I created the myth of the Great Old Ones.

Moreover, based on what he had just seen and heard, Lu Ban quickly came to some conclusions about ghosts.

"The ghosts in this grand theater can interfere with reality. Whether it's making the piano play or moving the mannequins, it all has to be done through physical means."

"The ghosts here aren't the kind of evil spirits that will kill any living person they see. Either they're not powerful enough to affect me, or they have ulterior motives. In short, if these ghosts were extremely dangerous, I would have been dead the moment I entered the control room."

"The objective of the mission is to find the performer, and there is only this one piano here, so I will definitely find the performer on this stage in the end. There is no need to explore other places."

Having obtained this information, Lu Ban sat down again.

Although the mission has an exploration rating, Lu Ban felt that as an ordinary person with no physical strength, exploring the Jiangcheng Grand Theater at night was not a wise choice.

Isn't it better to sit here and watch videos to kill time?

He took out his phone again and continued watching another video that had been cached earlier.

The video tells the story of a woman who felt her house was haunted, so she hired two "professional exorcists." The two men installed surveillance cameras in the house and slept in the guest room. They managed to capture footage of the woman's head twisting and her limbs crawling on the wall.

As the woman in her pajamas slowly climbed up the wall like a spider and turned her head, Lu Ban clearly heard the sound of something rolling to the ground from the entrance of the hall behind him.

He paused the video and turned around.

It was already very dark in the area far from the dome-shaped opening, and even darker at the entrance. Lu Ban was able to see the situation clearly only by using the light of his flashlight.

The gate was empty, with only thick darkness outside, so thick that even the light from a flashlight could not penetrate it.

Nothing at all.

No.

Lu Ban had an inspiration, pointed his flashlight upwards, and shone it on the control room directly opposite the stage.

The mannequin dressed in a tattered dress had somehow appeared there, its face pressed against the still intact glass, its distorted and eerie eyes staring straight at Lu Ban.

Lu Ban's breathing stopped for a moment.

The later it gets, the more restless these things become.

Lu Ban picked up the crowbar and used the flashlight to check the mannequins in the other two control rooms.

Then he discovered that the mannequin in front of the control room window at the beginning was gone!

"Do these mannequins move on their own at night?"

Lu Ban guessed.

"Were the performers among these mannequins? Were they victims of the fire who remained at the scene out of resentment?"

What exactly happened back then?

As he wondered what was going on, a flashlight swept across the theater lobby.

A circular spot of light swept across the second floor, VIP boxes, back row, front row, emergency exit entrance, and backstage area.

Just then, Lu Ban suddenly noticed that there seemed to be a person dressed in red standing at the entrance of the emergency exit!

Chapter 019 She's watching you!

The flashlight beam swept across, and Lu Ban could still see a trace of bright red in his vision. He quickly turned the flashlight back and shone it on the emergency exit door, but there was no one there.

He tried to recall the person's appearance and clothing, but could only vaguely make out that it was a woman, and that her clothes were not fashionable at the time.

Lu Ban took the crowbar and walked towards the emergency exit door.

The control room was directly above the emergency exit. The mannequins were still looking into the theater lobby. Lu Ban arrived there and saw a newspaper on the ground.

He poked the newspaper with a crowbar and hooked it over.

Picking up the newspaper, Lu Ban confirmed that it was a normal Jiangcheng Evening News.

However, this Jiangcheng Evening News is from more than 20 years ago.

Lu Ban used a flashlight as a light source and stood up to read the newspaper.

"...At the time of the fire, the Jiangcheng Grand Theatre was rehearsing for its annual performance. Performers including Du Danping and other theatre staff were present. It is understood that the fire originated from equipment backstage, which short-circuited and caused the fire. However, the possibility of arson cannot be ruled out."

The above is an investigative report on the fire at Jiangcheng Grand Theater. In that era, the internet was not well-developed, and there were no online police reports like we have today. Many investigative reports were released by newspapers.

Of course, these reports are not necessarily true or detailed. For example, the one that Lu Ban has seems to be somewhat vague and speculative.

Turning the page, the "Jiangcheng Evening News" became the "Jiangcheng Weekly," a weekly magazine in Jiangcheng that leaned towards entertainment. It had gone out of business a few years ago, and Lu Ban had only glimpsed the name of the magazine when he was researching in the library.

"...According to sources, Du Danping has been rumored to be having an affair with Song Yunyan, the daughter of the chairman of Jiangcheng Industrial. This fire may have some hidden story. According to relevant sources, Du Danping and Song Yunyan's relationship was opposed by Song's family, and the two had attempted to elope but were stopped..."

This weekly magazine report had a strong celebrity gossip vibe, even making veiled speculations that Du Danping and Song Yunyan faked their deaths to cause the fire, almost implying that the deceased Du Danping was responsible.

