I created the myth of the Great Old Ones.

thump——

The old-fashioned piano suddenly emitted a distorted note, but Lu Ban clearly did not see anyone next to the piano!

Goosebumps rose up his spine, and Lu Ban leaned forward slightly, gripping the crowbar tightly, trying to get a better look.

bang——

At that moment, his foot suddenly slipped, and he quickly lost his balance and was about to fall.

click -

Lu Ban's crowbar caught on the edge of the broken window, and he thankfully didn't fall.

Looking down, Lu Ban saw that the floor beneath his left foot, which had just stepped out, was now a hollow space. The floor beneath the protruding control room had probably exhausted its last bit of life due to the arrival of a guest who hadn't been seen for many years, and had broken and collapsed.

If Lu Ban hadn't used the crowbar, or if he had been a little further ahead, he probably would have fallen off the control room and broken at least one leg.

He quickly took a few steps back, trying to leave the room.

But Lu Ban's back soon leaned against something, and the lines of that thing, transmitted through the touch behind him, clearly resembled a person!

Lu Ban's heart skipped a beat. He quickly turned around, shining his flashlight as he raised the crowbar in his hand.

He saw several pale human figures standing in a corner of the control room, in a place yet untouched by the sunlight of the theater lobby.

Those are mannequins.

These mannequins are dressed in tattered tuxedos and skirts, just like guests about to attend a grand banquet.

"Why are these things piled up here?"

Lu Ban looked the mannequins up and down.

He saw that, as some kind of prank, the mannequins' originally blank faces had been painted with crooked eyes.

These eyes seemed to be looking in the direction of the theater lobby, carrying a strange feeling.

Lu Ban tapped the first one with a crowbar.

Not moving at all.

He then used his flashlight to illuminate the rest of the control room, which was empty except for these few mannequins, which stood out conspicuously.

He turned to leave, but then glanced at the mannequins one last time, still feeling uneasy.

Not a single thing was touched.

However… the eyes of these dolls seemed to have turned towards the doorway where Lu Ban was.

"...The problem is indeed very big."

Lu Ban put away the flashlight and quickly returned to the front hall.

It was completely dark when he checked his phone. It was 7:30. He realized he had been exploring the corridor for over an hour.

At the same time, the text on the phone screen distorted, turning into cold, impersonal notification text.

[Mission Begins]

[Performer Found: 0/1]

[Survived until dawn: 10:29:43]

"Ten hours...until sunrise at six o'clock tomorrow morning?"

Lu Ban set his phone alarm for 6 a.m. the next morning, put it in his pocket, and then pushed open the creaking door to the theater lobby.

Even in its current dilapidated state, Lu Ban could still sense the former glory of this grand theater, which could accommodate more than a thousand people, a considerable size at the time.

However, the fire destroyed a large portion of the audience seating area, and the second floor was almost completely charred. Even after so many years, Lu Ban could still smell the scorching and suffocating atmosphere in the air.

The once magnificent dome shattered, and starlight spilled through the gap, casting a hazy white glow on the stage.

Lu Ban went to the first row, tapped the stage with a crowbar to check its sturdiness, and then jumped up.

His shoes clicked and clacked on the wooden planks, the sound echoing in the hall, which, despite its dilapidated state, still had amplifying capabilities.

Lu carefully made his way to the piano, the beam of his flashlight sweeping across the piano shrouded in the night.

He didn't know anything about piano maintenance, nor could he recognize the brand. However, this piano gave him a sense of antiquity and age, yet also a sense of novelty. When Lu Ban shone the light on the keys, he couldn't find a speck of dust.

Not only the piano keys, but even the open piano strings were free of dust.

Thinking about this, Lu Ban finally realized that something was wrong.

He bent down slightly and rubbed the ground with the back of his fingers.

Clean and tidy.

The stage floor was spotless.

After so many years of abandonment and no one has cleaned it, this place should be covered in dust.

but……

"Wait a moment."

Lu Ban snapped out of his daze.

Aside from being tattered, the mannequins in the control room didn't seem to be covered in dust!

clatter--

At that moment, a faint sound came from the direction of the control room on the other side. Normally, this sound would have gone completely unnoticed, but now that it was so quiet and the echo effect here was so good, the sound clearly reached Lu Ban's ears.

He glanced over there and saw a face peering at his location from behind the glass of the control room.

