TEFSCBSS Chapter 123

A shrill scream cut through the noise, piercing straight into everyone’s ears.

What? Something happened?

Everyone quickly dropped what they were doing and rushed over in a chaotic crowd.

Guilin Road, a small bookstore.

“Help! Somebody help! There’s a ghost!”

Wang Bokao heard someone shouting about a haunting and immediately pushed his way forward. “What happened? What’s going on?”

Others craned their necks and peered into the store.

In the center of the small bookstore hung a painting of a noble lady. But now, the once-beautiful maiden had blood streaming from her eyes—a chilling and tragic sight.

To make things even more disturbing, a trail of bloody footprints had appeared in front of the painting, leading all the way to the door—and then stopping abruptly. Everyone felt a chill run down their spines.

This was broad daylight, right in the middle of the afternoon—what the hell was going on?

Several contestants quickly gathered around the bookstore owner, urging him to explain what had happened.

“Sigh… I don’t know.”

“We all grew up in the south side of the city—you’re my neighbors. You know my shop. I just sell novels and essays to get by.”

“Usually, business is slow in the mornings. I either head across the street to the teahouse to listen to storytelling or nap right here.”

“There’s only one assistant in the shop, but I trust him to handle things.”

“Today, because of the arena challenge event, I went over to the script shop to check out the action. Then I had lunch and came back planning to take a nap… and the moment I stepped through the door, I saw that painting!”

The shop owner was flustered. He knew it was probably just part of the script shop’s event, so he wasn’t panicking too much, but the shock of walking into such a disturbing scene still hit hard.

Contestant Five patted the owner on the back to calm him down and asked, “Where’s your assistant?”

Right—where was the assistant?

The shopkeeper slapped his forehead, as if suddenly remembering, and quickly headed into the store. Not daring to disturb the scene, he tiptoed carefully across the floor.

While walking, he shouted, “Zhao Xiaogou! Zhao Xiaogou! Where are you hiding and slacking off now? Get out here!”

From within the crowd, Zhao Wen froze: …?

Wang Bokao stifled a laugh. Who would’ve thought the nickname he gave Zhao Wen would be someone else’s real name?

But even after all that shouting, no one responded. The shopkeeper’s expression grew increasingly anxious. What was going on?

The other contestants didn’t hesitate any longer. They carefully avoided the bloody footprints and made their way inside.

Contestant Five stayed close to the owner. “Sir, may we look around a bit?”

“Don’t worry—we won’t disturb anything.”

The shopkeeper was genuinely worried now. That assistant was his nephew. If something happened to him, what would he do?

He quickly explained the layout of the store:

The bookstore was small, only about 20 square meters in the main area. Right across from the entrance stood a long display table lined with the most popular novels of the day.

Above the table hung a long scroll. According to the owner, it used to feature a quote from a famous novel, rotated monthly to attract attention.

But today, when he returned, the scroll was gone, replaced by the bleeding noblewoman painting.

Besides the display table, near the door was a counter used for transactions.

The rest of the space consisted of bookshelves and a small writing area by the window, where poorer scholars could copy texts for part-time income.

In the southeast corner, a small door led to the back courtyard—a plain, square yard with a single well.

Further back were three rooms: the owner’s bedroom, a storeroom, and a firewood room.

The assistant, Zhao Xiaogou, didn’t live in the shop. He stayed at his family’s home just two streets over.

With the layout now understood, the three teams began their investigation.

Contestant Five and his team headed straight for the painting.

“This image reminds me of the Mountain Village Corpse replica we had in our shop. Looks like the culprit is one of our regulars.”

“Maybe, maybe not,” Contestant Two quietly interjected. “The script shop has been around for a while. Plenty of people have gone into Shan Shi Village—it could just be someone imitating the scene.”

“And more importantly, the questions are: How did the perpetrator get in? How did they leave? And where is the assistant?”

Contestant Five nodded. “Maybe the haunting is just a distraction. The real case here could be a disappearance.”

“But here’s the thing,” someone added, “The assistant’s a full-grown adult. If he were attacked, surely there would’ve been noise. The surrounding shops aren’t empty. How did no one notice?”

Everyone was puzzled.

That’s when Contestant Eight stared at the bloody footprints and called out, “Hey, come take a look at this!”

“Could these footprints belong to the killer?”

“But look closely—they’re strange. It’s like someone stepped out of the painting, walked to the door, and then vanished.”

“So weird!”

Contestant Five looked conflicted. He glanced at Contestant Eight, hesitated a moment, then asked, “Um… look down. Are there any footprints under your feet?”

Contestant Eight blinked, confused, but looked. “Nope.”

The streets in the capital were quite clean. Inside the inner city, the roads were paved with expensive stone slabs for the convenience of nobles. Unless it rained or snowed, people usually didn’t leave noticeable footprints—maybe just a little dust at most.

Contestant Five sighed. “Exactly. So it doesn’t make sense for the killer to have left clear footprints—especially bloody ones.”

“These prints were likely faked to mislead us—maybe made with shoes dipped in blood and then carefully placed.”

The crowd murmured in realization.

“Ohhh, now I get it.”

“Master Wang’s explanation makes perfect sense! The killer wants us to believe it’s supernatural—to make us think it’s a ghost. But in reality, there’s no ghost at all!”

“Exactly!”

“Wait, hold on!” Just as everyone was shifting their attention away from the footprints, Wang Bokao suddenly shouted again.

He pointed at the corner of the painting, trembling as he asked the owner, “Sir… look closely—is that your assistant in the painting?”

What?

The shopkeeper looked bewildered, but followed Wang Bokao’s finger and stared at the painting.

“…What the—! That is Zhao Xiaogou!”

“Oh my god! My nephew’s trapped inside the painting!!!”

The crowd gasped in shock and all turned to stare at the painting’s lower corner—there, hidden among the flowers, stood a tiny figure no bigger than a finger.

The shopkeeper confirmed it. The clothes, the hairstyle, even the big mole on his face—it was his nephew, no doubt.

“Hisss—wait a minute… could this have nothing to do with the arena challenge? Is it haunted?”

“Yeah! The assistant’s gone missing, and now he’s inside the painting?! That’s supernatural!”