81

Bai Cui thought there was an 80% possibility that the girl asking for help in her live broadcast was lying, but she hesitated and still took out her phone from her pocket to help her call the police.

Actually, it wasn’t odd that Bai Cui was being careful. Despite being a popular personality, the most important thing was being cautious in the anchoring business.

A few days ago, anchors at the same website she broadcasted in were arrested by an anti-pornography campaign, for cheating in an online game, as well as for ‘creating a false report for the police’ during a live broadcast to the audience’s entertainment.

Naturally, the anchor that ‘created a false report for the police’ was also arrested. Right now, he must be rotting in a prison cell, singing while looking out an iron window with tears in his eyes. So, Bai Cui was cautious about matters about calling the police.

“Du… Du…”

Almost immediately, the call connected.

Faced with a police officer’s question, Bai Cui was a bit nervous to answer, “Hello, officer. I am an anchor, and I’m calling on the behalf of one of my audience members for this report.”

“Officer, it’s like this. An audience member called ‘The Sky Is Very Dark’ saw a person standing outside her door and threatened her to open the door. She didn’t, so the person pounded on the door so powerfully that he broke it down and came in, barging into her house.”

After smoothing out her hair, Bai Cui was half-anxious while half-jokingly saying to the camera, “‘The Sky Is Very Dark,’ is that ghost still knocking at your door? You tell him that I’ve already reported it to the police!”

‘The Sky Is Very Dark’ didn’t reply.

Similarly, the audience member, who claimed that their own pillow was squirming as if there was also a ghost hidden inside, also showed no signs of activity.

Don’t tell me that they were truly haunted?

Noticing that ‘The Sky Is Very Dark’ was slow to reply, Bai Cui’s heart couldn’t help but feel concerned.

However, she was quick to put her feelings in order, thinking that ‘The Sky Is Very Dark’ probably saw her really call the police, and with the foresight that everything was about to turn into a big hullabaloo, she must have reckoned to not speak up. Maybe she was talking with the police right now.

[Makeup+Rock Candy: Sister Bai is so kind-hearted. That was obviously fake, there’s no need to treat it seriously. How could that person not call the police herself and desperately asked anchor to do it? Isn’t it a joke?]

[Love Me Directly: In order to coax anchor into calling the police, even particularly tipping 10,000, the price is simply too high. Isn’t it possible that they were truly haunted by ghosts? Think about it carefully!]

[Indignant Hummingbird: Hehe, the 10,000 is but a small sum to the nouveau riche! It’s possible that the nouveau riche was so bored that she baited 10,000 to swindle anchor into calling the police. This anchor is far too unprincipled, what a simp.]

[Ghost Girl Comes Knocking At Your Door: Sister Bai save me! Also help me report to the police! A ghost has genuinely entered my home, help]

[Milk For Cows: What? Watching this supernatural live stream will attract ghosts, as if! I’ll]

The matter of calling the police caused a high level of viewers. The tide came in thick and fast, leading to a barrage of comments and making Bai Cui feel overwhelmed.

Even the viewers, who were interested in a spectacle but didn’t know much about it, started hearing about the anchor that ‘filed a false report to the police’ during the live broadcast, especially hurrying to the stream to watch with excitement.

The number of watchers coming into the live stream was drastically increasing for a while, warranting Bai Cui to abruptly hear an alarm bell in her head.

There weren’t many popular people(1). Fearing that these newcomers would make irresponsible remarks and be known as ‘the anchor that filed a false report to the police for the sake of fame,’ she immediately explained what happened, settling some of the exorbitant discussions.

When Bai Cui called the police, the four players had already come over and had overheard everything from beginning to end.

After hearing the contents of Bai Cui’s police report, all of the players’ complexions slightly changed.

They were either surprised or tense… But there was a mutual understanding between them that they shouldn’t talk about it.

Now really wasn’t the place to discuss this matter.

Ye Shangyu helped Xu Lanfang push the cart, and before the sky turned completely dark, the nine people had returned to the farmhouse.

…

Farmhouse Kitchen.

Xu Lanfang was secretly sweating buckets of water from lighting the fire and preparing dinner, and because it still wasn’t the time to go out and investigate the ghosts, Bai Cui eagerly rolled up her sleeves and helped keep the fire going.

And, since all the players were completely out of the mood to participate in this ordeal, they avoided the kitchen and headed towards the West room, closing the door and discussing in low hushed voices.

