7: Something is wrong with the anchor!

At this moment, Han Li's live stream was showing a scene that made tens of thousands of family members (audience)'s scalps tingle.

This was also the true source of the crowd-funded money.

Time, rewind thirty minutes.

Han Li pushed open the villa's front door, and a putrid smell, a mix of mold and dust, assaulted him.

He used the piercing beam of his flashlight to cut through the viscous darkness.

The furniture in the living room was covered with white sheets, like shrouded corpses. A thick layer of dust had accumulated on the floor, and every step he took left a clear footprint.

"family members (audience), I'm in. It looks... okay for now, just a bit dusty."

Han Li forced himself to calm down, squeezing out a smile even uglier than a cry for the phone camera.

But he quickly noticed something was wrong.

This villa was located in the old town of Jiangcheng. Although it was remote, the surroundings were not uninhabited.

Yet, ever since he stepped into this villa, all the noise from the outside world had vanished.

The sound of traffic, the chirping of insects, even the rustling of wind through leaves, all were inaudible.

His phone signal also dropped from full bars to just one, barely maintaining the live stream's push.

The entire world seemed to be left with only this dead silent villa and himself.

The audience in the live stream also noticed the eeriness.

"What's going on? Why is there no sound at all? Streamer, did you turn off your microphone?"

"Something's not right, it's too quiet, terrifyingly quiet!"

"How come I feel the screen has gotten darker? Where are the streetlights outside? I could clearly see a bit of light just now!"

Han Li saw the bullet comments, and his heart sank even further.

He walked to a broken window and looked out.

Outside, it wasn't the dim streetlights and the city's night view, but a pure, unadulterated darkness.

It was like a huge black cloth had cut this villa out of the world.

"Damn..."

He cursed softly, feeling his calves cramp up.

He cautiously explored the living room, the flashlight beam sweeping back and forth in every corner, afraid of missing any detail.

Suddenly.

Whoosh—

From the direction of the kitchen, there was a clear sound of running water.

The sound, in the dead silent environment, was as abrupt as a clap of thunder.

"Ah!"

Han Li flinched in fright, almost dropping his phone.

The live stream was instantly flooded with "Holy sh*t."

"Who! Who's running water!"

"Streamer, go check what's going on!"

Han Li swallowed, gripped his flashlight tightly, and shuffled towards the kitchen step by step.

In the kitchen, an old brass faucet was gushing out murky yellow water.

He quickly stepped forward and twisted the faucet shut.

The sound of water stopped abruptly.

Han Li gasped for air and explained to the camera, "It's nothing, nothing. It must be an old faucet that wasn't turned off tightly. False alarm."

He tried to explain everything scientifically, and he also tried to convince himself.

The audience in the live stream also breathed a sigh of relief.

"You scared me to death, I thought there was really something."

"I told you, we're just scaring ourselves."

But just then, a calm bullet comment made everyone's hearts leap into their throats again.

"Wait a minute, hasn't this villa been abandoned for more than ten years? The water and electricity were cut off long ago, how could there still be water coming out?"

This bullet comment was like a basin of ice water poured over Han Li's head.

That's right!

The water was cut off! How could there be water!

Then just now... Han Li's mind went blank with a buzzing sound.

An indescribable fear rose from his tailbone and instantly spread throughout his body.

He remembered Li Heng's words.

"Your glabella is dark, surrounded by Death Qi..."

"Within three hours, there will be a bloody disaster..."

He couldn't stay!

This place was definitely problematic!

He turned sharply and bolted towards the front door.

He didn't want anything now, he just wanted to leave this cursed place!

However, just as he rushed to the door, at the moment his hand was about to touch the doorknob—

"Bang!"

The heavy wooden door closed automatically in front of him!

The muffled thud was like a heavy hammer, striking Han Li's heart hard.

"Open the door! Open the door!"

He frantically twisted the doorknob, pulled, and kicked!

But that door remained motionless, as if it had grown into the wall.

In the live stream, some viewers still thought this was a script.

"Good acting, Streamer, that door closed perfectly."

"Haha, the special effects are good, give the Late Stage a drumstick."

Han Li saw these bullet comments, so anxious that tears were almost falling.

"Script? I'll script your mom! The door really won't open! I'm trapped!"

He roared at his phone, his voice filled with despair.

Just then.

Tap... tap... tap... Footsteps came from the second floor.

The footsteps were unhurried, one by one, treading on the old wooden staircase, making a grating "creak" that made one's teeth ache.

They were slowly, step by step, coming downstairs.

"Ah—!"

Han Li completely broke down. He dropped his phone and began frantically smashing the nearby window.

"Help! Help!"

But the glass, which looked dilapidated, was as hard as steel when he hit it with all his might.

The sharp pain from his shoulder plunged him into deeper despair.

The footsteps were getting closer and closer.

He could even feel that "thing" had already reached the corner of the staircase.

Just as Han Li thought he was doomed.

The footsteps suddenly disappeared.

The entire villa once again fell into a deathly silence.

In the live stream, the hearts of tens of thousands of audience members were also in their throats.

"Where is it? Why did the footsteps stop?"

"Streamer, are you okay? Pick up your phone quickly!"

"This script is awesome! I call it the best horror live stream of the year!"

Han Li collapsed on the ground, gasping for air. He looked at the bullet comments talking about a script, his face twisted in a cry, and with his last bit of strength, he shouted:

"Call the police! Please! Help me call the police! The address is the abandoned villa at the end of Fuxing Road!"

"Quick!"

The bullet comments immediately responded.

"I called! Couldn't get through! They said there's no such address!"

"I called too! No good! It prompts as an empty number!"

"How could this be? I'll go check right now!"

Just as the live stream was in chaos, a unique bullet comment caught everyone's attention.

"Wait a minute! I just looked up information about this villa online! The Streamer's story seems wrong!"

As soon as this bullet comment appeared, everyone became interested.

"How is it wrong? Tell us quickly!"

"Elaborate! What exactly happened?"

The netizen with the ID "Jiangcheng Baixiaosheng" quickly sent another bullet comment.

"The Streamer said that the family of five owners here were murdered, right?"

"But the old newspaper archives I found from more than ten years ago are not like that at all!"

"The newspaper said that the male owner of the family back then was obsessed with evil arts, performing sacrifices at home, and personally killed his wife and three children!"

"Finally, he also hanged himself from the beam on the second floor!"

"There was no 'untraceable killer' at all, the killer was himself!"