Chapter 40: Third Granduncle: Believe in Science! (Please keep reading)

The events of that night were etched into Chen Mo's memory for a lifetime. The very next day, he decisively gave the film crew a day off and summoned his grand-uncle from the paternal side to perform a Taoist ritual on the spot. It had been entirely too terrifying.

To his utter astonishment, his grand-uncle ended up scolding him for being overly superstitious, leaving Chen Mo completely dumbfounded.

He began to seriously doubt whether his grand-uncle was a real Taoist priest at all.

"Hold on, Grand-uncle, what do you mean by superstitious? When you perform rituals for people normally, are you just faking it?" Chen Mo asked with displeasure.

"What era are we living in? You need to believe in science! When people ask for a ritual, they are just looking for peace of mind, not because there are actually any spirits around," his grand-uncle replied dismissively.

"Have you really never encountered anything supernatural?" Chen Mo could not help pressing the matter.

"You just brush off what you don't understand! Besides, you're probably just exhausted from filming too much lately," his grand-uncle said indifferently.

"And as for what happened to you lot last night, I think it's actually very easy to explain. You really need to believe in science," his grand-uncle added, taking on a patient, advisory tone.

"Very easy to explain?" Chen Mo was somewhat bewildered.

"Of course. Look, you guys were filming a movie, right?" his grand-uncle asked.

"Right, so?" Chen Mo was still puzzled.

"Actors are very good at acting, aren't they?" his grand-uncle continued.

"I suppose... so?" Chen Mo answered rather dully.

"I've heard that some actors are exceptionally skilled and can mimic other people's voices. You turned off the lights, couldn't see a thing, and so there can only be one truth!" His grand-uncle suddenly transformed into young Detective Conan, catching Chen Mo completely off guard.

"What the heck? Grand-uncle, you even watch elementary school Detective Conan?" Chen Mo couldn't help but吐槽 (complain inwardly).

"Oh, that's not important! What's important is that there is only one truth, and that is... someone was playing a prank! Think about it, as long as someone can imitate other people's voices, doesn't that explain the whole thing?" His grand-uncle even pushed up his reading glasses with an expression that said he thought Chen Mo was too foolish.

"No, wait..." Chen Mo was at a complete loss. Hadn't he considered that? But was it really the case? If so, why wouldn't anyone in the crew admit to it?

"You're the director. Aren't you the highest authority on the set?" His grand-uncle asked, as if he could read Chen Mo's mind.

Chen Mo nodded instinctively. He wasn't just the director; he was also the primary investor.

"There you go. Were you extremely angry at the time? Were you terrified?" his grand-uncle asked again.

"I suppose a little bit." Chen Mo recalled that he hadn't quite wet himself, but even so, he felt he had shown a fair amount of courage.

"See? That's the truth right there. You're just too close to the situation to see it clearly—you need to believe in science! It was definitely a prank, but whoever did it was afraid of your wrath and didn't dare confess! Let's just leave it at that and stop dwelling on it," his grand-uncle said, patting Chen Mo on the shoulder.

Chen Mo fell into a profound silence. Could it really be that simple?

Yet... he had to admit he was partially persuaded by his grand-uncle, but something still felt slightly off.

Was there really a voice-acting prodigy hiding in the crew? Chen Mo shook his head; he honestly had no idea.

However, if he considered what his grand-uncle said—if he actually found out who pulled the prank, would he be angry? The answer was a definite yes.

After all, he really had almost pissed his pants last night. Jing Tian had been right in his arms, only for there to be another Jing Tian standing in the darkness...

The crucial point was Wang Xun. Clearly, it was Wang Xun who had suggested playing that game, and Wang Xun had spoken during the course of it—except, dammit, Wang Xun wasn't even on the film set at the time... The more he tried to puzzle it out, the more Chen Mo felt his hair standing on end.

He simply gave up on investigating any further. Let's just treat the whole thing as fake; if it were real—hell, it definitely wasn't real!

His grand-uncle was right, he had to believe in science, he had to believe in science! He had to believe in—my foot! Chen Mo felt utterly miserable.

When filming resumed, although no further bizarre incidents occurred, Chen Mo and the crew members developed a tacit understanding: the moment dinner ended, everyone bolted. Unless they had a night shoot scheduled, absolutely no one stayed around the place after dark.

Chen Mo sometimes wondered if he had simply suffered a hallucination that day.

