After My Cross-dressing Cover Was Blown, the Movie Star Became My Accomplice - Chapter 8

Chapter 8

◎ Can you handle evil spirits and vicious ghosts? ◎

The fallen girl was helped up by the colleagues beside her, and someone carefully examined her body to determine the extent of her injuries.

The overturned equipment was also set upright, and people were inspecting the cause of the collapse.

The director and the producer huddled together, looking at the content on a tablet and discussing the matter with grave expressions.

“Heavens, that was so dangerous. Luckily, Mu… Sister Mu Yao warned her.”

Kong Yanfei almost called him “Brother Mu Yao” but reacted in time to change her phrasing, her eyes still holding a trace of panic.

“It looks like the injury isn’t serious. However, I feel like you’re about to get into trouble.”

Qu Fu watched the fallen girl chatting and smiling with her colleagues, looking to be in good spirits, before turning back to speak with Mu Yao.

“I know we were just live. Now that the stream is cut, the internet has probably exploded.”

Mu Yao frowned. He knew he had lost his composure in front of the live camera. This would make the director furious and bring big trouble to the program crew.

But he couldn’t just not warn that girl. If the equipment had truly crushed her, it could have been fatal. Human life was more important than anything else.

“Yikes, look at the director’s expression, it’s very grim. Mu Yao, take care of yourself.”

Now that there were no cameras, Bi Tu leaned over, the schadenfreude in his eyes completely unconcealed.

Mu Yao frowned and did not respond to his words.

Cheng Zeyì did not come over to join the discussion. Instead, he walked straight to the director and said a few words. The director’s expression softened considerably; he nodded to Cheng Zeyì and then began walking toward Mu Yao.

“Mu Yao, although the live stream was interrupted because of you, leading to a rise in online public opinion, fortunately, no major accident occurred on set. Your warning was very timely. You don’t need to worry about the public outcry; just focus on recording well.”

The director’s expression was serious, but there was no blame in his words. It was unclear what Cheng Zeyì had said to the director to prevent an explosion of rage.

“Understood, Director. I’m sorry for the trouble.”

The director shook his head, patted Mu Yao on the shoulder, and walked back.

After the director returned, Cheng Zeyì did not walk back toward them. Instead, he left with the director.

‘It must have been Cheng Zeyì who helped me. I should thank him, but how exactly did he resolve it?’

On the internet, the live stream had suddenly disconnected. Before it cut out, one could see the camera shaking and the sound of a heavy object hitting the ground.

All the viewers in the live room were frightened. Finding that they couldn’t send bullet comments, they immediately moved to various social platforms to discuss, attempting to inquire about the status of the guests.

Among them, Cheng Zeyì’s fans were the most active. They hadn’t even seen Cheng Zeyì work before the stream cut off—how could they not be anxious?

#JourneyOfTheFourSeasonsLiveStreamAccident

The trending topic was quickly pushed to the top spot, and soon the word “Explosive” appeared next to the tag.

Half an hour later, the official Weibo for Journey of the Four Seasons posted a statement explaining the situation on-site, telling the fans of the various guests to rest easy. At the same time, the Weibo accounts of Cheng Zeyì, Qu Fu, Bi Tu, Kong Yanfei, and Mu Yao reposted this message and reported that they were safe.

Only then did the various fanbases completely relax. Immediately after, their attention was drawn to Mu Yao’s Weibo, and the direction of the discussion shifted.

“That pretty sister really is Mu Yao. Heavens, I’m starting to look forward to this!”

“God, me too, I’m really excited!”

“If Movie King Cheng finds out, will he tear down the production crew overnight?”

“Highly likely!”

“Quietly raising my hand—Mu Yao is truly handsome in men’s clothes and beautiful in women’s. I think Movie King Cheng isn’t losing out.”

“AHHHH! Sister, I feel the same, strangely easy to ship!”

“Me too! The two of them look so good standing together. No, I need to go archeology-ing into Mu Yao’s past before I commit to the ship!”

