Chapter 218: Do Not Trust Your Eyes

The iron axle and screws hit the ground with a sharp clatter. The two staff members and I all froze.

"H-how is that possible?" The staff reacted quickly. One dispersed the onlookers while the other immediately called for maintenance.

Squatting beside the roller coaster, I drew a sharp breath. If I had taken that seat, I would have been thrown out the moment the car hit the ninety-degree turn. Flying from a car traveling at fifty kilometers an hour and slamming into a rock wall, my chances of survival would have been practically zero.

"Sir, please step back." The staff member ushered me away. I set down the safety restraint and walked toward Yi Yi without a word.

'This Amusement Park is just too bizarre. On the roller coaster, I heard a girl's voice from behind me, but no one was sitting in that seat. And when we hit that ninety-degree turn, I faintly saw a light red figure appear. She was sitting right behind me. Could she have dismantled this safety restraint?' I looked at the few tourists still lined up waiting for the ride and couldn't help but shiver. 'But why would that figure do that? She has no grudge against these tourists.'

Unable to make sense of it, I took Yi Yi's hand and returned to the rest area.

"How was the ride?" Tie Ningxiang walked over with a bright smile, only to notice that Yi Yi and I wore completely opposite expressions. Yi Yi's little face was flushed red like a ripe apple, looking rather adorable, while my brows were furrowed in a deep frown.

"Gao Jian, are you afraid of heights? Are you feeling unwell?" Tie Ningxiang reached out and felt my forehead.

"I'm fine. How long until the evening parade starts?"

"Soon. I just saw people getting ready. It should be about ten minutes."

Tie Ningxiang bought some drinks, and the three of us sat on a bench in the rest area. Yi Yi leaned against Tie Ningxiang, while I held the Black Leather Suitcase in my lap, head lowered in deep thought.

"Gao Jian, what exactly is inside this Black Leather Suitcase of yours? Why do you always run around with it at night?" Tie Ningxiang had only asked casually, but after speaking, she found it increasingly strange. "When we first met at the Anxin Hotel, you were carrying this suitcase. Later, when we rushed to the rescue at the Bridge No. 3 Crematorium, you had it with you. And last time at the Jiangcheng Medical College, we found your Black Leather Suitcase in the underground corpse transport tunnel. Why does it seem like every time you show up at a murder scene, you have it with you?"

"As expected of a criminal investigation team leader, your observation skills are meticulous." I opened the suitcase to reveal the live-streaming equipment inside. "When we first met, I told you I was a part-time outdoor streamer, but you didn't believe me."

The broadcasting tools inside the suitcase were highly professional: a selfie stick, data cables, and the Portable Encoding Stick. Both Tie Ningxiang and Yi Yi curiously rummaged through them.

"I thought you just made up an excuse back then. I didn't expect you to actually be live-streaming." Tie Ningxiang found it unbelievable because, in her impression, someone with my withdrawn and awful personality was totally unsuited to become an internet celebrity.

"Uncle, can you tell me where you stream?" Yi Yi's eyes went wide with deep curiosity. "That day when you were on Route 14, walking around and filming everything with your phone, you looked so cool!"

"I won't tell you which platform I stream on." Afraid of exposing the Underworld Live Show, I tried to change the subject, but Tie Ningxiang and Yi Yi seemed determined to get to the bottom of it. Yi Yi was purely curious, but Tie Ningxiang still maintained her suspicions, believing I was using live-streaming as a cover to investigate bizarre cases. After all, every time a murder occurred, I was always the first to appear at the scene. Once or twice could be explained away as coincidence, but with so many instances, there was definitely something fishy going on.

"Gao Jian, since you brought your equipment out, are you getting ready to stream again? Yi Yi and I are both here today, so why don't you do a broadcast and let us watch?" Tie Ningxiang wanted to know exactly what format my streams took. She had heard a long time ago that certain special websites hosted extremely gory murder streams, and she was afraid I might be working for the dark web.

I knew exactly what Tie Ningxiang was thinking. In truth, the nature of the Underworld Live Show wasn't much different from those dark web murder platforms, except it was even more sinister.

"Alright. Since you want to see it, I'll stream right in front of you, but we need to agree on two conditions first." I held up two fingers. "First, never ask me which platform I stream on. Second, if you ever accidentally stumble across my live stream one day, please close the video immediately, leave the room, and call the police at once."

