Chapter 18
Xiao Jingxi stood in a small grove, staring deathly at Xie Mi’s avatar on his phone, his frown sharp enough to kill a fly.
At this moment, his avatar and Xie Mi’s were perfectly overlapped. Yet the place he stood was completely empty—not a soul in sight. He couldn’t even see her phone.
Even if she had tossed her phone on the ground and run off, there should’ve been at least some trace of it, right?
[Xiao Jingxi]: @DirectorNiu Is the location glitching?
[Director Niu]: The positioning is accurate. If anything went wrong, I’d notify you right away.
[Xiao Jingxi]: Then Xie Mi must’ve broken the rules. I don’t see her.
[Director Niu]: She hasn’t broken any rules.
[Xiao Jingxi]: ?
[Qiu Chengye]: What’s going on? Maybe you didn’t check carefully. Send a video, let me see.
Xiao Jingxi quickly uploaded a video.
He filmed the whole area, even tilted up to record above his head. But in the frame, there was nothing but trees and leaves—no sign of Xie Mi anywhere.
[Liu Woxing]: How about up in the tree?
[Xiao Jingxi]: Already checked. Nothing.
[Liu Woxing]: That’s weird.
The livestream audience was just as baffled.
[Wait, where’s the person?]
[He filmed the whole place, it’s wide open. No trace of her.]
[She must’ve hidden the phone and ran off. If she didn’t carry it, isn’t that cheating?]
[I told you, Xie Mi is shady as hell…]
But Xiao Jingxi was stubborn. Even though he couldn’t find her, he insisted on searching. He practically turned the place upside down, as if he wanted to lift every single leaf just to be sure.
Until Director Niu finally couldn’t hold back a reminder.
[Director Niu]: Half the time is gone already, and you haven’t caught a single person. Try switching targets, or you’ll end up in last place. @XiaoJingxi
Frustrated, Xiao Jingxi had no choice but to switch targets.
This time he locked onto Shen Yongqing.
Ironically, Shen was also at the farthest possible point from him.
[There’s barely any time left, why’s he still going for the farthest one?]
[I could understand chasing Xie Mi—he doesn’t like her. But what’s with chasing Mr. Shen?]
[Don’t overthink it. Hot guys do whatever they want. He’ll chase whoever he wants.]
[No, I think there’s a reason. Shen and Xie Mi promised to pick each other. Could Xiao Jingxi be trying to stop them from getting the chance?]
[LMAO. Why would the Movie King bother? He’d be happy if Xie Mi chose someone else.]
To save time, Xiao Jingxi sprinted again. By the time he reached Shen Yongqing’s location, he was visibly exhausted.
But there was a new problem.
[Xiao Jingxi]: @ShenYongqing Mr. Shen, I don’t see you.
[Shen Yongqing]: Not seeing me means you’re right.
[Xiao Jingxi]: …?
Xiao Jingxi lowered his phone and stared at the quiet lake in front of him, falling silent.
[Xu Shuangrong]: If I’m not mistaken… isn’t Mr. Shen’s location showing in the lake?
[Qiu Chengye]: Do we have boats on this lake? If I knew, I would’ve gotten on one.
[Xiao Jingxi]: No.
[Xiao Jingxi]: No boats.
[Liu Woxing]: Huh?
This time, everyone went quiet.
[Broad daylight and this is still creepy. Xie Mi disappeared, now Shen Yongqing’s vanished too?]
[Holy crap, is this a horror show now?]
[Don’t tell me the Movie King’s seeing ghosts.]
As the live comments started leaning toward the supernatural, Director Niu chimed in again.
[Director Niu]: Friendly reminder—ten minutes left. If you still can’t find anyone, you’ll end up last. @XiaoJingxi
Helpless, Xiao Jingxi grit his teeth and changed targets again.
This time, with no time to waste, he rushed straight for the nearest avatar—Liu Woxing.
And in the pavilion by the lake, he successfully found Liu Woxing.
[Director Niu]: Ding! Liu Woxing has been found. Now joining the [Seeker] team to help Xiao the Movie King find others.
They split up: Liu Woxing went for Xu Shuangrong, who was closer, while Xiao Jingxi went for Qiu Chengye, who was farthest.
Soon, Liu Woxing found Xu Shuangrong hiding behind some bushes.
[Director Niu]: Ding! Xu Shuangrong has been found. Now joining the [Seeker] team with Xiao the Movie King.
Meanwhile, Xiao Jingxi was closing in on Qiu Chengye.
After all that running, he was close to his limit, but as a “real man,” he refused to quit. He kept pushing.
But suddenly—Qiu Chengye’s avatar started moving.
[Here we go, the chase begins!]
[Isn’t Qiu Chengye a playboy? Didn’t think he could run that fast.]
[Xiao the Movie King looks pale. Can he even keep going?]
On screen, Qiu Chengye ran like his life depended on it, while Xiao Jingxi chased behind like a wild man of the jungle.
Just as Qiu was about to be caught, he darted onto a bridge. Xiao Jingxi followed right after.
From the drone above, Director Niu’s voice came through.
“Countdown: 10, 9, 8…”
Xiao Jingxi’s heart sank. Seeing Qiu Chengye only an arm’s length away, he gritted his teeth and lunged.
Qiu Chenye must’ve sensed something—he turned back in fear.
Bang!
Xiao Jingxi body-slammed him like a wild boar. But he forgot the bridge was too narrow—both went splashing into the water.
Underwater, six eyes met.
Yes, six eyes.
There was Shen Yongqing, calmly lurking at the bottom, breathing through a reed.
Shen Yongqing looked at them. Shen was surprised. Shen smiled. Shen waved hello.
Xiao Jingxi and Qiu Chengye shuddered, lost their breath, and sank in a trail of bubbles.
The production team rushed to haul all three out.
To clear everyone’s confusion, they went to check Xie Mi’s location.
“There really isn’t anywhere to hide here.” Liu Woxing looked around.
“So strange.” Xu Shuangrong was puzzled too.
Slap—!
A hand suddenly jutted out from the ground. The fingertips were blackened with soil, but the skin was bone-white—like a zombie crawling out of a grave.
Everyone froze.
Then—an earth-shattering scream.
“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!”
[A ghost!!!!]
[Damn it, I punched my bedframe so hard it cracked. My 3-year-old brother is crying.]
[Holy f*** holy f*** holy f*** holy f***!!]
The livestream and the comments were shockingly in sync.
Then, a warm hand grasped the filthy one, pulling her out from underground.
Shen Yongqing tilted his head, smiling. “Teacher Xie, you’re really dedicated.”
“Right back at you.”
Xie Mi finally showed herself, covered head to toe in dirt, with an oxygen tank strapped to her back.
That explained how she’d been breathing underground.
“Holy crap, you scared me to death.”
Qiu Chengye was still shaken. Spotting her oxygen tank, he instantly felt it was unfair. But he didn’t dare call Xie Mi out directly, so he turned on the production team.
“You let people use props in this game? Why didn’t you say so earlier?”
“According to the rules, props aren’t allowed. But Teacher Xie completed yesterday’s hidden mission and earned a privilege card. That was the perk she used,” Director Niu explained.
