Chapter 110: Jiang Chen's Secret

Following the bank manager underground, I opened the safe and retrieved the black package. A trace of surprise crossed my face.

Inside the package was a white jade box containing the legendary Meridian Clearing Pill. Beneath it lay a yellowed, thread-bound ancient book. Across its title page, several large characters were written in a flamboyant script—Foundation-Solidifying and Origin-Cultivating Pill.

The items were exactly right. It was as if the Underworld Live Show knew in advance that I would redeem these two things.

"Bizarre. Just what is the origin of this Underworld Live Show?" I touched the Plum Blossom Brand on my wrist, feeling a chill in my heart.

At first, I had assumed the Underworld Live Show was a highly organized, large-scale criminal syndicate. But over these past few livestreams, I slowly realized it was both righteous and wicked—a unique platform standing neutral between the realms of yin and yang.

If the Two-Faced Buddha felt eerily terrifying and impossible to read, then the Underworld Live Show was completely unfathomable. Not a single trace of it could be found in the human world, yet it had a perfectly precise grasp of everything within it.

Some things were simply beyond my current ability to get involved in. I stopped letting my imagination run wild, took the black package, and returned to Ting Tang Road.

I first took Bai Qi out for a massive feast, and then one man and one dog drank half a jug of Child Immortal Wine. After dragging the sprawled-out Bai Qi—who turned out to be an atrocious drunk—into the corner, I took the black package up to the second floor, preparing to practice the Profound Truth Method.

The Child Immortal Wine was a top-tier tonic in itself. It nourished the five internal organs, providing massive benefits to both my depleted physical vitality and my cultivation of qi.

I silently recited the Profound Truth Mental Method, letting my consciousness retreat to the spirit platform. Following the Huangting acupoints, I completed a few Major Heavenly Cycles until the medicinal power of the Child Immortal Wine was fully absorbed.

I exhaled a breath of impure air. Through this internal and external exchange, the meridians in my body slowly widened. I could feel a faint wisp of qi gathering in my chest, like a slumbering flood dragon in the abyss preparing to soar into the sky.

Fortune arrives and the heart reaches. With a sudden flash of insight, I opened the jade box and used two fingers to take out the crystal-clear Meridian Clearing Pill, which resembled a peeled longan.

I swallowed it in one gulp. A rich fragrance diffused between my lips and teeth, bringing a sensation too wonderful for words.

The Meridian Clearing Pill melted the moment it entered my mouth. Crafted from dozens of expensive medicinal herbs, the pill ignited in my lower abdomen like a roaring furnace, tempering my five internal organs and hundreds of meridians.

The churning current of qi in my chest grew increasingly active. Once the medicinal power was completely digested, the qi dragon coiled in my chest abruptly raised its head. It surged up the Governing Meridian, charging forward with the unstoppable momentum of a bursting river!

My Governing Meridian, severely clogged from years of smoking, heavy drinking, and a poor living environment, was blasted wide open in a single strike by this qi dragon.

I sat cross-legged and straightened my back. It felt as though a massive dragon had rushed through my spine. In that instant, my body seemed incredibly light, as if many unseen things clinging to me had been completely cleared away.

I opened my eyes, my gaze burning like a torch. Although my facial features remained ordinary, at a quick glance, they now carried a faint, otherworldly immortal aura.

"The third realm of the Profound Truth Dao Method—Following the Middle Path!"

Only with a clear Governing Meridian could the spirit platform and sea of consciousness connect with the lower dantian. With top and bottom unified in one breath and my inner and outer circulations established, I had finally stepped through the true doorway of cultivation.

Breathing in pure qi, breathing out impure qi. The universe was one great cycle, and the human body was a series of small cycles.

The benefits of this breakthrough extended far beyond just that. My body felt robust and full of strength. Looking around, my five senses had been enhanced once more. My Heavenly Eye practice was also on the verge of breaking through Chasing Eye to reach the second stage—the Judging Eye Realm. I figured that even the mighty Profound Truth expert who originally created the Heavenly Eye technique could never have imagined such divine speed of progression.

"It shouldn't be long before I reach Penetrating Eye and the rest."

Physical changes aside, what excited me most was that, having crossed the threshold of cultivation, I could finally draw talismans according to the Profound Truth Detailed Explanation.

Even though my daoist arts were still shallow and I could only draw occasionally effective Lower Vehicle Talismans, this was still a monumental leap forward for me.

Flipping open the Profound Truth Detailed Explanation, I found I could currently draw six types of talismans. Four were ordinary ones meant for seeking blessings and warding off disasters. Only two carried offensive power capable of subduing demons and evil spirits: "Suppression Talisman: Five Directions Divine Generals, borrow the might of this law to suppress all things, as swiftly as the laws decree! Draw the Ground as a Prison Curse: Myriad methods of the universe, grasped in the heart, take this as the boundary, draw the ground as a prison, confine!"

