FI CH18: Midnight Theater

A faint awkwardness began to spread.

Lin Su turned his head in what seemed like a casual manner and commented, “Hmm, it’s… also not bad.”

“……”

The group: Where did that ‘also’ come from?

He Zhenling glanced at him. “Have you ever heard of anyone named ‘Jiran (Since)’?”

Lin Su retorted, “And is ‘Suoyi (Therefore)’ any better?”

Xue Zhibai finally couldn’t take it anymore and stomped his foot. “The point is the meaning! The meaning! Did none of you actually listen to the content?!”

Lin Su pointed out, “The subject was placed at the beginning of the sentence—what’s wrong with using ‘Since’ or ‘Therefore’ as names?”

“……”

The group: That… actually makes a lot of sense!

Sensing that the conversation was about to spiral into a logical paradox, Xue Zhibai quickly called his disciple to retreat. Just as he turned to leave, Qi Jia—

Or rather, Qi Wang now.

Qi Wang paused, smiled at Lin Su, and said, “As for the payment for the commission… I will be sure to repay you generously in the future.”

The two talismans from earlier hardly counted as proper compensation. In reality, they had been used to help him find a master—something he was fully aware of.

Lin Su didn’t refuse. “Alright.”

Xue Zhibai took Qi Wang and left first.

…

Once they were gone, Lin Su turned to Meng Yuanping.

Considering that Meng Yuanping had come all this way… only to accomplish absolutely nothing, Lin Su suppressed a trace of guilt and asked with concern:

“President Meng, how did you get here?”

“Oh, it was…” Meng Yuanping paused, as if recalling something, then clapped his hands. “Driver Zhang brought me here!”

Lin Su: “……”

Wait, could it be that he was talking about—

Lin Su glanced at He Zhenling, only to meet his deep and knowing gaze.

Right. It was Lao Zhang, after all.

Lin Su quickly corrected himself, “Actually, I misremembered last time. The driver’s real name is—”

But before he could finish, Meng Yuanping suddenly turned his head. “Oh! Driver Zhang is here!”

Turning around, they saw Kong Fu striding toward them.

He wore his usual polite smile, though his grip was firm on Qi family’s butler. The two looked as though they had just been through a fierce struggle—Kong Fu’s clothes were slightly rumpled, while the butler’s neatly combed hair had come undone.

Maintaining his calm demeanor, Kong Fu nodded at Meng Yuanping before looking toward He Zhenling.

“Sir, the man has been retrieved.”

With a slight exertion of force, he sent the butler tumbling to his knees.

“Sir, how would you like to deal with him?”

He Zhenling’s expression remained cold. “Take him away and have him detained.”

“Understood.”

Kong Fu was just about to grab the man again when, suddenly, the butler executed a perfect kip-up, agilely evading Kong Fu’s grasp. He Zhenling’s hand instinctively pressed against the hilt of his blade—

But in the next instant, thud.

The butler merely adjusted his stance and knelt down on one knee.

His back remained straight, the tails of his coat trailing behind him. After a moment’s thought, he subtly shifted his position—aligning himself precisely between Lin Su and He Zhenling.

Lin Su: “?”

He Zhenling lowered his gaze. “……”

The butler spoke, “Allow me to explain. I am merely a humble hired servant and have never personally committed any heinous crimes.”

He Zhenling’s fingers tapped against his sword hilt. “Are you pleading your case?”

“No.” The butler lifted his head and, in a bold display of self-recommendation, declared, “In fact, I possess a range of rare skills—ventriloquism, eavesdropping, lip-reading… Now that my former employer has fallen, it is only natural for a fine bird to seek a better tree—”

His eyes shone with determination. “If you are willing to take me in, I am prepared to pledge my loyalty here and now!”

He Zhenling: “……”

Lin Su: “……”

Xuenima murmured softly: [I have never seen a servant so adept at both groveling and survival.]

Lin Su replied to it, “I, too, have never heard such a backhanded compliment.”

He Zhenling suddenly turned to him. “What do you think?”

Lin Su’s eyes narrowed slightly.

That question—it was an invitation to examine the butler’s fate. He didn’t say much and simply took a glance.

In his clear, tranquil eyes, faint golden light flickered.

The butler met his gaze, his breath hitching. An inexplicable chill crawled up his spine.

After a moment, Lin Su was somewhat surprised. “Nothing there.”

There were traces of involvement and knowledge, but when it came to the crucial moments, he had never personally acted. It wasn’t a matter of integrity—just deliberate avoidance.

