It seems this question cannot be asked!
Sang Yue immediately cast a pleading glance at Gu Zhan.
This was exactly what Gu Zhan had asked her to probe!
Gu Zhan timely spoke up, “This way works too; the audience won’t pay attention to these details.”
Hearing Gu Zhan’s voice, the director’s ever-changing expression finally stabilized.
He broke into a normal smile and turned to Gu Zhan, saying, “You’re right!”
He returned to sit beside Gu Zhan and said to Sang Yue, “As a script supervisor, you shouldn’t be so skeptical about the creative content; you just need to focus on managing the scene transitions.”
Sang Yue glanced at Gu Zhan, no longer daring to speak.
Afterward, they discussed and explored some content in succession.
They discovered that in this script, the relationships between characters and the plot were insignificant and could be freely cut. This even included the male lead who had brought funding into the production.
However, the parts concerning the female ghost were non-negotiable and could not be altered.
Asking too many questions caused the director to freeze in his expression.
Perhaps due to their numerous inquiries, the director appeared quite exhausted. After the discussion, he didn’t even have the strength to speak, waving his hand at everyone and saying, “I’m going to rest; you all should get some sleep too.”
With that, he left.
The male lead had been silent throughout except for his self-introduction, appearing more like a backdrop. Once the director left, he followed suit.
In the end, only Gu Zhan, Sang Yue, Ma Xiaowen, and He Hui remained in the room.
After the director left, Sang Yue let out a sigh of relief and said, “It seems that the key to this script is that female ghost.”
Gu Zhan replied, “Do you remember the materials from your film seminar? This script has its origins.”
“Uh-huh.” Sang Yue began to carefully recall the information she received when she first entered the script, “The women from Huangquan Village… possessed by ghosts… killed everyone…”
As she muttered this, she suddenly felt something was off. “Wait, if this story has a prototype, it should explain where the ghost comes from. It can’t just fall from the sky, right? Why did she kill everyone and not just anyone else in Huangquan Village?”
“That’s right.” Gu Zhan said, “The script doesn’t explain the origin of the female ghost either. Perhaps this ghost is the key. Why can’t we change anything related to the ghost in the script? Why are we trapped in the Black Crow Mansion?”
Several story elements surfaced, and the answer became clear.
Sang Yue felt goosebumps all over and whispered, “Because the female ghost has always been here; she doesn’t allow anyone to tamper with the script.”
She looked around in horror, seeing nothing.
In this room, aside from the furniture and them, there was nothing else.
Where is the female ghost…?
At this moment, He Hui quietly said, “Isn’t there supposed to be a heartless man in this story?”
Gu Zhan asked, “Why do you think that?”
He Hui replied, “Because the people who drowned were mostly those who flirted with the dancers or singers in the opera house, and they were all male…”
Sang Yue nodded, “What you said makes sense.”
After Sang Yue finished speaking, she was unsure how to continue.
They had a bit of a clue, but only a little.
Everyone sat around the table in silence.
Seeing that they couldn’t really discuss anything further, Sang Yue said, “It’s getting late; let’s head back.”
They got up and returned to their respective rooms.
When Gu Zhan returned to his room, he found that his “roommate” had not come back.
Or perhaps there was no roommate at all.
He lay on the bed, and after an unknown amount of time, he suddenly heard a soft sound from outside the window.
It’s raining again.
This copy seems to be filled with a lot of rain.
Sleepiness gradually washed over Gu Zhan as he closed his eyes, feeling drowsy...
In the silent night, only the sound of rain surrounded him.
“Ah!!!!—”
A scream shattered the quiet of the long night, jolting Gu Zhan upright in bed.
“Help—help me!!!”
The voice continued, seeming to come from downstairs. Gu Zhan immediately rolled out of bed and rushed out of his room.
In the next room, Sang Yue had also awakened. As she stepped outside, she saw Gu Zhan just emerging as well, his eyes filled with panic. “What’s happening?”
Gu Zhan listened carefully; it was the director's voice.
“Quick, go downstairs.”
Gu Zhan sprinted toward the source of the voice.
He could still hear the director’s voice—he was alive!
Gu Zhan took off without hesitation, leaving Sang Yue staring at his back.
Sang Yue hesitated at the doorway, wanting to follow but stopping herself—this person just left without a second thought. How could he not be afraid of encountering danger at all?!
Behind her, He Hui timidly poked her head out. “What’s going on? What’s that noise?”
Sang Yue gritted her teeth and finally said, “Let’s go see.”
With so many of them around, nothing should go wrong, right?
Sang Yue hurried downstairs and, upon reaching the first floor, saw Gu Zhan standing outside a room with the door wide open, looking solemnly inside.
In the next moment, the director, in pajamas and looking disheveled, tumbled out of the room.
“Help... help me...”
He fell at Gu Zhan's feet and didn’t get up again.
“What’s wrong? Is he dead?” Sang Yue's heart raced as she quickly ran towards Gu Zhan.
But Gu Zhan bent down and turned the director over, who was now lying face down.
Only then did Sang Yue see that the director was drenched, as if he had just been pulled out of a pond!
She stepped to the doorway and peered inside; the ceiling of the room was leaking sporadically, with heavy rain falling outside and light rain falling inside.