“What’s going on? Was the live broadcast haunted?” Jina softly said, “We only heard the police report.”

“En, it is haunted. Despite calling the police, there were still two other viewers who also saw ghosts.” Bai Yan also said in a low voice, “One person had a head appear on her screen. The head gradually became larger, and soon, it ate up the entire screen. I reckon that that person is already dead. Another one, a ghost was hidden away inside her pillow, and in the end, they didn’t reply anymore. They must also be cold.”

“…”

Hearing Bai Yan’s accounts, everyone sunk into their deep thoughts.

After quite some time, Ozawa Hiroshi’s face also turned dark, saying, “Seeing how watching the live broadcast would cause a ghost to kill you, you guys didn’t open the live stream?”

“No, who’s that stupid?” Jina shot him a disdain-filled glance while everyone else shook their heads, indicating that no one watched it.

After passing the filter to the seventh level, the surviving players were especially cautious.

Now, everyone already knew that watching the live broadcast was a dead end.

As they celebrated the fact that they discovered a dead end, they were also puzzled over why watching the live broadcast would cause people to be haunted?

“Is it because of the village’s problem?” Jina played with her hands, saying, “The village itself is haunted by ghosts. Doing a live stream in the village would also spread the curse, so the audience of the live broadcast were also met with bad luck.”

“Then, why were there only three viewers who were murdered and the others were left unscathed?” Bai Yan asked.

“It’s possible that they were all out of luck.” Jina sighed sadly, “A group of people getting caught in the same fire. There’s always someone who dies first.”

Given that they couldn’t watch the live broadcast to gather more information, everyone could only have their speculations, but even the identities of the two anchors were also open to suspicions.

Soon, Ye Shangyu brought forth a new clue.

“I looked up the address Luo Xiaoyi gave, and near her house, there’s a rumor about a ‘dead delivery man.’” Ye Shangyu said, “Watching the live broadcast won’t directly lead to an audience member’s death, but the nearby ghosts of the audience would give priority to pay these viewers a visit.”

“Saying this, for the people whose homes had no nearby ghosts, watching the stream doesn’t matter.” Bai Yan muttered to himself, “Or maybe the ghosts from faraway are rushing over as we speak and haven’t had the time to visit the rest of the audience.”

Assuming this was the case, Bai Yan couldn’t help but hook up the corners of his mouth, saying with a light smile, “Our luck is pretty good, but no matter what is true, we shouldn’t open the live broadcast to avoid danger for the time being. The ghosts would give the audience priority. As for the two anchors… they indeed saw everything.”

Living until the eighth level, the players had long been looking down on the life and death of NPCs.

Among the six people present, no one there was part of the NPC Protection Society.

As a result, hearing this piece of information, excitement filled everyone’s moods. At least for tonight, if ghosts should kill someone, they would still kill the anchors first, and the probability of the two NPCs dying was higher than theirs.

“Let’s not worry about this, figuring out what a dead end is is good enough.” Ye Shangyu said, “What did you find out from asking around the villagers? What’s happening in this village?”

“This village is particularly aged. Most of the people in here are old, but a few families have kids.” Ozawa Hiroshi also added, “All of them said that these disappearances are complete nonsense, and the village also has no deaths recently.”

Ozawa Hiroshi finished talking and leered at the wordless Lu Ruichao, who just nodded his head silently, confirming what he said.

Hearing Ozawa Hiroshi’s words, Jina said, “It’s also the same with us. The elderly insist that no one has disappeared. Instead, several families with old people and children went together to live in the city.”

Ye Shangyu asked for the names of these family members, but these types of things were difficult to look up. She could only do this slowly.

Everyone talked for a while before a fragrant aroma from the kitchen drifted into the room.

Bai Yan sniffed the air, it was actually the sweet smell of chicken soup.

It’s no wonder why he felt that the chicken coop in the yard felt awfully quiet.

Dinner was set up in the large main room, and with old granny’s leg being broken, it was difficult to get about, so Xu Lanfang arranged a small low table on the heatable brick bed, convenient for the old lady to eat and drink.

Perhaps it was due to them giving enough money, Xu Lanfang was especially generous.

She slaughtered two large roosters, stewing one in a large pot while roasting the other one.

