ALWARFC Chapter 1

Galaxy Building, Headquarters of Yanyi Entertainment

The door to the CEO’s office was violently shoved open. A young man stormed in, his face dark with anger. He tossed a project proposal onto the desk.

“I’ve already told you,” he snapped, “I’m joining a film crew for the next six months. No matter how many album plans you come up with, it’s useless. I said I’m not recording, and I mean it!”

The speaker was none other than Su Ran, the most buzzworthy idol in the entertainment industry. Dressed casually in a black T-shirt under a white jacket, a silver chain hung against his slender collarbone. His strikingly handsome face, with its natural defiance, exuded aggression even without a single expression. A mere cold glance from him could make anyone feel as if they were being scrutinized by a predator.

Su Ran’s notorious temper was a well-known fact in the industry. Forget giving face to senior celebrities; he wouldn’t hesitate to slam his own boss’s desk.

Unfortunately, the CEO seated in the office chair showed no signs of being intimidated. Instead, he smiled at Su Ran and said, “Didn’t we agree you’d start acting again after clearing up your scandals? Tell me, which one have you dealt with so far?”

As he spoke, the CEO pulled out a piece of paper and began to read slowly: “Sharp tongue, low EQ, socially clueless, poor acting skills, arrogance, discrimination against group members—”

Before he could finish, Su Ran snatched the A4 paper from his hand and ripped it into pieces.

“Fine, call me anything else, but saying I’m arrogant and discriminatory toward my group members?” Su Ran pointed to a framed group photo of his seven-member boy band on the wall. “Seven members, six of them are useless! They can’t carry a tune, their dance moves are trash, one has social anxiety, and another has some over-the-top extroversion disorder. I’m practically carrying the whole group on my back! Calling me their ‘male mother’ wouldn’t even be an exaggeration!”

The more he thought about it, the angrier he got. Slamming the desk, he roared, “I’m done with this crap!”

Facing Su Ran’s outburst of accusations and insults, the CEO simply spread his hands nonchalantly. “Then terminate your contract. But do you have the money for that?” He shook his head in mock pity and added with a smile, “The penalty for breaching the contract is 370 million. My dear top-tier idol, do you have that kind of money? If I’m not mistaken, your bank balance right now probably doesn’t even hit five figures.”

Damn!

“Just you wait!” Su Ran flipped him off, spat out those words, and stormed out.

Bam!

The office door slammed shut with a vengeance. Su Ran strode out furiously, only to find six exceptionally handsome young men standing neatly by the entrance. Each of them stared at him with innocent, wide eyes.

His face grew even darker.

One particularly extroverted groupmate, oblivious to Su Ran’s anger, grabbed his hand with dramatic sincerity. “I’ll call you ‘Mom’! Please don’t go, Mom! Save your children! Save us!”

The others followed suit.

“Mom! Mom!”

“Mom Ran, don’t leave us!”

“Get lost!!!” Su Ran snarled through gritted teeth, cursing as goosebumps erupted all over his skin. He stormed off in a fury.

The onlookers in the hallway quickly made way for him. But his assistant, Bai Songyin, hurried to catch up. As they walked, he anxiously asked, “Brother Ran, Brother Ran, what’s going on? You’re not seriously planning to terminate your contract, are you?”

With his long legs, Su Ran was hard to keep up with. Bai Songyin finally caught up to him in the underground parking lot, only for Su Ran to abruptly stop and turn to glare at him. The intensity of the look made Bai Songyin shrink back instantly.

He nervously adjusted his black-rimmed glasses and stammered, “I-I didn’t mean it like that, Brother Ran! I’m your junior, of course, I’m on your side! I totally understand your commitment to your dreams! But… do we really have the money to terminate the contract?”

“Stay here and keep playing ‘male mother’?” Su Ran scowled and let out a cold chuckle. “Get in the car. I’ll show you how we’re going to make money.”

Bai Songyin: !!! Could it be that a miracle is about to happen?!

The car sped along the highway. In the passenger seat, Bai Songyin was still on edge, cautiously observing Su Ran’s expression. He finally worked up the courage to ask tentatively, “Brother Ran, where are we going to make money?”

Su Ran, focused on driving, replied calmly, “Leech off my family. My dad once told me, if I ever hit rock bottom, I could always take the same path he did.”

“…What the hell?!” Bai Songyin’s brain practically short-circuited at the implication. The same path his dad took? Could Brother Ran actually be a second-generation rich kid about to return home and inherit the family fortune?

Su Ran turned the wheel, guiding the car onto a mountain road surrounded by towering peaks. He glanced at the imposing mountain range in the distance, a complicated look flickering in his eyes. “This is Linya Mountain. Su family members can move freely here without restrictions.”

