Ch13 - A Secret That Wasn’t a Secret

“There’s a ghost, there’s really a ghost…” Xu Haoming had been scared out of his wits by this little episode and directly took Lu Xu as his savior. His body moved before his mind could think it through clearly.

Lu Xu was unaccustomed to being in close proximity with others and took two steps back before he realised it. “If you have something to say, just say it. Get off of me first.”

Perhaps Lu Xu’s tone of voice was overly calm, and the initially panicked Xu Haoming was affected by it. There were no ghosts banging on walls nearby, the lights were bright, there was a clear voice right in front of him. It made him wonder whether what happened earlier had been just a dream.

Xu Haoming regained his senses, and only then realised that he was holding onto Lu Xu without letting go. After his fears had dissipated, his dignity came back online. He quickly jumped off of Lu Xu, his face becoming a little warm. “That wasn’t on purpose…”

However one looked at it, BTT was a decently popular group. In addition to the fact that all the members were a ‘5A’ today, there were few who didn’t know who Xu Haoming was. Everyone had been a bit panicked because the electricity and water had cut off, and were standing in the corridor waiting to shower. Naturally, they saw Xu Haoming hanging off of Lu Xu’s body. They thought he was a scaredy-cat who was afraid of the dark, and couldn’t help but burst into laughter—

“I thought I was already pretty scared of the dark. I never would have thought that someone else would be even more scared.”

“Hahaha, I used to think that the BTT members were all cool and cold, who would have thought that they’re actually so cute.”

“Hey hey hey, Haoming ge, make way, let go of Xu ge and let me have a go!”

…

Everyone was just teasing, but they didn’t mean anything behind it. It was just that Xu Haoming felt he was still in a dream.

Lu Xu smiled at everyone and said naturally, “Everyone, go ahead and wash up then sleep. We still have filming tomorrow.”

Only sufficient sleep could guarantee having vigorous energy the next day. Filming would take place over the entire day, and they knew that it would be a tough battle.

Everyone joined the competition to fight for the chance to debut. Only those who displayed their talents could gain even more screen time. After thinking that through, everyone immediately busied themselves with their own matters. No one was bothered about what was happening on Lu Xu’s side.

Now, Xu Haoming was really embarrassed, but also really terrified.

That strange encounter from before was still fresh in his mind, and he couldn’t help but try to renew his view of the world.

“Lu Xu, you can see them, right?” Even Xu Haoming didn’t know why he was asking this question.

But once he thought of Lu Xu’s previous prediction that he would see a ghost, Xu Haoming wondered if Lu Xu could really see those things.

However, Lu Xu’s expression was rather blank after hearing this question. He even frowned as he asked, “What do you mean ‘them’?”

“Ghosts!” Xu Haoming couldn’t help but look around as he spoke, scared that they were still there.

“What ghosts are you talking about, are you too tired?” Lu Xu shrugged, pretending he didn’t see the four apparitions squatting by the corner of the wall, waiting for judgment.

“Maybe.” Xu Haoming didn’t know how to explain his experience to Lu Xu. Lu Xu’s behavior made him think that he really couldn’t see the spirits. Instead of admitting that he had seen ghosts, it was probably better to bury his head into sand and pretend nothing had happened.

Earlier in the afternoon, he had mocked Xu Lele’s superstitions. But not even a day later, his face was raw from the pain of reality.

Seeing Xu Haoming’s face alternate between red and white, Lu Xu guessed that his worldviews were currently rapidly collapsing and being rebuilt.

“You should go wash up and sleep early. Your hair is covered in soap bubbles.”

Under Lu Xu’s well-meaning reminder, Xu Haoming realised he was standing in the hallway wrapped in a towel, soaked in shower water.

He looked at Lu Xu, his emotions somewhat complicated, and acknowledged it stiffly before going back to the dorm first.

“Master Lu Xu…” After Xu Haoming returned to his dorm room, He Xinghua tried to plead with Lu Xu. “We really didn’t want to harm anyone…”

The other two had learned of Lu Xu’s identity from their fellow ghosts and were terrified thinking of how they had been caught in the action of scaring someone.

There were surveillance cameras in the hallway; Lu Xu didn’t want to appear too obvious. He moved his mouth slightly to toss out the words, “Report to the small storage room after I finish recording tomorrow night. Let’s talk then.”

“Okay okay okay, we’ll listen to everything Master has to say.”

Tao Yingbo had existed for a while longer than his three didis. Seeing that Lu Xu didn’t make things difficult for them, his courage rose up quite a bit. “Master Lu Xu, what made you come participate in an idol survival show?”

Based on how Lu Xu had spoken to Xu Haoming, he obviously didn’t want to reveal his identity.

Lu Xu’s face lit up with a hint of a smile as he thought about how large of an order Ji Xiunian was. “It’s required for work.” This was enough of an answer; there was no need for him to report what type of work it was.

Lu Xu didn’t say anything and Tao Yingbo and crew didn’t dare ask for clarification. They only watched Lu Xu go back to his dorm with respectful gazes.

“We should be safe now, right?” He Xinghua propped his face up in his hand and let out a long sigh of relief. He didn’t forget to say emotionally, “I said before that the trainee was Master Lu Xu, but no one believed me.”

The other three had been thoroughly shocked, and felt wronged. “It was your ghost friend who said with utter conviction that grim reapers only appear in morgues, not idol survival shows.”

“I guess that’s right too.” He Xinghua scratched his head, trying his hardest to turn his thoughts around. “Guys, what kind of work requires a grim reaper to participate in an idol survival show?”

