HEIFEIGU -Chapter 22

“Is he still going to hit me? He’s too scary!” Xie Jixing trembled as he complained, then lowered his head to wipe his eyes.

A circle of girls immediately surrounded him to comfort him.

As for Ji Jin, he ended up with several burly men holding him down, threatening him: “Behave! We’ve already called the police!”

A comment floated across the live stream:

【Earlier, people said Ji Jin was being bullied by Xie Jixing. Why is no one speaking up now?】

【But… really, no one will defend Ji Jin?】

By the naked eye, Ji Jin looked far worse than Xie Jixing.

The incident caused a stir, and Ji Jin’s fans shrank back, no longer making themselves seen.

When the police arrived, they seized all the video footage and took both Ji Jin and Xie Jixing for investigation.

#Ji Jin poisoned his former teammate.

#Summer Star members actually have legal knowledge.

#Xie Jixing and Ji Jin reveal past secrets in a closed room.

#Ji Jin’s extraordinary acting – he really was scared.

#Guilty people are always afraid of ghosts.

Without spending a dime, the show’s related terms shot straight to trending topics.

A show that had hardly anyone paying attention suddenly became the hottest topic.

A long post appeared on the country’s most popular entertainment forum:

【Let’s get to the bottom of who’s really bullying whom!

I just watched the live broadcast of that escape-room variety show and I was really moved. First, I declare I’m an old fan of Summer Star.

I started following this group when it first debuted, and here are photos X10 from my previous offline events.

I believed then that the sunny team leader Xia Letian, the cool ACE Zhu Qian, the talented main singer Xie Jixing, and main dancer Ji Jin, all chasing their dreams together, would definitely rise to stardom. Investing in them was never a loss.

At first, that seemed true.

The group became increasingly popular, and continuing on this path would have made them huge. But things changed when Zhu Qian went abroad to study.

After Zhu Qian left, the remaining three members’ activities became strange, especially Xie Jixing.

Photos X3 show him just joining the group, during activities with the trio, and after leaving.
You can clearly see that when he first joined, although inexperienced, he was confident, open, and quite different from his later state.

During the trio’s activities, his makeup and styling were strange, highlighting his flaws and hiding his strengths. Even though he was 8/10, they styled him like a 5/10. He became timid and withdrawn.

Audio X2 – comparing two songs. You can hear that previously Summer Xing’s songs had fresh styles, well-balanced lyrics, and highlighted Xie Jixing’s bright high notes. Later songs were filled with effects, live distortion, and Xie Jixing, the main singer, barely got a line, completely reduced to a supporting role.

During the trio’s period, many haters appeared, calling him useless at singing and dancing, showing bad dance photos, saying he was a burden. Xia Letian and Ji Jin were with him, and it was so hard for them.

Xie Jixing didn’t know how to dance when he debuted, but through over a year of hard practice, he improved a lot. He could at least move correctly and coordinate with the team. Yet they clung to his early awkward dance.

Thinking back now, I can hardly imagine what Xie Jixing went through.

During that Orange TV live, his voice was fine at first, then hoarse the next stage. What happened in between? I think Ji Jin revealed the answer in the escape room.

He destroyed Xie Jixing’s voice, trying to cement the idea that Xie Jixing was useless at singing and dancing, to make themselves look great.

If that’s true, Xia Letian and the manager may have known but stayed silent due to mutual interests.

This was the company and Summer Xing’s collective bullying of Xie Jixing!】

【Why blame Xia Letian? Just say Ji Jin!】

Fans of Xia Letian jumped to defend him:

【Crazy! Xia Letian sacrificed so much for the team, and yet he’s smeared like this?】

【A traitor’s fan will always reveal their true colors sooner or later.】

【Do you know that when the traitor was poor and had nothing to eat, Xia Letian helped him? Now he bites back.】

【Don’t make baseless accusations. Collective bullying? Patting yourselves on the back much?】

【Legal warning.】

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Ji Jin’s jaw was reset, and he immediately began to scream:

“Doctor? It hurts so much!”

“Ghosts! There are really ghosts, believe me! They made me hit him, I didn’t want to!”

“It’s Xie Jixing!”

“He told the ghosts to control me to hit him!”

【Whether there are ghosts is unclear, but the nonsense he’s spouting is definitely true.】

【CPU overloaded.】

【Xie Jixing had ghosts control Ji Jin to hit him – what a niche description.】

【Who killed me, and who did I kill?】

【Quick answer: I killed myself!】

The accompanying doctor saw multiple joint dislocations and fractures, so they brought a stretcher.

As Ji Jin was laid out, the crowd saw the originally dark gray suit pants had turned black in the crotch area.

No wonder the room smelled so pungent.

【My eyes! So spicy!】

【If I commit a crime, let the law punish me, not Ji Jin’s pee burning my eyes!】

【Ugh… my physiology can’t handle this!】

【Summer Star really is the most flavorful boy group!】

Ji Jin’s joint injuries were severe; even the doctor winced while examining him.

