CH 45

Warning: There are two paragraphs that get pretty creepy – it starts at ‘In those glass rooms…’ and ends at ‘walked around the room.’

Lai calling him ‘Xiao Ning’ was so shocking that Ji Ning couldn’t respond for a few seconds. 

It felt really strange. When he was trying to seduce Lai in the Western fantasy world, the boy was extremely stubborn. Forget calling him by his name, it took him years to get Lai to even call him ‘teacher’.

At this point in the Western fantasy world, Lai still wore a cold expression all day long and refused to show the Necromancer who kidnapped him even a hint of a smile.

“…”

Ji Ning scrutinised the boy in front of him. His smile was sincere, his eyes pure and he had the refreshing temperament of youth. As Ji Ning carefully observed him, he pursed his lips and revealed a slightly shy expression. He called out again softly, “Teacher?” 

No, he still couldn’t accept acting as Lai’s lover. Although he had previously seduced Lai, these were fundamentally different things.

Ji Ning shook his head. Just as he was about to refuse the situation, new options suddenly appeared in front of him.

【Lai reminded you of your proposal to travel the mainland pretending to be lovers. Your choices are:】

【One: Accept this plan to act as intimate lovers.】

【Two: Reject the idea, and change your identities to husband and wife.】

【Three: Reject the idea, and change to more exciting identities, such as a dark mage and his male pet.】

Ji Ning: “…”

“Teacher, you don’t want to pretend to be lovers anymore?” 

His long silence caused a touch of disappointment to appear in Lai’s eyes, but he still said considerately, “If you don’t want to do that, then-”

Before the young man could finish his words, his mouth was covered by the Necromancer’s hand, preventing him from speaking.

The mage’s slender fingers slid softly across his face and lifted up the boy’s jaw. Lai suddenly felt a gentle pressure on his lips as his teacher pressed a quick kiss to them.

“…” 

Lai blinked, slightly dazed, as his fingers automatically touched the place he had been kissed.

Ji Ning suddenly smiled at him, looking so breathtaking he couldn’t take his eyes off him.

“I can play lovers with you. As long as you can keep up.”

He turned and left the bedroom, leaving the teenager standing alone. 

Lai caressed the place Ji Ning had just touched, his eyes heated, as muttered to himself in a low voice.

“Of course I won’t have any problem…Teacher, I’m really looking forward to it.”

At night, bright lights lit up the streets of the town, illuminating the roads as if it was still day time.

The residents of the town had a rich nightlife. Elders gathered to play instruments whilst the youth danced in groups, beautiful long skirts swaying in the air like blooming flowers. 

The melodious music and laughter of the crowd rang out loudly, until a dark carriage slowly entered the street from outside the city gate. It attracted the attention of many people, and the sounds from the townspeople gradually quietened.

The sound of the horse’s hooves echoed through the street. The carriage’s exterior wasn’t extravagant but was very delicately made and still carried a sense of beauty about it. Slowly it stopped at the door of an inn.

The townspeople watched the carriage curiously. A pale faced coachman restrained the horses, his movements slightly stiff. He brought out a footstool and opened the carriage door. The person inside stretched out a black gloved hand and took the coachman’s offered arm.

The person that left the carriage was a young nobleman. When his face was illuminated by the streetlamps, the surroundings fell silent as everyone felt a surge of attraction towards him. 

The young noble wore slim fitting dark clothes, with short black hair and a pale complexion. His facial features were soft and delicate and held a secretive aura. When he gazed around with a slight smile on his lips, the heartbeats of everyone that made eye contact couldn’t help but speed up. He had a magnetic charm that transcended the boundaries of gender.

The townspeople secretly praised the excellent appearance and temperament of the stranger. As they were a peaceful town, no one noticed that the coachman hadn’t drawn a single breath. He was a walking corpse, manipulated by death magic to simulate the actions of an ordinary person.

They would never have imagined that the person in front of them was the notorious Necromancer, ‘Eidolon’. If he desired, he could turn this bustling town into a graveyard in an instant.

The noble reached inside the carriage again and helped another person down. 

When the townspeople saw the person that left the carriage, they reacted in surprise once again. The stranger wore a thick cloak, their entire face hidden within the shadow of their hood. By their long, light coloured skirt that flowed from underneath their cloak, it could only be assumed that they were a girl.

