Chapter 66

The moment this idea surfaced, Jiang Luo felt it was workable. Very workable.

Then came the problem.

How was he going to pit Chi You against the Faceless Monster?

A ready-made method sat right in front of Jiang Luo: just like Zhang Feng had done, make Chi You his scapegoat.

But to make Chi You his scapegoat, he'd have to embrace him, kiss him, engage in... bodily fluid exchange.

Damn it.

Jiang Luo's expression froze.

He recalled the Loss Hexagram he'd calculated before.

Sacrificing one's own interests to turn defeat into victory — did it mean this?

...This was a bit too underhanded.

Should he grit his teeth, disgust Chi You with this method, and take the chance to screw him over? Or find another way?

Kissing an evil ghost was truly terrifying, especially being intimate with a madman like Chi You — Jiang Luo couldn't imagine the two of them exchanging bodily fluids at all. But if he let this opportunity slip, he felt unwilling.

He slowly bit down on his cigarette, his teeth leaving a neat ring of marks.

What should he do?

In his hesitation, Chi You's infuriating face flashed through Jiang Luo's mind.

He made up his mind in an instant.

Tooth for tooth, eye for eye.

Since the evil ghost had dared to toy with him like that, he'd retaliate with something even more disgusting.

The Assistant drove over and picked them up in front of the Hospital.

The Overall Director sat in the passenger seat, still somewhat dazed, not yet recovered from the earlier conversation. "Master, what is the Faceless... Faceless Monster?"

"A kind of ghost that fears light and only appears in darkness," Jiang Luo said. "In places without light, you can never tell where it's gotten to. Even in the instant darkness falls, it might already have passed through your heart."

"Because it can't show itself in light, and the shadows of Li Zhen and the other three have vanished, I suspect the Faceless Monster is something they summoned — a product of it merging with their shadows."

The reasoning was airtight, but the Director didn't understand a single word.

The Assistant in the driver's seat shifted uneasily. "Master, Director, there's something..."

The Overall Director urged him on. "Don't stammer. If you have something to say, just say it."

The Assistant swallowed. "The Master is trending."

Everyone in the car froze for a moment. A bad premonition rose in Jiang Luo's chest. "Who is trending?"

The Assistant braced himself. "You."

Jiang Luo: "..."

His only on-camera appearance was that minute or two in Fu Wei's livestream, wasn't it?

The Assistant explained: "You asked us to handle this. Actually, before you even told us, I'd already sent people to suppress the news — stopped the livestream immediately, deleted the replay video, and controlled the comments under the official blog. Only a few screenshots were circulating online. It was only spreading in a small circle, wouldn't have caused much of a stir. But we didn't expect a top-tier celebrity to come to your defense."

Jiang Luo's brow twitched. He opened his Mobile Phone. The top trending topic was #BaiQiuDefendsHerBrother#.

Seeing this title, Jiang Luo found it hard to breathe. He tapped in and saw Bai Qiu's post.

[@Bai Qiu: My brother gets treated like this at your program? He joined Next Stop, Idol and not a single frame of him appears in any of the official episodes. His voting channel wasn't even opened. Nobody even knows his name. If not for this Live Streaming Incident, how long would he have been 'snowed' for? This is the fairness you preach? @NextStopIdol, please give me a straight answer.]

Attached were two screenshots of Jiang Luo from the livestream.

Bai Qiu rarely took such a hard line with anyone, but when she struck this pose, it meant she'd see it through to the end.

Not long ago, Bai Qiu had dominated trending lists for several days running because of her agent's criminal case. Many netizens had been won over by her resilient charisma, earning her a wave of devoted fans.

After the agent incident ended, Bai Qiu had gone into filming to make up for lost time. This was the first time since the incident she'd spoken on social media in such a forceful tone.

Bai Qiu was genuinely furious.

Without exaggeration, Jiang Luo was her savior. She'd tried many times to invite him into the Entertainment Industry — half because Jiang Luo was genuinely suited to the public eye, chased by flashbulbs and spotlights, half because she wanted to repay her debt.

But Jiang Luo didn't like the Entertainment Industry, so she'd regretfully let it go. Still, the words she'd once said — 'Whenever you need me, I'll give you everything I've got' — weren't empty. When she discovered Jiang Luo had joined a talent show, she'd been surprised and delighted. But the next moment, learning of his current situation, Bai Qiu's fury had ignited at once.

