Translator: Atlas Studios
Editor: Atlas Studios
“Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.”
The rain was pouring down heavily. A woman stumbled as she ran through the rain during this dark and gloomy night. She increased her pace and tried to run faster, and suddenly, her foot slipped, and her body fell forward into a puddle of water. Her soaking wet hair was covered in muddy water. The woman anxiously lifted her gaze upwards. At that moment, everything before her eyes looked like it had been painted red.
“Ah!”
A panic filled scream pierced through the night sky. The woman continued screaming as she crawled up from the ground. Right now, her skirt was no longer stained by muddy water, but bright-red blood.
Through the curtain of rain, one could clearly see rows and rows of tombstones without any inscriptions on them. The red-colored rainwater continuously gathered towards her feet.
At that moment, the mud on the tombstone closest to the woman suddenly moved, and a pale white hand slowly crept up from the grave. One hand, two hands, three hands… countless numbers of hands could be seen trembling in the red-colored rain.
“I… died so terribly!”
A pitiful cry was heard as if the voice came from a long time ago.
A female ghost in white slowly crawled out of those ghostly hands.
“Ah!”
…
“Cut!” Following the director’s voice, the heavy rain immediately stopped.
That’s right. This was a graveyard scene, and right now, they were filming the scene where the female lead encounters ghosts in the rainy night.
“Gross… I’m dirty all over.”
Luo Yinxin, the female lead, grumbled loudly as her assistant helped her back into her private van. She needed to immediately change her clothes and then go back and have a good shower to get rid of any bad luck.
……
“Thank you, Brother Li.”
As everyone started to pack up, and the stage managers started to clean up the filming location, the female ghost from before was smiling happily as she received today’s red packet1 from the assistant director.
Her name was Ning Huanxin. A 20-year-old, who was working as an extra in Lan Dian Cinema Studios, and she was commonly known to be ‘Dead Extra.’
Ning Huanxin actually had quite a good appearance. However, in the entire cinema industry, to find a female actress who had a lousy appearance was indeed a difficult task.
Therefore, ever since Ning Huanxin entered the cinema industry, her attitude of “this beautiful and talented young lady can definitely make it big,” has now turned into—
“This young lady is courageous and willing to work hard, she can definitely act as any demon or ghost, she wishes to join your movie!”
That’s right, the regular pay of an extra is typically low. However, it was different for horror movies. The rule in this industry is, if you had to see blood or had to act like a dead person, you will definitely receive a red packet. And if you act as a ghost in a graveyard, you will definitely receive a big red packet.
With a big red packet, she can continue living on!
Ning Huanxin didn’t even bother changing out of her costumes before merrily walking off to the Inn. The big shots had already driven off in their cars towards five-star hotels in the city. However, for a cheap extra like her, the production team could only arrange her stay in a small Inn near the village. It costs 20 yuan per night, and it was a single room without any windows.
Perhaps, she was already used to Ning Huanxin’s various ghostly ‘styles’ every day, so when the lady boss of the Inn saw a female ghost walking back in in the middle of the night, she only said softly, without even looking up, “Your rent is due tomorrow, if you want to continue staying here you’d have to pay tomorrow morning.”
“Ok.”
Ning Huanxin replied. Due to a small incident, the filming of this graveyard scene had extended over three days. However, the lodging fee was covered by the production crew, so she didn’t have to worry about it.
Ning Huanxin, along with the other extras in the production team, all stayed on the second floor. As the door was closed for an entire day, there was slight dampness and musty smell in her room. However, she had long since been used to it. It was great that there weren’t any windows. She didn’t have to worry about being peeped on while changing her clothes.
After she quickly changed out of her stage clothes, Ning Huanxin was about to wear her pajamas and go to the public toilet right at the end of the second floor. However, when her gaze fell onto the small bed, Ning Huanxin suddenly froze.
She saw her potato phone that she had spent 600 yuan on, lying quietly in the center of the bed right now, and the screen was continuously flashing.
Eh? When she left in the afternoon, her phone was already discharged due to a low battery charge. Didn’t she charge it? Why is it…
Perhaps because her sleep cycle had been messed up recently, so she was confused?
Ning Huanxin hesitated for a moment. She placed the toiletries in her hand down, walked to her bed, and picked up her cell phone. After unlocking it, she saw a notification popped out on her WeChat1.
Your friend ‘Female Ghost Next Door’ has invited you to join ‘Underworld Chat Group.’
Accept?
Yes, no.
Damn, did WeChat upgrade again? When did the invitation to a group chat become so personalized?
Without thinking anything further, Ning Huanxin pressed ‘Yes.’ As a girl who hustled to get as many red packets as she could, she would definitely join as many WeChat groups as she possibly could.