Chapter 41

The setting sun had already sunk more than halfway, and Peng Yushu and the others had already washed the bowls and chopsticks.

Gu Nan said, “Shall we go back to where we’re staying?”

“Let’s go. Hurry and head back.” Peng Yushu glanced at the expressions on the production staff’s faces, but he did not manage to see anything.

Tang Ling was just about to leave when he turned back and picked up a box of unfinished beer. “Let’s bring some wheat beverage back with us.”

Shen Zhibei looked at the several boxes of empty bottles on the ground. “You drank a lot just now, right? You still want to drink more? Won’t you get drunk?”

“No. I feel very good right now. Under the influence of wheat juice, I’m not afraid anymore. And I feel that if they dare come, if one comes, I’ll fight one. If two come, I’ll fight a pair.” Tang Ling showed a mouthful of big white teeth and even gave himself a thumbs-up.

Seeing Tang Ling sway as he walked outside after speaking, Bai Rui and Peng Yushu hurriedly supported one arm each, while Lu Xuehai started taking the beer box he was carrying.

“I’m fine. I can do it!”

Tang Ling struggled, but Bai Rui coaxed him into settling down, and the group began wobbling toward the residential area.

Gu Nan had also carried a box. Then she leaned close to Shen Zhibei’s ear and whispered, “He’s really drunk, right?”

“Mm.” After Shen Zhibei answered, she turned and saw Gu Nan carrying a box too. “Why are you carrying a box too?”

“I think Tang Ling is right. If we drink more, our courage will rise.” As Gu Nan spoke, she glanced at the production team several times, full of threatening intent. “And if we accidentally cause friendly fire, we can say we were drunk.”

Shen Zhibei held back her laughter and agreed very seriously. “You’re right.”

The many staff members already lying in ambush, wearing jiangshi makeup, zombie makeup, and Sadako makeup, all felt a chill down their backs.

[Still calling it wheat juice? Isn’t it just big green bottles of beer? I’m laughing to death. One of them is already tipsy. I’ll see whether any more of them get tipsy after they drink the two boxes they carried back.]

[Gu Nan has already started giving the production team a warning shot. Let’s see whether you can scare me to death, or whether my fists are harder. (doge)]

[Excited fly hand-rubbing. It’s almost dark. We’re about to see a different side of the guests. So happy, so excited, so… I should still pity the guests for a few seconds. People shouldn’t be too arrogant, right, everyone?]

Because the alcohol had not yet worn off, the return trip had a lot more laughter.

Peng Yushu even sang his famous song for everyone, and Tang Ling also performed a rap.

He had transitioned from a boy group idol to an actor. Although ​stolen content​his acting was neither good nor bad—still much better than Gu Nan’s—when he had been in the boy group, he had been the main vocalist, so his singing was still very good.

Just after Tang Ling finished singing, everyone began urging Shen Zhibei to also sing the song she had once sung when playing an ethnic minority character in one of her films. At that moment, a low “roar” sounded.

Everyone’s coaxing voices got stuck in their throats.

“What sound was that?” Tang Ling looked around nervously. “Did you all hear it too?”

Gu Nan suddenly remembered something she had forgotten to say. “Um, well, I think I know what it was.”

Everyone’s eyes focused on Gu Nan, waiting for her to say what she knew.

“Earlier, when we were in the workers’ cafeteria, I saw the corner of something like a long robe and mandarin jacket float past. It should be the surprise gift the production team prepared for us,” Gu Nan said.

“Why didn’t you say that earlier?!” Tang Ling’s voice became shrill, and he grabbed Peng Yushu, who was standing beside him.

“I was thinking we should let everyone eat peacefully first. Then after eating, I forgot.” Gu Nan laughed awkwardly and rubbed the back of her head.

Everyone looked at the sunset, which was about to disappear completely, and felt a wave of tension.

This was just like visiting a haunted house. Even if they clearly knew the ghosts inside were played by staff members, they would still be scared when it was time to be scared.

“Let’s hurry back,” Shen Zhibei bit her lower lip and moved even closer to Gu Nan, her hand once again gripping the hem of Gu Nan’s clothes tightly.

Although it did not show on her face, she was also very scared. Especially now, when even the final trace of sunlight was about to vanish. A thin smear of golden-red light covered this abandoned town, and the desolate feeling coming from the entire town made her even more afraid.

“Right, right, right. While it isn’t completely dark yet, hurry.” Peng Yushu also urged.

[It’s starting, it’s starting! Place your bets, everyone. Guess what that roar was! Jiangshi or zombies!]

