Reborn, I Became a Male God - Chapter 54

“Or do you all feel that the projectionist and security guards work too hard, so while spending money to watch a movie in the theater, you’re preparing to repay them with a live-action film?”

The last three rows of this cinema were so-called couple seats, with no armrests installed between the seats, making it convenient for couples to sit closer together. On the big screen, an intense jungle chase scene had just ended, and the background music transitioned to a soft, soothing tune. Therefore, even though Jing Ling’s voice wasn’t loud, the restless young couples around them all heard her.

A bolt from the blue!

All the strange noises disappeared in an instant, as if someone had forcibly pressed the pause button. Especially the pair sitting next to Jing Ling and the others—the overly familiar girl was sitting on her boyfriend in the gray jacket’s lap. When Tan Yunshu turned her head, the movie timeline happened to be set during the day—blue skies, white clouds, scorching sun—the lighting inside the theater was also slightly better, so she saw the other party’s hand slipping into the girl’s shirt from the hem of her knitted top.

Upon hearing Jing Ling’s words, the young couple instantly froze like statues, not moving a muscle. After several seconds, they finally reacted—the boy quickly retracted his hand, and the girl obediently returned to her own seat.

But at this moment, Tan Yunshu no longer cared about that. Her attention had shifted to another matter. “You said the theater has night vision cameras installed, is that true?” she asked in a low voice.

Jing Ling nodded, “Yeah.”

“How do you know?” Tan Yunshu asked again.

Jing Ling explained, “I took a careful look when I came in. Cameras are installed in several corners. Judging by their positioning, they’re probably there to monitor whether the screen is functioning properly, and also for public safety. If something happens in the dark, it’s easier to find evidence. And to achieve that, ordinary cameras won’t work. They have to be infrared night vision cameras.”

The logic was simple, but ordinary people indeed wouldn’t notice such details.

With Jing Ling’s reminder, Tan Yunshu didn’t hear any more strange noises for the rest of the film.

As the plot progressed, the survivors died one by one, and the truth of the isolated island gradually surfaced. In the ultimate trailer released earlier, Chen Huaimin had said, “We’re all going to die. No one can escape.” It sounded like a prophecy that was gradually coming true.

Seeing the male and female leads being lured away, leaving only Chen Huaimin—who had just deduced a shocking truth—by himself, Tan Yunshu asked in a low voice, “He’s going to die, isn’t he?”

This plot was not hard to guess. Before this, the mysterious ninth person had already killed five people. If Chen Huaimin died as well, only the male and female leads would be left among the eight shipwreck survivors, meaning the final showdown was approaching.

The remaining three people—a money-worshipping lawyer, a justice-driven police officer, and a ruthless killer—represented black, white, and gray. Who would survive in the end, or whether they’d all perish together, was still impossible to predict. But judging by the current situation, the ninth person held the absolute advantage. After all, the protagonists had already lost five teammates, and were about to lose another, yet they couldn’t do anything about the ninth person.

If things continued at this pace, the ninth person becoming the final victor was nearly ninety percent certain. However, there was an unwritten rule in domestic films: evil never triumphs over good, and criminals must face justice in the end. Given what the ninth person had done, there was absolutely no way they’d get a good ending; otherwise, the film wouldn’t even pass censorship.

“Yeah,” Jing Ling replied.

The plot twist came quickly. For some reason, after succeeding and fleeing, the ninth person circled back and took Chen Huaimin’s body with him. After that, the plot became slightly disjointed. The ninth person carried the body to a stream, crouched down with a sharp dagger in hand, and the scene abruptly cut to the stream turning red with blood.

“I feel like there’s something wrong here,” Tan Yunshu said.

“There was originally a dismemberment scene, but it got cut during review,” Jing Ling explained, as Director Gu had told her. That set of scenes was his favorite. In his words, it was the perfect combination of death and art. But to get the film released, it had to be removed—it was like cutting a piece of his heart out.

Tan Yunshu nodded upon hearing that. That made sense.

The movie continued. Those who had seen the ultimate trailer knew that the moment shown in the trailer was coming—the terrifying giant beast was about to reveal its true form.

Suddenly, rustling noises came from the dense forest. The camera switched to a bird’s-eye view from above. A massive black shadow moved through the forest, leaving behind a trail about a meter wide. Low shrubs were crushed, and the vegetation on the ground was nearly flattened into mud—a complete mess. However, the trees here were so dense they seemed to blot out the sky. Through the gaps between branches and leaves, the full form of the giant beast wasn’t clear, but it was at least ten to twenty meters long.

