Chapter 51 Tangdao Beach ② - Encountering Fellow Spirit Exploration Livestream. ...

The guesthouse is called "Qinghai Xiaozhu" and is just across a narrow asphalt road from the beach. It is a three-story building with white-painted exterior walls and blue window frames, and it is kept very clean.

To Lan Shuyin's surprise, the courtyard was quite lively. Five people, four men and one woman, were sitting under the awning, chatting and drinking ice-cold beer. A camera and tripod were casually leaning against the table.

She was registering when she suddenly felt a gaze fall on her. Turning her head, she saw a man around thirty years old, very tall, handsome, with a thin mustache deliberately growing on his lips, as if to add a touch of maturity.

When she looked over, the other person not only did not avoid her, but got up and walked closer.

"Excuse me for bothering you." His voice was clear, but tinged with uncertainty. "Excuse me, are you 'Yinyin's Iron Fist'?"

Lan Shuyin was taken aback. Seriously, officer? You recognized her? She wasn't wearing her signature mask today.

This person must be a true fan, right?

Just as she was marveling at her irresistible charm and pondering how to politely and subtly reject his further advances, the man smiled and explained, "Don't get me wrong, I also make short videos and often watch content from my peers. I just thought your eyes looked a lot like hers." He then handed her his phone screen, "Here, this is my account."

Lan Shuyin glanced at the number of followers: 5.3 million?!

I took another closer look at the ID: 【Ghost Detective】

Wow, we've run into a big streamer.

Lan Shuyin screamed inwardly, but put on a shy smile. "It's okay, but I'm not."

Her room was on the second floor, bright and clean, with a view of the sea from the window.

I had just hung the clothes in the closet when I suddenly felt a slight tremor above my head. I instinctively raised my hand to touch it and my fingertips touched a cold, slightly trembling butterfly wing.

She held the little creature up to her eyes and was astonished—it was the same blue morpho butterfly that Genny had seen. Its fiery wings shone brilliantly in the sunlight.

"There are butterflies like you here too?" Lan Shuyin was somewhat impressed by the resilience of this little life, managing to make its home both in the mountains and on the coast. Her simple bun hairstyle almost became its resting place.

She walked to the window, opened her palm, and said with a smile, "Let's go, lest we get caught by bad people and turned into specimens."

But the blue morpho butterfly circled lightly in mid-air for half a turn before gently landing back against the white wall, its thin wings fluttering as if it were unwilling to leave.

Lan Shuyin gazed at it for a moment, then gently shook her head, letting the pale blue light rest quietly on the wall, before turning back to continue packing her luggage.

After finishing packing, it was almost 1 p.m. She opened her food delivery app and found that the few restaurants on the island were all closed, so she picked up her bag and went out.

Following the directions given by the landlady, Lan Shuyin went to a nearby noodle shop. As soon as she lifted the curtain, she saw the five people from the guesthouse sitting at a large table by the window eating.

The man with the sparse beard looked up and saw her. His eyes lit up, and he smiled and waved, "What a coincidence! Shall we sit together?"

After Lan Shuyin ordered seafood noodles and sat down, he naturally handed her a pair of chopsticks. "Are you here for tourism?"

"Um."

"Why did you think of coming to such a remote place?"

"Let's paint, let's sketch from life."

"I see." The man extended his hand warmly. "Zhou Xu."

"Lan Bing." Lan Shuyin gave a loose squeeze and gave her usual pseudonym.

Zhou Xu raised an eyebrow, his tone tinged with mystery, "We actually came here specifically to investigate ghosts. There's a special place on this island..." He leaned forward slightly, "Do you know Kagura Bathhouse?"

"I've heard of it."

“We’re going to do a live stream there tonight.” Zhou Xu looked at her. “Interested in appearing on camera? It’s simple, just follow along. We’ll prompt you to say a few words if necessary.”

Upon hearing this, Lan Shuyin happily replied, "Great! That sounds exciting!"

“That’s right!” The only girl among the five spoke up. She looked to be in her early twenties and dressed in a very Lolita-like style. “That place was a prison execution ground during the Republic of China era. It was very gloomy. Later, it was converted into a bathhouse by a foreign developer who didn’t know the inside story. How could it not be exciting?”

“Indeed.” Another young man nodded in agreement. “I talked to the locals, and they said this bathhouse is haunted. They say the water in the hot spring pools suddenly turns red. Sometimes you can see blurry figures sitting on the edge of the pool, and they disappear as soon as you get close.”

