Ji Qian endured the stinging pain in her ears and looked ahead. Sure enough, she saw a blonde woman wearing a medieval dress.

Although she was mentally prepared, Ji Qian was still startled.

She instinctively drew her sickle and slashed at the other woman's neck, but the blonde woman dodged the attack by sidestepping and then pounced on Ji Qian.

Ji Qian raised her severed arm to try to cover herself, but the woman retreated as quickly as if she had been burned the moment she touched it.

Ji Qian didn't see Han Mengyao. Seeing this, she wanted to press her advantage, but Ying Xu pulled her back.

"Sister Qian, Sister Meng doesn't seem to be doing well. Let's go back first."

Guided by Ying Xu, Ji Qian finally saw Han Mengyao lying on the side.

Ji Qian leaned closer and discovered that the red rope around Han Mengyao's waist had torn in a large section for some reason, which must have been the reason the ghost had entered.

Fearing that ghosts might cause trouble again, Ji Qian simply carried Han Mengyao on her shoulder. Although the movement was a bit awkward, she believed that Mengyao would understand for safety's sake.

The banquet hall was silent; more than two hours had passed since Ji Qian and the others left.

After more than ten hours of long-haul flight and a series of unexpected events, everyone was exhausted. Even the usually energetic Director Liu showed signs of fatigue.

Thanks to Xu Qi's efforts, the corners of the entire banquet hall were covered with unknown runes. At this moment, he was leaning listlessly against the banquet hall door, enjoying his hard-won rest time.

Suddenly, Xu Qi heard hurried footsteps coming from the corridor outside, followed by Ji Qian's anxious shouts:

"We're back! Open the door!"

The others in the room also heard the sound. Mi Yesi quickly got up and was about to open the door, but Xu Qi stopped her, saying, "Wait, something's not right."

Ignoring Mi Yesi's questioning gaze, Xu Qi shouted loudly towards the door, "Give me the password!"

"signal?"

The person outside paused for a moment, then angrily shouted:

"What code? Xu Qi, you're kidding! Open the door for us! Something's chasing us!"

"hehe,"

Upon hearing this, Xu Qi couldn't help but smile smugly. Mi Yesi, seeing this, became even more puzzled. Just as she was about to question him, she saw Xu Qi confidently call out towards the door:

"If Ji Qian were really like this, she would have already smashed the door and come in to hit me. At the very least, she would have scolded me. Your gentle tone sounds fake!"

Ji Qian's reputation was damaged.

[Such a unique way of judging people, I love it!]

He even knows the other person's reaction perfectly; he really loves it!

[Ghost: Are young people these days having such wild and outrageous fun?]

The ghost never imagined that one day it would lose because it was too polite.

After hearing Xu Qi's words, there was an eerie silence outside for a while, followed by a piercing roar and a violent banging on the door.

Xu Qi, who had been calm and collected just moments before, immediately shrank to a corner five meters away upon hearing the commotion.

He covered his ears, crouched in the corner trembling, showing no trace of his previous smugness.

After a while, the monsters outside finally quieted down, but the people inside dared not relax their vigilance at all.

They stared intently at the doorway, fearing that a monster might break in and devour them alive at any moment.

Xu Qi, the only one in the room who had the ability to resist, had shrunk into a tiny ball.

If she hadn't seen it with her own eyes, Mi Yesi would never have believed that a man who was nearly 1.9 meters tall could fold himself up like that.

[I didn't realize Xu Qi was so flexible!]

【Of course! Our brother even participated in an audition when he debuted!】

How did you end up becoming an actor?

[Because he lacked stamina, he almost fainted during his singing and dancing performance.]

[Moreover, Qiqi is tone-deaf; the judges were so shocked by her singing that they turned green with embarrassment.]

He survived the first round thanks to his good looks, but was quickly eliminated in the second round of individual competition due to his poor skills.

I initially thought he had faded into obscurity, but I never expected him to become famous for acting.

"Bang, bang, bang!"

A crisp knock echoed through the banquet hall, startling everyone who was keeping a close eye on the door.

Seeing that no one else was going to speak, Director Liu glanced at Xu Qi, who was still huddled in the corner, and braced himself to go up and answer the door: "Who is it? Who is it?"

"I am Ji Qian."

Upon hearing this, Director Liu couldn't help but curse inwardly: 'What a moron! He can't even change his phone number when he's lying!' But outwardly, he still responded politely:

"Excuse me, Professor Ji, there was a slight mishap just now. Would you mind proving your identity?"

"Prove your identity? How do we do that? Hurry up, Sister Meng has fainted."

Hearing the other party's good-natured reply, Director Liu became even more certain of his guess, and his words began to become more impolite:

"What can I do? I'm not that familiar with you personally. Why don't you give us some inside information?"

"..."

Suddenly, everything went quiet outside. Just as Director Liu covered his ears, bracing himself for another round of screams, he suddenly heard Ji Qian's reply:

"I can share a scoop, but it's not really suitable for broadcast. Why don't you come closer and I'll whisper it to you?"

"Okay, I'm here. Teacher Ji, you can speak now."

Director Liu certainly couldn't actually get close to the door, but in order to see what the other party was up to, he still stood about ten steps away from the door.

"Okay, listen carefully."

Upon hearing this, Director Liu instinctively perked up his ears, but heard nothing more. He only heard a series of hurried footsteps, followed by...

'Bang!'

With a loud bang, the banquet hall doors were smashed open, and a humanoid object flew in from outside, hitting Director Liu directly!

Director Liu felt as if he had been hit squarely by a wild boar. Before he could catch his breath, the strange sensation on his lips drew all his attention.

Director Liu subconsciously pushed the 'wild boar' off him, and only after he sat up did he realize that this 'unnamed wild boar' was actually the assistant director who had gone out with Ji Qian and the others earlier.

The assistant director sat on the ground to the side, frantically rubbing his lips. The experience of those few seconds was enough to haunt him for a whole year.

[Wow~ They've already kissed?]

[Thanks to Director Liu and the assistant director for selflessly contributing the first intimate scene in this variety show]

I knew their relationship was something special a long time ago. What two straight men are inseparable for over ten years?!

[The battle was fierce; even the assistant director's lips turned red.]

[His bruises are clearly red from rubbing! And all of you doing this makes me wonder about what happens to Boss Xie?]

Of course, I'll always keep Boss Xie in my heart!

Hey, I could hear your scheme even in England!

"Director Liu, could you please explain?"