New Times, New Hell

Chapter 54 - The Eight Underworld Mountain Views

“We’re here. This is the place.” Gao Duidui lifted up the phone attached to a selfie stick as he livestreamed. His face was filled with shock. “My goodness, this garden party is on such a large scale?”

Gao Duidui was a small supernatural livestreamer on Big Eye Livestream. Normally, he told ghost stories during his livestreams. Occasionally, he would also visit haunted houses or other supposedly supernatural locations.

Borrowing the current trend of the Ghost Festival, Gao Duidui had planned a whole series of outdoor livestreams for the Ghost Month. He specially visited some famous haunted places; though he didn’t actually run into any ghosts, the eerie settings in addition to his skills at telling ghost stories resulted in fairly good feedback after half a month. His popularity kept rising.

But today, Gao Duidui encountered a small Waterloo. One of the haunted places he had done research on was an abandoned factory on the outskirts of Fu City’s developmental area. Apparently, that piece of land had originally been a wild graveyard. In recent years, after the factory’s owners moved away and the factory became abandoned, stories of hauntings slowly spread. And, they seemed to be gaining traction, having already become Fu City’s newest urban legends.

A desolate place, a factory, and a wild graveyard. The culmination of so many horrifying concepts made Gao Duidui anticipate this location a lot. He had started promoting for it several days ahead of time and had specially scheduled the livestream for the day before the Zhongyuan Festival. He was preparing to reach a new height in his streaming career.

However, he hadn’t thought that not only would he not achieve the expected results, he would actually almost get beaten up by someone instead——it turned out that the hauntings in the factory had actually been made up and publicized by the owners of the factory.

In recent years, the developmental district had been under heavy renovation. The original factory had been forced to move away due to pollution issues, but the compensation for their forced removal hadn’t been properly settled. Thus, they were very unhappy. Consequently, after leaving, the factory owners hired a few gang members to cause trouble at the grounds of the abandoned factory. Because they often did this at night, after a few times, rumors of ghosts started spreading about in this area. The factory helped spread several similar rumors with the ultimate goal of making whoever was set to take over this piece of land lose money.

Gao Duidui wanted to take the opportunity of the Ghost Festival to increase the dramatic atmosphere of his livestream. The factory owners had the same idea as him. Recently, they had found the same gang members to stir trouble again. In the end, Gao Duidui happened upon a group of hooligans while alone. He wasn’t in the mood to tell his audience members ghost stories at all. After being glared at by the others and threatened with a raised brick, he hurriedly ran away, extremely cowed.

Because of this unexpected incident during his livestream, Gao Duidui couldn’t help but feel put out. He was originally planning on ending the stream early; unexpectedly, though, someone mentioned in the comments that there was a Ghost Festival garden party being held outside a nearby shopping center. It was already taking over their Moments. However, as the location was truly out of the way and the date was truly special, though several people were interested, they couldn’t actually visit.

Since Gao Duidui was already in the developmental district, he decided to go check it out. This way, he could also help those audience members who were still undecided see if the event was truly as interesting as their friends were saying.

In all honesty, Gao Duidui hadn’t been expecting much from the garden party at all in the beginning. After all, he hadn’t even heard of it before, so assumed that it was only a temporary event put together by a small company. Besides, it was located in such a desolate place like the developmental district. According to his guesses, this was most likely going to be something similar to a night market or something. They were only trying to borrow the name of the Ghost Festival to gain popularity.

But he still had a lot of time left before he needed to end his stream. Thus, after brief thought, he decided that since he was already here and that things couldn’t possibly get worse, he would go. He asked for the exact address before picking out a public bicycle and riding off to the location.

He hadn’t expected that this unknown garden party would actually be on such a scale. That it would actually have such intricate configurations and this much popularity.

“My goodness, which company is in charge of this event? It’s too amazing!” Gao Duidui exclaimed as he walked by. He first passed through the ghost market. Disregarding the flowing white lanterns and spirit summoning banners that decorated all corners, beautiful architecture, and strange types of products, just the ghosts and monsters of all shapes, sizes, and forms provided enough footage for him.

The response in the comments was very lively:

【Wowowow, the green-faced ghost wearing two fangs on the left is so terrifying. He scared me!!!!】

【Terrifying my ass. Don’t you see him making finger hearts at the tourists!!!】

【Exactly. He’s not even as disgusting as that one strangling himself with his intestines……】

【Goodness, is that vendor selling miniature coffins????? They’re so exquisite, I actually kind of want to buy one……】

【I’m going to be honest, I’m a little interested in those blue-and-white porcelain cinerary urns……the craftsmanship is too stunning】

【Aaaah, I originally didn’t really want to go after seeing my friends’ posts, but now that I’m watching the livestream, I feel more and more tempted】

【Hehe, I’ve already finished changing and am preparing to leave the house……】

【Someone from out of town cries bitter and jealous tears……Duidui film some more ah】

Gao Duidui was very excited about this too. Since he had entered the garden party, his livestream room’s popularity had started increasing at a noticeable speed. Many of those in the comments had also started calling their friends to come and watch too.

