Chapter 34

Chapter 34

“No! Please…”

Han Yanran choked out a plea, her pale lips trembling and her face etched with despair.

The director gripped her chin and patted her cheek. A hypocritical smile hung on his face, but his eyes were filled with malice.

“Since you know how to be afraid, you’d better behave. Otherwise, I won’t just post those photos from last night online – I’ll send high-definition copies to your family and friends individually so they can really enjoy them.”

Tears burst forth like a collapsing dam. Han Yanran closed her eyes, her spirit nearly broken. “I… I’ll do as you say.”

Seeing her submit, the director finally let go, a lecherous grin spreading across his face. “Go on then. I’ll come over as soon as I’m finished here. Wait for me.”

Han Yanran bit her lip so hard the taste of blood spread through her mouth. Her voice was raspy, as if her throat had been slashed by a blade. “Fine.”

As Han Yanran walked away, the director stared at her retreating figure. He raised the hand he had just used to touch her to his nose and took a sniff.

“Damn. She had such a blast after taking those pills last night, and now she’s acting all aggrieved.”

Xia Sheng watched the director coldly, her dark eyes looking at him as if he were already dead.

Without a word, she moved to follow Han Yanran.

Seeing her leave, Shen Ze immediately caught up.

“Little Celestial Master, where are you going?”

Xia Sheng said, “I have something to handle. Stay here and wait for me.”

Shen Ze scratched his head. “Little Celestial Master, why are you being so strange today? Is this matter very tricky?”

“It’s not tricky,” Xia Sheng’s voice was frigid. “There are just some details that aren’t convenient for you to know.”

This concerned Han Yanran’s reputation; naturally, the fewer people who knew, the better.

The reason she hadn’t struck the director directly just now was to avoid public attention.

Hearing this, Shen Ze stopped following. “Alright then, Little Celestial Master, be careful. I’ll wait for you here.”

Xia Sheng nodded and turned to leave.

Han Yanran exited the film base, but she didn’t head toward the parking lot.

She walked aimlessly down the street. The city’s clamor surrounded her, and the voices of passersby felt like countless dark ghosts encircling her.

She reached a crosswalk, but the light hadn’t turned green yet.

Cars sped past on the road, but Han Yanran’s vacant eyes remained fixed on the rushing vehicles as she continued forward without stopping.

The blaring of horns mixed with the screams from the crowd, rising and falling in a chaotic din.

She seemed not to hear a thing, walking forward numbly.

A truck loaded with cargo came barreling toward her, its horn honking frantically.

The driver slammed on the brakes, but the momentum of such a heavy truck made it impossible to stop instantly at high speed.

In that moment, everyone’s hearts leaped into their throats.

However, just as the truck was about to strike the woman in the middle of the road, a dark shadow flashed by, and she vanished.

The people on the sidewalk searched everywhere for her, but she was nowhere to be found.

“It’s broad daylight… did we just see a ghost?”

A chill ran through the crowd. No one dared to continue along that path, preferring to take a long detour to the next intersection.

Meanwhile, in a deserted alleyway next to a residential building, Xia Sheng leaned over and gently set down the woman she was carrying.

Han Yanran’s eyes slowly regained focus, her expression filled with shock.

“Who… are you?”

She had been conscious the entire time. One second she was in the middle of the road, and the next, she had suddenly been moved fifty meters away. This was clearly not something a normal human could do.

“My name is Xia Sheng, and I am a Celestial Master.” Xia Sheng took her hand. “I know what happened to you. I can help.”

The young girl before her had a face devoid of much emotion, yet the way she held her hand gave Han Yanran an inexplicable surge of strength.

Tears gradually welled up in Han Yanran’s eyes until she finally broke down into loud sobs, pouring out all her grievances and despair.

Back when she first auditioned for this production, Han Yanran had felt uncomfortable with the way the director looked at her.
After a friend warned her about the possibility of the “casting couch,” she had become more guarded.

Director Huang had originally invited her to a dinner party the night before.

At first, she hadn’t wanted to go.

Her role in the drama wasn’t particularly significant; her total screen time probably wouldn’t even add up to five minutes.

Furthermore, as a newcomer with no real status in the industry, there was no logical reason for her to be invited to such a gathering. She had a fair idea of what the director might be plotting.

When Director Huang saw that she wouldn’t agree, he first tried to manipulate her, claiming she was being disrespectful and didn’t know how to conduct herself in the industry. Then, he claimed that everyone else in the crew would be there and that her invitation was merely an afterthought.

Han Yanran was still a rookie. If she offended the director, she might never get another chance to succeed.

Weighing the pros and cons, she felt she had no choice but to go.

When she arrived at the hotel, several people were already seated in the private dining room.

Director Huang claimed they were all crew members. Seeing how friendly everyone seemed, Han Yanran let down her guard and drank the wine the director handed her.

Then, she was taken by the director and those men to a room upstairs that had been prepared in advance.

It was the most desperate, darkest night of her life, a night where dawn felt like it would never arrive.

They burned her body with cigarette butts and took photos and videos of her, using them to threaten her into obedience.

This morning, she had been brought directly from the hotel by the director.

Once the opening ceremony was over, she would be dragged back into that hell by him.

She didn’t want to go back, which was why the thought of ending her life had taken root.

Even though she had already calculated what had happened last night, Xia Sheng listened quietly as Han Yanran poured her heart out, never once interrupting her.

By the time Han Yanran finished, her emotions had finally stabilized somewhat, though her voice remained nasally and hoarse. “Miss Xia, it was enough that you were able to help me just now.

“As for the rest… I’ll settle it myself.”

In that moment between life and death, she had realized one thing.

Director Huang and those men had ruined her life, and who knew how many more people they would harm in the future.

Since she had already decided to die, she might as well drag a piece of scum down to hell with her!

Xia Sheng saw through her thoughts and said, “You don’t need to gamble your life for his.

“Before you, Director Huang had already assaulted over a dozen women, including minors. Someone even died during one of the illicit deals he was involved in.

“He is surrounded by several Fierce Ghosts, but he has remained safe until now because he constantly wears an Evil-Warding Talisman.

“As long as that Evil-Warding Talisman is destroyed, he will be devoured by those vengeful Fierce Ghosts.”

(In this world, ghosts who kill the villains responsible for their deaths to seek revenge do not accumulate negative karma; it is considered a matter of cause and effect, so there is no need to worry about those ghosts being unable to reincarnate.)

Han Yanran had been raised with a scientific education and originally didn’t believe in such things.

However, since Xia Sheng had moved her from the middle of the road to this spot in the blink of an eye, she wasn’t particularly surprised by this explanation.

“What do these Talismans look like? I’ll go get it back.”

Han Yanran was now determined to perish along with the director; she feared nothing.

At worst, it was just death, which was better than living in such humiliation.

“I will help you with that,” Xia Sheng said. Her voice was still calm, but it carried a reassuring sense of security. “Do you remember what the other men from last night looked like?”

Han Yanran’s face turned a few shades paler at the memory.

It took a long time for her to suppress the nausea churning in her stomach. “I don’t remember. The hotel should have surveillance footage, but since they were bold enough to do this, they probably hacked the cameras in advance…”

Xia Sheng nodded. “Fine, we’ll deal with that later. For now, let’s go find Director Huang.”

That piece of trash had harmed so many girls; it was time he paid the price.