The few of them put their phones away after posting on Weibo, completely unaware of the change in online public sentiment.

Since an accident had occurred, today’s recording for the program crew had to end. Resuming the stream now would only incite dissatisfaction among the fans. The staff carefully packed away the filming equipment, while the guests returned to their respective rooms to rest.

At two or three in the morning, the inn fell into a dead silence. Everyone had sunken into a deep sleep.

Mu Yao sat up in the darkness and went to the window to observe the situation in the village. After confirming the village was quiet, he changed into the dark casual clothes from his suitcase, used a special technique to blur his features, and took off the necklace from his neck to wrap it around his right wrist.

After finishing these preparations, he took the small wooden box out of its hidden compartment and stuffed the talismans from the box into his pocket.

Ready, he opened the window and nimbly flipped out, quietly leaving the inn.

The rain had stopped in the evening. There was still standing water on the roads, and the tiles on the rooftops were slippery. Mu Yao walked cautiously and silently through the village. At night, the village was completely enveloped in Yin energy; without the “human breath” of the daytime, it felt even colder and more terrifying.

Mu Yao found a well-connected spot and stopped. He blinked lightly, his thick, raven-feather lashes tracing a curve as a faint red glow flickered in his dark brown pupils.

The things he saw suddenly changed. The Yin energy in the village converged into streaks of pitch-black trails—these were the tracks left by moving ghosts.

“I remember the Yin energy the female ghost left during the day had red threads in it. I’ll look for those first.”

Thinking of the red threads wrapped in Yin energy he saw during the day, Mu Yao began searching through the intricate trails.

That thin red line was very conspicuous amidst the pitch-black Yin energy. In just a short moment, Mu Yao found it.

Following the red thread through the village, he occasionally saw many ghost shadows of children floating along the way—ghostly figures he hadn’t seen during the day.

Some children wore local attire and stood by the roadside; others wore exquisite clothing and called out for their mothers in a daze.

Mu Yao narrowed his eyes and couldn’t help but heighten his vigilance. The number of ghost children encountered along the way was unnaturally high.

Modern medical care is increasingly refined, so child mortality rates have long since dropped significantly. Of course, because of the unpredictability of children, their accident rates remain high—mostly involving drowning or car accidents.

After a ghost dies, they are usually quickly taken away by Soul Reapers. Only a few ghosts remain in the human realm because a Reaper is spread too thin or because they intentionally hide. But such cases are rare, and even when they occur, they mostly involve adult ghosts.

As for children, they are naturally ignorant and may not even distinguish the boundary between life and death. They rarely have lingering attachments to the world, making them the easiest ghosts for Reapers to take away.

The gathering of ghost children in this village was exceptionally rare and eerie. He had to be cautious.

He followed the thread to a private residence in the southeast corner of the village. The house was pitch black; the people living inside seemed to have gone to bed early. Threads like spiderwebs were wrapped around the outside of the building.

‘Is the female ghost from this family? Or is this family being targeted by her?’

Mu Yao speculated secretly, preparing to sneak in to investigate.

If the female ghost belonged to this family, he would take action to send her to the Underworld for the Judge to handle. If the ghost had targeted this family, then he had even more reason to step in and stop her from harming the innocent.

He approached the courtyard gate light-footedly. Just as he was about to flip over the wall, a figure sprang out even more nimbly than him and landed on the wall.

Mu Yao froze, looking up at the person on the wall.

The person wore a long black coat and a bizarre Rakshasa mask. The vivid red pupils behind the mask were enough to send shivers down one’s spine.

The figure was tall and well-built, looking down at Mu Yao from the top of the wall.

Upon eye contact, Mu Yao felt a heavy sense of pressure and threat washing over him. He quickly took a few steps back and asked alertly:

“Who are you? What are you doing at this house?”