The requirements for drawing talismans were strict, involving specific methods for the paper, brush, and ink. A talisman was further divided into the talisman head, the Talisman Core, and the talisman foot. When drawing one, the practitioner also had to concentrate, calm their qi, bathe, and change into clean clothes.

After reading through the details, I dismissed the idea of trying it immediately. Just to successfully draw an effective Talisman Paper, the preparatory work alone would be a massive challenge.

It was getting late. After memorizing the incantations for these talismans, I went to bed. On the first night following every livestream, I always managed to sleep exceptionally soundly.

Early the next morning, I faced the rising sun to practice my Heavenly Eye. I silently recited the Profound Truth Mental Method. After completing two cycles, someone knocked on the shop's rolling door.

Young couples addicted to the nightlife were probably still fast asleep at this hour, so the person knocking likely wasn't here to buy adult products. I emerged from my meditation and headed downstairs to open up.

As the rolling door went up, a gorgeous, curvaceous woman with a willow-thin waist appeared outside. She wore professional attire—a simple, slim-fitting pencil skirt paired with a crisp white shirt. She looked capable and mature, exuding a kind of intellectual beauty.

Clutching her handbag with both hands, the beauty stood in the doorway. The moment our eyes met, she seemed nervous and fidgety, carrying a trace of unspeakable awkwardness.

"Ye Bing?" I rubbed my eyes to make sure I wasn't dreaming. "What are you doing here? We're already over. Go be a wealthy housewife."

Saying that, I prepared to pull the rolling door back down. This woman was a walking pile of trouble, and the Jiang family stood directly behind her. In a situation where pulling a single hair moves the entire body, I had no time to deal with these private matters right now.

"Wait! I have something to say!" Ye Bing propped up the rolling door, her pale fingers gripping the rough doorframe tightly. "You're the only person I know in Jiangcheng. For the sake of our relationship five years ago, can you give me five minutes?"

Squeezed in the doorway, Ye Bing lacked the arrogant pride she had shown during our first reunion. She looked rather haggard, and her light makeup was clearly just an attempt to cover up her pale complexion.

Unable to guess her true intentions, I pondered for a moment before saying, "Come in."

"Thank you," she said stiffly, taking a seat inside the somewhat cramped shop. "What I need to discuss is very important. Didn't you always take business clients up to the back room on the second floor?"

"Business?" A self-deprecating smile surfaced on my face as I lit a cigarette. "Just say it here. You have five minutes."

Ye Bing nodded, seemingly uncaring about the smell of cheap tobacco drifting through the room. She pulled a document out of her handbag. "Jiang Chen was discharged from the hospital the day before yesterday. There's nothing physically wrong with him, but I just feel like he's been acting strange."

Ye Bing's face carried an emotion she couldn't hide—an emotion I had seen on many people's faces recently. It was lingering dread and fear.

Exhaling a cloud of smoke, I tapped my finger against the table. "Four minutes left."

"When he came back from the hospital, Jiang Chen was holding a flower pot. I had seen that same pot in his ward before. Even during the days when his condition was at its worst, that potted plant was always sitting right by his bed."

"Ever since Jiang Chen brought that flower pot home, I've been dreaming about an emaciated, skin-and-bones infant these past two days. It crawls toward me every single night, getting closer and closer."

"When I told Jiang Chen about this, not only was he completely unconcerned, he actually looked delighted and said it was a good thing." Ye Bing revealed an expression of sheer incomprehension. "That infant looks absolutely horrifying, with a mouth full of bloody teeth. Last night, it even tried to burrow into my stomach. Even though I knew it was a dream, the sensation was incredibly realistic. I wanted to scream but couldn't make a sound. I wanted to move but couldn't."

Ye Bing's situation sounded a bit eerie. I furrowed my brow and slowly listened to her finish.

"There's also the fact that, living with Jiang Chen these past two days, I've noticed many bizarre habits in his daily life. For example, he always sets out an extra set of tableware during meals."

"While eating, he frequently pours his tea onto the floor beside him or uses his chopsticks to drop food at his feet."

"When attending banquets, he insists on leaving an empty seat between him and me."

"And as soon as night falls, Jiang Chen locks himself in his study and doesn't come out all night. He constantly talks to himself, alternating between giggling and sounding incredibly stern."

"I secretly sneaked into his study later on. There was a massive pile of all sorts of toys inside, placed in a dark, unlit corner of the room. Furthermore, those toys had all been torn open and played with, and some even had a child's bite marks left on them."

Ye Bing looked incredibly helpless, gently rubbing her forehead with one hand. "I felt that all of these changes were because of that flower pot. So last night, when I woke up from that nightmare, I quietly slipped out of the bedroom, preparing to throw it away."