Chapter 4

Under the moonlight, everything was extremely quiet. However, everyone was breathing heavily, their hearts filled with melancholy.

At this moment, the Sichuan man patted Ye Xiang's shoulder and said, "Little brother, no matter what, it's enough to have you all by my side."

Ye Xiang understood and then began to consider what to do next.

These few people might be veterans or perhaps all newbies. Regardless, the current information was still too limited.

For Ye Xiang at this moment, his primary concern was naturally how to survive, and secondly, whether there was a way to obtain additional death redemption tickets on the basis of survival.

Currently, he had already calmly analyzed all the additional information in his mind. The so-called "Hell Cinema" was undoubtedly something beyond his imagination, something that modern science could not explain. Such a terrifying curse could easily transport people to a new world to film a horror movie. What was the purpose? Regardless, he believed it was not to torture and kill them. If it were, he would have been killed outright before, without the need to film a real horror movie.

Therefore, the analysis suggested that the so-called Hell Cinema was truly intended to make them film a horror movie, not to torture them to death in a terrifying place. There would not be an unsolvable horror movie like "The Grudge," which meant there was a chance to survive. And since it was a horror movie, there must be an audience. Who was the audience of this Hell Cinema? This was unknown. But since there was an audience, it naturally meant they had to struggle to survive. Otherwise, there would be no rule of death redemption tickets.

Thus, a horror movie must have a way to survive. Ye Xiang's first action was to move away from the bus, but this process did not guarantee safety. In horror movies, those haunted by ghosts have no chance of survival no matter where they go. Just increasing the distance did not necessarily ensure survival, but it was worth a try.

Then... the issue he considered was how to obtain more death redemption tickets. Death redemption tickets were related to the ability to act independently in a horror movie and the possibility of returning to the real world. Without submitting 10,000 death redemption tickets, one would have to endlessly film horror movies. A horror movie would not be a sci-fi movie like "Resident Evil" or "Alien," where one could survive by killing monsters with guns and ammunition. It would not be a bloody movie like "Friday the 13th" or "Saw," where only human killers were involved. It would not be a remake of well-known movies like "The Ring" or "The Grudge." Over time, a human being could not survive repeatedly by luck alone. Therefore, accumulating death redemption tickets to leave the world of horror movies was the most important thing.

Currently, the information about how to obtain additional death redemption tickets was vague. However, Ye Xiang concluded that the longer one survived, the more death redemption tickets one would receive. Death redemption tickets seemed to be closely related to the role's screen time. The main character, who dies last, naturally received the highest number of death redemption tickets as a salary. Of course, this was hard to judge precisely. So, the longer one survived, the more death redemption tickets one would receive. Then... if one saved someone who was supposed to die according to the script, would there be more additional death redemption tickets?

Ye Xiang could only think about these things and could not discuss them with others. In a horror movie, one could not discuss the Hell Cinema; one had to fully immerse oneself in the role. Frankly, just this point made his current actions seem abnormal. As Xia Yun, he was supposed to go down the mountain after the car broke down, but staying here was clearly unusual. However, he had no choice; continuing to walk would result in a greater deduction of death redemption tickets.

What should he do next?

"Are we not going to continue walking?" The Sichuan man suddenly said, "We've rested long enough, haven't we?"

Ye Xiang thought, what else could be done if your death redemption tickets were depleted? But sitting like this was indeed unreasonable. They had not walked much, just over a kilometer, which was not enough to need a rest for adults. According to the information in his mind, once a certain plot line was touched, it would automatically result in an NG. However, there was no clear standard for what that line was. One thing was certain: actors could use death redemption tickets to change the script, but they had to act reasonably according to their roles. If you played an illiterate person, you could not read; if you played an outgoing person, you could not be gloomy and silent. Continuing to sit like this would increasingly deviate from the normal actions of the character.

Ye Xiang, being an ordinary person, found it difficult to consider everything in such a sudden environment. Calming down was already a challenge. His first thought was to move away from the bus, and he did not have time to think about other things. The significant deduction of death redemption tickets was also unexpected.