"...This accident resulted in five deaths and sixteen injuries. Musician Du Danping tragically perished in the accident..."

The newspaper turned another page, revealing a black-and-white accident investigation report from the Jiangcheng Daily.

After reading the last line, Lu Ban continued flipping through the pages.

At that moment, he noticed that the text on the newspaper had become densely packed.

No, that wasn't a report at all; it was a curse.

"Die! Die! Die! Die! Die!"

Vicious, pitch-black words, like words written in congealed blood, covered the newspaper.

Moreover, upon closer inspection, Lu Ban noticed that the words seemed to be constantly wriggling, like ants crawling out of the newspaper, as if they were about to reach Lu Ban's hand.

These words, when they come into contact with the skin, seem to be able to be imprinted on it, seep into the pores, and leave a permanent mark.

No one knows whether these words, if they continue to climb, will eventually take over the entire body!

Feeling an itch, Lu Ban immediately dropped the newspaper in his hand.

Snapped--

The newspaper fell to the ground and quickly turned into ashes and disappeared.

Lu Ban checked his hand. The words that had been clinging to it seemed like an illusion; he couldn't find any trace of them. He then subconsciously checked the newspaper again.

But then they discovered a pair of women's feet wearing red high heels at the doorway!

"!"

Lu Ban raised his flashlight, but the emergency exit was empty; there was no sign of anyone coming from there.

"...It seems the ghosts here want me to investigate the truth of what happened back then?"

He pondered.

Perhaps this woman in red is Song Yunyan? She was murdered by Du Danping and suffered injustice, so she hopes someone can reveal the truth?

The other party provided clues but showed no signs of harming him, so the level of danger didn't seem that high.

Lu Ban secretly summarized the clues.

"The incident occurred in the back-end equipment due to a short circuit, but people can also make preparations in advance to cause similar situations."

"Du Danping and Song Yunyan do seem to have a very good relationship. So the woman who appeared in the video is named Song Yunyan?"

"The report says that the two had previously failed in their attempt to elope, so this time they tried to fake their deaths by setting a fire, but they messed up and their fake deaths turned into real deaths?"

"The performer might be Du Danping, and his ghost is also bound here, playing music every night?"

Lu Ban thought about it a lot and decided to go backstage to take a look.

It's past eight o'clock now, and apart from the strange mannequin, Lu Ban hasn't found any trace of the performer yet. Perhaps it needs to be triggered by some means.

Thinking of the disasters that would occur if a box was opened in those horror movies, Lu Ban chuckled self-deprecatingly.

"This kind of proactive suicide is not my style."

He stepped back onto the stage and headed backstage.

Da da da—

Footsteps echoed in the theater lobby. As Lu Ban walked, he suddenly felt something was wrong.

These footsteps sound like more than one person's!

He immediately stopped in his tracks.

Da da da—

However, the footsteps did not stop.

Lu Ban looked back, but there was nothing there.

It was as if someone wearing leather shoes was following behind him, obstructing his view of the land.

Two seconds later, the footsteps stopped abruptly.

He continued forward to the dilapidated backstage area, the site of the fire and the most severely damaged area. The wooden structures were reduced to charcoal, and the cement behind them was stained black.

The entire backstage area was filled with a lingering, acrid, and putrid odor, making Lu Ban wonder if the smell was real or some kind of supernatural hallucination.

Where the flashlight shone, some mannequins could be seen. These mannequins, melted by the high temperature, had become one with the ground and walls, which looked quite eerie.

Perhaps, these are not dolls?

"Impossible. The police must have already cleared the scene; they wouldn't have left a body behind."

Lu Ban dismissed those unfounded thoughts, and the further he went in, the hotter it became around him.

It should have been a cool night, but Lu Ban was so hot he was about to break out in a sweat.

It was like... being surrounded by flames.

Lu Ban, relying on the architectural design drawings he had noted down and the descriptions in related reports, arrived at the equipment that had malfunctioned backstage.

He saw that the device was an old-fashioned circuit breaker that controlled the light switch. This type of circuit breaker is not very safe, and if it ages severely after prolonged use, it can easily cause accidents.

Because the theater was built many years ago and has been in use ever since, the electrical equipment has not yet been replaced with the latest version.

"It must have been that the fuse failed to blow in time after the power switch short-circuited, and then the electrical spark ignited the nearby props. By the time it was discovered, the fire was already quite large?"

Lu Ban recalled the investigative report in the newspaper, scanning the line with his flashlight.

Then he saw a mannequin lying on its side, most of its body melted away, with only its upper body still retaining a human shape, lying on the electrical circuit.

However, the face of that mannequin was not as flat as the others; its features were clearly discernible!