Chapter 12: The Dog Struck by Lightning
That night was truly a thrilling one.
The netizens were happily watching the livestream when the scene suddenly flipped, and the director, as if possessed, had a complete meltdown and exposed himself!
And the extent of his self-exposure was not small. He had essentially left himself no way out, cutting off all possibilities of surviving in the entertainment industry in the future.
Well, it seemed the rest of this director’s life would be spent behind bars.
The director even implicated several other people, but in his panic, he mostly talked about himself, only mentioning the others in passing.
But this still didn’t stop the netizens’ enthusiasm. They took note of everyone the director mentioned and began to dig deep with all their skills. As it turned out, one or two celebrities hadn’t hidden their tracks well enough and were exposed by the netizens, getting sent to the top of the trending topics along with the director.
The director had unexpectedly become famous, and the show gained a lot of attention along with him. But this kind of fame was not what anyone had hoped for. Instead, it was incredibly frustrating.
Gossip-loving netizens were still flooding into the livestream, at one point almost crashing the server.
In the darkness, the director knelt on the stone-paved ground, his fat body looking rather pathetic as it slumped in a heap, endlessly confessing his sins.
When a person is on the verge of death, especially after a huge shock, they begin to constantly recall the evil deeds they have done, praying for forgiveness from the heavens. At this point, whether they believe in gods or not, they can’t help but hold on to a sliver of hope, trying to beg for a chance to live.
The director now felt as if he was completely submerged in water. He began to stutter, his eyes bulging as if he couldn’t breathe, staring ahead in a plea for help.
Not only the guests on the scene, but also the viewers in the livestream were terrified by the director’s appearance.
[Something is definitely wrong with him! His whole state is like he’s been thrown into water, he’s even making gurgling sounds when he talks.]
Before the netizens could express their thoughts freely, the livestream was shut down. The audience cursed and complained, wishing they could give it a bad review.
After ordering the livestream to be shut down, the assistant director looked back at the fainted director with lingering fear.
The director lay on the ground, his breathing steady, but his face was still a bit bluish-black. Chi Xiasheng guessed it was from holding his breath earlier.
Under the assistant director’s command, several strong staff members carried the director upstairs.
The village’s respected old doctor, the same old man who had treated Chi Xiasheng, was also urgently called over by the assistant director to treat the director.
When the old doctor saw the director’s condition, he gasped in horror.
“As expected, people shouldn’t do evil! Even the Fish God couldn’t stand it and had to teach him a lesson! He really deserved it!”
Everyone else present was a materialist, but the director’s sudden outburst today had indeed made them a little panicked. Could it be that there really was some non-human existence in this village?
The old doctor prescribed two doses of sedatives and left, leaving a large group of people in the living room, staring at each other.
Tonight was supposed to be the finale of the first segment. They had even set up a barbecue in the yard to celebrate. But who would have thought that something like this would happen?
The finale was out of the question for now. The internet was in an uproar, with several trending topics. It was only because the sponsors had quickly helped to suppress the buzz that the director hadn’t become a national sensation.
But with this show having one problem after another, could it continue filming?
The guests all had the answer in their hearts. This show was, in all likelihood, doomed.
“It’s been a long night. Why don’t we all go up and sleep first?” Qiu Li rubbed her temples and said wearily.
The others also contacted their agents, planning to leave early the next morning. This little village was too spooky! If Chi Xiasheng falling into the pond at night could be explained by the darkness, then the director’s performance of drowning in mid-air had to make everyone wary.
Su Chimian also felt a sense of panic. His fingertips gripped his cup, and he took a few deep breaths to steady his expression.
Chi Xiasheng had a clear conscience, so he wasn’t as scared as the others. Instead, he calmly walked out into the yard.
“Xiao Ze?”
But when he went out, he found that Xiao Ze, who had been picking flowers in the yard, had disappeared at some point.
Could he have gone home?
Chi Xiasheng frowned. He felt he should go and check. After all, Xiao Ze was young. It would be bad if something happened to him.
But he had only taken a few steps when the dark clouds completely covered the few remaining stars. The whole sky was oppressively dark, making one feel a little panicked.
Chi Xiasheng quickened his pace, heading towards Xiao Ze’s house.
In the dark clouds, lightning flickered faintly. After a few rumbles, no heavy rain fell.
Chi Xiasheng looked up. In the darkness, he could vaguely see the clouds hanging low, with lightning rolling and churning within them, as if brewing a bolt that could split the sky. But this final, grand bolt was taking a rather long time to brew.
Chi Xiasheng had already walked most of the way, but he still hadn’t seen the earth-shattering lightning strike.
