New Times, New Hell

Chapter 40 - Obsession

Though Shang Que very desperately wanted to go play with the water balls, he ultimately was here to put on a show. Things couldn’t always go how he wanted them to, so he needed to cooperate with the investor’s plan and follow the schedule.

Because the activities with water could ruin the guests’ hair and makeup, they were scheduled to be last. Shang Que could only join everyone else in participating in the acupressure mat race, one-legged bumping game, and more first.

Thus, the first mysterious scene appeared in the livestream.

During the opening game, the acupressure mat race, almost all of the guests had on pained expressions. As they ran, they continuously shouted in agony. Those streamers who were more exaggerated in daily life were even more extra and had their faces twisted in suffering, allowing the audience to get an idea of how much pain they were in. The comment section was filled with “ey ey ey ey”.

Who would’ve thought that when the camera panned over Shang Que’s face, only four words could be seen: Has no soul whatsoever.

Of course, only Yu Zhengdu knew……It wasn’t that he had no soul whatsoever, but that he really only had a soul remaining.

Shang Que’s gaze was empty as he emotionlessly finished running the entire route. He then turned around to look at his teammates. “Hurry, I’m in a rush.”

Teammate: “……” Brother, can you make some expressions. If you’re like this, it’ll be difficult for us to explain to the audience.

As expected, the livestream channel was filled with a bunch of ellipses:【………………】

【???????????】

【Is everyone else acting or is CEO acting?】

【CEO doesn’t feel pain?】

【Could this be the hallmark of overbearing bosses……will as strong as steel?】

When it came time for “happy ball bumping”, Shang Que once again caused the livestream to go:【…………】

The rules for “happy ball bumping” were very simple. A large foam board was set up. All members from both teams would play simultaneously while wearing custom outfits blown up with air. After transforming into round balloons, they would use their bodies to bump into others. Whoever fell on the ground or got bumped off the foam board would be eliminated. The team whose members all got eliminated first would lose.

When he finished changing, Yu Zhengdu leaned over to look at Boss who usually had an air of elegance. He wanted to see how funny his round appearance would be, but when he actually saw him, he immediately felt wronged. He turned to rant to his teammate angrily, “Look at my boss. He’s dressed like that but still looks so handsome!!!”

Teammate: “……” Are you complaining or bragging?

“Happy ball bumping” was very simple, but also very intense. There was a tall guy who had previously been an athlete on Qin Yuejian’s team. He was large and steady; everyone he bumped into fell over. With practically no suspense, he basically guaranteed the success for their entire team. Qin Yuejian’s teammates started high-fiving each other in celebration as they watched him knock over the members of Zeng Rong’s team like a bulldozer. “Steady steady.”

Only Yu Zhengdu maintained his reason. He reminded his teammates to look at Shang Que, only to see Shang Que standing by the edge where he had stayed the whole game. His gaze was blank, a question very clearly displayed on his face——

So when can I finally go walk on the water balls?

Qin Yuejian and his other teammates only thought Yu Zhengdu was being too cautious. Qin Yuejian patted Yu Zhengdu’s shoulder and said, “Don’t worry. If CEO’s in such a state, he’ll get knocked over in seconds.……”

Yu Zhengdu couldn’t exactly say, you can’t knock over a soul ah……

As expected, not much later, tall guy eliminated everyone else in Zeng Rong’ team by himself. He started preparing for his final victory. He turned to look at his only opponent remaining: Shang Que. His plan was to knock him over when the other wasn’t paying attention.

Tall guy was like a moveable small mountain. He charged over to Shang Que’s side steadily and rapidly. There was a confident smile on his face as he made to bump into the other.

Comments:

【CEO Hurry and wake up!!!】

【You’re the entire village……pei, the entire company’s last hope!!】

His teammates were extremely anxious too. Zeng Rong was so panicked she kept jumping up and down. “CEO, watch your back——”

“Hurry and get out of the way, hurry hurry hurry——”

But everyone’s warnings didn’t come in time. Shang Que heard his teammates’ shouts in his daze, so turned his head to glance at them. He asked, “Why are you guys so agitated?”

Everyone: “……”

Comments:【…………The CEO is a double agent, right?】

At the same time, heavy-duty bulldozer accomplished his goal. He charged forward to crash into Shang Que with the force of a storm.

Comments:【Tragic……CEO’s going to be dead meat ba】

The PD specially switched cameras too, giving this final match a close-up. The lens got closer and closer.

