When Ji Yuzhe arrived at Hundred Families Village with Jian Shuangshuang, he was still bewildered. He didn’t understand how he was persuaded by this little girl to follow her after just a few words.
However, the price Jian Shuangshuang offered was truly generous. She advanced him ten gold coins even before starting and stated clearly that he would earn one hundred gold coins per film after shooting began.
Though he didn’t understand what a film fee was, the price of one hundred gold coins was quite high, and he needed to learn from Jian Shuangshuang how to act.
This left Ji Yuzhe somewhat at a loss. Although he lost his voice, he was very familiar with the skills of singing, speaking, acting, and acrobatics on stage. Did he really need lessons in this?
Jian Shuangshuang didn’t offer much explanation either. No matter how much she explained now, it wasn’t as intuitive as showing him what acting truly was once they arrived.
After reaching Hundred Families Village, Jian Shuangshuang first handed Ji Yuzhe a book to read. It was a horror storybook written by Jian Shuangshuang herself.
Ji Yuzhe wasn’t mentally prepared; he took the book and started reading, and before he reached the halfway point, his face changed color with fright. Mainly because this world had no such thing as horror stories.
Jian Shuangshuang’s writing was already very subtle, yet Ji Yuzhe was still quite frightened. But horror stories are like that - once you start, it feels uncomfortable if you don’t read to the end.
Only by reaching the end, where the ghost is defeated, can the fear in your heart be slightly alleviated. Otherwise, you’ll keep wondering what happened to the ghost and whether it harmed the protagonist.
Ji Yuzhe read like this, bearing his fear, occasionally closing his eyes and taking deep breaths, watching the scenery outside to divert attention. This reaction amused Jian Shuangshuang greatly.
It was quite a struggle for Ji Yuzhe to finish the book with a pale face, and he seemed dazed. Everywhere he looked now seemed full of ghostly shadows, even though it was broad daylight.
Jian Shuangshuang collected the storybook from Ji Yuzhe’s hands, then picked up a bamboo box and walked outside. Ji Yuzhe looked at Jian Shuangshuang’s actions, bewildered, not knowing what she intended to do.
Once outside, Jian Shuangshuang’s demeanor changed drastically, becoming very dejected, as if she were utterly exhausted. Dragging the bamboo box, she walked over dispiritedly.
Then Jian Shuangshuang made a hand gesture as if pushing a door open, as if there was a tightly closed door in front of her. Her door-pushing action was slightly rough, with an air of venting frustration.
The door was pushed open, but before stepping inside, Jian Shuangshuang’s body leaned back unconsciously, and she waved her hand in front of her.
Then Jian Shuangshuang turned her head to sneeze and, with a frown, surveyed the room, her expression very unsightly.
Next, Jian Shuangshuang looked down at the floor, her eyes widening progressively, showing a shocked expression as if she had seen something terrifying.
Then Jian Shuangshuang suddenly stepped back, lost her balance, and fell to the ground, but she couldn’t bother to get up, continuously retreating backward using both hands and feet.
Throughout this, Jian Shuangshuang’s eyes were fixed on the ground in front of her, her face contorted in terror!
Ji Yuzhe, who was initially clueless, watched Jian Shuangshuang’s actions, and a passage suddenly flashed through his mind, about the man being very tired, not having any money, and having no choice but to live in an already abandoned old house.
He pushed open the door; the house hadn’t been cleaned for a long time and was filled with dust. Upon opening the door, dust flew up in front of him.
The man waved his hand, his nose itching, and he couldn’t help but sneeze. Frowning, he looked with displeasure around the messy room.
Then the man saw a footprint suddenly appear out of nowhere on the dusty floor of the room, as if someone had stepped on the dust-laden ground, yet there was clearly no one there!
The man’s eyes gradually widened as he saw more and more footprints, as if an invisible person had walked there.
The man’s eyes grew wider, his expression one of horror. And then, more terrifyingly, he watched as the footprints, having reached the end of the room, turned around and faced him.
The footprints then moved toward him step by step, and the man, frightened, recoiled and fell to the ground, embarrassedly retreating with both hands and feet, his face twisted in terror!
Without Jian Shuangshuang needing to explain, Ji Yuzhe already knew this was the beginning of that horror storybook he had just read. The main character had to come to the countryside to live in an abandoned old house after a business failure and encountered a ghost at the start.