Chapter 167: You Are the Ghost
So, five minutes later, Yin Chengjue's Weibo updated with a new post.
It was a picture of Yin Chengjue wearing a burgundy silk bathrobe, leaning against a sofa.
This picture was clearly not taken by Yin Chengjue himself, because both his hands were in the frame—one resting casually on the sofa, the other slightly raised, holding an unknown person's hand, gently kissing the back of it near his thinly curved, sensual lips.
Yin Chengjue's narrow, phoenix-like eyes were slightly lifted, seeming somewhat mischievous as he looked at the camera, though it was unclear whether he was really looking at the lens or at the person behind it.
The comments section: "..."
Burp! Full from dog food!
At the same time, Rong Yu's Weibo also updated with a selfie.
In the picture, Rong Yu was wearing casual home clothes. Both his hands were outside the frame, making it look like he was holding the phone with both hands for the selfie.
Rong Yu stared directly at the camera, a gentle smile spreading across his face, making fans exclaim how heartwarming it was!
Logically, both of them posting at the same time, with pictures that seemed quite continuous, might arouse some suspicion. But coincidentally, Wei Shu also posted a selfie at that moment.
Wei Shu's original intention was also to help 'Ghost Traces' out of a bind. Firstly, if Ming Qian's fans continued making a fuss, the premiere of 'Ghost Traces' would definitely be affected. Secondly, seeing the post Yin Chengjue made earlier, giving away tickets for free, made Wei Shu's agent Yang Lili think Yin Chengjue had been angered into acting rashly. She quickly urged Wei Shu to post a selfie to divert attention.
Yang Lili was still hoping to achieve some results after taking on Wei Shu. Right now, 'Ghost Traces' was the best ticket in. There was also the annual Best Supporting Actor selection in the second half of the year, and she already had her eye on that spot for Wei Shu.
It absolutely couldn't be ruined by Yin Chengjue's momentary fit of pique!
Box office, box office! If you give them all away for free, what about the box office!
Yang Lili secretly prayed Yin Chengjue would retract his decision.
And so, it just happened to coincide with the selfie posts.
Thus, all three posted selfies at the same time, and no one noticed anything amiss with Yin Chengjue and Rong Yu's photos.
Rong Yu, harboring a little secret intention: "..."
Looking at handsome guys was always somewhat pleasing to the eye. Many people under Yin Chengjue's Weibo post had already expressed that, for the sake of his looks, they were willing to buy movie tickets with their own money.
The trend on Weibo gradually shifted, from criticizing 'Ghost Traces' trailer to planning to go catch a free movie together.
Ming Qian's fans who had been clamoring under the official Weibo, shouting "we won't buy tickets if you don't add more shots of him in the trailer," were now in an awkward position. They had been fully convinced they were the main force of the box office, hence their audacious shouting. But now, with 'Ghost Traces' giving away one free ticket per person, how much box office revenue would be lost?
Ming Qian's fans just wanted to get their idol a few more seconds of screen time. They never imagined their actions would jeopardize the entire box office performance of 'Ghost Traces'.
Ming Qian himself played the second male lead in 'Ghost Traces'. If the box office numbers were bad, how could Ming Qian benefit?
The major fan accounts of "Qiansha" immediately organized fans to go delete their previous comments under the 'Ghost Traces' official Weibo, trying to cover up their bizarre behavior over the past few hours.
However, even so, Yin Chengjue's Weibo did not post any new updates.
Three days later, 'Ghost Traces' was released across all routes.
Since it happened to be a weekend, many people, hearing the movie tickets were free, naturally called up friends to go check it out, especially young couples. Upon hearing it was a free horror movie, they grabbed tickets and went in without a second thought.
Horror movies, with their scary scenes—perfect for couples to hug each other tightly, wouldn't that be sweet?
Horror movies being a perfect excuse for couples to get closer seemed to be a universally acknowledged truth.
Yin Chengjue and Rong Yu had long agreed to go to the cinema to watch the movie today. They had even pre-booked a private double suite. However, after driving into the cinema's underground parking garage and circling around, they couldn't find a single parking spot.
Helplessly, Yin Chengjue could only drive to the nearest parking area. After several more circles, they barely managed to find a place to park.
"This weekend is really crowded," Rong Yu couldn't help but remark.
Yin Chengjue checked the calendar. "It's not even a special holiday."
The two of them were fully disguised, wrapped up tightly from head to toe. Before even entering the cinema, they saw several people coming out together, faces flushed, discussing something animatedly. As they talked, they suddenly decided something, turned around together, and headed back into the cinema!
They saw this happen several times. Many people who had already exited the cinema were turning around and going right back inside.
