Chapter 30: Ghosts

If he thought of the black as a castle and red as a villain¹ standing upright, then the mess of red, green and black looked like a scoundrel standing in a green space and staring in the direction of the castle.

This way, the green also made sense--it was the forest.

Shen Qingcheng suddenly had an idea. He sat down in front of the basket containing the painting scraps, and flattened all the balled-up papers across the floor, one by one.

Lu Qi crouched down and helped him.

They took pains to select a dozen paintings they thought were significant. The paintings sometimes had two little figures, one red and one black, and occasionally there was only the one black figure.

Shen Qingcheng was worried when comparing the two paintings, "What’s the meaning of this black scoundrel?"

He had thought that the black represented the castle, but the appearance of the black villain showed that his guess was obviously wrong.

"It's the master of the house." Lu Qi put a painting in front of Shen Qingcheng.

It was a very normal painting, a family portrait of the mistress² of the castle and her family of four. The one Shen Qingcheng had called a black scoundrel looked surprisingly similar to the way the master was painted.

Shen Qingcheng’s eyes widened, "I understand! The red is the faceless ghost, the black is the host. The master's two children painted what they saw, and whenever the red villain came, a ghost appeared."

He singled out a few paintings with only the black villain. "At that time, the master’s mental state should’ve been very bad. In the paintings, he is either beating things or smashing them."

Lu Qi raised his eyes and suggested, "What if these paintings actually show the mental state of the master in his early stages?"

Shen Qingcheng was startled, "What do you mean?"

Lu Qi didn't elaborate, so he had no choice but to continue speculating.

"If these pictures show the master’s mental state in the early stages, it means that the red ghost was only seen by the children in the later stages. In the early stages, it might have just been the master’s mental problems."

He shook his head, "But it doesn't make sense. If it was just that the master had mental problems, how did the children see the red ghost behind him and draw it?"

Unless the two children also had mental problems, the red ghost must have been real.

He thought about it for a while, but still felt that it didn't make sense, and shook his head again.

Lu Qi didn't argue with him, but said, "We need more clues."

Shen Qingcheng nodded in agreement.

After searching the studio, the two left and searched elsewhere. At noon, they did not return to the hall, but instead headed outside to forage for food.

When it came to this, Shen Qingcheng really had to praise Lu Qi.

He had thought that even if he could find something to eat in the forest, it would not be delicious. Because their roasted meat was doomed to be dry and unseasoned, even if it was roasted dragon meat, it wouldn’t taste good to him. He was ready to feel wronged.

But Lu Qi had somehow found all kinds of good things: honey that could be used as a condiment, berries of various flavors, and even salty and spicy herbs, and the meat he roasted in the end was definitely not inferior to that of the hotel chef.

After eating a delicious meal of roasted snake and mouthfuls of sweet and sour berries, Shen Qingcheng was moved and asked, "Lu Qi, what would I do without you?"

Just looking at the shitty quality of the game, he knew that there would definitely be some tricks played with food in the future. Without Lu Qi, how could he find anything to eat? He was afraid he’d simply starve to death.

Unexpectedly, after hearing his words, Lu Qi’s expression chilled and he said coldly, "Don't say these misleading words."

Shen Qingcheng: "? I'm telling the truth, what you made was really delicious!"

Lu Qi didn't answer, nor did he continue the topic.

Shen Qingcheng was at a loss. Why did Lu Qi suddenly get angry? Was he angry?

But seeing that the other party still talked with him normally after returning to the castle, he felt that he was thinking too much, and quickly forgot this little episode.

They had already searched the toy room in the morning, so they might as well head somewhere else in the afternoon.

Shen Qingcheng had been brooding about the sense of being watched from the small building deep in the ancient castle’s grounds, so he suggested they go to that small building out of selfishness.

Lu Qi had no objection, and the two walked towards the depths of the castle.

When they got closer, they found that the low-rise building was almost covered with withered black vines, and a faint odor of rotten leaves wafted through the air.

The building was very old, the wooden door damp and covered with mildew. The door was half-closed, and the inside dark and quiet.

Lu Qi grabbed Shen Qingcheng, who was about to push the door open, and pulled him behind him with a little force. He turned his head and said softly, "Follow me."

Ah, Lu Qi was so good, how could he be willing to let go of this golden thigh!

