CH 55

Chapter 55 – Attack In The Dark

Have you had enough fun?

The author has something to say:

For the trailer’s BGM, you can listen to Missio’s “Dizzy“, which is also suitable for the atmosphere of this chapter.

—

This act, of Pei Tingsong giving Fang Juexia orange juice, undoubtedly caused the entire livestream room to detonate.

[AHHHHHHHHH WHAT DID I JUST HEAR? Xiao Pei said something about sweet?]

[omg really so doting (covers mouth)]

[AHHHHHHHHHHH WHAT DID I SEE!!!]

[The main players started dancing on my head!!!!]

[PTS: handsome appearance and kind heart with no cueing required]

[AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH THE SPECIAL POLICE ARE GOING TO GET ME!]

[FJX is loved by everyone, I’m carrying him away]

[AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH]

Both of the two involved parties had yet to become aware of this current situation. Fang Juexia, who had thought that Pei Tingsong had lost his temper with him, was a little surprised to see the orange juice. He took a sip of the juice, and sure enough, it was really sweet. His strange symptoms disappeared in an instant, as if this juice was more effective than even a panacea. He didn’t finish it though, and just as he was about to put it aside, Pei Tingsong intercepted him to take hold of the cup, and then drank the remaining juice.

Ling Yi stared at the barrage on the screen and said, “What questions do you guys still want to ask?” Just then, all of them suddenly heard the door open.

“The trailer for the first episode of ‘Escape For Your Life’ has come out!” Lu Yuan carried a laptop and came in with Jiang Miao as he added, “Freshly out, let’s watch it together?”

“Ah, it finally came out!” Ling Yi was excited and rubbed his hands together. “I’ve been waiting for a long time now, Escape is so slow.”

Lu Yuan put his laptop in the middle of the bed and turned on the speaker. “Of course, you think it’s our ensemble show ah, just randomly cut the footage together and then you can broadcast it.”

Jiang Miao immediately said, “Hey, it’s wrong to say that ah, speaking as if the production team for our ensemble show doesn’t take a lot of care.” Saying that, he specially looked at Pei Tingsong and said, “Little Ge had such a hard time last episode ah, getting fatigued to death just censoring out Xiao Pei.”

Fang Juexia immediately laughed and glanced at Pei Tingsong.

“Water Ge,” Pei Tingsong rolled his eyes. “You really are my Ge.”

[Hahahahahahaha even Miaomiao is starting to complain about Pei Tingscared!]

[He’s finished, the group tyrant’s position is crumbling down]

He Ziyan adjusted the livestream camera on his cellphone and announced, “Hello everyone, it’s time for a ‘Escape For Your Life’ trailer reaction video! If you want to watch it with us, you can go to Weibo and click play on the preview yourself.”

[Okay!! Order received!! ]

[It’s time to cut an expression pack from this video! Good luck, sisters!]

Jiang Miao told Lu Yuan, “Turn the brightness a little higher, and also turn the volume up a bit.”

“Done.”

“Shh, it’s started.”

At the beginning of the trailer, in the middle of the dark, was a TV, broadcasting the news, but there seemed to be something wrong with it. The TV screen kept flashing, to the point that the images on it couldn’t be seen clearly. Fang Juexia listened carefully to the sound being played in the background, and there seemed to be a faint sound, like that of the buzz of an alarm. 

The image playing on the TV was suddenly interrupted, and the once dark screen turned into a complete snowy white screen, which was flickering constantly.

Ling Yi rubbed his arm and said, “Wow, the beginning here gives off a bit of a horror film feel.”

“Isn’t it a suspense show though?” Lu Yuan remarked.

A voice-over appeared, and its content was from the anonymous letter Zhai Ying had received.

[Hello detective, what I want to ask you to do this time is to find a fugitive. He is steeped in crime and is very good at hiding his identity….]

Jiang Miao frowned. “So it is a homicide case again this time as well?”

“It feels like it is!” Ling Yi rubbed his chin as he declared, “Let me see who the killer is this time. Don’t be caught by this famous detective, Kaleido’s Ling Yi.”