[Gu Nan already said she saw the corner of a long robe and mandarin jacket, so it’s definitely a Qing-dynasty jiangshi. Do we still need you to open a betting pool? Eye roll.]

[Aren’t Bai Rui and Lu Xuehai the most miserable? The other two grabbed the people standing beside them, and only those two are looking at each other, forced to bear everything alone, hahahahaha.]

[Sister has already tugged Gu Nan’s clothes directly inward, and her body is practically pressed against Gu Nan! No, wait, Gu Nan, where are your hands?! Why aren’t you holding your wife? Although one of your hands is carrying a beer box, still! Hurry and hold her and comfort her!]

[Why did the picture suddenly start shaking? My god, keep it steady! Which cameraman is filming this? The production team—]

Gu Nan quickened her steps and walked back.

But at that moment, that strange roar sounded again.

“That’s way too scary. There are sounds from every direction.” Even Lu Xuehai could not help saying this. Then he turned his head to look for the production team and was immediately dumbfounded. “Where are they? Where did the production team go?”

Hearing Lu Xuehai’s words, Gu Nan and the others quickly turned back too and discovered that the production team, which had been following behind them, was gone.

“How did the production team suddenly disappear?” Gu Nan also felt a chill shoot straight to the top of her head.

Shen Zhibei was already staring blankly at the empty area where the production staff should have been standing.

Tang Ling completely ignored the difference between Beta and Omega and jumped straight onto Peng Yushu, clinging to him. With his eyes shut, he shouted fearfully, “Fuck, production team, come out! Don’t play like this, okay? This isn’t fun at all!”

How could Peng Yushu withstand Tang Ling’s weight? He was directly pressed into falling sideways.

Gu Nan hurried over, letting Peng Yushu fall against her. Then with her free hand, she pulled Shen Zhibei and called to everyone, “Go, go, go. Hurry. It’s about to get dark. When that happens, the things they prepared for us will really come onstage.”

With Gu Nan’s reminder, everyone immediately snapped back to themselves. Under the threat of the production team’s unknown gift package, they quickly began heading toward the residential area.

This scene had been carefully prepared by the production team. To achieve this effect, the chief director had even specially spent a large amount of money to equip drones for unmanned filming.

This way, without staff members gathered around them, the guests would [unauthorized copy]become even more afraid, and the horror special footage would look even more realistic.

The roars of unknown things around them continued one after another. And whether it was an illusion or not, they even felt as though the sounds were getting closer.

Under these circumstances, Gu Nan and the others erupted with astonishing potential. Not only did they walk faster and faster, in the end, they even started running. Only then did they return to their lodging before the sky completely darkened.

[Tang Ling was so scared he hung himself on Teacher Peng. So miserable, truly miserable.]

[Teacher Peng is miserable too. He was almost crushed breathless by Tang Ling, hahahaha.]

[I also want to ask the same question as the guests: where did the production team go? How exactly is the footage we’re seeing being filmed?]

[Sure enough, Gu Nan is the most reliable. She kept tightly pulling Sister and ran at the very front. She didn’t even throw away the beer box.]

[Actually, you really didn’t need to add that line about the beer box…]

The moment they returned to where they were staying, the group did not rest and immediately prepared to start moving things.

“Let’s all move into the middle room.” Shen Zhibei’s face had already gone pale from fright, and the run had also made her pant heavily, but she still insisted on saying, “Don’t forget the kettle and generator. Move them all in.”

After they made a few trips, the sky had completely darkened.

Considering that many of the six were afraid of the dark, and it really was difficult to move things in darkness, Gu Nan started the generator and used it to turn on the lights in the room.

As a result, after they had moved only a few loads under the light, they heard the roars approaching again.

Gu Nan and the others froze.

Tang Ling felt like he was about to cry.

Because of the roars that appeared again, he once again grabbed the two people standing beside him, so hard that they cried out in pain.

After finally regaining his reason and apologizing, he heard Gu Nan quietly ask, “Do you think it’s because of the light, or because of the sound?”

Tang Ling, with a hint of sobbing in his voice, broke down and said, “At a time like this, you still have the mood to think about that? Anyway, if we use the generator, we get light. Just solve the source directly!”

Gu Nan blinked innocently. “The problem is whether we can make noise later, or turn on other lighting equipment.”

“It’s also possible that both won’t work,” Shen Zhibei put forward a reasonable guess.

“You two…” Tang Ling looked at this wife-wife pair with tears already forming in his eyes.

Facing Tang Ling’s gaze, Gu Nan could only say, “Okay, we won’t talk about it. I’ll go turn it off now.”

Gu Nan turned off the lights and the generator in one smooth motion.