“Hong Hong, Liu Zi, you’re both wrong.” At this moment, the oldest middle-aged man among them lit a cigarette. “The real reason this bathhouse was abandoned is that a big boss was haunted here. He was a famous real estate developer. When he came to the bathhouse to discuss business, he saw his deceased partner walk out of the pool, soaking wet, with an iron chain around his neck, looking like he had crawled up from the underworld to seek justice.”

He exhaled a smoke ring, the smoke slowly dissipating in the noodle shop in the afternoon. "The owner suffered a sudden heart attack on the spot. Although he was later rescued, business plummeted. Since then, no one has dared to go there again."

Hong Hong exclaimed, "Oh dear, it's just a ghost story anyway." Then she turned to Lan Shuyin and said, "Miss, let me tell you, you really need to protect yourself. These grown men have absolutely no idea how to take care of girls. Every time there's a disturbance at a ghost-hunting site, they run away as fast as they can, leaving me huffing and puffing as I chase after them. It's such a mess!"

"Why do you always wear these cumbersome leather shoes?" Liu Zi joked with a laugh. "Just change into a pair of sneakers and everything will be fine."

Amidst laughter and commotion, Zhou Xu looked gently at Lan Shuyin, "Don't listen to her nonsense, we will definitely ensure your safety."

Lan Shuyin just smiled reservedly.

It took her an hour to finish a bowl of noodles, and it was almost 3 p.m. when she left the noodle shop. Lan Shuyin made an excuse to go for a walk on the beach, finally escaping the overly enthusiastic group.

She walked slowly along the coastline toward Kagura Beach. The salty sea breeze caressed her face, and in the distance, jagged rocks rose and waves crashed against the shore.

As she passed by a group of fishermen's houses, she stopped to chat with a few fishermen mending their nets. When the topic of Kagura Bathhouse came up, what they said was pretty much the same as what Rokuko had found out—the water turns red, and there are shadows in the mist.

Just as I was about to leave, an old man lying on the beach sunbathing suddenly snorted, "That's all in the future."

“My father told me that the place used to be a brothel that preyed on respectable women. One day, they captured a tough one, and the girl knew some magic. She used her magic to summon the Grim Reaper. She commanded the Grim Reaper to kill everyone in the brothel. After that, the place was never peaceful again.”

A fisherman nearby chuckled and interrupted, "Uncle Qi, you're telling those old, worn-out stories again..."

"I'm not going to argue with you. My dad would never lie to me..." Uncle Qi stubbornly turned his head away.

Lan Shuyin listened intently, then sat down on the beach next to the old man, feigning curiosity, and asked, "There really are people who can summon the Grim Reaper?" Seeing him look over, she explained, "I'm a travel blogger, and I'm particularly interested in these folk tales. You seem quite knowledgeable; do you know anything else?"

Her praise immediately energized Uncle Qi, who sat up abruptly. "You've come to the right person," he said mysteriously. "It's said that when that demoness summoned the Grim Reaper, she was accompanied by a giant python."

"A giant python?" Lan Shuyin paused.

"That python was as tall as a hundred-story building, its black aura billowing and blotting out the sky." Uncle Qi gestured with his hand, his cloudy eyes gleaming. "Those in the know say that if we don't conceal the secrets of heaven in this way, the heavens will send down divine punishment."

"Wow, it's so big! What happened next?"

"And then?" Uncle Seven squinted, gazing at the silhouette of the Kagura Bathhouse in the distance. "The giant python disappeared. Some say it took the divine punishment for that demoness, exhausted its cultivation, and was punished by heaven, turning to ashes..."

Uncle Qi suddenly lowered his voice, "If you don't believe me, I have proof at home!"

Lan Shuyin then suggested that she wanted to see it for herself. Uncle Qi got up and led her to an old fisherman's house not far away. Fishing nets were drying in the yard, along with some dried fish.

Uncle Qi solemnly brought out several yellowed scrolls from the inner room. The edges of the silk cloth used for mounting were badly worn, indicating that they were very old.

He carefully unfolded one of the paintings. "My great-grandfather was a painter in the government office back then, and he saw that scene with his own eyes. Look, this is what the giant python looked like."

On the slightly yellowed scroll, a pair of eerie green snake eyes are vaguely visible amidst the churning black mist. Although it is a freehand ink painting, it exudes an overwhelming sense of oppression, as if it is looking down on all living beings from the sky.

"My great-grandfather witnessed the incident from behind a rock when it happened at the brothel," Uncle Qi said, his fingers lightly tracing the scroll. "The giant python's eyes were like two eerie green flames, burning fiercely in the ink..."

