1: Haunted house live stream: My last gamble with a monthly salary of 3,000

The night was as black as thick ink, without a single star.

The outskirts of the capital, the Zheng Family Old Residence.

This courtyard, abandoned for over three hundred years, resembled a dying giant in the darkness; its pitch-black doors and windows seemed ready to devour anyone at any moment.

"Cough... cough cough! Hello everyone, good evening... I, I am your host... A-Feng."

Through the cheap microphone, Lin Feng's voice was accompanied by the static hiss of electricity and an uncontrollable tremor; even he felt embarrassed listening to it.

He took a deep breath, trying to steady his voice, but the night wind sliced at his neck like a knife, making him shiver from the cold.

On the phone screen, a few sporadic, teasing bullet comments drifted across the small live stream room.

"Oh? Brother Feng has switched to supernatural exploration? You've finally made something of yourself!"

"With a scrawny frame like a little chick, don't let the yin wind blow you away."

"Keep it up, Host. Just hurry up and end the stream once you've scraped together enough for rent. You look quite pitiful."

"Hahaha, the guy above is being savage!"

Looking at these comments, Lin Feng's face burned hot with shame.

As a top student from the history department, he had been doing historical science popularization, but his follower count had struggled in the triple digits for half a year. With his rent due and the threat of being kicked out if he didn't pay, he had been talked into this "big job" by his best friend Wang Dalong—exploring the capital's number one haunted house at night: the Zheng Family Old Residence.

Rumor had it this house was extremely sinister. During the late Ming Dynasty, the master of the house, Old Master Zheng, went mad in a single night and killed over thirty members of his family, not even sparing the dog. Since then, rumors of hauntings in this place had never ceased.

"Fatty, keep the camera steady!" Lin Feng growled under his breath.

Wang Dalong, carrying the stabilizer, gave a cheeky grin and leaned into his ear: "Brother Feng, scared? It's good that you're scared! That's exactly what the audience wants to see! You need to look a bit more terrified, make your expression more pained. Come on, give us a 'tough guy' scream!"

Lin Feng rolled his eyes, too lazy to deal with him, and reached out to shove open the half-closed vermilion gates.

Creak—

The sharp sound of the door hinges turning in the deathly silent night felt like it could pierce one's eardrums.

A musty smell—a mix of rotten wood, aged dust, and damp mud—surged toward him, causing Lin Feng to double over and cough violently.

With just that, the sparse bullet comments in the live stream instantly doubled.

"Holy crap! That jump-scare opening! The sound effects are maxed out!"

"The host actually went in! He's a total beast!"

"Brothers up front, don't leave! I've got my lights on and my head under the covers, waiting for your text updates!"

Lin Feng coughed until tears came to his eyes. He took two deep breaths of cold air, forcing his racing heart to calm down.

He subconsciously pushed up his black-rimmed glasses, his eyes behind the lenses quickly scanning the courtyard.

It was a typical three-entry siheyuan. Although overgrown with weeds and with collapsing corridor pillars, one could still see its former grandeur.

His professional habit was acting up again.

He instinctively analyzed: "Judging by the specifications of this courtyard and the drum-shaped stone blocks, the master of this house in the late Ming must have been at least a third-rank official..."

"My dear brother! Stop with the history lesson! Look for ghosts! If we don't get something exciting soon, everyone's going to leave!" Wang Dalong stamped his feet in frustration behind him.

Lin Feng had no choice but to shut up and head toward the main hall with grim determination.

The waning moon filtered through the holes in the roof, casting countless shadows on the thick dust that looked like twisted ghostly faces.

The broken tiles beneath his feet made a soft "crunching" sound. It didn't feel like stepping on debris, but rather like stepping on someone's dry bones, making his scalp tingle.

Lin Feng's heartbeat was completely out of rhythm, and his palms were slick with cold sweat.

He was already somewhat socially anxious, and this unknown, terrifying environment put him under so much mental pressure he felt like he was suffocating.

Just as he reached the center of the main hall, a gust of yin wind swirled in from all directions without warning!

