253: You've been fooled.

Xu Le stared at the red dot on his phone screen, not blinking once, a typical phone addict.

Suddenly, one red dot disappeared. He hurriedly looked up, only to see the backs of the last two people in Xu Huan's group disappearing around the corner.

He was about to rush over, but noticed the surrounding street vendors were all glancing at that alleyway, seemingly casually, so he suppressed the urge.

Since it had just been "school opening," there were many new students, and the security here was bound to be at its strongest. Rushing over now would be completely "delivering himself to their doorstep."

Xu Le found a shop with a good view, ordered a hot pot, and watched the alley entrance while eating.

It was the new student season, and he didn't believe that only students from C City applied to this "school."

Time passed slowly. Xu Le saw three groups of people disappear into that alleyway. He wasn't in a rush to verify it; after finishing his meal, he left leisurely.

After the waiter smiled and saw him off, his expression turned cold, and he spoke into his headset: "Have you found out all the information on the target?"

"Reporting to Team Leader Bai. It's been cleared up. The target is the twin brother of one of the new students, Xu Huan. He hasn't received recognition from an ancestral spirit, and his trip to the capital this time is to report to the Film Academy.

He is suspected of possessing high-level combat Skills. During his time at school, regardless of who his opponent was, he would defeat them in one move.

He often dozed off in class, earned the nickname 'Young Master Xu,' and his grades were at the bottom...

Furthermore, his father is Xu Junfeng, captain of the Ninth Team of the White Tiger Legion."

Bai Fu: "Include him in the Level Five observation sequence. If he appears again, upgrade him to Level Four."

"Yes!"

The voice on the other side went silent.

...

Xu Le sensed the gazes of the people around him and left directly to report to the Film Academy.

A month passed in the blink of an eye.

Xu Le sensed that the gazes focused on him had finally decreased, but they still existed.

Thinking about how Father Xu had been living in the Spirit Realm for so many years and couldn't possibly ignore his own daughter, he simply started tinkering with a script.

With his fragmented dictation and overall impression, his roommate Gong Juren, who was skilled at writing, helped perfect the script for "My Love from the Star."

Then, he took 20 million in funds and the script to find the department head. With the department head's help, he found a washed-up idol drama director and secured investments from various parties, finally starting the filming of his first TV series in full swing.

As for acting Skills, one could only say they were practically non-existent, but this drama didn't need any acting Skills; just being handsome was enough.

Three months later, "My Love from the Star" successfully wrapped filming.

The gazes on Xu Le had completely disappeared a month ago. After rejecting the female lead's invitation to dinner, he snuck back to the alleyway from before.

The gazes around him were much fewer than during the start of the school year, but there were still over a dozen observation points, weaving together without any blind spots, watching that alleyway intentionally or unintentionally.

Xu Le was not in a rush. He waited silently for three days and finally waited for an opportunity.

It was a dark, windy night with goose-feather-sized snowflakes falling heavily, and visibility was extremely poor. Except for the two observation points at the alley entrance, the other observation points could barely see anything.

Xu Le wore a black leather jacket with a hood, covering half his face, and walked towards the alley with silent footsteps.

His speed was very slow at first, making not a sound, and he quickly arrived at the alley entrance.

Taking advantage of the moment they were distracted talking, Xu Le snuck in. Turning a corner, all he saw before him was a cold wall.

"Truly uncreative."

Xu Le muttered, touching the wall; it was cold cement and brick.

There was no way forward!

"They must have disappeared from here!"

"Where is the problem?"

Xu Le began to recall the three groups of people he had observed, and the scenes from that day began to play back.

Three minutes later, his eyes lit up as he thought of the commonality among those people.

They seemed to have been hypnotized.

Every step landed in the exact same spot; those spots were...

Xu Le thought for a long time and finally had a clue.

He returned to the alley entrance and stepped forward, following the images in his memory step by step.

One step, two steps...

The surrounding air grew two degrees colder, and there was a faint trace of Spiritual Qi in the air.

Xu Le turned and walked into the alley. An ancient street appeared before his eyes. Not far ahead was a wooden inn, with flames dancing inside two red lanterns.

Inexplicably, Xu Le knew he had entered the Spirit Realm.

As for how to go back, he didn't have a clue.

He opened his phone; as expected, there were no red dots. This world had no signal, just as he had guessed.

An inexplicable chill welled up in his heart. Xu Le had the feeling of being watched by an evil spirit, and his heart prickled with fear.

He took two steps forward.

Tap, tap, tap!

There was an extra set of footsteps; it seemed something was following behind him.

Xu Le continued walking forward, not approaching the inn, but heading towards a side path instead.

Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap...

The footsteps behind him grew closer and closer. Xu Le even sensed a chill, as if the evil spirit was less than 30 centimeters away from him.

Xu Le did not turn around and continued walking forward. The scenery on both sides became increasingly desolate.

A heroic voice sounded behind Xu Le: "Brother, be careful, there is an evil spirit behind you."

Xu Le stopped in his tracks without turning around and replied directly: "Is that so? Then I ask you, Big Brother, to help me eliminate that evil ghost."

"Good! If the two of us join forces, we will surely be able to slay this little ghost."

Rapid, dense footsteps approached, followed by the sound of a broadsword slicing through the air, then being blocked by the opponent. The sound of metal clashing rang out; the fight between the human and the evil spirit grew more and more intense.

Xu Le turned around and saw an old ghost in green robes laughing raucously: "You fell for it!"

There was no heroic man!

No fighting!

There was only this old ghost tricking him into turning around.

Legend says people have three fires. When followed by an evil spirit, turning around suddenly will cause the Yang fire on their shoulders to extinguish, making them more susceptible to harm from evil spirits.

Clearly, the old ghost in front of him was that type of evil spirit.

Xu Le asked: "Has the Yang fire on my body been extinguished?"

The old ghost revealed two rows of yellow teeth, grinning ear to ear: "It hasn't extinguished, but it's like a candle in the wind. This Old Ancestor could blow them out with a single breath."

As the old ghost spoke, he actually blew a breath.

Xu Le suddenly felt his right shoulder go cold, and a chill surged into his heart.

"Are you scared? If you're scared, tell me the location of your companions. Otherwise, this Old Ancestor will blow out the Yang fire on your left shoulder too?"

"What will happen if you blow it out?"

"You will have bad luck and encounter many, many evil spirits."

The old ghost was smug, looking as if he wanted Xu Le to hurry up and kneel to beg him for salvation.

Xu Le: "And then? Nothing else?"

The old ghost was shocked: "Is this not enough? Think about how you'll have constant bad luck in the future; every evil spirit that sees you will want to kill you at first sight. Even if ten thousand humans were placed in front of them, they wouldn't be as attractive as you. Is that not terrifying?"

Xu Le shook his head: "I was already unlucky to begin with. Even with three fires, wasn't I still targeted by you?"

"This..." The old ghost was speechless. It actually made sense!

He thought Xu Le was just putting on a brave front, so he blew another breath at him, but the other party only shivered.

"There's still the fire on top of my head; why don't you just blow that out too!" Xu Le pointed directly at the top of his head.

"Don't push yourself! If this Old Ancestor really blows out your last Yang fire, it will take at least a week for you to recover."

The old ghost clearly didn't want to blow out the last Yang fire. The most terrifying thing is the moment between life and death. If he really blew out the last Yang fire, the other party might just give up, making it even harder for him to ask about Xu Le's "companions."

Xu Le: "Blow it! If you don't blow it, it'll be my turn to ask you questions."