Just then, the sea breeze blew in through the open wooden window, just as it lifted another half-unrolled scroll.

Seeing that Lan Shuyin's gaze was drawn to it, Uncle Qi picked up the other painting as well. "This one is even more remarkable. It's said to be the image of the Grim Reaper." He slowly unfolded the painting.

“My father said that the Grim Reaper my great-grandfather saw was not the one with a scythe in mythology, but an extremely handsome and noble man, followed by a huge black shadow, which represented death.”

On the scroll, a slender figure was outlined in vivid ink. The face was indistinct in the misty ink, but the proud outline and posture inexplicably reminded Lan Shuyin of Wei Li.

The enormous, dark shadow behind him, rendered in thick ink, was neither human nor mist, its edges spreading out to vaguely resemble the shape of wings, both eerie and majestic.

A black-clad figure, a ghostly shadow?

Lan Shuyin stared at the blurry yet undeniably elegant figure in the painting, and inexplicably recalled Jiang Wuyang's words, her brows furrowing involuntarily.

Seeing her staring intently at the painting, silent for a long time, Uncle Qi smiled knowingly and slowly rolled up the scroll again:

"You also think I'm making up stories, right? A lot of young people have come to see this before, and they all said that this painting was made up by my ancestors to fool people."

He shook his head, his voice carrying a calm acceptance of life's experiences, "But things in this world, true and false, are not so easy to distinguish."

Lan Shuyin thanked Uncle Qi and continued walking towards Kagura Bathhouse.

The outline of that massive building can be seen from a great distance, and its original scale is still faintly discernible.

She walked along, lost in thought, picking up her phone several times only to put it down again.

To reach the bathhouse, one must cross a suspension bridge with pedestrian walkways on either side and a two-lane road in the middle. Just as she absentmindedly stepped onto the bridge, a car suddenly honked its horn loudly—

"Beep—!"

The sudden noise startled Lan Shuyin, making her tremble.

The driver laughed triumphantly and drove off.

Seeing this, Lan Shuyin cursed him inwardly for being immoral and wished that his tire would burst on the spot.

"Bang—"

I hadn’t walked more than a few steps when a loud bang suddenly came from behind me.

She turned around in astonishment and saw that the car was indeed leaning to the side of the road, its left rear tire flat. The driver was jumping up and down, cursing, while making a phone call for help.

Wow, karma really does exist.

Lan Shuyin couldn't help but laugh. And she deliberately laughed very loudly.

Seeing the driver glare at her angrily, she became even more energized, raising her voice and laughing clearly four more times—

"Ha ha ha ha!"

Each sound was utterly mocking, standing out sharply on the empty bridge.

Only when the other person's face turned from red to green did she turn around with satisfaction, humming a song as she left in high spirits.

The closer you get to the Kagura Baths, the more you can feel its former glory. The Byzantine-style dome is mottled and cracked due to years of neglect, and large pieces of the colorful mosaic on the exterior walls have peeled off. You can still vaguely make out the graceful outline of the goddess flying, but the goddess's face is white and empty, as if her features have been gouged out.

Lan Shuyin walked around and found a side door that had been pried open. The iron door was ajar, the lock had been smashed and was drooping with rust.

This is not surprising. Ruins like these have always been a paradise for novice explorers seeking novelty.

She put on a headlamp and pushed open the door.

A pungent smell, a mixture of rotting wood and the salty tang of the deep sea, filled the air. The hall was extremely spacious, yet a mess—shattered glass and tiles were scattered everywhere, the dust thick as a carpet, covered with haphazardly overlapping footprints. In the very center was a dried-up circular fountain pool, with several rotten, blackened swimsuits lying at the bottom.

By the light of her headlamp, she saw the faded sign on the wall:

Men's Section

Women's Section

【Featured Hot Spring Area】

She followed the passageway leading to the "Special Hot Spring Area." She tried the elevator, but it didn't work. So she turned and went down the emergency exit. The handrails were covered in cobwebs, and with each step she took down, the surrounding temperature seemed to drop a notch.

The cell phone signal had long since disappeared. She slowly descended following the footsteps of those who had gone before, and after about two floors, she saw a blurry metal sign: [Featured Hot Spring Area]

This floor has a very private layout, with individual private rooms on both sides of the passageway.

Rock bath, medicinal stone bath...

The doors to the private rooms in the hot spring bath were wide open, as if they had been roughly pushed open by countless hands. The ghost stories circulating outside made waves of adventurers want to go inside and see for themselves.