He Zhenling was silent for a few seconds. “Even if he never laid a hand himself, he’s still complicit. Take him back and let him work off his sins through labor.”

Realizing his life had been spared, the butler exhaled in relief.

Following the order, Kong Fu prepared to take him away.

As the butler stood up, he suddenly cast Lin Su a knowing glance. Then, taking advantage of He Zhenling turning his head, he leaned in and whispered through ventriloquism:

“I knew it. Between the two of you… you’re the one in charge.”

He Zhenling turned back sharply. “?”

Lin Su: “……”

Did he really think that using ventriloquism meant He Zhenling wouldn’t hear it?

As Meng Yuanping, who had overheard the whole exchange, stared in stunned silence, a cold voice cut through the moment—

“Take him away.”

The butler was swiftly dragged off by Kong Fu.

The remaining three fell into a brief silence.

After a pause, Lin Su abandoned the idea of explaining anything to Meng Yuanping and instead remarked to He Zhenling,

“Just give him some menial work. He doesn’t seem particularly bright.”

He Zhenling, expressionless, replied, “I thought so too.”

—

With matters in Li City resolved, it was time to return to Xun City.

Lin Su and Meng Yuanping once again hitched a ride. When they got off, they didn’t forget their manners and thanked their driver:

“Thanks for the ride, Driver Zhang.”

“Much appreciated, Lao Zhang.”

From the back seat, He Zhenling said, “Drive, Lao Zhang.”

Kong Fu smiled politely and rolled up the window.

…

After several days away, Lin Su finally returned home.

As soon as he stepped inside, the lights flicked on with a click.

The living room was littered with the aftermath of a party—empty drink bottles, takeout containers covering the table, balloons and a celebratory banner still hanging on the wall.

A note was left on the entryway, written on ghostly white paper:

[We threw a party during our five-hour holiday but didn’t have time to clean up—sorry, hehe~ 😜]

“……”

Lin Su didn’t want to imagine how long that tongue must have been when they wrote that emoji.

Setting the note down, he sighed, “Well, they didn’t bring me anything, but at least they left behind a mess.”

Xuenima commented dryly: [More like they left you with trouble.]

Lin Su dismissed it. “Shh.”

Still, considering that he might need to cover for them in the future, he generously chose to let it slide.

He casually folded the note, cut it into a string of paper dolls, and sent them to start cleaning up.

Xuenima glanced over. [Your forgiveness is almost frightening.]

Lin Su shook his head. “You have to believe in the law of conservation of energy. Who knows? I might need them for something soon.”

…

For now, there were no new commissions.

The next day, Lin Su returned to school.

After taking several days off under the excuse of being “sick,” he was immediately surrounded by classmates checking in on him.

Even the class monitor, Chen You, cautiously reached out to feel his forehead.

“Huh… so cold. Do you have a lot of yin energy or something?”

“……”

Lin Su ignored the question. “Since when did you start studying traditional Chinese medicine, class monitor?”

Chen You chuckled. “No, no, not traditional Chinese medicine… I just watched some videos recently.”

The topic didn’t go any further.

The class representative soon came over with the assignments and tests from the past few days, gave a few brief explanations, and then left as class began.

The weather had been pleasant these past few days.

Warm sunlight streamed into the classroom.

Leaning against the window, Lin Su propped his head up and dozed lightly all morning. Yet by lunchtime, he felt completely refreshed.

[You replenished so much psychic energy in Li City—why are you still this tired?]

Lin Su lazily flipped through his book. “You don’t get it. Being tired is a way of life.”

Xuenima: […I can’t imagine what kind of life that must be.]

He corrected, “A happy life.”

The two continued their idle back-and-forth.

Suddenly, a hushed voice called out from the napping classroom.

“Lin Su… Lin Su…!”

Looking up, he saw the class monitor sneaking over in an exaggeratedly stealthy manner.

The seat in front of Lin Su belonged to a boarding student who had gone back to the dorm for lunch. Taking advantage of the empty spot, Chen You slid into the chair, turned around, and pulled out his phone and earphones.

“You can’t sleep? Perfect timing—watch this with me.”

Seeing Lin Su’s questioning look, Chen You explained, “It’s the videos I mentioned this morning—the ones I’ve been watching lately.”

He turned the phone screen toward Lin Su.

Lin Su glanced at it—and paused.

{Not for the faint of heart! Paranormal Explained: The Mysterious Self-Stopping Elevator in XX Residential Complex}

“A paranormal video?”

Chen You whispered, “Yeah, it’s from a trending account that covers supernatural and metaphysical topics. Sometimes, they even livestream exorcisms and ghost hunts.”

