Chapter 78 Coughing Then Let's Keep Quiet
"What does this mean?" Jiang Yue was a little confused.
Chang Xile watched Bubu following Jiang Yue closely and said to her, "Pick it up."
Jiang Yue hesitated: "Although Bubu is very close to me, I am not very good at holding it. I always hurt it. Even if I hold it forcibly, it will run away if it feels uncomfortable."
Chang Xile raised his chin and said, "Don't force it. Just bend down and open your arms to it and try."
Jiang Yue did as she was told. Without much hope, she squatted down, opened her arms to Bubu, and called softly, "Bubu, come here."
She was prepared for Bubu to spin around her or even run away, but unexpectedly, Bubu quickly threw himself into Jiang Yue's arms. Although Jiang Yue's holding technique was still so childish, Bubu just obediently buried his head in her chest.
"Hey... in just these few days, your personality has changed." Jiang Yue felt unbelievable.
"There are several reasons why a kitten might want to be held. One is that it feels its owner's love, and the other is that it might sense its owner needs comfort," Chang Xile explained to Jiang Yue. After a moment, she suddenly remembered she was livestreaming. This was like a college presentation; it required interaction with the audience. She glanced at Yang Guisi's camera again.
Yang Guisi had never filmed professionally before. She held her camera at chest height, pointed directly at Bubu, tucked away in Jiang Yue's arms. Chang Xile glanced down, finding the camera, before finishing her words. "Another possibility is that it's afraid and insecure, and needs its owner's protection."
"You don't usually express love through hugs, and you don't seem visibly depressed right now. Neither of these is the case." Chang Xile observed Bubu's slightly trembling body and confirmed, "It's afraid."
The barrage of comments was constantly refreshing. They had become accustomed to the "read but not reply" nature of the aloof anchor Gui Si, and started discussing with each other.
"The kitten is so scared, does that mean there's something strange about this house?"
"The anchor is progressing so slowly. Can you please hurry up and go to that room that seems to be occupied?"
"Don't disobey my Blue Eyes, I'm kind of in love with her!"
"You fell in love a little too quickly upstairs..."
"Who understands the way Lan Tong looked at me just now, looking down at me as if she were looking at her puppy..."
"Understand!"
"I'm getting off track. So what's in the study? Bubu is shaking more and more."
Chang Xile patted Bubu's head and said to Jiang Yue, "Let's go."
When Jiang Yue led the way to the study door, she took a deep breath before taking out the key and unlocking the door: "When I have nothing to do, I like to draw here. But since I heard the strange noise, I rarely go in."
She couldn't calm down in there, always feeling suspicious, so she simply locked the door.
While waiting for Jiang Yue to open the door, the video screen kept following Chang Xile's figure. She glanced at the lens again, this time actually looking at Yang Guisi. Chang Xile tilted her head and whispered, "Stand behind me later, don't rush forward."
Chang Xile, who prided herself on being the strongest of the three, naturally wanted to ensure everyone's safety. Not only had she drawn a bunch of talismans for protection, she also possessed a soul-snatching rope, allowing her to subdue any human or ghost she encountered—just to remind Yang Guisi to shut down the livestream.
"Don't look at me, Lan Tong... I'm a little shy..."
"I feel so safe. The anchor is protecting me! (Proud)"
"Oh, is there someone hiding in this room? Lan Tong is just a little girl, be careful!"
However, the three of them walked around the room and found nothing unusual.
Chang Xile asked: "Which direction was the strange sound you heard before?"
Jiang Yue shook her head: "I can't tell the direction of the sound, it feels like it's surrounding me."
After waiting for a while, the audience became a little tired of this unchanging situation.
"What's going on? I went to do some laundry thirty minutes ago, and now I'm back and there's still no progress?"
"Don't waste time, host."
"Is the contributor talking nonsense? Actually, there is nothing wrong at home."
"Maybe the person hiding in the room has already left. Doesn't this room have windows?"
Since she had nothing to do at the moment, Chang Xile rarely took a look at the barrage situation. She glanced thoughtfully towards the window of the room and walked over to check.
"If there was someone there, and Jiang Yue did lock the door after hearing the man's voice, he wouldn't have been able to escape." Chang Xile asked Yang Guisi's camera to show the details of the window, "The window has been locked from the inside."
Jiang Yue felt embarrassed because nothing had happened. She said with a bit of guilt, "I haven't been to this study for a long time. Maybe everything is fine now? You must have come here for nothing."
Chang Xile shook her head. She raised her hand and touched the head of the kitten in Jiang Yue's arms, saying, "But it's still scared."
Animals are the most sensitive and can feel sounds that humans cannot see or hear.
"What are you afraid of? Can you tell me?" Chang Xile's tone was gentle, as if she was coaxing a baby in swaddling clothes.
"Is the anchor trying to have a conversation with the kitten? ...This?"
"It's so abstract. There's no need to force anything if it doesn't have any show effect. As long as the person is fine, that's all that matters."
"If you don't like it, I suggest you click the cross in the upper right corner and leave. Lan Tong cares about the kitten. Hello, Lan Tong!"
Even Jiang Yue didn't quite understand what Chang Xile was doing. Even her, the owner, didn't know what Bubu was afraid of, so how could she tell Chang Xile, a stranger?
However, when everyone thought that Chang Xile was doing useless work, Bubu had already felt the warmth on his head. He raised his face slightly and rubbed Chang Xile's palm.
It meowed softly a few times, then shrank back into Jiang Yue's arms.
Chang Xile looked up at the corner of the study and told Jiang Yue and Yang Guisi, "Bubu said that once the room falls silent, that voice will appear."
Jiang Yue didn't quite believe it, but she still asked, "Did it say what that sound was?"