Yet, damn it all, there was simply no logical explanation for it!

Still, he recalled hearing that back in his past life, when Uncle Ying was filming *Mr. Vampire*, a genuine ghost had somehow slipped into the cast and crew. Compared to that, his experience seemed, well, perhaps not quite so extraordinary after all.

To Chen Mo's surprise, although the crew members seemed too terrified to linger around the old ancestral courtyard at night after that ordeal, they were exceptionally enthusiastic whenever the topic came up during daytime shoots.

Especially the actresses and female staff members on the set, who perfectly embodied the phrase "cowardly yet eager."

Even the little wealthy heiress spoke of it the following days with a distinct air of pride and bravado, which Chen Mo found completely incomprehensible. Most people would run a mile from such things, yet she wore it like a badge of honor.

Then again, considering how many girls loved horror movies despite being terrified out of their wits while watching them, it was perhaps somewhat understandable.

While Chen Mo was busy shooting his debut feature film, he received a phone call from Bao Jingjing, the original author of *Love Is Not Blind* and Chen Mo's senior schoolmate from the Beijing Film Academy!

"Senior Sister Bao?"

"Junior Schoolmate Chen, it's like this: a senior from the academy has approached me regarding my novel *Love Is Not Blind*. He wants to adapt it into a film as well. Of course, since I've already promised to collaborate with you on the screen adaptation, but since this senior insisted, I wanted to see if you'd be willing to talk to her—I mean, him. What do you think?" Bao Jingjing asked, sounding rather embarrassed.

"A senior? From the Beijing Film Academy? Who?" Chen Mo had actually guessed it already, but he asked anyway.

"Director Teng Huatao." As expected, Bao Jingjing quickly blurted out the name.

"Is that really necessary? Senior Sister Bao, I'm planning to direct your work myself next year, so I don't think there's anything to discuss with him. Besides, I don't even know him," Chen Mo refused flatly.

"Well... would you mind just meeting him? Please? The thing is, he got one of my professors to intercede on his behalf. Just a meeting, and I'll leave the final decision entirely up to you," Bao Jingjing pleaded, caught in an awkward position.

Chen Mo thought for a moment before replying, "Alright then. I'll be heading over to the Hengdian World Studios to shoot some scenes soon. Have him come straight there, and I'll grant him a meeting."

After all, *Love Is Not Blind* belonged to her, and they were alumni from the same institution. Just meeting the man posed no real problem.

There was simply no way Chen Mo would surrender this dark-horse film. Furthermore, this Director Teng reportedly had a rather cozy relationship with a certain infamous couple from the entertainment industry. Chen Mo had originally set his sights on intercepting this project precisely to derail that director's rising fortunes; how could he possibly go and supply ammunition to a rival?

However, a meeting did sound rather intriguing. Chen Mo was quite curious where Teng Huatao got the confidence to try and snatch the script right out of his hands.

The scenes set in Master Ren's courtyard, the mortuary, and the desolate wilderness for *Mr. Vampire* had already been wrapped up. Next on the agenda was heading to Hengdian World Studios to shoot some street scenes.

The visitor arrived quite promptly.

Just two days after *Mr. Vampire*'s crew arrived at Hengdian, Teng Huatao called to announce his arrival.

To be honest, Chen Mo held no particular fondness for this Director Teng, though he didn't harbor any deep malice either. In truth, Chen Mo was simply curious about the man. If *Love Is Not Blind* was considered his breakout commercial work, then that other film—the one that brutally slammed shut the sci-fi cinematic door that China had fought so hard to crack open, *Shanghai Fortress*—had truly made him infamous on a grand scale.

Even more bizarrely, virtually the entire main cast and supporting actors of Teng Huatao's *Love Is Not Blind* had subsequently gone on to be plagued by infidelity scandals one after another. Truly remarkable.

What an eye for talent the man had!

"Director Chen, please forgive this abrupt intrusion!" The other man adopted a remarkably humble attitude.

As the saying went, one does not strike a smiling face, so Chen Mo naturally couldn't put on a harsh demeanor either.

"We're all alumni from the Beijing Film Academy, so there's no need to speak of intrusions. However, Director Teng, you're likely to make this trip in vain. *Love Is Not Blind* is already part of my production plans, and I have no intention of handing it over to anyone else," Chen Mo stated with direct refusal.