The trailer’s point of view kept moving forward, showing that the camera was getting closer and closer to the TV, until the snowy screen dominated the entire screen. Suddenly, this snowy image twisted into a whirlpool of black and white, making everyone dizzy. The voice-over suddenly disappeared, and a pocket watch started to swing back and forth on the screen. The background sound appeared once again, and this time, it could be heard clearly that it was a steady male voice, systematically chanting out the words for the hypnosis.

As it swung back and forth, the chain of the pocket watch suddenly broke. The scene transitioned into the moment a pair of pale hands, holding a small blade, managed to make the last cut to separate a rope.

“Those were Juexia’s hands ba?!” Ling Yi looked back and winked at Fang Juexia, to which, Fang Juexia only winked back in response. 

The scene of cutting the rope quickly changed to the scene of a pair of handcuffs being unlocked. The sound of the hypnosis stopped suddenly, and another voice appeared—

[I have a premonition that I’m about to die.]

The view switched to the execution area for when a player was eliminated. The bright red circle on the floor indicated a player’s departure, and the voice of the program group’s narrator appeared— 

[Player XXX has died.]

However, Pei Tingsong’s name had been removed from the audio by the program group. Fang Juexia couldn’t help but sigh in his heart; the program group had actually edited the audio from when Xia Xiqing was reading Zaozao’s diary into the scene of Pei Tingsong’s execution, thus creating a disturbance amongst the audience.

Lu Yuan was suddenly excited. “Who died? Did the person who discovered the killer’s identity die, so he had had that premonition?”

Pei Tingsong smiled. “God knows.”

Everyone’s attention turned back to the trailer again. At this late moment, the BGM finally rolled in— the drums were strong, the rhythm not fast at all—containing a bit of a depraved and morbid feel to it. Close-up shots of all the six guests’ faces flashed by one by one, each clip appearing on a drum beat. The last clip that appeared stayed on the screen, and it was of Zhou Ziheng’s face as he raised his eyebrows and stated, “There may be more than one victim, but there is only one killer.” 

The screen changed with the beat, and before each new person appeared, a black screen would appear first. 

Xia Xiqing asked, “Do you think I killed him?”

“I don’t know.” Shang Sirui shrugged. “I want to keep my solo character. I don’t have a partner.”

Zhai Ying’s action of squinting looked very alpha as she questioned, “Did the killer kill off the one he thought was the real white knight?”

Then, the scene transitioned again, this time to show Pei Tingsong and Fang Juexia, who were handcuffed and bound, as they confronted each other from the opposite ends of a table. The corners of Pei Tingsong’s mouth angled upwards, and he asked, “Did you draw the killer?”

Fang Juexia raised an eyebrow. “Yes ah, you’re with the killer in the very first game. How do you feel about that?”

The handcuffed Pei Tingsong leaned forward, and lying half-prostrated across the table, looked at Fang Juexia with both eyes, making a pitiful and innocent expression. “I’m especially scared.”

Right after saying that, he started to smile, and soon burst out laughing.

Ling Yi couldn’t help but turn on the mic. “Wow, Pei Tingsong, your laugh right here is so scary ah! Like a psycho murderer.”

Once again, the screen went completely dark, and the background music paused, as if leaving behind a breath in that moment. A metallic-sounding narration appeared next, filled with tension—

[Attention, players—]

The screen lit up, and the music started up again. What appeared was the scene of Xia Xiqing walking out of a room, but the camera didn’t show his face.

[This season will introduce a new character for all players— the double-faced knight.]

Two cards appeared on the screen, displayed on the surface of a cellphone, one representing the white knight of light, the other representing the black knight of darkness. This shot soon transitioned into another scene—moving-grid paintings on the wall, torn wallpaper, and black and white doors.

Xia Xiqing laughed into the camera. “I am the double-faced knight.”

“What a coincidence.” Pei Tingsong raised his eyebrows. “So am I.”

Fang Juexia raised his eyebrows, hints of doubt visible in his eyes, the birthmark at the corner of his eye clear. “Then which camp did you choose?”

In the next shot, the final door slammed open, and a line appeared under the backlit exit—the double-faced knight has escaped with his life.

Even if there was no image, Pei Tingsong’s low voice was particularly clear as he declared—

“It’s not important which camp I chose.”

