Chapter 20 p1: Filling the Lake with Living People
Cui Wangshu walked out of the elevator and looked left and right, swallowing hard. “Why… why is there no one here?”
Just now when they were downstairs, there were doctors and patients. But when they got to this floor, there was suddenly no one, not even the nurse on duty. It was really strange.
Turning her head, she saw Assistant Xiao Xie holding a phone and aiming it at Sang Jing. Cui Wangshu asked curiously, “Has the livestream started?”
Xie Yu shifted her body to share a bit of the screen with Cui Wangshu. Cui Wangshu craned her neck and could see the situation in the livestreaming room.
The number of viewers was far less than at the beginning of last night, but because Sang Jing had announced a livestream to ‘cure’ an illness and Xie Yu had been retorting furiously all night, in less than two minutes, over a thousand people had already come in. However, the bullet comments were still a mess.
Cui Wangshu usually didn’t look at the bullet comments when she watched livestreams. Seeing the questioning and sarcastic words on the screen now, she frowned. “Why are their words so harsh? What do they mean by a scammer streamer coming to make money? Sang Sang is obviously so amazing.”
Xie Yu, controlling the livestream’s backend, picked out a few people with foul mouths, blacklisted them, and kicked them out.
She was the assistant; this was her duty.
This one, this one, and this one, all kicked out.
In the blink of an eye, about a hundred people were kicked out.
Sang Jing had just opened her Yin Eye. She turned her head and waved at Cui Wangshu. “Xiao Cui, come here.”
Cui Wangshu: “Eh, coming.”
Before running over, Cui Wangshu, with a little scheme in mind, took out the badge from her pocket and pinned it on her chest. This was the badge of a member of the Special Investigation Team. The Celestial Masters in the team didn’t wear Celestial Master coins, so there wasn’t such a severe level division; everyone was a colleague.
“Do you know how to open your Yin Eye?” Sang Jing asked her.
Cui Wangshu shook her head honestly. “Not yet.”
Xie Yu aimed the camera at the two of them.
On the screen, Sang Jing very meticulously told Cui Wangshu what talisman and incantation were needed to open the Yin Eye, as well as some details to pay attention to and avoid.
Cui Wangshu listened attentively on the side, even taking out a small notebook she carried with her to write it down. The notebook was densely filled with her notes on learning talismans and incantations. It was clear that she was a very serious and good student.
“You try,” Sang Jing said, giving Cui Wangshu a talisman she had already drawn.
Cui Wangshu was still a little nervous. She took two deep breaths and, as Sang Jing had said, recited the incantation in a low voice, mobilizing the qi throughout her body.
The talisman in her hand ignited without fire. As the firelight flashed across her eyes, the scene before Cui Wangshu’s eyes slowly changed.
The cold fifth floor of the hospital was enveloped in a domineering, sinister black qi. The black qi was gushing out from a ward at the end of the corridor.
“I, I see it!” Cui Wangshu looked at Sang Jing excitedly.
Sang Jing smiled. “You’re quite talented.”
“Let’s go,” Sang Jing said, noticing Xie Yu behind her. She said to Cui Wangshu, “Go to Xie Yu’s side. Don’t stray too far from me.”
Cui Wangshu nodded obediently. “Alright!”
Walking towards Xie Yu, who was holding the phone, Cui Wangshu’s breath fogged the camera for a moment, allowing her badge to be seen.
Xie Yu noticed her action. That’s too deliberate.
Her gaze swept over the extra badge on her chest.
【Isn’t this a livestream to cure an illness? What are they doing here?】
【Can a fraudulent streamer just teach others now?】
【Tonight, she’s not even pretending anymore. She just found someone to create a show for her.】
【No, you fans of Encounter, if you don’t understand metaphysics, can you not talk nonsense? The streamer was clearly teaching how to open the Yin Eye just now. She explained it very carefully and seriously. I’m also a Celestial Master, although I’ve just started, but the streamer definitely has real skills.】
【Friends, this Xiao Cui seems to have some status. The badge she’s wearing on her chest is from the Special Investigation Team! Friends who know about this should know, right? There’s the Xuanmen among the people, and the Special Investigation Team in the country.】
【Is the Special Investigation Team so high-profile? It’s probably a fake.】
【Don’t talk nonsense. Impersonating a member of the Special Investigation Team will get you invited for tea. No matter what, the streamer wouldn’t be stupid enough to dig a hole for herself, right?】
【What are you all talking about? Am I the only one who’s curious about what they saw? Sang Sang, can you open that Yin Eye for us too?】
Sang Jing was in the front, with Xie Yu filming her with the phone, and Cui Wangshu was two or three steps behind.
At the room at the end of the corridor, Sang Jing placed her hand on the door, closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, she shouted, “Open!”
The tightly closed ward door opened with a “bang,” and a foul, rotten smell came out with the yin wind.
It was the qi of death.
“Xiao Cui, a light.”
“Oh, oh, oh,” Cui Wangshu said, taking out a flashlight.
