MS Chapter 23

“Don’t say it, the peak of emotional outburst truly is art.” The ghosts examined the relief mural half-embedded in the wall.

The old man’s expression and movements resembled someone dragged down to the eighteenth level of hell by a vengeful spirit, his face filled with terror and despair, his hands grasping at nothing like withered branches, exuding a certain religious artistic flavor.

Everyone looked quite satisfied: “After this is over, if we cut the wall down, can’t we make a profit?”

“Of course, there aren’t many contemporary sculptors who can create such lifelike sculptures without any hint of craftsmanship.”

With the troublesome old man dealt with, the remaining director An and the murderer were hardly a concern; instead, they had to consider the final effect of the film.

However, the lead actor was still in prison, so they couldn’t even start filming.

Fortunately, they didn’t have to wait long. Two days later, after the police completed their investigation and confirmed that the crew had not engaged in any illegal activities, they released him.

On the day of his release, everyone except the dismissed, snake-waisted female lead was present to warmly welcome Director An.

Having been locked up for several days, Director An appeared listless. Upon seeing the thief player who had caused his imprisonment still in the crew, he immediately exploded with rage—

“What the hell are you still doing here? Didn’t I tell you to get lost? There’s no work for you in my crew, so stop trying to cling on for your paycheck.”

“I’ll tell you, it’s one thing to get the director thrown in jail, but to still have the nerve to ask for money? Get lost, are you going to leave or not?”

The thief player coolly replied, “As if I’d be eager to work for a fool like you. Don’t forget, if it weren’t for your old man’s cleverness, you’d be rotting in prison right now. Filming your damn movie, ungrateful piece of trash.”

He continued, “I’m here to handle your props reimbursement. If I’m working for free, you can’t just deny me my pay, can you?”

“Back then, I promised double the price to get my buddy to agree to supply the goods. Now you want to renege? Fine, I’ll bring those brothers over, and whatever you shoot, we’ll follow behind with whips, gags, and leather massage sticks, shouting about debts owed. Perverted director scamming props.”

“Let’s see if your movie gets released or if you end up in the news first. This could be a good thing, free publicity for your crew, no thanks needed!”

Director An was so furious he trembled, pointing at the thief player but unable to speak. He turned back to Lu Qingjia, “Aren’t you rich? Why don’t you just send him away?”

Lu Qingjia shrugged, “After working together for so many days, we’ve built a good rapport. How could I pay to slap my friend in the face? If you two start fighting, I’ll be stuck in the middle.”

“How about this, just do me a favor. I’ll cover the money for Director An, and as for him, he can resign from his acting role but stay on as my assistant. How does that sound?”

Seeing Director An about to refute, Lu Qingjia added, “He already boasted to his relatives and friends before taking the job. You should understand, going back like this with his tail between his legs, what kind of man would do that?”

Having been locked up for several days, Director An knew the crew was now likely under the control of the pretty boy. They were spending their own money to support a freeloader, and he had no grounds to refuse, especially since tearing the facade would do him no good.

With the film nearly halfway through, he could only endure.

Suddenly, he noticed his assistant was filming this scene with a camera, and Director An was startled: “What are you doing? Why are you filming me?”

The assistant looked confused: “Lu Ge told me to film.”

Lu Qingjia smiled and explained, “Didn’t you say before that we should capture more interesting behind-the-scenes footage?”

“When the movie succeeds, this footage will be valuable material, a testament to the hardships our crew faced, showcasing the perseverance and struggles of filmmakers and a group of dream-chasing actors. It’s bound to earn us sympathy and goodwill from the audience.”

“I think the director, as part of the film, should also have this experience of being jailed documented. I doubt any crew has gone through such twists and turns. It’s both comical and bittersweet; what a waste it would be to miss it.”

“When the movie is released, the director’s hard work shouldn’t go unnoticed, so I decided to film some of your behind-the-scenes moments. In this day and age, directors also need to manage their reputation and brand; we need people to subconsciously think of you when they think of your work. Doesn’t that make sense?”

It made sense, but Director An knew what that footage really meant; it was essentially the formal shots he had filmed.

Now it was his turn to be filmed, and although these idiots were just following his excuse, he felt uncomfortable inside.

He was about to refuse when the pretty boy, surnamed Lu, insisted that the director’s contributions could not be erased, rambling on about the grievances he had suffered during his time in jail.

