APP: Chapter 114

[Effect of Demonic Field: Taking oneself as the midpoint, enter the eternal night within a radius of five meters.]

[Eternal Night Effect:

1. Bloody Feast: The eternal night is for killing and hunting. For three minutes, the owner of the talent will get a 100% increase in strength.]

[2. Extreme Blindness: the prey inside will become temporarily blind.]

[3. Seal of Blood: For the prey inside, all items are completely disabled for three minutes and they can’t escape from the eternal night area.]

[4. Demon’s Curse: The prey inside will weaken by 50% within three minutes.]

[Warning, if the hunt fails, the domain will cause severe backlash. Warning—]

A warning rang in his head but Xie Xinglan couldn’t hear it.

Cheng Zhou was close and was about to force Xie Xinglan to open his eyes to look at the talisman when it suddenly became pitch black. This darkness was different from a night without stars and the moon where light could still be seen. It was a type of desolate and desperate darkness.

There was a sudden coolness at the back of his head like a demon was watching him in the darkness. A feeling of terror crawled into his heart. Cheng Zhou retreated in a panic only to find that his movements were slow and rigid.

“What is the situation? Why does Cheng Zhou suddenly seem blind?”

The actors watching the fight looked at each other in shock. They didn’t understand why Cheng Zhou, who had the advantage, suddenly panicked. He was like a man lost in the wilderness at night.

“Something’s wrong!”

They felt fear for some reason from Xie Xinglan.

There was a bang as Cheng Zhou staggered and hit the wall of the field. He hit the wall madly with his shoulders only to find out in horror that he was locked in a circular area. Cheng Zhou heard Xie Xinglan’s unhurried footsteps.

“Don’t come here!” His footsteps were in disorder. His voice trembled as he tried to determine Xie Xinglan’s direction.

Cheng Zhou might be blind but he could feel Xie Xinglan’s gaze. Xie Xinglan’s gaze fell on him like some type of radar locating prey, dark and unpredictable. Xie Xinglan looked at him in a sarcastic manner.

Xie Xinglan’s breath was just behind him. Cheng Zhou was overjoyed. He turned around quickly and raised the talisman in front of him. He was sure that Xie Xinglan had seen it.

“He saw it! It’s over!”

“So careless?”

“I just said that an orange item—no! He’s fine?”

Xie Xinglan’s breath disappeared. Cheng Zhou thought he was dead and was overjoyed.

[What is he laughing at? Xing Xing is right in front of him!]

[Ahhh.]

A cold light flashed suddenly.

“Ah!” The smile that hadn’t fully formed on Cheng Zhou’s face stiffened. He lowered his head in disbelief and reached out to touch the sword that penetrated him. Cheng Zhou fell straight down.

Xie Xinglan smiled, his eyes cold.

Ji Xingchen heard Cheng Zhou’s scream and started to run away, but he was sealed in a fixed area and couldn’t get out. Xie Xinglan caught up and solved Ji Xingchen at the fastest speed.

The eternal night receded.

The crowd stared with wide eyes and they forgot to breathe. It was clear that Cheng Zhou and Ji Xingchen had been holding the winning ticket just a minute ago. In one minute, Cheng Zhou was dying and Ji Xingchen was dead. The outcome had been decided but the scene just now lingered in their minds.

“So… what is that?” Someone gasped in fear.

“It definitely isn’t an item! Even a red item won’t necessarily have this effect!”

“Does he still have a means?”

“Isn’t he a newcomer?!”

“If that isn’t an item then what can it be?”

All the actors fell silent.

“Is it… a talent?” Someone suddenly wondered.

“How is that possible? He only has 3,000 points…”

“The app has a precedent for opening up the talent in advance! Still, I didn’t expect him… to have opened it.”

“This type of effect must be the second category of talent…”

“My god???”

The actors here understood what this meant. Xie Xinglan had a great talent and the effect of the talent was almost abnormal. The faces of a few people were pale. They felt frightened and glad. If they had done something just now, they might be the ones who lay there bleeding. This group of old actors who were between 3,000 and 5,000 points looked at both Xie Chi and Xie Xinglan and fear was quietly born in the depths of their hearts.

[This talent is even more abnormal than Shen Yi’s…]

[No, didn’t you find that the triggering probability is extremely low? Xie Xinglan destroyed the luck buff to trigger it.]