The person in the Rakshasa mask did not answer. He merely gave Mu Yao a fleeting glance. There was only a deathly, cold silence in that gaze, showing no trace of emotional fluctuation.

An inexplicable sense of irritation rose in Mu Yao’s heart. He didn’t like being looked at by this person from a high-and-mighty, emotionless stance.

Seeing that the other ignored him and turned to jump into the courtyard, Mu Yao’s eyes narrowed, and his feet instantly broke into a run.

He rushed to the base of the wall, used his height to jump up and grab the top, and nimbly vaulted onto the wall with both hands and feet. Before the person could react, Mu Yao immediately swept a leg across, attempting to knock the person straight off the wall.

The strange figure in the Rakshasa mask reacted quickly. He nimbly dodged Mu Yao’s attack, and his gaze finally fixed on Mu Yao.

‘Hmph, now you have no choice but to respond to me!’

Sensing the other’s gaze, Mu Yao finally felt a bit more satisfied. It was one thing to be a “nobody” and be ignored during the day, but being ignored by this unknown fellow at night was something he really couldn’t stomach!

“Aren’t you a thief?”

The other’s voice carried a bone-chilling coldness. The deep tone held a hint of doubt and mockery, stabbing straight into Mu Yao’s head. He practically exploded!

“Have… have you ever seen a thief like me, standing out in the open without a mask and with blurred features?!”

Mindful of the people inside the house, Mu Yao didn’t roar loudly, but he was truly angry. He could guess the other’s extraordinary nature and vaguely sensed the person also knew some strange spells. He felt this person was intentionally trying to provoke him.

Mu Yao didn’t plan to continue bickering on the wall. He was going to knock this person off and give him a good beating outside the courtyard.

With this thought, Mu Yao raised his fist toward the other’s cheek while simultaneously attacking the other’s legs with his feet, still intending to knock him down.

The man in the Rakshasa mask had great agility and steady footing. While dodging Mu Yao’s blows, he also threw a punch back.

Although Mu Yao was nimble, he hadn’t undergone professional training. His combat skills were mostly forced out of him during his youth to prevent being bullied.

Ghosts are ethereal; most of the time, he used the Soul-Hooking Chain to catch them directly. He rarely had occasions to trade blows with a physical opponent.

The person in the Rakshasa mask was different. His movements were fast and fierce, appearing to be professionally trained. Within just a few exchanges, Mu Yao found himself struggling.

The top of a wall was not a good place for a fight after all. While Mu Yao was frantically responding, he missed his footing and tumbled outward. Cursing his luck, he instinctively grabbed forward at random, looking for support.

The man in the Rakshasa mask hadn’t expected this random move from Mu Yao and was caught squarely. He also lost his balance for a moment and fell off the wall along with Mu Yao.

The two pulled at each other in the air to adjust their posture and finally landed steadily without rolling on the ground.

Just as Mu Yao breathed a sigh of relief, thinking of fighting the man again and asking about his intent and purpose, his right wrist was suddenly seized by the other. Then, a pain shot through the back of his right knee. He instinctively knelt on the ground, and in an instant, he was restrained.

Feeling the force on his arm and waist, Mu Yao just wanted to curse. If he hadn’t braced himself with his left hand, this bastard would have pinned him face-down on the ground!

“Let go of me!”

Mu Yao had never been suppressed like this. The other’s arm gripped his own with immense force, locked around his waist. No matter how much he struggled, the man remained unmoving. Mu Yao gave a low roar of shame and indignation behind his magically blurred face.

During the struggle, the sleeve on his wrist bunched up, and the slight clink of metal rang out. Mu Yao felt the person pressing down on him pause, and a light chuckle sounded.

“Heh… A Living Impermanence?”

The strange figure in the Rakshasa mask still had coldness in his voice, but Mu Yao felt the pressure on his arm relax slightly.

“Has the Underworld truly run out of people? With such a thin waist and such weak strength, you can still hook souls and take lives? Can you even handle evil spirits and vicious ghosts?”