Xu Lanfang was young, but her craftsmanship was incredible. Taking a whiff of this smell, everyone’s mouth gaped wide.

Home-grown side dishes and home-raised plump chickens.

Even though the old woman, who smelled of rotting meat, sat by the table, it didn’t affect everyone’s good impression of the family meal.

However, the old lady hadn’t moved her chopsticks for a long time. She wasn’t eating, and it was difficult for them to let her take the first bite.

For fear that there was a ghost in the cooked rice, at everyone’s suggestion, Jina perked up smiling and cutely asked, “Granny, why aren’t you eating? You’re the oldest. If you don’t eat, we’ll be too embarrassed to eat.”

“I’m waiting for my granddaughter to deliver my food.”

Deliver? Aren’t the dishes and the rice all on the table already?

Everyone examined the side dishes, the cooked chickens, and the large bowl of rice set in front of each person, confused.

There was a hidden meaning in the old lady’s words, and the seasoned players immediately had an ominous premonition. The two anchors were still oblivious, thinking that there were still some dishes left to be served, so they happily waited.

After a while, Xu Lanfang finally arrived.

She brought a small dish with her, and on the small dish, there were three fluffy objects.

When she drew nearer, everyone could see them clearly. These three fluffy objects were none other than three small yellow chicks.

The kind that had feathers and had just hatched.

Xu Lanfang climbed up the heatable brick bed, placing the plate in front of the old lady.

Seeing the chicks, the old woman’s squinting eyes widened, and the green circles in her eyes spread, staring dead straight at the chick before her.

The small chicks’ black bean-like eyes emitted a dark light, intertwining with the old lady’s greedy eyes, doubling the strangeness.

“Granny, what do you mean to do with these chicks?”

Unlike the players, who had long been mentally prepared for this, the two anchors were absolutely shocked.

Bai Cui looked at Xu Lanfang with an incredulous look and couldn’t help from asking, “This is what you’re giving your grandmother to eat?”

Xu Lanfang shot a glance at Bai Cui, lowering her head and beginning to pick up rice, ignoring her completely.

As for the old lady, she didn’t care about anything else after seeing the chicks.

She lifted her chubby hands, trembling as she picked up her chopsticks, slowly but surely.

Bai Cui thought there was an 80% possibility that the girl asking for help in her live broadcast was lying, but she hesitated and still took out her phone from her pocket to help her call the police.

Actually, it wasn’t odd that Bai Cui was being careful. Despite being a popular personality, the most important thing was being cautious in the anchoring business.

A few days ago, anchors at the same website she broadcasted in were arrested by an anti-pornography campaign, for cheating in an online game, as well as for ‘creating a false report for the police’ during a live broadcast to the audience’s entertainment.

Naturally, the anchor that ‘created a false report for the police’ was also arrested. Right now, he must be rotting in a prison cell, singing while looking out an iron window with tears in his eyes. So, Bai Cui was cautious about matters about calling the police.

“Du… Du…”

Almost immediately, the call connected.

Faced with a police officer’s question, Bai Cui was a bit nervous to answer, “Hello, officer. I am an anchor, and I’m calling on the behalf of one of my audience members for this report.”

“Officer, it’s like this. An audience member called ‘The Sky Is Very Dark’ saw a person standing outside her door and threatened her to open the door. She didn’t, so the person pounded on the door so powerfully that he broke it down and came in, barging into her house.”

After smoothing out her hair, Bai Cui was half-anxious while half-jokingly saying to the camera, “‘The Sky Is Very Dark,’ is that ghost still knocking at your door? You tell him that I’ve already reported it to the police!”

‘The Sky Is Very Dark’ didn’t reply.

Similarly, the audience member, who claimed that their own pillow was squirming as if there was also a ghost hidden inside, also showed no signs of activity.

Don’t tell me that they were truly haunted?

Noticing that ‘The Sky Is Very Dark’ was slow to reply, Bai Cui’s heart couldn’t help but feel concerned.

However, she was quick to put her feelings in order, thinking that ‘The Sky Is Very Dark’ probably saw her really call the police, and with the foresight that everything was about to turn into a big hullabaloo, she must have reckoned to not speak up. Maybe she was talking with the police right now.

[Makeup+Rock Candy: Sister Bai is so kind-hearted. That was obviously fake, there’s no need to treat it seriously. How could that person not call the police herself and desperately asked anchor to do it? Isn’t it a joke?]