[If it can be triggered stably… I dare not think about it.]

[No matter how low the probability, there is still a probability of it triggering. This talent is a time bomb. Who would dare to provoke Xie Xinglan in the future?]

[I’m following him! Brother Lan is a good A. Son Chi is also a good A ohhh.]

[Xie Chi’s strength has been lost. Don’t you think this is intriguing? It is known that he is inexplicably clever along with a max force. In addition, Xie Chi might have a double personality…]

[Fu*k? No way! Don’t joke around. Son Chi and Xing Xing are a CP. If you really push it like this then doesn’t it mean…]

[No no no, impossible!]

[Fu*k, I can’t think of it, can I? Isn’t this impossible?! This… is too ghostly. They clearly just met and we also witnessed their love! I don’t believe it! I won’t listen, I won’t listen. Son Chi won’t lie to his mother! Son Chi is his mother’s good boy.]

[If this is true then it is really a bit sensational. Fu*k my scalp is numb, cough.]

[I really dare not to think about anything now (collapsed)]

[Question: If these two are actually the same person then it is very scary. If they are separate, they are already like this. If they are together… Fu*k, does this count as a cheat 1555551]

[Figuring it out is easy. After the movie is over, pay attention to the comprehensive ranking. If we can’t see it then search for Xie Xinglan’s past movies directly. He is a talented actor and must’ve filmed movies if he got thousands of points. The shooting history can’t be hidden in the app.]

[I found a detail! The sword moves in Xie Chi’s Zombie Lovers are very similar to Xie Xinglan’s sword moves in Living Hell! I especially liked the previous fights so I made a special edit. Now that I think about it carefully…]

[Oh my god?]

[The amount of information is a bit big! Wait, could it be that Xing Xing ignited the fire element in Zombies Lovers because he likes Chi Chi and wanted to protect Chi Chi?]

[This is why Chi Chi inexplicably smiled before! Ahhhhhh!]

[Ideal for Chi Chi!]

[Don’t worry about it! Sit down and finish watching the movie first!]

***

Cheng Zhou’s energy was completely dissipated. Xie Xinglan gave him a breath of energy, pinched his chin and asked him, “Who gave you the items?”

Cheng Zhou sneered. “If I say it then will you spare me?”

“No.” Xie Xinglan didn’t bother to lie. Cheng Zhou wasn’t a stupid person and wouldn’t believe him at all.

Cheng Zhou glanced at Xie Chi walking over and smiled strangely. “You come here and I will tell you.”

Xie Chi glanced at him and crouched down. Cheng Zhou moved toward Xie Chi’s ear and spoke slowly in a voice that could only be heard by the two of them. “Those who betray the organization won’t die well.”

His words instantly evoked Xie Chi’s dark memories and his expression sank.

Cheng Zhou gave a smile of malicious intent. “You will soon know that the power of Pet is strong. I am just one of the inferior products.”

Xie Chi’s eyes were colder than ever. Cheng Zhou’s gaze moved between Xie Chi and Xie Xinglan. “You and he will come down to accompany me soon.”

Xie Xinglan was about to kill him with the sword when Xie Chi said, “No need.”

He stood up. Xie Xinglan looked down and found that once Cheng Zhou spoke the last sentence, he stopped breathing. It wasn’t a natural death but… suicide. He used the remaining ant ghosts to commit ‘suicide’ with a pious smile on his face. It seemed his mission was to assassinate Xie Chi and Su Qing. After failure, death was his only destination. He didn’t regret it. He was like a cold machine.

Xie Chi touched Cheng Zhou’s shoulder. His hands stopped and he frowned sharply. There was a bulge under the skin of Cheng Zhou’s left shoulder. It was… a chip, the same chip that had previously been in his right shoulder. Cheng Zhou’s was in his left shoulder. No doubt, it was Pet.

Xie Chi nodded at Xie Xinglan almost invisibly and stood up casually.

The situation was confusing. It seemed the Pet organization had reached out to the app.

He actually didn’t quite understand the meaning of the ‘betrayal’ that Cheng Zhou mentioned. If disobeying the organization and not being a good pet was called betrayal then he should’ve been returned to the app and killed in the real world a long time ago instead of them taking action in the app.