However, that girl was seriously tall…

The young aristocrat could hardly be called short, but the girl was almost as tall as him, though her movements were still very graceful. She was obviously wearing a long and heavy skirt, but when she stepped down from the carriage she barely needed the noble’s help.

The dark haired noble took the girl’s hand, smiled at the people around them and walked into the inn. The coachman followed behind them with their luggage, as someone employed by the inn took the carriage away. 

“A double suite with a servant’s room.”

The nobleman and the girl took seats on a sofa as the driver went over to the counter to book their rooms.

“Okay.” The innkeeper confirmed, peering curiously at the couple after briefly looking at their ID cards. “This distinguished gentleman and young lady…What is their relationship? Are they brother and sister, or…”

“They are lovers.” Answered the coachman in a hoarse voice. 

“They’re a perfect match together.”

Although he couldn’t see the girl’s fce, it didn’t stop the innkeeper from blindly praising his customers without shame.

“I have a question for you.” The coachman said, “My mistress heard there were mermaids in a nearby sea and wanted to watch them with my master. How can we get there?”

“They’re supposed to be on the southern beach just outside the city.” There was a slight hesitance on the innkeeper’s face as he continued, “But it’s just a rumour. No one in the town has actually seen one and there is a possibility the creature is actually a siren. If you go there rashly, it could be dangerous.” 

The coachman responded flatly to his concern, “I will tell my master to take caution, thank you.”

Once they had been registered, the innkeeper personally led the guests to their suite and left after wishing them a good evening.

Once he left, the coachman who had been animated by undead magic immediately stopped moving and stood still. The Necromancer disguised as a noble also dropped his smile and returned to his usual cold and gloomy appearance. He removed his coat and said casually to the girl, “Okay, let’s change clothes.”

“Teacher…” 

The voice of the person hidden by the cloak was clear and gentle, but it unmistakably belonged to a man.

He took off the hood from his head with a helpless expression on his face, asking his teacher with a wry smile, “Why did you want me to dress up as a woman?”

“Are you dissatisfied?” Ji Ning put on his mage robe and glanced at him, “If you dislike it, we can resume our real relationship and you will follow me as a disciple.”

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“P kbc’a.”

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But even if Lai had looked really ugly in women’s clothes, he would have still made him dress like a girl. How was it fair that Lai always took advantage of him to make him suffer? There was no reason he had to accept it!

Lai took off his skirt and changed back into casual men’s clothes. He asked Ji Ning, “Teacher, you said we were going out tonight; where are we going and what are we going to do?” 

“We’re looking for a siren.” Ji Ning said, “We need its tears to make your staff.”

The two finished changing their clothes, blew out the candles inside the room and took advantage of the open window to leave the inn and travel towards the town’s southern beach.

The sea waves shimmered under the bright moonlight as they rhythmically crashed against the beach.

Aside from the sound of the waves, the air around them was silent. Ji Ning removed his boots and walked into the ocean, letting the seawater rise up to his chest. Making a shallow cut on his finger, he allowed a few drops of blood to fall into the sea. 

After a short while, the water around him began to fill with white mist. Somewhere in the mist came a faint, ethereal singing. As the voice grew louder, it echoed with the waves, mournful and desolate.

The townspeople’s stories said it was a mermaid’s song, but Ji Ning knew that what they heard was a siren’s call.

Different from the docile and timid mermaids, sirens were cruel monsters of the sea. They treated humans as cattle and used their singing to confuse sailors’ navigation, making them crash their ships into the reef to have their flesh devoured by the sirens.

But Ji Ning hadn’t come to offer himself as food. After attracting the attention of the siren, he cast a Necromancer’s spell that created a hazy shadow beside him. 

The shadow became an undead siren with a beautiful appearance. She sang a song in answer to the one that rang across the water. The first siren’s song moved closer and closer, until she appeared on the shore, reaching out her hand towards the undead, excitement and longing on her face.

“Teacher, this is?” Lai asked softly, standing to the side.

“They are a pair of sisters. The elder sister was killed by humans, leaving the younger sister alone inside the sea fog.” Ji Ning explained, “She misses her sister very much.”

The girl tried to hug her undead sister, but no matter how hard she tried, her hands would pass through the shadow of the undead body, unable to touch her. 

Seeing her sister in front of her, but being unable to talk or touch her, left the siren frantic, broken grunts and cries coming from her throat.

She knew the appearance of her elder sister had to be related to the mysterious mage, so she swam to his side and grabbed at the hem of his clothes, begging him for his help in her native tongue.

“I need your tears.”

The Necromancer gently stroked the girl’s hair and spoke in the common tongue. The girl nodded. Sirens were normally cold and indifferent, but she was soft hearted towards her cherished sister and soon forced tears to fall from her eyes. 

“She knows how much you missed her.”

Ji Ning said calmly, collecting her tears with a prepared vial. He gently tapped his finger against the body of the undead siren, allowing her body to become more solid. Seeing this, the siren threw herself onto her sister, tightly embracing her.

Together, the sirens sang a song of joy, until the sea fog dissipated and the moonlight illuminated the Necromancer once again. Under the scattered moonlight, his expression seemed peaceful, but also carried a heavy loneliness.

“Teacher…” 

The blond boy watched him quietly for a long time, his eyes filled with the Necromancer’s figure. When Ji Ning was about to turn around, he suddenly stepped forward and gently pulled at his sleeve, asking him in a low voice.

“I want to know, do you have anyone in your heart that you would miss like that?”

“…”

Ji Ning turned and looked at the boy without answering. The boy met his gaze, staring intently into his eyes as he spoke, “I think I have someone. If one day we were separated, I would miss teacher forever.” 

“Because I, I…”

His voice grew quieter, almost drowned out by the gentle sounds of the waves.

Under the moonlight, his blue eyes were filled with a shadow of darkness and deep feelings of paranoia and possessiveness. He raised his hand to cover Ji Ning’s eyes, then kissed his lips.

His breath was hot and he kissed hard, as if he was trying to convey how strong his emotions were. Ji Ning couldn’t resist him, he tried to speak, but Lai took advantage of his open mouth and deepened the kiss, stealing away his air. 

It was a long time before he finally ended the kiss, but the young man still felt unsatisfied. He pressed several chaste kisses to Ji Ning’s cheeks and forehead, and held him tightly. Eyes closed, he said hoarsely.

“I’m sorry teacher.”

“But I can’t control my feelings.”

“If I’d really lost you, I don’t know what I would have done…” 

Ji Ning opened his eyes and found he had quit the game and been returned to his bedroom.

He sat up, drank some water, and glanced down at the terminal that had inexplicably reappeared on his wrist. It was so early that the sun hadn’t risen yet, but he wasn’t tired at all, as if he had a good night’s sleep instead of playing games all night.

He sighed and lay back down on his bed, thinking about what had happened inside the game just now. He’d always had doubts about the game and suspected that the real Lai was controlling it, even though he’d appeared as his teenage self.

Now he could be certain that the boy in the game was the real Lai. Even if the previous abnormalities weren’t enough to confirm it, Lai’s reaction just now was definite proof. 

For a moment, Lai’s body exuded a pure and rich darkness. Since Ji Ning had first entered the game, he had sensed an oppressive power from Lai which he’d never had as a teenager. Even at the point when Ji Ning left that world, Lai hadn’t had that level of power.

It seemed that the real Lai had approached him and for some unknown reason, pulled him into a role playing game with him.

Ji Ning rubbed at his forehead helplessly. If it wasn’t for Lai losing control of himself, he still wouldn’t be sure that it was really him.

But even though he had guessed the truth, since Lai didn’t want to reveal his identity he wouldn’t say anything. He was grateful that Lai only contacted him through the game. If he unveiled Lai’s disguise, he might join the other protagonists in the outside world and involve himself in Ji Ning’s already chaotic situation, which would just make things harder for him. 

Forget it, he didn’t want to think about it, he should just go to sleep for a while…

He snuggled into his duvet and dozed off to sleep. He woke up some time later and found that he’s received a message on his terminal from director Liu.

The director’s message was very long and excited. He said that the script for ‘Carnivorous Flower’ was finished and after receiving it the night before, he couldn’t wait to send the first few scenes to Ji Ning. He very sincerely asked Ji Ning to play one of the two main characters in the film.

Ji Ning had read the original novel and knew that the filming of ‘Carnivorous Flower’ would be happening soon. However, at the moment he wanted to leave the Federation as soon as possible in order to avoid Ozer’s pursuit. He was worried this would conflict with the filming, which made him hesitate to answer director Liu. 

However, the director’s next message dispelled Ji Ning’s doubts. Director Liu told him that after some consideration, he’d decided to use the ‘100% holographic’ method of filming.