Shen Qingcheng nodded obediently and gave his brightest smile to the golden thigh.

He pushed the wooden door open, the sound is produced particularly evident in the quiet space. A gust of air that was damper and colder than the outside air rushed out from the open door.

The two stepped into the small building one after the other, and the wooden door, with nothing to keep it open, slowly closed with a squeak. The sunlight was blocked, and their fields of vision were pitch black. They couldn’t even see their own hands.

A rustling sound could be heard from time to time, as if an animals was living in the dark and had been disturbed, making it run around. Shen Qingcheng grabbed the corner of Lu Qi’s clothes and called, "Lu Qi?"

The person in front of him paused. A hand grabbed Shen Qingcheng’s wrist, and Lu Qi’s low voice sounded out, "It's me."

Shen Qingcheng was relieved, and he whispered to the man, as if to explain, "I may not have eaten enough carrots, so I can't see clearly at all."

Lu Qi said: "En, it's fine."

The two stopped talking and walked forward in silence. After a while, Shen Qingcheng's eyes adapted to the darkness, and he could vaguely see the outline of his surroundings.

It was a hall-like space. There were several boxy structures, like bookshelves or wardrobes, placed against the wall. The space was otherwise large and empty, and their steps had a slight echo.

The lights in the hall were broken, so they groped their way in the dark to the wooden shelves. Only when they got closer did they see that the wooden shelves were bookshelves.

Both of them suddenly understood--it was very likely that this was the place where the master worked.

Shen Qingcheng leaned in to get a better look. There were many different types of novels on the bookshelf, most of which were thrillers. He picked up the thickest one, and unexpectedly found that there were several manuscripts tucked into the book.

He slid out the manuscripts and was about to share his findings with Lu Qi, when Lu Qi said, "Shh."

He pulled lightly at his wrist, and Shen Qingcheng followed the pull easily, walking to his position on the stairs.

There was a small window between the two floors. The window was covered with black vines, but a little bit of light could slip in through the gaps in the vines, illuminating a small area on the stairs.

There were voices upstairs.

At this point, they could now see clearly under the shimmering light leaking from the window. Lu Qi relaxed, and the two of them walked quietly to the second floor with light steps, hiding at the corner of the stairs.

"What the hell are you thinking, don't tell me you really like that Shen Meiren?"

"Does it matter if I am or am not? You also have an eye on Lu Qi."

"Heh, I'm watching Lu Qi because I know he's not simple. It would be much easier if he was brought into our team as we went through the copy. Even if he doesn't want to join, we must have a good relationship with him in this copy to make sure he and us have the same goal."

"How coincidental, my purpose is the same as yours."

"You-"

"Well, what's the issue? I just saw that Shen Meiren was good-looking and teased him a little. Don’t you think I can tell who is more important, between you and him? Aren’t I stopping you from flirting with Lu Qi?"

Then there was a sticky kissing sound. The woman’s tone was much better, and she said unsteadily: "Ah, I was just afraid you couldn’t tell the difference, be lenient with me."

Shen Qingcheng, who had overheard the entire conversation: "???"

He didn't know what to say. Shen Qingcheng held his head full of question marks in a daze, and it took a while to realize what had happened.

First, what did it matter if you were in He Wei’s or Gao Shulin’s group? Apparently, they were just pretending not to get along.

Second, one of them was watching him and the other, Lu Qi, mainly because they wanted to pull them in, but secondarily because they were covetous³.

In the end, the two of them maintained a physical relationship while flirting with others and knowing that the other party was also flirting with others.

? ? What?

What a messy relationship it was. He wanted to go out and kick these two: how dare they contaminate his upright Lu-dage!

The sounds outside gradually developed in an indescribable direction. Shen Qingcheng's ears hurt from hearing it, and he wanted to turn around and leave, but someone covered his mouth from behind.

The familiar smell of cold rosin made him give up the struggle. He twisted backwards and asked Lu Qi what was going on.

Lu Qi leaned closer to his back and whispered in his ear, "Listen."

Shen Qingcheng calmed down. Apart from the kissing of the dog couple⁴, there seemed to be some other sounds from the darkness:

Chi⁵--

Chi--

The drawn-out sound made their teeth feel hypersensitive. It sounded like metal rubbing against cold, wet ground. The sound paused periodically, but kept getting louder and closer.