Once again, she'd called in her connections.

Nobody dared underestimate Bai Qiu's network. Starting with the artists signed to her Workshop, more and more celebrities reposted her message.

Some tones were stern, some tactful, some critical... but they all questioned the fairness of Next Stop, Idol. The post was fermenting rapidly across the internet.

Already, anonymous staff from Next Stop, Idol had come forward to spill the beans, admitting they'd cut all footage of this trainee — but only because the Overall Director and chief planner had demanded it.

After reading the online comments cursing him, the Overall Director nearly blacked out.

The Assistant was on the verge of tears. "Master, this time it really isn't that we weren't prepared. We just didn't expect things to go this far."

Jiang Luo: "...It's not your fault."

A bitter taste filled his mouth.

Jiang Luo looked through the screenshots circulating online. Fortunately, he'd only appeared briefly in the livestream, and had avoided showing his face. Though the screenshots were of him, there were only a few angles, and the image quality was somewhat blurry.

Images like these should be quickly forgotten by the internet.

But Jiang Luo had underestimated himself.

No matter how blurry the quality, the dark-haired youth in the screenshots only seemed veiled in a soft filter, as if glowing faintly. His lip-curl and wave had been turned into a GIF — that elegant, casual grace in his gesture was absolutely captivating.

Jiang Luo scrolled through the comments. In them, netizens had imagined him as a poor little thing the other trainees and the Program Team could knead and squash at will. Public outrage ran high — they were convinced he'd been bullied to the point he couldn't even eat his fill...

Another portion were purely admiring his looks, clamoring under the official blog for the Program Team to release more footage of him.

"..." Jiang Luo said. "I'll explain to Bai Qiu."

He called Bai Qiu, propping up his forehead, painfully organizing his words.

The call was answered quickly. Bai Qiu's angry voice came through. "Master, don't worry. I'll handle this for you. I'll definitely get you justice."

Jiang Luo: "Actually, I—"

"I was even going to recommend you for this talent show. I didn't expect it to be this trashy," Bai Qiu said, her blood pressure spiking at the memory. With ringing conviction: "Master, don't worry. Even if you can't stay in this show, I can use this chance to push you in front of the public and get you to debut successfully!"

"Wait," Jiang Luo said quickly. "I don't want to debut."

Bai Qiu was stunned. "What?"

Jiang Luo sighed and explained: "I joined the Program Team to help them deal with some things."

They were both smart people. The moment he said this, Bai Qiu caught on at once. She realized she'd caused a massive misunderstanding. After a long pause, she said weakly: "So I... misunderstood?"

The Director fretted from the side: "Bai Qiu, the Master's going to withdraw from the competition once he's done handling things. You've made such a mess — what am I supposed to do?"

Bai Qiu smiled sheepishly. She opened her phone and saw that the artists reposting her post had already numbered twenty or thirty, with the buzz still climbing rapidly.

"I'm done for," she murmured.

For the rest of the time, the Director kept discussing with Bai Qiu how to clean up this misunderstanding. Since photos had been taken of the Director sending Zhang Feng to the Hospital, they finally decided to use the excuse that Jiang Luo had been in poor health and planned to withdraw, which was why the director's team had cut his footage.

But they couldn't release this excuse yet.

Under public pressure, the Program Team could only open Jiang Luo's voting channel first, then release the news of his withdrawal due to health reasons once the uproar died down.

Even though the excuse was a bit of a stretch, it was the best they could come up with for now.

Once the Director and Bai Qiu had aligned their stories, Jiang Luo — who'd watched the whole thing — lazily relaxed, knowing he didn't need to step in.

But the moment his heart settled, Lu You, who was scrolling his phone beside him, exclaimed: "Jiang Luo, we're done for — Qin Fan reposted Bai Qiu's post too."

Jiang Luo froze. His temples throbbed. He picked up his phone.

Qin Fan had indeed posted.

His follower count was even higher than Bai Qiu's. In just a short while, the repost and comment numbers had reached terrifying heights.

[@Qin Fan: His name is Jiang Huan. He's an excellent trainee. I have to say, I really like him. I hope the Program Team treats every trainee fairly, and doesn't let pearls be buried in sand.]

