Chapter 20

     “Buzz buzz buzz…”

     There was a regular vibration in the room, as if someone was using some low-frequency electrical appliances.

     Lighting engineer Xiao Chen woke up in the middle of the night. He wrapped himself tightly in the quilt and tried to fall asleep again, but the vibration kept him awake. He opened his eyes with difficulty and turned over to look at the bed opposite.

     Lighting engineer Lao Liu, who shared a room with him, sat with his back to him, his right hand still swinging slightly. Could it be that Lao Liu was shaving his beard?

     Xiao Chen remembered that when he was done with work today, he heard Lao Liu and Hu Gui say that they would come back in the evening to shave their beards and trim their eyebrows to regain their youth… Even if they wanted to shave, they shouldn’t shave in the dark, right?

     Xiao Chen lost his sleep as he thought about it. He asked, “Lao Liu, what are you doing so late at night?”

     Lao Liu’s back froze, and he didn’t answer him.

     “Buzz buzz buzz…buzz buzz buzz…” 

     The vibration sound has not stopped yet. Xiao Chen listened to this uninterrupted sound and felt annoyed for no reason. He couldn’t help complaining: “Can’t you let me sleep? I have to get up early tomorrow!” 

     “It will be done soon.” Lao Liu answered faintly without looking back. 

     “You are not really shaving, then why don’t you turn on…the light…” Xiao Chen suddenly realized that Lao Liu’s voice seemed to become younger and deeper! 

     The unusual coldness made Xiao Chen tremble in his heart. He rubbed his eyes and carefully observed the back figure. Afterwards, he realized that the back figure was too thin and it was not Lao Liu at all! 

     Xiao Chen’s palms were cold. He looked at the bed calmly. Sure enough, there was a person lying on the bed. That was the real Lao Liu. Who was the person who was talking to him with his back to him? ! “Heh,” the man laughed, “You found me.”

     “Who are you? Why did you sneak into our room?” Xiao Chen jumped up from the bed and quickly turned on the bedside lamp.

     Xiao Chen squinted his eyes because of the light. When he opened his eyes again, the back figure had disappeared. Only Lao Liu was on the bed opposite.

     A hundred kinds of horrible thoughts flashed through his mind. Xiao Chen’s legs were so weak that he turned on all the lights in the room by instinct.

     Lao Liu lay motionless on the bed, his face was pale, and there was a layer of sweat on his forehead. A closer look showed that his eyebrows had been trimmed and most of his messy beard had been shaved off.

     Xiao Chen trembled and went to check Lao Liu’s breath. Fortunately, he was fine.

     Xiao Chen couldn’t hold it anymore. He held Lao Liu’s shoulders and shook him: “Lao Liu, Lao Liu, wake up!”

     Lao Liu woke up with a start, staring at his lifeless eyes and gasping for breath. It took him a long time to recover, and then he saw Xiao Chen crying.

     Lao Liu was startled: “Why are you squatting by my bed crying so late at night?”

     “I woke up in the middle of the night and saw someone sitting by the bed shaving your beard. I thought it was a thief or a bad guy… but he disappeared as soon as I turned on the light!” Xiao Chen tried his best to control his fear and pointed at Lao Liu’s chin and said, “Go look in the mirror!”

     Xiao Chen is different from Xiao Bei. He is usually very stable and honest. Lao Liu knows that he will never play a prank. Lao Liu touched his chin and felt a chill in his heart. He got up to look in the mirror and accidentally kicked something.

     Looking down, it turned out to be a lipstick.

…

     It was another day of getting up early and waiting for work to start.

     Today we have to film the scene with the heroine, which is the most important scene since the filming started. The director called Shi Xi, Tang Niannian and the heroine Mimi to come over and said, “You all prepared in advance last night, tell me your understanding of this scene.”

     This scene tells the story of the heroine Mi Ling chasing a masked monk who has committed murder and fled. On the way, she met Wu Chen, who was accompanied by a fox demon and was covered in demonic energy. She mistakenly took Wu Chen as the murderer, the three of them—human, martial artist, and fox spirit—get into a fight and become acquainted.

