Chapter 2 We are watching you
"Is it...a ghost?"
The manic rain beat against the cold window, and their hearts were like the flames in the lamp, swaying unsteadily.
"I...I don't know." The woman swallowed, "Should I notify the law enforcers?"
"You're crazy!"
Hearing the word law enforcer, the frightened man finally regained some sense.
"Once law enforcement gets involved, what we do will definitely be exposed... Absolutely not!"
"Then...what should he do?"
The woman paused for a moment, "You said...could there be a 'disaster' that possessed Ah Ling's body?"
The two of them looked at the closed bedroom door at the same time, and fell silent again.
After a long time, the man seemed to have made up his mind, took off a black raincoat from the door, and pushed the door open.
"Where are you going?"
"Go to where we bury the body!"
"Now? What are you going to do?"
"Verify." The rain slid down the man's pale face, and he spoke hoarsely, "No matter what is in the room now... he can't be A Ling! I want to see his body with my own eyes."
"I will go with you!"
No one wants to go out in such a thunderstorm, but compared to being alone with that unknown thing sleeping in the bedroom, a woman would rather choose the former.
In the heavy rain, two figures in raincoats left in a hurry.
…
bedroom.
Chen Ling, who had fallen into a deep sleep, suddenly had her eyelashes tremble slightly, as if she was having a nightmare.
In his sleep, his consciousness continued to sink, as if he had fallen into a bottomless cave. After an unknown amount of time, he seemed to have landed on some hard ground and finally stabilized his body.
Thump—thump—thump—thump—
A dull mechanical sound sounded, and then, the beam of light pierced the darkness like a sword and gathered on a figure in red.
Chen Ling subconsciously covered her eyes with her hands.
"Where is...where?"
Chen Ling's chaotic consciousness gradually regained consciousness. After gradually adapting to the bright light, he looked around blankly.
Within the scope of the beam, he could only see the scarlet opera robe on his body, the old wooden floor under his feet, and the black curtain behind him that was also illuminated by the beam...Beyond the beam was endless unknown and darkness.
Seeing this scene, Chen Ling was suddenly stunned.
He seemed to have thought of something, and squinted his eyes to look above his head. The beam of light that illuminated him came from the spotlights fixed on the steel frame.
"stage?"
As a working theater director, Chen Ling is very familiar with the stage. In his previous life, before he was killed by a lamp, he spent time thinking about his position on the stage. His knowledge and understanding of the stage even surpassed those of the actors.
So his first reaction at this moment was to put it back on again.
wrong……
The stage lighting effect of the theater I was in in my previous life was better than this, the curtains were not black, and the ground was not this old wooden floor.
So are you dreaming?
Chen Ling took a tentative step, and the old floorboards made a harsh creaking sound. As his figure was about to step out of the circle of light, another beam of light followed his footsteps and chased into the darkness.
"Chasing the light?" Chen Ling's heart skipped a beat and she subconsciously shouted,
"Who's there?!"
If these lights can chase him, they are most likely controlled by humans, unless a fully automatic light chasing system is also used here. However, judging from the age of this stage, this possibility is almost zero.
"Who is there..."
"Who's there..."
"Over there……"
Chen Ling's voice echoed in the darkness, becoming more and more eerie.
At the same time, an electronic screen suddenly lit up at the edge of the stage.
In stage design, this position is usually set up with a teleprompter to prevent actors or hosts from forgetting their words midway, but at this moment, there is a string of red characters on the screen——
[Audience expectation: 29%]
In the lower left corner of the screen, there are a few small words,
"Please do not let the audience's expectations be lower than 20%, otherwise the theater will not guarantee the personal safety of the actors."
Seeing this screen, Chen Ling was a little confused...
audience? Where did the audience come from?
Thump—thump—thump—
The familiar sound of turning on the lights sounded again!
The darkness in front of the stage receded like a tide, and hundreds of wooden chairs spread in a ladder-like manner into the distance. They were densely packed around the front of the stage.
auditorium.
These three words appeared in Chen Ling's mind.
It is reasonable and reasonable for an audience to appear where there is a stage. What really makes Chen Ling's scalp numb is not this, but the unknown time...
These auditoriums are already filled with "spectators".
They were humanoid creatures shrouded in shadow. Even if the light was enough, Chen Ling still couldn't see their appearance clearly, as if they were the incarnation of the abyss.
The only exception are their eyes.
Countless scarlet pupils opened in the dimness. They sat on their respective wooden chairs and stared at Chen Ling on the stage, like a group of cats forcing a mouse into a corner, with playful and greedy eyes.
Chen Ling, who was stared at by them, felt a chill on the back of his neck. He didn't know what these "audiences" were. In short, they couldn't be human beings!
Chen Ling controlled herself not to look at those scary eyes, turned around and ran towards the other end of the stage.
Logically speaking, the exits of the stage are on both sides. As long as you leave the stage, you should be able to get rid of those ghosts temporarily!
The spotlight locked on the running figure in red and rushed straight to the edge of the stage, but what greeted him was a bare wall.
Chen Ling was stunned.
He ran to the other side of the stage without believing in evil, and it was still the same.
This stage... has no exit at all.
In the dim auditorium, densely packed scarlet pupils followed his escape and kept moving, like a group of "audiences" immersed in a wonderful performance, extremely focused.
The protagonist of this performance is none other than Chen Ling in red on the stage.
At the same time, the characters on the display screen in the center of the stage jumped... the audience's expectation jumped from the original 29% to 30%.
Damn it, what a fucking nightmare this is!
Chen Ling pinched herself hard and tried to wake up from her dream, but except for feeling a familiar pain, there was no sign of waking up.
[Intermission is over, please continue the performance]
Another line of characters jumped out on the screen, and then, a crisp ringtone suddenly sounded from above the stage!
Ding Ling Ling——
Before Chen Ling could react, the picture in front of him collapsed, and his consciousness quickly blurred...
Before he lost consciousness, he saw in a trance that the huge and mysterious black curtain behind him was slowly opening!
…
boom!
Chen Ling suddenly sat up from the bed!
The sheets were soaked with cold sweat, his chest was heaving violently, and his eyes were filled with fear.
He swallowed, looked around bit by bit, and finally relaxed after confirming that he was in his room and not the damn stage.
"Is this a dream... This dream is too weird."
He calmed down, got up and walked to the living room.
At this time, the rain outside had basically stopped, but the sky was still dark. Chen Ling called her parents several times, but no one answered. The whole room was quiet.
"Going out to work so early?" Chen Ling muttered to herself.
Chen Ling touched his shriveled belly. The nightmare last night seemed to have consumed too much of his energy. His whole body was swaying when he walked. In desperation, he had no choice but to go into the kitchen to find something to eat.
As soon as he walked in the door, he tripped over something and looked down.
It was the remains of a bucket that looked like it had been eaten by a wild animal.
What's going on with this bucket? Is it freezing cold?
Chen Ling couldn't remember what happened last night at all. She muttered something suspiciously in her mind, then picked up the bucket and threw it into the corner. She turned around and found a rag to wipe away the water stains on the ground.
As soon as he squatted down, he froze on the spot.
The water stains on the ground began to slide automatically, as if an invisible figure was squatting opposite him, dipping his fingertips in the water and writing something on the ground.
The next moment, the transparent water stains turned into blood red visible to the naked eye, and a twisted and strange text was outlined in front of Chen Ling.
——[We are watching you].