The bright beam of light shone on Sang Jing’s back, creating a stark contrast with the dark ward.
This was a single-person ward, fully equipped with various facilities, just like the room Rainbow was in during the link-up last night.
Sang Jing walked in, and Xie Yu controlled the camera to follow, while Cui Wangshu was responsible for lighting from behind.
【Is there no light in this room? You still need a flashlight? Deliberately creating an atmosphere.】
【I don’t know why, but this room is making my back feel cold.】
【Little Assistant, Little Assistant, if there’s a jump scare, can you give a warning?】
【Sang Sang’s back looks so firm and gives a sense of security.】
【With Sang Sang’s looks, she’s actually quite suitable for filming movies, the redemption type.】
“There’s someone there!”
Cui Wangshu exclaimed, raising the flashlight in her hand. The only light in the room was fixed on the person on the hospital bed. It was ‘Rainbow’ from last night’s link-up.
The pale light shone on Rainbow’s face. The person with downcast eyes slowly looked up. In her eye sockets, there were only the whites of her eyes. ‘She’ looked at the two people and one ghost standing at the door and cracked a silent smile.
“Is, is this a ghost possession?” Cui Wangshu tightened her grip on the flashlight.
“No, we’re not in a normal space. This is a special domain created by that evil thing,” Sang Jing explained. “If a normal person accidentally enters this kind of place, they will feel unwell both physically and mentally. Staying for a long time will affect their health. People with keen perception can easily avoid this kind of place, commonly known as the sixth sense.”
Cui Wangshu nodded.
Xie Yu was always paying attention to the bullet comments.
【What’s she blabbering about?】
【The streamer even knows this!? She’s really in this line of work.】
【Not in a normal space? What does that mean? A parallel world?】
【Then is this Rainbow a ghost? She looks so scary.】
Sang Jing was looking around the ward, as if searching for something.
‘Rainbow’ watched her warily. Seeing her walk towards her, it suddenly jumped up from the hospital bed and crawled on the ground on all fours in a strange posture, letting out a beast-like roar from its throat.
Except for its still-fleshy face, its entire body was just a skeleton. Its hands and feet were twisted on the end of the bed and the floor, like a giant, long-legged spider.
“Ew…” Xie Yu wrinkled her nose.
【Is… is this still a person? How can a person be so thin? And even if they are, can they be so agile and nimble?】
【Ahhh, what is this thing! Back, back, back!】
【The Little Assistant is really my voice substitute, ew~~~】
The bullet comments gradually began to normalize. Xie Yu was very satisfied with this livestreaming environment.
This was all her credit!
Sang Jing stared at it, and it stared back at Sang Jing.
Suddenly, the thing moved. It let out a piercing scream and crawled up the wall on all fours, wanting to jump out the window and escape.
It knew it was no match for Sang Jing and just wanted to run for its life.
A paper talisman flew from Sang Jing’s fingers, and then her whole body shot out. The paper talisman was fixed on the window. The thing failed to break the window and was instead bounced back. Sang Jing raised her leg and hooked its neck, then turned sharply, and her final kick landed directly on the skeleton’s back, pressing it down so that it shrieked in pain and couldn’t get up.
“Wow!” Cui Wangshu was stunned by Sang Jing’s beautiful moves and clapped continuously. The light from the flashlight danced around the room.
Xie Yu went straight up and gave a close-up of Sang Jing’s leg that was stepping on the evil thing, from top to bottom, finally settling on the evil thing’s ferocious and terrifying face.
“See that? This is the streamer’s strength.”
With that, Xie Yu reached out and turned the evil thing’s face towards the camera. “Special effects? Come, come, see if this is special effects.”
Just the face wasn’t enough. She then aimed the camera at the evil thing’s skeletal body. The bones were clearly visible, without a trace of flesh, only skin covering them. From the chest, one could even see the internal organs.
【That’s enough, that’s enough, I didn’t say it! I didn’t ask to see!】
【Is the scale this big? So graphic.】
【Little Assistant, you! What are you doing! Why did you put your hand in! Did you just pinch its internal organs!】
【Mom, this world has gone mad.】
【??????】
【Sang Sang! Hurry up and control your little assistant! I can’t take it anymore! I don’t want to see such high-definition heart, liver, lungs, and large intestine!】
“You’re not scared anymore?” Sang Jing asked abruptly.
Xie Yu looked up. “Ah, aren’t you here?”
Cui Wangshu slowly approached from behind and asked carefully, “Is, is it over?”
That was too fast, right? One kick to settle it?
“No,” Sang Jing said, taking out her small gourd. She quickly and accurately slapped a few talismans on the evil thing, then aimed the mouth of the gourd at its head. The black qi in the room was rapidly sucked into the gourd at a visible speed.
When all the black qi was sucked into the gourd, Sang Jing lifted her leg, and the face in Xie Yu’s hand slowly returned to Rainbow’s appearance in front of the camera.
“It’s over now,” Sang Jing said, putting away the small gourd and turning to Cui Wangshu.
