In the novel, Cheng Yungui kept hearing the heartbeat. Finally, the blood from the dragon's heart stained the two dice in his hand. At this point, he possessed the initial form of the Night King. After returning to his happy home, he felt as if he had been reborn. The way he looked at others had become the way a strong person looks at others.
It's terrifying to say, but the dragon's heart isn't buried somewhere; rather, the entire building is its heart. The walls are covered with blood vessels invisible to mortals, and every step people take is treading on the flesh and blood of the dragon's heart.
However, when the level of gore in the plot is raised to that of a corpse party, and a blood-red world is depicted in an extreme way, the sense of horror that the story brings to people becomes detached from reality, and becomes abstract and empty.
Ding! The elevator has arrived at the second basement level. Lin Han looked out. The second basement level is a commercial area, mainly selling clothes and snacks, but business isn't very good; it's rather deserted.
"Actually, a karaoke room should be built here," Lin Han said, gazing into the depths of the space.
The system chimed in, "Yes, it does increase yang energy."
No, you may have misunderstood me.
Lin Han covered his mouth with both hands, his expression very serious:
"What I mean is that when the sound of a heartbeat starts to ring at regular intervals, we can play more rhythmic music to drown it out, like 'boom boom boom boom'."
Author's Note: I'm catching up on yesterday's word count. I should be relatively free for the next three days, so I'll update as much as I can. *kiss*
Chapter 67 Want to find the heart? No way (3)
After hearing Lin Han's words, the system remained silent for a long time.
It's not that we can't open a shop, but what happened after we opened one last time?
Given the significant psychological trauma caused by the previous incident with Lu's snail rice noodles, the system promptly stated, "I'm short on funds."
"besides……"
The system's voice lowered: "What will you do if Cheng Yungui recognizes who you are?"
————————
This morning, the editorial department had another day of drawing prizes.
Yibo's seat was empty. Cheng Yun looked over and saw that the computer was still on, with a Word document displayed on the screen.
For some reason, Cheng Yungui stood up, walked to the computer, and dragged the mouse to roughly browse the stories that Yibo had received.
No wonder he kept whining and refused to choose. The section he was in charge of was "Unrequited Love Between Humans and Ghosts," but judging from these stories, it was "Unrequited Hatred Between Humans and Ghosts." The male protagonists in all four stories had wronged the female ghosts and died in different ways. One of them was even chopped up and made into dumplings to be given to others to eat.
Cheng Yungui thought about it. If he were the editor, he probably wouldn't choose the last one. Human flesh dumplings are a really old-fashioned meme.
Oh, by the way, the one above seems more interesting—
Suddenly, a shadow fell over the computer.
Then, droplets of blood appeared at the very top of the computer screen, one by one, making the screen look like a finger that had just been pricked. These droplets then slid down, leaving long streaks of blood on the screen.
Cheng Yun turned around and saw Xiao Yun standing expressionlessly behind him, her right hand clenched into a fist and hanging down at her side.
The bald man opposite immediately laughed and said, "Thank Xiaoyun, she saved you."
"But this thing is weird, it attracts people to look at it and choose it. I was also affected when I came this morning, and Xiaoyun saved me..."
As the bald man started rambling on, Xiaoyun turned and walked away, returning to her workstation. Cheng Yungui couldn't detect any emotion on the young woman's face.
At this moment, Lu Mingran arrived at the office, carrying steamed buns. Cheng Yungui went over, took one, and then pointed at the computer, saying to him, "Whatever you do, don't look at it."
As soon as Cheng Yungui finished speaking, a notification sound rang in his ear.
It was very close, coming from his computer, and it was two overlapping sounds, with another sound coming from a more distant place.
Before Cheng Yungui could even find out who the person was, the bald man's voice boomed out:
"Damn, they submitted it so early in the morning, and it was to me!"
The bald guy was in charge of the "Ghosts and Demons" section, which required writing about the warmth and coldness of human nature through ghost stories. He let out a strange cry at the computer, but his expression was relaxed, as if he didn't care much.
Indeed, he's bald, and a formidable figure in the Earl's camp. It's said that during a Hong Kong horror film shoot, he played a monk and unexpectedly obtained a rosary that could bind vengeful spirits. Upon returning, he simply stopped growing his hair, dressed as a monk, and carried his rosary; people called him "Ghost Monk."
The bald man glanced at Cheng Yungui and smiled.
"What? You too?"
Cheng Yungui dragged the mouse and opened his email.
Five letters.
It's the same kind of ghost story, but this segment must have a twist at the end, and it must scare people at the end.
Take the title of this column for example. It's a classic ghost story: A young man met a girl online. As they chatted, he found that the girl seemed to know him very well. Then one day, he discovered the news that the girl had died. At that moment, the person in the QQ chat box typed a line: "I'm by your side."
Cheng Yungui glanced at it and saw a familiar name: Lin Han.
Remembering that Lin Han said last night that he wanted to innovate his style, Cheng Yungui was worried that he would create an even more terrifying novel, so he read the other three first.
The result was a dream that took me back to 200x.
