The Salted Fish is Rebellious – CH68

Chapter 68

Xing Shi’s explanation was concise as he recounted the events of the past few days.

Each incident came with a short, few-second video clip. The entire compilation had been professionally edited by the company, with any sensitive content carefully censored.

He said, “The first individual was a psychiatric patient who died on the spot, with the cause of death unknown. The second was a terminal cancer patient. He survived and later claimed he had been controlled by some mysterious force.”

As trainees, they occasionally used their accounts to interact with fans. The company had long ago briefed them on the rules of these platforms—what could be said and what couldn’t.

He added, “I’ll just assume he was hypnotized. You know what I really mean. I suspect the first guy was also hypnotized, sent specifically to attack me. Finally, I’ll leave two simple maps here: their addresses, approximate routes, and my school’s location.”

Fans were shocked to discover how serious the situation was and quickly expressed their concern.

Facing two near-death experiences in just a few days would make anyone want to investigate further, even if they were just an ordinary person—let alone a minor celebrity.

Some entertainment bloggers reposted his video on Weibo, attaching a brief caption: Trainee Xing Shi claims he’s being targeted by a mysterious force.

The followers of these bloggers came from all kinds of fandoms. Out of curiosity, many clicked on the video.

Most didn’t recognize him, though some remembered he’d trended briefly on social media after appearing on a variety show. At the time, his striking image had caught attention, prompting some to predict he’d soon become a star. Yet after that brief moment, he’d vanished without much fanfare.

Still, people had some lingering impressions of him.

[Never heard of him. Who’s this?]
[So dangerous! [shocked]]
[I remember him—he was on a show with my favorite idol.]
[This does seem a bit creepy.]
[Oh, this guy? I remember there was a thread on a forum saying QCY personally brought him onto the show. They claimed he was going to be the company’s next rising star. But then he stopped getting any gigs. Did he offend someone?]
[Umm… How should I put it? Feels like bad luck, but does he have to link it to “mysterious forces”?]
[Some washed-up nobody scrambling for attention. Saying anything for clicks. Doesn’t his company care?]
[Watch your words. The guy really almost died twice.]
[Are you sure it’s not staged? He said someone died—who actually saw it happen?]
[The first case aside, about the second one—wasn’t that car speeding directly at him? Try faking that yourself!]
[I think it might just be a coincidence. Mercury’s in retrograde lately; everyone’s having a rough time.]

Xing Shi ignored all the chatter and let the discussion grow naturally.

He ordered a cup of coffee on his phone, and after his final class of the day, he went downstairs to pick it up.

Following the same path he’d taken for the past two days, he stood by the roadside, playing with his phone while waiting to cross the street. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed someone approaching from his left, about to pass behind him.

But just as they were passing, an immense force suddenly shoved him in the back. He lurched forward, and a car sped past, its horn blaring.

Nearby, a few bystanders who had been covertly watching him, trying to sneak a photo, screamed in shock.

Xing Shi had already been vigilant toward anyone getting close to him—especially during this dangerous period. His heightened awareness had made him even more cautious. Prepared for such a situation, he quickly stabilized himself by taking a step forward.

Turning back, he saw the assailant grinning foolishly, acting as if nothing had happened, and attempting to leave.

Xing Shi stepped forward, grabbed the person’s wrist, and felt the dissipating energy emanating from them. Without hesitation, he absorbed it.

The energy in his magic core was already full. The surplus from last time had been used to deconstruct green bean paste, with the remainder stored in 99’s energy reserve.

This new batch of energy was similarly stored in 99, though it wasn’t much—after all, the system had controlled the person’s body for several days and guided them all the way to Xing Shi’s location, expending a considerable amount of energy along the way.

The onlookers rushed over, eager to help restrain the person.

But before they could intervene, the individual’s eyes rolled back, and they collapsed to the ground.

At first, people thought the person was faking it to escape. However, they soon realized something was seriously wrong and quickly called for an ambulance.

Xing Shi dialed Fu Xiuning’s number, preparing to head to the hospital with the assailant.

Hearing the details of this latest attack, Fu Xiuning’s expression darkened, even though he knew Xing Shi had taken precautions.

After discussing the matter, Fu Xiuning ended the call and instructed his assistant to obtain surveillance footage from nearby businesses. Given Xing Shi’s careful choice of location, everything should have been caught on camera.

Meanwhile, the ambulance sped toward the hospital.

Xing Shi watched as the person on the stretcher was wheeled into the emergency room, then sat outside to wait while filing a police report.