From afar, Qin Yuejian and his teammates started cheering, “We’ve won&#k2014;&#k2014;”

As the sounds of their celebration started, they heard a loud “peng”. Brother bulldozer’s ball and Shang Que’s ball crashed into each other. Then, he got forcefully knocked back, to a distance of over a meter away, and fell onto the ground.

Shang Que stood there, immovable as a mountain. He turned around to glance at tall guy who was sprawled on the floor and coldy opened his mouth, “What?”

Tall guy: “……”

Tall guy couldn’t stand how different reality was from his expectations. He sprawled out onto the ground and started furiously pounding the foam board. He wailed, “I don’t believe it——I don’t believe it——”

The entire scene simultaneously become shocked: “………………”

Comments:

【…………????】

【Wait a minute. Did I accidentally skip part of the plot?】

【CEO doesn’t only have an iron will. He’s just a solid piece of iron, right?】

【Did he secretly hide steel boards in his ball?】

Zeng Rong’s team managed to snatch a victory out from right under the other team’s nose. For a moment, they were all frozen in shock. A while later, they finally realized what had happened and started cheering loudly, surrounding Shang Que in a circle and high-fiving him.

Shang Que sighed and perfunctorily completed this celebratory ritual.

Qin Yuejian’s team was bewildered too. Qin Yuejian turned to look at Yu Zhengdu in disbelief. “How did he manage to do that?”

Yu Zhengdu very seriously answered, “He didn’t do anything……”

Qin Yuejian: “……” Could this be the legendary 800 meter filter?

After “happy ball bumping” was a slightly more dangerous activity——jumping across suspended boards. Guests from both teams had to get on a platform elevated ten meters off the ground and tie on safety harnesses. They would then have to hop over two boards not connected in the middle.

This exercise wasn’t actually physically difficult. It was mainly a test of psychological endurance. Those with even the slightest acrophobia would be unable to take a step forward after seeing how high up they were, much less jump across boards suspended in midair.

In order to set an example for their team members, the two team captains decided to go first this time.

While the workers were tying the safety harnesses onto the captains, the members of both teams were standing further back, chatting while they observed. Yu Zhengdu leaned in close to Shang Que and whispered encouragements to him. “Xiao Shang, hang on a little longer and act more like a human. It’s almost time for the water balls……”

Shang Que scanned him, then slowly made a noise of acknowledgement. He said, “Okay, I’ll do my best to try being a human.”

Yu Zhengdu: “……” Ghosts can really say that without feeling burdened at all.

He was in the middle of being speechless when suddenly chaos broke out around them. Shortly after, Qin Yuejian’s startled scream sounded, “Ao ao ao ao ao——”

He looked over to see that Qin Yuejian had failed the challenge. He had originally already jumped over, but upon turning around, had accidentally slipped and lost his balance. Now, his entire person was leaning backwards, arms flailing around. The shout had been reflexive, but caused the entire scene to become wrought with tension.

Everyone watched with hitched breaths as he wobbled on the edge of the board. Suddenly, someone yelled, “Oh no——His safety harness is loose——”

As soon as he spoke, the audience all turned their attention onto the ropes around him. As expected, Qin Yuejian’s safety harness had somehow become loose. An accident now could cause a death.

Immediately, everyone started shouting, “Hurry hurry hurry——Grab him——”

The workers’ faces immediately paled. They reached their hands out to pull at him, but weren’t in time at all. Qin Yuejian had originally still been flailing, but upon hearing that his safety harness was loose, he started panicking. In the end, he wasn’t able to maintain his balance and plunged backwards.

The actual scene and livestream comments were filled with flustered reactions: “Ah————”

In this moment, a safety rope suddenly flew past everyone. At such a crucial time, it headed towards Qin Yuejian. Simultaneously, Qin Yuejian who was supposed to be falling at a constant speed momentarily paused midair. This pause was extremely short, so short that nobody realized anything unnatural had happened. But this pause was what gave him enough time to reach a hand out and grab the rope.

Ultimately, he didn’t plummet to his death. He held onto the rope and hung in midair. This unexpected change caused everyone to go into shock. Only Yu Zhengdu maintained his calm. He urgently called out, “Hurry and pull him up.”

The workers instantly regained their senses and rushed forward to pull Qin Yuejian up in a scramble.

When he got onto the platform, Qin Yuejian’s face was already pale. His hands couldn’t stop trembling, but still, he forced out a smile. “Everything’s fine now.”