“As long as our alliance has not been dissolved, I am your knight.”

At the end of the trailer, there was a whistle from the BGM, carrying with it a sense of suspense.

“Worthy of ‘Escape For Your Life’!” The six people all clapped together.

“Our old four and six had a lot of scenes ah, one look and you can tell they’re cannon fodder characters.”

“Hahahaha, it’s true.”

Banter was banter, but Fang Juexia had to admit that the producers for ‘Escape For Your Life’ could really play. Every trailer of theirs had enough of a suspenseful feel to it, and the atmosphere it created was also first-class. However, there were no spoilers revealed at all, and anyone who didn’t end up running with the wrong idea from this trailer was pretty good. On top of that, this time, they had departed from normal practice, not even bothering to hide the killer at all, simply showing him off directly for everyone to see. They were really bold. 

“I know what’s going on!” Ling Yi fiddled with the nonexistent Detective Conan bow-tie in front of his neck. “Xiao Pei is the knight! Right, right?” He said this and immediately shook Fang Juexia’s arm. “If I guessed right, blink.”

Fang Juexia couldn’t help laughing. “I can’t tell you ah, we’re still livestreaming.”

Ling Yi took the plunge. “Off! Turn it off now!”

Immediately, the barrage wasn’t okay with that. 

[Hey, hey, hey, a certain someone, pay a bit more attention!]

[Turn off the livestream???? 01, you look at Mama’s face and say that again?]

[Are we so unimportant?]

Jiang Miao seriously analyzed, “I feel that the game this time is very complicated. The first half of the game focuses on the killer, and I thought there would be only one special role, that of the killer, like in the first season. But I didn’t expect that in the second half of the trailer, a double-faced knight would suddenly appear. It looks really exciting.”

Fang Juexia recalled how he had trembled due to nerves while filming, and it had been really exciting.

Lu Yuan started to tremble. “I even got goosebumps from the way Xiao Pei was laughing.”

“According to the way in which the program group did this before,” He Ziyan said, “the more villain-like you look, the less likely you are to be the villain, so that’s just a feint. So Xiao Pei’s character is definitely on the side of good.”

Ling Yi reached over to Fang Juexia and began to shake his arm again, asking once again, “Right? If it’s right, blink!”

Pei Tingsong raised his hand and made a gesture of zipping up his mouth, and then stretched his hand over to Fang Juexia’s mouth and zipped it for him.

[Hahahahahahaha silent as the grave Pinot Tree Supreme]

[Fortunately, the program team didn’t invite 01, otherwise, with him like this, he would start up a livestream to reveal spoilers right after filming]

[I think Fire Ge’s analysis is reasonable ah. The program group made Xiao Pei look like a villain, but maybe he was the one who was killed by the killer!]

[Juexia Gege’s styling looks so good (Key mistake! Juexia baby’s elegant and refined glasses look is so good!]

[Ah, broadcast faster ba! One week is too hard!]

The previous disturbance about the selection of guests for the show had already made Escape 2 eye-catching, and it became popular before filming even started. With the trailer finally being released, coupled with the strong return of the original team and a new hot CP, it naturally became a hot topic of discussion.

When the guest lineup had been officially announced, the newly added idols had been criticized by most netizens the entire time, and there had been long article after long article about how this new season was going to become an unworthy sequel to the stellar first season. However, after seeing Pei Tingsong and Fang Juexia face off at the same table, the public opinion changed a lot.

[@Has Escape For Your Life Broadcast today: AHHHHHHH MY ESCAPE!! The quiet bb little Ge wearing glasses really looks good, I’m really fragrant again]

[@223333: Shit, where did the escape crew find so many immortals? The handsome Ge in handcuffs, that part where he said he was scared and then started laughing, I just made up an entire story about a psycho serial killer in my head.]

[@Today’s words haven’t been memorized yet: Suddenly get the CP feel for PTS and FJX! Sick and pampered younger gong x calm and refined shou, really good match! No wonder they went from the Arctic Circle to being a red hot CP!]