Cui Wangshu: “…”
What did she learn tonight?
“What about this one?” Cui Wangshu pointed at Rainbow on the floor.
“This is Rainbow’s soul. After we break the special domain, her soul will return to her body, and her ‘illness’ will be cured,” Sang Jing said. She then saw Xie Yu squatting and looking up at her, her expression a little strange.
“What’s wrong?” Sang Jing had a bad feeling.
Xie Yu stood up. She was a little taller than Sang Jing, and now, standing in front of her, she had a guilty look on her face, like she had done something wrong.
She handed over the phone. “This, this…”
Sang Jing looked down and saw a large warning on the phone screen—Room has been banned.
The livestreaming room had been banned.
Sang Jing: “…”
Xie Yu looked at her. “It wasn’t me. It just suddenly happened.”
Sang Jing looked up at her. “No late-night snack tonight.”
Fortunately, the livestream had reached the crucial part, and there wasn’t much left to wrap up.
Sang Jing broke the special domain, and the surrounding silence was instantly broken. Voices could be heard in the corridor outside the room.
“Eh, who are you?” The room was opened, and a middle-aged woman asked in confusion, seeing the two people who had suddenly appeared in her daughter’s ward.
“Mom, they’re my friends,” Rainbow also woke up.
Hearing her daughter’s words, the woman’s eyes instantly turned red. “Xiao Yu, you’ve finally come around.”
Since she got sick, Xiao Yu had been resisting seeing people, and all the friends who came to visit were turned away.
Xiao Yu’s eyes shone as she looked at Sang Jing. “Mom, my illness is cured.”
Xiao Yu’s mother was stunned, tears streaming down her face uncontrollably.
Just today, the doctor had told her that her daughter didn’t have many days left. Now that Xiao Yu was saying this, she must also want to be healthy.
The lights in the room were not on, and only Cui Wangshu’s flashlight provided light. Sang Jing took the phone from Xie Yu’s hand to prevent Xiao Yu’s mother from seeing a floating phone.
Walking to the hospital bed, Sang Jing stuffed a folded triangular talisman into Xiao Yu’s hand. “Eat well and take care of your body.”
Xiao Yu’s ‘illness’ was cured, but she had been dragged down by the yin energy for too long and was too weak. She needed to recuperate well.
Xiao Yu clutched the talisman and nodded vigorously. “Mm!”
The most correct thing she had ever done in her life was probably to believe in Sang Jing. Last night, she had already had suicidal thoughts, but seeing Sang Jing surrounded by those doubts, Xiao Yu didn’t know why she had linked up, and was even willing to appear on camera, even though she was so afraid of seeing people.
However, it was this sudden thought that had cured her ‘illness’ and led her to meet the greatest benefactor of her life.
“Then we won’t disturb you anymore.”
“I’ll see you out.”
Xiao Yu’s mother saw Sang Jing and Cui Wangshu out of the ward. Cui Wangshu consciously followed behind Sang Jing.
“You and Xiao Yu must be very close. Ever since she got sick, she’s been unwilling to see people,” Xiao Yu’s mother said, wiping the tears from the corners of her eyes. She then forced a smile and looked at Sang Jing. “I’m sorry.”
Xiao Yu’s mother was about forty years old, but her temples were already gray.
Sang Jing quietly looked at her face.
Xiao Yu’s mother felt inexplicably nervous when she met her gaze. She unconsciously lowered her voice. “Wh-what’s wrong?”
Sang Jing smiled politely. “Auntie, you don’t have to worry. Xiao Yu’s great calamity in this life has passed. It’s just that Auntie seems to be having some bad luck recently. You’re prone to attracting petty people and have a sign of decline.”
Xiao Yu’s mother looked at Sang Jing, stunned.
Sang Jing smiled. “That’s all I’ll say. Auntie, you don’t have to see us out. Go back and spend some time with Xiao Yu. Her body needs a lot of nourishment.”
With that, Sang Jing walked forward quickly, and Cui Wangshu hurried to catch up, leaving Xiao Yu’s mother still in a daze.
Walking out of the hospital, Cui Wangshu couldn’t help but ask, “Sang Sang, didn’t you say that we can’t casually interfere with other people’s karma? We’ll get entangled.”
Sang Jing looked at the nearby hotels on her phone and replied, “It won’t be long before she returns the karma.”
Cui Wangshu nodded, half-understanding. Her gaze fell on Sang Jing’s phone screen, and she hesitated before extending an invitation. “Our team leader booked a hotel early this morning. Two rooms with king-sized beds. I can go sleep with the team leader, and you can have my room.”
Fearing that Sang Jing would refuse, Cui Wangshu added, “Just consider it as the tuition for teaching me how to open my Yin Eye tonight. Karma should be settled, right?”
Sang Jing thought for a moment. “Alright then.”
The hotel Bei Shan had booked was closer to the assessment site, which was also convenient.
“Alright, alright, then I’ll call a cab,” Cui Wangshu said, her face full of excitement.