It was around this time that his phone started buzzing nonstop with incoming messages.

Director He and Qi Changyi had both followed his account. During lunch, when everyone had a moment to check their phones, they all saw his latest video.

The trainees had a similar reaction. They knew Xing Shi had taken a few days off recently, assuming he had something urgent to attend to—never expecting that he’d narrowly escaped death twice.

Director He called immediately, the two live video clips replaying in his mind and making his heart pound.

Xing Shi reassured him, saying he was fine.

But hearing the noise in the background, Director He asked, “Where are you?”

Xing Shi replied, “Out handling some things.”

Thinking about the two incidents, Director He’s scalp tingled. “What things? Is anyone with you?”

Xing Shi said, “Yeah, don’t worry.”

Director He couldn’t feel more uneasy if he tried.

He urged Xing Shi to return to the company or home as soon as he finished, then hung up to urgently rearrange his schedule so he could head to Z City and check on Xing Shi in person.

Not long after, the police arrived.

The hospital and Z University were in different jurisdictions, so the officers who showed up didn’t recognize Xing Shi. They followed protocol, took his statement, and learned the attacker was still being treated. So they waited outside the emergency room as well.

Then, they received the critical condition notice.

The officers took the document and asked, “Does he have a phone or ID on him?”

The nurse replied, “Nothing at all.”

Watching the nurse leave, one of the officers turned to Xing Shi. “You’re sure you just grabbed his wrist and didn’t do anything else?”

Xing Shi said, “I’m sure. There should be surveillance cameras on the street; you can check them.”

The officer nodded, already planning to review the footage.

Xing Shi took the opportunity to respond to a few messages and browse online comments.

His account didn’t have much to see—it was full of concerned messages from his devoted fans.

Instead, he scrolled through Weibo.

The current mainstream theories fell into two camps: one claiming coincidence, painting him as a washed-up star who latched onto some supernatural nonsense to make noise; the other speculating conspiracy, suggesting that his meager resources after debuting were a result of rejecting some powerful figure’s advances, leading to retaliation.

Since the video had been posted in the morning, the number of comments wasn’t too high yet, and it hadn’t made it to the trending topics.

He turned off his phone.

The rescue operation lasted nearly an hour, after which the man was moved to the ICU in critical condition. Things weren’t looking good.

During this time, the police received feedback from their colleagues who had reviewed the surveillance footage at the scene. As Xing Shi had claimed, all he did was grab the man’s wrist.

One of them remarked, “He’s a minor celebrity. I checked his account.”

The officer opened the platform based on his colleague’s suggestion and watched Xing Shi’s video.

Noticing the phone screen, Xing Shi asked, “Officer, don’t tell me I’ve run into something like this again?”

The officer hesitated. “…You should trust in science.”

Xing Shi countered, “Then explain to me how someone pushed me and ended up critically ill right after. Where’s the science in that?”

The officer replied, “…We’ll investigate.”

Xing Shi earnestly encouraged them, “Good luck!” before returning to the company.

Fu Xiuning, knowing Xing Shi had skipped lunch, had already ordered food for him. Xing Shi ate in Fu Xiuning’s office, recorded an audio clip, and then headed downstairs for training.

By this time, classes had already started. When he walked into the training room, everyone turned to look at him, even the teacher sneaking a couple of glances. They endured until class ended, then immediately surrounded him.

Feng Zifan, who hadn’t had any gigs for the past two days and returned to attend class, asked, “What’s going on with you?”

Xing Shi replied, “Exactly what the video said.”

Having witnessed Yu Shu’s incident firsthand, Feng Zifan wondered if Yu Shu had turned into a vengeful ghost after his death.

The other trainees weren’t aware of this backstory, but they came up with plenty of suggestions, including which mountain temple might be the most reliable.

Xing Shi smiled and thanked them, finishing the rest of his classes as usual before taking the evening off.

He and Fu Xiuning returned home together. From Fu Xiuning, Xing Shi received the edited video and uploaded it to his account.

The previous video had already gone viral throughout the afternoon. After all, it involved life-or-death matters and even hinted at attempted murder.

Before they had even finished discussing it, the second video dropped that very evening.

The footage, pieced together from multiple shop cameras, presented the incident from various angles. Xing Shi’s audio narration explained the events and ended by stating that the perpetrator was currently in critical condition—anyone who doubted it could verify the claim.

The online community collectively fell silent.

Once or twice could be chalked up to coincidence. But a third time?

