Chapter 26: Fated Enemies Cross Paths

Mo Fei looked so terrifying that, if it weren’t for hearing him still speak, Wu Miao would have called for an ambulance. Wu Miao heard Mo Fei’s teeth chattering and hurried to comfort him, “There are no ghosts, no ghosts—it’s all fake, I just made it up!”

Mo Fei trembled as he knocked back a sunflower seed, “R-really?”

“It’s really fake.” Wu Miao, fearing he’d scare the man out of his wits, wished he could raise a hand and swear, “I honestly just made it up, I swear.”

“Besides, we’re in the villa district; those people who jumped were on the top floor of the neighboring apartments—it has absolutely nothing to do with us,” Wu Miao explained as sincerely as possible.

At last, Mo Fei stopped shivering and resumed his normal pace of cracking seeds. “Thank goodness. I knew our world was strictly material.”

“Of course.” Seeing Mo Fei’s expression return to normal, Wu Miao relaxed and began to joke again. “Who would’ve thought Teacher Mo is so afraid of ghosts? You won’t be able to act in horror films like this!”

“No worries, I can do it.” Mo Fei calmly placed all the seeds in Wu Miao’s hand and stood up to dust off his clothes. “Everyone knows horror films never really have ghosts.”

“Uh…” Wu Miao sat dumbfounded, eating seeds with him, and nodded silently. “Can’t argue with that.”

He hadn’t even put the first seed in his mouth when Director Wang’s furious voice boomed, “Get to work! What are you sitting there snacking for? Did I hire you to eat seeds?!”

“Wu Miao! You’re here to play the killer, not a gossiping housewife. Throw all those seeds away!!”

Wu Miao, seeds raised but not yet eaten: …

He was innocent!

Director Wang, indifferent to his protests, began to assign tasks. “When you’re running later, pay attention to your positions—don’t block the lead actress’s face.”

“And lighting—give those two maniacs some half-lit, half-shadowed side light to highlight their darkness.”

“And Wu Miao, you need to act more outwardly deranged; Mo Fei, tone it down a bit. Make sure there’s a clear distinction between primary and secondary roles, understood?”

The director was the ultimate authority on set, and everyone nodded their agreement.

Director Wang was satisfied and waved his hand. “Prepare to roll!”

Everyone moved to their places.

In fact, the story Wu Miao told earlier wasn’t entirely fabricated.

These two abandoned buildings really were built by the same developer—one side was a pricey villa district, the other low-priced apartments.

As for the jumpers, it was true; but naturally, anyone jumping would choose the higher floors, which meant the apartments.

The haunted part, though, was Wu Miao’s pure invention.

While they were busy filming, a squad of armed police officers was searching floor by floor in the neighboring apartment complex.

The inspectors managed to track the man with the axe through surveillance footage, nearly blinding themselves in the process.

This was the outer district, where cameras were far less dense than in the city center. They tracked vehicles along the road, traced license plates to their owners, and finally pulled crucial dashcam footage to deduce the axe man’s approximate location.

With only two abandoned sites in this area, these were the most likely places for the fugitive to hide.

This time, having found his trail, he would either flee desperately or fight to the death.

Everyone was holding their breath.

The apartment team acted quickly, while the villa district was abuzz as well.

This scene was meant to be the most spectacular, the true climax of the film.

The heroine, hunted to the brink, sees her most beloved and trusted hero standing ahead, hoping for help—only to discover he’s holding a bloodstained fish knife.

When she realizes something’s wrong and tries to flee in terror, she finds the black-clad figure behind her has removed his hood, revealing the face of a companion who should already be dead.

At this moment, even a fool would realize these two had joined forces for something truly terrible.

In front is her once-trusted boyfriend; behind, the object of every schoolgirl’s dreams. Now both have their blades pointed at her.

If filmed well, even if the movie is fast food, at least this scene could have lasting impact—a moment to savor in the future.

So every detail had to be perfect.

Lighting, setting, actors, camera.

They tried several times, but Director Wang felt something was always off.

Mo Fei and Wu Miao wore identical costumes, under the same lighting setup, yet Mo Fei’s murderous aura was much heavier.

This became even more apparent as the camera shifted from Wu Miao to Mo Fei, and the lead actress’s reactions showed it as well.

“Let’s shoot on the first floor,” Director Wang decided after a while. “The heroine, in panic, flees into the abandoned building. When she tries to escape the black-clad pursuer by running upstairs, the companion who should be dead appears at the top of the stairs with a sharp knife. As she turns back in horror, she finds the one chasing her is actually her boyfriend.”

He nodded. “This way, the focus remains on the main couple, and the maniac upstairs isn’t as distracting.”

Dead maniac Mo Fei: …

Hey, hey, hey! You’re the one who wanted extra scenes for overtime!

If it weren’t for Director Wang’s sudden inspiration, he’d be at home with his lucky cat, soaking his feet and gaming.

But as always, the director ruled the set.

Everyone dragged the equipment down to the first floor of the villa and started searching for the right angle.

Mo Fei only needed to appear at the end of the staircase on the second floor; the camera wouldn’t capture the second floor itself, so no staff went upstairs.

But to be cautious, Mo Fei went up first to check.

If a stray cat or dog appeared during filming, Director Wang would explode, and they’d suffer for it.

Besides, Mo Fei really wanted to wrap up and go home.

He played with the prop fish knife as he climbed, catching sight of a black mark on the concrete steps—not quite paint.

Mo Fei bent down to take a closer look, when a gust of wind suddenly roared behind him.

He looked up, just in time to see a very familiar axe swing past the back of his head.

If he hadn’t bent down just then, he’d have taken an axe to the skull—fatal, no questions asked.

Mo Fei’s eyes sharpened.

The thin man wielding the axe was wild-eyed and ferocious, panting heavily as he demanded, “Why won’t you leave me alone? Why?! I’ve already hidden here—why won’t you leave me alone!”

He shouted as he raised the axe to strike again.

Mo Fei dodged sideways, eyeing the axe man carefully.

His clothes were simple, like any laborer—if one ignored the bloodstains.

Confirming the man had no protective gear and wasn’t strapped with explosives, courage surged within Mo Fei.

The fish knife in his hand became an extension of himself—his fiercest, most reliable ally!