The girl with braids squatting by the roadside crying, her braids still visible when she turns her face, and the story of a group going on an adventure to the school at night and finding nothing, only to discover the next day that they had counted an extra floor of stairs the night before... These are all very old stories.
No wonder Lin Han can dominate this column; he has already won if he writes something even slightly different.
On the other side, seeing Cheng Yungui reading through each article so diligently, the bald man couldn't help but burst into laughter.
"Judging from your expression, are you seriously considering whether to kill yourself with a knife or hang yourself? Why bother? Either way, you're choosing a way to die."
As he spoke, the bald man casually opened an email and forwarded it to the editor-in-chief, meaning that this article was to be finalized.
After doing all this, the bald man jumped up from his chair, picked up his bag, and made to leave.
The mute girl glanced at him, then continued with her own business.
“Let’s go, I’m going to the temple to make preparations,” the bald man said with a grin. “Instead of wasting time on choices, it’s better to make preparations early.”
He snapped a picture of the story with his phone, then walked away without looking back, bag in hand. Just as the bald man left, Julie and Yingshan came in. Yingshan, seeing his energetic appearance, sneered:
“It’s always like this. He gets excited at the sight of blood. What kind of monk is like this?”
Julie giggled: "What do you know—"
As she spoke, she glanced at Cheng Yungui, who was still reading the story, and said, "This is strength. Once you are strong enough, you won't have to cower in front of the computer trembling."
This is a veiled reference to Cheng Yungui. The Earl's side looks down on everyone, especially the people from the Happy Family, saying that their leader has no backbone and their subordinates are even more cowardly.
Seeing him today, it's indeed as I suspected. It seems this person will end up like Yibo. What a pity, the system specifically chose him; Julie thought he had some great abilities.
Cheng Yungui first pressed down on Lu Mingran beside him to stop arguing, and then he opened Lin Han's submission.
After seeing it, Cheng Yungui was utterly shocked.
It's morning. Nine o'clock.
The editor-in-chief arrived late, sitting behind his computer, always maintaining his elegant and noble demeanor, as if he were holding a bottle of blood-red wine.
After Cheng Yungui sent Lin Han's manuscript to him, he went to see him in person.
The count then raised his eyes and looked at him lazily: "I won't look any longer. You choose whatever you want. Don't bother me."
“No, I think…” Cheng Yungui controlled his expression, “you should still take a look.”
After all, there's a 50% chance this story will happen to the editor-in-chief, and it's also 100% likely to mutate.
Moreover, this story is really... Cheng Yungui suddenly became worried that the Earl would not allow it to pass.
Cheng Yungui stood still, his meaning clear: if you don't want to look, then I won't leave.
Seeing his reaction, the count coldly opened his email.
After reading it, the count's pupils suddenly contracted.
——————————
That evening, the bald man returned home. He went into the building, took the elevator for a while, and then stepped out of the elevator with blood on his fingers.
"Hey, Yingshan," the bald man called Yingshan, sounding satisfied with his success, "Where's Cheng Yungui?"
"I'm already done here, I'm just really curious..."
Halfway through his sentence, the bald man saw someone.
At this moment, Yingshan was still talking, saying that Cheng Yungui had gone to do a mission in the afternoon and had not returned yet, so he was probably dead.
die?
The bald man clearly saw that Cheng Yungui was sitting in the coffee shop on the first floor, stroking the cat on his lap with his head down and a faint, contented smile on his face.
Opposite him sat a thin young man.
The bald man walked over, somewhat incredulously. The stench of blood on him was so strong that the two men turned to look at him as soon as he approached.
The first to speak was Cheng Yungui: "You, have you finished your mission?"
Judging from his tone, he had completed his mission. However, Cheng Yungui was remarkably clean, and there was no sign of fatigue on his face.
At this moment, the young man opposite him looked at the bald man and exclaimed, "Are you a pig butcher? How come you have so much blood on you?"
"What do you know? I'm just going to do something."
The young man nodded thoughtfully and ordered another cup of coffee.
The bald man couldn't understand what the man was trying to do, but Cheng Yungui seemed to immediately grasp the young man's intention.
He handed the coffee to the bald man with both hands.
With utmost sincerity and sympathy, I say:
"Thank you for your hard work, boss. Have some coffee."
Chapter 68 Want to find the heart? No way (4)
Fortunately, the system is set so that there is a 50% chance that the ghost stories will happen to the Earl, which makes them a community of interest to some extent.
Otherwise, if the count wanted him dead, he would probably grind his teeth in jealousy after reading this story and express his disapproval.
Lin Han's story is called "Psychic Communication".
The beginning was fairly normal, telling the story of a high school student who, having nothing better to do, tried all sorts of psychic methods. Finally, after using a red string to ask the spirits, the bell on the string moved.
The story's development and ending are quite normal. The summoned vengeful spirit cries and sobs, and the boy, moved by compassion, investigates the matter. In the end, he discovers that the mastermind behind it all is the old man who sold him the red string, and that the vengeful spirit was bait set up by the old man to lure him in, trapping his soul in a clay pot for the old man's use.