So the phrase ‘betrayal’ should be aimed at something he did after entering the app. He did something to make the organization mistakenly believe he had ‘betrayed’ them so they sent Cheng Zhou to kill him. Or perhaps not conforming in the app was tantamount to betrayal. He wasn’t sure yet.

Xie Chi fell into deep thought only to suddenly look at Su Qing supported by Ren Ze. Cheng Zhou was obviously here to kill him and Su Qing and the only connection between him and Su Qing was… Shen Yi.

Some clues that were extremely trivial and left in the corner of his memory were quietly connected together.

Shen Yi had been in the app for over a year. What was his wish? According to his current progress, he could’ve earned 10,000 points in one quarter and already left the app. Yet Shen Yi stayed for more than a year. He should’ve saved 40 to 50 thousand points. His desire seemed great.

Why did Shen Yi ask him to protect Su Qing? Did he already know that someone might attack Su Qing? It was just that Shen Yi might not think this group of people were even staring at Xie Chi and wanted to kill both of them at once.

Xie Chi closed his eyes. He thought of Shen Yi’s favoritism and gifts in Horror Skewers. The harsh perfectionist Shen Yi gave 10 points in Horror Skewers without hesitation and gave him a knife almost as a favor.

The difficulty of the Hide and Seek movie was unbalanced and everyone’s progress was canceled. He heard that it was Shen Yi who proposed to let him continue. Why was Shen Yi so sure that he could pass? Did Shen Yi have an unusual understanding of ‘such people’? Did he know something?

It seemed that Xie Chi had to find a way to meet Movie Emperor Shen.

By the time Xie Chi opened his eyes again, the hatred for Pet in his eyes had disappeared and there were no emotions. The purpose of this group lurking in the app didn’t matter. As long as they blocked his way, he would make them pay.

“Xie Chi.”

Xie Chi received Xie Xinglan’s concerned eyes and held out his hand, speaking warmly. “Brother, I’m fine.”

Xie Xinglan lowered his voice. “After going out, we can follow Cheng Zhou’s items to check.”

Xie Chi nodded. This was one method.

As Cheng Zhou said, he was indeed only an inferior product. His mission was to wait around Ji Xingchen, disguised as an actor and passing the instances without any surprise while waiting for orders from above.

After receiving the order, Cheng Zhou took the items given from those above him and joined Living Hell.

“Two orange and one purple item, it is really worthy of me and Su Qing.” Xie Chi sneered.

Since actors had a good chance of getting items they didn’t really need, the transfer of items was legal in the app but there were huge restrictions. For example, if the quality of the movie was orange then actors could only bring in the transferred orange colored items. This was to maintain balance and protect the safety of actors. It would be disastrous for actors if others could carry a red or higher grade item into low quality movies.

Therefore, the above person giving Cheng Zhou two orange and one purple item was basically the limit of an orange movie.

‘The background isn’t small,’ Xie Chi thought.

Xie Xinglan looked up and the actors immediately shifted their gaze. It was obvious that the tragic deaths of Cheng Zhou and Ji Xingchen made them put away all the thoughts in their hearts and they completely submitted.

Ren Ze walked to Xie Chi and was just about to speak when he pointed behind Xie Chi in surprise. “Ji Xing—”

Ji Xingchen, who was lying in a pool of blood behind him, climbed up suddenly. He held the key that had fallen from Cheng Zhou in his hand and ran without looking back. He crossed over a dozen meters in the blink of an eye. His speed was amazing.

Xie Xinglan was startled. The previous Ji Xingchen hadn’t been breathing. He was about to chase when after two steps, he stopped abruptly. He glanced at the calm Xie Chi behind him, shrugged and returned directly.

“You aren’t going to chase?” Ren Ze was puzzled.

Xie Chi told him, “Don’t chase.”

Over there, Ji Xingchen had already committed ‘suicide’ and escaped down to the next layer. Xie Chi sighed when he saw this person disappear and seemed to blame himself. “I accidentally forgot to tell him that going down is the right way out.”

Ren Ze was stunned for several seconds and his eyes widened. “You mean, he will go to the top layer to open the door to the eternal hell and will die?!”

Xie Chi nodded.

Ren Ze stared like Xie Chi and Xie Xinglan were monsters.

They walked up to the group. An actor who previously laughed at Xie Chi was now afraid and shared some information with a smile. “Ji Xingchen’s talent is to resurrect after dying. He used it in his last movie and it is similar to a second life. He can resurrect in the five minutes after death and then get a short-term speed increase… but it seems that the talent cooldown is very long. It can only be used once in a movie…”

Xie Chi nodded at him indifferently.

***

Ji Xingchen was hiding and didn’t realize that Xie Chi and the others weren’t coming after all. He was badly injured and his only hope was Paradise. He followed Cheng Zhou and had encountered too much in a short time. His mind was a mess and he couldn’t even understand the plot.

He gripped the golden key in his hand.

Xie Chi and the others were above him. He couldn’t go up and his location would be random in the next reincarnation cycle. At that time, his injury would be better and he could fight desperately.

As Ji Xingchen was thinking this, the key in his hand suddenly trembled. At the same time, the app rang.

[Your strong desire for Paradise has triggered the teleportation.]

After a while, Ji Xingchen stared at the gate to Paradise at the end of the cloud with an expression full of disbelief. He could get to Paradise so easily…?

Ji Xingchen covered his wound and staggered over. His hands trembled so much that he had to insert it several times before it went into the keyhole. As he turned the lock, his heart was beating loudly for some reason and the veins on his forehead bulged.

He looked back. The clouds and fog were wandering around his ankles and seemed to be kissing them. His eyes were covered with dust. Like a dream, he looked down. In the long hell, Xie Chi and the others were like small ants suffering.

Ji Xingchen smiled. If he didn’t die in a disaster then he would receive a blessing. He had found Paradise. After going out, he would have the opportunity to get revenge on Xie Chi and Xie Xinglan.

Ji Xingchen firmly pushed open the door to Paradise. There was an extremely harsh creak and Ji Xingchen was startled. The gate to Paradise was magnificent and there was no rust at all. So why was there such a loud sound?

Then he saw a beautiful lotus pond exactly like the one on the poster. Ji Xingchen was attracted. He didn’t care about the unexplained sound and walked faster and faster. The door behind him closed with a creak and he didn’t even notice.

He looked up obsessively and saw the characters carved on the walls of the immortal palace—Paradise.

Ji Xingchen raised his eyebrow with joy.

A hand suddenly fell on his shoulder. Ji Xingchen was startled and turned his head sharply. Then he became relieved when he saw the benevolent Buddha. The Buddha was wearing a robe and had a fat head, big ears, kind eyes and his entire body was shrouded in the light of a great Buddha. The Buddha was chewing on something.

Ji Xingchen wondered, “What are you eating?”

The Buddha replied, “The lotus seeds from the lotus pond.”

Ji Xingchen nodded.

He saw the glittering spider silk wrapped around the Buddha’s hands and spoke respectfully, “I have heard the story of the Spider Silk Ladder. You couldn’t bear it and lowered the spider silk so people in hell could climb up, but they didn’t understand gratitude and ruined the silk in vain. I understand your good intentions—”

The Buddha interrupted him with a strange smile. “No, you don’t understand.”

“What?”

The next second, a gloomy ghost rushed at him. The Buddha in front of him instantly turned into a fat-headed ghost!

Ji Xingchen’s eyes widened. It was too close and he had no time to escape. The spider silk in the ghost’s hands strangled his neck.

At the last moment before he died, Ji Xingchen saw the truth.

The ghost was well-moisturized and its hair and skin were shiny. At first glance, it looked like Buddha’s light. The ghost was covered with a benevolent Buddha skin but it was actually rotten bones underneath. In its foul-smelling mouth were human flesh and bones.

The spider silk in its hands turned a poisonous black and became tighter.

The ground under his feet started to shake and the true face of Paradise was revealed. The clouds and fog turned into a blood mist, the magnificent gate turned into a rusty iron gate and the beautiful lotus pond became a pool of blood in which monsters screamed and limbs floated. It was terrible.

His eyes filled with blood. The fragrance of flowers at the tip of his nose became the stench of corpses.

The world gradually darkened. The last thing Ji Xingchen saw were the golden characters saying ‘Paradise’ falling off the walls and turning into ‘Eternal Hell’.

Ji Xingchen’s blood splashed, staining the dark and gloomy letters red.

---

Proofreader: Purichan