After My Cross-dressing Cover Was Blown, the Movie Star Became My Accomplice - Chapter 28

Chapter 28

◎ What is this?! ◎

The moment the lights went out, the guests and the production crew waiting at the other end of the fork for Kong Yanfei and Mu Yao to return were also severely startled by the sudden darkness.

“Holy crap, didn’t the cave staff say they just did maintenance recently? And now a power outage?!“

“This is terrifying. Quick, quick, find the flashlights.“

“Okay… God, it’s truly pitch black. How are we supposed to find anything?“

The director and the cameramen fumbled in the dark for lighting tools. At this moment, their hearts were filled with rage toward the Village Chief’s arrangements and the cave staff’s negligent maintenance. Of course, they remembered that the cameras were still rolling; to make editing easier later, they all kept their voices low.

“Yo? It’s really total darkness. Director! Director! Our contract didn’t mention an ‘Immersive Dark Experience.‘ My camera teacher, where are you? This old man is scurred!“

Bi Tu stood in place in the dark, howling in an exaggerated tone.

“Teacher Bi, your acting is too much. You don’t sound scared at all,” Qu Fu rolled her eyes, ruthlessly exposing him.

“This old man is scurred, but I’m not afraid anymore because I found my camera teacher! I’ve caught his hand. The camera teacher’s hand is very warm; I feel much more at ease!” Bi Tu continued to shout melodramatically while actually grabbing someone in the dark.

“Uh, Teacher Bi, you might be grabbing my hand,” Cheng Zeyì reminded him helplessly. He felt that if Bi Tu kept shaking it like that, his hand might actually fly off.

“Ah? Not the camera teacher? Sorry. Well, I’ll just keep holding you then. Holding the Film Emperor makes me even less afraid!! Let the Film Emperor shoulder everything; very good, very good!“

As they spoke, the crew and cameramen found their flashlights. Beams of light cut through the dark, making the world bright again.

Bi Tu had been shouting happily in the dark, but as soon as the light returned, he immediately let go of Cheng Zeyì’s hand and started clapping in praise.

“Oh, thank you everyone for bringing flashlights, otherwise I would have been trapped here!” He took a flashlight and began looking around the dark cave tunnels on his own.

“Here, take this. I wonder if the power went out for Mu Yao and Kong Yanfei too.” Cheng Zeyì, having been released by Bi Tu, brought over two flashlights. He handed one to Qu Fu and looked toward the fork in the road with concern.

“The cave’s electrical circuit should all be connected. If it’s out here, it’s probably out there too. This is bad; little Yanfei is afraid of the dark, she must be terrified.” Qu Fu turned on her flashlight, her face full of worry.

Hiss, sizzle… The sound of the radio crackled. The director’s handheld walkie-talkie emitted Mu Yao’s voice, processed through a voice changer, but the content left everyone baffled.

“Director, we have a situation here. The power went out right after we got the Starlight Stone. Once we found our flashlights, we discovered that the cave has changed.“

“The cave changed? Mu Yao, stop joking. How can a cave change?” Bi Tu walked over to the director, disbelief written on his face.

“I’m not joking. Director, you can check your phone. I had the camera teacher send pictures over.“

Half-doubting, the director took out his phone and opened WeChat. The cameramen following Mu Yao and Kong Yanfei had indeed sent several photos. After comparing them and reading the cameramen’s messages, he finally understood what they had encountered.

When the power went out, Kong Yanfei had hugged Mu Yao in terror. Being suddenly grabbed, Mu Yao could only pat the girl’s back comfortingly. The cameramen were professional; after a brief moment of panic, they had quickly calmed down to find their lights.

When the flashlights turned on, they couldn’t help but cry out in shock.

The path they came from no longer existed. A wall had appeared before them, blocking their return. Furthermore, behind the table that originally held the mining tools, a statue of a Mountain God had appeared without warning, revealing a long passageway behind it.

“How… how can this be? I never heard about the cave having mechanical traps!” The director felt a chill run down his spine as he looked at the transformed cave.

“Traps? Director, this cave is dangerous! If they can’t get out for now, what about us?” Hearing there were mechanical traps, Bi Tu lost interest in the show’s “entertainment value” and started looking around even more frantically.

“Our side doesn’t look like it has changed, but I don’t know if we can get out.” Cheng Zeyì glanced at the fork where Mu Yao and Kong Yanfei had entered. On this side, the path was still there, but he knew that at the end of that path was now a wall; they couldn’t return the way they came.

“Teacher Bi, I think you should be concerned about how Kong Yanfei and Mu Yao are going to get back!” Qu Fu looked at Bi Tu’s behavior and felt a surge of anger. She felt this veteran was the most unqualified senior.

“I want to be concerned! But the fact is they can’t come back right now. We have to ensure our own safety first, right?” Bi Tu spread his hands. If he couldn’t even save himself, why should he think of others first?

“You!” Qu Fu pointed at Bi Tu in a rage, momentarily speechless.