It was a true giant python.

Humans carried an innate fear of snakes in their genes, let alone such a grotesquely large, terrifying serpent. At that moment, the big screen showed a close-up—the snake’s body slithering past a large tree, its entire body gray-brown, with its scales clearly visible. Inside the theater, many people screamed in fright.

Tan Yunshu was also badly startled, but at least managed to restrain herself from screaming.

Jing Ling gently patted her shoulder and softly comforted, “Don’t be scared. Little Grey just looks scary, but it actually has a very good temper and is very smart. It lives with a tiger named Little Flower. That young lady has been spoiled by it and loves to lie on its body for a ride.”

While Jing Ling was speaking, the giant snake on the screen had already slithered near the ninth person. Sensing something was wrong, the ninth person suddenly stood up and turned around, questioning, “Who?!”

The moment his voice fell, the giant snake burst out from the dense foliage. Before he could react, it directly coiled around his body. Compared to the massive snake, the man looked like a doll.

Screams erupted instantly, one after another.

But Tan Yunshu’s attention had already been led astray by Jing Ling. Staring at the terrifying giant beast on screen, she said in a doubtful tone, “Little Grey? Good temper?? And raises a tiger??? Just how did you come up with all that in such a short time…”

“I’ll take you to see them when I have time. We can bring some lamb, Little Flower likes to eat it.”

The guy in the gray jacket, who had already been scared half to death by Jing Ling’s earlier words, couldn’t help but mutter under his breath, “Damn idiot…” Just as he finished speaking, a sharp “hiss” sounded. Tan Yunshu glanced over—the overly familiar girl’s hand was making acquaintance with his waistline’s soft flesh.

“Sorry, he didn’t mean anything by it!”

“No problem.”

With the ninth person’s unexpected death, the movie gradually approached its ending.

The male and female leads, who had been deliberately lured away, realized something was wrong and rushed back to the camp. The bloodstains on the ground hadn’t yet dried—it was the spot where Chen Huaimin had stayed before they left. Clearly, another survivor had been killed. But this time was different—the killer hadn’t left the body behind. After a thorough search, they finally found clues. Following the traces all the way to the stream, they still didn’t find Chen Huaimin’s body, only a large amount of blood and a few suspicious chunks of flesh.

Later, the female lead also found a dagger and a wireless earpiece in the forest.

As if knowing someone had picked it up, a voice suddenly came through the earpiece, “Congratulations on surviving. A ship will come to pick you up soon.”

Although filled with suspicion, the two still chose to follow the instructions, leaving the forest and heading to the docking site… The final scene froze on a luxurious cruise ship. Inside a room decorated like a movie theater sat a dozen or so people. A large screen at the front was playing the movie—the events that had happened on the isolated island.

“Holy shit!”

“A bunch of lunatics—they actually sent people to a deserted island to play a real-life murder game!”

“I thought it was a battle of wits between the two sides, but turns out everything was being manipulated behind the scenes!”

As the movie ended, the audience discussed the plot as they got up and left the theater. After most people had gone, Jing Ling and Tan Yunshu finally stood up and left.

“Your acting was really good!” Tan Yunshu whispered, “The scene in the tree—did you do that yourself? I saw the behind-the-scenes footage posted by the official account—a video of you climbing the tree. Is that related?”

“Yeah,” Jing Ling replied. “Because that scene was a bit difficult, Director Gu didn’t believe I could pull it off, so he had me try a beginner-level version first.”

The two chatted as they left the theater. It was already past four o’clock. Jing Ling and Tan Yunshu strolled through a nearby park. When they got tired, they sat down on a bench. The weather was nice, and many people were out in the park. Tan Yunshu was undeniably beautiful, and although Jing Ling, after disguising herself, wasn’t as dazzling as before, she was definitely not ugly. With her height of 1.8 meters, she still counted as a handsome guy. A good-looking man and a pretty woman sitting together naturally made for a pleasing sight, and most passersby couldn’t help but steal a glance.

When the clock on the phone showed 17:30, Jing Ling and Tan Yunshu got up and left the park to go eat. The restaurant was one Tan Yunshu had booked yesterday, located in a mall near the park—just a five-minute walk away.

“I’ve been here with Sisi a few times before. Their food is pretty good…” As they walked through the mall entrance, Tan Yunshu introduced the place to Jing Ling. As she was speaking, out of the corner of her eye, she saw something falling from above ahead. Immediately after, she felt the person beside her suddenly let go of her hand and rushed forward.