Living Beyond the Blame Chapter 1

Ethan Jian's eyes fell on the huge poster at the entrance of the cinema's ticket office.

A large flock of crows forms the background of the poster. The picture is desolate. A handsome man in armor looks up at the sky, full of murderous intent and intimidating eyes, which blends perfectly with the sharp fonts that make up the title of the film.

He wanted to watch it for a while longer, but the staff of the cinema had already walked to the sign, ready to move it away and replace it with a poster of a new movie that would be released tomorrow. Perhaps because they were in a hurry to take it, the stand shook and suddenly fell down, and the man with a firm gaze and an upright posture on the poster seemed to suddenly collapse.

Ethan Jian was stunned for a moment, then slowly turned his head.

Behind me, a young girl begged the staff in a soft voice to deliver a poster.

Ethan Jian subconsciously touched his pocket, then he remembered that he had quit smoking half a month ago. Now there were no cigarettes in his clothes, only a small can of chewing gum. He gently knocked open the lid with his thumb. The warm lights in the cinema hall made his finger joints more distinct, making him look particularly slender and elegant.

Ethan Jian is a stuntman. All difficult, risky, or extremely hard roles are considered stunts. No matter how well he performs, no audience knows his name.

Ethan Jian didn't have any ambitions that didn't match his abilities, but trouble still came his way. Someone threatened to make him lose his job and make him unable to survive in the stuntman circle.

He rested at home for most of half a year until this morning when Ethan Jian unexpectedly received a call.

He is the agent of the movie emperor Patrick Li. The movie emperor wants to sign a contract with him and invites Ethan Jian to be his exclusive stand-in actor with preferential treatment.

Ethan Jian did not agree outright, but he was already wavering in his heart. He had met Patrick Li and had been a stunt double for him in the film he was watching today. To be honest, Patrick Li was a good person, but --- Ethan Jian was so lost in his own thoughts that he did not notice that the elevator had not come up yet.

A young and handsome man, wearing popular brand casual clothes, with long and straight legs wrapped in jeans. He casually puts a piece of chewing gum in his mouth, and his lips tend to be an ambiguous orange under the warm yellow light.

Watching a movie, you can still meet a handsome guy after the show. The two female students waiting for the elevator's eyes lit up and whispered in each other's ears.

The elevator in the cinema can accommodate ten people. Ethan Jian left only after watching all the subtitles at the end of the film. At this time, most of the people who were watching the movie with him had left. The screen above the ticket counter that scrolled the movie showtimes showed the current time was 22:44, and the waiting area of   the cinema was empty.

"Ding." The elevator slowly opened.

Ethan Jian followed a couple who were still excitedly discussing the plot into the elevator, followed by the two girls dressed as students. The elevator was filled with the strong aroma of a hot pot restaurant on a floor below the cinema. Ethan Jian frowned slightly, and his stomach seemed to come alive in an instant, protesting severely to him.

It is easy to feel hungry after quitting smoking, especially with such fresh and spicy smell that stimulates the taste buds.

Ethan Jian glanced at the hot pot restaurant advertisement posted in the elevator, his mind wandering. As he chewed gum from time to time, the whole elevator shook violently.

Caught off guard, the female student screamed in fright.

Ethan Jian subconsciously pressed himself against the wall of the elevator, holding onto the wall with his arms to maintain his balance. Before he could further assess the situation, the shaking of the elevator came and went just as quickly, and apart from the lingering sound of the scream, it was as if nothing had happened.

The five people in the elevator looked at each other, then looked at the button panel with flashing numbers.

"First floor." A mechanical female electronic voice came from the speaker, and the elevator door opened smoothly.

The young couple breathed a sigh of relief, and the man immediately muttered: "What a broken elevator, they didn't even repair it, luckily nothing happened."

The two female students were also scared because the shaking was so violent that they both fell against the wall of the elevator. Fortunately, there were not many people in the elevator and those they didn't know stood at a distance. Otherwise, it would have been so embarrassing to fall on others!

Although Ethan Jian was not frightened, no one would be happy if they encountered such a thing. Ethan Jian pinched his eyebrows, walked out of the elevator, looked around the first floor of the mall, and prepared to find the service desk to report the elevator problem. Due to the danger level of his own work, Ethan Jian was more sensitive to such things, whether the mall would take it seriously or not was another matter.

Not long after walking out of the elevator, Ethan Jian felt something strange.

Half past ten is the closing time of the mall. Some counters have been covered with a thick layer of velvet, and the lights in some areas are turned off. The bustling places during the day are now deserted, but today seems a little strange. There is no one in sight.

There were no patrolling security guards, no cleaning staff, and no receptionist busy with her last order.

The opened bottle of perfume was still on the counter, some cleaning tools were scattered on the floor, the air conditioning in the mall had been turned off, and the cold wind that came in from somewhere made the entire lobby gloomy and chilly.

The young couple took out their phones and fiddled with the taxi-hailing app.

