I created the myth of the Great Old Ones.

No wonder she bought that piece of land but didn't develop it, and then chose such a place for her office.

Over the past twenty years, she has probably gazed back like this countless times, but has gained nothing.

Lu Ban suddenly understood.

“Mr. Lu, I have a feeling that you and Danping are very similar in some ways. Can I ask you for a favor?”

Song Yunyan did not turn around, but only looked at the shimmering Lingjiang River.

"Please speak."

"...Can you help Danping break free? He's been bound there for so many years, it's time for him to leave."

She paused for a moment before speaking with a determined air.

"no problem."

Lu Ban immediately replied.

"To be precise, Du Danping's spirit has been released."

"?"

Song Yunyan couldn't help but turn around.

"Ms. Song, actually my video wasn't finished. I edited out the last part. The full video is here."

Lu Ban took out his phone and immediately played a video for Song Yunyan showing him singing "Good Luck" while smashing the head of her old flame's remains with a crowbar.

"...Alright then."

Song Yunyan's expression was complicated.

"However, the Du Danping incident has not been completely resolved. To avoid such a thing, the Jiangcheng Grand Theater needs to be demolished. It was its architectural style that led to the tragedy."

Lu Ban then shared his thoughts.

"Then, it would be best to establish some positive publicity and education bases at the site, or use them for public welfare projects. I believe Mr. Du would be very pleased to see this in heaven."

He spoke with great certainty as he personally escorted Du Danping's spirit upstairs.

"...Very good advice."

Song Yunyan was stunned for a moment before hesitantly nodding.

She gazed at the abandoned Jiangcheng Grand Theater one last time, as if trying to etch it into the deepest part of her memory.

"Mr. Lu, is there anything I can do to help you?"

Song Yunyan asked again.

“For someone like you, someone from ‘over there,’ money is just an external thing, useless. But I have nothing else but money.”

"..."

Lu Ban hesitated, as if he wanted to say something but then stopped.

"For a time, I searched for antiques around the world, hoping to find a connection with Danping, but unfortunately those were all ordinary things, which I suppose you wouldn't be interested in, Mr. Lu."

Song Yunyan pondered with a hint of annoyance.

"..."

Lu Ban hesitated again, as if he wanted to say something but then stopped.

"or……"

She remembered something else, but before she could finish speaking, Lu Ban raised his hand and slightly interrupted her.

"...Actually, I need your help with something right now, Ms. Song."

"please say."

Song Yunyan was puzzled.

"Ms. Song, as you know, I'm just a small-time video creator right now. My biggest wish is to reach 100,000 followers as soon as possible. If you can help me achieve this wish, I will be very satisfied."

Lu Ban said in a serious tone.

"I don't have any grand ambitions. I made these videos to fulfill my dream of making movies. 100,000 followers is just a small step in that process. Of course, it would be best if you could invest in my movies in the future."

"?"

Song Yunyan was even more confused.

Having experienced a bizarre scene reminiscent of that fire, and having seen the spirit of Du Danping, this young man, who may have come into contact with some mysterious being, has the greatest wish to reach 100,000 followers.

It's like this: a math problem that you can't solve even after racking your brains for three hours in the library is easily solved by a passing cleaning lady, and when you ask her about it, she says she just wants to be a quiet cleaning lady.

And making movies... Is he serious?

Despite possessing such extraordinary power, all he wants to do is make movies?

Or perhaps his films involve the forces of that world?

"of course can."

Song Yunyan responded, and she couldn't help but feel hopeful.

Although she is over forty years old, she still follows the trends of young people and even has an account on a video website, sometimes uploading videos of herself touring luxury homes.

We live in the age of traffic. As long as you have traffic, it's not a problem to make someone famous. And traffic can be bought with money.

Buying 100,000 fake followers is a very low-level tactic. Song Yunyan plans to have her secretary promote Lu Ban's videos using other methods to help him gain 100,000 real followers.

"Is there anything else I can help with?"

For some reason, Song Yunyan did not feel the same confidence she usually had when facing young people when facing Lu Ban; instead, she felt a sense of awe.

Perhaps it was because he had truly witnessed those extraordinary things that he viewed Lu Ban with different eyes.

