened earlier was merely the plot of a novel.

According to the timeline, a pair of lovely twins were born joined at the abdomen. They successfully underwent separation surgery and became two independent children.

The older sister was lively and healthy, while the younger sister was frail and prone to illness.

Their parents focused all their attention on the younger sister, becoming increasingly biased. Over time, the older sister’s love for her sister turned into jealousy and resentment, worsening their relationship.

However, the younger sister had relied heavily on her conjoined older sister since childhood. After being distanced, she believed that disgusting men were stealing her sister away. So, she intentionally approached the man her sister liked, successfully got together with him, got pregnant, and gave birth to a child. But her sister still stayed away from her. A plan formed in her mind: she would wear a red dress and be killed by her sister, becoming a vengeful spirit so she could follow her sister forever.

She watched her sister take her place, marry that man, and even get pregnant. She also loved that child very much, so she attached herself to her daughter, going to watch, to touch her sister’s belly, and talk to her unborn nephew or niece. But for some reason, her sister was terrified of her and burned her to death.

When the nanny, who saw the younger sister as a goddess, found out, he fell into madness and killed the older sister’s family of three. Afterward, the villa became a haunted house.

All of this was just the plot in the novel. In reality, the twins had a great relationship. Although the younger sister passed away from an illness, she lived a very happy life. The older sister had a happy family.

They never knew any male pen pal; everything was merely the delusional fantasy of a murderer. He loved the younger sister pathologically and believed the older sister had caused her death.

Therefore, to avenge his love, he killed the older sister’s family of four. In the end, he wrote this so-called autobiography while sitting in a prison cell.

After reading this, netizens couldn’t help but blurt out: A Russian nesting doll? Layer after layer.

In the end, the ghosts that scared them half to death were fake, just the elaborate mental theater of a madman? They felt like they had watched for nothing.

The production team was also quite helpless. In the era of science, ghosts are considered feudal superstition, making paranormal shows naturally precarious. The director and writers were walking a tightrope with the censors. To pass the review, the ending had to declare that there were no ghosts. Therefore, everything was just a dream the murderer had before his execution. The show’s premise was to promote abiding by the law, starting with you and me; bad people will not meet a good end.

Watching to the end, Pei Liu deeply felt the production team’s struggles and couldn’t help but want to laugh.

But immediately following that, he remembered that before finally leaving the villa, they took a group photo together.

The director had said, “What are you afraid of? There are no ghosts in this world. You must believe in materialism.”

As a former staunch materialist, Pei Liu looked back at the large horde of genuine, terrifyingly resentful ghosts swarming with immense yin energy inside the ornate gates, and gave a polite yet awkward smile.

Yeah, there are no ghosts.