<h4>Chapter Ch99.1 - The Cycle of Karma, What Goes Around Comes Around (13.1)</h4>


    <i>trantor: baumkuchen editor: glitterypanda</i>


    Half an hourter, the director, the lighting techs, the cameramen, etcetera, were all at their ces on set.


    The set was in utter chaos, but almost all the task-takers had gloomy looks on their faces.


    Everyone was reviewing the script, but none of them were very ready.


    Only Chi Xiaochi was being taken through the set by the Gan siblings to get him familiar with the ces.


    ording to the shooting schedule, the scene they were going to shoot today was what happened when the seven of them came to the male lead’s old castle to y around when they were in high school.


    At that time, the “Guan Qiaoqiao” in the story was still alive and was still “Song Chunyang”’s girlfriend. Seeing that she was pretty, the male lead started making moves on her. After finding out about this, the female lead became very angry, and began to get her clique to join her in bullying her. “Song Chunyang” didn’t know about any of this, up until his girlfriend was unfortunately raped andmitted suicide in grief and indignation, when he found out about everything.


    In the day, they were going to shoot some trivial scenes of daily life, the important scenes were to be shot at night.


    That night, they were going to shoot the programme item of “Guan Qiaoqiao” being bullied by the group.


    This round of bullying was initiated by the female lead.


    She took the initiative to suggest ying the four corners game with “Guan Qiaoqiao”.


    This was a kind of supernatural game, which needed four yers. In pitch-ck darkness, where you couldn’t see your hands even when they were right in front of your face, four people, A, B, C and D, would stand in the four corners of an unlit room in clockwise order. A would start off, feeling their way around in the dark, from the first corner, while the others stood still in their ces. After reaching B’s position, A needed to pat B on the shoulder, then stand in B’s spot, while B would start moving at the same time, walking in C’s direction, pat C on the shoulder and upy C’s corner. C would then start moving forward again and do the same thing, so on, so forth.


    After one round, D would set out to the empty corner where A had originally stood in the beginning. Once any yer reached an empty corner, the yer would need to cough, then turn and walk to the position where the person in front of them was.


    Apparently, at the end of the game, no one would be coughing. That is to say, there would be people standing in all four corners of the room.


    But there would still be the sound of footsteps heading to the next corner.


    In other words, there was an extra “person” in the room.


    This game sounded terrifying, but there were many factors within the yers’ control.


    As long as there was one person who didn’t follow the rules of the game and didn’t cough when they were met with an empty corner, walked out of that empty corner, quickly patted the next person’s shoulder, then tiptoed back to the empty corner and waited, they would be able to create the illusion of there being “four people at all corners, but there was still someone walking”.


    What’s more, the “Guan Qiaoqiao” in the story was set up by the other three people working together at the same time. As a result, she was frightened into trying to escape through the door, but was unable to open the door, and in the end, opened a window and jumped out of the room in a panic, ending up with minor injuries.


    When he was reading the script, Chi Xiaochi thought that if there was someone who dared to try to scare him like that, setting aside how he would be, that person trying to scare him would certainly die on the spot.


    And right now, Ponytaildy, Pigtail guy and Freckles weren’t far from dying on the spot.


    Everyone could guess that this “Guan Qiaoqiao” wasn’t the original.


    ying the four corners game with a real ghost, and having to scare the ghost into jumping out the window......


    But there was nothing they could do. The script said so, so they could only grit their teeth and do it.


    ording to the script, this was just a shbacksting less than a minute. They didn’t need to y the entire game. As long as they created a proper horrifying atmosphere and shot a jump, that would be enough.


    But “Guan Qiaoqiao” very diligently stood at her corner, her nervous expression perfectly pinched.


    The three could only go along with her performance, trembling with fear as they stood in their corners like they were standing on thin ice, many levels more panicked than her.


    “Guan Qiaoqiao” even considerately pointed out, “You guys are the ones scaring me, you can rx a little.”


    The three’s expressions were as if they were being hurried towards the gallows. They didn’t know whether they should thank her.


    The director announced the start of the scene.


    After ying a few rounds, Pigtail guy coughed, trembling. Then, the three quickly spread out as dictated by the script, hiding in the middle of the room.


    “Guan Qiaoqiao” reached the next corner. Finding no one there, she panicked. With rough breaths, she pressed her back to the wall, looking around in the darkness, her eyes filling with tears in a timely manner.


    She kept her voice quiet as she asked, “Where are you guys?”


    Of course, she didn’t receive a reply. The three people acting along with her didn’t even dare to breathe too deeply. There was only the buzzing noise of the night vision cameras in the room as they operated and their faint, cold green glow.


    In the darkness, “Guan Qiaoqiao” really acted out a full-blown panic, her emotions perfectly controlled. Her hands, which were pressed against the wall to support herself, scrabbled madly at the wall. She couldn’t keep herself from stomping her feet in panic. Her voice held a hint of tears, “Make a sound, please. Don’t scare me, I’m afraid——”


    Her weeping was incredibly contagious, utterly pitiful, making others feel moved.