This so-called ‘100% holographic’ filming meant that all scenes were created using projections. Actors had to enter sleep capsules when shooting, and used special equipment to move their consciousness into the holographic projection plane. The film was therefore shot using the actor’s holographic projections rather than their actual bodies.

This method of filming wasn’t uncommon and was often used for complicated subject matters or when it was difficult to gather together the right actors in the same country.

For Ji Ning, this was undoubtedly very good news. This meant that even if he was abroad, he wouldn’t delay the filming. Besides, inside the holographic projection, not only could he finally make some progress on seducing Gu Chen, he would still be able to avoid the other protagonists. 

Ji Ning intended to agree to the director’s offer, but he still wanted to look at the script first.

He was a little concerned about why the director had chosen the 100% holographic filming method, as he was sure that in the original novel, ‘Carnivorous Flower’ didn’t use holographic shooting. This was because the setting of the film was very simple, inside an ordinary campus. Although the plot featured cannibalism, it wasn’t pictured in vivid detail and therefore wasn’t a high risk film subject.

It didn’t make sense, unless the director had drastically changed the script…so what changes had he made?

Ji Ning muttered to himself. He opened the script on his terminal to look at the cover. At a glance, he could see the warnings labelled on yellow post it notes. 

【One: Graphic imagery and references to cannibalism.】

【Two: The protagonists will depict various extreme behaviours and mental disorders. Actors will have to wear monitoring equipment during filming to ensure there are no psychological traumas caused during scenes.】

【Three: There are kissing and intimate scenes, as well as several nude scenes.】

Ji Ning: “…” 

Wait a minute, what had this script been changed to, why was there such a thing as intimate scenes??

He immediately opened the script and browsed through it. The director hadn’t revealed the names of the two protagonists, and since he was eager to cast Ji Ning and Gu Chen, he had tentatively written their names as ‘Xiao Ning’ and ‘Mr Gu’.

Ji Ning was speechless for a while, but the roles the director wanted them to play were clear at a glance.

The script was set many years ago and was told through the perspective of Xiao Ning. Xiao Ning was an excellent student. Although he had no parents and grew up in a group home since he was a child, he worked extremely hard at his studies and was admitted into a prestigious university. Because of his impressive grades and stunning appearance, he was very popular and had an endless stream of suitors. 

But Xiao Ning had no intention to interact with others, nor was he keen on interpersonal relationships. He didn’t have any close friends at school and rented an apartment by himself. Although others wanted to get close to him, they weren’t given a chance.

Everyone agreed that Ji Ning was an unapproachable flower, but they were unaware that Xiao Ning showed a different side to himself outside of school.

Every night, he would hang out in bars, wandering among all kinds of different people in order to select his favourite prey.

But Ji Ning’s purpose wasn’t to satisfy his lust, or sell his looks in exchange for money. He was looking for a different pleasure of the flesh. He had a bad habit that was different from ordinary people; his most beloved food was human flesh. 

During his childhood, Xiao Ning suffered a near death experience. A plane he was travelling on crashed and landed inside a remote forest. His body was stuck between the plane seats and he was unable to move. He was trapped for over a week before he was saved by a search and rescue crew.

During that week, he survived by eating dead human flesh. The dead were none other than his parents.

After eating the bodies of his dead parents to survive, even after years of psychological counselling, Xiao Ning still had severe psychological issues. As time went on, he began to develop a craving for human flesh.

When he finally moved out of the orphanage to live alone, he couldn’t stop himself from killing in order to satisfy his urges. He was smart and cautious, and left no evidence that could be linked back to him. Even though he had killed several people, he wasn’t under any suspicion by the police. 

In the middle of the night, Xiao Ning entered a new bar. He had just picked out a suitable candidate, when he became aware of a burning gaze locked on him.

It belonged to a handsome young man, who sat alone in the corner drinking. He showed no interest towards the other Yingyings or Yanyans, but his attention was captured by Xiao Ning. Seeing Xiao Ning meet his eyes, the young man smiled and raised his glass to him.

Xiao Ning stepped forward with great interest, and started a conversation with him. He learned that the man’s name was Mr Gu and that he was a photographer who travelled around the world to capture beautiful and unique things.