Before Lu Xu had appeared, they had met grim reapers from the southwest district. If it wasn’t for the strength of their attachments, they would have been sent directly to the underworld road by the grim reapers.

In everyone’s eyes, grim reapers were existences that connected life and death. They were soul-collecting transfer machines. No matter how they thought about it, ‘idol survival show’ and ‘grim reaper’ did not go together.

Lu Xu wouldn’t reveal the reason. They racked their brains but couldn’t guess why, and could only give up in the end.

After messing around for so long, not only would humans be tired, even ghosts needed to rest.

After He Xinghua separated from his three companions, he thought about it for a while but couldn’t resist sending the news over to his Xiao Bai jiejie.

[Xiao Bai jiejie, I have a huge secret to tell you, but you have to promise you won’t tell anyone!]

The other end responded in seconds—

[What secret, hurry and tell me, I promise I won’t tell anyone.]

He Xinghua composed the message and sent it—

[Didn’t I say earlier there was a trainee who looked like Master Lu Xu? Guess what, it’s actually him!]

[???]

[!!!]

The other end sent a long string of various punctuation marks, demonstrating how shocked she was—

[How is that possible? Did you get it wrong?]

[We’ve already met and greeted each other. It’s true that he’s participating in an idol survival show, but it seems he has a secret mission. You’re the only one I’m telling, you can’t tell anyone else.]

[Okay, I’ll definitely keep it a secret.]

The female ghost was still in shock after sending the message. No matter how she thought about it, it was difficult to imagine—

Master Lu Xu actually went to participate in a survival show in the mortal realm?

She didn’t think He Xinghua was lying; after all, it was impossible to find another person as handsome as Lu Xu in this world.

A grim reaper with outstanding looks running off to enter a survival show, was the Grim Reaper Bureau sending him over as an image ambassador to raise the ever-sinking death rates?

The more the female ghost thought about it, the more she felt this was reasonable. She immediately sent this hot news to her ghost sisters—

[I’m telling you a secret you can’t tell anyone else. Master Lu Xu is participating in an idol survival show as the ambassador of the Grim Reaper Bureau. Answer me sisters, let’s pick the male god together okay?]

…

Within one night, all the legally documented ghost circles had heard of a secret that wasn’t a secret—

Master Lu Xu had gone to participate in an idol survival show on behalf of the Grim Reaper Bureau.

At the same time, everyone was on the same page with a small goal. They wanted to use all their efforts to send Lu Xu to his debut—

#Master Lu, the best in the world, deserves the protection of the entire ghost world#

**

When Lu Xu returned to his dorm, Xu Haoming had just finished showering.

The two of them happened to run into each other. Seeing that Xu Haoming was staring blankly at him, Lu Xu said politely, “Could you let me in first?”

Song Zhe was familiar with Xu Haoming’s temper and thought he was deliberately making things hard for Lu Xu. He was about to say something to ease the tension but didn’t think Xu Haoming would retreat on his own and say with uncharacteristic courteousness, “Sure.”

Lu Xu smiled at him, then went over to his closet to grab his toiletries. He turned back to ask, “Did you all finish showering?”

Xu Haoming didn’t wait for Song Zhe and Han Tianyu to open their mouths before responding, “We’re all finished, you can go shower.”

He had obviously been full of disdain towards Lu Xu earlier. In this short time, he had completely changed attitudes.

Both Song Zhe and Han Tianyu felt like there was quite a difference. They joked, “Looks like your relationship with Lu Xu is pretty good; we thought you didn’t get along at first.”

Xu Haoming raised his chin stubbornly and said, “What do you mean we didn’t get along?” Even he felt embarrassed after saying this, so he simply covered his hair with a towel and didn’t look at them. He muttered to himself, “Lu Xu is younger so shouldn’t I look after him more?”

Song Zhe and Han Tianyu looked at each other, both understanding that they shouldn’t take this person’s mood swings to heart.

But after thinking about it, they still felt that Lu Xu was not a simple person. He was the first to make Xu Haoming withdraw his foul temper in such a short time.

The rest of the night was uneventful.

The next morning, everyone was awoken by a broadcast.

“It’s 6 in the morning right now. You have half an hour to get ready. Gather at the cafeteria for breakfast at 6:30…”

Recording the show yesterday had already taken a long time and a lot of work; no one had slept very much.

“So sleepy.” Xu Haoming yawned, reluctantly opening his eyes.

Although Song Zhe and Han Tianyu did not complain, they didn’t seem much better.

Their eyes were bleary from having just woken up, their hair a mess. It wasn’t considered very attractive.

Almost all of the trainees were in a similar state, the exception being Lu Xu.

Han Tianyu had gotten out of bed, only to notice Lu Xu was already dressed, his fluffy, soft hair without the support of hair gel, making his face seem even smaller. The curtains were closed and the light in the dorm was not very bright, but Lu Xu’s pale skin shone on its own, his skin bright and clear.

“Did you get up this early to put on makeup?” Han Tianyu admitted that the burden of being an idol was not light. He didn’t think Lu Xu would be even more particular about appearances than himself.

“Makeup?” Lu Xu actually shook his head, his clear eyes sparkling. “I never wear makeup.”

Bullshit.

Even ghosts wouldn’t believe he didn’t put on any makeup with a face that pale.

Han Tianyu thought the same and raised a hand to rub at Lu Xu’s face. “Recommend this powder brand to me, it seems pretty good…huh?”

Han Tianyu didn’t finish his words and stared dumbly at his fingers—his fingertips were completely clean without a trace of powder on them.

He hadn’t been kidding. This was actually his bare face?!