I created the myth of the Great Old Ones.

As the host spoke, the television screen became much clearer, revealing a vintage-style studio layout that made one feel as if they had traveled back decades.

"Here are the main news items for today: Jiangcheng Mental Health Center held a large-scale gala today, where medical staff and patients sang and danced to celebrate the festival."

As he spoke, the television screen switched to a familiar image of No. 900 Xicheng North Road, except that the Jiangcheng Mental Health Center there was much newer, like footage from earlier years.

Lu Ban saw that a stage had been set up in the center of the hospital courtyard, and on the stage were performers singing and dancing.

However, these performers were dressed as patients and seemed to be performing a skit, but their movements were very forceful, as if they were fighting.

The audience members sitting below were people dressed in white doctor's coats. They clapped blankly, watching the performance on stage, but without any emotional fluctuation, like wooden figures that had lost their ability to think.

Joyful music played intermittently, yet the atmosphere felt eerie and unsettling.

"Next news: Primary schools in our city started yesterday, and students returned to campus to begin a new school year. Please see the report from our reporter on the scene."

The scene shifts to a reporter standing at the entrance of an elementary school, with students coming and going around him. They seem quite ordinary, but Lu Ban notices that the students are somewhat evasive around the reporter and dare not speak, as if they are hostages being monitored.

"Let's interview some of the new students who just enrolled today."

As the reporter was speaking, he suddenly reached out and grabbed a lone elementary school student, who immediately burst into tears.

"What are your hopes for the new school year, student?"

The reporter persisted with his questions, seemingly oblivious to the student's loud crying.

"Don't eat me! Don't eat me! Don't eat me!"

The student kept shouting and trying to struggle away, but the reporter's hand gripped the student's shoulder firmly, as if it were a claw rather than a hand.

"It seems this student is quite looking forward to the new school year."

As the reporter was speaking, he suddenly opened his mouth.

His mouth split open as if it were fake, quickly turning into a gaping maw as tall as a person. In just a moment, the student was swallowed whole, and the reporter's mouth returned to normal, revealing a smile.

"Let's interview the next student."

Upon hearing the reporter's words, the elementary school students who had been suppressing their emotions as they watched their classmate being eaten immediately began to scatter and run away. The reporter, without batting an eye, grabbed another student and, in the same manner, ate him again.

"A new play was staged at the Jiangcheng Grand Theatre today, attracting a large audience and creating a lively atmosphere."

As the news anchor's voice rang out, the scene shifted again to the Jiangcheng Grand Theatre, a place familiar to Lu Ban. However, the theatre had clearly been destroyed by Du Danping's fire, and even on television, it appeared to be a scene of utter devastation.

Meanwhile, it is still burning fiercely here.

Just as the great fire of yesteryear had not been extinguished, flames burned fiercely within the grand theater, creating a truly vibrant atmosphere.

On stage, several actors were performing. Their clothes were scorched by flames and gradually rotted. Their skin blistered and charred, but they continued to perform as if nothing had happened.

The audience members below the stage were also bathed in flames. Many of them had been burned to ashes, yet they still clapped and made hoarse sounds, cheering for the actors on stage.

The whole scene looked extremely eerie and made people feel genuinely uncomfortable.

As the news ended, the television screen went back to static.

Lu Ban waited for a while, and then the screen suddenly appeared, showing a little child with rosy cheeks.

Upon closer inspection, the child was one of the elementary school students who had just been eaten by the reporter. His skin was pale, with only his cheeks showing an unnatural rosy hue, as if painted on like a corpse.

Moreover, his eyes had no whites, they were completely black, and he was wearing a school shirt and uniform, with an unnatural smile on his face.

"I love drinking Smartbao the most! Smartbao helps me grow up healthily and learn happily!"

As he spoke, he picked up a small brown bottle of medicine, gulped it down, and some of the medicine seeped from the corner of his mouth. The medicine was crimson in color, like fresh blood.

After drinking the potion, the student's lips turned bright red, contrasting with his blush, creating an eerie and strange effect.

“I also drink Smartbao. My mom says that drinking Smartbao will help me get into a good school.”

Another student walked up to him. This was also the elementary school student that the reporter had swallowed earlier. He had the same pale skin, with only his cheeks showing a hint of rosy blush. He picked up the medicine bottle and gulped it down as well.

After they finished their drinks, they looked at each other and then turned to the screen.

"Smart Baby, your best learning companion."

After saying this, their heads split open from between their hair, like blooming flowers, and their brains splattered out, forming a small sapling that blossomed on the screen.

The screen was filled with static.

After reading through the contents, Lu Ban wasn't sure if it had actually happened. After all, in this world, if there really were strange things that could create such a scene, probably no one would have noticed it.

He guessed that this was one of the reasons why the lights would be on here when no one was around, according to the neighbors' rumors. If an ordinary person were to suddenly have these things playing on TV in the middle of the night, they would probably suffer from nervous breakdowns and become paranoid.

Lu Ban went to the TV, which was full of static, and looked at it carefully. He found that it was not plugged in at all.

Just as he was fiddling with the TV, the static suddenly disappeared, and a face appeared on the screen.

Do you want to drink Smartbao too?

That face belonged to the reporter; it was ferocious and terrifying, with teeth clenched, as if he were reciting the name of an enemy.