Actually, even if not to livestream and only to visit for fun, he would enjoy it a lot as well. This garden party was of much better quality than he had anticipated. Without exaggerating, even a professional theme park might not be able to achieve such stellar results.

From the architecture to the vendors to the products to the activities, this party was extremely detailed and unique. Beyond this, the staff’s makeup and costumes were realistic too. Even Gao Duidui, a streamer specializing in supernatural topics, couldn’t find any mistakes with these ghost-imitating costumes.

Gao Duidui felt like he had gained a blessing out of the misfortune he had experienced earlier in the night. His patience was surprisingly great; he practically agreed to all of the requests in the comments. While reading the comments, he also listened to the audience’s suggestions and changed his camera angles in response.

He was pretty good at livestreaming, completely capturing those swaying lanterns, flittering pieces of paper money, intricate but eerie architecture, and horrifying but surprisingly cute ghosts with his lens.

By the time Gao Duidui had walked out of the ghost market, his stream popularity had already surpassed his highest personal record.

Gao Duidui held up a string of mini coffins in front of the camera and shook them. He smiled, “Thank you everyone for your support. I just bought these in the ghost market. In a bit, I’m going to have a raffle as a gift for today’s Ghost Festival special program.”

Those in the comments who couldn’t personally visit exploded. They started furiously leaving comments, telling the streamer to look at them.

Because of this, Gao Duidui started interacting with them again before continuing forward. “This garden party is so big. I don’t know which company planned it, but their prowess is too amazing.”

As soon as he finished saying this, he suddenly widened his eyes. A shocked expression appeared on his face. When he spoke, he even started stuttering. “Oh my goodness. This- this……this can’t be the Eight Underworld Mountain Views?”

As a rather professional and dedicated supernatural streamer, Gao Duidui didn’t only focus on supernatural topics to impress the audience. In actuality, he was also quite interested in these topics personally, and had also done his homework on related stories.

In his past livestreams, he often added in background information regarding these topics. Such as the Eight Underworld Mountain Views he was bringing up now. He had introduced them to his audience members previously.

The Eight Underworld Mountain Views referred to the more famous places in the Underworld. They commonly appeared in ghost stories or folklore and were: the Gate of Hell, the Bridge Over Troubled Water, the Stripping Pavilion, the Home Viewing Terrace, the Evil Dog Village, the Rubbish Money Mountain, the Bloodstained Pond, and Mengpo’s Shop.

The names of these places had been passed down since ancient times and often appeared simultaneously with Hell. Especially the Gate of Hell, Bridge Over Troubled Water, and Home Viewing Terrace. These places could be considered known by everyone. Though these days society already believed that these locations had been made up by the people of the past, there were still those that believed that since these places could be spoken about for thousands of years and across different dynasties, the stories about them couldn’t have appeared out of nowhere.

Gao Duidui didn’t truly believe in such things. After all, if he did, he probably wouldn’t dare to be a supernatural streamer. However, he had done his research. In addition, he was extremely interested in the places spoken of in the legends. In the past, he had brought them up with his audience often.

But regardless of himself or his old audience members, none had ever expected that one day, they would be able to see a human replication of the Eight Underworld Mountain Views.

In response, Gao Duidui instantly transformed into a state similar to that of an otaku seeing the scenes in their animes and mangas being reproduced in real life. And with passion because the quality was excellent and true to the original.

“Everyone look at this. This is the Home Viewing Terrace. You guys have probably heard of this one a lot. In the past, someone even wrote a poem about it. What was it called again……”

An audience member with a comparatively impressive knowledge of literature immediately said:【“I turn back but cannot return to Linchuan. In the Underworld, I fashion a Home Viewing Terrace.”】

Gao Duidui: “Right right right, that’s exactly it. I told everyone before that the Home Viewing Terrace is located by the entrance to the Underworld. After ghosts and spirits step onto it, they can see their hometowns from when they were alive. Here, they would bid farewell to the mortal realm, which is why this terrace is also called ‘Place I Think of Home’. Right now, let me take you guys to see……”

Gao Duidui stepped onto the magnificent terrace and held his phone up in front of him. He joked, “How is it? Can everyone see their hometowns?”