Chang Xile shook his head: "It doesn't know either."
Perhaps it is precisely because I don’t know that I am so afraid.
After that, she no longer cared about the gossip in the barrage, found a sofa chair to sit down, and said, "Then we will just listen to it and wait."
Yang Guisi had no objection. She found a shelf on the desk, put her photography equipment away, and sat down next to Chang Xile. Jiang Yue, as the person involved, naturally hoped that the two of them could help to resolve the matter, so she also found a place to sit down with Bubu in her arms.
The only ones who were dissatisfied were the audience. A large portion of those who had clicked in out of curiosity about the topic left in frustration, while some simply insisted on following the show because they felt, "I've come this far, I'll just have to wait and see what happens next." The rest were die-hard fans of Onii-sama.
"Ahhhh, I've been waiting for so long, Oni finally appears!"
"It's worth it that I've been waiting for so long!"
"I've left two pairs of socks behind. Tsk, it looks like I'll have to sit here for a long time. I should go wash them first, right?"
"Ghost, stop exploring new paths. Your old livestreaming method was the most interesting. Isn't this just a way to trick the audience? You don't even appear on camera yourself. You don't have to do this just to promote a new artist..."
Chang Xile also heard these words, but she had already said "quiet," and she really didn't say a word. She supported her head with her hands and waited for the voice that Bubu had mentioned to appear. At this moment, she didn't care much about the audience's stay or departure.
As the comments said, "It's good that the person is okay." Although their live broadcast is for attracting traffic and making money, since they have set the name of "relieving the audience's worries", of course they should focus on solving the problem.
I don't know how much time passed, until even the self-entertaining comments in the barrage began to wear thin, when suddenly from the southeast corner of the room, a faint breathing sound came. The voice was heavy, and seemed to be a man's.
Chang Xile raised his hand to cover Jiang Yue's mouth, stopping her from screaming subconsciously.
The next second, a cough was heard from the corner. The voice was old and rough, like that of a man over 70 years old.
This small house stood alone at the foot of the mountain, with no neighbors. The sound was clearly audible, indicating it wasn't coming from outside, but someone was inside. But where was this person hiding? The sound was coming from the corner of the room, but could he really be buried in the wall?
Chang Xile softly mouthed to Jiang Yue, "What's in the next room?"
Jiang Yue said, "This is the study built against the mountain. It's the outermost room. There are no adjacent rooms to the east."
Well, not next door either.
But if an adult man was really trapped between the walls for so many days, he would have died of weakness and hunger long ago.
At the same time, Bubu's fur stood up in shock. He struggled to get into Jiang Yue's arms, and was so frightened that he didn't even make a sound. Jiang Yue soothed him, stroking his fur from head to back.
Chang Xile and Yang Guisi stood up at the same time and slowly approached the source of the sound.
The barrage has exploded:
"Oh my god, there can't really be a stranger hiding in the house, right?"
"Damn it, this isn't a paranormal channel, it's a legal section."
"Host, please don't go any further. It's too risky. Call the police!!!"
However, no one had the time to read their words. "All those who are about to fight will march in formation." Chang Xile muttered the nine-character mantra quietly, but the coughing didn't stop. So it wasn't a ghost, at least not an ordinary little ghost.
Chang Xile protected Yang Guisi behind her again, and the two of them walked forward slowly, taking every step with extreme caution. She had already reached into her bag and pinched a talisman.
But there must be an object to cast the spell on. There is a wall in front of them. What should they do? They don’t necessarily have to tear down the wall, right?
Chang Xile couldn't help but think, if there was a person hiding in there, then it would be a matter that should be regulated by human laws. Should they really call the police?
The coughing continued, and as they drew closer, Chang Xile gradually pinpointed its exact direction. Her eyes flickered, and she reached out to pull aside the curtains draped across the large window. As the curtains were drawn back, a small vent appeared behind them. The man's voice grew clearer, emanating from this duct.
The tunnel was so narrow that even a petite woman like Chang Xile couldn't fit in. Only children under five could possibly try to crawl in. How could a grown man possibly be inside there alive?
Chang Xile's mind raced as he thought about possible scenarios - it wasn't a ghost, but was it definitely a human?
Suddenly, her eyelashes twitched slightly, and she remembered an interesting thing that happened when she was a child living in her grandmother's old house.
She supported herself on the windowsill with her hands, turned over and stepped onto the windowsill. Then she plucked up her courage, raised her hands and forcefully removed the exhaust cover.
As the exhaust hood was removed, a black, round object rolled out and hit Chang Xile in the face.
"Be careful!" Yang Guisi saw that the situation was not good and raised his hand to pull Chang Xile to the side. However, Chang Xile was standing on the windowsill after all, and there was a height difference between them, so Yang Guisi's force was in the wrong direction.
Chang Xile followed her pull and leaped down the windowsill. Because the force was misdirected, both she and Yang Guisi fell to the ground. Before they collapsed, the shadowy figure became increasingly clear in her vision. She widened her eyes slightly and instinctively threw out the talisman she had prepared long ago.
The shadow was blocked by an invisible air wall, slowing its fall until it landed on the ground in the corner, motionless. At this moment, the three people present, including the live broadcast audience, saw clearly what it was.
It is gray-black in color, with a hard shell covered with thorns, and is now shrunk into a ball.
"This is..." Jiang Yue said with some difficulty, "Hedgehog?"
Chang Xile then realized that her original guess was correct. She wanted to get up to check, but was suddenly grabbed by the corner of her clothes by Yang Guisi beside her.
She turned around and saw that the black fox mask tied to Yang Guisi's head had been knocked to the ground. She lowered her head and covered her face with her hands, her voice trembling slightly as she said, "Mask...Give me my mask."
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