In Mr Gu’s opinion, Xiao Ning was the most beautiful person he had ever come across. Not only did he have an outstanding appearance, he also displaced a uniquely contradictory temperament, pure yet seductive, gentleness that hid a danger. It deeply attracted him and made him want to capture everything he could about Xiao Ning. 

Likewise, Xiao Ning was also very interested in Mr Gu. He had never experienced such a delicious scent and longed to savour his taste. He would make a succulent dish.

The two were mutually attracted to each other and easily entered a relationship. Mr Gu took hundreds of pictures of Xiao Ning. Although the initial photos he took were modest, they slowly became more and more erotic. When Xiao Ning finally posed for nude photos, the two ended up in bed together and their relationship naturally developed into lovers.

Ji Ning: “…” What do you mean naturally…

When the script described the intimate scenes, he briefly glanced at the lines of erotic description, then skipped directly to the next plot points. 

As they spent more time together, Xiao Ning liked Mr Gu more and more, and his desire to eat him only increased. Finally, he found the perfect time to invite Mr Gu to his home and drug Mr Gu’s wine. He prepared the necessary tools for dismembering a human body and waited for Mr Gu to fall into his trap.

When the day came, Mr Gu arrived as promised. After being kissed into a daze, Ji Ning handed the medicated wine to Mr Gu, but in the end it was Xiao Ning who ended up fainting. When Xiao Ning woke up, he found he had been locked inside of a cage.

Ji Ning was not surprised by the plot’s direction. This kind of role reversal was common – if Mr Gu had simply been eaten, the ending would feel pretty flat.

But the Xiao Ning in the script hadn’t expected his gentle and considerate lover to plot against him. At first, he didn’t even believe it was Mr Gu who orchestrated the abduction. It was only when Mr Gu stood outside the cage with a crooked smile that Xiao Ning realised his Mr Gu wasn’t a good person. 

He asked Mr Gu what he wanted to do to him, but Mr Gu didn’t answer. He just hung a sign on Xiao Ning’s cage. Through the reflection of the mirror on the wall, Xiao Ning read the words written on the sign.

Carnivorous Flower.

When Xiao Ning still looked confused, Mr Gu smiled and withdrew the curtain from across the window to reveal the scene outside.

It turned out that the room Xiao Ning had been taken to was not a normal bedroom, but a room inside a ring shaped building with dozens of floors. There were many rooms on each floor, and the large floor to ceiling windows meant you could see directly inside of them. 

In those glass rooms, Xiao Ning saw a room marked as ‘Mermaid’. Amidst the bloodstains on the ground, a woman with her legs sewed together was struggling to move with great difficulty. Several people in medical uniforms held her body tightly as they stitched fish scales to her legs.

Another room was marked ‘Centaur’, which revealed a headless corpse stitched to the back of a man’s body. The torso and legs of the corpse were bent at a 90 degree angle, resembling the back and hind legs of a centaur. The man dragged the corpse behind him as he walked around the room.

The sight of these twisted images made Xiao Ning scream. Thinking of his ‘Carnivorous Flower’ sign, he was terrified. He wondered whether Mr Gu would make him into a monster. Maybe his limbs would be sawed off and sewn into the shape of flowers.

The first half of the script ended here and Ji Ning already felt suffocated. Not due to the sickening horror plot, but because of the large number of intimate scenes. Although it was only a holographic shooting, the simulation was near indistinguishable from reality and would be as if he was really there, acting intimately with Gu Chen. 

Although he had kissed many of the protagonists before, he had never been in such an intimate situation, which made this script feel like quite a shock to him.

Could he refuse to be in this movie…

Ji Ning stared at the script that was so different from the original. He couldn’t figure out what had stimulated the director to change the plot so much.

Also, no wonder the movie needed holographic filming. If such a twisted script was suggested for live acting, it would never be approved by the optical brain. 

He seriously began to consider how refusing to perform would impact his seduction strategy, when his terminal received a message from Gu Chen.

「Has Senior received the script for ‘Carnivorous Flower’ from director Liu?」Gu Chen asked in his message,「Is Senior planning to act in the film?」

「What do you think?」Ji Ning hesitated. He didn’t answer immediately but sent a question back instead.

「Director Liu has helped me a lot and I am very grateful to him. If he wants me to be in his film then I couldn’t possibly refuse.」 

After a brief pause, Gu Chen sent another message,「I would be very happy to co-star with Senior. Senior is the only person I have wanted to act with.」

Reading this, Ji Ning indifferently replied ‘Okay’ and their conversation ended, but at the same time he contacted the director and said he would act in the film.

