At ten o’clock at night, Zuo Si took a taxi and arrived at the bus stop in Xiangyang Village.
The area was desolate, and it would take about half an hour to walk to the nearest Xiangyang Village.
The moonlight tonight was fairly bright, illuminating the wheat fields on both sides of the road, which had just been harvested. The air was filled with a faint scent of wheat, quite pleasant.
Autumn had already set in, and the night was a bit damp and chilly. Zuo Si was wearing a windbreaker, which kept him warm.
Feeling bored while waiting, he thought it would be better to start the stream early.
Zuo Si took out his phone and selfie stick, set up the phone, and began tonight’s live stream.
“Once I have some money, I need to buy better equipment. Holding this is quite inconvenient.”
Zuo Si decided to buy a pinhole camera that could connect to his phone in a few days.
The stream started, and Zuo Si sent out a notification for the broadcast.
Someone entered the live stream room.
“Live streamer, your spirit exploration stream starts later than others.”
“Yeah, the prime time is from eight to eleven at night; that’s when it’s easier to build an audience.”
……
“Thanks for the reminder, but starting late creates a better atmosphere, right? Plus, I’m streaming all night, so I can keep those working night shifts company for a lovely night.”
“Come on, a lovely night? Your haunted house is so scary; I’m a bit afraid to watch the spirit exploration.”
“What’s tonight’s spirit exploration theme, live streamer?”
……
“The audience is too low right now; we’ll discuss tonight’s theme later.”
Zuo Si took out a cig@rette and lit it, taking a puff.
He thought, ‘I should quit smoking; this stuff is bad for my health. My future days will be spent on the edge, and I can’t afford to be in poor health.’
With that in mind, he tossed the remaining half pack of cigarettes into the nearby trash can.
“Live streamer, you’re not in any trouble?…” A chat caught Zuo Si’s attention; it was Weak Tiger.
“What trouble could I be in? I not only helped the police catch the murderer of Hero Ding, but I also solved a case from fifteen years ago; it was all done by the same person.”
Zuo Si was bragging, knowing that this group of viewers wouldn’t go to the police station to check.
“Live streamer, you’re amazing! The news said the police solved the case with the help of a mysterious person; I didn’t expect that mysterious person to be you.”
“What’s the big deal?” Zuo Si acted nonchalant, “But I must remind you, don’t jump to conclusions about ghosts whenever something is inexplicable; superstitions should never be believed!”
“Got it, got it. By the way, live streamer, do you need a moderator? I want to be a moderator.”
“Yes! Yes!” Zuo Si was worried about not having anyone to help manage the live stream, so he quickly made Weak Tiger a moderator.
“Live streamer, I want to be one too!”
“I want to be a moderator too!”
……
System: Weak Tiger gifted a wolf fur coat.
“To be a moderator, you must give the live streamer a hundred yuan in gifts.”
Weak Tiger was helping Zuo Si smooth things over.
Zuo Si felt secretly pleased.
“If you’re going to help me out, at least you’re giving me money to spend; this deal is quite profitable.”
As soon as it was mentioned that gifts were required, the chat immediately quieted down; after all, not many were willing to spend money to watch the stream.
“By the way, Tiger, although I made you a moderator, I need to explain a few things.”
“Sure, go ahead.”
“We have quite a few trolls in the live stream, but don’t ban them randomly. Those who spend over a hundred yuan can say whatever they want; ignore them. But if there are those who haven’t spent any money and just like to chatter nonsense and disrupt the flow, ban them permanently.”
“Understood! OK!”
As they chatted, the audience gradually increased, and a thin mist began to fall around them, the temperature seeming to drop significantly.
Zuo Si saw that enough people had arrived, and it was time to announce today’s theme.
The essence of spirit exploration live streams is the sense of mystery and anticipation; if he didn’t create that atmosphere soon, people would leave.
“Dear viewers, welcome to the Midnight Spirit Exploration Live. I’m your live streamer, ‘Zuo Si.’ Tonight, I will take you on a Midnight Taxi ride to a cemetery, where we will spend the entire night finding and eliminating the evil spirit.”
“Wow, how thrilling! Going to a cemetery at night? Live streamer, you’re awesome!”
“Live streamer, are there any pretty girls in tonight’s cast? If not, I won’t watch.”
“Live streamer, can I ask where the cemetery is?”
……
Someone asked where the cemetery was, and Zuo Si found the name a bit familiar.
Infinite Sword Saint.
“Hiss, the last person who called the police was Infinite Sword Saint; could they be the same person?”
Regardless of whether they were the same person, Zuo Si wouldn’t reveal where he was going.
If he streamed until midnight and suddenly someone called the police to take him away, that would be quite interesting.
The completion of the task was tied to Zuo Si’s life.
He couldn’t afford to be careless.
If he could achieve one hundred percent, he would never settle for ninety percent.
Creak… Creak…
Suddenly, a harsh metallic scraping sound echoed in the silent environment, so eerie.
Zuo Si looked around, noticing the fog was getting thicker.
With the night growing darker, visibility had dropped to within ten meters.
He focused all his attention, cautiously observing his surroundings.
Creak… Creak…
The metallic scraping sound grew closer, seemingly coming from the left.
Creak… Creak… Gurgle… Gurgle…
Along with the increasingly loud metallic scraping, Zuo Si also heard the sound of wheels turning.
“Could it be the Midnight Taxi?”
Zuo Si frowned; if this was the Midnight Taxi, what condition was it in?
“No matter how broken it is, as long as the license plate number is right, I have to get on. The Black Mobile Phone won’t make mistakes.”
He turned to face the direction of the sound, ready to get in the car at any moment.
A silhouette gradually emerged from the mist.
Though he couldn’t see it clearly, Zuo Si could already tell it wasn’t a taxi.
“So late? Who would appear here?”
Zuo Si’s brow furrowed deeper, ready to draw his dagger; whether it was a ghost or a person, if they intended to harm him, he wouldn’t sit idly by.
The small cart was moving slowly, but Zuo Si could vaguely see that it was a food cart.
The creaking sound was coming from its worn-out wheels.
“Why is someone pushing a food cart to this place at this hour?”
Zuo Si was almost certain that the visitor was not human.
But he couldn’t run now.
The Midnight Taxi could arrive at any moment; what if he missed the chance to get on?
Zuo Si checked the time; it was already ten forty, just twenty minutes until eleven.
Just hold on a bit longer!
The food cart was getting closer, and he could now see that the person pushing it was an old lady.
She had a blank expression, leaning forward, looking quite strained.
Zuo Si had no intention of helping; who knew what this old lady was?
The old lady seemed to have poor eyesight and didn’t notice Zuo Si.
She continued to push the cart slowly.
The food cart gradually came to a stop in front of him, and Zuo Si remained silent; if the old lady just walked past, everything would be fine.
He held his breath, not daring to make a sound.
The old lady had tidied herself up quite well, wearing gray clothes, her eyes cloudy.
The wrinkles on her face resembled dry tree bark.
Zuo Si then noticed she was pushing the cart with one hand, her left hand trembling continuously, as if she had Parkinson’s disease.
Zuo Si was waiting for her to pass, but at that moment, the old lady unexpectedly stopped right in front of him.
And slowly turned her head to look at him…
My Midnight Livestream advance chapters (10 chaps) are available at Patreon Support Tier. The Support Tier also has access to the advance chapters of My Dream Goddess (10 chaps) and Hedonist Prodigy (15 chaps). (for limited duration)