     Shi Xi twisted her Buddhist beads slowly, a hint of teasing flashed in her eyes: “As soon as I saw Mi Ling, I knew she was one of the key figures destined to save the world from great calamity. She’s a truly righteous person who cares deeply for all living beings. I wanted to test her abilities, so I didn’t rush to explain when the misunderstanding arose. I admit I was a little mischievous.’

     “I’m even more mischievous,’ Tang Niannian wrinkled her nose: “I just want to watch the fun and I want Wuchen to die quickly so that I can take his Buddha’s heart to heal my tail. So I was looking forward to this battle and excitedly attacked Wuchen with Mi Ling.”

     Mimi: “I am a martial arts fanatic. Even if I found out during the fight that he is not a demon monk, I still want to fight him.”

     The director nodded with satisfaction: “Yes, you are in opposition as soon as you meet, and no one is willing to give in. Each of you has your own thoughts. Later in the fight, even the bad-hearted Wu Chen became serious. You admired each other during the fight, and the victory or defeat seemed to be no longer important.”

     “This scene is to highlight the youthful spirit and free and easy. You must grasp the emotional changes of the characters. In addition, the fight must be hearty and beautiful! This scene requires wire hanging, you must be mentally prepared…”

     “Director, we have something to tell you.” Lighting technicians Lao Liu, Xiao Chen and prop masters Hu Gui and Xiao Bei came to the director together, and the four of them had some haze on their faces.

     The director said casually: “We are about to start shooting, tell us if you have anything to say.” 

     “This…” Lao Liu looked at the leading actors and hesitated: “Director, let’s go to the other side to talk.”

     Shi Xi noticed that Lao Liu had no beard, and combined with the quarrel between Hu Gui and Xiao Bei yesterday, she had already guessed what they were going to say, and said bluntly: “Teacher Liu, just say it here. Yesterday, Niannian and I heard the conversation between the two prop teachers and got a general idea. You don’t have to hide it from us.”

     Mimi showed her little tiger teeth: “Then I’ll listen too.”

     The third male He Xiangyang happened to pass by and stopped when he heard their conversation, showing a curious look.

     The director looked at the time and urged, “Let’s talk about it right now.”

     “Then I’ll tell you…” As the representative of the four people, Lao Liu recounted Hu Gui’s experience and his own experience last night, and took out a transparent plastic bag containing lipstick.

     “This is the lipstick I found by the bed last night. After the incident, Xiao Chen and I checked the room. We locked the door before going to bed. There was no sign of it being opened or damaged. My own razor was still in the suitcase, and there was no sign of it being used. So how did my beard get shaved, and how did this lipstick appear in the room?” 

     Hu Gui swallowed nervously and added in a low voice: “The most mysterious thing is that when I got up today, I heard someone say in my ear, ‘It’s sunny today, remember to apply sunscreen’, and I was so scared that I almost rolled off the bed!” 

     “So you think there is a ghost in the hotel?” He Xiangyang frowned: “And it’s a ghost who likes to shave people’s beards, trim eyebrows and apply lipstick?” 

     Xiao Chen nodded repeatedly: “Yes! I saw it with my own eyes last night!” 

     After Xiao Chen’s voice fell, everyone present felt a little scared, only Shi Xi looked normal. Shi Xi asked Xiao Chen: “Can you describe the characteristics of the ghost in detail?”

     “It was a man, with a thin back and a young voice…” Xiao Chen recalled: “He disappeared as soon as the light was turned on. I was so panicked that I can’t remember anything else.”

     Shi Xi nodded and stretched out his hand to Lao Liu: “Teacher Liu, let me see the lipstick.”

     Lao Liu was surprised: “Teacher Xiao, aren’t you afraid?”

     When these words were spoken, everyone laughed.

     The director patted the confused Lao Liu: “Lao Liu, you may not know that Teacher Xiao is a ghost-hunting anchor and has participated in the escape room variety show where the live broadcast accident happened. This little wind and waves can’t scare her.”

     “I see,” Lao Liu immediately respected Shi Xi and handed her the lipstick: “Then Teacher Xiao Xi, take a look.”

     Shi Xi raised the bag and took a look. This is a black lipstick with a gold border, a popular color. Looking closely, you can find a layer of faint Yin Qi attached to it.

     The director asked, “What did you see?”