Although he had never been so intimate with the other protagonists and felt a little embarrassed, if he didn’t film with Gu Chen, then Gu Chen would have to film with someone else. He didn’t want Gu Chen so close to others.

「Okay, I’ve got it.」 

The director had stayed up all night, working on the script, but still responded to Ji Ning’s message within a few seconds. His response even sounded very energetic,「What does your schedule look like for the next few weeks?」

「I’m not certain at the moment, but I don’t have any important commitments, so my schedule should be flexible.」Ji Ning replied.

The director was extremely happy and couldn’t seem to wait to start filming. He briefly exchanged a few words with Ji Ning about his salary, then asked his assistant to discuss the details with Ji Ning’s manager. The film’s investors had sufficient funds, and director Liu was always very reliable in this aspect, so there were no problems in that area.

He asked Ji Ning again,「Do you have any plans for tonight?」 

「Probably not.」

Ji Ning replied without thinking. He suddenly had a bad feeling, didn’t this question imply the director wanted to film tonight?

Sure enough, the director replied instantly to his message, as if he’d been waiting for it.

「That’s great, I’ve asked Gu Chen and he doesn’t have any plans either. Let’s start filming tonight.」 

「Your villa still has a sleep pod, right? If you don’t, I’ll have someone send one to you. They can install it along with the monitoring equipment.」

「I want to concentrate on the first half of the script, so you just need to familiarise yourself with the basic plot. Don’t worry about the short notice, if you don’t film well then just use it was a chance for you two to get a feel for your characters. Depending on the flow of the scene, I’ll also be making some modifications to the plot.」

The director was resolute. After saying this, he told Ji Ning he was going to go to sleep so he wouldn’t delay the evening’s filming, then left. Ji Ning looked at the script, a little dazed.

He really had to film this… 

A new message appeared on his terminal, from Gu Chen. Gu Chen said he was very happy to hear from director Liu that Ji Ning had accepted the script and that he was looking forward to the evening filming.

「Then I’ll see you tonight, Senior.」

Gu Chen sent his last message as a recording. There was a faint joy evident in his magnetic voice, as if he really was excited for it.

Ji Ning hurriedly sent his last response, then began to study the script of ‘Carnivorous Flower’. Although the plot still made him feel a little overwhelmed, since he’d already committed, he wanted to finish it well. 

This time he had to work hard to seduce Gu Chen and increase his favorability, otherwise he could lose everything…

So Ji Ning spent the whole day studying the script in his room. Without Huo Wuling, Herinos and Ark got along relatively peacefully. Although the atmosphere wasn’t particularly harmonious, Ji Ning was just relieved they didn’t fight.

There was also some good news. Fu Ji said he knew how to obtain some foreign substances that could adjust their appearances. Although it was a prohibited substance, he swore he would find a way to get it into the Federation in the next two days. He had also procured some fake IDs that would let them leave the Federation so they could hide on another planet.

As the evening approached, the staff sent by the director arrived to install the professional monitoring equipment by Ji Ning’s sleep capsule. It would be used to monitor his physical and mental health, to avoid any dangers that could be caused by filming. 

“This thing is quite interesting.”

Once the staff left, Fu Ji was fascinated by the sleep capsule inside Ji Ning’s villa and slowly walked around it.

In their world, there was no such thing as a sleep capsule. It was a barren place full of turmoil and chaos. If you hid yourself inside a cabin, you would be looted in less than five minutes and even the sleep capsule might get stolen.

Fu Ji studied the sleep capsule’s functions, then Ji Ning casually, “What are you using this for?” 

“Filming.” Ji Ning paused for a while, then said a little awkwardly, “I’m an actor.”

Despite saying that, after the fusion of the planes, he was pretty unprofessional as an actor. Not only did he not participate in any activities, he had barely agreed to film a second movie. If he tried to make a living out of this, he would probably be dead within the year.

But fame was always temporary and Ji Ning didn’t need to rely on it to eat, so there was no need to maintain his popularity. Moreover, with Ozer chasing him, it would be bad for him if too many people could recognise him.

Hearing his answer, Fu Ji’s expression flickered slightly. He thought that Ji Ning really suited being an actor. If anything, he would say that Ji Ning’s acting ability was too good. Not only did he have so many different identities, he had also managed to fascinate so many different men. These skills were definitely not something an ordinary person could achieve. 

