After Joining the Same Variety Show as My Arch-Nemesis - Chapter 10

However, no matter how much she resisted, what had to be faced still had to be faced.

The driver brought them to their destination. It was called a manor, but it looked more like a mansion from the Republican era.

“Whoa, the production team really spared no expense.” The moment Lu Bin got out of the car, he could not help sighing in admiration.

Outside the courtyard, there were old-fashioned wrought-iron fences and red brick walls. Many bright red roses were planted there, and the white building was covered with ivy. Even in broad daylight, it carried a faint sense of mystery.

If night fell…

The moment Gu Jingxi got out of the car, she felt her scalp go numb and wished she could leave on the spot.

“Is this it? No one is here to receive us?” Fang Zixu looked around and said.

“No idea. Let’s go in first.” Owen pulled his suitcase and spoke.

“Mm.”

The group pushed open the gate and walked in. As the captain, Owen walked at the front. When he reached the mansion’s door, he politely knocked before pushing it open.

The lights were on inside. The group dragged their suitcases in. The interior was very spacious, decorated in a Republican-era style.

Luxurious, yet understated.

“Whoa, this is getting interesting.” Lu Bin looked eager to try.

But just then, the door behind them suddenly closed. The room fell into dimness, and the drawn-out sound of opera abruptly rang out.

Everything happened too quickly—so quickly that even Lu Bin and Luo Wentao, two grown men, were frightened into shouting. Although Gu Jingxi did not cry out, she instinctively grabbed the arm of the person beside her and hid behind them, closing her eyes and trembling, not daring to look at anything.

“Unfolding the phoenix-patterned paper, my heart feels cut to pieces. Thinking back to the days when I accompanied him at joyful banquets, how tender and intimate they were. If his love was deep, it should not have snapped like fragile lotus threads. Could it be that before the autumn wind even came, the round fan had already been abandoned? Perhaps he grew tired after favoring a new love for too long. Surely there will be a time when he seeks old dreams again, smiling shoulder to shoulder amid fragrance. Yet now the moon has waxed full so many times, and still his imperial carriage is nowhere to be seen. East of the tower, I roll up the pearl curtain and gaze until my eyes grow weary. How can this written verse untangle the hundred twists of sorrow in my heart? When will the day come that I can speak of my longing, tears falling before my lord?”

The opera was still singing, but everyone could already make out something from it. Even Gu Jingxi, who had originally been trembling, picked up on some meaning. However, the moment she opened her eyes and saw the pitch-black house, she decisively closed them again.

Help! She really was afraid of the dark.

She tightened her grip on the person in front of her again.

“Did you all hear anything from that?” Fang Zixu asked.

The opera sounded as if it were being played from an old-fashioned gramophone. The woman’s voice was sorrowful and plaintive, and not entirely clear.

“It seems to be the Peking opera Consort Mei,” Owen said.

“It is Consort Mei.” Jian Lan, who had not spoken all this time, finally opened her mouth.

For some reason, Gu Jingxi felt that this voice was a little close.

“This is the final monologue of Consort Mei in Scene Seven of Consort Mei.” It had to be said that even in this kind of environment, Jian Lan’s tone remained calm. Yet it gave people a full sense of security.

Gu Jingxi was not in the mood to care about any of that. She only wanted the lights to come back on quickly! She could not take it anymore!

As if responding to her thoughts, the room instantly lit up, and the drawn-out opera vanished as well.

“Wow, that was way too atmospheric!” After going through all that, Lu Bin’s voice still sounded just as energetic.

Gu Jingxi, however, wanted to cry but had no tears. She carefully opened her eyes and looked at the situation in front of her. When she saw the person she was grabbing, her entire face froze.

Wait. Why was she grabbing Jian Lan?! She remembered that Luo Wentao had been beside her. When had Jian Lan appeared?!

Her mind instantly descended into chaos, and she froze in place, not knowing what to do.

“Xixi, are you alright now?” Jian Lan spoke first, her tone carrying a faint trace of gentleness.

Gu Jingxi immediately came back to herself and quickly released her grip on Jian Lan. Her eyes drifted everywhere, and in the end, no matter how unwilling she was, she still said to her, “Thank you, Jian Shen.”

“Huh, Sister Gu, are you afraid of the dark?” Luo Wentao noticed the situation on their side and could not help asking.

Gu Jingxi stiffly tugged at the corners of her lips. “A little.”

“You brat, how can you say that about Sister Gu? You were the loudest one howling just now,” Lu Bin said with a laugh.

“Wow, and who was howling together with me?” Luo Wentao immediately shot back.

“Ahem, friends, we have a new clue.” Owen raised the phone in his hand and smiled at everyone.

“What, what? What is it?” Lu Bin immediately leaned over.

“Honestly, this really gives me the feeling that it’s going to be fun!” Lu Bin said excitedly.

“Brother Lu is completely fired up already,” Luo Wentao could not help roasting him.

“But it really is quite interesting.” As Fang Zixu spoke, the group gathered around Owen.

Owen appropriately took on the role of a qualified captain, taking out the phone and reading the latest message.

“Welcome to Rose Manor, dear Six Decoders. In this manor, a bizarre case once took place. What you must do next is search for the secret hidden deep within this manor over the next two days and one night. But the clues will not appear before your eyes at once. As time passes, and as you discover more clues, they will gradually unfold before you. There is enough food in the kitchen. Guest rooms have been prepared for you on the second floor. Before the mystery is solved, none of you can leave.”