Xiao Ze’s house was located closest to the foot of the mountain. A dozen meters away was a small stream that wound around the mountain. It was usually so clear you could see the bottom, and many children would be chattering and playing there. But now it was the middle of the night, and the area around Xiao Ze’s house was so quiet you could almost hear the faint rumble of thunder in the sky.
Chi Xiasheng searched Xiao Ze’s house but couldn’t find him.
“Is he not here?”
Chi Xiasheng went to the front yard and searched carefully again, but still saw no sign of him.
In the small water tank in the front yard, there were a few small fish caught from the nearby stream. At this moment, they were trembling and huddled together at the bottom of the tank for warmth.
Just as Chi Xiasheng passed by the water tank, a black fish jumped out of the water with a splash.
The black fish wagged its tail at Chi Xiasheng with all its might, trying to get him to go back inside.
‘Stop looking for me! Go back inside and hide!’
Xiao Ze desperately wanted to say what was on his mind, but he had used up all his meager power when he had played a trick on the director earlier. Now, he was being suppressed by a powerful force and couldn’t even take human form. He could only rush back home and hide in the water tank to save his life.
Since this evening, Xiao Ze had felt a strange, restless power surging. The weak animals in the village had all fled back to their nests, not daring to show their faces.
As the most powerful demon in the village, Xiao Ze had never encountered such a powerful force since he was born. This pressure made it difficult for him to breathe. Even the act of jumping out of the water had taken all his strength.
But Chi Xiasheng completely misunderstood the black fish’s meaning. Instead, he felt that this fish… looked a bit like the one that had scared him and made him slip when he fell into the water a few days ago. They were both pitch black.
But Chi Xiasheng didn’t care to figure out if they were the same fish. He rushed out, wanting to find Xiao Ze before it started to rain. The impending storm was powerful. If he didn’t take shelter, he would definitely be drenched.
The moment Chi Xiasheng stepped out of the courtyard, the thunder in the sky rumbled and fell.
And it struck right on the mountainside next to the small village.
The mountain wasn’t large, and it was covered with a dense forest of wild trees, which kept it green all year round. But at this moment, a white bolt of lightning, like a nimble dragon, accurately struck the forest on the mountainside.
Chi Xiasheng was very close to the lightning, so close that he could even see the shape of the lightning as it split into branches when it struck.
The next moment, he quickly went back inside. With such a big storm, it was better to hide.
Standing by the window and looking out, Chi Xiasheng wondered if the lightning would set the trees on the mountain on fire. What if it caused a forest fire?
Chi Xiasheng picked up his phone, ready to call the fire department if the situation looked bad.
The thunder grew closer and louder. At one point, Chi Xiasheng felt as if the thunder had exploded right next to his ear.
After another bolt of lightning struck, Chi Xiasheng saw a silver-white light snake down from the sky in the backyard, accurately striking the empty ground.
Chi Xiasheng felt that his call to the fire department might need to be changed to a call for his own rescue.
But after this bolt of lightning struck, the sky fell silent, and everything seemed to return to peace.
Holding his phone, Chi Xiasheng gently pushed open a crack in the window and peered into the yard.
The smell of something burning wafted in through the crack. Chi Xiasheng couldn’t help but frown, wondering if the lightning had burned something in the yard.
Cautiously sticking his head out of the window, Chi Xiasheng saw that the dark clouds in the sky seemed to be scattering. The rain probably wouldn’t fall.
The light in the backyard had also been struck by the lightning. Chi Xiasheng could only turn on his phone’s flashlight to see what was going on in the yard.
When the flashlight beam shone on the middle of the yard, something next to the small crater created by the lightning strike seemed to move.
Perhaps because it was so quiet, Chi Xiasheng thought he heard it let out a very faint whimper. It sounded like a newborn puppy, a weak, thin sound coming from its throat.
After listening carefully for a while, Chi Xiasheng realized it really seemed to be a small animal! It had probably been hiding in the yard from the storm and had been accidentally struck.
Chi Xiasheng thought that this little animal, whether it was a kitten or a puppy, was really unlucky. But his own luck didn’t seem to be much better.
Chi Xiasheng couldn’t just stand by and watch it die. After confirming that no more lightning was falling from the sky, he quickly opened the door and ran out. He scooped up the small, dark, furry ball with his clothes and rushed back inside.
He didn’t know if the little thing was black from being struck or if it was naturally that color. When Chi Xiasheng placed it on the floor inside, he couldn’t even tell where its face was. It was a small, furry ball, whimpering and looking incredibly pitiful.
The moment Chi Xiasheng brought the little thing inside, the thunder that had been rolling in the sky, ready to deliver a fatal blow, suddenly fizzled out.
But since it had been brewing for so long, this final bolt of lightning still gently struck the roof.