Lan Shuyin, like everyone else, went through each room. Every room reeked of a mixture of old limescale and mold. The hot spring pool had long since dried up, leaving only rings of stubborn black and yellow stains. Nothing else was there; at least, she saw nothing.

The place was unusually large, with a maze-like network of passageways. Just as she was about to return to the main hall to see if she could find any clues such as architectural plans or logs, she suddenly tripped over something.

"Clang—!"

A deafening crash, echoing through the silence, broke the stillness. She had tripped over a discarded towel rack piled in the corner, which crashed to the ground.

Dust settled down in a soft rustling sound.

Lan Shuyin frowned and looked over, but unexpectedly discovered that behind the iron rack where the miscellaneous items were piled up, in the shadow of the wall, there was an extremely hidden entrance!

It didn't resemble a proper staircase; it was more like a hidden maintenance passage. The iron gate was tightly closed, with a rusty U-lock hanging on it.

It's finally here!

She perked up and immediately pulled out a brand-new set of lock-picking tools from her backpack.

After seeing Wei Li unlock the door last time, she really wanted to try it herself. So, when she got home, she bought the same one from Taobao.

She recalled Kui Li's actions at the time and confidently inserted the tool into the keyhole.

This way, that way, and then this way again...

Lan Shuyin made a series of swift and decisive moves, only to find that the lock remained completely still.

The steps should be correct, and the tools are exactly the same, so why isn't it working?

Undeterred, she tried several more times, but the lock remained stubbornly fastened to the door, showing no sign of loosening.

Her enthusiasm was dampened, and she grimaced at the rusty lock.

Suddenly, she heard footsteps. It seemed like several people were walking quickly towards her.

Lan Shuyin's first reaction was to avoid it.

The linen room was right next door, so she slipped inside and gently closed the door.

The smell inside was truly unpleasant; several moldy bath towels hung on the horizontal bar like shrouds. The light from a cell phone cut flickering shadows between the layers of fabric, as if something was moving behind the curtains.

But she didn't care about the unpleasant smell. Because after entering, she suddenly felt a strange pull, like someone whispering in the dark, guiding her slowly towards the deepest wall.

Lan Shuyin pulled aside the thick bath towel and discovered that the tiles on that wall were slightly loose.

Just as she reached out to investigate—

Bang!

The door to the linen room was suddenly pushed open.

Several beams of flashlight pierced the darkness and shone on her. The curtain was lifted, and Zhou Xu's face, filled with undisguised surprise, came into view.

"Blue ice?"

The members behind him were also stunned, and Hong Hong even let out a soft gasp.

"It's you guys?" Lan Shuyin feigned surprise, patting her chest lightly. "You scared me to death."

Zhou Xu held up his flashlight, his gaze shifting between her and the wall. "We just heard a noise, I didn't expect it to be you." His tone was calm, yet carried a subtle scrutiny. "Didn't we agree to meet at six?"

That's a clever question—both arrived early, but Lan Shuyin is clearly the more peculiar one. After all, she had previously acted as if she had no interest in the place, yet now she's wearing a headlamp. Do art students have a habit of sketching outdoors at night?

Zhou Xu had a slight doubt in his heart.

Lan Shuyin said, "Your curiosity was piqued, so I thought I'd come and explore the area first. What about you?"

"We're going to be live streaming tonight, so we need to prepare in advance." Zhou Xu didn't explain much, but Lan Shuyin roughly understood.

Most paranormal investigation livestreams follow a similar formula. The team places various props in the scene beforehand, such as doors and windows that suddenly open and close, chandeliers that sway on their own, and even pre-recorded eerie sounds. During the livestream, a host operates from a distance to create the illusion of a paranormal event. The streamer then performs according to the script, first cautiously exploring, then unexpectedly discovering something unusual, and finally fleeing in panic at the climax.

What the audience wants to see is this exciting process.

“I understand.” Lan Shuyin nodded, her gaze casually sweeping over their bulging equipment bags. “Do you need any help?”

Zhou Xu smiled and said, "Then let's go together."

However, before going out with them, Lan Shuyin secretly glanced at the wall before turning her head away.

This floor served as the main location for the live stream. Peng, with a cigarette dangling from his mouth, expertly took out several palm-sized black boxes from his equipment bag and placed them in the shadows of the corner. Hong Hong was in charge of arranging visual elements, scattering glitter around the pool. The other two were either handling cameras or applying makeup. Their division of labor was clear, and their movements were practiced, clearly indicating they were seasoned veterans.

In less than half an hour, this desolate space was transformed into a "paranormal scene" full of hidden mysteries.

