I Explain the Supernatural on a Live Stream

Looking for advance readers for: The Fake Young Master's Survival Guide

Chu Xilou had been away from the world of mysticism for years. To get proof of an internship, he had no choice but to take a job with a paranormal livestream production team, working as both the cameraman and the livestream host on the second camera.

He had already "stepped on incense" but still hadn't "risen to the incense." Now, during livestreams, he had become "Tang Monk's meat" in the eyes of every ghost. Driven by circumstances, he could only run an incense hall while flailing around on livestreams, desperately trying to survive (and save face):

In a haunted building where multiple murders had taken place:

Chu Xilou: "Don't be afraid, everyone. A ghostly maze is really just an optical illusion caused by movement. When you're deprived of sight, your instinct is to move in circles..."

Comments: [A ghostly maze only takes you back to where you started. It doesn't conjure up several extra roads out of nowhere. In my Daoist opinion, this is definitely a haunting.]

During a livestream of the elevator game:

Chu Xilou: "The biggest bug in the elevator game is that the rules say a woman might get on at the fifth floor. The word 'might' is just playing on people's..."

Comments: [Can someone tell me if the woman who gets on is a plant? Please, this is really important to me, sob.]

At a mountain villa featured in the news for a dismemberment case:

Chu Xilou: "The bagua mirror in the cabinet is just there to help you pick out clothes. We shouldn't believe in superstition. A new breeze of science will benefit us all, so don't scare yourselves..."

Comments: [Um, was the woman in the painting behind the streamer just like that?]

In the middle of all the chaos, the production team invited a top-tier star science popularizer from M Station to collaborate for the sake of attracting traffic.

"Hello, everyone. I'm Wuyan, a science popularizer who specializes in explaining paranormal events with scientific theories. I'm delighted to be working with the production team." The young man smiled slightly at the camera.

But seeing the yellow talisman still smoking between the man's fingers, Chu Xilou could only laugh awkwardly. "Master, the strokes on your talisman are vigorous and strong, your brushwork is free and bold, and your qi is precisely arranged. It was clearly made by a master..."

Lu Yanxiu replied with elegant poise, "A little trick, nothing worth mentioning."

By a twist of fate, the two stumbled upon the markings and map left by Sun Jie, a paranormal exploration blogger who had been missing for months. In doing so, they uncovered a vast conspiracy...

*

Lu Yanxiu x Chu Xilou. A gentle top who has been plotting his approach for a long time, and a straight bottom.

Two mystic arts experts pretend to be clueless as they make their way through paranormal livestreams, solving supernatural incidents under the guise of science.

--- A divider for the advance reader request ---

Coming soon: The Fake Young Master's Survival Guide

After dying unexpectedly, Lian Qi was bound to the Cannon Fodder Villain System.

In this messed-up world, every chosen Host must play the cannon-fodder fake young master in a true-or-fake young master story. They live by the supreme principle of never stopping until they've gotten themselves killed, and recklessly court death until they become stepping stones on the protagonist's path to triumph.

On his first day in the System's space, Lian Qi found a book left behind by a predecessor: The Fake Young Master's Survival Guide.

He opened it to the first page. Rule number one read:

The protagonist is heaven! The protagonist is earth! How could the protagonist ever be wrong? Even his farts smell sweet!! Rule number one for a fake young master's survival: Make sure you cling to the protagonist's leg!

"..." Lian Qi's mouth twitched. He muttered to himself, "Is this a survival guide or a guide to being a simp?"

"It's all garbage left behind by the failures who came before you." The System sneered disdainfully. "Submitting to the protagonist is the fate of people like you. Take my advice, Host: stop trying these crooked methods and accept your fate. Follow the plot like a good boy."

*

In the first world, he was the fake young master, born with a silver spoon and all the glory in the world. The protagonist was a mech pilot earning tuition money in an underground fighting arena.

Everyone knew that the young master of the Lian family, born with a silver spoon in his mouth, had recently taken a fancy to a girl. He'd even picked a fight with a rising mech pilot from an underground casino over her.

The young master threw money around at every match, all to crush the rising star's momentum as a champion mech fighter.

But no one knew that while the fighting arena roared with excitement, Lian Qi was lounging against the bar in a casino back room, reaching out to push the other man's head away. "Not tonight. It's my big brother's birthday, so I have to go back to the old house this evening."

The hot, damp kisses didn't stop. They fell in little, scattered touches along his neck, and the arms around him showed no sign of letting go. A moment later, the protagonist's hoarse, passion-filled voice sounded beside Lian Qi's ear:

"...What if I don't want you to go?"

*

In the second world, he was the exceptionally gifted, refined son of a sect leader. As a child, the protagonist had been sold by a trafficker to work as a slave at a wealthy merchant's estate, where he suffered every kind of abuse.

Ghosts had been haunting Ankang County for months, and an immortal had come to exorcise them.

On the second day after arriving at the Zhao residence, Magistrate Zhao hosted a banquet for the immortal. A young servant was carrying wine when a pebble struck his knee. In full view of everyone, he fell to the ground along with the wine.

Magistrate Zhao flew into a rage and immediately ordered his men to beat the clumsy wretch to death.

The immortal smiled as he fanned himself. "He does have a handsome face. It'd be a shame to kill him. Why don't you give him to me, Master of the Manor?"

The tall, guilty slave, curled up on the floor, suddenly raised his head and stared at the refined, unworldly "immortal" at the banquet.

Years later, their true identities were revealed. The former slave had become the exalted son of the sect leader, while the once-glorious senior brother had become a "stray dog" everyone avoided.

Lian Qi held a hand to the sword wound on his shoulder, leaning against the wall of a rundown hut. He turned toward the figure blocking the light and laughed. "Come to take revenge?"

The newcomer still carried the chill of autumn frost. He knelt on one knee in front of him and, after a long pause, let out a quiet laugh.

"Jiang Heng, disciple of Qingxian Sect, has admired his senior brother for many years. I have come today to ask for your hand in marriage."

*

The third world.

The System gloated as it held up the script. "The protagonist this time is different."

Lian Qi raised an eyebrow. "Oh? How so?"

System: "He's a saint."

After a moment, the System added with a hint of glee, "And a widely acclaimed one at that. His kindness will win over his brothers and parents, making them increasingly dissatisfied with you, the fake young master, until they kick you, a useless deadweight, out of the house and leave you homeless."

So, on the first day of school, Lian Qi limped on his injured left leg and calmly enjoyed the protagonist bringing him his meals.

On the second day of school, Lian Qi waved his right leg, now in a cast, and calmly waited for the protagonist to help him get dressed.

A month into the school year, Lian Qi opened a folder named "Studying" and turned to look for the protagonist.

The System finally couldn't hold back. "Don't go too far!"

Lian Qi spread his hands innocently. "A saint needs a wicked cannon-fodder villain to play off of. I'm just helping him out."

Neither the man nor the System knew that when night fell and all was quiet, the protagonist would lower his head and kiss the corner of Lian Qi's lips.

At that moment, the protagonist's eyes held a feeling utterly different from before. His voice was gentle, yet completely devoid of warmth. "If you were no longer the high-and-mighty young master, if you were just an ordinary person with nothing, would I be the only one by your side?"

Theme: Fight tenaciously against fate