Qin Fan, a big-name mentor invited by Next Stop, Idol, had said something that implicitly questioned the Program Team. Whether to showcase fairness or specifically for this trainee named Jiang Huan, the news media smelled something different.

Especially the implication in Qin Fan's words — "I really like him" — was enough to send his fandom into a frenzy.

To outsiders, Qin Fan was speaking out of righteousness, expressing his appreciation for this trainee.

To Jiang Luo and his group, it was a massive headache — frost added on top of an already heavy snowfall.

Ye Xun sighed. "The timing of his post is too convenient. Doesn't Qin Fan know we're new trainees? The episodes that aired before wouldn't have had our footage anyway — or does he know the director's team was going to cut all our footage afterward?"

Qin Fan's move was like pouring oil on a raging fire, pushing Jiang Luo — already in a precarious position — right to the crest of the wave.

Jiang Luo listened to Ye Xun's words, paused in realization, then suddenly laughed coldly twice and began searching for photos of Qin Fan.

This familiar tactic of adding fuel to the fire reminded Jiang Luo of a certain evil ghost.

But Qin Fan had personally drunk his talisman water. This had made Jiang Luo subconsciously rule out Qin Fan when he was previously trying to figure out who Chi You was.

He'd thought before: would Chi You really endure the pain of drinking talisman water just to make him lose?

But then again, this might not be possible for others — but for that madman, it made sense. After all, when Chi You had been weakened by Jiang Luo before, he'd still laughed maniacally.

Jiang Luo opened a smiling photo of Qin Fan, zoomed in on the lips, and carefully studied Qin Fan's mouth.

Lu You tried to comfort him. "It's fine. The excuse we just came up with is good enough. Once we deal with the Faceless Monster, we'll leave. In a few months, no one will remember you."

Jiang Luo said absently. "You're right."

He compared Qin Fan's lips with the photo Chi You had once sent him — about fifty percent similar. He then searched for photos of Fu Wei and did the same, zooming in to study his lips.

But these photos had all been retouched and skin-smoothed, to the point that both pairs of lips looked somewhat similar.

Jiang Luo looked at the two photos with lowered lids.

His gaze held ice, but his face showed little expression. He lazily propped his head up, his eyes dark and distant.

*

In a run-down Internet Cafe.

The owner was making instant noodles. Three shadows fell over the counter. He looked up and saw a smiling, sickly-looking young man say: "Boss, give us three computers."

Behind the sickly youth stood two strange people. Both wore baseball caps, but one seemed to be bald, while the other had hair down to his waist and wore a tacky fox mask.

The owner paused. The sickly youth knocked on the counter good-naturedly. "Boss?"

"Oh, oh, oh," the owner started up the computers for them. "Minimum one hour, three yuan per hour, twenty for an all-nighter. How long do you want?"

The sickly youth stroked his chin. "All-nighter."

The long-haired man in the mask said, incredulous: "All-nighter?"

His voice was slightly shrill, like some kind of animal — unpleasant to hear.

The owner stole another glance at them.

The sickly youth's smile didn't waver, as if he hadn't heard his companion. "Boss, are the computers ready?"

The owner hurriedly handed them the cards. "Ready, ready. Machines 13 through 15."

The three found their machines and sat down. The sickly youth, Liao Si, helped Huali turn on his computer along the way.

Huali crossed his arms, his face black as ink. "Liao Si, why are we at an Internet Cafe voting for Jiang Luo?"

Liao Si wagged his finger. "Huali, we're not just voting for Jiang Luo — we're acting as a water army too, to make that show that cut his footage realize its mistake and stop making errors."

Huali said darkly. "So why exactly are we doing this?"

Beside them, Ge Wuchen had already skillfully turned on his computer. A faint smile crossed his beautiful face. "Huali, you're always this stupid. Sometimes I really wonder why the Master accepted your surrender."

Huali: "You—"

"Hey, don't fight," Liao Si said. "Hurry up and register some accounts. Vote for Jiang Luo quickly."

Huali didn't move. Ge Wuchen opened a gaming webpage, registered the username "Your Daddy," and said casually: "The Master's lover is on a show. We have to show some appreciation. Voting all night and acting as a water army — that's sincerity."