     Shi Xi put down the bag, looked at Hu Gui and then at Lao Liu, and concluded, “This ghost has a good choice of lipstick color, good taste, good eyebrows, strong skills, and reminds people to pay attention to sun protection. It can be seen that he is very careful and his professional ability is no worse than our makeup artist.”

     Director: “…”

     Everyone: “…”

     Tang Niannian agreed: “His professional ability is indeed strong.”

     Shi Xi became serious: “Also, Mr. Liu said that he also wanted to shave his beard, and then the ghost came to his house at night. I suggest that you don’t say similar ideas, because the ghost will really satisfy you.”

     Everyone also became serious and nodded.

     He Xiangyang guessed, “Maybe this ghost used to be a makeup artist? I heard from my uncle that if a person’s obsession is too deep after death, his soul will linger in the place where he died, stubbornly repeating the things he loved and didn’t complete during his lifetime.”

     Mimi rubbed her arms: “I have goose bumps all over my body. I have to go back to the hotel to sleep tonight.”

     “Are you sure you are not playing a prank?” The director asked again with a rigorous attitude.

     Hu Gui: “Even if we were given ten courages, we would not dare to collude and lie to you!”

     “Director,” Lao Liu said sincerely, “I have been in this business for many years. We are not the only crew that has encountered such a thing. I beg you to ask a master to exorcise the evil spirits, otherwise everyone will not be in the mood to work.”

     “Yes, I have been feeling uncomfortable since yesterday. If this continues, I will have neurasthenia.” Hu Gui rubbed his pale face, his eyes a little resentful.

     It is useless to suppress this kind of news. It will spread quickly. The director also knows that this is not a trivial matter and cannot be delayed. He pondered for a moment: “I asked someone to ask the director of the escape room variety show to see how he handled it later.”

     The director took out his mobile phone to inquire about the news and asked: “Xiao Shi, Niannian, you two are guests of the escape room variety show, have you heard anything?”

     Gossip expert Tang Niannian immediately answered: “My friend told me that after the recording was over, the owner of the escape room venue invited three people to exorcise the evil spirits at the same time. The three people fought on the spot, and later Master Qingshi of Wuyou Temple won. I heard that Master Qingshi is a living god! She is good-looking and has superb magic! The amulet I carry with me is produced by Wuyou Temple, and it is very effective.”

     “By the way, this amulet was asked by Jiaming and Xiao Shi. Director, you can just ask Xiao Shi to help connect, and we will invite Master Qingshi!”

     Shi Xi: “…” I invite myself?

     The director had finished questioning the person, and raised his head and said, “It’s true. My friend said that this Master Qingshi is very aloof. She was calm in the face of the provocation of the other two. She made the evil ghost kneel down and beg for mercy on the spot. She also has a set of self-created life-related spells, which are first-class.”

     Shi Xi: “…” A little exaggerated.

     Hu Gui asked excitedly: “Teacher Xiao Shi, is this Master Qingshi really that powerful?”

     “That’s all hype!” He Xiangyang suddenly interrupted them excitedly: “Master Qingshi and Wuyou Temple, they are all lies.”

     Tang Niannian asked unhappily: “Why do you say that? Do you have evidence?”

     He Xiangyang was a little angry: “My uncle is a Taoist priest of Zixu Temple. He told me. This Wuyou Temple was originally unknown. It was just a dilapidated and unattended small Taoist temple. It suddenly became popular recently. Doesn’t it explain the problem? Wuyou Temple uses this trick to squeeze the living space of other Taoist temples. Recently, the incense of Zixu Temple has decreased.”

     “Director, leave this matter to my uncle. As long as I tell him, he can come tonight. Zixu Temple is one of the Taoist temples with the best reputation. You can rest assured.”

     Shi Xi glanced at He Xiangyang: “Your uncle’s one-sided statement is not evidence, it’s called rumor.”

     “Since you have a relationship with Wuyou Temple, you can ask that Taoist nun to come and exorcise evil spirits with my uncle. Whether it’s hype or real ability, we will see it tonight.” He Xiangyang snorted coldly: “If my uncle loses, we won’t take a penny and apologize to Wuyou Temple!”

     The system quietly went online to eat melons: 【Thinking back then, the Shen brothers were as confident as him. 】