[@ New Year’s cake is not sticky: Wow, this trailer is longer than the one before. With the news broadcast in front combined with the letter to the detective begging for help, I feel that this is also like last season’s “homicide” model. The killer should also be related to the murderer in the plot. Does the combination of the pocket watch and recitation mean there’s hypnosis? And the new knight role is so cool ah! Can be black or white, very worthwhile! However, according to the program group’s usual routine, I feel that the more exaggerated people are in the trailer, when it comes to the actual drama, they will all be people on the good side. Don’t dare to make random bets, drumming on my bowl and waiting for next Friday!]

[@Cherry flavored Coca Cola: FJX is really darn good-looking ah. When seeing his face, I can’t even pay attention to what he’s saying… Astar really let this kind of face go, I really don’t understand]

[@You are a Didi replying to @Cherry flavored Coca Cola: Super agree! Fang Juexia’s temperament is excellent. He plainly gives off a cold sense of great distance, but when he speaks and frowns, I feel that he is seducing me! I know I’m crazy, fans lightly flame me…]

[@DizzyDaisy: They all say Escape picks guests based on intelligence, but why is it that the more I look at it, the more

I feel like it’s based on face? Every single one looks better than the last, the new little Jiejie also looks really cool, and she’s my new husband!]

[@Never pursuing stars again: No way, I just came out of the other Hot Search topic, and now, seeing PTS act so gong, I feel like he’s going off-script. You’re so gong, so what ghosts are you afraid of ah, Didi?]

[@To have Pinot you have to plant Pinot Tree Supremes replying to @Never pursuing stars again: Hahahahaha, k*ll them all and exec*te them immediately!]

With the silly ensemble show that went beyond their fan circle, combined with the trailer and blessing of a very popular variety show, Kaleido once again boarded the Hot Search list. The follower count for the group’s official Weibo and the group members’ individual Weibos all grew rapidly, and the warm-up for the new album in the ensemble group show also came in handy. More and more people began to pay attention to their new album. 

Coincidentally, at this same time, Astar’s Seven Luminaries had also just made their comeback. Yesterday, they had already started up on their stage performances. The major forums had already opened threads to discuss the achievements of the two groups’ comebacks. However, most of them still thought that 7L and K weren’t of the same order of magnitude at all, and so their achievements could not be said to be equal.

Star Chart and all the members of Kaleido knew better than anyone else how important this comeback truly was; this was a watershed moment, which could decide whether they would go up or down. With their popularity being so high now, if they had good results, there would definitely be a big batch of new fans, and it wasn’t impossible for them to soar after that. However, if they fell down on their faces and got stepped on, they would be ridiculed to the center of the earth and beaten back into their original state.

Originally, entertainment networks didn’t have any singing programs, but due to the increasing demand for idol groups and the growing demand for stage performances, major video platforms began to produce their own singing programs. In the past two years, such shows had seen stable audience numbers, but after all, its history was short, and these were capital platforms that relied on money. The waters here were very deep, so it was difficult to achieve fairness and justice.

When Kaleido had first debuted, they originally could have had a month of playtime, but because of the hidden rules rumors, they were boycotted by anti-fans. Their playtime was then reduced to one week, and they could only perform one main song. Their second mini album didn’t make much of a splash, Star Chart not having enough money to manage everything. They could only give way to the platform compressing opportunities and making room for other groups.

The entertainment industry was very realistic, and right now, Kaleido was on fire. Even before the new album was even released, there were already platforms contacting them and inquiring about their comeback performance schedule in advance in order to cooperate with them.

Fang Juexia had always stayed out of the business of the fickle emotions of the entertainment circle. He was like a through and through outsider, having nothing to do with anything aside from singing and dancing. Every day, besides practicing with his bandmates, he would spend time recording, and the whole group’s time was arranged in such a way that they were completely packed.

In the dressing room, he changed into a loose white cotton and linen shirt and black trousers with wide legs. As Fang Juexia closed the cabinet, he received a WeChat message from Liang Ruo. Even from before that charity party, a long time had passed since Liang Ruo had messaged non-stop to contact him like he used to way back before. Originally, Fang Juexia had thought that Liang Ruo had given up, and so he hadn’t expected to receive another message. 

He opened it and looked at it. 

[Astar Liang Ruo: Juexia, I don’t mean to badger you. I have something very important to tell you, and when you have time, call me, it’s really very important.]