Bai Songyin’s mental CPU was about to overheat. “There’s… even special privileges?”

Su Ran replied nonchalantly, “Strictly speaking, my family was considered a hidden clan several centuries ago. It’s said that my ancestor was the high priest of the clan, possessing the extraordinary ability to communicate with the spirit world. He held a revered position, worshipped by all. After his death, people even built temples in his honor. His legend has been passed down to this day.”

Bai Songyin’s face was filled with awe. “I know about this! I’ve heard of the Great High Priest. So Brother Ran’s ancestors were from a prestigious family…!”

Before long, the car left the highway, veered onto a rural road, and finally stopped at a sign that read: ‘Linya Mountain Scenic Spot Under Construction—Detour Required.’

Bai Songyin looked at Su Ran, utterly baffled. “Brother Ran, it seems like we’re not allowed to go any farther.”

Su Ran got out of the car nonchalantly. “We’re here. Just ahead is my family’s ancestral shrine. I know where the main gate is—come on, I’ll take you inside.”

Bai Songyin: “???” What the hell?!

Hurriedly, Bai Songyin pulled out his phone and searched: Is selling heirlooms left by one’s ancestors illegal?

“Brother Ran, I checked! If it’s not classified as a cultural relic, we can legally inherit it!”

“Of course, it’s not a relic. Just some regular jade accessories and jewelry,” Su Ran replied, roughly tugging Bai Songyin along. “Besides, when my grandfather donated the mountain, he struck a deal with the government. The mountain belongs to the state, but the shrine remains our family’s private property, lawfully inherited. Anything inside can be legally sold on the market. Why else would I dare come here?”

The shrine deep within the mountain was narrow and dimly lit, with a damp, heavy atmosphere that clung to them like the belly of some marine creature. The faint beam of light from Su Ran’s flashlight barely lit their path forward.

A cold wind blew, making Bai Songyin shiver. He glanced around nervously and muttered, “Brother Ran, maybe we should go back. Remember that movie you starred in? The one where the protagonist went into the mountains and disturbed the dead, then brought a ghost home? What if something like that actually happens to us…” He shuddered, goosebumps rising.

“Shut up!” Su Ran turned to glare at his assistant, his face showing not the slightest hint of fear. With a disdainful sneer, he said, “You know nothing. This is a place to honor ancestors. If there really were ghosts here, they’d be watching over me, not haunting me. Stop dawdling and follow me.”

With that, he confidently strode ahead.

Seeing Su Ran’s composure, Bai Songyin’s tension eased a little. He followed closely, murmuring in admiration, “You’re right… Brother Ran, you’re so fearless. I remember that one time filming a horror scene. Even when the director had the entire crew dress up as ghosts to scare you, you just walked past them without even blinking!”

Su Ran let out a derisive laugh, brushing off the memory. “Childish.”

What Bai Songyin didn’t notice was how tightly Su Ran was gripping the flashlight in his hand, his knuckles turning white. His slightly contorted expression betrayed his inner turmoil.

Fearless? He had been so terrified back then that he’d gone numb!

If we really end up provoking something sinister here… No, no, that’s impossible! Stop scaring yourself! This is just my ancestors’ place. Besides, I brought offerings. For the sake of my dreams, I have to push through!

Su Ran adjusted the strap of his backpack, feeling slightly reassured as he pressed on.

After a while, Bai Songyin couldn’t hold back another question. “Brother Ran, why is such a big shrine completely unlit? Not even a single candle…”

“…Because my great-grandfather sold them all,” Su Ran said after a suspicious two-second pause. Then, as if wanting to change the topic, he impatiently added, “Hurry up, the main hall is just ahead!”

Bai Songyin’s spirits lifted. He eagerly peeked ahead. When his gaze fell on the imposing main doors of the shrine, a new question popped up. “Brother Ran, why are there two pitch-black holes on the gate? Is there some kind of story behind that?”

“There used to be two rare pearls set there. My grandfather sold them,” Su Ran said, clearly annoyed. “Don’t ask any more questions. I’ll tell you right now: the jade folding fan originally on the coffin inside? My dad sold that!”

Bai Songyin: “…” I thought Brother Ran’s shamelessness was inborn, but turns out leeching off their ancestors has been a proud Su family tradition for generations. Is this what it means to get rich off inheritance?!

In the darkness, a low voice suddenly asked, “So what are you planning to take from inside?”

Su Ran, lost in frustration, blurted out without thinking, “Lift the coffin lid and see. Whatever’s inside, I’ll take it…”

The moment the words left his mouth, he realized something was off. His flashlight immediately swung forward, landing directly on the coffin in the main hall.

The lid had already been cast aside.