Huali froze. "The Master's lover?!"

Liao Si sighed, looking at Huali with pity. "Huali, haven't you noticed how the Master treats Jiang Luo specially?"

Huali, frozen like a statue, murmured: "But hasn't the Master almost killed him several times?"

"You know it's 'almost,'" Liao Si said. "Before Jiang Luo dies, we'd best not have any bad thoughts about him. As for if he really does get killed by the Master..."

He smiled, a flash of cold ruthlessness at the corner of his mouth. "It doesn't stop us from showing him affection now."

Show affection when it's time to show affection. But if one day the Master ordered them to kill Jiang Luo, they wouldn't hesitate for a second.

After all, people like them were rotten to the core, weren't they?

*

Back at the recording location, the Director told Jiang Luo and the others to go rest. He forced a smile. "Master, don't worry. Miss Bai Qiu and I will definitely handle this."

Jiang Luo smiled slightly. "Thank you for your trouble."

He pulled two talismans from his person and handed them to the Director and the Assistant. "These are two Safety Charms I wrote. Their efficacy isn't great, but better than nothing. Please accept them."

Ye Xun muttered: "No one's talismans are more effective than yours."

The Director had heard of the Xuanxue World and knew that a single talisman there was hard to come by. He vaguely understood that Jiang Luo's Spirit Papers were one in ten thousand. His face lit up with joy. He didn't dare refuse politely, and treasured the Safety Charm as he took it. "Thank you, Master!"

The Assistant hurriedly accepted his as well.

After parting from the Director and the Assistant, Jiang Luo walked briskly toward the dormitory building.

"What's wrong with him?" the dead spirit asked from behind.

Lu You raised a finger and shushed. "Fame is the bane of both man and pig. Jiang Luo is just too good-looking and feeling troubled."

The dead spirit didn't understand human thoughts. He frowned. "Isn't being good-looking a good thing?"

Ye Xun glanced at him. "It is. Throughout history, good-looking people have always been liked."

The dead spirit was even more confused. "Then why is he troubled?"

"You don't understand," Ye Xun said, shaking his head.

The dead spirit thought: humans really are strange creatures.

Their dormitory was on the third floor, but when passing the corner of the second floor, Jiang Luo suddenly paused.

He looked at the smooth white wall on his left. On it was a yellowish human-shaped stain. Jiang Luo frowned and turned to ask the three behind him: "Was this thing on the second floor wall before?"

Ye Xun stepped forward and looked carefully. "No."

"I remember when it rained yesterday, there were similar human-shaped stains on the outside wall of The First Floor," Jiang Luo said quietly. "At the time I thought someone had gotten soaked and bumped into the wall."

"Probably from years of neglect — looks fine on the surface, but shoddy on the inside," Ye Xun said, placing his hand on the human-shaped stain. "It's slightly damp."

Jiang Luo stood in place for a moment, then walked slowly toward the third floor, changing the subject. "Can you still smell the stench on yourselves?"

The three, who had grown used to the smell: "...Yes."

They hurried back to the dormitory.

Inside the dormitory, only Fu Wei was there. He stood on the balcony, leaning against the railing, lost in thought.

Jiang Luo squinted at him for a moment, then walked over.

Fu Wei heard the sound and turned, his profile cold. "What?"

Jiang Luo studied his lips carefully. After a while, he curled his lips in a half-smile. "Fu Wei, your lip shape looks pretty good."

Fu Wei raised an eyebrow, patiently waiting for Jiang Luo to finish. But Jiang Luo just smiled and said: "Smile for me?"

"..." Fu Wei frowned. "Jiang Huan, are you sick in the head?"

He caught a whiff of the smell coming from Jiang Luo, his frown deepening. "Where did you go? Why do you smell so bad?"

"Went somewhere fun," Jiang Luo shrugged, rolling his wrist. "Just smile, that's all. I don't mean anything else. Fu Wei, you know my temper isn't great."

Fu Wei, his face still dark with displeasure, gave him a smile.

Jiang Luo told him to lift the corners of his mouth higher, add a touch of unhinged energy. Fu Wei complied with each instruction. After seeing the final result, Jiang Luo looked thoughtful, smiled warmly, thanked Fu Wei, and took his change of clothes into the bathroom.