The two female students rubbed their fingers and ran straight to a KFC next to the mall. The fast food restaurant had a connecting sliding door on the first floor of the mall. They came to the ordering counter, looked around, and started calling loudly for the waiter.

There was no one in the fast food restaurant, and through the glass I could see the girls' dazed expressions.

Feeling even more ominous, Ethan Jian walked quickly towards the gate. The cold wind of the late autumn night blew in his face, and Ethan Jian's whole body stiffened, standing still in the square outside the mall.

Under the neon lights, the bustling city that should have been bustling with traffic has come to a standstill.

Cars were parked on the road, not in a traffic jam, but scattered on the viaduct and auxiliary roads. In the dark night sky, a bleak moon silently illuminated the quiet streets. The city seemed to have suddenly turned into a photo, without any changes or vitality.

Where have all the people gone?

Ethan Jian felt the muscles in his cheeks twitching. The gum was still in his mouth and he hadn't been chewing it for long, but he could no longer taste it. The huge sense of absurdity almost swallowed him whole.

"What's going on? There's no signal. I can't even connect to the internet... huh?"

The young couple who followed them out of the mall were also frightened. They opened their eyes wide in horror and looked at the road in the distance. Their bodies trembled uncontrollably. They hurriedly huddled together and stammered:

"What's going on? Where are the people?"

"It's a prank, maybe a spoof variety show!"

The man managed to calm himself down and said loudly, "It's so boring, in the middle of the night!"

The woman quickly pulled him aside and complained: "Watch your words, this might be a live broadcast! It's a good thing to be on TV, why do you care so much?"

I haven't heard of any big program crew closing off several roads near the business district recently. Even if there is, the guests on the show are all big names, so who are passers-by?

Ethan Jian took a step back, ran back into the mall, rushed back to the elevator door and pressed the indicator light for the top floor. The moment the elevator door closed, he could hear his own heartbeat, which was very rapid, and his breathing became heavy.

"Ding, sixth floor, Huanyu Cinema welcomes you." The warm yellow light shone on Ethan Jian. It was brighter and much warmer here than on the first floor of the mall, but the biting cold spread in Ethan Jian's heart like a tide.

The poster and the frame were tilted on the ground, the staff who replaced it were nowhere to be seen, and the fans who were longing to get the poster were also gone. There was still the sweet smell of popcorn in the ticket hall of the cinema, but the ticket seller who was lying on the counter playing with his mobile phone seemed to have never existed.

Ethan Jian searched his pockets for a long time but couldn't find a cigarette. His anxiety made him frown deeply. He vaguely heard the two female students and the couple shouting in panic downstairs.

"Anyone here? Is anyone here?"

Ethan Jian paused on the edge of the poster, then slowly moved away and looked down at the young general on the poster.

The title "Crow" is sharp and seems to catch the audience's eye. The general has a resolute expression and his armor is tattered, just like a poplar tree standing in the desert. There is also a line of words on the poster: Movie Emperor Patrick Li leads the cast.

Ethan Jian did not pick up the poster. He threw the chewing gum into the trash can. Before stepping into the elevator again, he glanced at the scrolling electronic screen of the cinema. The current time was 22:44.

***

While the other four people in the elevator were wandering around the sixth floor of the mall shouting in vain, Ethan Jian had already left the cinema.

He picked up the car in the parking lot, calmly started the car and drove out of the shopping mall, running in the silent city. The speed gradually increased, bypassing one car after another that had stalled on the road, and all the cars were empty.

Cold sweat broke out from the palms of my hands and stuck to the steering wheel cover.

Ethan Jian's heart sank. He turned on the radio in the car, but all the channels were filled with the sound of electricity. The most terrifying thing was the time displayed on the car system, which remained at 22:44 without any change.

He took out the mobile phone from his pocket and dialed the numbers in the address book one by one, but failed to make the call.

He stepped hard on the brakes, making a sharp sound. The tires left an obvious mark on the ground. Ethan Jian leaned heavily on the seat, threw his cell phone into the box on the windshield, and supported his forehead with his right hand, trying to suppress his anxiety.

It's really weird!

I've heard of ghost walls, but I've never heard of people in the whole city disappearing after entering an elevator.

Ethan Jian ruffled his hair, restarted the car, and drove smoothly all the way home.

He got out of the car and went to the message room to press the switch of the community gate himself. He left his car downstairs. Normally, the people next door would be watching TV at this time, and the neighbor's dog would bark a few times when he went upstairs. But now there was no sound at all.

Ethan Jian did not change his coat. He fell onto the sofa in the living room and fumbled for the remote control to turn on the TV.

There are pictures, but the pictures of each channel are still.

The anchors of the evening news, the characters in the family drama, the frozen advertisements, the switching of channels, it was like watching a slide show. It turns out that ordinary things can be so terrifying when they are all still.

Ethan Jian resisted the urge to throw the remote control. If this was a nightmare, it was too real.