​​Chapter 191: Filial Piety

​The Bride-Sending Village was eerily quiet at night.

After venting her anger at her parents over the phone, Ning Xue turned to find that Li Zhi and the director had already left without her noticing. Her assistant, Jiang Can, stood at the entrance of one of the factory buildings, talking to someone inside.

Still fuming, Ning Xue snapped, "Jiang Can! Get over here!"

Inside the factory building, Yan Yingrui wore a worried expression. "You're really going to stay in that old house with her? That place is probably haunted. It won’t be easy to handle alone."

Jiang Can shrugged with a smile. "Role restrictions—I don’t have a choice. Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing."

Yan Yingrui sighed and nodded. "Be careful, then."

After bidding farewell to her teammate, Jiang Can picked up her suitcase and walked toward Ning Xue. The impatient young woman glared at her before storming off toward the cleaned-up tiled house.

Among all the abandoned houses, this one was the best preserved. The weeds in front had been cleared, and a dim bulb hung under the eaves, casting a faint yellow glow on the old-fashioned red wooden door.

Ning Xue, who had been full of bravado just moments ago, now felt an inexplicable chill as she stared at the row of peeling red doors under the eaves. But having made such a fuss, backing out now and slinking back to the factory building wasn’t her style.

She glanced at Jiang Can and sneered, "You’re sleeping in my room tonight."

With that, she straightened her back and marched toward the middle door.

Jiang Can guessed the young mistress was scared but said nothing, only smiling faintly.

The room was dimly lit, furnished with items left behind by the previous owners, though the bedding was new. Ning Xue absentmindedly ran a finger along a shelf, then inspected it—no dust. Satisfied, she let out a haughty hum.

Exhausted from the day’s events, she flopped onto the bed and ordered Jiang Can to fetch hot water so she could wash up and remove her makeup.

As Jiang Can carried the basin outside, Ning Xue lay in bed, listening to the sounds of water being heated. Her eyelids grew heavy, and she drifted into a hazy sleep.

Sometime later, a hoarse, aged voice called out to her with eerie cheerfulness, "Xue’er… Xue’er…"

Half-asleep, Ning Xue mumbled a response before suddenly jolting awake.

There were only two people in this old house—her and Jiang Can. Who was calling her?

She bolted upright. In the dim light, a hunched figure shuffled past the window with its faded paper cutouts, moving unsteadily toward the other end of the house.

Ning Xue’s blood ran cold. "Who’s there?!"

Instinctively, she leaped out of bed and chased after the figure. Outside, it was pitch black. The faint light from the doorway revealed only the silhouette disappearing into a dark room around the corner.

"Jiang Can! Jiang Can!" For the first time, the usually fearless young mistress sounded panicked.

Jiang Can hurried out from the water-heating room. Seeing Ning Xue trembling and pointing at the corner room, she said, "Someone! Someone went in there!"

Jiang Can narrowed her eyes, her tone calm. "Are you sure you didn’t imagine it? There’s no one else here but us. The water’s ready—let’s go back and wash up."

"I didn’t imagine it! There was really someone!" Ning Xue, frantic, grabbed Jiang Can’s wrist. "We’re checking it out!"

Jiang Can wanted nothing more than to slap her.

People like this died first in horror movies.

But Ning Xue was adamant. Bound by her role as an assistant, Jiang Can couldn’t refuse. After failing to dissuade her, she reluctantly followed, gripping a self-defense tool in her hand.

The room was unlit. From the dark doorway, nothing was visible inside.

Jiang Can tensed, about to urge Ning Xue to turn back, when the young woman suddenly pulled out her phone and turned on the flashlight.

In the limited beam of light, two black-and-white funeral portraits abruptly came into view. The elderly couple in the photos wore unnervingly wide smiles, their eyes fixed on the two at the door as if they were about to speak.

Ning Xue let out a blood-curdling scream.

In the factory building, Li Zhi’s eyes snapped open. Li Feng sat up from his makeshift bed, his voice low. "That’s Ning Xue."

"Oh no!" Lu Caiwei exclaimed. "Jiang Can’s with her!"

The scream didn’t just wake Li Zhi’s group—lights flickered on in the other factory buildings. Soon, the director’s panicked voice echoed outside. "What happened? Was that Ning Xue?!"

The previously quiet factory grounds buzzed with activity again.

Li Zhi and Li Feng dressed quickly and opened their door. The director, flashlight in hand, spotted Li Feng like a drowning man seeing a lifeline. "Li Feng! Come with me—let’s see what’s going on!"

Li Feng nodded. As they reached the main entrance, Ning Xue came stumbling toward them, her face pale. At the sight of the director, she burst into tears. "Director! There’s a ghost!"

Ten minutes later, the group gathered in Li Jianxi’s room.

Ning Xue clutched a cup of hot water, her face ashen. "I saw it—an old woman walked in there. She even called my name…"

Everyone except the players looked uneasy. The director’s expression darkened. If supernatural events were happening on their first night, how were they supposed to continue filming?