A slender figure that had been skinned and was covered in blood and exposed flesh walked into the light. It was dragging a long hook on its right, and on the tip of the hook was a mass of black silk, which seemed to be the long hair of a woman.

As the figure walked, the long metal hook made a rhythmic sound, and pus and blood dripped all along its path.

Shen Qingcheng held his breath as he watched the figure pass by, lest it be disturbed.

It was disgusting. He didn’t want to deal with this kind of thing, and Lu Qi certainly didn’t either.

The figure came from the other end of the corridor, and suddenly stopped when it passed the stairs. It turned its featureless face, and its dark eye sockets stared directly at Shen Qingcheng.

!

At that moment, Shen Qingcheng almost thought that he had been discovered, but the strong arm behind him tightly imprisoned him, preventing him from moving rashly.

He didn’t know how long it took, but the figure moved again, this time straight in the direction of the other two.

It seemed that it hadn’t found them, but had heard the voices of He Wei and Gao Shulin.

The woman's lowered voice sounded, "Wait, did you hear that?" The next second, the voice became startled and angry, "Oh my God, what the hell is this!"

"Where are the props? Get the props out!"

The two didn't stay much longer, and left quickly, taking advantage of the chaos.

Having moved from the darkness to under the open sky again, even the gloomy sky felt a lot brighter. Shen Qingcheng considered the figure he had just seen: his whole body was red, just like Xiao Liu had described the thing that had been prying at her window.

"Do you think Xiao Liu was killed by this thing?"

Lu Qi: "I don't know."

He looked at his extraordinarily indifferent expression, and finally realized something in hindsight, saying embarrassedly, "That, Gao Shulin-"

Lu Qi: "Stay away from He Wei."

Shen Qingcheng: "Does that even need to be said? Of course! You should also stay away from Gao Shulin." They weren’t good people.

Lu Qi glanced at him, "En."

【 They already had someone, ew. Did you hear how he told him to stay away from He Wei? So sweet that I’m getting cavities! 】

【They agreed to meet up ahhhh, I can't do it anymore, there's so much sugar⁶, I can't take it 】

【 What's going on in your live broadcast room? Isn't this a horror game channel? Don’t you find ghosts scary? 】

【 Sugar every day, who still cares about ghosts? I don't want to eat sugar, it was the master⁷ who forced me to do so :) 】

【 Pay attention to the barrage etiquette, let me see who dares dance in front of the master again? 】

【I'm sorry, it's the master himself _(:"∠)_ 】

【 I really can't do it anymore, there are so many sweet spots in this issue. First, I'll friend you to form a team, and then I will pull you in and stand behind you. What can I do when I’m hiding behind you? I can protect you! And I don't know if everyone noticed it, usually when it's safe God will let Beauty walk in front of him (I strongly suspect that God is secretly watching Beauty at this time, after all, Beauty is truly very attractive), but when you go into the wild or collect clues, God will take the initiative to step forward. Why is this? The conclusion is that it's not the audience's invention, but the master’s! 】

【 Ah, ah, I'm sorry, I have to say it, covering his mouth and talking is just too close, did God really not touch Beauty's ear? Even if he didn’t kiss his ears, the tip of his nose touching his hair is also very exciting, I love it! I don't care if the sugar was was locked up, I’ve swallowed the key wuwuwu 】

TLN:

¹ Literally “small person” (小人), means scoundrel/villain/small-minded person. Basically, the polar opposite of a gentleman.

² Originally referred to as the hostess. All previous instances of this address have been edited.

³ Directly translated means something like “they had ideas about seeing color” (见色起意) but really denotes the feeling of seeing something beautiful/precious and wanting to possess it. Fairly certain this is used in a sexual manner.

⁴ Basically he’s saying he doesn’t even regard them as human, but rather as dogs who don’t understand human norms. Specifically, dog couples (狗男女) are generally those who cheat on each other (and I think there’s a specific view that the man is cheating through the company of prostitutes for some reason? I’m not entirely certain why.) and otherwise don’t fit into “respectable society”.

⁵ Onomatopoeia for laughing or scoffing (嗤).

⁶ Eating sugar (磕糖) means that the poster is excited by their cp/the person they like, and their behavior is making the poster happy. You may remember this explanation from Chapter 5.

⁷ I guess Lu Qi is the master?

This entire thing so far has been over 70,000 words. That’s novel-length. God.