Fang Juexia swiped left to delete the message after reading it and followed everyone into the practice room.

In order to make their group dance look as neat as knives chopping down in unison, Star Chart had specially found two choreographers from within the company, and had put one in the front and the other in the back, in order to thoroughly grasp everyone’s details, thus striving to achieve the best overall effect they could create through endless practice.

“Alright, let’s rest ba, and continue in the evening.” The choreographer clapped his hands and said, “You guys can eat something. By the way, Juexia.”

Having been called out, Fang Juexia raised his head, even as sweat dripped into his eyes. 

The choreographer came over and said, “You’ve been practicing a little too hard recently. I know you’re a hardworking child, but if you go on like this, I’m afraid you’ll get injured again, and you won’t be able to handle all the performances later.”

Fang Juexia nodded. “I’ll be more careful.”

“Don’t be too nervous, there are still two weeks until we shoot the MV, and there is plenty of time.” The teacher patted him on the shoulder, praising, “And you’ve already done a great job.”

“Thank you, Teacher.”

As soon as the choreographer left, Lu Yuan yelled for everyone to go eat. Fang Juexia had no appetite, so he let them go first.

He was the only one left in the practice room. Fang Juexia lifted the hem of his shirt and wiped his sweat, looking at himself in the mirror. Maybe the WeChat message from just now had reminded him of his practice sessions at Astar before. The people who had debuted as Seven Luminaries had all been people who had once worked hard in the same practice room with him. The competition in big companies was 100 times more severe than that seen in small companies, and every day before his debut, he had been on tenterhooks about his chances of survival. At that time, he had pretty much gotten used to even sleeping in the practice room. 

The previous songs and dances, he had already gotten them down pat. Even now, he believed that he could complete the whole performance of those songs without even a single mistake. But now, everything was new, and it felt like he was starting all over again. He had to practice the way he did before, all the way until there was not even the slightest possibility of making any mistakes at all, and only then could he be rest assured to go onstage and perform. 

With this in mind, Fang Juexia started the music again, stood in front of the mirror, untied the black tie he was wearing, took it off, then blindfolded himself with it, tying it into a knot behind his head.

He had returned to the familiar darkness again.

Here was the preset stage, and every move was strictly controlled by him to be within the predetermined distance, and he nailed down where his position in the group was. In the dark, his five bandmates appeared one by one and gathered together to form the complete group dance. Even a little error in distance could cause mistakes on the stage, and a single mistake may result in an unimaginable chain reaction. He couldn’t afford to gamble, so he could only practice repeatedly to minimize his failure rate.

After practicing the group dance blindfolded, Fang Juexia connected his cellphone with the stereo and prepared to practice the dance break in the middle of the song, which he would need to perform alone. He took off his shoes and stepped barefoot on the floor of the practice room.

The choreography for this part had been composed by him and a Chinese classical dance teacher. It incorporated the dance style of Chinese classical dance, and contrasted with the strong choreography used for the chorus part of the song. Every movement was big and open, being extremely flexible but also very tough, in order to look just like floating clouds and flowing water. For the sake of stage effect, they had added a lot of difficult movements. Although he had missed his childhood dream, Fang Juexia, having been trained in the essentials of Chinese classical dance, hadn’t lost the skill even after so many years, and could still execute these movements very easily. 

Taking a deep breath, he threw himself forward, as if to explore the sea, then jumped up again, repeating the motion twice. He raised his legs, drew his upper body back, soared up like a swallow, and then fell back steadily. Moving alongside the sounds of the piano, Fang Juexia’s right leg remained steady on the ground alone, his left leg lifted up high at the side, almost forming a vertical line with his right leg, perfectly completing the final fixed-point action of raising and controlling his leg.

His hearing became particularly sensitive in the dark, and he seemed to hear a click while the music was changing.

“Who’s there?”

Were they back?

Feeling suspicious, Fang Juexia slowly lowered his raised leg, put his hands behind him, and undid his blindfold. However, as soon as he took it off, he found that something was wrong.

The light in the practice room had been turned off, and nothing could be seen.