[Love Me Directly: In order to coax anchor into calling the police, even particularly tipping 10,000, the price is simply too high. Isn’t it possible that they were truly haunted by ghosts? Think about it carefully!]

[Indignant Hummingbird: Hehe, the 10,000 is but a small sum to the nouveau riche! It’s possible that the nouveau riche was so bored that she baited 10,000 to swindle anchor into calling the police. This anchor is far too unprincipled, what a simp.]

[Ghost Girl Comes Knocking At Your Door: Sister Bai save me! Also help me report to the police! A ghost has genuinely entered my home, help]

[Milk For Cows: What? Watching this supernatural live stream will attract ghosts, as if! I’ll]

The matter of calling the police caused a high level of viewers. The tide came in thick and fast, leading to a barrage of comments and making Bai Cui feel overwhelmed.

Even the viewers, who were interested in a spectacle but didn’t know much about it, started hearing about the anchor that ‘filed a false report to the police’ during the live broadcast, especially hurrying to the stream to watch with excitement.

The number of watchers coming into the live stream was drastically increasing for a while, warranting Bai Cui to abruptly hear an alarm bell in her head.

There weren’t many popular people(1). Fearing that these newcomers would make irresponsible remarks and be known as ‘the anchor that filed a false report to the police for the sake of fame,’ she immediately explained what happened, settling some of the exorbitant discussions.

When Bai Cui called the police, the four players had already come over and had overheard everything from beginning to end.

After hearing the contents of Bai Cui’s police report, all of the players’ complexions slightly changed.

They were either surprised or tense… But there was a mutual understanding between them that they shouldn’t talk about it.

Now really wasn’t the place to discuss this matter.

Ye Shangyu helped Xu Lanfang push the cart, and before the sky turned completely dark, the nine people had returned to the farmhouse.

…

Farmhouse Kitchen.

Xu Lanfang was secretly sweating buckets of water from lighting the fire and preparing dinner, and because it still wasn’t the time to go out and investigate the ghosts, Bai Cui eagerly rolled up her sleeves and helped keep the fire going.

And, since all the players were completely out of the mood to participate in this ordeal, they avoided the kitchen and headed towards the West room, closing the door and discussing in low hushed voices.

“What’s going on? Was the live broadcast haunted?” Jina softly said, “We only heard the police report.”

“En, it is haunted. Despite calling the police, there were still two other viewers who also saw ghosts.” Bai Yan also said in a low voice, “One person had a head appear on her screen. The head gradually became larger, and soon, it ate up the entire screen. I reckon that that person is already dead. Another one, a ghost was hidden away inside her pillow, and in the end, they didn’t reply anymore. They must also be cold.”

“…”

Hearing Bai Yan’s accounts, everyone sunk into their deep thoughts.

After quite some time, Ozawa Hiroshi’s face also turned dark, saying, “Seeing how watching the live broadcast would cause a ghost to kill you, you guys didn’t open the live stream?”

“No, who’s that stupid?” Jina shot him a disdain-filled glance while everyone else shook their heads, indicating that no one watched it.

After passing the filter to the seventh level, the surviving players were especially cautious.

Now, everyone already knew that watching the live broadcast was a dead end.

As they celebrated the fact that they discovered a dead end, they were also puzzled over why watching the live broadcast would cause people to be haunted?

“Is it because of the village’s problem?” Jina played with her hands, saying, “The village itself is haunted by ghosts. Doing a live stream in the village would also spread the curse, so the audience of the live broadcast were also met with bad luck.”

“Then, why were there only three viewers who were murdered and the others were left unscathed?” Bai Yan asked.

“It’s possible that they were all out of luck.” Jina sighed sadly, “A group of people getting caught in the same fire. There’s always someone who dies first.”

Given that they couldn’t watch the live broadcast to gather more information, everyone could only have their speculations, but even the identities of the two anchors were also open to suspicions.

Soon, Ye Shangyu brought forth a new clue.

“I looked up the address Luo Xiaoyi gave, and near her house, there’s a rumor about a ‘dead delivery man.’” Ye Shangyu said, “Watching the live broadcast won’t directly lead to an audience member’s death, but the nearby ghosts of the audience would give priority to pay these viewers a visit.”