The comments suddenly increased:

【See my ass. It’s so dark that I can’t see anything】

【Wait, I seem to see the sign from my hometown?? It must be an illusion, right?】

【I see a sea of lights. It’s very blurry, so I can’t see it clearly, but it seems somewhat familiar?】

【I think I also see something? It’s so familiar……but I can’t see it clearly】

【Comment-actors, are you for real? You clearly can’t see anything, okay?】

【Comments, stop scaring people. I almost thought that I had gone blind……】

Gao Duidui looked at the comments. He was a bit confused, so scratched his head and said, “Haha, everyone must have been tricked by the lights. This garden party is very interesting. Many places don’t look very big, and are very clearly well illuminated, but you just can’t see the other side from the one you’re on……”

“Like the Bridge Over Troubled Water. Didn’t we just walk across it? It wasn’t that long, but you really can’t see the other end at all. How mysterious. I give this production team 100 points.”

As he walked off the Home Viewing Terrace, he instinctively looked back. For some reason, the scene that had previously been a sea of darkness in his eyes suddenly shifted into a blur of faraway lights. They quickly went out, but that unexpected flash had revealed something strangely familiar. He couldn’t tell what it was, but it immediately hit him deep inside.

For some reason, a strong feeling of nostalgia quickly arose in his heart.

“Ey——” Gao Duidui couldn’t help sighing lowly. He only regained his wits after walking a distance away from the Home Viewing Terrace.

Gao Duidui felt that something was off, but couldn’t quite put his finger on what exactly was off. In the end, he could only scratch his head and tell the audience, “This garden party is really very interesting. I suggest that those friends who have free time come and check it out. I’m sincerely recommending it. I haven’t received any ad money!”

Perhaps because of the influence of the Home Viewing Terrace, Gao Duidui started being even more attentive in his introductions. He slowly passed by each of the Eight Underworld Mountain Views.

He was quite knowledgeable in these matters. As he walked, he shared his knowledge and also told some folk tales about each attraction. Such as the scene from the famous Gui Chuzi’s《Dream of the Red Chamber Supplements 》where “Mother Jia visited new sights at the Evil Dog Village, Sister Feng poured out old vinegar at the Home Viewing Terrace”. He also filmed some of the ghosts near the attractions and some special activities. After several hours of livestreaming, he somehow didn’t feel tired at all. As more time passed, more and more people joined his room.

After visiting all Eight Underworld Mountain Views, Gao Duidui’s viewer count was already extremely close to the count of Big Eye Livestream’s most popular streamers.

Gao Duidui immediately became shocked. Upon closer inspection, he realized that an assistant from the platform had sent him a message. Because the interactions were frequent in his room, he, who had never really been paid attention to, had suddenly been placed on the suggestions list on the opening page of the app. This was something he hadn’t even dared to dream about in the past.

Gao Duidui was very satisfied. He looked at the time and realized that it had already somehow reached midnight. But he still didn’t feel ready to end the livestream. Fortunately, the event organizers of this garden party seemed to be dedicated to the theme of the Ghost Festival. Even though it was the middle of the night, they didn’t appear to be preparing to end at all. The staff were still alert and working; however, there were several tourists who couldn’t stand it anymore and had gone home first. But in comparison, there were more young people unafraid of staying up late who were being newly attracted.

Consequently, though it was already very late, the garden party’s crowds weren’t any less than they had been earlier.

Gao Duidui had continuously streamed for several hours, so obviously his energy levels couldn’t keep up. It was a good thing, though, that he had come prepared with several portable chargers. At least his phone wouldn’t run out of battery.

He was reluctant to stop broadcasting, thus found a rock under a large tree by the Troubled Water River and sat down. He continued occasionally chatting with the audience:

“Un, this garden party is really very fun. The main organizers not only have a lot of prowess, but are also very sincere. The details are extremely intricate. How wonderful it would be if they could keep it open for longer.”

“Thanks for everyone’s belief in me. If everyone likes my content, you can watch my livestreams more from now on. I will continue to introduce everyone to more information on topics like these……”

“Haha, if there was one thing I had to complain about, it would be that tonight’s livestream wasn’t scary enough……”

“I know that everyone really hopes I can run into a ghost. I also really hope that I can run into a ghost to show everyone. This way, I won’t be wasting my supernatural streamer title. But I really don’t have the opportunity to run into a ghost anymore tonight……”

Gao Duidui joked around while holding his selfie stick up higher. He said, “Everyone look over there. That’s the ghost market. There are so many people; even if there really are ghosts, they wouldn’t dare to come out now. ”

As he spoke, he pulled his phone back down. When he looked at the screen, he realized that it had gotten covered with a sudden influx of comments. The speed at which they were appearing caused him to fall into confusion.

“What’s wrong? What’s caused everyone to become so excited……” Gao Duidui asked while drawing closer to his phone to read the contents of the comments.

