Xiao Wu soon realized that everyone was no longer staring at him so intently. After heaving a sigh of relief, he sneaked out every day and went to the tree hole.

  Shao Dong and the rest were still young, so Mu Jingzhe didn’t let them follow her. Instead, she went there herself and even recorded it with a tape recorder.

  The situation for the next few days was similar. Every time Mu Jingzhe heard the tune, she had to control herself to avoid crying. Later on, there was even strange music. It sounded normal at first and only a little strange, but it made her hair stand on end.

  There was a strong mountain wind on the remote mountains, and a mild wind would blow over from time to time. As Xiao Wu liked to come in the evening, when the humming flute melody played against the mild wind, Mu Jingzhe kept feeling like she was being targeted by something or something could appear at any time. Her heart was thumping.

  Mu Jingzhe didn’t know what was wrong with Xiao Wu. To think he could play such a horrifying tune… It was so horrifying it nearly made her die from fright on the spot.

  Unable to take it anymore, she covered her ears. Unfortunately, it was useless. The horror movie scenes that she had seen were automatically replayed in her mind. As she hesitated, unsure whether she should jump up and flee or jump up to stop Xiao Wu and expose herself by doing so, Xiao Wu finally stopped.

  He seemed to be frightened by his own music too. After jumping out of the tree hole, he stroked his little arms and ran home. Mu Jingzhe also ran home anxiously.

  Xiao Wu was probably frightened of himself. So much so that he had to drag Shao Dong along when he had to go to the bathroom at night. Then, his mood became increasingly depressed.

  Mu Jingzhe’s mood was complicated. When she went to the bathroom, she also carried Little Bei along. At night, she hugged Little Bei and didn’t let go. She didn’t even want to turn off the light, but in the end, she still did. As a result, she either fell asleep in fear or, after falling asleep with a lot of difficulty, she would wake up because of a nightmare.

  Her condition was very similar to when she had first watched a horror movie when she was young. However, this time, she hadn’t watched a horror movie. She had only listened to Xiao Wu’s tune.

  Mu Jingzhe was fine with other things, but she didn’t dare watch horror movies. When she’d watched them as a young kid, she had been frightened quite badly, so she had stopped watching them when she had grown up.

  Now that she was forced to face this, the effect was solid.

  However, the listless Mu Jingzhe finally had some inspiration the next day.

  Judging from Xiao Wu’s current state, if her guess was correct, he despised himself. Combined with what he had said previously, he surely felt that he must have become bad. Otherwise, how could he have ended up like this?

  \r \r \r

  He was no longer confident and was now burdened with worry. Ji Buwang had said they should help him rebuild his confidence so that he didn’t have to be afraid.

  But how could that be achieved? The best way was to let Xiao Wu realize that he was alright in this state too. Music like this could also exist in the world and become the favorite of some people. It had its own uses.

  In that case, Xiao Wu didn’t have to be afraid.

  With that idea in mind, Mu Jingzhe immediately got to work. She often went out to do things, but she didn’t tell Xiao Wu and the others. It was very mysterious.

  Just as the five kids started to worry about her leaving early, returning late, or simply not returning for a few days, Mu Jingzhe finally returned with a smile.

  “I’m going to announce joyous news today.”

  “What joyous news?” When he saw Mu Jingzhe look at Xiao Wu, Shao Nan’s first reaction was to wonder if Shao Qiyun was finally courting death. If that was the case, then it would indeed be a joyous occasion.

  Mu Jingzhe didn’t know what Shao Nan was thinking about. She carefully pulled a document bag from behind her and placed it in front of Xiao Wu.

  “Xiao Wu, you’ve been invited to compose the theme song of a movie. Check if you want to sign the contract.”

  Xiao Wu refused instinctively. “Mommy, I told you I can’t do it anymore.” He was already filthy now and couldn’t create anything good.

  Xiao Wu almost cried. He was too afraid and suppressed. Instead, he was the one rendering himself unable to walk out.

  “Xiao Wu, take a look at this movie first,” Mu Jingzhe quickly reminded him.

  Xiao Wu held back his tears and took a look first. Then, he exclaimed, “A Ghost in the Middle of the Night? A ghost? What is this?”

  “It’s a horror movie. You can tell just by the name.” Mu Jingzhe smiled. “Xiao Wu, I have to be honest with you. When you went to the tree hole, I actually followed you in secret.”

  Xiao Wu’s expression changed. “Mommy!”

  “Don’t be afraid. I was indeed shocked at first, but then my shock turned to surprise.”

  “Surprise?” Xiao Bai hadn’t expected Mu Jingzhe to be pleasantly surprised. “Didn’t you fear and dislike the music? Didn’t you feel terrible hearing that?”

  “I did. But that’s why I was surprised.” Mu Jingzhe smiled. “Xiao Wu, you are indeed worthy of being called a little genius. You can handle all kinds of styles, but I saw that you didn’t like this very much, so I secretly recorded it for others to hear. When the director heard it, he said that he wanted to buy the rights to it and insisted on working with you.”

  Xiao Wu was dumbfounded. “What… Is that so? Is that even possible?”

  Shouldn’t he be called a bad child who had been led astray? Who was really evil at such a young age and frightened people? Why would Mommy say that instead?

  Xiao Wu was stunned. Mu Jingzhe continued.

  “Of course, why not? Aren’t there many types of movies and television dramas? Some people like to watch funny things, while others like to watch scary stuff. The scarier, the better. It’s just like music. Some people don’t like it, but some people like it. The best song is the most suitable one.”

  Mu Jingzhe pointed at the contract. “Look at this director. He doesn’t film anything but horror movies because there are many people who love horror movies. In their opinion, the scarier the movie is, the better. The same goes for the movie soundtrack. I heard that he’s been fretting over the musical accompaniment of the movie and looking for something that invokes suppression and fear in the viewers. Coincidentally, your music is suitable, so I suggested that he listened to it.

  “It turns out that he liked it very much, that this was the tune he had been looking for, and that this music is his savior. He asked me to convince you to work with him.”

  Xiao Wu stared at Mu Jingzhe in disbelief. “Is this true? Are you lying to me on purpose, Mommy? Or are you putting on an act because I’ve been sad?”

  “Of course not. I’m not acting. It’s true. If you don’t believe me, you can go and listen to it yourself when the movie is released. You see, the director can’t be in on this. I don’t have the ability to make him put on an act with me.”

  Xiao Wu finally felt a sense of realness, but he still couldn’t believe it. “I feel like I’m dreaming.”

  He had just finished speaking when Little Bei pinched him. “Does it hurt? If it does, it means that it’s really not a dream.”

  Xiao Wu touched his arm and laughed. “It hurts. It’s real.”

  “Of course it’s real. You’ll know when the movie premieres. It shouldn’t take long.”

  “Alright, I want to go watch it.” Xiao Wu tried to pull Mu Jingzhe. “Mommy, come with me. Let’s all go watch it together.”

  Mu Jingzhe shook her head and refused. “No, no, I’m not going. I don’t dare watch horror movies because I’m afraid I won’t sleep at night. You might have to go by yourselves.”

  After saying that, she looked at them suspiciously. “Speaking of that, can you kids really watch it? Won’t you be frightened?”

  Xiao Wu scratched his head. He didn’t know if he would be afraid either.