He glanced around cautiously. “…You’re not scared, right? We’re still in lunch break—don’t go screaming.”

Lin Su, intrigued, replied, “I’ll be fine.”

If anything, it was usually ghosts who screamed when they saw him. He was more interested in seeing what this video was actually about.

Chen You handed him an earphone and hit play.

The video skipped past the intro and cut straight to the main content. The visuals were dim, clearly edited to enhance the eerie atmosphere, with plenty of over-the-top sound effects thrown in for added suspense.

Lin Su, half-leaning on his desk, was watching casually when he suddenly paused.

“Hm?” He reached out and tapped the screen to pause the video, staring at it more closely.

Chen You tensed. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. Just checking the subtitles.”

Lin Su chuckled lightly and resumed the video.

He thought he had seen it wrong—but no. There, in a fleeting moment, the hem of a robe clearly bore the emblem of the Heavenly Masters Association.

…

The thirty-minute video ended quickly.

As lunch break concluded, Chen You let out a long breath and put his phone away. Meanwhile, Lin Su turned to someone nearby and asked for the name of the account.

“I’ll look it up at home.”

Once he had the account name, he followed it immediately.

Xuenima leaned in. [How much of this case do you think is actually real?]

“Less than 20%.”

Lin Su scrolled through the so-called livestream section, only to find it currently offline. “I thought this was just an entertainment account, but turns out it’s being run by people from the Heavenly Masters Association.”

Xuenima sounded sympathetic. [They must be really broke.]

“……”

Lin Su chose not to dwell on who exactly was included in that ‘they’.

The fact that someone from the Celestial Masters Association was staging fake paranormal events… He wasn’t even sure how to classify this situation.

After a moment of thought, he decided to handle it the best way he knew how—by delegating.

He sent a message to He Zhenling.

[Sleep until you wake up naturally]: Come to my residence tonight. Urgent matter to discuss.

[Ling]: ……

[Ling]: Ha. Believed you.

What was with that “……” and “Ha”?

Ding-ling…

The warning bell rang just as Lin Su turned off his phone.

—

At exactly 8 PM, a knock sounded on the apartment door.

When Lin Su opened it, He Zhenling stood outside, still wearing a suit over a fitted turtleneck—clearly, he had come straight from work.

He got straight to the point. “What is it?”

Lin Su led him toward the living room. “It’s a long story. Let’s watch a few videos first.”

A glance was cast at him from behind.

Inside the living room, night had already fallen outside. The curtains were drawn across the large windows. Lin Su had changed into a loose-fitting home robe, leaving two buttons undone, his posture completely at ease.

Seeing that He Zhenling was still wrapped up in layers, Lin Su couldn’t help but say, “You can hang your coat on the rack.”

He Zhenling paused briefly before shrugging off his coat and hanging it up.

With that single motion, his broad shoulders and narrow waist became all the more prominent.

He rolled up his sleeves to his forearms and walked over. “What are you doing?”

Lin Su was fiddling with his phone in front of the sofa.

“Do you know how to cast a screen? It’s my first time using it. It says we need to be on the same network—where do I connect?”

He Zhenling seemed to let out a slow breath before reaching out. “Give it to me.”

Lin Su handed it over without hesitation. “You set it up. I’ll grab some chips and soda. You want anything?”

“……”

He Zhenling shot him a look. “I thought we were here to talk business.”

Lin Su shook his head. “Business and enjoyment aren’t mutually exclusive. You don’t have to make it all suffering and no fun.”

Saying this, he headed to the kitchen, tossing back a casual remark: “Pick any video and put it on.”

…

There were still some leftover snacks from the party.

Lin Su picked out a few bags and grabbed two bottles of soda.

By the time he returned to the living room, he could already hear the sound of a video playing.

Didn’t expect He Zhenling to be this fast.

Pleased, Lin Su walked over—

Only to suddenly freeze in place.

On the television screen, the video’s opening scene was playing in bold, unmistakable text:

Midnight Theater: Watching Alone at Home Feels So Exciting!

“……”

The video was abruptly paused.

He Zhenling turned at the sound, still holding the phone in his hand.

Their eyes met.

His lips pressed together briefly before he said in a calm, measured tone, “It’s not what you think—”

Lin Su, still holding the snacks, took half a step back.

“I know I said we should enjoy ourselves,” he said, voice light, “but playing this in my house is… a little too suggestive.”

—

Author’s Note:

Lin Su: So this is the real Xiao He.

He Zhenling: …Heh.