    Pigtail guy and the other two stuck to the script, huddling in a ce hidden from the cameras as they trembled, deathly afraid that this female warrior would be scared into a panic, and with a wipe of her face, kill them all with a crack.


    Not receiving a response, “Guan Qiaoqiao” followed the wall and hurried towards the direction of the door as she remembered it. She tried the door handle several times, but the door was of course locked shut.


    The darkness like that of the deep ocean was pushing her to the verge of insanity.


    She pressed her back against the door, uttering panicked sobs from her throat.


    Ponytaildy pulled out a wig prop from her pocket, arranged it so it was covering her face, then crept her way over, her posture like she was going to steal a weasel’s chicken. The entire way there, she was reflecting on whether her actions were the textbook example of seeking death.


    But someone who was able to get through eight tasks, even if they weren’t smart enough, they would have higher psychological endurance than an ordinary person.


    As for those who weren’t able to tell the right time and ce for it and cried out and shouted, or those who abandoned their tasks and ran, most died in the first two tasks.


    She reached out and tapped “Guan Qiaoqiao” on the shoulder, and used the shlight of her phone which had been hidden in her pocket to illuminate her face.


    “Guan Qiaoqiao” stared at Ponytaildy for a few seconds, her face slowly twisting, actually so scared that she couldn’t even scream. Borrowing the faint light to see, she rushed straight for the window, wrenched it open, and cleanly and neatly jumped out.


    Other than Ponytaildy, who had been shocked stupid, Pigtail guy and Freckles were only stunned for a moment before rushing over to the window and looking down. They saw “Guan Qiaoqiao” struggling to get up in a bush below the window.


    Freckles, “......Fuck, she really jumped.”


    Pigtail guy’s eyes narrowed slightly.


    ......The lights were on downstairs.


    So he could clearly see a long, bloody gash on “Guan Qiaoqiao”’s neck from where she had been scratched by the bush, slowly leaking blood.


    Chi Xiaochi also had a part in this scene. He had been waiting downstairs for a long time. Seeing “Guan Qiaoqiao” jump out without a safety rope, he was also stunned for a moment.


    ......But that made sense, she didn’t fear death.


    Gan Yu really helped to maintain Chi Xiaochi’s act as a blind person. He whispered into his ear, informing him that “Guan Qiaoqiao” had suffered some slight wounds, then pushed his back, signalling that it was time for him toe onto the scene.


    Chi Xiaochi walked out from around the corner, carrying the rest of the barbeque rack that had been used when they had gone out to the forest and had a barbeque, just in time to bump into “Guan Qiaoqiao”, who had rolled out of the bush and was in an utter mess.


    “Guan Qiaoqiao”, dressed as a young teenage girl, ran about in a daze. Upon bumping into another person, she jumped away in fear, like a frightened animal. But when she saw who the person before her was, her eyes brightened, as if she had been saved from drowning, she went from muddled despair, to disbelief, to being filled with hope once more. Many emotions flickered through her eyes, before finally settling on an eager yet despairing look in her tearful gaze.


    She spread her arms and lunged at him, pulling Chi Xiaochi into a tight hug.


    She wasn’t like the woman in ordinary garbage horror films, only knowing how to strain their throat as they cosyed as a screaming chicken.


    Her expression wasn’t even intensely warped. Clearly, she had already understood the truth behind the “supernatural incident” just now.


    Fear was reced by helplessness. Her sadness leaked out of her bones.


    Even Chi Xiaochi was pulled into the act by her emotions.


    He asked, “What’s wrong?”


    Until now, everything had been perfectly in line with the script.


    This was just a short shback. The screenwriter had ced almost all the emphasis on the reunion ten yearster, making a great effort to y up the roles of boobs, sex, and a N-sided love polygon worthy of the phrase “the lives of the rich are so messy”, the scenes where “Guan Qiaoqiao” showed her face might not even reach five minutes. Even her lines were a paltry few.


    For instance, after editing, the time this four corners game prank would take up in the movie absolutely wouldn’tst more than half a minute.


    But in the next second, “Guan Qiaoqiao” rested her head next to Chi Xiaochi’s ear and whispered, “......Save me.”


    She raised her tear-zed eyes and repeated, “Save me, please.”


    The soft, teary voice of a young girl made Chi Xiaochi’s heart twitch.


    ......This wasn’t in the script.


    baum: hey guys, I’ll be taking a break next week for finals/project prep. But since I don’t like leaving half-chapters hanging for too long, I’ll still have one update next week to finish off this chapter, on Friday as usual.


    on another note, wow the four corners game has always freaked me out so much orz


    I don’t get why people y games like this and ouija and the elevator game T T