“Director, I have a suggestion,” Cheng Zeyì withdrew his gaze from the fork and suggested. “Our group should evacuate first, at least to the outside of the cave, to ensure we don’t get trapped. The radio still has a signal, and their phones still have power. We can stay in constant contact with them while we find outside help for a rescue.“

“True. It’s pitch black here and we can’t do anything else. Let’s head out. Mu Yao, Little Kong—stay where you are and don’t move. Wait for us to find people to rescue you.” The director thought for a moment and agreed with Cheng Zeyì.

On the other end, Mu Yao and Kong Yanfei heard the director’s reply. Just as they were about to respond, the cameraman screamed in panic.

“Ah! What is this?!“

On the rock walls of the cave, countless dense white insects appeared. Kong Yanfei immediately shrieked and grabbed Mu Yao. Mu Yao’s scalp also crawled at the sight of the bugs, and the others were trembling as they backed away.

The insects had flat bodies and extremely long antennae. They moved forward in hopping motions. For every inch the bugs advanced, the group retreated an inch, until they neared the Mountain God statue and the bugs finally stopped moving.

Are these bugs afraid of the statue, or are they afraid of what’s behind it?

Mu Yao was the only one who remained relatively calm. He looked at the statue, then at the bugs, and finally at the only exit behind the statue.

From behind the Mountain God statue, a pale, white hand reached out. Red threads were wrapped around the hand, and the threads drifted toward Mu Yao, beckoning him.

Mu Yao blinked. He brought the walkie-talkie to his mouth and said:

“Sorry, Director. We can’t wait here. Many bugs have appeared on the walls. If we stay, we’ll be attacked. We have no choice but to explore the new path. We’ll stay in touch.“

Putting down the radio, Mu Yao said to the cameramen:

“Take a couple of pictures of the bugs to show the Director, then let’s explore this passage. It might be an exit.“

The cameramen had no other choice. They quickly took photos to send to the director and then followed Mu Yao and Kong Yanfei into the tunnel behind the statue.

“Brother Mu Yao, will we be okay?” Kong Yanfei held Mu Yao’s hand, her voice trembling.

“We’ll be fine. The Director will definitely find people to save us.” Mu Yao patted her head. He looked at the smiling red-clothed female ghost—who definitely shouldn’t be here—and had a stomach full of questions. However, with people around, he couldn’t speak. He could only follow the ghost deeper into the path.

On the other end, the director and guests received Mu Yao’s message while evacuating. They stopped to look at the photos of the bugs and felt their skin crawl. They didn’t delay for a second longer and quickly escaped the cave.

Outside, the staff hurried to meet them. Upon hearing what happened, the employee’s face turned pale as he apologized profusely and promised they would find the missing people.

A team of rescue personnel in black work uniforms appeared. Carrying black boxes, they walked straight into the mine.

“Director, my stomach feels a bit upset. I’m going to step away for a moment.” Shortly after the rescuers went in, Cheng Zeyì suddenly spoke up.

“Go ahead. Be careful. Don’t let anything else happen to you; I can’t handle any more stress right now.” The director wiped his face, looking exhausted. As long as the people inside didn’t come out, his heart would remain in his throat. How could a simple show run into such trouble?

“Mm, I’ll be fine.” Cheng Zeyì patted the director’s shoulder comfortingly and turned toward a secluded restroom.

Inside the cave, Mu Yao led Kong Yanfei through the increasingly damp and slippery tunnel. As they went deeper, the path became more spacious.

The red-clothed ghost, Nannan, occasionally stopped to point at the walls. Mu Yao noticed that wherever she pointed, there were scratch marks—very low scratch marks, as if left by someone being dragged.

At this moment, Mu Yao suddenly realized why the ghost was here.

Nannan was supposed to be handled by the Supernatural Investigation Bureau. Since the Village Chief had been turned into an idiot by the spell, the only one left who knew about his years of deeds was the ghost Nannan. Her appearance here was to guide the people from the Bureau!

Did something go wrong in the middle that caused us to get caught up in this?

Mu Yao now had deep doubts about the Bureau’s handling capabilities. How did they manage to involve their innocent production crew in this!

Whatever. I’ll just keep pretending I don’t know anything and follow along. If we really find something, the Bureau people will act. I’ll just fish in troubled waters and play the innocent bystander. They’ll surely provide a ‘scientific’ explanation afterward.

With this in mind, Mu Yao pretended he hadn’t noticed anything and kept walking. Before long, they arrived at a relatively open cavern.

The group instinctively moved their flashlights to observe the environment. Within the beam of the light, a hand suddenly appeared!

A hand that had already turned into bone!

Everyone’s body froze. They moved the flashlights upward, and more and more corpses appeared within the light. They saw small bodies piled and layered on top of each other.

“Bang!”

Just as everyone was about to break down and scream, a burst of smoke suddenly appeared. A pungent odor filled their nostrils, and they couldn’t help but cough. Within moments, they felt dizzy and collapsed to the ground one by one.