Though he said everything was fine, the workers all knew that things wouldn’t end so simply. The cameraman made a split second decision to placate the worried audience before shutting off the livestream. Then, he stood up and roared, “Who was in charge of the safety harnesses?”

Everyone on set looked at each other. The guests, who were still shocked, all retreated far away from the platform. The space in front of it was empty, allowing the workers in charge of safety to be in full view. Their heads were lowered and they didn’t dare to speak.

The atmosphere all around was extremely tense. The originally relaxed air had completely disappeared.

Even without asking, everyone knew who had been in charge of the safety harnesses previously. The workers were only doing this to give Qin Yuejian a satisfying answer; they wanted the man to step up himself and admit his mistakes.

But this mistake was too serious. That person was shocked too. His entire body was trembling and he didn’t dare to open his mouth at all.

Qin Yuejian watched as what had originally been a fun activity turn into this current situation. He didn’t feel great either, so wanted to say something to better the atmosphere. But suddenly, a terrified screech sounded out, followed by a worker’s cries, “Save me, save me——”

Everyone hurriedly spread out to get a better look, only to see that a worker had somehow lost his balance and fallen over the railing around the platform. He had only managed to stop himself from plunging all the way down by immediately grabbing onto a pole. However, he was still suspended in midair. It was a dangerous situation.

Amidst the chaos, someone suddenly asked, “Wasn’t he the one who put the harness on Yuejian?”

Qin Yuejian’s expression changed too. The workers hadn’t expected for this situation to repeat itself, so were temporarily bewildered as well. They rushed forward to grab the man.

But strangely, though the worker’s hands were holding onto the pole tightly, his person was extremely heavy. Several people went up to pull him, but couldn’t move him an inch.

His face was deathly pale. He kept shouting, “I can’t hold on anymore——”

Yu Zhengdu looked at Shang Que. Shang Que didn’t say anything, but stepped forward silently. “I’ll do it.”

The workers were extremely panicked. “Ey, you can’t. He’s too heavy……”

As soon as they finished speaking, they saw Shang Que lower one hand and grab that person’s wrist. He yanked and successfully rescued the other.

Everyone: “…………?????”

Did this CEO lift weights everyday?

Though everyone was suspicious, now wasn’t the time to be asking questions about this. They all gathered around Qin Yuejian and the worker to comfort them. Originally, the supervisor had been about to scold the safety worker, but after this, it wouldn’t be right to do so. He could only turn around and arrange for things to be done about the aftermath.

With such a large accident, though it hadn’t ultimately ended up in disaster, the activity couldn’t keep going on. The workers helped the guests leave. An especially large amount of people guarded Qin Yuejian until he could get into his van and rest.

Everyone still felt lingering fear. The scene descended into chaos, but Qin Yuejian remembered to ask who had saved him just now. Big Eye Livestream’s workers only remembered this fact after he brought it up. The incident had occurred too fast, and nobody had filmed it. After asking around, they finally found someone who said they seemed to remember that it was Shang Que who had thrown the rope.

Thus, Qin Yuejian wanted to personally find Shang Que to express his gratitude. Coincidentally, Shang Que and Yu Zhengdu were on their way to see him. His assistant let the two of them into the van. Qin Yuejian hurriedly rushed forward and profusely thanked, “Thank you for saving me just now.”

Shang Que didn’t accept his appreciation. Instead, he knowingly looked at the other and said, “Even if I didn’t save you, something else would’ve, right?”

Qin Yuejian’s expression subtly changed. He glanced at his assistant, then told her and the others to leave first. After confirming that no outsiders were present, he slowly sighed and said, “I’m not sure I understand what you mean.”

Yu Zhengdu very logically asked, “Why did you have everyone else leave if you don’t understand?”

Qin Yuejian was immediately rendered speechless. The two people in front of him didn’t seem like they were about to explain anything. He finally muttered, “How did you guys find out?”

Yu Zhengdu slightly furrowed his brows. “You’re really keeping something?”

Nobody had been able to tell just now, but he had seen too many supernatural occurrences lately, so managed to detect something strange about the situation today. Regardless of how Qin Yuejian had been suddenly saved at such a critical moment or how the worker who had tied on the safety harness had mysteriously taken a fall, things weren’t adding up.

Shang Que’s actions verified his thoughts, but strangely, even Shang Que wasn’t able to detect the general cause of everything.

What could be confirmed though, was that the problem was with Qin Yuejian. But there weren’t any Underworld spirits around him, none trying to possess him or kept by him as pets.