But even after turning off the lights and generator, everyone still increasingly felt that the roars were getting closer.

“Have we been discovered?” Bai Rui, who had been silent all this time, finally could not endure the tense atmosphere and spoke.

“I think the production team did it on purpose. They just want to trap us here, right?” Gu Nan carefully moved to the window and looked at the pitch-black environment outside, without a single bit of light. “I don’t see anything outside yet.”

“Stop talking. Stop talking.” Tang Ling was already crouched on the ground, trembling.

“Didn’t you say you could fight one if one came, and fight a pair if two came?” Peng Yushu teased.

“Ah, I feel like the effect from just now has already passed. Maybe I need to drink a few more bottles of wheat juice to find that feeling again,” Tang Ling forced a smile and said.

The moment the lights turned off, Shen Zhibei nervously closed her eyes and hugged Gu Nan’s arm tightly, not daring to take even one step away from her side.

Only after she felt she had adapted to the current darkness did she open her eyes and say in a calm tone, “Since we’ve already been discovered, let’s hurry and keep moving things. This time, use the small generators to block the door.”

“That makes sense.” Gu Nan was the first to respond to Shen Zhibei’s words. She arranged for Shen Zhibei, who was tightly hugging her arm, and Tang Ling, who was still crouched on the ground and did not dare move, to hide in the corner. Then she very seriously instructed, “Tang Ling, you’re not allowed to hug Zhibei when you get scared. Betas and Omegas should keep proper distance, understand?”

Tang Ling: …

[Tang Ling: I have ten thousand MMPs in my heart. If I could control myself, I wouldn’t be scared!]

[I’m dying of laughter. Before going to work, she still has to worry about whether her wife will get hugged. Since you’re so worried, why don’t you take your wife with you?]

[Just say you can’t bear to part with her. And it’s fine to work while bringing your wife along. If your movements are slower, then they’re slower. We all love watching it, ehehehe.]

Ignoring Tang Ling’s speechless expression and Shen Zhibei’s face already covered by her hands as she crouched down, Gu Nan directly began dragging the generators from the other two rooms into the middle room.

The small generators rubbed against the cement floor, making a huge noise.

When passing by the window, Gu Nan looked outside through the glass and could already see blurry figures appearing. She hurriedly said to the others, “Once there’s sound, they seem to run faster. I can already see human figures.”

Tang Ling’s mind still remembered Gu Nan’s special warning. Since he could not hug Shen Zhibei beside him when afraid, he began closing his eyes, pressing himself against the wall, and scratching the wall.

Listening to the faint scratching sound coming from the side, Shen Zhibei felt that the atmosphere unauthorized copyhad become even scarier. It would have been better to let Tang Ling hug her arm or something.

As she thought this, her gaze unconsciously turned toward Gu Nan, who was dragging the generator. The corners of her lips curved into a faint smile she did not even notice herself.

Forget it. Her Alpha seemed to have developed just a little bit of possessiveness toward her. If Tang Ling really hugged her arm, Gu Nan might get jealous.

For the sake of her Alpha’s mental health, she would endure her fear a little longer.

Bai Rui was helping Peng Yushu move a mattress.

Whether it was because she had done too many guilty things or not, she really was very afraid of these unknown things.

Following Gu Nan’s words, she looked toward the window and truly saw vague human figures hopping toward where they were.

Frightened, she screamed, “Ah!” and the hand holding the mattress loosened.

This scream also triggered Tang Ling’s terrified scream, and the two of them began screaming in terror one after another.

The figures that had originally been hopping at an even pace became faster.

Peng Yushu had also seen the scene outside the window. His hand holding [read the original at bailiantales.com]the mattress also loosened. He grabbed Bai Rui and ran back into the room while shouting, “We’re not dragging the mattresses anymore. Anyway, after nine o’clock, these staff members pretending to be ghosts will leave, right? We’ll talk then. Let’s block the door first!”

“Okay!”

Lu Xuehai, who had also been tidying other things, immediately let go and dropped everything where it was. Together with Gu Nan, who was dragging the last generator back, he directly lifted the generator and hurried back to the room to use it to block the door.

Because they had delayed, before the door could be blocked, a Qing-dynasty jiangshi hopped over and slapped the door that had not yet been closed tightly.

“Fuck!” Lu Xuehai, who was closing the door, came face to face with it and was so frightened that he fell backward and sat on the ground.

The door with no lock was directly slapped open. More and more jiangshi hopped and appeared at the doorway, along with zombies swaying over.

This time, even Peng Yushu and Shen Zhibei screamed. The four of them huddled together in the corner.