Ye Xiang even wondered if leaving the bus too early was a mistake. Before midnight, no character had died. He could have waited and perhaps found new clues. But it was too late to regret now; the death redemption tickets were already deducted, and going back would be futile.

"Let's... sit a bit longer," Ye Xiang said with a smile.

He discovered that although these were not lines from the script, they did not result in a deduction of death redemption tickets. This was probably because a few lines were insignificant compared to major changes in the plot.

Since this was the case, it was better to talk to others. Otherwise, the silence would only increase the fear.

"We sat in the bus for too long, and walking for a while feels a bit strange," Ye Xiang tried to make their stay seem reasonable to avoid touching the plot's bottom line. Even though he felt it was a stretch.

Then, he looked at Zhang Nianzhou, held his hand, and said, "Don't worry, we can overcome any difficulty together."

This was also to encourage Zhang Nianzhou. Given the situation, there was no way to avoid it; only by uniting could they overcome this challenge. For Ye Xiang, to survive, these people were his companions, and they all needed to work together to live through this horror movie.

Zhang Nianzhou trembled at his touch and took a long time to say, "I... I... I..."

He was clearly terrified. In contrast, the Sichuan man seemed more open-minded, though his face showed fear, his performance was natural.

Du Yan, on the other hand, kept looking around and tried to use his phone, but there was no signal.

The young couple clung to each other, likely real-life partners, as they both wore wedding rings. However, after entering this horror movie world, their clothing had changed significantly. For example, Ye Xiang entered in work clothes but was now in casual attire. His wallet, phone, and keys were gone. So, the wedding rings on the couple's hands were probably given to them after entering.

The young man with the baseball cap sat silently, curled up, and did not speak.

They were probably afraid that speaking would deduct death redemption tickets, so they did not talk much.

However, at this moment, the wife of the young couple suddenly blushed and whispered something in her husband's ear. He nodded, and she stood up and walked away.

"Where is she going?" Ye Xiang asked anxiously. In a horror movie world, how could she wander off alone?

The husband replied, "My... my wife needs to use the restroom."

Ye Xiang realized. With only men present, she could not use the restroom in front of everyone. However, he still watched her leave and said, "Don't go too far!"

Then, Ye Xiang decided to talk more to let everyone know that speaking would not deduct death redemption tickets. "Let's all talk. The silence is making the atmosphere too tense."

The Sichuan man agreed, "Yes, that's true. Why don't we introduce ourselves? I'm Zhang Dekun."

Ye Xiang tried to stop him but was too late. The husband rubbed his hands, looked around, and said, "I'm Jiang Yi."

Zhang Nianzhou seemed to regain some courage and said, "I... I... I'm Zhang Nianzhou."

Zhang Nianzhou was not his real name, and his nervousness suggested he might have forgotten his character's name.

Next, Du Yan introduced himself. The only one who did not speak was the young man with the baseball cap, who coldly said, "Liu An," and then fell silent.

Ye Xiang breathed a sigh of relief. At least everyone remembered to use their character names instead of their real names, avoiding an NG. He also introduced himself, "I'm Xia Yun."

After exchanging names, although he knew they were not real, Ye Xiang felt closer to everyone. Just as he was about to talk more, he suddenly thought...

Where was the wife? He had told her not to go too far...

A sense of unease began to creep over him...

But he thought, perhaps she was taking a long time, or maybe she was shy... or perhaps... she did not believe they were in a horror movie and had gone down the mountain to seek help?

"Mr. Jiang," Ye Xiang quickly asked Jiang Yi, "Where is your wife? Why hasn't she come back?"

"This..." He looked surprised and then looked in the direction his wife had gone.

"Let's go find her!"

It was a matter of life and death! Ye Xiang recalled the countless ghostly figures in the movie poster of "The Horror Bus" and felt a chill run down his spine!

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