Perhaps Song Yunyan saw the shadow of Du Danping in Lu Ban and wanted to make up for the regrets of that year.

"Hmm... Ms. Song, you mentioned before that you used to collect a lot of antiques, right?"

Lu Ban thought for a moment and then gave the other party a reminder.

"Although there may not be anything really noteworthy about those antiques, I still advise you not to over-explore them. Some things become more dangerous to you the more you know about them."

Like the items in the Silent Department Store, Lu Ban suspected they might be remnants left behind by people like him. Most of these items were contaminated, and ordinary people who came into contact with them might quickly be affected and suffer mental breakdowns.

Having once glimpsed the true nature of this world, Lu Ban deeply understands this.

Although he is currently completely irrational, Lu Ban does not consider himself a madman.

"I see."

Song Yunyan nodded, seemingly understanding but not quite.

"There's one last thing."

Lu Ban arrived at the office door, ready to leave.

Song Yunyan looked over.

"Could you please have a driver take me back? It's a bit inconvenient to transfer to the subway here."

Lu Ban said earnestly.

"……Row."

Song Yunyan couldn't understand this man anymore.

Chapter 36 100,000 Fans!

Song Yunyan's support arrived quickly.

Or rather, it was so fast that even Lu Ban couldn't have imagined it.

As he rode back to his warm and cozy home in that extended black luxury sedan of an unknown brand, a news item popped up on Lu Ban's phone.

The historic Jiangcheng Grand Theatre will be demolished today; the surrounding area is currently closed off.

He clicked on it and saw it was a very routine report.

"Oh, so you're planning to release a news report announcing the demolition, then get it trending and boost my video's views?"

Lu Ban pondered Song Yunyan's methods and realized that only wealthy people could use such tactics.

After lying down for a while, the self-disciplined Lu Ban opened those books on folklore to continue studying, and then prepared to watch a horror movie that night to analyze the filming techniques.

After studying for an hour, another news notification popped up on my phone.

The Jiangcheng Grand Theater is reportedly being demolished due to the discovery of an ancient Han Dynasty battlefield underground, and unusual phenomena have been occurring frequently recently.

Lu Ban clicked on the news, which was the kind of nonsense from public accounts and marketing accounts, with a bunch of nonsensical analyses. However, it cited Lu Ban's video screenshots as evidence, but the source was erased.

"Did they forget to label it for me?"

Lu Ban didn't quite understand.

At noon, Lu Ban took a short nap before continuing his diligent studies, preparing to resolve the issue of Mayan civilization's beliefs today.

I glanced at my phone; there was another notification.

The person who took one last look at the Jiangcheng Grand Theatre was actually a content creator from an old video website!?

This post first vividly recounts the history of the Jiangcheng Grand Theatre, recalling its past glory, then describes its present state with a sense of regret, and finally laments the poverty of people's material and cultural life today.

Finally, Lu Ban's video was mentioned, and everyone was urged to take one last look at the Jiangcheng Grand Theater.

"This former video creator, 'Still Motion,' combined mystery exploration with special effects to show us the dilapidated state of the once-glorious Jiangcheng Grand Theatre. With its terrifying and suspenseful visuals, he played a lament for the Jiangcheng Grand Theatre. What he explored was not a dangerous forbidden zone, but the original aspirations we have lost in our memories. We are very grateful to him for his personal efforts in protecting intangible cultural heritage..."

Lu Ban was almost in tears watching it.

"So my expedition had such a profound purpose, and I hadn't even realized it..."

He put down his phone and decided to continue learning in pursuit of his original aspiration.

In the evening, as Lu Ban finished his day of study and was deeply saddened by the disappearance of the Mayan civilization, his phone rang again with a notification.

"Jiangcheng Grand Theater becomes a trending topic; a terrifying short video becomes a final memento."

This is a push notification from Weibo. I glanced at it and saw that the news that this building was going to be demolished was trending, and Lu Ban's video also jumped on the bandwagon.

Originally, Lu Ban's video would have been considered an extreme attempt to ride the wave of popularity, but people noticed that Lu Ban's video was released a week earlier than the demolition announcement.