Chapter 156: Special Reward

The woman's firm words echoed through the sparsely furnished room.

"I understand." Huang Boyuan said no more. He turned and walked out the door.

In the empty room, the woman sat at the table. She stared at the traditional Chinese medicine in front of her, silent for a long time.

"You see now, don't you? That man actually wants to kill his own biological daughter. What is there left to hesitate over?" A man wearing a Buddha Head Pendant stepped straight out of the painting. "If you don't want them all to die because of you, you'd better make a decision quickly."

The woman pondered for a long time before giving a slow nod. "I'll write it!"

"You've finally thought it through?"

"But not with Huang Boyuan's blood—with my own. You just want the heavenly yi noble, don't you? Take it, then!"

The woman's fierce resolve caught the man—who looked like neither a monk nor a Daoist—off guard. "Using your blood is certainly fine. However, forcing a heavenly yi noble to death violates the laws of heaven. I fear it will take twenty years to eliminate the root of the resulting disaster."

"Are you scared?" The woman went to the kitchen, fetched a porcelain bowl, poured the medicine in, and brewed it with boiling water.

"You need to think this through."

Ignoring the man's warning, the woman sliced her wrist with a fruit knife. Bright red blood flowed out, dripping onto the scroll. "What do you want me to write?"

Witnessing this, the man wearing the Double-Faced Buddha Pendant felt an inexplicable shudder of fear. "Since your mind is made up, I will fulfill your wish. I took this ancient scroll from a heavenly yi noble's tomb. Only a noble can leave words upon it. Do not resist; write according to your original desire. Fate is born from the heart—only this way can the aura of a heavenly yi noble be inscribed."

"Fine, I'll write exactly as you say." Her eyes held a deep sorrow as she looked back at the crying female infant waiting to be fed, then swept her gaze over the cramped, dilapidated rented room. With a mix of reluctance, nostalgia, and absolute resolve, she dipped a finger in her blood and traced heavy, solemn characters onto the wordless ancient scroll.

"The spring red of the forest flowers has faded, far too fast. Defenseless against the morning's cold rain and the evening's biting wind."

"Rouge-tinted tears keep us drunk and lingering. When will we ever reunite? Life is bound to endless sorrow, just as rivers always flow east!"

Finishing the poem in one breath, the woman lifted the medicine bowl with one hand, her eyes locking fiercely onto the man who resembled neither monk nor Daoist. "I can give you everything you want, but do not hurt my family!"

She downed the highly toxic medicine in a single gulp. The porcelain bowl slipped from her grasp, shattering into pieces with a sharp crash.

At that moment, even the bizarre man's expression shifted drastically. He slowly lowered his head. "I will come back for this painting in twenty years. For these twenty years, your family will be safe."

To force the Two-Faced Buddha into making a promise—this woman was the first person to do so in twenty years.

The man's figure slowly dissipated from the room. The woman rolled up the scroll and stumbled over to the crib. She gently touched the female infant's soft, delicate cheek, then hid the scroll beneath the mattress. "Your father wants to replace Huang Xue with Feng Jiu. I hope you won't hate him for it. It's all my fault; I am the root of all this disaster."

Black blood trickled from the corner of her mouth as she offered a tender smile. "Live well. I will always be by your side to protect you."

The woman struggled to her feet and gently turned her head, looking toward the door.

Her loving face was filled with reluctance, and to my absolute shock, her gaze fell directly on me and Huang Xue!

"You can see us?" I gasped in shock. 'This is supposed to be just a dream!'

As their eyes met, Huang Xue broke free from my grip and rushed into the room. The woman smiled and shook her head, and the entire scene inside the small apartment dissolved into a flurry of fluttering butterflies.

"Live well. I will always be by your side to protect you."

...

Everything shattered. When I opened my eyes again, I was back in Huang Xue's room.

The ever-burning lamps outside the courtyard cast a warm glow. Several infrared security cameras stared down like the eyes of hawks, watching every corner of the yard.

"Did I return directly to reality from the Middle Dream Layer?" I pinched my cheek. It hurt, but I still couldn't be entirely sure where I was. Perhaps this was the aftereffect of staying in a dream for too long.

Daoist master Wan: "Congratulations on escaping the Dream Realm, my young friend. To hit a one-in-a-hundred chance... this venerable one has truly never seen anything like it."

"You flatter me, Daoist master," I replied. Seeing Daoist master Wan's ID in the livestream finally confirmed that I was back in reality. The Underworld Live Show couldn't hypnotize him; he hadn't been able to enter the dream with us.

"I wonder what bizarre encounters you had in the dream? Your complexion is rosy; it seems you've obtained some immense benefit this time."