“Saying this, for the people whose homes had no nearby ghosts, watching the stream doesn’t matter.” Bai Yan muttered to himself, “Or maybe the ghosts from faraway are rushing over as we speak and haven’t had the time to visit the rest of the audience.”

Assuming this was the case, Bai Yan couldn’t help but hook up the corners of his mouth, saying with a light smile, “Our luck is pretty good, but no matter what is true, we shouldn’t open the live broadcast to avoid danger for the time being. The ghosts would give the audience priority. As for the two anchors… they indeed saw everything.”

Living until the eighth level, the players had long been looking down on the life and death of NPCs.

Among the six people present, no one there was part of the NPC Protection Society.

As a result, hearing this piece of information, excitement filled everyone’s moods. At least for tonight, if ghosts should kill someone, they would still kill the anchors first, and the probability of the two NPCs dying was higher than theirs.

“Let’s not worry about this, figuring out what a dead end is is good enough.” Ye Shangyu said, “What did you find out from asking around the villagers? What’s happening in this village?”

“This village is particularly aged. Most of the people in here are old, but a few families have kids.” Ozawa Hiroshi also added, “All of them said that these disappearances are complete nonsense, and the village also has no deaths recently.”

Ozawa Hiroshi finished talking and leered at the wordless Lu Ruichao, who just nodded his head silently, confirming what he said.

Hearing Ozawa Hiroshi’s words, Jina said, “It’s also the same with us. The elderly insist that no one has disappeared. Instead, several families with old people and children went together to live in the city.”

Ye Shangyu asked for the names of these family members, but these types of things were difficult to look up. She could only do this slowly.

Everyone talked for a while before a fragrant aroma from the kitchen drifted into the room.

Bai Yan sniffed the air, it was actually the sweet smell of chicken soup.

It’s no wonder why he felt that the chicken coop in the yard felt awfully quiet.

Dinner was set up in the large main room, and with old granny’s leg being broken, it was difficult to get about, so Xu Lanfang arranged a small low table on the heatable brick bed, convenient for the old lady to eat and drink.

Perhaps it was due to them giving enough money, Xu Lanfang was especially generous.

She slaughtered two large roosters, stewing one in a large pot while roasting the other one.

Xu Lanfang was young, but her craftsmanship was incredible. Taking a whiff of this smell, everyone’s mouth gaped wide.

Home-grown side dishes and home-raised plump chickens.

Even though the old woman, who smelled of rotting meat, sat by the table, it didn’t affect everyone’s good impression of the family meal.

However, the old lady hadn’t moved her chopsticks for a long time. She wasn’t eating, and it was difficult for them to let her take the first bite.

For fear that there was a ghost in the cooked rice, at everyone’s suggestion, Jina perked up smiling and cutely asked, “Granny, why aren’t you eating? You’re the oldest. If you don’t eat, we’ll be too embarrassed to eat.”

“I’m waiting for my granddaughter to deliver my food.”

Deliver? Aren’t the dishes and the rice all on the table already?

Everyone examined the side dishes, the cooked chickens, and the large bowl of rice set in front of each person, confused.

There was a hidden meaning in the old lady’s words, and the seasoned players immediately had an ominous premonition. The two anchors were still oblivious, thinking that there were still some dishes left to be served, so they happily waited.

After a while, Xu Lanfang finally arrived.

She brought a small dish with her, and on the small dish, there were three fluffy objects.

When she drew nearer, everyone could see them clearly. These three fluffy objects were none other than three small yellow chicks.

The kind that had feathers and had just hatched.

Xu Lanfang climbed up the heatable brick bed, placing the plate in front of the old lady.

Seeing the chicks, the old woman’s squinting eyes widened, and the green circles in her eyes spread, staring dead straight at the chick before her.

The small chicks’ black bean-like eyes emitted a dark light, intertwining with the old lady’s greedy eyes, doubling the strangeness.

“Granny, what do you mean to do with these chicks?”

Unlike the players, who had long been mentally prepared for this, the two anchors were absolutely shocked.

Bai Cui looked at Xu Lanfang with an incredulous look and couldn’t help from asking, “This is what you’re giving your grandmother to eat?”

Xu Lanfang shot a glance at Bai Cui, lowering her head and beginning to pick up rice, ignoring her completely.

As for the old lady, she didn’t care about anything else after seeing the chicks.

She lifted her chubby hands, trembling as she picked up her chopsticks, slowly but surely.