Especially with the incidents happening so close together, it was undeniably suspicious.

Some people still clung to science, believing the assailant had been poisoned, which led to their critical state.

But regardless of the differing opinions, the growing discussion propelled the topic to the forefront of the trending topics.

With Z University students joining in, netizens quickly pinpointed the location. The university issued a statement confirming the incidents and clarifying that further details were pending police investigation. Those who had accused the “washed-up celebrity” of faking everything promptly shut up.

Now the pressure was on the police.

The hospitalized individual remained unconscious, with no clear timeline for recovery. The driver, however, insisted he had encountered a ghost. As for the first psychiatric patient, the coroner’s report was already in: cause of death was internal organ rupture and failure.

The supervisor asked, “Can someone fall and rupture their organs like that?”

The coroner replied, “It’s possible, but it doesn’t seem consistent with a fall—especially since there’s also organ failure.”

The supervisor pressed further, “Could drugs have been involved?”

The coroner shook his head. “No.”

Silence fell over the room.

The officers replayed the events in their minds and found themselves equally at a loss for words.

Eventually, the police issued an official statement.

It detailed the sequence of events for all three incidents as reported to them and confirmed they were under investigation. No additional information was disclosed.

Following the release of the statement, the heat around Xing Shi’s two videos quickly cooled.

By the time Xing Shi woke up the next day, the videos were no longer visible on Weibo.

It was at this point that the media outlets arranged by Fu Xiuning stepped in.

After a full day and night of heated discussion—coupled with official confirmation that Xing Shi had indeed experienced three consecutive accidents—public curiosity was at an all-time high.

When an interview with the driver was released, everyone clicked on it without hesitation.

In the video, the driver’s face wasn’t shown, but he bluntly stated that his body had been controlled by a mysterious force.

He said, “Before this incident, the doctors told me I had at least three to six months to live. Afterward, my condition worsened significantly. Now I’m on the verge of death. They say a dying man speaks no lies—I stand by my words.”

The interview went viral instantly, becoming the top trending topic. The comment section was filled with a mix of reactions.

After watching the interview, Li Yu exhaled a sigh of relief and said to his system, “Send a message to the main system. Lay everything out exactly as it happened. Tell it that if it keeps pulling stunts like this, it risks exposure.”

“Er Deng Jie Wei Fei” replied, “Understood.”

At the same time, 99 sent a similar report on Xing Shi’s instructions. It asked, “Will this work?”

Xing Shi responded, “Not likely. First, the main system might just roll with it, claiming it’s all ghosts, and next time, it’ll try something more cautious to ensure I don’t slip away. Second, it might opt for a milder tactic but still continue targeting me.”

99 asked, “So it’s still going to send systems after you?”

Xing Shi answered, “Exactly.”

99 said, “Then what’s the point of all this effort?”

Xing Shi replied, “I’m not done yet.”

System 99: “?”

After the buzz around the interview subsided, Xing Shi stayed home and received Director He and Qi Changyi.

It was Saturday, and Xing Shi, knowing they would visit, had chosen not to go to the company.

His gaze shifted between them before settling on top-tier idol Qi Changyi. Xing Shi flashed a brilliant smile and said, “Cousin, how about starting a livestream?”

Qi Changyi didn’t question Xing Shi’s intentions and simply replied, “Sure.”

Xing Shi handed him a script and gestured for him to read it verbatim.

Qi Changyi nodded, logged into his account, and started the livestream.

As a top-tier idol, Qi Changyi’s fans and diehards far outnumbered Xing Shi’s. Being the weekend, the viewer count skyrocketed almost instantly.

Facing the camera, Qi Changyi greeted the audience and said, “I’m here today to check on my little brother and interview him about his thoughts.”

The camera then turned, focusing on Xing Shi lounging on the sofa.

Xing Shi waved. “Hi, everyone.”

The audience: “!!!”

Qi Changyi asked, “What are your thoughts about everything that’s happened recently?”

Xing Shi paused for two seconds before answering, “I think… it might not have been aimed at me.”

Qi Changyi and Director He: “?”

The livestream viewers: “???”

The comments section exploded with question marks.

Just as they were starting to suspect he had received an official directive to make a public statement, a man with an extraordinary aura entered the frame.

Walking behind Xing Shi, the man gently tilted Xing Shi’s chin upward, bent down, kissed him, and then looked straight into the camera. “It was aimed at me.”

Qi Changyi and Director He: “?!”

The audience: “!!!”