The crew members were deeply moved, unanimously disagreeing with his notion of suffering in silence and selflessly contributing; they insisted he must be included in future accolades.

Director An couldn’t contend with the crew’s opinion and had to begrudgingly accept being the star of the behind-the-scenes footage.

When he returned to the apartment, everyone had even prepared a fire pit and a feast, claiming it was to ward off bad luck.

Director An felt he had been a bit unlucky lately, but this was somewhat expected. After all, the entire building had been sealed off by his uncle, and with the accumulated resentment, anyone staying there would be bound to have bad luck.

He had something from his uncle to ward off the effects, so he wasn’t too affected, but he couldn’t say he was completely immune.

This much Director An could accept, but what he couldn’t accept was that the other crew members seemed to show no signs of bad luck.

Especially the pretty boy, who just a few days ago had unexpectedly struck it rich. What kind of outrageous luck was that?

Everyone urged Director An to jump over the fire pit. He absentmindedly lifted his leg, and suddenly a sharp, burning pain shot through him, causing gasps all around.

Looking down, he saw that as he jumped over the fire pit, the flames had suddenly surged up, directly roasting his pants.

Director An let out a scream, clutching his groin and dancing around like he was electrocuted, while everyone else panicked.

It was Lu Qingjia who remained calm, grabbing a bucket of water used for washing pomelo leaves and splashing it on Director An’s pants.

A female player quickly exclaimed, “Hey, that’s cocktail! This bucket is pomelo leaf water!”

But it was too late; Director An’s pants were engulfed in flames, shooting up high, creating a grand spectacle.

“Ah—” Director An was so frightened by the flames on his body that he nearly died, rolling and rubbing on the ground, shouting, “Damn it, put out the fire!”

Everyone was throwing water, taking off clothes, and in the chaos, their efficiency plummeted.

Finally, seeing the flames spreading, everyone steeled their hearts and collectively kicked him into the nearby open sewer.

Only then did they hear the sizzling sound of the flames being extinguished, saving Director An’s life.

When Director An crawled out of the sewer, he smelled as if he had just emerged from a latrine.

Everyone stepped back, all the camaraderie from earlier gone.

A female player covered her nose and asked, “Director, are you okay?”

“Do I look okay?” Director An shouted.

“How about you take a shower first?”

“Or should we check your injuries?” suggested a male player. “I think over there—looks like it’s already burned. Falling into the sewer now could lead to an infection; this is serious, we can’t be careless.”

After the panic of being on fire subsided, the sharp pain in his groin returned.

The initial burning and the cold water splashing, along with the later flames intensifying and scorching his clothes, made Director An feel like he wanted to cut off his own manhood.

But that wouldn’t do; he had to treasure that thing, he was still young and waiting to enjoy the fruits of his success with beautiful women, he couldn’t let anything go wrong.

So he didn’t have time to ponder his filthy state and called out, “Quick, take me to the hospital.”

Little did he know, the collective camaraderie that had just been so joyful had turned plastic and crumbled at a touch.

Everyone hesitated, “I, I have something to do.”

“I also remembered I have an appointment today.”

“My grandma is getting remarried today.”

“Is your grandma even here?”

“My video blessing is still heartfelt; it’s not easy for her to find a partner at her age.”

“Director, I see you limping; you seem fine. How about I just call a taxi for you?”

In the end, no taxi would take him, and with no other option, it was Lu Qingjia who offered a high price before a car finally agreed to take him.

Director An went to the hospital alone, shivering and crying, feeling the vast city was chillingly cold.

When he returned, it was nearly dark.

The crew was well-fed and had set up a table outside the apartment to play cards, each with a fruit platter and tea cup beside them, looking far too comfortable.

Upon seeing Director An return, everyone immediately greeted him enthusiastically: “Oh, Director An is back?”

“Is your injury down there okay? Hey, your pants are completely torn! Let me see, the bandage is thick enough, right? It won’t affect your future performance, will it?”

One bold female player laughed, “You men treat that thing like it’s your life.”

“I think Director An, don’t take it too seriously. You’re almost forty; how many more years can that thing be useful? The other day, Xiao Mei (the snake-waisted female lead) complained to me about how hard it was to act in your bed. I think you should take this opportunity to settle down.”

Director An could not tolerate anyone insulting him in that regard. He immediately shouted, “Where’s Xiao Mei? Where is that bitch? I want to confront her.”

The card players suddenly looked a bit uneasy: “Let’s not, okay? It was just a joke. You know Xiao Liu, he talks too much and dares to say anything, he’s not like a woman, don’t take it to heart, we all believe in you.”

But as they said this, their eyes drifted to the bandaged area, revealing disdain in the men’s gazes and a dismissive expression on the women’s faces, as if they didn’t want to engage with a pitiful person.

Even without saying anything, the exchange of expressions ignited a fire in Director An.

He shouted, “Where is Xiao Mei? I didn’t see her when I left today; did she sneak out to take a job?”

Then he cursed, “She still has the nerve to talk about me? I haven’t complained about her sharp face poking my neck, her fake breasts feeling like water balloons, and her stiff face nearly scared me to death when I turned around at night.”

“Director—”

The card players’ expressions grew increasingly awkward. Director An was in a rage and wanted to continue speaking when he suddenly sensed something was off.

A sense of crisis washed over him.

He turned around and saw his wife, who should have been at home taking care of the kids, standing behind him.

Director An’s soul nearly left his body as he saw his wife’s sinister smile, reaching out to twist his ear and spin him around 360 degrees: “You’re so bold, using my money to sleep with women.”

“What? You think the quality isn’t good enough? Do you want me to gather funds from the villagers to find you a top-tier woman in heaven?”

“Damn you, An, I thought after spending a few days in jail, you’d at least tighten up a bit, but here you are, fresh out and still thinking about women?”

“Don’t you want to prove your manhood? Come on, who knows better than me about your little toothpick? Looking for Xiao Mei? You might as well confront me.”

Director An’s wife had a loud voice and strong presence; even though this apartment had no owner, many nearby households peeked out.

Then they saw a bald man standing with his pants torn, thick bandages wrapped around his lower half, being scolded and beaten by his wife.

People around pointed and commented, even children on balconies jumped and laughed.

Director An couldn’t afford to lose face, quickly begging for mercy like a grandson.

But his wife, used to neighborhood squabbles, wasn’t afraid of being watched; instead, she felt a sense of pride in being in the upper hand.

Thus, Director An went without a meal that day and ended up taking a thorough beating.

He didn’t notice that the camera was still recording, capturing this middle-aged man’s comical and bitter side.

After venting her anger, Director An’s wife smiled at Lu Qingjia and the others playing cards: “Jiajia, dinner is ready, stop playing cards and help clean up the table.”

As she spoke, she began to tidy up the mahjong, asking, “Is the fruit okay?”

Lu Qingjia smiled, “Very sweet, you have a good taste, Sister-in-law. We spent more on fruit, but we can never find such good flavor.”

Mrs. An laughed, “Oh, nowadays young people don’t know how to choose; they only care about size and can’t pick out the best flavor.”

Lu Qingjia expressed admiration: “With you around, our quality of life this afternoon has improved, and we saved money. From now on, the crew’s expenses will rely on you.”

“By the way, is the money enough?”

“Plenty, where would it not be enough? It’s several tens of thousands, enough for food until we wrap up.” Mrs. An smiled, “Jiajia, don’t be polite with me; I’ll ask if I run out of money.”

Saying this, she spat at the now beaten Director An: “Don’t give him a single cent in the future; he’s just a worthless piece of trash, thinking he’s a big shot while playing with women. I’ll beat him to death.”

Director An watched as his wife showed a tenderness and care towards the pretty boy that he had never experienced, even during their dating days, and his blood boiled over.

Seeing no one paying attention to him, Director An struggled to stand up, limping back to his room to change clothes.

As soon as he opened the door, he saw a grotesque statue embedded in the wall, reaching out as if begging for help.

Director An’s scalp tingled, nearly wetting himself, and he let out a shriek.

“Ah—”

Footsteps approached, and before he could say anything, his wife slapped him across the face.

“What the hell are you howling about? That old hag is living just fine, eating more than I do in a meal, and you’re howling too early.”

Director An, spun around by the slap, didn’t care about his embarrassment and pointed into the room, pale-faced: “There’s a ghost, a ghost—”

Everyone looked inside: “There’s nothing, Director, did you get dizzy from being hit by your wife?”

Director An looked back, and sure enough, the wall had returned to being smooth and unblemished.

