C16 — Strange Tales By The Lakeside

In the middle of the dense forest, where no light could penetrate, there were several figures that were moving non-stop.

 

“What are you guys doing?” After Zhou Wu learnt that these few exorcists were also actors, it was as if he had hugged golden thighs; he made his presence known all the time, fearing that they would forget about him.

 

Two of the soul hunters were already tired of it; after all, no one wanted to always be asked questions while they were working.

 

One of them was just about to open his mouth and choke out an answer when the old man in the lead waved his hand to stop him.

 

“You’re the leader of the ones acting as students, right?” Ma Yuanan smiled and explained to him, “This is the equipment our characters brought with them; most of it is the means of the church.”

 

As soon as the remaining three members of the team saw Old Ma’s smile, they couldn’t help but tremble with fear. This smiling tiger was at it again.

 

“Church?!” Zhou Wu was overjoyed. “This might be able to fight that evil spirit!”

 

“Little friend, you might as well tell me about your encounter, so that when we face the boss, we will also be more certain.”

 

Zhou Wu hurriedly nodded his head and began to recall his thrilling escape over the past few days.

 

“That crocodile man, he seems to be very slow; we can always outrun him; as long as we don’t go into buildings with more obstacles, we can escape.” Zhou Wu selectively ignored the part where they were caught even when they were driving, as he felt that it might have been the system teleporting the boss over.

 

After all, they had escaped the range of the Golden Lake, and the system wouldn’t allow such a thing to happen.

 

Zhou Wu kept making up explanations with his dull brain: “Also, his power is his strength, but I think it’s brute force without a hint of tactics; he didn’t look very smart.”

 

Ma Yuanan kept taking notes of the characteristics of the BOSS that were diametrically opposed to the truth and pursued, “And what else? Have you guys ever done any damage to the BOSS?”

 

“There was! I fired many shots at him, but he didn’t budge.”

 

“That’s right, listening to your description, he should be a resentful spirit, and it’s been so long that his intelligence and reasoning have pretty much dissipated, leaving only the instinct to ki-ll. You certainly can’t ki-ll him with a g-un, because how can physical means attack a grudgeful spirit?”

 

Although Ma Yuanan felt that what Zhou Wu said wasn’t quite the same as the information the team had previously gathered, Zhou Wu was a first-hand witness, and the truthfulness of the first-hand witness was definitely stronger than theirs.

 

He shook the delicate water bottle in his hand. “See, this is the highest concentration of holy water in the church; as long as it touches them a little bit, ordinary ghosts and monsters will be pinned down.”

 

 

Zhou Wu’s eyes were glowing; this film was saved!

 

Before he could be happy for long, a pistol was pressed against his chest. Ma Yuanan smiled, his old face covered with unsuspecting creases. “So, the rear is safe; you can go and be a decoy without worrying.”

 

“What!!!”

 

Zhou Wu only wanted to cry at the moment. He looked at the foolish Mu Ying and the other union actors who wouldn’t speak on his behalf. How could his life be so hard?

 

“Captain, the tripwire holy water/mines around the lake have been set up.”

 

“Holy water gu-ns are filled.”

 

“Bibles and silver crosses are ready for action!”

 

Ma Yuanan gratifyingly patted the shoulders of his team members and said, “Well done.”

 

Looking at such thorough preparations, the party’s tension and uneasiness dissipated quite a bit. As a union actor specialising in hunting bosses, Ma Yuanan felt that his swagger was back.

 

“Captain, leave the head to me. I’m going to put his crocodile head into space and bring it back to hang above my bed.”

 

“Hahaha, then I’ll take his axe instead.”

 

“You bunch of per-verts!” One of the shortest and most lewd-looking members rubbed his hands. “I’ll take his good father; he’s a great celebrity who can’t be resisted; that face, hey!”

 

The lewd man licked the corners of his mouth and fantasised about how he would torture the beauty, who was so sick and disabled that he couldn’t even run away.

 

The others had long since become accustomed to his speeches. This guy was a non-vegetarian; not only did he like to mess with NPCs, but sometimes he even messed with actors, so they could only say that the kid named Zhuo Yu was going to be unlucky.

 

Ma Yuanan squinted at Zhou Wu from the corner of his eyes. “Go on, go to the cabin by the lake, and lure the boss out.”

 

Zhou Wu couldn’t cry; he had just left the wolf’s den, yet he had to enter the tiger’s den again. He could only take slow steps away from the bushes.

 

The hunt, originating from the Soul Hunters Union, had begun.

 

In the wooden house by the Golden Lake, Zhuo Yu suddenly heard a knock on the door, and Asha quickly put on his crocodile mask.

 

“Are they already on the mountain?”

 

 

The boss nodded.

 

 

He had a natural sense of the range of the Golden Lake; he could even know which bird had flown down on which branch if he wanted to, and he could sense that in the dense forest in the distance, there were a few people unsuspectingly setting up something.

 

 

But he ignored it, for it was needless to care about a few flies.

 

The knocking sound sounded again. Zhuo Yu stopped Asha and swung his wheelchair forward to open the door.

 

 

The person who came was, unexpectedly, Liu Jingyun.

 

Liu Jingyun’s ashen face lit up the moment she saw Zhuo Yu; she was almost in tears: “Great, I knew you didn’t die; the system didn’t broadcast it; I’ve been looking for you.”

 

Miss Liu was thrilled; her hope of passing the level was still there!