He quietly asked the police, “How did this happen?”

“Both got into a fight. Video shows he attacked first; the other person hit back in self-defense.” The officer glanced at Xie Jixing.

Xie Jixing’s slim, delicate frame, dressed in a female-style Xiuhe outfit, looked elegant, like a late Qing dynasty young lady.

The doctor muttered, “He doesn’t look like someone who could do such harm.”

Then everyone saw Xie Jixing obediently holding the weapon, cautiously approaching to check on Ji Jin.

But seeing him, Ji Jin suddenly went berserk again, screaming insults and trying to attack.

Xie Jixing trembled, shrugged his shoulders, and hid behind a group of girls, looking extremely fragile. Bowing his head, he said, “I’m sorry… I really am sorry.”

The doctor became furious: “He must have felt seriously threatened. When life is at risk, people can unleash strength beyond their own. The guy on the stretcher looked terrifying!”

He administered a sedative to Ji Jin and had him taken away.

At the hospital, it was found that even with treatment, Ji Jin’s multiple joint injuries might leave severe permanent damage. His arms and legs were casted like a plaster statue. Xie Jixing was then taken for questioning.

The police asked Xie Jixing, “You two were… colleagues, right? I see you had some conflicts before. Did you retaliate on purpose this time?”

A fog passed over Xie Jixing’s eyes, his thin brows furrowing. He whispered, “I’m sorry… I didn’t do it on purpose.”

“He retaliated on purpose!” Ji Jin on the bed flailed like an angry mummy, trying to attack Xie Jixing as if about to rise from the dead.

“What are you doing?!” the officer warned. “Behave!”

The doctor proactively tied Ji Jin to the bed.

Xie Jixing quietly gave Yue Qinyao a thumbs-up behind her back.

Irritable, quick-tempered, aggressive—these traits of TGA seemed permanently nailed onto Ji Jin.

It was clear that his mental state was extremely unstable. The police decided not to pursue interrogations further and instead analyzed the previous livestream.

On the night-vision footage, it could indeed be seen that Xie Jixing had not approached Ji Jin at all. Both of them were equipped with microphones, and there was no provocation heard from Xie Jixing.

Then Ji Jin suddenly went mad, throwing a chair as if to attack someone.

Even Xie Jixing, who had just crawled in, was startled and shivered at Ji Jin’s outburst.

The blow Ji Jin landed on Xie Jixing’s shoulder was no joke. Earlier, when the doctor treated Xie Jixing, a huge, dark bruise marred his pale shoulder—gruesome to look at.

Actually, it had been painted by Yue Qinyao using ghostly energy.

“But your technique in striking his joints looked very professional, and you used a lot of force,” the police officer said, puzzled.

“I grew up in an orphanage. To study, I did part-time physical work outside when I was little, so my hands are strong,” Xie Jixing replied.

“I also worked as a sparring partner in a martial arts school. The coach taught us to hit certain spots—not to harm, but to control people. Over time, it just stuck,” Xie Jixing sniffled. “I didn’t want to hurt him, but he was too aggressive… so this was the only way I could think of.”

The police also received Xie Jixing’s personal history.

Orphaned, raised in an orphanage, worked various odd jobs to pay for schooling, and indeed served as a sparring partner in a martial arts school.

He entered the entertainment industry through singing livestreams. Life had finally started to improve, but he only kept living expenses and donated most of his earnings to the orphanage that raised him.

Even when constantly cyberbullied and playing the “scapegoat” role in his group, he never backed down.

Some time ago, after a livestream on Orange TV, he was removed from the group, kicked out of the dorm, returned to living in a basement, worked as an extra, ate boxed meals on the street—yet people still used him to stir up news.

What a pitiful soul—how could anyone not feel sympathy!

In the police’s minds, what happened in the escape room was basically clear.

Watching the video, Ji Jin’s face twisted in rage as he shouted at Xie Jixing: “Ghosts fear evil men! I could poison you before, now I could kill you!”

The police softened their tone considerably. “He poisoned you before?”

A mist instantly clouded Xie Jixing’s eyes. “Officer… my voice wasn’t like that back then…”

He then roughly recounted to the police what had happened previously on Orange TV.

Compared to the small skirmishes in the escape room, the danger of poisoning was far greater.

During Ji Jin’s questioning, the police performed their best acting, suppressing the urge to hit him. “There is a possibility Xie Jixing acted with premeditated revenge. Had there been any conflicts between you before?”

Ji Jin got the wrong impression.

The scales of justice must surely tip in my favor! Xie Jixing is doomed!

Without thinking, Ji Jin said, “Because during a livestream on Orange TV…”

Wait—maybe it’s too late to stop now.

Police: I didn’t expect he’d just expose himself!