Rong Yu found it strange and couldn't help but stop a couple of people to ask the reason.
"It's that new movie! There are some parts I still don't understand, I need to watch it again!"
"Sigh, I only went to see it because the tickets were free. Now look, I still have to spend my own money to buy another one!"
"Who do you think is really the ghost? I think the male lead is the real ghost!" Those two people started discussing right in front of Rong Yu.
"Speaking of which, that actor's performance was really terrifying!"
"He looks quite handsome, but the moment that smile of his appeared in the mirror, I almost left this beautiful world!"
"Right, right! And when he climbed out of the mirror, oh my god! Scared me to death! The editors are such troublemakers, deliberately doing that close-up shot from the front. I thought he was going to climb out of the big screen!"
Rong Yu: "..." I don't have that ability.
Yin Chengjue cleared his throat and pulled Rong Yu behind him. "Sorry to bother you. We won't delay your ticket buying."
One of them said, "Ah, it's no delay anyway. The line is already snaking outside. The next showing starts in an hour. We're going to grab a bite first and then come back to queue. I think I might need to buy a few more tickets and watch it several times!"
Yin Chengjue felt grateful they had booked the private suite in advance, otherwise the trip would have been for nothing.
The opening of 'Ghost Traces' was actually the same trailer the official Weibo had posted online.
It wasn't that the 'Ghost Traces' editors were lazy, but rather this opening sequence already contained many hidden clues.
Every time the protagonist looked back, every camera angle that switched, and every person they passed by would later appear in the plot, each playing a role in pushing the main storyline forward.
At the beginning of the story, the seemingly ordinary male lead, Jing Sheng, always wore red clothes and had a pale complexion. He was like a magnet for trouble—wherever he went, something bad would happen.
During a talent show, someone was electrocuted on stage. While filming a period drama, someone died in a fire. While attending a wedding, a groom was stabbed through the heart.
Each time, such incidents affected Jing Sheng's life and career, which infuriated him.
He noticed there was always a suspicious masked figure at the scenes of the deaths, so he suspected the masked person was the murderer. He kept searching for clues, trying to find the killer.
But during his search, he entered a room, pushed open a door and walked through. However, when the camera angle shifted, it was revealed that there was no door there at all—he had simply walked through the wall!
He saw the figure of the masked person in a circular hole, so without hesitation, he crawled into it. But the hole was too small, and he struggled to squeeze his body through.
There were many such seemingly ridiculous, absurd, and inexplicable actions. It wasn't until the latter half of the film that Jing Sheng ripped off the mask of the masked person, revealing the face of the second male lead.
"It's you!" Jing Sheng pointed at the second male lead's face in shock. "Jiang Qing! Why is it you? Didn't you die ten years ago?"
Seeing this, the audience's first thought was—this Jiang Qing is a ghost!
However, in the very next second, Jiang Qing pointed at Jing Sheng and said, "No! I didn't die! In that car accident ten years ago, the one who died was you! Jing Sheng!"
Jiang Qing looked at Jing Sheng. Facing this former friend, his eyes were filled with hatred.
"Stop haunting me!" Jiang Qing said. "Ten years. Has ten years not been enough to repay it? It was because you pushed me away back then. You pushed me away from in front of that car, and then you died under its wheels. You died, and I lived. But do you have any idea? Do you know the kind of life I've had to endure since then?"
Jiang Qing: "Everyone feels I owe you a life. Everyone feels I should compensate, spend the rest of my life compensating you, compensating your family, fulfilling the responsibilities and duties you never got to fulfill!"
Jiang Qing: "Your parents, every moment, wish for me to live in guilt, then use the rest of my life to make up for everything! But who ever thought about it? I was almost hit too! That driver with no license plate fled, and to this day hasn't been found. So everyone pushed the blame onto me! Onto me, another victim!"
Jiang Qing: "Yet, the only difference between you and me is that one person is still alive, and one person is already dead."
"Jing Sheng, you are dead. You've been dead for ten years! What's the point of you haunting my house now?"
Faced with Jiang Qing's interrogation, Jing Sheng stood there stunned, unable to react for a long time.
"You... you're lying! I'm not dead. The one who died was clearly... was you..." Jing Sheng kept shaking his head, trying to deny it.
"Jing Sheng, haven't you noticed? Mirrors can't reflect your face at all!" Jiang Qing sneered.
"Mirrors?" Jing Sheng was taken aback. "My house doesn't have mirrors... I'll go buy one right now..."
But Jiang Qing said, "You can't buy one. Because you can't see it. It can't reflect your image. In your eyes, it's something else. And the world you see is different from the world I see."
As Jiang Qing spoke to this point, the film inserted scenes primarily from Jiang Qing's perspective.
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