He studied Ning Xue, then turned to Jiang Can. "Did you see any of this?"

Jiang Can hesitated.

She hadn’t seen anything, but as a player, she knew the house was likely haunted. Ning Xue had probably witnessed something real. However, their mission was to complete the film. Admitting Ning Xue’s claims would only make their task harder.

Playing the part of the meek assistant perfectly, Jiang Can said hesitantly, "I… didn’t see anything." She mustered a brave expression. "I was outside heating water when Xue’er called me, saying she saw someone walk past. I was out there the whole time—I didn’t see anything. I asked if she might’ve imagined it."

Everything she said was true. Even if Ning Xue wanted to argue, she couldn’t refute it.

"Then we saw the funeral portraits. I thought the old couple looked quite kind. I didn’t expect Xue’er to be so frightened."

Ning Xue was incredulous. "Kind?! They were terrifying! They were smiling at us!"

Jiang Can corrected her gently, "Not at us—they were smiling for the photo. People usually smile when pictures are taken."

Ning Xue, furious and frantic, insisted, "No! It wasn’t that kind of smile! This place is haunted! We can’t stay here—we have to leave now—"

"Enough!" The usually mild-mannered director’s face hardened with rare anger. "You’ve woken everyone up in the middle of the night over an imagined ghost! If there really were ghosts, do you think you’d have made it out of that house alive?"

He shot a glance at the indifferent Li Jianxi, mentally cursing Ning Xue. Even pushovers had limits—his pent-up frustration finally erupted. "If you want to leave, go! Leave now! You’re not the female lead anymore—Li Zhi would do a better job!"

Ning Xue froze. The director had always indulged her, never raising his voice. His sudden outburst was jarring. But what stung most was his offhand remark about Li Zhi replacing her.

In that moment, defiance and indignation overpowered her fear. Her lips trembled before she spat out, "I’m not leaving! I invested in this film—why should I go? I’m finishing this movie!"

A crew member whispered to the director, "Nice reverse psychology, boss."

The director: "……"

He was genuinely hoping she’d storm off in a huff and save him future headaches.

But on second thought, if Ning Xue left, the financial hole he was trying to fill would only grow deeper, making it harder to explain to "Mr. Li."

The director gave Ning Xue a disapproving look. "I told you to stay in the factory building where we can look out for each other. But no, you had to pick the old house—and now you’ve scared yourself silly!"

Ning Xue, no longer in the mood to argue whether she’d seen a ghost or not, sniffled. "I’ll move back here."

"Get your things tomorrow," Li Feng interjected. "We have extra bedding here. It’s late, and we have filming tomorrow. Everyone should rest."

Li Zhi was Mr. Li’s girlfriend. Li Feng was Li Zhi’s brother—that made him Mr. Li’s future brother-in-law!

Who would dare ignore the brother-in-law’s words? The director immediately nodded. "Li Feng’s right. Get your things tomorrow. For now, sleep!"

There were plenty of factory rooms. Ning Xue picked one with people on both sides and moved in with Jiang Can.

After the commotion, the factory grounds finally quieted down, though the night was already deep.

In their room, Li Zhi and Lu Caiwei shared a bed. Sometime later, Li Zhi was roused by a strange sound—a hollow, rhythmic clicking, like teeth gnashing, right outside their door.

She opened her eyes and turned her head. A hunched figure was silhouetted against the thin curtain by the dim light of the yard’s lone bulb.

The shadow stood sideways, revealing a gaunt jaw moving up and down—the source of the eerie sound. Sensing eyes on it, the figure suddenly turned, facing the window fully.

The curtain displayed a bony, black silhouette—an old woman with a traditional bun, sparse hair tied at the back of her head, a cloth wrapped around her forehead. Her hollow eyes seemed to stare straight into the room, her broken teeth clacking relentlessly.

The breathing of all three in the room grew shallow.

Li Zhi didn’t move. After a long moment, the shadow outside slowly turned and shuffled away.

Once the silhouette vanished from the curtain, Lu Caiwei exhaled. "Is it gone?"

Li Zhi closed her eyes. "Yeah. Go back to sleep."

Nothing else unusual happened that night. By morning, as everyone gathered in the yard for breakfast, Li Zhi did a headcount—no one was missing. A peaceful night, it seemed.

Ning Xue’s ordeal had spread, leaving everyone on edge. Noticing the tension, the director slapped the table during breakfast. "Cheer up, everyone! We don’t have much left to film. Once we wrap up the Bride-Sending Village scenes, we’re done! Let’s push through!"

The response was lackluster.

Realizing they needed to speed things up, the director hurriedly led the crew to the first filming location after breakfast.

The village chief guided them over a hill, where a stretch of yellow mudland overgrown with weeds lay under the gray morning sky.

Beyond the grass, rows of jar-shaped graves stood in neat lines. The bricks sealing the tomb entrances were half-buried under eroded mud, leaving only the tightly shut tops exposed.