"!"

The flashlight beam shone quickly over, and Lu Ban saw that it was also a mannequin, with strange eyes painted on its face.

"...Could there be one on the other side too?"

He shone his flashlight into the control room opposite the stage, but unfortunately, there were no mannequins there.

Lu Ban stepped off the stage and looked around, but there seemed to be nothing more unusual.

He walked off the stage, found a decent chair in the first row, brushed off the dust with a crowbar, and then put down his backpack.

Lu Ban took out self-heating rice and water, and prepared to eat dinner first.

Chapter 018 Whose Gaze

Take out the self-heating rice, unpack it, pour the rice, side dishes, and seasoning packets into a plastic bowl, add water, unpack the self-heating pack, place it at the bottom of the outer packaging bowl, add water, put the plastic bowl on top, and close the lid.

Then it's just a matter of waiting to eat.

Some students might ask, in such a strange and unpredictable place, can Lu Ban eat?

The answer is yes, of course I can eat it.

Man is made of iron, food is made of steel; no one can stop Lu Ban from eating.

While waiting for the rice to cook on its own, Lu Ban casually shone his flashlight around the hall.

Due to the hole in the dome, the theater lobby was actually much more severely eroded than the corridors and dressing rooms, especially the area directly below the hole.

Apart from the clean stage, the rest of the ground was covered with thick moss, making it very slippery and easy to slip and fall. This dampness also spread from the broken parts of the dome. There were some plants growing on the ceiling, but only near the opening.

As night fell, the temperature dropped, but Lu Ban did not feel cold.

"The taste is alright."

Lu Ban picked up his chopsticks and put the beef brisket chunks coated in tomato sauce into his mouth, savoring them carefully.

The self-heating rice isn't very hot, just enough to cook the processed rice. The beef brisket chunks are naturally pre-seasoned, and the rich sauce masks the industrial smell. For a fast food, the taste is pretty good.

While eating and drinking cola, Lu Ban felt like he wasn't here to explore a secret realm, but rather to do a live-streamed food show in the wild.

"Maybe I can really try it next time?"

Lu Ban thought of some food vloggers who eat better than restaurants in the wilderness. If he were to do a food vlog in such a scary and eerie place and eat a very lavish meal, would he also be popular?

While eating, he even watched videos cached on his phone. The signal was practically nonexistent in this wasteland, but luckily Lu Ban had come prepared.

He was watching paranormal adventure videos.

The video explores a hotel that is said to be haunted. It's unclear whether it's even eighty stars, but from the outside, the building looks extremely dilapidated. Combined with the dark green eerie filter and the person filming the video muttering incoherently, it does have a certain creepy feel.

While watching the video, Lu Ban ate the rice in his bowl.

When Lu Ban saw the streamer's flashlight turn and illuminate a human face, he gasped.

"very scary!"

He couldn't resist taking a big bite of rice.

After the video finished playing, the question of what exactly was wrong with the hotel remained unanswered, and the video ended there.

I watched it, but it seems like I didn't watch it completely.

Lu Ban finished his meal, drank his cola in one gulp, put the trash in a bag and set it aside, then looked at his phone; it was only eight o'clock.

Picking up a flashlight and a crowbar, Lu Ban prepared to go to the control room on the other side to check the situation.

Out of habit, Lu Ban shone his flashlight into the control room on the other side. He saw that the mannequins with painted eyes were still standing by the window, monitoring his every move in the theater lobby.

He then looked at the control room directly opposite the stage; it was completely empty.

Lu Ban then took a look at the window of the control room he had visited before.

In the once-dark control room, behind the broken glass, stood a mannequin with strange black eyes.

hum-

Lu Ban felt his heartbeat suddenly become very loud, blood rushing to his eardrums, making his ears ache. Then, he felt everything drifting away from him. His gaze was fixed on the faces of the mannequins, staring at their eerie eyes for a moment.

"Has it started...?"

Lu Ban suppressed the various imaginations and guesses that welled up in his heart.

At this point, he felt there was nothing to be afraid of anymore.

There really are ghosts in this Jiangcheng Grand Theater.

If Lu Ban didn't know what was causing the trouble, he might have worried about being crushed by a road roller falling from the sky. But now that he understands it's a ghost causing trouble, Lu Ban has a clear enemy.