Working Records in a Weird World - 75

 

| WRIAWW | I Have to Admit, It's Pretty Cute | 75

Zong Le paid no attention to the surrounding discussions. Joshua, ever the sly one, could clearly sense the eager gazes of other survivors, both overt and those poorly concealed, yet unusually, he felt no irritation. Instead, he welcomed it.

Zong Le was his chosen prey, fulfilling every one of Joshua's tastes and preferences perfectly.

Whether it was his formidable strength or his consistently low-key demeanor that concealed his true power, everything about him was deeply satisfying. 

Yet this satisfaction uncontrollably ignited Joshua's instinctive desire for control.

It was like a dragon discovering a hidden trove of glittering gold and silver, greed pulsed through his veins, he wanted to possess it all exclusively. But he couldn't allow others to recognize the treasure's worth, so marking his claim was essential.

Gossip about these kinds of affairs always spread faster than truth.

For a long time to come, whenever the talented newcomer was mentioned, 1st would be inextricably linked.

Seizing the moment, Joshua casually remarked: "Speaking of which, after the last mission, Jiang Chou seems to have gone missing. I wonder if he was retaliated by Roland."

The suspicion arose when Roland, upon returning to the Infinite Space, learned the truth from Liu Jianhua and the others. Furious, he immediately posted a public denouncement to ruin Jiang Chou's reputation there.

While the post couldn't cause real harm, future survivors matched with Jiang Chou would certainly be wary. Such incidents weren't uncommon in Infinite Space, so the post quickly faded, except for one detail that gained traction, a friend of Jiang Chou's commented that he'd been unreachable since the mission. 

Although his profile icon remained colored rather than grayed-out like the deceased.

This caught Joshua's attention.

He suspected that this matter was related to Zong Le, so he deliberately probed.

As expected, the words triggered something, the dark-haired young man's body tensed like a fully drawn bow.

"W-what? He's missing? I didn't know that."

Zong Le's voice suddenly rose eight degrees, his eyes were erratic, and he didn't dare to look at Joshua. He stared at the non-existent pattern on the front seat, as if he wanted to stare a hole in the back of the seat.

Joshua nearly laughed aloud. Lying before a psychological master like him was already like showing off one's lacking skills before an expert, let alone when Zong Le's acting was so painfully clumsy.

His rigid posture, rapid breathing, and fidgeting fingers, every detail loudly betrayed his nervousness. Even someone with no psychological training could spot the telltale signs with just a glance.

But... he had to admit, he is very cute.

Such formidable strength paired with a heart transparent as glass.

Joshua lazily propped his head up, his smooth silver hair cascading down like flowing moonlight.

He was genuinely curious, how had Zong Le managed it? 

As everyone knew, fighting was prohibited in the Infinite Space unless one brought their opponent to another instance location.

Speaking of which, Zong Le's sudden appearance last time at the Guiyi City church was also highly suspicious. Before that incident, Joshua had been closely monitoring Zong Le's mission status with tracking tools, and confirmed that he wasn't on any mission.

It seemed this treasure held more secrets than he'd imagined...

Noticing Joshua's meaningful gaze, Zong Le unconsciously straightened his back further.

He was guilty and didn't dare to look to the side for more, keeping his eyes firmly ahead.

Fortunately, as if answering Zong Le's silent plea, the overhead lights abruptly dimmed once the theater had mostly filled, plunging the space into pitch-black darkness.

On the blank silver screen, brushstroke characters gradually materialized, "The Matchmaker", with Taikang Yongle Entertainment's equilateral cross logo beneath, marking the film's investors and producers.

Accompanied by eerie erhu music, the screen slowly revealed faded images like an old film reel.

To be fair, this horror movie's plot was rather ordinary. Like countless others following the same theme, it followed a group of reckless adventurers abandoning comfortable city life to explore remote wilderness. 

After much inquiry, they found an isolated mountain village only reachable by satellite phone, supposedly preserving primitive opera traditions.

Several men and women set off by car, including a couple, but the funny thing was that the couple were unfaithful to each other. They each had an extramarital affair partner in the group.

As the group passed through the village, they spotted a dilapidated opera stage where two members sneaked behind the torn curtains to have a tense and exciting love making session behind the broken curtain of the stage.

"Hey, is that a red string?" a sharp-eyed survivor immediately noticed something amiss.

Sure enough, after their love making session, faint red strings appeared on both unfaithful lovers' wrists. But in their frantic rush to avoid discovery, they overlooked this detail.