This bath took an unusually long time.

The water dripped and pattered, the sound of the stream reaching the balcony.

Jiang Luo turned off the water, dried himself with a towel, changed clothes, and walked out. After the bath, sleepiness crept in. He yawned, told Lu You and the others he was going to nap, set an alarm for five, and curled up in his blankets.

Fu Wei slowly walked to his bedside. "Tomorrow's another evaluation. Aren't you nervous?"

He said: "Jiang Huan, you don't look like a trainee."

"Dummy," Jiang Luo poked his head out of the blankets. His cheeks, flushed pink from the steam, were strikingly beautiful. His eyes were bloodshot from staying up late, but that only added a different kind of charm. Propping up his head, he said casually: "I stand on stage, don't have to do anything, and people still vote for me in droves. Get it?"

After saying this, he ignored Fu Wei and turned over to sleep.

Fu Wei muttered to himself: "Fair enough."

*

Jiang Luo planned to pit Chi You against the Faceless Monster, but this plan obviously couldn't be shared with his companions.

After waking, when discussing methods to deal with the Faceless Monster with his companions, he deliberately avoided this part.

Everything was in place. He was just waiting for Chi You to call him.

This time, Jiang Luo wasn't after the right answer — he was after a wrong one. He wanted to lure Chi You out deliberately.

Probably knowing he was in the dormitory, the evil ghost didn't call until midnight, when the world was quiet.

A flash of amusement crossed Jiang Luo's eyes. He walked into the bathroom. "Hello?"

"The second night's game begins," the evil ghost said elegantly. "Tonight, have you figured out which one is really me?"

Jiang Luo said: "Same old rule. Send your photo first."

Shortly after, the evil ghost sent Jiang Luo a photo of a left hand.

Long, slender fingers, with a tiny almost-invisible mole on the side of the palm.

Jiang Luo had been close to guessing who it was. The moment this photo arrived, he confirmed his suspicion. But he said deliberately: "Fu Wei."

"Unfortunately, you've answered wrong again," the evil ghost said hypocritically. "You've been wrong twice now, and I'm not pleased. Tonight's game — I'll invite your companions in too, as an audience to watch your punishment."

After saying this, the evil ghost hung up.

Jiang Luo clicked his tongue, unsure whether the evil ghost's decision was good or bad.

With Ye Xun and the others with him, their strength was clearly enhanced. But if they saw Chi You, how could he still set Chi You up?

He casually pushed the door open and walked out, but the moment he stepped out of the bathroom, the dormitory before him abruptly became a Hospital Ward.

Jiang Luo looked down — his clothes had become blue-and-white striped patient garb.

The evil ghost's illusion again.

But this illusion was different from the last. This one incorporated the structure of the Trainee Dormitory building — every detail was incredibly real. Jiang Luo closed his eyes and walked toward where his bed should be, but to his surprise, he touched nothing.

Jiang Luo opened his eyes. Where his bed should have been was now empty.

His heart sank. He cautiously opened the Hospital Ward door.

Outside was the Hospital's Corridor. The pale walls and clean tiles were covered in blood, along with bodies cut in half by saws. The corpses were both men and women, patients and doctors alike, their expressions terrified, intestines strewn everywhere.

Jiang Luo looked away and carefully hugged the wall, walking left.

He didn't encounter a single person along the way, successfully reaching the nurses' station. There were no nurses there either. Medicine was scattered across the floor. A White Coat hung on a rack — no one knew whose — splattered with fresh blood.

The entire Hospital looked like a serial killer's slaughterhouse.

Jiang Luo walked to the nurses' station, rummaged through the items there, and found a Surgical Knife and a newspaper.

The newspaper read: "Electric Saw serial killer injured during arrest, rushed to Ward Three for emergency treatment."

Jiang Luo's gaze moved to the sign on the nurses' station. The gold-embossed characters read: Ward Three.

Jiang Luo: "..."

He looked to both sides and found another line of text written in blood on the tiles beneath the nurses' station.

The writer must have been in absolute panic — the strokes were hasty and trembling, the blood half-dried, radiating pure terror.

"The killer disguised himself as a doctor! He's killed so many people! He's terrifying — RUN!"