Trembling in the Skies

Chapter 43: A Play Within a Play

Hearing the director’s words, everyone turned to look at Li Teng. Something seemed a bit off here… Did Li Teng kill Guo’s mother? A human can’t kill a ghost, can they? Don’t you have any idea who the ghost is? Guo’s mother isn’t a ghost? Then who is the ghost? “The roast chicken’s a little salty. I’m going to get a cup of coffee.” Li Teng seemed oblivious to the fact that everyone was waiting for him to speak. He stood up, strolled over to the coffee machine with his cup in hand, and poured himself a cup of coffee. The director said nothing more, standing there without moving a muscle. Because she was wearing a mask, no one could tell what expression she had on her face. Just then, Guo’s mother finally walked back from the corner of the street. Her face was contorted with anger. The pretty-boy hurried over to meet her. Just as the pretty-boy was about to ask a question, Guo’s mother shoved him aside. Seeing the director standing right in front of the café, Mrs. Guo quickened her pace and ran over. “Director! I protest! Why was I playing a ghost, yet after getting off the bus, I was still sealed off and had no ghostly powers? Instead, he beat me to death with a barstool! This is a serious violation of the rules!” Guo’s mother protested loudly to the director, her voice trembling the whole time; clearly, the scene at the bus stop had left her deeply traumatized. It was then that she finally understood why Li Teng had brought a barstool along with him. It was to smash her to death! Damn it! I really did die under his barstool! “You’re playing a ghost—you’re not actually a ghost,” the director replied coldly to Guo’s mother. “What do you mean?” Guo’s mother was completely confused. The others weren’t quite sure either. The woman in sunglasses, however, suddenly realized something. She hurried over and picked up Li Teng’s two chopstick holders. Then she pulled Li Teng’s two bamboo sticks out of the holders. Although Li Teng had shown everyone his fortune slip in public, now that a problem had arisen, the issue must surely lie with his slip. Sure enough, he had tricked everyone! The two bamboo sticks Li Teng had drawn—one read “You’ll play the lighting technician,” and the other read “Get off at the first stop.” That much was certainly true. However, beneath the “You’ll play the lighting technician” slip, there were three more characters written. “You are a ghost.” The woman in sunglasses thought back carefully. When Li Teng had revealed the bamboo sticks, he’d slammed them down on the table with a “smack!” —but only the top half of the stick, bearing the five characters “You play the lighting technician,” was visible, while his palm still covered the three small characters “You are a ghost.” Since only the top halves of everyone else’s sticks were inscribed, no one suspected there might be writing on the bottom halves as well. So, is there a contradiction between “You play the lighting technician” and “You’re the ghost”? No. The woman in sunglasses also figured it all out in an instant. “What’s going on? What do you mean I’m playing the ghost but I’m not actually the ghost?” Guo’s mother rushed over and snatched the bamboo stick from Li Teng. When she saw the three small characters written on the bottom of Li Teng’s bamboo stick, she was utterly confused and furious. Everyone else present was also completely baffled when they saw the bamboo stick. “It’s simple, but a bit of a mouthful to explain. This scene is a bit different from the usual ones—it’s a play-within-a-play,” the woman in sunglasses explained. “The eight of us are a film crew in our own right, but the play we’re performing—the story we’re telling—is about us portraying another film crew! And this other crew is shooting a horror movie. Their members include lead actors, supporting actors, actors playing ghosts, as well as lighting technicians, cinematographers, and so on.” “The one playing the ghost is just an ordinary actor on that film crew.” “But the gaffer is actually a ghost who’s infiltrated that film crew! This bamboo stick also makes that clear: ‘You play the gaffer; you are a ghost.’ A ghost has posed as the gaffer to infiltrate that crew. Within that crew, the ghost is handling the gaffer’s duties—and this ghost is the real one.” “It’s just that Li Teng didn’t let us see the bottom half of that bamboo stick.” “The director said that only one of the eight people is a ghost; he didn’t say that only one of the eight is playing a ghost.” “Guo Zhipeng’s mother drew ‘play the ghost,’ but she isn’t a ghost; she’s just playing an ordinary actor on that film crew—an ordinary actor playing a ghost.” “Li Teng drew ‘lighting technician.’ In the play we’re performing, the lighting technician is the real ghost in that film crew—the one trying to kill the crew members. So Li Teng is the real ghost.” “One is an actor playing a ghost, and the other is the real ghost posing as the lighting technician.” “This actress playing the ghost thought she was the ghost, but in reality, she was just an actress. When she got off the last bus with the lighting technician, she actually got off with the real ghost.” “Although the real ghost has no points in his account and can’t redeem any ghostly superpowers, he does have a barstool…” “The actress playing the ghost had points in her account and had even acquired ghostly superpowers, but since she wasn’t actually a ghost, she couldn’t use those powers after getting off the bus.” “A ghost without superpowers got into a fight with an ordinary actress playing a ghost, and the ghost—who had no superpowers—swinged the barstool and killed the actress.” “That’s pretty much how it went down, Li Teng. Am I right?” The woman in sunglasses took them off and stared intently at Li Teng. Even though the shoot was taking place in the middle of the night, she still wore her sunglasses out of habit. This was the first time she’d taken them off in front of everyone. “Your eyes are so beautiful,” Li Teng replied, dodging the question. “Give me back my chicken!” The woman in sunglasses put them back on and reached out to yank Li Teng’s ear. “We agreed on this just now! I specifically asked you! ‘This roast chicken is something you’re giving me of your own free will! I didn’t trick it out of you! After I eat it, don’t give me any trouble!’ You said, ‘Yes, go ahead and eat it.’ That’s why I ate it! How come you’re going back on your word so quickly? Beautiful lady, you should be fair and reasonable, okay?” Li Teng reached out and grabbed the woman in sunglasses’ wrist. The guy with glasses, who had been watching the spectacle from the sidelines, felt like banging his head against the wall next to him the moment he heard Li Teng say, “You should be fair.” This guy wasn’t dead after all—and he’d even managed to milk everyone for sympathy. What kind of person is this? How can a person be this shameless? How dare someone so shameless even say something like “you should be decent”? “Is that so? Then why were you putting on an act when you walked over here? You’re clearly the monster—you’re the one who killed someone. What was that dejected look all about? Who were you putting on a show for?” The woman in sunglasses wouldn’t let it go. If Li Teng hadn’t played the victim to win her sympathy, she never would have bought him that chicken. “I wasn’t acting at all! When I was fighting that old witch, the cashews I hadn’t finished eating fell all over the ground. It’s such a shame—just thinking about it makes me so sad, so very sad.” Li Teng looked utterly heartbroken. “All right, but then you said, ‘It’s about time—come say goodbye to us.’ What was that supposed to mean? Were you trying to trick us into feeling sorry for you?” the woman in sunglasses pressed on. She’d almost shed a tear over that line just a moment ago—who knew she’d been tricked! “That scene was wrapped up, and it really was about time. We were all going our separate ways—was there anything wrong with saying goodbye to you guys?” Li Teng looked utterly helpless. “You also said you were about to die and that investing in you was pointless. Wasn’t that just a ploy to elicit sympathy?” “Think back carefully—I never once said I was about to die. I only said I was about to leave. The shoot is over—aren’t you going to leave?” “You…” “I…” “Let go! Stop grabbing my wrist!” “Stop pulling at me, and I’ll let go.”