Chapter 124

Chapter 124

After a long flight, the crew finally arrived at their destination, checked into the hotel, and rested for the night before taking another flight to the next city. Inevitably, they had to film some travel footage along the way - anyone seeing it would've thought it was a travel show.

When they reached their destination, the crew gave the guests another night to rest up well, with the reminder: "Tomorrow's shoot will be very long, so be sure to get plenty of rest tonight."

Jian Jing was excited and asked the PD: "Will the location be very big?"

"The content is pretty complex, so filming will take a long time," the PD replied. "Also, we plan to start recording in the evening, and have you spend the whole night inside."

They already knew about spending the night, so Jian Jing simply said, "We can bring our own stuff inside, right?"

The PD responded: "Definitely not during filming tomorrow - we've got all the equipment prepared already. Give me any personal belongings you want to have inside in advance, and I'll take them in for you ahead of time."

Jian Jing batted her eyelashes. "You still haven't found the missing doctor, huh?"

"Just a rumor," the PD had been quite frightened by the corpse last time. She was a little apprehensive now. "Teacher Jian, don't scare me."

Jian Jing chuckled lightly. "I'm just curious. Nevermind, don't ask. Take a look - which outfit do you think suits me best for tomorrow?"

In pursuit of impact, the crew didn't reveal any specifics about the haunted house, not a single word. All she knew was that it was an abandoned hospital, with no clue what would happen inside.

Of course that wouldn't do.

So she prepared two outfits - one a breezy romper, the other a t-shirt with a mini skirt, both perfect for summer.

The PD suggested, "It'll be cold inside, Teacher Jian should wear a jacket on top. Jean pants down below would be best to avoid bumps and scrapes."

Jian Jing's eyes instantly lit up, and her smile deepened. "Alright, I'll listen to you then."

The PD glanced at her and a thought flashed through her mind - of the six guests, this was probably the only one who had come to sincerely play along.

After a full night's rest, recording started formally the next day.

Jian Jing wore slim jeans, white sneakers, a tank top underneath with a pink jean jacket on top. Her hair was braided into a fishtail, lightly made up with long arched brows, and sprayed thoroughly with setting spray no less than three times.

The other guests were also dressed casually, just more glamorously and eye-catchingly than her.

For instance, Zheng Keyan's t-shirt was from a luxury designer brand, while Coco's bangles were custom pieces from a celebrity designer.

However... appearances weren't the point.

Before entering the haunted house, all of them were required to undergo simple firearms training.

The instructor was a tall, muscular black man who introduced himself, "We're pursuing an absolutely realistic experience. The site is filled with highly lifelike NPCs, and there may be combat scenes."

The guests: "?!!"

They looked at each other, genuinely shocked.

The production team had kept things tightly under wraps. No one expected things to get so real.

"You'll need to learn how to use a gun," he opened a metal case and displayed their equipment. "We use BB bullet guns - real ammo, look."

He demonstrated coolly how to load bullets and shoot: "The NPCs have sensors that will judge if it's a light wound, critical wound, or death based on impact."

--

Comments after airing:

Danmu 1: Dang, just dang.

Danmu 2: Such high energy!

Danmu 3: Holy shit, going all out from the start?

Danmu 4: Is this even real?

Danmu 5: Oh my god!!

--

After the initial shock, a trace of excitement also emerged among the guests. Who doesn't want to play with guns, especially since there's no such opportunity in China? Everyone learned eagerly from the instructor.

Cao Yu and Han Bo performed exceptionally well.

Cao Yu said, "I learned a little specially for an action drama role previously."UppTodated from nô/v/e/lb(i)n.c(o)/m

As for Han Bo, he was a CS expert: "Played with friends a few times before, but it's my first time with real ammo in China."

Among the women, Coco also stood out.

Though she was inexperienced, she picked it up quickly after some practice and soon shot quite impressively. The instructor praised her repeatedly, overflowing with appreciation.

--

Danmu 1: Cao Yu is so professional, you rarely see actors like this nowadays.

Danmu 2: Han Bo, so hot!!

Danmu 3: Little sis is pretty good!

Ugh, don't think about it, even more disgusting.

Jiang BaiYan steeled himself against the revulsion and reached in to grab the flashlight, now that he had gloves on.

Switching on the light allowed them to roughly survey the surroundings.

It really was a single patient room, decorated in extreme creepiness. The walls were scrawled with bloody words, the door bolted shut from outside.

The window was boarded up, nothing visible outside, with a cabinet against the wall tightly shut, contents unknown.

Jiang BaiYan said, "According to the usual pattern, since we've been divided into groups, one group will definitely have to wait for the other group to come and save them."

Jian Jing nodded and gestured for Coco to move aside so she could try opening the cabinet door herself.

She grasped the handle, shook it slightly, and felt that it was unlocked. She pulled hard outward.

Nothing happened.

There weren't any disgusting bugs inside the cabinet like there were in the drawers. There was only a backpack. Inside were some outdated clothes, a lighter, and a pack of cigarettes.

"There's a notebook here," Coco said. Holding a pillow, she picked up the hardcover notebook from the bed.

She flipped it open. It was the owner's diary.

Thoughtfully, it was all translated into Chinese.

October 6, 1984

Little Helen told me she heard there was a monster hidden in the operating room. I laughed loudly and told her it was definitely just a patient with a bizarre medical condition. This hospital is well known in the surrounding towns for taking in patients with incurable diseases.

People like me, people like Little Helen, other hospitals won't accept us. We can only come here and try our luck.

November 10, 1984

My roommate George should be back home with his parents and loved ones by now for Christmas! Damn this lung disease, when will I finally get better? I'm really impatient having to lie in bed all day. It's all because of that explosion, damn it!

December 12, 1984

No one has come to take Little Helen home. She's a bit unhappy and talking nonsense more and more often. She even told me she saw George yesterday.

The poor little thing. Maybe I should spend more time with her.

December 20, 1984

Something seems a little strange. Little Helen clearly told me we'd spend Christmas together, but the nurse said her parents came and took her home.

Little Helen doesn't have parents. Who took her away?

December 24, 1984

My god, was that Little Helen?! What happened?? Could everything she said be true...

...

The diary was made very realistically with a lot of nonsense, but in summary there were two key pieces of information.

People have gone missing from the hospital.

There is a monster in the hospital.

After skimming through it quickly, Jian Jing fell deep in thought.

Despite her delicate appearance, Coco was quite bold. Looking at the blood-written words on the wall she asked, "What does 'Qrivy' mean?"

Jiang BaiYan shook his head. "I don't recognize it."

"My English is decent, but I've never seen this word. Is it a code?" Coco asked, looking to Jian Jing.

Jian Jing thought for a moment and smiled. "It's a Caesar cipher. Shift each letter 13 places forward in the alphabet."

Coco counted and was surprised. "Devil?"

Jian Jing nodded.

"Does that open the door?" Coco was clearly also a fan of the previous issues. Curiously circling around the door, she didn't see anything related to a passcode lock.

Dejected, she said, "There's nothing here. Do we have to wait for them to come rescue us?"

Jian Jing contemplated and said, "We should leave here as soon as possible."

As soon as Jiang BaiYan heard this, she shrank behind Jian Jing's back. "Why?"

"If the room was empty, why would the door be locked from the outside?" Jian Jing said slowly. "There must be a reason the people outside had to lock the door."

As she spoke, she turned her gaze to the space under the bed.

The dirty sheets hung down, concealing the area under the hospital bed.

A chill crept up her spine.