This wind came strangely; clearly the doors and windows were closed, yet it seemed to appear out of thin air, rushing straight for the altar table at the far end!

A spirit tablet covered in thick dust on the altar was caught by the sinister wind, flying up vertically, flipping over, and slamming heavily onto the ground.

Clatter!

The sound was terrifyingly crisp, echoing in the deathly silent hall like a clap of thunder.

Lin Feng and Wang Dalong froze instantly.

After a second of silence, the live stream room completely exploded!

!!! Holy crap, holy crap! What was that sound just now?"

"The tablet! The tablet fell by itself! I got a screenshot! It really flew up and fell on its own!"

"High energy warning! This isn't a script! Host, run! There's definitely something wrong with this place!!"

"Gift 'Sports Car' x1! Run, Host! Your life is more important!"

Lin Feng's eyes nearly bulged out of his head as he stared fixedly at the tablet broken in two on the ground. The blood in his entire body seemed to freeze.

Right at that moment, a loud "buzz" rang out in his head!

A cold, emotionless mechanical voice sounded directly in his consciousness.

[Ding!]

[Detected that the host's mental fluctuations have reached the threshold; fear and survival instinct values meet the binding conditions.]

[Historical Echo System is activating... 10%... 30%... 70%... 100%!]

[Activation successful! Novice mission issued: Explore the hidden treasure buried within the Zheng Family Old Residence.]

Lin Feng shook his head violently, his face deathly pale. His first reaction was that he had hallucinated from fear.

"Brother Feng? Are you okay? Why is your face as white as a wall?" Wang Dalong saw something was wrong and quickly supported him.

"I'm... I'm fine," Lin Feng's lips trembled.

His entire attention had been drawn away by another inconceivable thing.

In his line of sight, beneath a pile of junk in the southeast corner of the main hall, a soft and clear white halo was emanating.

That light was like a navigation marker.

Wang Dalong followed his gaze but saw only a pile of trash, saying blankly, "What are you looking at? Isn't that just a pile of junk?"

Only I can see it?

Lin Feng's heart skipped a beat, then began to thrum wildly like a war drum!

A system? A cheat code?

After being late for over twenty years, has this overwhelming fortune finally come to me?!

A tidal wave of wild joy instantly washed away his pathetic fear! Hauntings, cursed houses—at this moment, they all became nonsense!

Rent? That's thinking too small!

I'm about to take off!

Lin Feng's heart hammered "thump-thump-thump," but this time, it was no longer from fear, but from extreme excitement!

He shook off Wang Dalong's hand and, like a hungry wolf, strode toward that corner.

"Hey! Brother Feng, where are you going?" Wang Dalong shouted behind him, bewildered.

Lin Feng didn't hear him at all.

He rushed to the corner in a few steps, crouched down, and began frantically rummaging through the years of accumulated trash with his hands.

Rip!

A piece of broken porcelain sliced his index finger, and blood immediately welled up, but he didn't seem to feel it, his movements never faltering for a second.

Finally, his fingertips touched something cold and smooth.

He abruptly pushed aside the top layer of rotten straw matting.

A jade pendant, pure white and carved with intricate pavilion patterns, lay quietly in the dust.

The jade was warm and moist, and under the faint light of the phone, it actually shimmered with a precious glow; one look was enough to tell it was no ordinary item.

[Ding! Discovered 'ding lou jade pendant', novice mission completion at 50%.]

[Reward issued immediately: Beginner Treasure Detection (Passive Skill). Within the host's field of vision, low-level treasures will be highlighted with a white halo.]

Lin Feng's hand shook violently as he carefully reached out with his cut finger and picked up the jade pendant.

The moment his blood-stained fingertip touched the jade pendant—

An irresistible suction force suddenly exploded from within the jade pendant! Like a black hole appearing out of thin air, it seemed to want to suck his soul out!

Lin Feng's vision suddenly went black, and the entire world began to spin and collapse frantically.

"Brother Feng—!"

This was the last heart-wrenching scream from Wang Dalong that he heard before completely losing consciousness.