“Why is the production team mixing jiangshi and zombies?” Although Gu Nan did not show weakness with her mouth, her face had also turned pale. “Brother Xuehai, get up quickly! Hurry and close the door!”

“Something floated in!”

Lu Xuehai, who had fallen to the ground, had already bounced up, but the news he brought was even more shocking.

In the corner, the four people screamed even louder.

Although they did not know why these jiangshi and zombies all stopped about an arm’s length away from the doorway and did not move, this was probably the production team’s trick.

Gu Nan mentally prepared herself, then ran forward two steps, directly closed the door, and pressed her back against it. “Brother Xuehai, push the generator over to block it!”

“Coming!” Lu Xuehai’s hands and feet were also a little weak, but he could still overcome it. He pushed the small generator beside him over and used it in place of Gu Nan to press against the door.

[Ahhhhhh! Sisters, protect me! Please send more bullet comments as protection!]

[My god, the production team is playing too hard. Tang Ling’s screams have gone hoarse.]

[Damn, Gu Nan is really brave and really fierce. I never realized she could give such a sense of security. Fan, I’m a fan now!]

[The Film Empress is about to be squeezed to death in the corner. Gu Nan, hurry and save your wife!]

[Exciting. Truly exciting. The production team really knows how to play.]

[No lights, no production staff gathered around, and they’re facing all this. I really don’t blame them for screaming so miserably. But the more miserably they scream, the more I want to laugh.]

At this moment, a burst of strange music suddenly floated down from the sky. Paired with the [unauthorized copy]current scene, it truly made one shudder.

“What music is this? It sounds a little familiar, like I’ve heard it in some jiangshi movie.” Gu Nan was sitting on the generator and resting. Hearing this strange music, she had only just said this when she felt the door she was leaning against being slapped.

“Fuck.” Gu Nan was startled and directly jumped up from the generator.

But the weight of one generator was simply not enough to stop so many hands slapping together. Very soon, it was slapped until it began moving.

Gu Nan and Lu Xuehai hurriedly used their own bodies to hold the door shut.

Bloody handprints also began pressing against the windows. One zombie after another was climbing up and lightly slapping the glass.

“This is too much! I’m not playing anymore! I don’t want to keep recording! Production team, come out!” Tang Ling had his eyes tightly shut and was so frightened he was panicking.

Shen Zhibei was in the very middle, with the other three people squeezing hard toward her, all of them screaming. She felt like she was being squeezed until she could not breathe, and her eardrums were about to be pierced by the three people’s shrill voices.

Under these circumstances, she instead could not pay too much attention to the frightening scene outside and could begin comforting the three people who had been scared into continuously screaming.

Especially Peng Yushu, who had already been frightened into hitting dolphin notes.

“It’s okay, it’s okay. Gu Nan and Xuehai are [stolen content]holding the door. They can’t get in. They’re all blocked outside.”

Hearing such calm and organized words was a great comfort to people who were currently panicked.

The overlapping screams finally stopped.

The few people with their eyes closed looked around. Although their faces were still pale from fear, they felt that with Gu Nan and Lu Xuehai blocking the door, it was indeed very safe inside the room.

With that comfort in their hearts, the group relaxed a little.

Feeling that it was finally not so crowded anymore, Shen Zhibei also relaxed a little and silently adjusted the spot where she was crouching.

Just as they slowly adapted and felt that this old routine repeating over and over again had made them start lowering their guard…

Several pale faces with loose, disheveled hair appeared as if out of thin air inside the room.

Their red-glowing eyes stared fixedly at every person present.

“Ah!”

This time, even Shen Zhibei screamed loudly in fright.

“Fuck! Brother Xuehai, hold it for a bit. I’m going to save them first!”

Gu Nan hurriedly ran over. At present, she still retained her reason. Seeing only heads floating in midair, she did not go push the heads. Instead, she pushed the place that should have been the body, pushing away the “Sadakos” surrounding them.

Sure enough, what she pushed felt like human bodies.

The moment she broke through the encirclement formed by the “Sadakos,” she hugged Shen Zhibei, who had been so frightened that she buried herself into her knees and screamed.

“It’s okay. It’s okay.”

Just as Gu Nan was comforting Shen Zhibei, a bloody “ghost claw” pressed onto Gu Nan’s shoulder.

Gu Nan was suddenly patted and felt chills run all over her body. When she turned her head again, she discovered a bloody “ghost claw” resting on her shoulder.

The string of reason snapped completely.

Instinctively, she pulled one arm away from holding Shen Zhibei and directly punched out.

There was only a bang.