A moment later, the meal Chu Yi had ordered arrived. He ate while listening to the big boss personally explain the contract… What treatment this was.
After finishing his meal, he did not rush to leave. Instead, he had the waiter bring a cup of clear tea and leisurely sat in the corner sipping it. He did not like being alone, but he also disliked excessive noise. The current environment was just right, and there was someone he did not mind accompanying him.
People came and went in the restaurant, the lights were dimly bright, glasses clinked amid toasts, and President Yu’s clear, pleasant voice lingered by his side. Compared to crouching in a dilapidated mountain temple counting rice grains into the pot by himself, his life now was incomparably more comfortable.
As night deepened, a figure hurriedly dashed in from outside the restaurant. Upon spotting Chu Yi, the man had not even caught his breath before blurting out, “Yi Ge, so you’re here… The film crew has had another incident!”
Chu Yi hurried toward the film crew site with Liu Shengqing, listening to his explanation along the way.
It turned out that there was a night scene that evening—a killer’s sudden assault, with the imperial envoy fleeing in haste. For such an action sequence, Master Cheng and his disciples were certainly on site. During the shoot, Master Cheng had no idea what came over him, but he suddenly went berserk, shouting nonstop that there was a ghost and pushing his wheelchair around to evade it.
Strangely, many people on set had felt it too: gusts of eerie wind, nearby set pieces and props suddenly flying up and smashing chaotically toward Master Cheng. As he dodged, his disciples rushed to help, and many others on set got caught in the crossfire…
Chu Yi had a guess as soon as he heard. “Has that Ying Lin come back?”
“Yes, tonight’s scene was his.”
“Did Master Cheng clash with him?”
Liu Shengqing hesitated slightly. “Not really. Strangely, Master Cheng was polite to everyone today, though whether he warned Ying Ge, I wouldn’t know.”
Yu Qingxian knew a bit of the inside story and spoke up at this point. “You suspect Ying Lin is behind it?”
This Ying Lin was someone his company’s agent had recently poached. Chu Yi had asked about him specifically without inquiring about others, so Yu Qingxian instinctively grew alert.
Chu Yi did not deny it. “Do you know about the custom of raising little ghosts in Nanyang? They call them Kuman Thong. Opportunists like gamblers, swindlers, and merchants like to invite them home to worship, as legend says they bring good luck.
“But these things aren’t easy to raise. Besides providing them with clothes, food, and offerings, the owner must coax them and play with them. The stronger the little ghost’s power, the heavier its malice. They’re all children who died young, with no sense of good or evil—they simply target whoever their owner dislikes. And if the owner only takes without satisfying them, they throw tantrums.”
He had seen the Yin Qi on Master Cheng and the crew members, and recalled how they mentioned the set house being inexplicably wrecked. That fueled his suspicions.
After all, normal people wouldn’t do something so pointless. Even rivals wouldn’t sabotage a production that hadn’t finished filming, let alone one not clashing schedules.
Liu Shengqing could not see Yu Qingxian and assumed Chu Yi was speaking to him. His eyes flickered. “Yi Ge, are you saying Ying Ge… he’s raising a little ghost?”
“We’ll know once we see.”
By the time Chu Yi and the others arrived, the little ghost was still wreaking havoc wildly, scaring everyone into continuous screams.
Chu Yi kicked away a saddle flying straight at him, then ignited a Dispelling Talisman with a flick of his hand. The yin qi on site indeed dispersed a great deal, and the sand and stones stirred up by the yin wind settled down.
Director Mo finally spotted Chu Yi and hurried over. “Young Master Chu—”
But a black shadow was faster, shrieking as it lunged at Chu Yi. He brushed Director Mo aside and tossed a Golden Bell Fine Net woven from red rope into the air.
The black shadow touched the Golden Bell and seemed scorched by fire, billowing plumes of black smoke. As it struggled, the bell rang out, causing it apparent agony; the black mist it emitted grew thicker…
“Ghost!!” A crew member who witnessed this freaked out. If there had been mere suspicion before, now they had damn well seen it!
But as soon as he shouted, Director Mo shot him a glare, choking the rest of the screams back into his throat.
Seeing Director Mo’s reaction, Chu Yi knew things had escalated badly. By now, the black mist had fully dissipated, and the shadow turned transparent again. He quickly folded up the Golden Bell Net and stuffed it back into his pocket.
Director Mo breathed a sigh of relief, eyeing Chu Yi’s pocket timidly. “That thing’s gone, right?”
Fortunately, most people had fled when the chaos started; only a scant few had seen that scene. Otherwise, he wouldn’t know how to handle the fallout!
Chu Yi: “No, it’s still there. Director Mo, do you want it? If you do, it’s yours.”
Chu Yi pretended to reach into his pocket. He had been wondering how to deal with it!
The little thing’s mischief was neither major nor minor—it hadn’t taken lives—so Chu Yi could not simply kill it.
“No, no…” Cold sweat beaded on Director Mo’s brow as he hurriedly stopped him.
Ying Lin emerged from behind a prop, eyes full of shock and uncertainty. “Who are you? How did you control it…”
He seemed to realize his slip too late to take it back.