Compared to other times, nothing went wrong that day. After showering, Ji Ning lay down in the sleep capsules, put on the monitoring equipment, logged on to the holographic network and entered the keycode the director had given him in advance.

After entering the code, his vision turned dark. When he next opened his eyes, he found himself inside of a bar.

The surrounding lights were dim and the atmosphere was soothing and relaxing. A beautiful girl sat on a high stool in the middle of a stage, singing a song he didn’t recognise. The song was moving and her voice was slightly raspy. Guests sat in twos or threes, chatting, laughing and drinking comfortably, with a tacit ambiguity between one another.

Ji Ning stood in the doorframe. The director quickly reminded him to go inside, so he quietly observed the room for a moment to locate where Gu Chen sat among the guests. 

The director still hadn’t given Ji Ning the names of the two protagonists, but since they were using a holographic filming method, both the sound and picture could easily be edited. If they decided to keep any of the footage, the director would have them dub the names in post-production which was common practice in holographic filming. As for now, he didn’t care how they addressed each other as he was more interested in their onscreen emotions.

Looking at his reflection in the glass of a mounted painting, Ji Ning could see that his appearance had been modified for the film. He looked younger. His body was slightly smaller, with long legs and beautiful eyes that seemed sweet and innocent.

This kind of appearance was perfect for attracting people with bad intentions. In the script, Xiao Ning used his innocent face to seduce many different people so he could kill and eat them.

Ji Ning had locked himself in his bedroom for a day and had already developed some ideas on how he wanted to play Xiao Ning. 

He slowly walked towards the bar, his eyes full of interest. It appeared as if he’d walked inside the bar for the first time out of curiosity, but hesitated by the door due to his shyness.

One of the resident singers laughed when she saw the pretty and pure boy. She stepped forward and asked the bartender to pour him a glass of juice, saying she would treat him.

The young man held the cup and thanked her softly. The singer laughed again and patted him on the shoulder, warning him to be careful when others offered him drinks in the future. She then switched places with the singer on stage and began her set of songs.

As a person who spent a lot of time in bars, the teenager was actually very clear about this. Although it was probably more accurate to say he was the kind of person who drugged other people. He drank the juice the singer had bought for him without hesitation. He’d carefully watched the bartender pour it out and knew that nothing had been added to it. 

His eyes wandered slowly across the bar. He had attracted the attention of many people just by walking in. The young man raised his glass to hide his calculating expression, until his eyes stopped on a person.

He was a very handsome man. Although he wore an expensive suit, he had unbuttoned the top of his shirt to reveal a hint of his collarbone. His eyes met the teenager’s and seeing him looking over, the man showed a charming smile and raised his glass to him.

Even though there was never a shortage of handsome men or beautiful women inside a bar, it was rare for a man to look that good. The teenager blinked, curiosity in his eyes as he picked up his juice and walked towards the man with a slight hesitation, as if he was both afraid and looking forward to it.

The two briefly introduced themselves to each other and the teenager learned the man surnamed Gu was a photographer who travelled around the world. 

This perfectly suited Ji Ning’s hunting goals. People like that didn’t attract too much attention if they disappeared.

Mr Gu asked if he could take pictures of the young man and the teenager quickly agreed. He was very interested in Mr Gu, he liked his scent and wanted to be closer to him. He would make the most delicious food.

In the days that followed, the two went to a lot of different places and took various photos. However, before long their photo shoots felt more like dates as ambiguous feelings started to bloom.

One day, Mr Gu invited the teenager to take photos inside his hotel room. Mr Gu asked the shy teenager to wear only a wide, white shirt that revealed his attractive legs, as he filled up the bathtub to take pictures. 

“Mr Gu, won’t this be too…”

The boy sat in the bathtub, tugging at the hem of his shirt with a flushed face. The man raised the camera, smiling gently as he touched the boy’s soft cheeks and said.

“It’s alright, Xiao Ning, you’re so pretty.”

He took a few pictures of the teenager in the bath and after looking at them carefully, he smiled and put down the camera. Unexpectedly he got inside the bath, holding the drenched boy tightly in his arms as he kissed him eagerly. 

He coaxed the boy in a low voice.

“Be good and show me more. I want to see everything about you, okay?”