HEIFEIGU -Chapter 23

Ji Jin hadn’t been stupid enough to confess voluntarily.

Once he realized what he’d said, he immediately backtracked and brought in a lawyer, insisting that his previous claim of poisoning was due to shock and mental instability in the escape room—nothing had actually happened.

As for the Orange TV incident, it was all Xie Jixing’s misunderstanding that led him to hold a grudge and seek revenge.

Although Xie Jixing submitted recordings of his conversations with his manager on Orange TV, Ji Jin’s voice didn’t appear in the recordings, so they could not serve as direct evidence.

The critical physical evidence—the bottle of water Ji Jin allegedly poisoned—had already been consumed by Xie Jixing.

With no direct evidence, the case seemed to reach a deadlock.

Just as Xie Jixing considered using the surveillance footage from Orange TV, the footage mysteriously appeared online.

The person who released it was Yu Xinghan. He had watched the livestream of the escape-room variety show, and when Ji Jin lost control, he immediately thought of the previous events on Orange TV.

The studio’s surveillance was routinely replaced, so trying to retrieve it now would be impossible. The copy he had his colleagues save became crucial evidence.

To post it—or not?

Yu Xinghan hesitated for a long time. He was generally a decent person but always kept a low profile and rarely took sides.

The entertainment industry was deep and complex; picking sides carelessly could lead to trouble.

But recalling the moment in the car when Qian Shuyun and Xie Jixing exchanged WeChats, Yu Xinghan decided to gamble. He reconstructed the events from a third-person perspective.

Yu Xinghan posted:

【Hello everyone, I watched the full livestream of the escape-room variety show. During the broadcast, Ji Jin said he once poisoned Xie Jixing, which reminded me of some anomalies during his Orange TV livestream.

That day, the opening performance was by the Summer Star group, with Xie Jixing as the lead singer. His high, clear voice left a deep impression. But when his solo portion began, his voice changed—hoarse, with small coughs, looking very uncomfortable.

Since his solo was supposed to be a singing-and-dance performance, I privately asked him if he wanted to cancel it to ensure the broadcast quality. Xie Jixing confirmed the cancellation.

However, just as I was about to skip him and invite the next guest, Ji Jin suddenly insisted that Xie Jixing had prepared his solo for a long time and that canceling it would be bullying the young artist. This led to Xie Jixing’s impromptu magic act accident.

Connecting these events, I immediately retrieved the backstage surveillance footage. Video X1. I hope kind people are unharmed, and wrongdoers are properly punished.】

Yu Xinghan’s statement corroborated a previous forum post. The video quickly went viral.

In the surveillance, Ji Jin could be clearly seen hunching over behind the camera, fiddling with something, then carrying a bottle of water to another room and handing it to Xie Jixing.

Shortly after drinking it, Xie Jixing frowned, showing a painful expression. He held his throat, then started coughing violently.

He sat there, tears streaming, and after seeing blood in the cough, staggered out to a bathroom.

Although the video could not serve as direct evidence, it provided a crucial lead for the case.

The police obtained a search warrant for Summer Xing’s dorm and Ji Jin’s residence.

Ji Jin had left the drug in his dorm drawer, thinking it was safe—he was caught red-handed.

This time, witness testimony, physical evidence, and surveillance were all complete. It was undeniable—he was going to prison.

Summer Xing’s manager and Xia Letian were also taken in.

The incident developed rapidly, shocking netizens, who rushed to comment on the forum post.

【Check-in! Summer Star had packaged Ji Jin as a reserved, cultured rogue. Turns out he’s a prison-bound rogue.】

【The manager is a prophet! Nailed it!】

【Weren’t they going to send a lawyer’s letter? Why not? Why is Xia Letian silent now?】

【Because it’s still unclear how many legally-minded people Summer Star has on his side.】

【My heart hurts for Xie Jixing—bullied for so long and poisoned.】

Fans of Xia Letian, unwilling to be mocked, popped up with sarcastic remarks:

【Not sure why people sympathize with 208. How much money could they make off this hype?】

【Stop being sarcastic. I’m a fan of Xie Jixing, from street boxed meals and day-rate 500 beginnings. The more I dig into his past, the more heartbroken I get. He donated to the orphanage that raised him every month, never spoke of it online. Besides the group meals, he never ate a solo meal with Xia Letian, and even after debuting, he still worked odd jobs.

Even worse, originally the dorm’s second floor had two suites—Ji Jin and Xia Letian shared one, Zhu Qian and Xie Jixing shared the other. After Zhu Qian went abroad, Ji Jin and Xia Letian took the two suites, Zhu Qian moved to the third floor, and Xie Jixing to the top storage room. Isn’t that bullying?】

The show’s pre-planned trending topics were useless, but this scandal naturally drew far more attention.

The production released a new teaser:

【The mansion escape room is temporarily sealed. Want to know the secrets deep inside the house? On the day of reopening, we reveal all!】

They even quietly tagged all related program keywords.

Rather than suffering any loss, the Ji Jin–Xie Jixing incident boosted the show’s attention by several levels.

After the show, Meng Zezhou became increasingly puzzled by Ji Jin’s reaction entering the escape room.

He hired a professional to enhance the brightness and zoom in on the section where Xie Jixing and Ji Jin clashed.

Though still slightly blurry, Meng Zezhou noticed something.

When Ji Jin aggressively swung a stick at Xie Jixing, the skin around his wrist showed shallow, uneven marks—like someone was manipulating him with invisible threads.

“Bro, I might have found someone who can solve your problem,” Meng Zezhou said, confident his hunch was mostly correct—but now he needed to meet Xie Jixing personally.

The man on the other end of the line spoke with a low, lingering voice, pausing slightly before asking, “What?”

“Take care of the problems on your body,” Meng Zezhou said mysteriously. “I’ve discovered he has some special abilities, though they still need to be verified.”

“Special abilities?” The man’s brows furrowed slightly but relaxed quickly. “Who is it?”

“Brother, do you know Xie Jixing?”