Brother Dao Took the Entertainment Industry by Storm, Fans Beg Me Not to Kill Anymore

Chapter 779: Filming of "The Sinister Hound"

Before the dilapidated old residential house, a middle-aged man in a suit and leather shoes followed behind an elder with graying temples, his face marked with anxiety and fawning eagerness.

"Celestial Master, please take a look, is this place really—"

He glanced around frantically, his eyes taking in nothing but decayed, old decorations.

The iron door at the unit entrance had completely come off its frame, leaning crookedly against the wall. The exterior wall paint on both sides of the entrance had long since become half-peeled, appearing somewhat moldy and greenish. From the crack in the corner of the ceiling above, a liquid somewhere between yellow and orange flowed continuously downward, looking utterly disgusting.

The piles of garbage on both sides were a colorful mess, mixed with household waste that had spilled out from torn bags, successfully attracting all kinds of tiny creatures. Flies and other insects occasionally buzzed through the air, making people instinctively uncomfortable.

"Is this place really..." the middle-aged man's voice gradually lowered, as if afraid of being heard by something. He choked the words in his throat, letting out two words that sounded like forbidden taboos, "...haunted?"

The next moment, as if responding to his words, a black cat suddenly darted out from the garbage heap beside them, letting out a sharp screech.

"Ah!!!"

The middle-aged man leaped backward in fright, then tremblingly raised his hand and began muttering something. Finally, he couldn't help but shout, "Celestial Master, save me!"

The Celestial Master, who had been pushed to the front, stroked his beard, appearing quite composed. He turned slightly to his employer behind him and said, "Mr. Lin, it's just a wild cat!"

"Ah?"

The middle-aged man peeked out, and upon seeing it was indeed a cat, finally let out a long breath. Somewhat embarrassed, he walked back to the Celestial Master's side, patting his chest and saying, "Ahem, so that's what I mean—this place, it's really eerie!"

The Celestial Master still maintained his expert demeanor, looking up at the old building shrouded in shadow before them. He nodded slightly: "Dark clouds hanging overhead, a black cat blocking the way—I'm afraid there's great danger within!"

The Celestial Master's words were particularly firm, and perhaps because he deliberately lowered his voice, his tone sounded especially sinister in the silence. The middle-aged man's teeth chattered: "S-so, indeed... Celestial Master, you must save us!"

"Don't worry, let's go in and take a look first. I will surely protect you."

The Celestial Master pulled out a compass, grandly swept his sleeve, and positioned himself to shield the man.

"O-okay, thank you, Celestial Master!"

The middle-aged man, with tears in his eyes, finally mustered some courage.

So the two continued upward.

This old, shabby building was pitch black inside, without even a single functioning light, looking extremely sinister.

The only light still working flickered constantly, its dim yellowish glow illuminating the stairs and narrow corridor, as well as the dense layers of small advertisements plastered on both walls.

Whether it was an illusion or not, those brightly colored ads piled together actually looked like strange talisman patterns, inexplicably agitating anyone who saw them. But upon closer inspection, they were just cheap, worthless street ads. However, beneath these ads were splashes of red paint left by debt collectors. Behind some torn pieces of paper were the curses and demands left by collectors from years past, like some kind of curse.

The surroundings were eerily silent, not a breath of wind, only the sound of their breathing.

The Celestial Master took a few more steps, and his foot crunched as he stepped on a cockroach corpse that had long since dried into a hollow shell.

Perhaps because the atmosphere was so still, the sound of the body being crushed was unnervingly clear.

The middle-aged man was already drenched in cold sweat, but the Celestial Master remained calm, his compass rotating in his hand, projecting the image of an expert in complete control.

But the hand holding the compass subtly changed its grip.

Unfortunately, the middle-aged man noticed nothing.

So the two continued onward.

Finally, they stopped before a room.

When he saw the room number his employer had mentioned, a gleam finally flashed in the Celestial Master's eyes. He placed something hidden between his fingers under the compass, and the previously stable magnetic needle suddenly went out of control, spinning wildly—

The copper plate, due to the rapid rotation, collided with a faint, hoarse hum, exuding an inexplicable eeriness. It terrified the middle-aged man so much that his back stiffened, his legs went weak, and his fingers desperately clutched the Celestial Master's clothing, afraid of being dragged away by the invisible evil spirit: "Celestial Master, save me!"

The Celestial Master immediately played along with the situation, shouting, "Not good! The yin energy is surging!"

Then his hand prepared to reach for props to begin his "ritual," and the compass needle stopped pointing in one direction—

But he never expected that before his big show could even "begin," the middle-aged man behind him had already screamed, pointing in the same direction: "Celestial Master, there seems to be something over there!"

"What?!"

This unexpected turn made the Celestial Master's heart tremble. He looked up and saw a dark shadow darting through the darkness ahead.

The next second, the only working light bulb suddenly went out.

"Celestial Master, hurry, save me—"

The middle-aged man was scared out of his wits, and the Celestial Master was also startled by the sudden loss of light, instinctively wanting to turn and run.

But just as both were about to be scared to death, a beam of light lit up before them again.

A figure slowly emerged from the shadows.

When the two looked again, they saw a young man in a blue work uniform.

The young man held a familiar-looking black cat in one hand and a flashlight in the other, standing silently at the edge of the shadows.

"Ahh—it really is a ghost!"

The middle-aged man screamed, pointing tremblingly at the "ghost," and grabbed the Celestial Master beside him, shouting orders: "Aren't you going to subdue it now?"

But the Celestial Master saw the shadow behind the young man and subtly let out a breath of relief. Just as he was about to expose this fraud pretending to be a ghost, the young man spoke first:

"Mr. Lin, I'm a housing inspection expert hired by your daughter."

As he came closer, the two could see the young man's calm expression, the corners of his mouth carrying a polite smile that inexplicably broke the tense, sinister atmosphere in the corridor.

Because of the earlier fright, the young man's words almost didn't register. Both of them just stared blankly at the person before them, unable to find their voices for a long moment.

But the young man kept approaching, still talking nonstop: "Mr. Lin, I've already inspected this house. Overall, the living environment is indeed quite poor. The garbage downstairs should be cleaned up. As for the sound of something climbing at night that your mother mentioned, we've found it in the pipes outside the bedroom. It's because cockroaches have nested inside, and they're so packed that they can't get out, so they just crawl around in the pipes. When they get hungry, they start gnawing on the pipe walls..."

"It's quiet during the day because of the light. The bugs gather at the other end, so there are fewer near your mother's window..."

"As for the crying sounds at night, that's just this male cat in heat. It's not some evil spirit causing trouble—"

"I suggest you consider dealing with the red paint on the walls as soon as possible. The smell is seriously off the charts. Inhaling too much of it can easily cause nausea and vomiting, and the words themselves carry a strong negative psychological suggestion..."

Under the two's stunned gazes, the young man used a very scientific approach to explain every anomaly Mr. Lin had mentioned before coming.

"Oh, right, and as for this Celestial Master's abnormal compass—"

The young man smirked, and before the "Celestial Master" could react, he pulled out the magnet hidden under the compass and showed it to Mr. Lin.

"He's just a scammer, Mr. Lin. We need to believe in science. You've been conned!"

The young man's Cantonese accent was particularly melodic and pleasant to the ear, but the two in front of him were both shocked.

"Ah? He's a scammer?!"

"Son of a bitch! You bastard! Stealing my business?!"