A thin layer of water had already gathered on the floor, soaking the furniture and bed.
At that moment, water was slowly flowing out through the open door... though it was hard to see clearly on the thick carpet in the hallway.
“Is it leaking?” Sang Yue asked instinctively.
But the next second, she dismissed her own question.
Impossible.
This was the first floor.
Even if there was a leak, it should be from the top floor.
Gu Zhan suddenly pulled something out from the director's clothing and murmured, “What is this?”
Sang Yue looked down; it was yellow and already falling apart from the rainwater... it was... a yellow talisman?
At that moment, the unconscious director suddenly opened his eyes, trembling as he said, “That... that’s the protective talisman the sorcerer gave me.”
Sorcerer!
Both Gu Zhan and Sang Yue's eyes brightened simultaneously.
They finally heard a familiar name in the recollection!
Gu Zhan picked up the waterlogged talisman and examined it closely in his palm.
The writing was already blurred, but the strokes were intricate, clearly not just simple Chinese characters.
The director seemed unharmed as he staggered to his feet and turned to look at his room.
When he saw the water inside, his pupils dilated in shock, clearly terrified.
The director hurriedly moved forward, saying, “I... I just need to step out for a bit. You guys, you can start filming first.”
Sang Yue instinctively asked, “Step out? Where are you going?”
The director replied, “I left something at the foot of the mountain; I’ll go get it...”
What a clumsy lie...
Sang Yue and Gu Zhan exchanged glances; the director’s reaction was off.
Sang Yue followed him. “Director, did something happen to you just now?”
But the director refused to answer.
They chased him to the entrance, watching helplessly as he dashed out into the heavy rain.
The earlier scream had also startled the others in the manor, and people began to come out one after another.
Upon learning that the director was leaving, the entire Raven Mansion was thrown into disarray, with many insisting on accompanying him.
Gu Zhan initially planned to take advantage of the chaos and follow down the mountain, but just as he stepped forward, he was stopped by Li Qing, who had appeared out of nowhere.
“Screenwriter, you shouldn’t go. The director is just going to get something; he should be back by tomorrow.”
Gu Zhan immediately understood—this was the plot preventing them from leaving.
He could only nod in agreement.
---
After the director left, the rain grew heavier, and the leaking situation in the manor worsened.
By morning, not only was the first floor leaking, but the second floor began to leak as well.
In some areas on the first floor, it was even impossible to stand.
Li Qing frantically found Gu Zhan and the others and told them they needed to move the equipment to higher ground on the second floor to avoid flooding on the first floor.
Gu Zhan asked her, “Did the director say when he would return? When do we start filming?”
Li Qing sighed, “The rain is so heavy that the road up the mountain is blocked. Even if the director wanted to come back, he couldn’t. Let’s wait a bit; we can decide once the rain stops.”
They had no choice but to help Li Qing move things.
But the rain didn’t stop, and the director didn’t return.
There was no place left to take refuge in Raven Mansion and a group of people stood in the rain, surrounded by machinery and equipment, unable to move an inch.
As it looked like nightfall was approaching, Sang Yue began to feel unsteady.
She asked Li Qing, “How long are we going to wait like this? There’s not even a bed here to sleep on. Are we going to stand here until tomorrow morning? What if it rains again and the director still hasn’t returned?”
Li Qing looked very flustered, clearly unsure how to answer.
After stammering for a while, she said, “Why don’t... you go down the mountain to take a look?”
Gu Zhan and Sang Yue both understood; the director probably wouldn’t be coming back.
After all, this production team never really started filming and just disbanded.
Continuing to stay in the Black Raven Mansion would likely result in being hunted by that "female ghost."
"But isn't there just an abandoned village at the foot of the mountain?" Gu Zhan suddenly asked.
Li Qing looked confused. "Is that so? When we passed by that village, the houses inside looked quite intact. Is it really abandoned?"
Li Qing seemed hesitant. "If it’s an abandoned village, then it should be like the Black Raven Mansion, leaky. How about we just stay here…"
Before she could finish her sentence, Sang Yue suddenly interjected, "No, let’s go take a look."
"But…" Li Qing wanted to say something.
Sang Yue insisted, "Let’s just go check it out; you never know."
Seeing their determination, Li Qing had no choice but to nod in agreement.
"Alright, but you all be careful."
---
Taking advantage of the fact that it wasn't dark yet, Sang Yue wanted to set off quickly.
Gu Zhan was definitely going to follow; his thoughts were similar to Sang Yue’s: that village at the foot of the mountain was very important.
But they didn’t know what Ma Xiaowen and He Hui thought about it.
These two looked very scared, and sending them to an entirely new place seemed to be putting them in a difficult situation.
Gu Zhan naturally wouldn’t meddle, so he packed up his things and prepared to leave.
It was still Sang Yue who felt soft-hearted; she turned back at the door and sighed, "You two better keep up. The Black Raven Mansion is the female ghost's stronghold. Don’t forget where we are trapped beyond the recall segments."
Having said that, whether they listened or not was up to them.
Ma Xiaowen hesitated for a moment but ultimately decided to follow.
As a result, He Hui didn’t want to be left alone in the Black Raven Mansion either, so she followed suit.
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