Chapter 78: Happy People
[!!!!]
[Wow! It feels like the popularity of Voice of the Dead might even surpass The Path of Bones!]
[Does anyone else think Shao Yao’s action scenes were really sharp? It’s not that soft and weak kind of vibe. He could totally try playing a young hero in a wuxia drama!]
[Too bad he’s just a punching bag in Song of Southern Country. The contrast is massive.]
[I just checked the dates—Voice of the Dead has only been airing for two days, and Lu Xu is about to take off, isn’t he?]
The peak popularity score of The Path of Bones had been over 14,000, and Voice of the Dead had already surpassed 13,000 after just two episodes. While part of this was due to the resolution of a key case, the numbers were still astonishing.
[Could Lu Xu be some kind of chosen actor blessed with divine luck?]
[More like a record-breaking champion!]
[Earlier this year, I thought no drama could break the record set by The Path of Bones, but here comes Voice of the Dead in the second half of the year.]
Surprisingly, it wasn’t the two leads, Lu Xu and Shao Yao, who first brought Voice of the Dead into the spotlight—it was the intricacies of the cases themselves. For a drama series, the plot often mattered more than the actors. Several bloggers known for analyzing Voice of the Dead had solid reputations among viewers. While the show included some supernatural elements, its storytelling was exceptionally logical and meticulous.
Naturally, the audience’s attention shifted to the next episode.
Given that this broadcasting slot lacked strong competitors, with most platforms airing relatively mediocre content, no drama could withstand the momentum of Voice of the Dead. In a sense, the show had monopolized the market.
…
However, when viewers eagerly dove into Episode 5, they discovered that the new case they had been anticipating did not appear. Episode 5 turned out to be a continuation of the first case—a story about a girl who escaped from her family but was tragically murdered along with her child.
Such girls exist in every city, perhaps more than one, yet they never receive their parents’ care or love. This was true in life, and it remained true in death.
Her death only meant that her parents could receive more money.
A single life—or rather, two lives—couldn’t compare to the compensation they stood to gain.
But what was the point of blaming her parents?
They had long been assimilated by the environment they lived in. They couldn’t tell anyone that their daughter had been brutally murdered and dismembered, because they had other children to think about. Because… the dead were already gone, and the living still had to carry on.
They couldn’t consider the dead child; they had to consider the ones who were still alive.
After all, the girl had never received much care or kindness while she was alive.
Only Jiang Lin heard her desperate pleas and cries for mercy, the only proof that she had existed in this world, the only evidence that she truly wanted to live.
Sadly, she was born without a home and died without finding one.
The city that became her and her child’s final resting place was their only destination in the end.
[…A pretty solid case, but a deeply tragic story.]
[Ahhhhh, can’t they at least give us a warning? Out of nowhere, it’s another emotional gut punch.]
[Ugh, all I can do is sigh. Blaming her parents doesn’t seem to solve anything. It wouldn’t have changed her circumstances. Honestly, in the environment they were in, her parents’ choices might have been the best possible option.]
[Cherish life and live well. Nothing is more important than staying alive.]
The continuation of the first case left the audience feeling bleak, but the second case that followed was outright brutal.
The sounds of rodents gnawing on flesh, rats and insects scurrying in synchronized lines, and the horrifying state of the corpses in the house pushed even the increasingly desensitized viewers to their limits.
[Ahhh! The most savage creatures on Earth have appeared!]
[Did the screenwriter even consider how mouse-phobic people feel? Those tiny whiskers, those beady black eyes, that greasy, shiny fur—there’s nothing cute about them at all, ahhhh!]
[Kudos to the actors for managing to get through this scene without flinching.]
Tan Qi also expressed her admiration for Lu Xu and Shao Yao, who managed to film the scene with such composure.
Rats… were creatures she simply couldn’t deal with.
Barely had Tan Qi praised the two actors when she saw the tag #MousePhobia trending on social media.
Recently, the trending topics related to Voice of the Dead rarely included the drama’s title, but the word “mouse” immediately made her suspect it had something to do with the sixth episode that had just aired.
Clicking into the tag, she saw… oh, a frantically hopping monkey. No, a human.
This human emitted sharp chicken-like screeches while leaping into what resembled a tap dance. After a few steady beats, the person let out another bizarre wail, followed by an inhuman sound that seemed impossible for human ears to interpret.
It took Tan Qi a good few dozen seconds to realize that this person… seemed to be Shao Yao?
She could hardly believe it, so she rewatched the video.
This was a clip the official Voice of the Dead account had posted, showing the actor playing Su Yang, Shao Yao, having an extreme and hilarious reaction to encountering a mouse during filming.
[The poor guy almost cried from panic.]
[Not gonna lie, Shao Yao’s dancing is better than Lu Xu’s.]
[…Wait, is that supposed to be praise for Shao Yao or an insult to Lu Xu?]
[Shao Yao is really having a rough time, but I couldn’t help bursting out laughing at his shrieks. Dude, where’s your cool and aloof persona?]
[That tiptoeing looks like he’s performing Dance of the Little Swans.]
[It’s both pitiful and hilarious, but Su Yang in the show is so calm! Is this what they call the dedication of a true actor?]
[More, more! Give us more content like this!]
The Voice of the Dead production team had never released any behind-the-scenes clips before. Tan Qi initially assumed that director Xu Yan wasn’t keen on this kind of footage. Later, she realized that the team wasn’t avoiding it—they just went big whenever they did release something.
She genuinely watched the entire video five times.
Shao Yao in the clip was absolutely hilarious, bouncing higher than a monkey and leaping sideways in an attempt to avoid the rats. His expression looked as though he might keel over at any moment.
