Her old phone lagged from time to time, but that couldn't dampen Qiao An's enthusiasm. She did her best to make all sorts of heart gestures ღ(´･ᴗ･`) for the camera.
[Wow! Sweetie is so cute today!]
[I heard this stream can change your luck, so I dropped in.]
[Our girl, did you know? You're like a sweet, fluffy little cake…]
The first few commenters were all IDs Qiao An recognized, especially the user who always called her 'our girl'—Blooming Riches.
"Thanks for dropping by my stream, everyone! Hello! I'm a professional treasure-hunting streamer. This spot today is a lucky place I hand-picked myself. I'm sure I'll find something huge! Go ahead and hit that follow button, smash that like, and double your favorite streamer's good luck!"
Her stream, which usually only had a dozen or so viewers, had now skyrocketed to over ten thousand. Qiao An's eyes lit up, and she felt a surge of motivation.
[Are you sure it'll double her good luck? I heard this streamer is pretty jinxed!]
[A guaranteed 'huge find'? Tsk, tsk. Who knows what that 'huge find' will turn out to be…]
Because highlight clips from her previous streams had gone viral, many new users were flooding the chat with sarcastic, passive-aggressive comments. Qiao An pretended not to see them, shouldered her shovel, and got right to digging.
Amidst the flying dust, only the headlamp on Qiao An's head was visible in the darkness. Many people, out of boredom, started to act like armchair experts in the chat.
[An abandoned building like this in the city? The developers would have picked it clean long ago. How could there be any treasure? Instead of 'Treasure Hunting Stream,' it should be called 'Delusional Fantasies Live'…]
[I'm calling it now. The commenter above is about to eat their words!]
You have to admit, reality was about to prove that while most people can't be unlucky forever… Qiao An can.
As Qiao An focused on digging, she had no time to read the chat. But when she paused to wipe sweat from her brow, she heard a faint, scratching rustle.
To avoid another incident, Qiao An had deliberately chosen a spot under a crumbling wall—what looked like the remains of an old courtyard enclosure. No sane person would bury anything sinister here.
When she heard the strange sound, she peeked over the edge of the broken wall. There, she saw a little black fox, paws outstretched, diligently digging away as if mimicking her.
The little black fox stretched up, and as its head popped up, their eyes met. Both of them stared, dumbfounded.
'I have to say, D City's ecosystem is pretty impressive. First a python, then an owl... who knew there were also Black Foxes.'
The moment it was spotted, the Little Fox's fur stood on end. It leaped into the darkness and vanished.
While Qiao An was still puzzling over it, the Little Fox peeked its head out from behind a large tree and called out in a hushed voice.
"Human, run! It's dangerous here…"
'Dangerous?'
'Aside from me, the only living person here, what danger could there possibly be?'
She set down her shovel and couldn't resist making a few soft cooing sounds. Then, she pulled a cheap sausage from her pocket—one of Qiao An's daily essentials, the ultimate social icebreaker.
She tore the wrapper open with her teeth, carefully tossed the sausage to the Little Fox, and said with a grin, "It's dark out, and there are bad people around. A little one like you shouldn't be playing outside alone. Now, take the sausage and go home, okay? Be good!"
The viewers in the livestream were terrified as they watched Qiao An seemingly teasing someone unseen on the other side of the broken wall.
[Holy crap, what is she seeing? What kind of kid would be playing out here in the pitch dark? Don't tell me it's…]
[Pah, pah, pah! You, up there, stop spouting nonsense! Our girl has an aura of righteousness; no evil spirit can touch her!]
[If you ask me, this is all scripted. Last time she dug up human remains, this time she runs into a ghost. Who'd believe it?]
As Qiao An was trying to cozy up to the Little Fox, she was completely oblivious to a dark figure silently closing in just out of the camera's view.
Just as the Little Fox, a drooling (｡•﹃•｡) expression on its face, was hesitating whether to get closer, its ears suddenly twitched. It yelped in alarm, "Run! A bad guy is here!"
At that exact moment, Qiao An heard a rush of wind by her ear. Her entire body seemed to go boneless, bending backward at an impossible angle as she kicked off the ruined wall to propel herself away.
As she slid across the ground, a man dressed all in black grabbed the shovel Qiao An had set aside and grinned menacingly.
"This is my home! Stay away!"
As Qiao An sprang back to her feet, she knocked over her phone stand. After taking so much abuse, the old phone's screen finally went black for good.
But the chat was exploding with comments. Though the screen was black, faint sounds could still be heard coming through.
[Holy crap, is this for real? When that guy attacked her, he was holding a steel rod…]
[If this is scripted, they're taking it way too far, right?]
If Qiao An hadn't been so agile, that last attack would have incapacitated her.
[Most people can't be this unlucky forever, but our streamer really can!]
[Someone call the police, quick! Does anyone know the exact address?]
[I'm in D City. She said she was in the area. The biggest abandoned building complex in the city is in the East District. I'm calling the cops right now.]
Faced with danger, the Little Fox didn't flee. Instead, it bared its fangs at the man. It wanted to help Qiao An, but it was trembling with fear.
Seeing its endearing, frightened state, Qiao An slowly rose to her feet and dusted herself off.
"What a shame. My stream got ruined again tonight. You lot are the culprits keeping me from making a living. Are you really forcing me to handle this myself?"
A complete departure from the sweet, adorable persona she had at the start of the stream, Qiao An was now furious. Her voice was low and icy, like a beast lurking in the shadows finally baring its fangs—dangerous, yet captivating.
A howl pierced the darkness. The old phone was completely destroyed, and back on the viewers' screens, the chat feed was a frantic flood of question marks.
By the time Mu Zimo arrived with his people, flashlight beams cutting through the dark, they found the man strung up in a large tree. Qiao An was sitting on the broken wall, cradling a fluffy Black Fox and feeding it a sausage.
Seeing them again, Qiao An gave a familiar wave and a cheerful greeting. "Hi!" ✿(.◕‿◕.)✿
In the darkness, Qiao An was disheveled and covered in grime. Only her face was relatively clean, and her faint dimples still gave her a sweet, innocent look.
"I'm a legitimate streamer, Officer. I just came out to dig a hole, and he accused me of being here to illegally demolish the place, then he just attacked me! I had no choice—I was defending myself, I swear!" Finding it hard to explain herself, Qiao An held the Little Fox up high. "He's my witness! It really wasn't my fault!"
Mu Zimo rubbed his temples. He was inclined to believe Qiao An was innocent, but this seemingly gentle girl was just too damn weird.
Xie Shan nudged Mu Zimo with his shoulder and muttered, "Now I'm really starting to suspect her. How can anyone be *this* unlucky…"
Qiao An's hearing was exceptionally sharp. From behind the Little Fox, she shot a look at Xie Shan.
'Great. I'm the type to hold a grudge. I'll have the Little Fox bite him to death later!'