"You need to drink Smartbao too!!!"

He roared again, and the entire television set shook as if something was trying to crawl out of it.

"Don't rush."

Lu Ban said something, and then the words appeared on the television screen like pages of a book.

His right hand materialized into a silver fountain pen [last words], and he began to read the text on the television.

Chapter 761 An Ordinary Television

[A regular television, priced far beyond its value, is not worth buying unless for showing off.]

[They possess their own consciousness and can create different programs to please the audience.]

It can start even without electricity; who knows what it went through!

[I've been in a bad mood lately. If the audience's reaction to a TV program is insufficient, it will try to make more exciting adaptations.]

These words, along with the technical specifications of the television, appeared before Lu Ban's eyes. The reporter on the television had a fierce expression, but also a hint of confusion. He seemed curious about what Lu Ban was doing.

"This is the source?"

Lu Ban found it very strange.

Clearly, this television set may have been contaminated, causing it to develop its own consciousness. In addition to its normal function as a television set, it also does some things on its own.

This includes processing and re-creating the program to create the version that Lu Ban just saw.

Furthermore, if the audience doesn't react to the show, it will continue to evolve and may become even more bizarre and terrifying.

Just watching these programs might lower a person's rationality, cause hallucinations, and in a state of mental confusion, it seems quite normal to try to take drugs to relieve one's symptoms or accidentally be hit and killed by a dump truck while walking on the street.

But it's not so reasonable to call a psychopathic killer.

Unless someone already had similar thoughts and the television program acted as a catalyst, a normal person wouldn't suddenly become such a calm and collected murderer.

Of course, many TV programs also feature neighbors saying things like, "That person usually seems very kind, not at all like someone who would do such a thing." Lu Ban also felt that there are people in this world who appear virtuous but are actually cruel and terrifying.

"This television has not yet established any rules. It is similar to the friends under the bed, feeding on human fears, creating and harvesting fears through television programs."

Lu Ban analyzed.

Beside them, the reporter on the television began playing strange footage again. This time it seemed to be from the first-person perspective of Jiangcheng Mountain, showing several people searching for a path on the mountain. They were wearing windbreakers and holding tools, as if they were surveying something.

These people must have gotten lost in the mountains, but the narration is like telling an animal documentary, describing their ordeal in a humorous tone.

"You're quite good at making up stories."

Lu Ban commented that he didn't pay attention to the TV and went to the bathroom instead.

This is where he saw some pollution during the day.

Someone had obviously died in this bathtub, but there was no record of it in the case file, suggesting that someone escaped legal punishment.

In the dim light of the bathroom, Lu Ban turned on the faucet and let the bathtub gradually fill with water. In the shimmering water, it seemed as if a dark shadow was emerging.

Lu Ban put his hand into the water.

In an instant, a cold sensation accompanied by certain images flowed into his mind.

Lu Ban saw himself die a horrible death in the street, his abdomen ripped out and his internal organs dragged everywhere. He also saw the people around him being tortured and killed one by one in various ways. These scenes were extremely realistic, as if he had witnessed them with his own eyes.

In the blink of an eye, these scenes transformed into Lu Ban committing atrocities against those around him. All the most despicable and ugliest thoughts in the human heart were transformed into Lu Ban's concrete actions, making one's blood boil.

Those images lasted only a moment before disappearing, but their impact on the brain went far beyond that.

Lu Ban rolled his eyes, looking at the clear, cool water.

"Is this bathtub also problematic? Does it create hallucinations and cause fear?"

If you use this bathtub frequently and your mind is filled with those images, you will eventually develop mental problems.

There are many ways to make someone mentally ill, one of which is to make them believe that they are already mentally ill.

For example, if that psychopathic killer often has images of himself torturing and killing others, or being killed by others, when he takes a shower, he might eventually start to wonder if he has something wrong with his mind.

Moreover, these imaginings are not something that can be shared with outsiders. Under long-term repression, once a similar scenario actually occurs, that businessman may break his last thread and do something irrational.

Lu Ban raised his hand, and countless words appeared on the bathtub like pages of a book.

[An expensive bathtub that makes you feel like you're being held in your mother's arms.]

It can completely unleash human nature, uncovering the madness hidden deep within, even to the point of unconsciousness.

Only by facing yourself can you truly cleanse your soul. This is a bathtub that can wash away all the impurities of your soul!

"Sure enough, it was also contaminated."

The effect of this bathtub is to release the beast suppressed in people's hearts. Everyone has animalistic instincts. No matter how restrained a person is, there are always some crazy thoughts and instinctive ideas in their heart.

Normally, one can suppress these instincts with reason, but after being contaminated by this bathtub, these animalistic instincts will swell and may very well overwhelm reason, turning one into a crazed killer.

That businessman may have fallen into depravity because of this.

"Let me see what else is there."

Lu Ban continued his exploration of the villa, now wondering what other contaminated items might be inside.

Whether it's the television or the bathtub, they were both contaminated before they became what they are now. So, everything has a source. There must be a major pollutant in this villa that brought about the most fundamental pollution, causing the things that have been placed here for a long time to become distorted.

He went to the bedroom.

The bedroom is well-lit, spacious, and tastefully decorated. Once the blackout curtains are drawn, it plunges into complete darkness, perfect for sleep.