But as it turned out, Shao Yao’s video was only the appetizer. Not long after, the production team released another clip showing both Lu Xu and Shao Yao facing the rats together.
The team even added captions at the top of the video, explaining that Lu Xu hadn’t been afraid of rats initially, but Shao Yao’s fear had rubbed off on him.
[They look like two roosters stomping on bugs.]
[Or maybe like two geese recklessly crossing the road?]
[Hey, you’re all mean! I only see a double monkey act.]
Fans were losing their minds laughing as they watched Lu Xu and Shao Yao’s near-breakdown performances. Their frantic movements resembled puppies stung by wasps—pitiful yet ridiculously funny.
[They should debut right here, right now. Let’s call them the SL Dancers.]
[My LS Rappers won’t stand for this!]
[Why not call them the LS Dogs? No, no, LS Doge! 🐶🐶]
[@Shao Yao, why couldn’t you infect our Lu Puppy with something positive instead?]
[Okay, I finally understand why Lu Xu and Shao Yao became good friends.]
The production team, afraid Lu Xu and Shao Yao might miss the fun, made sure to tag them both when posting the clip on social media.
Lu Xu: “…I’d rather not revisit this, thanks.”
Shao Yao: “…”
Shao Yao admitted that he had watched every episode of Voice of the Dead aired so far—except for this one. He absolutely didn’t want to revisit it.
If he did, he felt he’d be “ratted.”
He even avoided seeing the word “rat” anywhere within his field of vision.
However, the world is never short of people who love to stir up some fun.
The day after the Voice of the Dead team released the video, a major streaming site was flooded with parodies titled “Mouse Dance Reenactments.” These videos not only perfectly captured the two dancers’ impressive “skills” but also flawlessly replicated Shao Yao’s sharp, birdlike screeches.
Still, several creators confessed that their attempts at recreating the performance couldn’t match even 50% of Shao Yao’s original vocalizations.
One particularly creative netizen turned Shao Yao’s chicken-like cry into a phone ringtone, commenting: [It perfectly reflects my despair when heading to work—so realistic.]
While both Lu Xu and Shao Yao were left speechless by the viral phenomenon, Voice of the Dead saw its popularity surge. Even those who hadn’t followed the show now knew it had produced two “dancers” in the cast.
Though discussions about the rat scenes overshadowed the details of the second case, many viewers were impressed that Lu Xu and Shao Yao managed to finish filming despite their visible fear. The fact that the production team used real rats instead of props earned further respect.
Moreover, the design of the second case was undeniably… unique.
On this day, discussions about Voice of the Dead centered on two topics: the tragic experiences of the first case’s victim and Shao Yao’s ordeal at the hands of the “rat actors” on set. Discussions meant attention, and attention translated into rising popularity.
With the first case wrapped up and the new case just starting, the show’s popularity score remained steady at over 13,000.
Considering the first case’s rise from 11,000 to 13,000 in popularity score, industry insiders speculated that by the end of the second case, Voice of the Dead could very likely break the 14,000 mark.
The voices predicting the failure of Voice of the Dead had collectively fallen silent.
As of now, The Path of Bones had only just surpassed a peak popularity of 14,000. If Voice of the Dead were to reach 14,000 during its second case and continue climbing with its third and fourth cases, it might very well overtake The Path of Bones to become the year’s top drama.
If that happened, Lu Xu would dominate both the first and second spots on the popularity charts—a scenario some found difficult to accept.
“Couldn’t this be fabricated hype?” Yan Qichen questioned, only to be met with his manager’s exasperated expression.
Yan Qichen didn’t care about Lu Xu’s popularity, but he was bothered by Shao Yao’s sudden resurgence thanks to Voice of the Dead. If his agency hadn’t forbidden him from making controversial statements, he would have already publicly dissed Shao Yao.
His manager, however, sternly stopped him. “Do you think you can win an argument against Lu Xu? Or are you more famous than Zhang Che?”
Yan Qichen frowned. “What does this have to do with Lu Xu and Zhang Che?”
Patiently, his manager explained that Shao Yao was undoubtedly being supported behind the scenes by Lu Xu. Lu Xu, known for being unbeatable in entertainment industry feuds, would reduce someone like Yan Qichen—who lacked the wit—to tears if he tried to confront him.
“Even Zhang Che couldn’t handle Lu Xu, and you’re not as popular as Zhang Che!”
More importantly, given Lu Xu’s current trajectory, there was practically no rising star in the industry who could rival him in head-on clashes.
With Voice of the Dead already enjoying massive popularity, even if another platform released a big-budget drama, it likely wouldn’t stand a chance against it. And when it came to targeting large-scale productions, Lu Xu had plenty of experience and expertise.
In summary, everyone in the entertainment industry knew that Yan Qichen and Shao Yao were on bad terms. There was no need for Yan Qichen to add Lu Xu—a far more formidable rival—into the mix.
Lu Xu’s career was soaring, while Yan Qichen’s trajectory was clearly on the decline.
Shao Yao’s agency, Mingniao Entertainment, wasn’t much of a concern. However, Lu Xu’s agency, Feiyang Entertainment, had deep connections within the entertainment industry.
Reluctantly, Yan Qichen had to agree to hold back.
Frustrated, he vented by purchasing several guinea pigs. Every day, he would hold up their cage, asking the little rodents to curse Shao Yao on his behalf. The guinea pigs, upon seeing him, would immediately flee to the farthest corner of the cage.
#Mice Can’t Handle It
#The Burden Is Too Heavy