Zhou Xu gave all the equipment a final check and nodded in satisfaction. "Actors in position, the show is about to begin." Since the premiere of [Ghost Detective], Lan Shuyin has been following Hong Hong.

To be precise, it was Hong Hong who unilaterally and tightly held his arm.

Having witnessed a terrifying live broadcast for the first time, Lan Shuyin watched as Zhou Xu effortlessly managed the atmosphere in front of the camera, and couldn't help but admire him inwardly. His delivery, his emotions, his rhythm—no wonder he had so many fans.

"Friends, do you see this pool? Legend has it that the water turns red mysteriously every night... Let's go in and take a look."

"Huh? Why is the bottom of this pool sparkling? Something feels off..."

Just then, Hong Hong whispered in Lan Shuyin's ear, "Lan Bing, go to that door." She pointed to the hot spring bath room that Zhou Xu had just entered, "Stand with your back to it, and leave immediately after the camera pans over. Don't look back."

Lan Shuyin moved to the doorway as instructed and stood with her back to the room.

"I don't know if it's just my imagination..." Zhou Xu's voice rang out at the right moment, with a slight tremor, "I suddenly felt a chill on the back of my neck, as if something was staring at me from behind..."

He suddenly turned the camera towards the doorway.

In the live stream, a slender figure stood outside the door, the dim light casting a long, thin shadow that resembled a ghost.

"Ah!" Zhou Xu cried out in surprise, and the camera shook violently.

At this moment, Lan Shuyin should have moved away from the camera. But suddenly she couldn't move her feet.

"Lan Bing! Hurry up!" Hong Hong urged anxiously in a low voice from a short distance away.

Lan Shuyin slowly raised her hand, reaching over Zhou Xu's shoulder, and pointed behind him.

Zhou Xu paused, then turned his head as if sensing something was amiss.

Suddenly, a layer of white mist rose from the dried-up bottom of the pool.

The mist arrived extremely quickly, carrying the cold, damp air from deep underground. Within seconds, it filled the entire pool, swallowing up all the glitter and grime at the bottom.

And deep within the swirling mist, there seemed to be a blurry human figure standing there.

The feigned fear on Zhou Xu's face froze, turning into genuine surprise.

He subconsciously looked in Hong Hong's direction, only to see that she also looked stunned, clearly this was not part of their script at all.

Zhou Xu made a quick decision, retreating while turning the camera towards the eerie figure in the fog.

As they left the room, they found Lan Shuyin still standing there. Thinking she was stunned, they grabbed her arm.

Almost as soon as Zhou Xu touched her, Lan Shuyin realized what was happening and quickly backed away.

The spirits couldn't scare her.

But a group of people can—

In her vision, human silhouettes were constantly emerging from the bottom of the pool, standing silently in the fog. The thick fog blurred their faces, but their numbers were so great that they quickly filled the entire space. And the fog continued to spread, with new shadows constantly appearing.

"Why is there such a thick fog all of a sudden?" Liu Zi asked in surprise.

"Get out of the way."

Just then, a steady voice rang out. The man called Brother Peng stepped forward, a yellow talisman already between his fingers.

With a slight flick of his wrist, the talisman spontaneously combusted, instantly transforming into a golden ray that shot into the thick fog.

"Disperse!"

With a low shout, the white mist filling the room seemed to be stirred by an invisible hand, violently churning and contracting, but in an instant, it dissipated without a trace.

Soon, the bottom of the pool returned to its original dry and dilapidated state, and the dense, eerie shadows also disappeared.

As the fog dissipated, Zhou Xu had composed himself, presenting the camera with just the right amount of lingering shock:

"Did you all see that just now, family? The fog came so suddenly! Luckily, our Brother Peng knows a thing or two..."

Hong Hong immediately chimed in, her voice still trembling with deliberate restraint, "That scared me to death! Something's definitely not right here!"

As Zhou Xu explained, he secretly gave Peng Ge a wink. Peng Ge nodded slightly, his fingers lightly pressing on the cloth bag at his waist, where other magical artifacts were clearly kept.

Lan Shuyin took it all in. Watching them work together seamlessly and smoothly regain control of the live stream, her mind gradually cleared.

Especially the way Brother Peng carefully collected the ashes of the burnt talisman into a sealed bag, combined with his effortless skill just now—this was definitely not a skill that could be faked by last-minute cramming.

Before this, she only thought of this middle-aged man, who reeked of cigarettes, as a rude and uncultured person.

You really can't judge a book by its cover.

This seemingly gimmicky live-streaming team actually possesses genuine talent.