I Rule Fortune-Telling Livestreams-Chapter 136: My Friend, Chang’an
Late at night, moonlight pierced through the clouds, illuminating a deep pond.
Beside the remote pond, a chorus of frogs croaked, their calls sounding somewhat eerie.
Conglin didn’t find it the least bit scary. He’d been fearless since he was a child.
When he was little, a neighbor had died a violent death. He had opened the red coffin and stolen the golden bracelet from the corpse’s wrist.
It was precisely this fearless, nonchalant attitude that defined him. After starting his career, he began chasing clout and grabbing eyeballs under the slogan of "debunking feudal superstitions," which he used to justify countless acts that offended gods and ghosts.
Even now, sitting beside this desolate pond in the dead of night, he felt there was nothing to fear.
He even took out a fishing rod and began to fish at a leisurely pace, chatting with the fans in his livestream. "Alright, bros, what do you think? Am I going to reel in a corpse?"
"I’m not even kidding. Let me tell you, plenty of people have drowned in this pond before! When I was a kid, my parents wouldn’t let me come here. They said a dead person in the water would drag me in."
He panned the camera across the pond to give his viewers a clearer look, then shouted at the water’s edge, "Hey! Any dead people in there? Are you home? Come on, drag me into the pond! I’ve had enough of living! I want to die!"
An unnerving silence fell over the pond. An occasional night breeze rustled through, sending leaves spiraling down with a SWISH SWISH sound, making the atmosphere a little grim.
Conglin had already baited his hook and cast it into the water. White bubbles slowly began to surface, and the camera focused on the center of the pond, where the line had landed, sending ripples spreading outward.
He fished for a long time without a single bite. His viewers started complaining it was boring and threatening to leave the stream.
Conglin immediately tried to liven things up. "I don’t want to play this boring game either! But Miss Shen said I’d run into something I shouldn’t here. How about this? We’ll do something more interesting. Once I catch a fish, I’ll grill it for you guys. I’ve got seasonings and a grill rack all ready to go!"
Just as he finished speaking, he suddenly felt his line go taut. In the distance, his fluorescent float bobbed on the pond’s surface.
Conglin added, "I’m telling you, the fish in this pond are all fat and huge! They’ll be freaking delicious grilled!"
As he spoke, Conglin raised his hands to reel in the line, but whatever was in the water was so big it bent the rod significantly.
Conglin stood up, putting more force into it, trying to drag the thing out of the water.
Just then, the moon vanished behind the clouds, and the area around the pond was plunged into darkness.
He switched on his flashlight and shone it on his catch. Only then did he see it clearly. It was a clump of hair!
Conglin cursed, "What kind of asshole throws a wig into a pond..."
He trailed off, forcing the words back down his throat.
Because right then, he saw the clump of hair slowly rise from the water, revealing the outline of a head.
The head tilted up slightly, exposing a face that was bloated and deathly pale from being submerged.
Instantly, Conglin froze, completely stunned. "Gh... gh... ghost..."
The flashlight beam fell upon the face, and he clearly saw its lips curl slightly, then spread into a grotesque smile.
"Holy shit!" Conglin shot to his feet and frantically reeled in his fishing line.
Conglin’s voice instantly startled the viewers in the livestream, and a wave of fear spread through the chat:
[AHHHHHH! HOLY SHIT, CONGLIN, WHAT ARE YOU STANDING THERE FOR?! GRAB THE CAMERA AND RUN! WHO CARES ABOUT THE FISHING ROD! RUN! YOU FUCKING IDIOT!]
[HOLY SHIT! HOLY SHIT! HOLY SHIT! You turned me into an atheist, but I think I just saw a ghost!]
[Is this part of the act? This... it’s the middle of the night, don’t scare me!]
[Conglin, is this really just a stunt you arranged?! I’m getting scared...]
Conglin didn’t answer, just kept the camera trained on the head in the water. "Are... are you guys nuts? What sane person would pull a stunt like this next to a pond for a show?! Who could even do this?! You’re all seriously messed up..."
As he spoke, the person in the water began to move, and the livestream feed started to shake.
[What is that thing on the water? Is it a dead body? Streamer, should we call the police?]
[Streamer, are you trying to pivot to being a paranormal streamer? Are you staying there on purpose to scare us? You’ve seen a ghost, and you’re not running?]
[Okay, stop acting. We see right through your stunt! Tell the production team to stop. End the show! Or your channel is going to get banned soon.]
Conglin was momentarily speechless. He pointed a trembling finger at the pond. "It’s not... If I were faking this for the show, how could I even pull this off?!"
Conglin was desperately trying to explain that this wasn’t a stunt he had created, but not a single viewer in the chat believed him.
Meanwhile, the head was now drifting rapidly toward him.
Conglin wanted to turn and run, but he was afraid that if he fled, his entire online persona would collapse.
It would be hard to ever get popular again after that.
’So what if ghosts are real?’ he thought, steeling himself. ’They say ghosts are more afraid of people than people are of ghosts. If you’re brave enough, you can even make Zhenzi take maternity leave!’
For the sake of his traffic, he suppressed his terror and said to his fans, "Bros, this ghost really isn’t a stunt for the show. This is a real ghost, and she’s still smiling at me right now. But it’s fine. Seeing a ghost is no big deal. Your boy is fearless, I’m not afraid of anything in heaven or on earth. You think I’m gonna be scared of a single ghost?"
But just then, the head in the water reached the bank. Two hands emerged, and it slowly began to climb onto the shore.
Conglin instinctively took two steps back and roared, "What the hell are you! Get back in the water! If you dare come out, I’ll find a Daoist to exorcise you!"
"You little brat, have you really forgotten your old man?" The chilling, hair-raising voice was accompanied by a short figure crawling out of the water.
He pushed aside his wet, filthy hair, revealing his true face in the light of the phone.
Conglin was still thinking about his livestream, but when he got a clear look at the person’s face, he began to tremble in fear, backing away until he could go no further.
He stammered, "You’re... Chang’an... AHHHHH! Get away! Stay away from me! Stay away from me, you’re terrifying right now, I’m a little scared of you, stay away from me! I’m really scared of you! Why didn’t you tell me you were dating someone back then! You fucking idiot! I hate you, Chang’an! Chang’an, you stink now, stay away from me..."
As he spoke, a sob caught in Conglin’s throat, and tears began to fall uncontrollably.
Chang’an was Conglin’s neighbor. Their families lived very close, and the two of them had been very good, exceptionally close friends.
Chang’an and Conglin had attended the same elementary, middle, and high schools. They often did their homework together, played together, and horsed around together!
He remembered one summer when Chang’an’s grandmother died a violent death. In accordance with rural custom, a grand funeral was held.
As a neighbor, Conglin went to Chang’an’s house to pay his respects.
Curious about what a person who had died violently looked like, Conglin snuck into the ancestral hall. Taking advantage of the crowd, he pilfered the golden bracelet from the old woman’s wrist.
He was only eight years old at the time and didn’t know any better. He slipped the bracelet onto his own wrist, muttering, "So pretty!" 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢
After stealing the bracelet, Conglin immediately snuck out of the house to go admire the golden bracelet on his wrist.
But halfway there, Chang’an chased after him from the house, his face cold as he said, "Give it back!"
Conglin was instantly scared stiff. He turned his head rigidly and forced a silly grin. "..."