Tie Ningxiang and Yi Yi both nodded in agreement. I checked my watch; it was only ten o'clock at night. "I wonder if starting the broadcast early will trigger anything bad."

I took out the Underworld Live Show's Large-Screen Phone, opened the camera function, and plugged in the Portable Encoding Stick.

"Acquiring image..."

"Connecting to live chat..."

"Data stable. Start live broadcast?"

"Yes."

"Welcome Teletubbies Died of Murder to the live broadcast room, welcome Master Tieling Biao to the live broadcast room, welcome..."

The picture gradually cleared up. I held the phone away from Tie Ningxiang. "The livestream viewers who watch my broadcast are usually pretty rowdy. It's best if you two stay out of the frame."

"Acting all mysterious just makes me even more curious." Tie Ningxiang didn't treat herself like an outsider; she threw her arm around my shoulder and squeezed into the camera frame.

Once the video stabilized, Tie Ningxiang's and my figures appeared simultaneously in the stream.

"Holy shit! Starting early today? Did my five thousand years of bitter prayers before the Buddha finally move the streamer?"

"Wait, who is the lady next to the streamer? It definitely wasn't this one last time!"

"They're wearing matching jade pendants on their necks! Are they broadcasting just to show off their romance?"

"Fuck! Caught completely off guard by a mouthful of dog food!"

"Streamer, we have no grievances, so why must you hurt me like this?!"

"Cold dog food is violently slapping my face. I just want to ask, streamer, do you need a manager? My surname is Song, and all the big shots in the entertainment circle call me Song Jiji!"

Watching the bullet chat scrolling by at flying speed, I felt a bit embarrassed. "Senior Sister, don't take it to heart. The livestream viewers can be a bit blunt, but they generally don't mean any harm."

Tie Ningxiang glanced at the chat, then shot me a look and muttered, "It really is a normal live stream. Not quite what I expected."

"What did you expect?" I asked helplessly.

Tie Ningxiang cupped her chin and thought for a moment. "In my mind, your stream would be a bunch of dark, twisted people discussing how to commit locked-room murders, forge alibis, evade police interrogations, and exchange criminal experiences."

After saying that, she even gave me an earnest look. That slightly innocent gaze made me break out in a cold sweat. "Senior Sister, it seems your understanding of me isn't deep enough."

Holding up the phone screen, I made sure I was fully in the frame. The corners of my mouth curled into a smile as I delivered my familiar opening line.

"Welcome everyone to the Super Thriller Live Broadcast Room. Before we start today's stream, I must tell you that we are often blinded by our own eyes. So please, do not trust anything you are about to see. Even the person you are most familiar with might suddenly crawl onto your back, put on an eerie expression, and ask: 'Guess who I am?'"

As soon as I finished, the chat filled with expressions of contempt and disdain. Even Tie Ningxiang beside me felt a bit embarrassed, and Yi Yi gave an unceremonious critique: "What an edgy opening line."

"Is it that bad? I thought it was pretty good." I pulled out my own phone and pulled up that news article about the amusement park. "Eyes can see colors, but they can also deceive us. Take the Amusement Park I'm at right now, for example. All you see is a brightly lit place filled with laughter and joy. But did any of you know that a few years ago, this place was a mass grave?!"

I held the news article up to the camera. "Shocking! With a 500 million investment, the original site of Jiangcheng's new amusement park was actually a mass graveyard!"

"What the hell is shocking about that? My house is right next to a crematorium."

"Yeah, that's old news."

The livestream viewers weren't buying it. I rubbed the tip of my nose. "If that doesn't count as shocking, then what does?"

After I asked that, I looked at the barrage of comments that began flooding the screen.

"Shocking! Black-hearted streamer fabricates fake news just to trick viewers into watching his date with his girlfriend!"

"Shocking! A certain disabled but strong-willed streamer, hideously ugly, actually scores a top-tier girlfriend relying entirely on his bragging skills!"

"Shocking! Unscrupulous streamer with ulterior motives holds a secret late-night rendezvous with a thirteen-year-old girl and her twenty-six-year-old stepmother for an explicit live stream!"

...