“Wow, I got goosebumps instantly.” Luo Wentao rubbed his arms.

Gu Jingxi, however, stiffly said, “So that means if we can’t solve the mystery, we have to stay here the whole time?”

“Looks like it. But that’s what makes it fun,” Owen said with a smile.

“Whoa~ Teacher Owen is already getting excited.” Lu Bin deliberately laughed in an exaggerated way.

“It’s still early. Why don’t we go upstairs first, put our luggage down, and then come out to search for clues?” Fang Zixu suggested.

“I agree.” Owen nodded.

“I agree too.” Luo Wentao followed right after.

“Let’s go upstairs first,” Jian Lan said.

“Okay.”

Dragging their luggage, the group went upstairs. The old wooden staircase creaked beneath their feet. When they reached the second floor, they saw three rooms on each side.

“Let’s go, let’s go. Time to pick rooms.” Lu Bin called out. Then he looked at the two people with the highest status among them and asked, “Teacher Owen, Teacher Jian Lan, which room do you want?”

“I don’t mind. You all choose first,” Jian Lan said calmly.

“Teacher Owen?” Lu Bin looked at Owen.

Owen smiled and said, “My suggestion is that since Teacher Jian and Xiao Gu are both girls, it would be best for them to stay together so they can look after each other. Also, among us, Brother Fang is the steadiest, so he can take care of the two ladies. As for the three of us, we’ll stay on the remaining side.”

Gu Jingxi froze and was just about to say something when Luo Wentao said, “That works. Sister Gu is afraid of the dark anyway, and Jian Shen is careful and considerate, so she can look after her.”

Gu Jingxi laughed dryly, but inwardly, she felt rather resentful.

Xiao Luo, what’s going on with you? Selling out your teammate like this?

Clearly, because the two of them had not shown anything abnormal during their interactions, and had even displayed some rather close movements, the others had already forgotten the online rumors that they did not get along.

“Teacher Owen is right. Then Brother Fang, we’ll leave our ladies to you,” Lu Bin said with a smile.

Fang Zixu smiled reservedly. “It’s what I should do.”

And just like that, it was decided. Gu Jingxi’s group of three chose the three rooms on the right. Gu Jingxi stayed in the middle, Fang Zixu stayed near the stairs, and Jian Lan stayed at the innermost room.

Gu Jingxi, who had been frightened earlier, dragged her exhausted body and pushed open the door to her room.

The furnishings inside had all been carefully decorated. But when she saw all the large and small photographs in exquisite frames around the room, Gu Jingxi froze for a moment.

The photos were all of a woman. Most importantly, the faces were completely blurred out and impossible to see clearly. But Gu Jingxi dared guarantee that the women in these photos were absolutely the same person.

The goosebumps that had just settled instantly rose again.

She wanted to put on a mask of pain right there.

Help! Fu Hang, if you’re going to make a variety show, then just make a variety show! Why make it feel so immersive?!

Even if I usually bully you, you don’t have to take revenge on me like this!

Feeling uneasy, she dragged her suitcase inside. She had just sat down when a scream rang out, frightening Gu Jingxi so badly that she shuddered. Almost instinctively, she rushed out of the room.

“What happened?!” Clearly, everyone had heard the commotion and rushed out.

“It’s Xiao Luo’s room.” Owen recognized the voice and quickly gathered everyone toward Luo Wentao’s room.

Seeing this, the others hurriedly followed.

“Xiao Luo.”

The group rushed into the room and saw Luo Wentao collapsed in front of the wardrobe. A life-sized doll was lying on top of him, dressed in a dark red qipao. The wardrobe doors were open. From the looks of it, when Luo Wentao opened the wardrobe, the doll had fallen out and frightened him.

“Hahaha! Xiao Luo, what happened to you?” Lu Bin laughed mercilessly while stepping forward to move the doll off Luo Wentao.

But the moment he moved the doll away, he saw the terrifying makeup on its face.

“Mother of god!”

“Ah!”

The first cry was from Lu Bin. He instantly threw the doll away and hopped one step back. The second cry was from Gu Jingxi. After seeing the doll’s makeup, she directly screamed, then turned around, covered her face, and trembled.

The others were clearly frightened as well. Jian Lan, however, remained very calm. She stepped forward and gently circled Gu Jingxi into her arms. It was neither presumptuous nor ambiguous. She merely reached out and patted her back lightly, speaking in a soft voice.

“Alright, it’s fine now. That was only a prop. It’s fine.”

Gu Jingxi could no longer care that the person in front of her was Jian Lan, her arch-enemy. Having been frightened, she simply leaned against Jian Lan’s shoulder to calm herself down.

Seeing this, Jian Lan quietly let a faint smile color the corners of her lips.

Fang Zixu was the first to come back to himself. He stepped forward and looked at the doll. Actually, if one were to say it was scary, it was not that scary. It was just that on both sides of the doll’s wide-open eyes, traces of bloody tears had been painted.

At first glance, it was frightening. But once one got used to it, it was still alright.

“Wait.” Owen suddenly stopped him and said, “The doll is a clue.”

Only then did everyone look at the doll and discover that there was a plastic dagger in its abdomen. Looking at the doll’s styling again, it seemed as if she had been murdered.

Most importantly, the production team had stuck a note onto the wound.

【Female Corpse】

Alright. This confirmed that it was a clue.