Chapter 23: Chapter 23 Are You Human or Ghost? _1
Translator: 549690339
At one in the morning, at the front gates of the ruins of the Wood Rich Timber Factory, located in the northern suburbs.
"Everyone, look behind me, this is tonight's live stream of a ghost hunt, an abandoned timber factory that has been derelict for six months!"
Two young men stand at the factory gate, one holding a camera on his shoulder, filming the factory ahead.
Another young man in a suit, handsome and confident, stands in front of the camera, confidently smiling as he introduces tonight's live stream to his audience.
This young man's name is Lin Hai, a wealthy second-generation heir whose inheritance could support a lifetime of lavish spending.
Lin Hai likes to live stream, but unlike the other rich second-gen heirs, he snubs flaunting wealth in his live streams. Instead, he took to 'Ghost Hunting Live Streams' in a singularly unique approach, recruiting reputed 'Jianghu Masters' to form a so-called professional ghost hunting team for a hefty price.
Unfortunately, despite his meticulous preparation, his live streams on the platform were largely unpopular. Compared to the flashy displays of wealth by his rich peers, his live streams were largely overlooked - it seemed the audience still preferred the flaunting of wealth.
However, Lin Hai didn't give up and proactively searched for more stimulating supernatural incidents. His content became more and more daring, and after substantial effort, he finally attracted a group of paranormal enthusiasts.
Noticing the rapidly increasing number of viewers, Lin Hai cleared his throat and took out a photo from his pocket.
"Everyone, just three days ago, a local resident noticed something while passing by and captured this spiritual photo. Today, our purpose here is to investigate what that spiritual phenomenon is!"
As he spoke, the cameraman panned over the photograph: In the pitch-black night, in what should have been an empty, abandoned factory, ghostly blue lights glowed, making the entire factory look like a haunted graveyard.
Whether it was the effect of the spooky photograph or not, the number of viewers in the live stream began to explode, the count surging up by the hundreds every second.
Overjoyed, Lin Hai thought his photo and the mood he set contributed to the rise in numbers. He laughed, "Haha, it seems that everyone is interested in tonight's ghost hunt..."
Just as he finished speaking, he saw a stream of comments flood the screen.
"Get lost, who wants to watch your live stream!"
"Wasn't there a goddess on the line-up in the group chat? Where is she?"
"Damn it, someone in the group chat is spreading fake news again, where's the promised goddess!"
"We want the goddess!"
"Is the goddess here? If not, I'm leaving!"
...
"Uh..."
In a bit of a predicament, Lin Hai rushed to explain, "She's here, the goddess is on her way, everyone just relax!"
The 'goddess' referred to by the viewers was his older sister, Lin Xue.
Lin Xue, a bona fide scholar from Stanford, with Ph.D. degrees in Life Science and Human DNA, had recently returned to China. A few days ago, she randomly appeared in one of his live streams and debunked the 'mysterious powers' of the highly paid Jianghu Masters he employed, leaving them utterly discredited.
From that day on, his live stream became popular and started to gain followers by the masses, propelling him from an unknown live streamer to the top ten popular streamers on the platform.
Lin Hai had finally cracked the code for massive viewership. Since then, he has had to practically beg his sister to make an appearance in every live stream he did.
Today was no exception. He had arranged everything with his sister early on, and she was currently on her way. Unable to wait, Lin Hai started the stream early to get the atmosphere going.
After a brief introduction, Lin Hai and the cameraman head towards the factory.
Due to the factory being abandoned for six months, wild grass covered the ground. Rotting wood scraps littered the floor.
There was no power in the factory. Fortunately, next to the factory was an amusement park that still lit up the night. Bursts of light shone through cracks in the factory building, preventing total darkness.
The two walked across the open space in front of the factory and arrived at a four-story building.
"Look everyone, this is the location from the photo!"
Lin Hai spoke to the camera while taking out that photo again and displaying it in front of the lens.
The building pictured and the building in front of their eyes indeed overlapped perfectly.
"This is the dormitory for employees of this factory. It's been empty for some time. In the photograph, the 'ghost fire' appeared right on this dormitory building. What exactly happened here? I'm sure everyone is quite curious. Don't worry. I have arranged for a videographer to set up another camera on the top floor beforehand. Soon, everyone will be able to see the real scene inside this building..."
"Holy crap!"
While Lin Hai was speaking to the camera, the cameraman suddenly shouted out, startling Lin Hai, "What... what happened?"
The young man pointed tremblingly towards a direction behind Lin Hai. "Young Master Lin, look over there!"
"Look at what?"
Lin Hai reflexively looked in the direction he was pointing to and also exclaimed, "Holy crap!"
In the shadow near the building, a person cloaked in a cape appeared, holding a lantern in their hand. Their blood-red hood hid their figure and face, leaving only the tattered strips of cloth on their robe visible, flapping in the cool night breeze.
What was even more strange was that this figure somehow appeared to instantaneously move, seeming to teleport from one spot to another, causing both of them palpitations.
"Guys, did you see that? This place is genuinely haunted!"
Lin Hai swallowed and hastily spoke into the camera.
The cameraman also immediately turned the lens towards the strange hooded figure.
The comments in the live stream exploded at this time.
"Holy crap, teleportation? Is this real or fake?"
"6666..."
"It's definitely an actor!"
"Not bad special effects..."
"Little Sea, you've fallen too far, you're even hiring actors like those other streamers..."
...
Watching the explosive comments on his phone, Lin Hai solemnly said, "Guys, I can guarantee with my personal integrity, this is absolutely not an act! Old fans of mine would know that I never fake anything..."
"Young Master Lin, be careful!"
Before Lin Hai could finish, the cameraman suddenly exclaimed again.
Lin Hai intuitively turned his head to look and saw that the hooded figure seemed to notice them. A longbow appeared in the figure's hand, and the figure pointed the bow at them, appearing to pull back on the string.
The next second, as the bowstring snapped back into place, both of them saw a flash of light before them and instinctively raised their hands to shield their faces.
However, after waiting for two to three seconds, the expected feeling of being pierced by an arrow never came. The two looked up, the hooded figure had long since disappeared.
Before they could react, however, the figure suddenly appeared from the darkness a few meters away and lunged towards them.
"Motherf****r!"
The young cameraman was frightened and fell backward.
Lin Hai was so scared his legs went weak. Remembering he was still on a live stream, he forced himself to speak, "Are you a human or a ghost?"
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone