"Shi Yanlei, what are you doing? Are you putting on a show for the viewers?" the host next to him asked, puzzled.
"G-g-g," Shi Yanlei made strange sounds from his mouth and began to move bizarrely. His head was pressed tightly against the bottom of the bathtub, his rear end sticking up high.
"Miss Zhao, his condition is very similar to mine before," the cameraman said to Zhao Yan.
"It's different," Zhao Yan said softly.
The cameraman had been affected by illusions, seeing a lot of water in a bathroom that had none.
Shi Yanlei's situation was not the same as the cameraman's. His shadow behind him stretched several times, and as he lifted his head from the bottom of the bathtub, a strange smile appeared on his face.
Like an aging robot, the movement of his neck was stiff when he turned his head.
"Let's go to other rooms. There's nothing interesting in this room."
The two hosts glanced at the bathtub and then left the room.
It was as if there was another person inside Shi Yanlei, and this person was not quite accustomed to his body.
He kept rubbing his arms and legs, occasionally jumping in place.
Inadvertently, he let out a chuckle of delight.
The sound that came from his mouth was like a woman's voice.
"Miss Zhao, they've all left Room 404," the cameraman said to Zhao Yan.
"Let them go first," Zhao Yan replied.
Although she noticed Shi Yanlei's condition was different, Zhao Yan didn't want to expose it immediately. She wanted to see what the "person" on Shi Yanlei intended to do.
Just as she had guessed, her excessive yang energy prevented that "person" from possessing her.
Coincidentally, a unlucky soul had come to her doorstep.
Zhao Yan and the cameraman walked out of the bathroom.
The bathroom felt a bit crowded with so many people.
Exiting Room 404, the two hosts were chatting in the hallway.
Zhao Yan walked into the hallway and shone her flashlight on the Room 404 doorplate.
Just as she stepped away, she heard a "bang."
Hearing the sound, Zhao Yan turned and walked back into the room.
She found Shi Yanlei had somehow obtained a rope and was tightly strangling himself, hanging in mid-air.
His feet were on a stool, rocking back and forth like a tumbler, but he didn't kick the stool away.
His face showed not suffocation, but a joyful expression.
It was as if he wasn't committing suicide, but doing something amusing.
Hearing the sound, not only Zhao Yan but also others entered the room.
Seeing Shi Yanlei strangling himself with a rope, they thought he was pulling some kind of stunt.
Zhao Yan saw the red rope marks on Shi Yanlei's neck and made a mistake: the "person" possessing Shi Yanlei wasn't someone who had committed suicide by slitting their wrists, but by hanging themselves.
"Yanlei, what are you doing? You don't have to strangle yourself with a rope just to become famous."
"You look so happy, hurry up and stop playing. We need to go check out the fifth floor."
Shi Yanlei ignored them and even tightened the rope.
Zhao Yan quickly ran over, hugged Shi Yanlei's body, and lifted him up, temporarily relieving the pressure on his neck.
Even the two hosts, slow as they were, realized that Shi Yanlei wasn't trying to create content for the stream.
Especially seeing Shi Yanlei emit strange laughter, his eyes were completely white, making him look increasingly eerie.
As Zhao Yan hugged Shi Yanlei and swayed him back and forth, she began to sway herself.
"Quick, break the rope," Zhao Yan said softly.
The two hosts, who often called Shi Yanlei "brother," failed him at a crucial moment. Especially seeing Shi Yanlei's state, they dared not approach, instead standing at the doorway, filming Shi Yanlei with their cameras.
Zhao Yan felt exasperated, but fortunately, the cameraman intervened and cut the rope around Shi Yanlei's neck.
"Don't ruin my good deed," a woman's voice burst from Shi Yanlei's mouth.
He began to shake violently, trying to throw Zhao Yan off.
Zhao Yan held tightly onto Shi Yanlei's legs, unaffected by the shaking.
No matter how hard he tried, Zhao Yan remained unmoved.
As the cameraman cut the rope, Shi Yanlei's body fell.
Zhao Yan quickly let go, and Shi Yanlei sat on the ground.
Before he could stand up, a talisman was placed on his forehead.
Instantly, Shi Yanlei froze in place.
A black mist emerged from behind Shi Yanlei and shot towards the wall.
"Trying to escape." Zhao Yan placed the talisman in her palm and immediately grabbed forward.
She instantly captured the hanging female ghost in her palm and pulled her over with force.
"Mercy, Master Celestial, I was just playing," the hanging female ghost said pitifully, turning her head towards Zhao Yan.
"Are you playing by hanging yourself here?" Zhao Yan raised her hand and pointed a finger at the hanging female ghost's forehead.
"Is it fun to play by hanging yourself?"
Zhao Yan pointed a few more times.
The hanging female ghost quickly raised her hands and placed them on her forehead.
Zhao Yan pried the hanging female ghost's hands away, saying, "If you don't let me point at your forehead, I will."
She forcefully poked the hanging female ghost's forehead with two fingers.
Her fingers left imprints on the hanging female ghost's forehead.
The hanging female ghost looked at her with wronged eyes.
"Why did you feel so down that you wanted to hang yourself?" Zhao Yan asked.
"I can't quite remember what happened. I just felt very depressed and unhappy that day, and the thought of hanging myself popped into my head. I didn't expect to actually hang myself. I didn't intend to kick the stool away; it just kicked itself away," the hanging female ghost said softly.
"The stool kicked itself away?" Zhao Yan asked, confused.
"Yes, the stool just kicked itself away," the hanging female ghost replied.
"Alright, if you like hanging yourself so much, then hang yourself, back and forth seventy or eighty times." Zhao Yan said.
She took the camera from the cameraman and hung the rope on it.
"Hang," Zhao Yan tapped the hanging female ghost's forehead.
The hanging female ghost rubbed her forehead, stood on the stool, and began to hang herself.
"Shake hard from side to side."
The hanging female ghost began to sway from side to side.
The two hosts behind her couldn't see the hanging female ghost, but they saw the rope swaying.
Although they wanted to ask, they dared not approach.
"Master, I'm tired of hanging," the hanging female ghost said.
It was more fun to possess and hang others.
"Continue, don't stop," Zhao Yan said without looking up.
The hanging female ghost sighed and continued to hang herself, shaking vigorously from side to side.
Zhao Yan pinched Shi Yanlei's philtrum hard, waking him up.