Chapter 55: Chapter 55: Can’t Move

Shen Zhiyao said, “You squandered your entire fortune on this man, died for him, and even abandoned your family and yourself. You chased after an internet celebrity to this extent, thinking you were a star when you were nothing but dirt. Wake up!”

Wake up…

These words weren’t just for the ghost soul of the fan, but for every fan in the livestream chat.

’Giving up yourself, giving up everyone, just to chase an internet celebrity… It’s really not worth it…’

“Yes… yes, I’ve been so foolish. It’s time to wake up…” the ghost soul murmured, her lingering obsession finally released.

Witnessed by all the fans in the stream, she turned, crumbled into ash on the ground, and vanished from the world of the living forever.

Meanwhile, Xiao Shen was still curled up on the ground, his entire body twitching nonstop, as if he’d been beaten brutally.

[Oh my god! He’s been beaten this badly, should we call an ambulance?]

[Call an ambulance? My ass! Fucking scumbag! He scammed people for their money and their feelings! He deserved to get beaten!]

[I regret it too. Why did I donate so much money to him? Just so he could take it and use it on his side piece. I’m so stupid! -_-||]

[WAAAH… Even Xiao Chen is like this… Are there any good men left in the world? WAAAH, I suddenly feel like I’ve just been dumped!]

[What are you crying for?! Look at you, so pathetic! Sisters, we’ve been scammed! Let’s all report him to the platform and demand a refund!]

[Yeah! Refunds! Damn it, a piece of shit scammer like him has to give us our money back! Give us a refund, now!]

When the aunties were doting on him, it was true love. But when they turned on him, they were truly ruthless.

Tens of thousands of fans channeled the same energy they used for haggling at the market. Call after call, they completely flooded the phone lines of the Douyin Live Stream platform.

The aunties even threatened that if they didn’t get refunds, they would keep calling customer service nonstop.

Let’s see if Douyin Live Stream can stay in business then!

The platform had no choice. Plus, the incident was truly egregious, so they refunded all of the night’s donations that hadn’t been withdrawn yet and permanently banned Xiao Shen’s account.

Naturally, the PK battle Shen Zhiyao was in ended with her victory.

Xiao Shen’s fans were mostly middle-aged and older. After seeing what Shen Zhiyao could do, they all flooded into her stream.

The viewer count in Shen Zhiyao’s stream instantly shot up to one hundred thousand.

Shen Zhiyao: “I’m pausing the fortune-telling to handle some after-sales service.”

As she spoke, the view switched to a dorm room.

Ziyou: “Host, Chen Muzhe really delivered the dowry. She isn’t actually going to show up with people to take me away tonight, is she? We’ve got the dummy ready. What do we do now?”

Ziyou flipped his camera, revealing a large pile of gold.

[Whoa—that’s all real gold! Holy crap, are people from Chen Family Village all this rich?]

[Dude, you should just marry her! She might be a little ugly, but she’s seriously rich! If you go with her to the underworld, she won’t treat you poorly!]

[To the commenter above, what the hell are you talking about? If Ziyou has a ghost marriage with Chen Muzhe, he’ll die, won’t he?]

[Exactly! Is he really going to throw his life away for a little bit of money?]

[Commenter above, open your damn eyes and look! That’s a whole chest of gold! How is that ’a little bit of money’!?]

[Even if it’s a lot of money, you can’t just give up your life for it!]

Shen Zhiyao asked coolly, “Is any of the gold in the chest missing?”

“Some is. A few gold chains are missing. I was wondering, are there any consequences for taking them?”

Shen Zhiyao gave Ziyou a pointed look. “Best case, you get seriously ill. Worst case, you die.”

Ziyou flinched, startled. He hastily pulled a handful of gold chains from his pocket and put them back in the chest.

“I-I-I-I wasn’t being greedy!” Ziyou immediately fell in line, standing quietly to the side, not daring to even breathe too loudly.

Shen Zhiyao warned, “Ziyou, get in the wardrobe now! Right now! There’s no time, hurry! Qishi, you lock the door.”

Seeing the serious look on Shen Zhiyao’s face, the two didn’t dare to delay. They immediately locked Ziyou inside the wardrobe.

His roommate, Qishi, sat on the bed, waiting for the wedding procession to arrive.

「Soon, it was one in the morning.」

Only Qishi was left in the dorm room.

His handsome face was pale with fright. He looked like he was about to die of terror.

On the bed behind him lay a paper effigy that looked just like Ziyou.

Shen Zhiyao said, “Hao Qishi, don’t be afraid. First, cover your eyes with a black cloth, then put in a Bluetooth earpiece and listen for my instructions.”

Hearing the host say his name, Qishi instantly felt a lot more relaxed.

[Okay, I want to ask everyone in the stream, if we see a ghost, will we get bad luck?]

Shen Zhiyao answered, “Yes. But because you’re watching through a screen, the malicious energy is almost entirely blocked. The worst bad luck you’ll encounter is getting something stuck in your teeth while drinking water, your instant noodles missing the flavor packet, burning your food when you cook, or never winning a single hand of mahjong—and even if you think you’ve won, it’ll turn out to be a false victory!”

[As someone who loves mahjong, that’s the unluckiest thing that could happen to me, WAAAH…]

Just then, eerie footsteps sounded from outside the door.

Hao Qishi couldn’t help but tremble.

Two minutes later, the footsteps stopped outside the dorm room door.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

The door was knocked three times in succession. A woman’s chillingly seductive voice came from outside. “Little Feng, I’ve come for you~”

Hao Qishi called out in a faint voice, “Host…”

Shen Zhiyao said, “Prop up the paper effigy and go open the door!”

“Okay…”

Trembling, Hao Qishi fumbled for the paper effigy. He picked it up, set it on the floor, and, propping it up with one hand, walked toward the dorm room door…

Hao Qishi opened the dorm room door, and a ghostly wind rushed in, hitting him in the face.

Hao Qishi was nearly blown over, but a cold hand steadied him. “Hao, be careful. Don’t fall now~”

Outside stood Chen Muzhe, dressed in a bright red wedding gown, with two phoenix hairpins in her hair. Her face was a ghastly white, as if she’d fallen into a pile of flour.

Trailing behind her were two more paper effigies: one a butler, the other a maid.

The eyes of the two effigies seemed alive, swiveling to look at Hao Qishi.

Chen Muzhe’s eyes were pure white. Her eerie gaze fell upon the paper effigy in Hao Qishi’s arms; she had completely mistaken it for Little Feng.

A blissful smile spread across her face. “Little Feng, let’s go! We’re getting married today. You must be happy too, right!”

She took the paper effigy from Hao Qishi’s hands and hugged it tightly. “Thank you, Hao!”

Hao Qishi was frozen in place, not daring to move a muscle, let alone speak.

’Just leave, Chen Muzhe! Go! Please just go!’

Chen Muzhe turned and left with her two paper effigies, disappearing down the dorm hallway in an instant.

Shen Zhiyao’s voice came through his earpiece. “They’re gone.”

Hao Qishi let out a mental sigh of relief. He tried to move, but found that he couldn’t move his arms, legs, or body.

Shen Zhiyao reassured him, “Don’t worry. You’ve just been affected by the ghostly energy. Your limbs are numb, but it’ll wear off in a moment.”

Hao Qishi wanted to say “okay,” but found he couldn’t even open his mouth.

Just then, Ziyou burst out of the wardrobe and ran out, grabbing Hao Qishi to steady him. “Qishi, are you okay? What’s wrong?”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep