What a coincidence!

Wait a minute, that peony cinnabar was a clue provided by the production team, and this peony jade looks exactly the same as it—could it be that the silly woman is also an NPC arranged by the production team?

Nan Xian turned her gaze away from the peony jade and looked at the simple-minded woman with a complicated expression. "What... is this thing?"

The simple-minded woman seemed extremely excited. She rubbed her hands together rapidly, her breathing quickened, and she barely stopped talking: "Good stuff! This is...good stuff! It's for you!"

A gift for yourself? No one would give such an expensive gift to a stranger for no reason... It seems like it was arranged by the production team.

Nan Xian said helplessly, "Grandma, your acting is just too good. If you want props, just say so! You really gave me a fright just now!"

The old woman paused upon hearing this, a bewildered look on her face.

"Alright, alright, no need to act anymore." Nan Xian shook her head with a smile, took out the peony cinnabar from her pocket, and handed it to her. "Here, this is the prop I got yesterday. See, doesn't it look just like yours?"

Unexpectedly, upon seeing the peony and cinnabar, the simple-minded woman screamed as if she had been greatly shocked.

She covered her head with both hands, staring at it with bloodshot eyes, her features contorted in a grotesque grimace, and muttered strange short phrases again.

Nan Xian was startled by the scream, and her hand trembled, causing her to lose her grip on the peony cinnabar.

It fell to the ground and cracked in two with a crisp "crack".

Nan Xian was about to pick it up when she saw some dark red liquid slowly flowing out from the crack.

The next moment, an indescribable nauseating stench rushed into her nostrils.

Her vision went black, and she felt as if her nose had been hit hard by a truck full of rotting animal carcasses. Instinctively, she stumbled backward, tilting her head back and desperately craving fresh air like a drowning person.

The moment the peony cinnabar cracked, the idiot woman stopped screaming. With a pale face, she pulled out the cloth that had previously wrapped the wooden box and covered the peony cinnabar with it.

The horrifying stench finally dissipated.

Nan Xian gagged twice, still feeling extremely uncomfortable. She rubbed her throat, her voice hoarse: "What on earth was that thing?!"

The old woman's face was serious, but her fingers trembled slightly. She looked at Nan Xian for a while, then suddenly walked up to her and put the peony jade into her hand.

Nan Xian had developed a phobia of anything shaped like a peony. She instinctively wanted to refuse, but the silly old woman stopped her.

She stared into Nan Xian's eyes, opened her mouth, but no sound came out. Nan Xian, however, understood her lip movements—

"Don't trust them!"

**

"ah--!"

Nan Xian opened her eyes, but all she could see was darkness.

She panicked, waving her hands wildly around and shouting "Help!"

The door opened with a click, and Ding He rushed in, turning on the light, her face full of tension.

"Sis, what's wrong! Has someone broken in?!"

Nan Xian squinted to adjust to the light for a while, and when she met her worried gaze, her wildly beating heart slowly calmed down.

How did I get... here?

Wasn't she staying with the simple-minded woman in the small tile-roofed house? How did she suddenly return to the hotel room?

Ding He looked puzzled and scratched her head in confusion. "Huh? Sis, are you still having a nightmare? We've been staying here all along, and the recording doesn't officially start until tomorrow morning."

"What? Recording tomorrow morning?"

"Yes, today is the 26th, tomorrow is the 27th..."

Nan Xian was stunned—

The 26th... wasn't that two days ago?