Daoist master Wan's comment suddenly reminded me of something. During the encounter with the Nightmare, the Blood Fox Tattoo had absorbed all the yin energy, which in turn had enhanced my five senses. Yet, I still had no idea about the true origins of this Blood Fox. "Daoist master Wan, your knowledge spans both ancient and modern times. I have a question I'd like to ask you."

"Speak your mind."

I initially wanted to show him the Blood Fox Tattoo on my chest, but considering the chaotic crowd in the livestream, stripping right there didn't seem appropriate. After a moment of thought, I asked, "Daoist master, have you ever heard the legend of the number one fox immortal of the millennium? It supposedly looks like a Blood-Colored Nine-Tails."

"Xue Zhuo!" Daoist master Wan rarely used exclamation marks in his messages, which proved his mind was far from calm at the moment. "Why are you asking about him? That is a taboo in the current world. Knowing too much won't do you any good."

"Daoist master, I'm just curious. Could you reveal just a little bit?"

"It's not that I won't say it; it's that I cannot say it. You will naturally understand why once your horizons broaden in the future." After sending that message, Daoist master Wan didn't speak again.

Although I didn't quite understand, I didn't stubbornly press the issue. I stretched and was just about to wake Sakurako beside me when I suddenly noticed someone clutching the hem of my shirt in a death grip.

"Huang Xue..." I looked down. Her slender, pale arm extended from beneath the thin blanket, her fingers gripping my clothes tightly, unwilling to let go.

She seemed to still be caught in the dream. Sleeping on her side against the pillow, two faint tear tracks stained her unadorned yet flawless face.

"Sorry for the intrusion tonight." Gently prying her fingers open, I tucked the thin blanket securely around her and removed the Paulownia Mulberry Talisman. Then, I picked up the sleeping Sakurako, grabbed my Black Leather Suitcase, and left.

"Let's just pretend our meeting was nothing but a dream."

As I carefully climbed out the window and awkwardly crawled across the ground to avoid the cameras, back in the room, another teardrop slid from the corner of Huang Xue's eye. She rested her hands over her chest, as if holding onto a long-lost warmth.

By the time I dodged the surveillance and walked out of the Jingying Sanatorium, the sky was already beginning to lighten. Sakurako woke up, but she didn't seem too happy. She just leaned against my chest in silence.

"Sakurako, what movie do you want to watch later?"

"I didn't really help you with anything, so I shouldn't go."

"What do you mean you didn't help? If the Primal Destiny Divine Fiends hadn't disguised itself as you, I wouldn't have been able to expose its true body at the last second." I set Sakurako down on her feet. "Actually, a lot of the time, you aren't as alone as you imagine yourself to be. At the very least, you still have me, right?"

"Gao Jian, I want to watch '99 Days of Passionate Love'."

"You're supposed to call me Uncle..."

Just as the first ray of sunlight hit my face, the Underworld Phone received a message confirming the task's completion.

"Ding!"

"Livestream task: Arrive at the Jingying Sanatorium before midnight and use the Paulownia Mulberry Talisman to enter Huang Xue's dream. Completed."

"Now calculating the score..."

"Completed the livestream task: 1 point. Peak concurrent viewers exceeded 8,000: rewarded 12 points. Total gift value received during the livestream exceeded 3,000 Underworld Coins: rewarded 5 points. Completed an entrustment from the Underworld: extra reward of 1 point."

"Optional Task 1: Find the hidden truth in the dream and obtain the location of the Wordless Ancient Painting. Completed. Reward: 5 points."

"Optional Task 2: Huang Xue survives. Completed. Reward: 5 points."

"All tasks perfectly completed. Special reward obtained: The Underworld Live Show's dedicated phone will soon unlock new features. Please look forward to it."

"Calculation complete. You have earned 29 points from this livestream. Current total score: 35 points."

"Fifth livestream completed. Store catalog updated."

"Introduction to Array Formations Handout (8 points), Comprehensive Guide to the Top Ten Ancient and Modern Evil Arrays (10 points), Earth God Clay Statue (Unranked array anchor, the clay sculpture contains a trace of spiritual light, 1 point), Exquisite Jade Ruyi (Low-grade array anchor, wards off misfortune and absorbs a small amount of karma, 7 points), Hundred-Leaf Guanyin (Mid-grade array anchor, a Buddhist sacred object, must not be casually displayed, 15 points), Pixiu Eye (High-grade array anchor, one of Huaxia's five auspicious beasts, possesses the effects of attracting wealth, bringing luck, warding off evil, protecting the home, appeasing Tai Sui, etc., 35 points), Lacquered Wooden Coffin (Gathers yin spirits, can nurture corpse reanimation, 5 points), Qi Gathering Pill (Suitable for cultivators at the Following the Middle Path stage to break through realms, purging the old and drawing in the new, internalizing the universe)..."