Upon arrival, the village proved far worse than imagined. It was poor and dilapidated, without basic necessities. The group began complaining about wasted money, oblivious to the villagers' greedy stares.

"Are there any strange legends in this village?"

After a cheap but satisfying meal, the group gathered outside with the villagers to chat.

"No."

"Why did we see an opera stage on our way here?" the supporting actress asked.

"There is indeed an opera stage, but it's been abandoned for many years. It hasn't been used in a long time," the villager replied evasively, unwilling to elaborate.

But the actress persisted: "I saw red cloth and curtains still hanging around that stage, it didn't look abandoned at all. And someone clearly lives behind it. When we passed by earlier, I saw someone in red opera costume passing by."

Earlier, when she was having an affair with her lover behind the stage, she'd felt someone watching them. Looking up, she'd caught a glimpse of an opera costume hem. 

After all, this was not something to be proud of. She had a wealthy boyfriend, and her lover was engaged to his childhood sweetheart, she couldn't let a third person know.

Because she was in a hurry to keep this matter hidden, she was always concerned about this, so she wanted to find an opportunity to ask about it.

Unexpectedly, the villager's face paled upon hearing this.

"What person?! Impossible!"

No matter how they pressed, they got no answers. Worse, the villager who had agreed to let them stay now refused outright upon learning they'd visited the old opera stage, even throwing their luggage out.

Soon, every household in the village shut their doors tight, leaving no gaps.

"What the hell! They just kicked us out like that!"

"These country bumpkins probably just want to squeeze more money out of us."

The wealthy heir was furious: "Forget it. I'd rather throw my money into the river than give a cent to these idiots. Let them starve!"

"Exactly! If they don't want us, we'll find somewhere else!"

After discussing, since their convoy had camping gear anyway, they decided to spend the night behind that opera stage.

Thus passed the first night. Nothing terrifying happened, except for the wealthy heir, who got up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night saw a woman hanging on the ceiling in a daze, and was scared to death. 

As a result, someone woke him up and he found that it was just a nightmare.

The next morning, everyone looked haggard. Over breakfast, someone accidentally let it slip about what they dreamed last night, and then they all realized they had the same dream.

In the dream, there was a woman singing on the stage, performing the section of the Song of 'Everlasting Regret'. Her voice was sad and hoarse, and her figure graceful and alluring.

"On the seventh day of the seventh moon, in the Hall of Eternal Life... I await you in the opera, but as the red string snapped, your fate was cut to an end."

But when her flowing sleeves moved aside, they revealed a horrifying, rotting face.

When this face appeared in extreme close-up on the giant screen, many locals in the audience screamed, and even some of the less courageous survivors turned pale.

At this point, the words "Intermission" appeared on the screen.

Lights gradually brightened the theater. Watching a horror movie live for the first time, Zong Le found the first half quite thrilling but as he glanced around, most of the survivors seemed disinterested.

Joshua beside him was even more extreme. He leaned on his hand with eyes closed, and his silver eyelashes fluttered slightly. Zong Le suspected he'd fallen asleep.

"It's true that in horror movies, everyone's intelligence is reduced. Although I know it's a task process, it's still annoying to see it."

"Seriously, the villagers are acting like this and no one suspects a thing? What kind of movie is this? Total garbage!"

"Not really. At least the film censorship in Guiyi City is a bit more relaxed than in the real world."

"Those NPCs seem to be enjoying it just fine. Ugh, these people clearly have no taste. I guess their standards will never improve."

Zong Le felt that he was being scolded innocently: ?

After listening for a while, he realized no one was willing to discuss the plot with him, so he reluctantly gave up.

"What's wrong?" Joshua suddenly spoke up.

"Huh?" Zong Le was startled. "Nothing, I was just thinking about the plot of the movie we just watched. It was actually quite interesting."

"Indeed," the silver-haired man agreed without opening his eyes, nodding slightly. "The film provided a lot of information, it basically revealed the past and abilities of this mission's boss. If only we could get intel this easily for other missions too."

Zong Le, who had only found the movie plot exciting and hadn't noticed any information at all: ???

Were they really watching the same movie? He fell into deep doubt.

The intermission wasn't long, and soon the second half of the movie began screening.

At that moment, Zong Le noticed a staff member suddenly entering through the side door. 

The person hurried over to the director's seat, crouched down and said something to the two lead actors. Looks of astonishment appeared on their faces, and then they all left one after another, ignoring all the media on the scene.

Everyone present was an experienced survivor. Zong Le heard someone whisper directly: "Something must have happened."

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