【Fuck fuck fuck fuck!!!!!!!!!!】

【Holy fuck!!!!! That scared laozi to death!!!!!!】

【Duidui, hurry and run!!! Hurry!!】

【Fuck, I threw my phone away】

【That scared laozi to death. Streamer, you’re on your own!!】

【Duidui, don’t look up. Whatever you do, don’t!】

【Duidui, close your eyes and run away!】

【Trust me, don’t look up. I’m being serious!】

【Don’t lift your head up! Whatever you do, don’t lift your head up!】

All the newest comments were telling Gao Duidui not to lift his head. Gao Duidui’s entire being was lost. In his heart, he realized that something was happening, but the more the comments told him not to look up, the more curious he became.

In the end, curiosity prevailed over his survival instinct. Amidst an innumerous amount of comments trying to stop him, he slowly leaned his head back.

“Holy fuck——” Gao Duidui let out a horrified shriek. He lost strength in his muscles and fell back uncontrollably. Even his phone and selfie stick flew off to the side.

In order to more conveniently chat with the audience, Gao Duidui had found a rather isolated area under a tree shrouded in darkness on the other end of the Bridge Over Troubled Water. There were no tourists around at all.

But in the moment that he looked up, the first thing that entered his line of sight was a pair of vibrant, blood-red pumps. This was followed by the ashen-white calves of a pale woman.

When he fell over and laid on the ground, he finally managed to get a complete view of the owner of that pair of shoes.

She was a young woman dressed in a one piece red dress with red heels, long red nails, and blood-red lipstick.

Juxtaposed was her ashen, almost to the point of being black, skin, bulging purple veins, bulging eyes, and cold air that seemed to be emanating off of her.

She was just hanging straight from the tree and appeared almost dried out. Her body swayed gently in the wind.

A woman who had been hanged.

“Aaah——” Gao Duidui shouted loudly in utter shock. He struggled to crawl to his feet, but his limbs felt weak. After a few attempts, he had only managed to scooch a few inches forward, but hadn’t managed to stand up.

“Save me, there’s a ghost here——there’s a real ghost——” Gao Duidui felt cold sweat cover his body. He wanted to yell for help, but his throat felt tight. In the end, he could only make a noise akin to the loudness of a mosquito’s buzz.

At the same time, the woman on the tree seemed to have been attracted by his shrieks. Her bulging eyes slowly rolled downwards. She coldly glanced at him.

Gao Duidui: !!!!

Now, he couldn’t even find the courage to scream.

This was the supposed “take too many midnight paths and you’ll ultimately run into a ghost” ah. Gao Duidui closed his eyes in despair, waiting for the female ghost to make her way over. At this time, someone suddenly tried to help him up. Immediately after, a sweet little girl’s voice sounded out: “Gege, you’ve fallen down. I’ll help you get up.”

Gao Duidui turned around in panic. Thus, he finally discovered the three little kids who had appeared next to him at some unknown time.

The little girl helping him up looked to be around five or six. She looked sweet and cute. While trying to help him sit up, she told the little boy next to her, “Georgie, you come help gege up too. It counts for good merits!”

Gao Duidui didn’t have the energy to worry about what the little girl was saying. He only hurriedly told the three children, “Kiddos, hurry and run. Hurry and go to someplace where there are a lot of people. It’s dangerous here——”

He was scared that he would traumatize the kids, so didn’t dare to directly tell them that there was a ghost. But he couldn’t help scanning the top of the tree with his peripheral vision, terrified that the female ghost would do something to the children.

While he was in the middle of panicking, he saw the little girl turn her head to look up at the view. Then, she revealed a large smile and raised a hand to wave. She happily said, “Hello hangwoman jiejie. How come you’re all the way over here?”

Gao Duidui: “……??”

Before he had time to feel confused, he saw the female ghost on the tree smile too. She waved at the little girl. “Hi Peppa. It’s higher up here, so the air quality is better. I also have a nicer view……”

As she spoke, she pointed to somewhere far off in the distance. “I just saw your gege and Boss Shang holding hands and walking in that direction.”

The little girl nodded. “I know. Uncle Kang said there’s going to be a procession in a bit. They’re definitely going to watch that. Hangwoman jiejie, do you want to watch with us?”

The hangwoman shook her head. “It’s too crowded over there. And I can see from here just fine.”

As he watched the little girl chatting so happily with the female ghost on the tree, Gao Duidui’s entire being felt not okay. He brokenly asked, “So you’re not a real ghost?”

“I am. I’m a hangwoman, can’t you tell?” The female ghost glared at him and said with disdain, “You’re so scary. Screaming out of the blue like that. You scared me so much that I almost got hanged again!”

Gao Duidui: “……”

He could only say that the ghosts in this garden party were too realistic and too in character.