 

After Zhuo Yu was taken away, she was in despair at the time; she didn’t think that she could pass such a dangerous film just by herself and her not-so-impressive brain. But as soon as she thought there was still a chance, Liu Jingyun tried to recall Zhuo Yu’s movements, stumbled to start up the caravan, and with extremely crooked and bumpy driving skills, she traced the direction the boss had gone in and went all the way back to the Golden Lake.

 

She was going to die either way, so she had to save the hope of the whole film! That way, there might even be a silver lining!

 

Zhuo Yu couldn’t help but tease, “Your desire for survival is too strong.”

 

Liu Jingyun was just about to retort when she looked behind Zhuo Yu; it seemed to be a familiar tall figure.

 

The BOSS!

 

She was so scared that she took several steps back, but soon she calmed down. Because Zhuo Yu didn’t die and the boss didn’t take a shot at her, did this mean that the boss wasn’t a monster that k-illed on sight?

 

 

“Come in, it’s fine.” Zhuo Yu waved at her.

 

Liu Jingyun was slightly suspicious as she tried to enter, but sure enough, the boss ignored her.

 

 

She was completely relieved.

 

 

“What’s going on here?” She quietly tugged on Zhuo Yu’s sleeve, and as a result, the boss looked over at once, frightening Liu Jingyun to immediately let go.

 

 

Zhuo Yu held his chin, feeling that it was very troublesome to explain, “It’s a long story; it’s enough for you to know that the boss won’t ki-ll you now.”

 

 

Liu Jingyun nodded. She carefully came to the kitchen, trying to find some food left over from last time. After driving for so long and venturing through Spring Town, she had long been hungry.

 

 

Just as she walked near the cupboards, a subtle groan suddenly came from the cupboards. Liu Jingyun instantly raised her guard as she held onto a piece of glass shard on the floor before violently pulling open the cupboard door.

 

 

However, there was no monster inside, but a dying human with a bruised throat.

 

 

If memory served, he was part of Zhou Wu’s foursome.

 

 

“You, are you alright?” Liu Jingyun was a little confused about the current situation.

 

 

Fang Hao, who has been standing firm with only his last breath due to his character’s characteristics as a swimmer, had lost his vision completely, and when he looked at the hazy floral dress in front of him, he actually seemed to be even more horrified than when he saw the boss.

 

 

“Shu Ya! Shu Ya! Are you here to pick me up? Don’t; I haven’t lived long enough!”

 

 

Fang Hao waved his hands in the air futilely; his miserable white face blossomed with veins; his voice was hoarse and shrill because of his shattered throat bones; he agitated his wounds as he spoke; but even so, he couldn’t stop his fearful words.

 

 

“I repent; I truly do! I had a crush on you, and I was too jealous when I saw you in love. I shouldn’t have started a rumour in the school forum, but you didn’t have to jump off the building; it’s not my fault you died! Please don’t take me away!”

 

 

Liu Jingyun was shocked by him. “What are you talking about? Are you really alright?”

 

 

She reached out her hand to Fang Hao as if to help him up, but as a result, Fang Hao became even more frightened; he choked out a breath and his eyes suddenly rolled upwards.

 

 

[Actor Fang Hao is dead.] [Died of shock.]

 

 

“Ah this, who the hell is scaring who? What’s going on?” Liu Jingyun was simply at a loss for words; inexplicably, she had scared someone to death. “This really has nothing to do with me.”

 

 

Zhuo Yu, who witnessed everything from the doorway, opened his mouth slightly, his expression showing surprise.

 

 

Liu Jingyun had really brought a lot of surprises to the table.

 

 

Because of the updates brought about by the side quests, he had been thinking about the connection between the actors and the characters and then he recalled that Fang Hao’s character was set up to be a “dark otaku with a crush on a goddess” type of character, right?

 

 

Could it be that the actors on set were chosen according to their compatibility with the characters?

 

 

But it could be a coincidence; after all, Zhou Wu was more sensible than Jack, and Mu Ying’s temper wasn’t as spicy as Nina’s, but wasn’t it possible that this was a manifestation of the actors being tempered after entering the film set and that they may have been like Jack and Nina at one point in their lives?

 

 

These were all hypotheses that Zhuo Yu intended to test.

 

 

“Liu Jingyun, what is your character’s setting?”

 

 

Liu Jingyun came back to her senses and subconsciously answered, “An ordinary high school girl in a small town, nothing special, just good physical strength.”

 

 

“What about in reality?” Zhuo Yu immediately pursued the question.

 

 

Liu Jingyun visibly froze for a moment as she scratched her head. “It seems that I am indeed a physically strong college student. I am skilled in sports.”

 

 

“Ha…… interesting.” The corners of Zhuo Yu’s lips hooked up in a smile, his eyes filled with excitement and eagerness. “I know how to deal with those exorcists.”

 

 

He looked towards the BOSS in the hall and quickly said, “You mustn’t disturb my game later.”

 

 

Liu Jingyun didn’t know what the hell Zhuo Yu was playing at, but looking at the way he didn’t even look at his dead teammate or the look of having his eye on prey, it was completely different from when he was in Spring Town.

 

 

She suddenly felt a chill down her spine.

 

 

Compared to the hope of clearing the level, could it be that she had entered a ship of thieves?

 

At this time, Zhou Wu’s knock finally sounded; he didn’t even know that what he was knocking on was the four exorcists’ catalyst.

 

---