Chapter 268: My Name is Gao Jian

Returning to the Women's Apartment at Xinhu High School, I cooked for Bai Qi while carefully mulling over my plan for two days from now.

I had many enemies, but I also had quite a few friends. Blind Liu, Mr. Gu, and even Daoist Priest Xianqing could help me.

After a hasty meal, I let Bai Qi run wild inside the building while I sat on the floor and flipped through the Profound Truth Detailed Explanation.

Upon entering the Breath Regulation Realm, my body formed its own cycle, exhaling the old and inhaling the new while accumulating Pre-Heaven True Qi. My bones and muscles were tougher than before, and my five senses had heightened once again. Another benefit was that I could now read more of the Profound Truth Detailed Explanation.

Flipping to the section on talismans, I found several new talisman methods I could attempt to master, alongside the Suppression Talisman and Draw the Ground as a Prison Curse I had already learned.

Guardian method, Yellow Turban Strongman Curse: Six Ding and Six Jia, transform into mighty guards, protect my body and mind, let no evil invade.

Hundred Pardons Talisman: First pardon a thousand years of sin, second pardon ten thousand years of sorrow, third pardon fleeting illness, fourth pardon disasters of water and fire, fifth pardon the plague of thieves, sixth pardon the weakness of children, seventh pardon debts of previous lives, eighth pardon verbal disputes, ninth pardon punishments of the household, tenth pardon stagnation of the home.

Heart-Purifying Divine Mantra: Supreme platform stars, responding to changes without end, wisdom bright and clear, mind and spirit at peace, three souls enduring forever, vital spirits never lost nor destroyed.

Great Divine Mantra of the Big Dipper: Seven Primes of the Big Dipper, divine qi governs the heavens. Great Sage of the Heavenly Star, majestic light shines in the thousands. From heaven to earth, sever the source of evil. Ride the clouds and ascend, descend before the altar. Bring down the true qi, pierce through water and smoke. Transmit to the three realms, let ten thousand demons bow their heads. Slay demons and obliterate their traces, return from death and ascend to immortality!

Among these spells and talismans, the Yellow Turban Strongman Curse fell somewhere between a Lower Vehicle Talisman and a Lesser Vehicle Talisman. The Hundred Pardons Talisman and the Heart-Purifying Divine Mantra, while not overwhelmingly powerful offensive spells, were genuine Lesser Vehicle Talismans.

As for the final Great Divine Mantra of the Big Dipper, it belonged to the very pinnacle of Lesser Vehicle Talismans. In the hands of a Celestial Master who had attained the Dao, the power it could unleash would be no weaker than an ordinary Upper Vehicle Talisman.

The talisman's power was astonishing, but it wasn't something just anyone could control. Channeling the Big Dipper meant bearing the crushing weight of the seven stars—an ordinary person simply couldn't withstand it. Only a Celestial Master or Daoist priest who comprehended the will of heaven and possessed a deep understanding of the stars could wield it.

Moreover, the materials required for this talisman were extremely exacting. Things like four-sided, seven-inch heavenly gold paper and dragon saliva ink—I had never even heard of them.

'This book is full of treasures. It really proves the saying that knowledge is power. It's just a pity that when it comes to cultivation, I'm completely illiterate.'

The Profound Truth Detailed Explanation couldn't offer me any direct help right now. Closing the book, I began to mentally run through the trump cards I had on hand: 'Fate Ghost, Bai Qi, Paulownia Mulberry Talisman. It seems these are the only things I can use. However, I still have sixty-seven live broadcast points on me. I should be able to exchange them for a lot of good stuff.'

Recalling the Underworld Live Show's updated product catalog, I had no one to consult this time and could only decide on my own. 'I can redeem the twelve-point Two Dragons Emerging from Water Formation Talisman Paper Set. The power of this array is over ten times that of ordinary talismans. Although the name makes it sound like a basic array with only two variations, it's produced by the Underworld Live Show, so it shouldn't be bad.'

A random Upper Vehicle Talisman only cost ten points, yet this set of talisman paper cost twelve points. Its value was obvious from that alone.

'I think there was also some Hardship-Relieving Rebirth Divine Talisman. It was labeled as an Upper Vehicle Talisman too, capable of liberating malicious souls and helping them achieve rebirth, and it only takes six points to redeem. The catalog also had...'

My phone was out of battery and wouldn't turn on. Relying on my lingering impressions, I listed out a few items that could help me, planning to wait until right before the live broadcast started to redeem them.

Since I didn't know if I could survive this broadcast, I was practically gambling all my points on it.

When night fell, the heavy rain outside the window continued relentlessly. The sky was like a giant colander, and dark clouds blanketed the city. It was only eight or nine o'clock, yet it was already pitch black outside.

"Where did that guy Bai Qi run off to?" Bai Qi hadn't returned all afternoon. I made a simple torch and walked outside.

In the empty corridor, the flickering firelight cast my shadow against the wall, stretching it incredibly long.

"Fate Ghost!" Xinhu High School wasn't safe at night. This place concealed too many unknowns; even now, I couldn't guarantee I had unraveled all its mysteries.