Upon hearing this, Qin Yuejian hurriedly waved his hands. “No, I’m not.” He mysteriously leaned forward and said, “Actually, I’m very curious about this occurrence too……”

According to Qin Yuejian, in the past few years, he oftentimes encountered such strange things. Regardless of if he went out for vacation or work, he would always run into some sort of danger, but would also always be able to escape unscathed. He had never even cut his finger while cooking. However, those had all been little things, so he had always just thought of them as coincidences or bouts of good luck.

This was his first time encountering a situation as dangerous as today’s. Even he himself only confirmed that something unnatural was happening after today’s incident.

Qin Yuejian was somewhat nervous. He sneakily whispered, “Say, do you think I’m that……legendary……chosen one of the Heavens?”

Yu Zhengdu’s face was grim. “Keep dreaming.”

Qin Yuejian was a bit depressed. “Well how else would you explain everything?”

Yu Zhengdu rubbed his chin. “A safe guess would be that you’ve run into a ghost.”

Qin Yuejian’s mouth twitched. “Are you kidding me?”

Yu Zhengdu conveniently took out his business card and handed it over. “I didn’t get the chance to introduce myself earlier. Our company deals with the high tech removal and prevention of evil. Believe in technology; stay safe.”

Though Big Eye Livestream hadn’t allowed them to advertise their company on camera, it would still be nice to garner some business from the entertainment industry. After all, there was a lot of money in entertainment. Better yet, they were all superstitious.

Qin Yuejian: “……”

Yu Zhengdu saw the doubt on his face, so pulled out a picture he had taken with Wei Xiao and them. “This is a success story of our company. We’ve also collaborated with Qinglian Temple in Diyang……”

Qin Yuejian’s first thought upon seeing the group photo was, “Holy fuck. This is photoshopped, right?”

Yu Zhengdu scoffed. “We aren’t celebrities, so we don’t need to photoshop our pictures. We’re naturally good looking, thank you……”

Qin Yuejian: “……” He didn’t mean photoshop like that.

At this time, Shang Que who had remained aloof off to the side suddenly opened his mouth to ask, “The bracelet on your hand. Who gave it to you?”

Yu Zhengdu followed Shang Que’s gaze to look at the bracelet around Qin Yuejian’s wrist. It was a silver chain that clearly looked weathered with age. A tiny charm hung off it. From the design, it was very simple, not matching Qin Yuejian’s gaudy celebrity style at all.

This bracelet had been on his wrist since Qin Yuejian had debuted. He had never taken it off, not even once. His fans all knew about it, and had even tried to figure out its origins, but nobody had uncovered anything yet. Qin Yuejian had also never publicly responded to any questions regarding the bracelet. After enough time, people stopped asking about it.

His expression was a bit guarded upon being suddenly questioned about it. He hid his arm behind himself and said, “A friend gave it to me.”

Yu Zhengdu glanced at Shang Que. “Is there something wrong with this bracelet?”

Qin Yuejian reacted like an animal that had had its tail stepped on. He immediately denied, “Impossible.”

Shang Que completely ignored his resistance, only asking, “The person who gave this bracelet to you has already passed, right?”

Qin Yuejian froze. Nobody knew the history of his bracelet, so naturally nobody would know the story behind it. Then how did Shang Que find out?

He was a bit out of it as he stuttered, “How did you know?”

Shang Que lowered his gaze to look at the bracelet. He lightly said, “There is an inextinguishable hint of obsession on this bracelet.”

The hint of obsession was very faint; so faint that until the incident had occurred, even he hadn’t managed to detect it.

But it was also very stubborn. Stubborn to the point that it had managed to save Qin Yuejian in such a dangerous situation, then tried to seek revenge and pushed the worker off the elevated surface.

Qin Yuejian was confused. “What is that?”

Yu Zhengdu didn’t fully understand everything either, but he managed to take note of the key phrase. He instantly clapped and said, “Was everything caused by the ghost of a dead human? That’s easy to deal with. We can just send a message and check out the situation.”

Qin Yuejian turned to look at him, even more bewildered, “What?”

Yu Zhengdu very professionally clicked open the product description page on their company’s website and introduced, “This is another service our company offers——across-realm communication. We make it possible for you to contact the Underworld, ensuring harmony and peace between the realms of the living and dead.”

Qin Yuejian: “……????”

The author has something to say:

Zhengdu: Me, professional and dedicated. Pay up.