Before he could react, the invader in the dark forced his hands behind him quickly, pushed him all the way to the mirror, and pressed down on his shoulders, forcing his whole person to stick to the cold mirror. A warm and dangerous body temperature came up to cling right against him from the back. Since he had just finished dancing, Fang Juexia had not yet had the time to adjust his breathing, and his chest heaved violently, while his toes caught on the cold floor unconsciously.

A light laugh sounded out through the darkness, and Fang Juexia instantly saw through the situation. “Pei Tingsong.”

He let out a slight sigh. “Have you had enough fun?”

The other side seemed to wait for a while before finally letting go, saying lazily, “You’re really boring.”

Fang Juexia turned around and leaned back against the mirror. “You’re not boring at all, while others were dancing, you turned off the lights and came to plunder.”

Pei Tingsong just smiled, but didn’t say anything in reply. He had just gone out to buy something to eat, and in passing, had also bought some for Fang Juexia. Who would have known that as soon as he came upstairs, he would see Fang Juexia blindfolded as he practiced dancing. He looked really good when dancing, and his body was just like a cloud, especially during that moment at the end, when he had raised his leg, and his loose trouser leg had slid down along his straight and pale leg. He was too pretty. 

This was the first time Pei Tingsong had seen him practice in this manner. He couldn’t control his evil thoughts and wanted to play a prank on him. 

“Turn on the light.” Fang Juexia sat down against the mirror.

“No.”

He knew that Pei Tingsong wouldn’t be so well-behaved and obedient. Fang Juexia wanted to see the time, so he said, “Then bring me my cellphone.”

Pei Tingsong turned on his cellphone flashlight, went to the stereo, took hold of his cellphone, then came back to squat in front of Fang Juexia, ordering, “Beg me.”

The cellphone’s flashlight shone on his face. After intense exercise, his red skin was soaked with hot sweat, and his birthmark looked as if it was about to melt. Fang Juexia, who had just stopped his dance practice, was full of lazy energy from head to toe, so he just raised his eyes and stretched out his hand towards him.

Seeing him like this, Pei Tingsong actually felt reluctant to refuse, so he handed his cellphone to him. Sitting in front of him, he asked, “What’s the name of that move, that one where you took off into the sky just now? It’s really beautiful.”

As soon as the topic of dancing was raised, a faint smile appeared on Fang Juexia’s face. He picked up his tie from the ground and put it around his neck, whispering, “Swallow style purple gold crown.”

Nice name, too. Pei Tingsong’s gaze followed Fang Juexia’s hand as it fell onto his open shirt collar, and then, he looked away. “Blindfolded like that and dancing, you’re not afraid something might happen?”

“What can happen?” Fang Juexia looked down at his cellphone and replied slowly, “The floor of the practice room is so flat, it’s not like I can trip and fall.”

That wasn’t the ‘something’ he meant to imply.

“Just like what I just did, turning off the lights and knocking you out. You would have no room to fight back.”

The corners of Fang Juexia’s mouth hooked up, and without lifting  up his head, he retorted, “Besides you, who else would do something like this to me?”

He wasn’t sure what nerve these words poked, but Pei Tingsong felt two different things at the same time— he was at ease, while also finding it hard to endure. This kind of contradictory mood had started to appear rather frequently in recent days, and it would constantly pull at him, holding onto his heart.

He swiveled his neck a few times and incidentally distracted himself by telling Fang Juexia, “Eat something. I brought you a salad.”

Fang Juexia took a deep breath. His whole person slid down against the mirror like a soft snake as he ended up leaning on the floor and propping his head on his extended arms. “I’m so tired, I don’t have the strength. Let’s talk about it later ba.”

Looking at him lying like this, for reasons unknown to him, Pei Tingsong’s ears actually started to get hot. He stood up, went to pick up the salad he had bought, and then came over to grab Fang Juexia’s cellphone away from him.

“Eat it quickly. This young master specifically went to go buy it for you, and if you don’t eat it, I’m going to start cursing.”

Fang Juexia wasn’t the Fang Juexia from before, the one who would hide from him and pretend he was empty air, and hadn’t been so for a long time now. When he heard this, he laughed. He lay on his side and looked up at Pei Tingsong. “Go ahead and curse.”