If it were someone else, they might have thought it was just a momentary illusion, but Director An knew what this place was; any supernatural events could not be dismissed as mere paranoia.

Along with the fear, Director An felt a surge of excitement; logically, this was the last place where anything unusual should happen.

So he asked those around him, “Have you experienced anything strange in the past few nights?”

Everyone nodded: “Yeah, since you went in, a lot of weird things have happened.”

“One moment the faucet turned on by itself, the next a shadow appeared on the window, and things I clearly remember placing in one spot ended up in another, plus a lot of hair was pulled out from the sewer.”

“Oh right, just now when I was cooking, the tap water ran for a long time before turning from red to normal,” Mrs. An added.

Hearing this, Director An raised his voice: “What? It’s already started? Why the hell didn’t you tell me? You didn’t say a word when you came to the police station to see me.”

This was directed at Lu Qingjia, as he was the one responsible after Director An left.

However, before Lu Qingjia could respond, his wife’s louder voice cut in: “Why are you shouting so loudly?”

“Isn’t it hard enough for Jiajia to clean up after you every day? You’re making a fuss over something so trivial; you think you’re so important? The one who pays is the boss; only Jiajia has the patience to put up with your nonsense, and you don’t even know your own worth.”

Others chimed in: “Yeah, Director, it’s all small stuff.”

“Everyone’s been under a lot of pressure filming lately; it’s just a bit of confusion.”

“Right, right, I even heard someone calling my name by the pillow at night; did I say anything? It’s just a small matter, no need to make a big deal out of it.”

“Hey, it’s probably just leftover stuff from previous tenants; this place is so shabby, it’s normal to have these kinds of issues.”

“Speaking of which, I saw a little boy playing with a ball yesterday.”

“Hahaha, probably just a kid wandering in to play, saw people here and came over.”

“I even ran into a couple of beauties visiting; too bad I didn’t get their numbers, but they probably live nearby, wearing such thin pajamas out.”

“I also encountered an old couple staring at me, wanting their money back. Poor things, maybe they were scammed and lost their minds? But dude, I don’t look like a bad person.”

“Hahahaha, who doesn’t look like one?”

The group’s lighthearted banter drifted further away, while Director An felt like he was about to die from anger at these idiots.

It turned out the events had already begun; this was precious filming material.

These silly fools, were their eyes on their backsides or were they just too thick to feel fear?

Any normal person would have been on edge after experiencing such occurrences, yet they were all still laughing?

Director An was infuriated, but he also perked up, realizing he had to pay attention to every layer of movement from now on.

As expected, at three o’clock that night, a scream echoed from the second floor.

Director An jolted awake, quickly throwing on his pants, but in his haste, he forgot about his injury, and the pain twisted his features, yet he didn’t slow down, rushing into the room of the lecherous actor with the camera.

Originally, he intended to install cameras in every room so he wouldn’t miss any shots.

But his uncle had warned him that this would directly connect him with vengeful spirits, so he had to observe from a distance, and since the monitoring footage lacked texture, he had to resort to the least efficient method.

Director An touched the ancestral talisman in his pocket, slowly opening the door, and the camera slowly peeked inside.

What he saw left him dumbfounded.

There were indeed female ghosts, five of them, neatly appearing in the lecherous actor’s room, but they didn’t have any eerie or terrifying appearances.

Instead, they were gathered around a laptop, laughing at the video playing on the screen, creating a harmonious scene between humans and ghosts.

Most importantly, the sound from the video was so familiar to him.

His heart trembled; Director An suddenly felt a pain in his back, turning to see his wife and others had come down as well.

His wife’s face was not pleasant as she said, “What the hell are you doing sneaking around a man’s room in the middle of the night?”

Without waiting for him to explain, she pushed the door open, seeing a young crew member surrounded by several beauties, not knowing where they had come from.

She turned back to Director An with a cold smile: “Oh~~, I thought so, you couldn’t wait to come out at night, turns out you’re just envious?”

As she spoke, she was about to drag him back home: “Get back inside, you think you can just hope for a young man’s good fortune like a pile of cow dung?”

Before he could leave, a beauty inside pointed at Director An: “Hey, isn’t that him in the video?”

“Yeah, that’s him, look at that bald head.”

“Oh my god, how perverted, he’s filming a man urinating.”

“And encouraging sexual harassment against men, and the victim is an old man.”