Chapter 147: Chapter 139: Coming
"Ah!!"
Everyone suddenly turned their gazes toward Nie Hexiang, who was trembling with fear at the moment, and the short cry of alarm had also come from her.
"What’s wrong with you?" Director Ding couldn’t help but feel anxious and quickly walked over to Nie Hexiang’s side. After observing for a while, he realized she was not injured.
"It’s nothing, she’s fine, just... just scared." Xia Xiuyan explained for her, "Director Ding, you guys go ahead with the rehearsal, I’ll take her out to calm down."
Xia Xiuyan helped Nie Hexiang and quickly left the classroom. Yang Xiao noticed that Nie Hexiang’s face was deathly pale, her steps unsteady and weak, clearly overly frightened.
But the incident itself was filled with oddity; Nie Hexiang wasn’t startled by the moment the glass shattered but by that Goose Egg Stone.
The issue was with this Goose Egg Stone!
Thinking of this, Yang Xiao walked around the crew members cleaning up the broken glass and pretended to casually approach the Goose Egg Stone. But the next second, the stone was picked up by someone—it was Tang Cui. It seemed that everyone had the same thought.
Director Ding was commanding the crew to clean up the scene, checking to see if anyone was injured. Whether to reassure everyone or to put on a show of force, Director Ding made a tough statement, saying he would definitely catch the person who attacked them. Between the lines, he was convinced that it was Principal Wu and his people playing tricks, then stormed out of the classroom and made a phone call, apparently to Ms. Shengnan to complain.
A few people gathered around Tang Cui, examining the Goose Egg Stone. There was nothing particularly remarkable about the stone itself, just one side bore traces of having been polished.
"That woman’s reaction was very strange," Tang Cui whispered when she noticed no one was paying attention to them, "She saw this stone."
"Yes, I noticed too. Not just her, but also her friend. They both recognized this stone. It’s just that her friend has much better mental fortitude; she didn’t show her panic." Song Yan had also caught the fear in Xia Xiuyan’s eyes after noticing Nie Hexiang’s abnormal behavior. The source of their fear was this stone.
A stone obviously had nothing to fear, what truly frightened them was the story behind this stone. Everyone guessed that this stone was very likely thrown by a ghost, and it represented some special meaning.
Tang Cui held the stone in her palm, inspecting it closely. The polished side of the stone bore unclear engraving marks.
"There are marks. This stone had something engraved on it before, but it’s been worn away." Tang Cui scraped the Goose Egg Stone with her fingernail, clearly feeling the engravings.
Before they could delve further, Director Ding had finished his call and returned, anger on his face, "Stop what you’re doing, I’ve already called Principal Wu to come and clean up this mess. Everyone has worked hard today; we’re on a tight schedule, and we’ll shoot some night scenes later."
"Night scenes?" Yu Mi’s pretty face tensed up as if she thought of something terrifying.
Director Ding, already irritated, frowned at her reaction, "What about night scenes? Don’t you film academy students know that there are night scenes?"
"Don’t get mad, Director Ding, we know about night scenes. We’ll come back later to shoot them," Song Yan always had a good attitude.
Seeing Song Yan, Director Ding’s anger subsided, and his tone was not as harsh, "Tonight we’re not shooting here."
"Then where are we going?" Tang Cui suddenly had a bad premonition.
"You’ll find out when we get there. For now, follow me, let’s eat first."
The setting sun cast a warm glow, and the school was deserted. It was a holiday, and the students had all gone home. Everyone sat side by side, soaking in the sunlight on their faces.
The crew’s idea of dinner was boxed meals, and at the moment, each held one. With chicken legs included, Yang Xiao found his meal rather enjoyable, but Yu Mi was visibly upset, unable to swallow more than a few bites. She looked toward Director Ding and his group not far away, suddenly, the suppressed fear and the sense of unreality surged back, and within moments, she began to sob.
"Hey, if you’re going to cry, go do it somewhere else, don’t disturb everyone’s meal!" Tang Cui said, annoyed.
"Alright, drop it. Everyone has a first time. Remember our first time coming to this haunted place, we were probably not much better than her," Song Yan spoke gently, always considering others.
"Heh, Mr. Song is really a good man, hopefully you can keep it up," Tang Cui said, her voice so low at the end that only she could hear it as she continued to pick at her rice.
After dinner, Yang Xiao and his group moved around within a designated area. There were only seven of them; Luo Zhaoqing was missing. Director Ding, the two lead actresses, and the crew were a distance away, always purposely avoiding Yang Xiao’s group when discussing things.
"Look, those two women got into the car again," Tang Cui indicated by lifting her chin, prompting everyone to look in the direction of the other side where there was a white van, which was also lent to the crew by the school. The boxed meals had been delivered in that van.
Since it was backlit, Yang Xiao could only squint, and Tang Cui was right—those women’s behavior was strange; they seemed very reluctant to show their faces around the school.
Shortly afterward, someone approached from afar and spoke with Director Ding. They followed this person to the other end of the school, and after passing through a small garden lush with greenery, a long, concrete building appeared. It was evident the building had been there for a long time: ivy and other such plants covered the walls, and the exposed concrete had also peeled away significantly.
From a distance, the long, low building looked like a person in the twilight of their years, exuding an intense air of desolation.
