At night, Qingzhou was a whirl of neon lights and bustling traffic, with car horns blaring one after another.
Around Qingda Square, a dense crowd of onlookers gathered as many internet celebrities performed tricks in front of their cameras.
“Folks, this is the destination of the paranormal event that’s been spreading online—Qingda Square. Look at how many people are here,” the little internet celebrity said, aiming her phone camera around and slowly panning across the area.
Her name was Xiao Mantou, a minor streamer from the Qingyu streaming platform in the looks category, known for being funny and silly, with a unique theatrical voice and over a hundred thousand fans.
She had come alone at the encouragement of her fans to explore.
Though she called it an expedition, Xiao Mantou thought of it as just a casual outdoor walk.
No matter how sinister Qingda Square was rumored to be, it was still in the city center, bustling with people. What was there to fear from ghosts and monsters?
“Xiao Mantou, go to the fountain!”
“Yeah, yeah, I heard it’s basically an ice cave there, and it’s still the middle of summer—weird as hell.”
“Something bad might happen? Streamer, maybe you shouldn’t go. The locals in Qingzhou sound pretty serious, not like they’re joking.”
“Haha, the comment above cracks me up. You still believe this stuff? Let me just smash you with our Socialist Core Values. The great man said all ghosts and monsters are paper tigers—poke them and they’ll collapse.”
“Go for it, Xiao Mantou! If you dare go to the fountain, I’ll send five rockets.”
Seeing this comment, Xiao Mantou’s eyes lit up. She put two fingers together, lowered her voice, and let out a theatrical tone from her cherry-like lips.
“Bah! Don’t try to stop me, everyone. This old lady is going no matter what!”
“Charge, Xiao Mantou!”
“Charge at Xiao Mantou!”
“Uh, the comment above is off.”
“Hmph! Let this old lady see what kind of ghost or monster it is. Clang, clang, clang~”
Xiao Mantou walked with exaggerated steps, hurrying toward the fountain ahead.
As soon as she got within a few dozen meters of the fountain, she felt a sudden drop in temperature and sucked in a cold breath.
“Hiss~ guys, it suddenly got really cold.”
Seeing Xiao Mantou’s teeth chattering and her whole body trembling, the stream fell silent for a moment.
“No way, Xiao Mantou, your acting is so good. You almost fooled me.”
“I don’t think she’s acting. If she could act that well, she’d be in the entertainment industry instead of grinding as a streamer.”
“Don’t tell me, don’t tell me, are there really people who think this is a paranormal event?”
“Quit the passive-aggressive tone, it’s annoying. And since when did we say it’s paranormal? It could be man-made. Xiao Mantou, go check if there’s any cooling equipment and debunk this stunt on the spot.”
“Are you stupid? If it were that easy to find, someone else would have debunked it and gotten the views long ago. Why wait for you?”
[User Yellow River Too Yellow tipped streamer Xiao Mantou Rocket x1] x5
[User nkvhji tipped streamer Xiao Mantou Rocket x1]
…
“Xiao Mantou, the rockets are sent. It’s your turn now.”
“Oh!!! The big spender has spoken. Streamer, why aren’t you moving?”
Most of the barrage of comments were egging the streamer on, urging her to go forward. After all, even if something happened, it had nothing to do with them—they were just spectators.
However, Xiao Mantou no longer had the energy to pay attention to the comments.
Crazy black mist (invisible to ordinary people) surged from all around and crawled over her entire body.
Cold. That one simple word summed up everything.
In the span of a single breath, she went from the scorching heat of summer to the bitter cold of winter. Such an abrupt shift in climate caught her completely off guard.
Xiao Mantou finally understood why the people near the fountain were wearing thick padded jackets.
Earlier, she thought they were crazy. Now, it seemed she was the one with the problem.
“Sister Xiaoyan, I feel like the temperature dropped a lot?”
Just then, a crisp and pleasant voice came from beside her.
Xiao Mantou trembled and looked over. She saw a beautiful woman in a black dress curiously looking around, her clear, bright eyes full of confusion.
“It is a bit cold.”
Then, from behind this beautiful woman, another girl stepped forward, even more stunning.
Her peerlessly enchanting features were three parts cute, five parts seductive, and two parts innocent.
Xiao Mantou couldn’t pinpoint exactly what aura this girl gave off—it seemed to fit any description, as if it were versatile, perfectly suiting every temperament. How could such a perfect girl have no presence online at all?
Thinking this, she quickly tilted her camera slightly to keep the second girl out of the frame.
She knew all too well how perverted her fans were.
However, no matter how she tried to hide it, she couldn’t escape the sharp eyes of those perverts in the stream.
From the moment the second girl spoke, her voice—as beautiful and pleasant as a golden oriole—snapped them to attention, eyes glued to the screen.
Though it was only a brief glimpse, that stunning beauty and strange aura hit like a depth charge, flushing out all the lurkers in the stream.
The stream exploded.
“Holy shit, guys, who was that?”
“A fairy, a fairy! That’s a fairy! Streamer, why are you turning the camera? I want to see the fairy sister!”
“Damn it! Why are you turning the camera? I’ll give you three seconds. Point the camera at that girl right now, or I’m unsubscribing!”
“+1”
“+16809”
Soon the audience was furious. They had just gotten into it, ready to have some alone time, and you turn the fucking camera?
…
Xiao Mantou, you are unforgivable!!!
“This girl looks familiar. I feel like I’ve seen her somewhere.”
“Come on, are you about to say you two grew up together?”
“No, I’m serious.”
“Haha, bro, don’t expose him. Those who know, know.”
“I don’t want to say anything right now. Xiao Mantou, if you don’t turn the camera back, you won’t be getting the flower ranking bonus this month.”
“The top tipper is awesome.”
“Gotta hand it to the big spender.”
Xiao Mantou was extremely unhappy now.
What the hell?
Earlier it was all ‘baby this, baby that,’ but the moment they saw someone prettier, their faces changed instantly.
Ha, men!
But she couldn’t ignore the top tipper’s words. With a sigh of grievance, she turned the camera toward that girl.
Beside them, Chen Xiaoyan’s extraordinary sixth sense immediately detected the trembling little internet celebrity.
Seeing the girl point the camera at her, she merely frowned slightly and didn’t pay much attention. The repulsive aura around Qingda Square was especially thick here.
This hateful aura seemed oddly familiar to her, but she couldn’t recall what it was.
“Sister Xiaoyan, are these people okay? Wearing so many layers in the middle of summer,” Qian Renxue said, looking at the people around the fountain who were wrapped up like dumplings. She let out a charming laugh.
Chen Xiaoyan didn’t answer.
Because of the strangeness of the Xianjie, her constitution was still very weak, but clearly stronger than that of ordinary people.
When the two of them arrived here, they only felt a slight chill, like eating ice cream in summer—a bit cold on the teeth, but also quite refreshing.
The peculiarity of Chen Xiaoyan and Qian Renxue immediately caught the attention of those around them.
And among them, there was also that inexplicable, mother-like warmth.