A second shadow appeared behind me. Black hair twisted and flowed; the Fate Ghost seemed somewhat excited.

I didn't know where its peculiar excitement came from. Right now, the only thing I could do was trust it. It had grown to a terrifying level, and apart from trusting it, I had no other choice.

After searching all over the Women's Apartment, I finally found Bai Qi in a room on the top floor.

"What are you doing?" The dorm room had been trashed by Bai Qi. When I went in to check, he was biting down on a fruit knife.

I motioned for Bai Qi to let go. Taking the blade, I discovered fresh blood on it. "Are you hurt?"

The blood on the blade hadn't coagulated, meaning it must have been left there quite recently. But after checking Bai Qi's body, I found no cuts on him.

"Then whose blood is this?" Searching the room—the desk, the wardrobe—I slowly began to realize something was wrong. The room was utterly spotless; someone was clearly cleaning it on a regular basis.

"Who would have nothing better to do than constantly run up here to clean?" Once I entered the dorm's bathroom, I found something even more unusual. The smell of lime shampoo mixed with fresh blood permeated the air.

Gripping the knife, I slowly walked in. There was no one in either of the two stalls, just a shocking pool of fresh blood on the floor.

"Self-harm?"

With no further clues in the bathroom, I retreated to the main room. At the very bottom of the wardrobe, I found several detective books. It seemed the person living here was a fan of detective novels.

Taking out a few books and casually flipping through them, I fell deep in thought. 'Looks like I'm not the only one living in Xinhu High School.'

Among them, a volume of Sherlock Holmes caught my attention. It was the concluding section of the work. One page had been specially marked, almost as if someone was afraid I wouldn't see it.

"Ever since Professor Moriarty died, London has become a profoundly dull city."

The sentence was smeared with blood. I stared at it for a long while without making head or tail of it. 'Professor Moriarty was a criminal genius, as well as Sherlock Holmes's greatest rival. But why would the reader highlight this particular sentence?'

If I wasn't currently wanted across the entire city, or if I didn't have to face a life-and-death live broadcast in two days, perhaps I would have investigated the truth of this place. But right now, naturally, it was better to have one less trouble.

I put the books back and left with Bai Qi, not lingering in the slightest.

I spent the remaining time cultivating and thinking. I kept myself in peak condition, quietly waiting for the night the storm would hit its fiercest.

...

Time slipped by until the day the live broadcast was set to begin.

I opened my eyes and looked out the window. The torrential downpour continued unabated. With its drainage system collapsed, Xinhu High School already had seven or eight centimeters of standing water.

"What's bound to come will come eventually."

After a hearty meal, I packed the things I wouldn't need—such as the Profound Truth Detailed Explanation, the Chu Palace Compass, and the camera—into the Black Leather Suitcase. On my person, I only carried the Underworld Live Show Phone, the Portable Encoder, the charger, and a few other essentials.

When afternoon arrived, I traveled light, throwing on a raincoat and leaving Xinhu High School with Bai Qi.

After a forty-minute walk, I once again arrived at the convenience store in the urban village. The rain was pouring down in buckets, and there wasn't a single customer inside.

"What do you need?" The old man was still intently watching the TV news, occasionally taking a sip of hot tea.

I didn't speak. I just glanced at the clock on the wall: 4:20 PM.

"Old man, can I charge my phone here for a bit?" I took out the Underworld Live Show Phone and the charger.

"Charge away, it's no big deal. In this day and age, who doesn't run into a bit of trouble?"

The old man didn't even turn his head. The TV screen was showing a local Jiangcheng channel. A meteorologist was explaining why Jiangcheng was experiencing continuous torrential rain, then went on to discuss the challenges and necessity of flood control.

"Our city's flood control water levels are divided into three tiers, using the water level at Hankou Station as the baseline. They are the fortification level at 25.00 meters, the warning level at 27.30 meters, and the guaranteed level at 29.73 meters."

"This means that if the water level exceeds twenty-five meters, we must enter a state of fortification. If it rises above 27.3 meters, we need to enter a state of high alert and prepare for flood fighting. As for the guaranteed level, it represents the highest recorded water level of the great river since the founding of the nation. If it approaches or exceeds this figure, the Lanjiang Dam could breach!"

"The torrential rains continue unabated, and the cloud cover is very thick. We do not know how long this will last. Currently, the water level has already reached 27.4 meters. The entire city will enter a state of high-level flood control martial law!"

I quietly watched the weather program. Not long after, a scrolling news ticker appeared at the bottom of the screen:

"Grade A Wanted Notice. Name: Gao Jian. Male..."

"Sigh, it's truly a bad year. Natural disasters and man-made calamities." The old man shook his head and turned off the TV. Suddenly, he looked at me, completely obscured by my raincoat. The more he looked, the stranger he felt. "Young man, did you come by here a few days ago?"

"You have a pretty good memory, old man." I smiled and pulled back my raincoat hood. "Let me reintroduce myself. My name is Gao Jian."