Inside the pitch-black coffin sat a person, draped in a white robe intricately embroidered with mysterious runes. A golden mask covered the upper half of their face, its crimson gemstone glinting ominously in the faint light. The figure’s misty, unfocused eyes were staring straight at him.

The man was stunningly beautiful, but his beauty was eerie and unsettling. In this setting, no one could possibly appreciate it.

Bai Songyin followed Su Ran’s gaze. The moment he saw the figure, every hair on his body stood on end. Just as his brain was trying to process the sight, a piercing scream echoed through the hall—not from Bai Songyin, but from Su Ran himself.

Turning around, Bai Songyin saw his “fearless” Brother Ran, the man who supposedly “never feared ghosts”, already sprinting at top speed toward the exit.

Bai Songyin: !!! Brother Ran, wait for me!

Unfortunately, they had barely run a few steps before their legs gave out. They both tumbled face-first onto the ground.

From the coffin came a series of ominous thud, thud, thud sounds, as if something were crawling out. The noise was so terrifying it sent chills down their spines.

The two scrambled and crawled in a panic, too scared to stand.

Su Ran was utterly terrified, babbling nonsense as he frantically clawed his way forward with his hands. “Ancestor, have mercy! I swear this is my first time here! I’ll never do it again! All the burial goods that went missing before—those were taken by my dad, my grandpa, and my great-grandpa! Ancestor, go haunt them instead, please spare me!”

Thud.

A pair of feet stopped right in front of him.

Then came a cold, detached voice, speaking with eerie calmness: “Weren’t you just talking so confidently earlier? Why don’t you tell me more about how your family’s several generations prospered by leeching off their ancestor?”

Su Ran bolted forward in terror, only to slam his head against something hard. His vision went black. He passed out on the spot.

In the Su family shrine, the two unconscious “devotees” lay slumped together in a corner.

The mysterious figure in a white robe with golden embroidery stood over them, looking down with an emotionless expression. After a moment, he walked past them without a second glance.

On the altar stood ancestral tablets honoring over a dozen forebears. He casually picked up one of the tablets, handling it with little reverence. The carved inscription identified the ancestor: Su Clan’s Sixth High Priest, Su Weisheng.

That was his name.

As his fingers brushed over the engraved characters, Su Weisheng’s expression grew distant. Memories flooded back, pulling him into the past.

The Su clan was a reclusive family with a unique bloodline. Upon awakening their potential, they gained the extraordinary ability to bridge the worlds of the living and the dead, earning the title of High Priest.

When Su Weisheng came of age, he also assumed the mantle of High Priest. Due to certain circumstances, his appearance was forever frozen at that age—eternally youthful, undying, and with an indestructible soul.

Unlike his ascetic and solemn clan members, Su Weisheng loved the hustle and bustle of the mortal world. He delighted in fine cuisine, the lively spirit of human life, and most of all, shiny treasures like gold, silver, and gemstones. With this passion, he led the Su clan into the secular world.

During his time as High Priest, the Su clan reached unparalleled heights.

But later, an incident forced him into a long slumber. Before he entered his eternal rest, he personally oversaw the construction of his resting place. Every pearl, gemstone, and sacred artifact adorning it was something he cherished deeply.

He believed that with the future secured for the Su clan, when he awakened, the world would be a new era of peace and prosperity. Surely, his descendants would have filled his resting place with treasures collected over the centuries, awaiting his return.

With that joyful expectation, Su Weisheng entered his slumber.

In his dreams, he occasionally heard the voices of his descendants coming to pay their respects: “Father, I’ve come to honor you. We’ve turned your resting place into a shrine. By the way, I’ve had this dream since I was young, but I need some funds to achieve it. So, I’ve borrowed the jade candle stands at the entrance. Don’t worry, I’ve written you an IOU! Once I make it big, I’ll repay you!”

“Grandfather, I’ve come to pay my respects. I’ve never met you in person, but I’m sure you regret that too in the afterlife. Don’t worry, I’ll just take one keepsake for myself. Here’s my signed IOU—I’ll repay you once I strike it rich!”

“Great-grandfather, it’s your great-grandson here! I’m taking the jade folding fan from your coffin lid. Don’t worry, I’ve signed and stamped an IOU. Even if I don’t succeed, my son will! When Su Ran grows up, he can pay off the debts for all three generations of us!”

And now, Su Weisheng’s gaze fell upon a piece of paper on the altar. It was made of an unusual material. Written on it were rows and rows of IOUs.

At the bottom were three bright red fingerprints, stamped from oldest to newest.

The paper brazenly documented the whereabouts of all the burial goods.

Su Weisheng took a deep breath, his chest rising and falling as his fingers tightened around the ancestral tablet. At that moment, he couldn’t help but think—maybe it would’ve been better if the clan had been wiped out.

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