Chapter 283: A Step Too Late

"Answer me." Chen Jianguo held an umbrella in one hand and dangled Zhao Bin's service weapon in the other. His tone was cold, as if he were completely blind to the agonizing pain Zhao Bin was enduring.

"Captain, let's get him to the hospital first," a nearby auxiliary police officer pleaded, unable to bear the sight. But Chen Jianguo waved him off. "If a police officer cannot uphold the most basic justice and distinguish right from wrong, he isn't fit to be a police officer."

He looked back down at Zhao Bin. "Speak. Answer my question."

The torrential rain lashed at Zhao Bin's wounds. It felt as if glass shards were flowing into his veins and his entire body was being gnawed by ants. The pain was unbearable. Eyes bloodshot, Zhao Bin opened his mouth and spat out a mouthful of bloody froth mixed with shattered glass.

"Captain Chen... Gao Jian isn't the real killer. There's still time to stop them."

"Is that your excuse for indulging a criminal? It's precisely because soft-hearted fools like you failed to lock him up five years ago that we're facing this disaster today! He even dared to kidnap the son of the Jiang family's chairman. He's lawless, mocking the law, challenging public authority—"

"He's not the killer! You're wasting police resources on a meaningless wild goose chase. You're pushing Jiangcheng into the abyss! Chen Jianguo, you'll be condemned for this!"

Rain drenched Zhao Bin's face, making it impossible to tell tears from raindrops. Chen Jianguo fell silent for a long moment before waving to the medics. "Take him to emergency care."

The night sky pressed down on us, heavy and suffocating. As time ticked by, the darkness only grew thicker.

Zhao Bin was surrounded by layers of armed police. I could hear his voice but couldn't see his condition. 'They're both cops. Chen Jianguo shouldn't make things too difficult for Zhao Bin with everyone watching.'

I dragged Jiang Chen back into the sports car. Checking the time, I took Jiang Chen's phone.

After waiting two or three minutes, it struck exactly 1:00 AM. Right on time, I dialed Blind Liu's number.

"Beep, beep..."

The line only rang twice before Blind Liu's voice came through. "Gao Jian?"

"Old Liu, how are things on your end? Lu Xing could show up at any second. Be extremely careful."

"He is not here with me."

"That's good. Head to Room 2o6 immediately. There's a secret passage under the bathtub in the bathroom. Once you're inside, pay attention to the walls on both sides. If you see a Double-Faced Buddha Statue, pry it off. Smashing it to pieces works too."

"Alright. I'm heading there now."

The call ended, but something felt wrong. Since when did Blind Liu speak so crisply and cleanly?

Thinking back carefully over our brief exchange, when I warned him that Lu Xing was likely to appear, Old Liu had replied with a definitive statement: "He is not here with me."

'How could he be so sure?' Holding the phone, I remembered the protocol I'd established with Blind Liu from the start: if nothing was wrong, he was supposed to wait until the eighth ring before answering.

'Crap, Lu Xing went to Anxin Hotel!' Blind Liu was in trouble. I started the car and sped toward Anxin Hotel. But I hadn't driven far when the Mother-Child Gu Mother Bug I'd left near the steering wheel swayed its head, pointing in the exact opposite direction.

'What's going on? Did Lu Xing and Qiu Ren split up?'

In my eyes, Blind Liu's situation took priority, and the Double-Faced Buddha Statue at Anxin Hotel couldn't be lost. Ignoring the Mother-Child Gu's guidance, I raced toward Anxin Hotel.

Leaving the city limits, the solid highway gave way to a muddy road. Through the pouring rain, I could spot the faint red neon sign in the distance: "Woman's Heart Hotel."

The broken bulbs still hadn't been fixed. After the hidden corpse case, the place had been temporarily handed over to the administrators of Henshan Prison.

The police seals on the door were long gone. The power was still on inside. I hurried up the narrow stairs to the second floor.

Behind the counter, a battered black-and-white TV had been turned on, broadcasting the news with a signal that flickered between clear and static.

"Flood peak warning. The water level at Hankou Station has reached 27.9 meters, hitting the highest mark this year. Residents along the river, please pay attention to safety and exercise caution when going out!"

The intermittent broadcast drifted from the TV. I pulled out Jiang Chen's phone and dialed Blind Liu's number again. The phone wasn't turned off, but no one answered.

A strong sense of unease gripped me. I reached the room I had stayed in during my first live broadcast. The moment I pushed the door open, the scene inside stunned me.

"Old Liu!"

The bed boards had been flipped over. Blind Liu lay collapsed in the middle of a scattered pile of Talisman Paper, blood streaming from his eyes.

I rushed to his side, panicking so much in that split second that I completely forgot about Jiang Chen.

The black cloth covering Blind Liu's eyes had been sliced in two by a blade. His eyes were squeezed shut, his arms as thin as dry twigs.

"My skills are inferior. I'm ashamed." Hearing my voice, Blind Liu turned his head, grabbing my sleeve. "My cultivation over the past few years has fallen into the Lower Vehicle. I was no match for Lu Xing. Talismans, mantras, incantations, the Buddhist, demonic, and Ghost Dao—he has mastered them all. That man's depths cannot be measured. You will never be able to guess how many hidden cards he has up his sleeve."

Blind Liu's eyes were bleeding, unable to open. I didn't know what state Lu Xing had ended up in, but looking at the total devastation in the room, he must have paid a massive price to injure Blind Liu.

"Old Liu, the police should be here soon. Rest here for now." I jumped into the secret tunnel and found the Double-Faced Buddha Statue on the wall. The Buddha had two faces, but both sets of ears were gone.

"Too late." I slammed my fist into the wall. Being wanted by the Jiangcheng police, the Jiang family pulling strings from the shadows, and that helplessness I'd felt when Zhao Bin was injured—rage boiled over inside me. My chest burned red-hot, and the vivid Blood Fox Tattoo seemed to come alive.

'Even criminals guilty of the Ten Unpardonable Evils have accomplices, but what about me?' Once the anger ignited, staying calm became difficult. This was a state I rarely experienced in my other live broadcasts. Even when facing the most brutal, deeply resentful vengeful spirits, I had never felt helpless. I always believed that by peeling back the layers, I could uncover the truth.

But this broadcast was different. A single person's strength was ultimately limited. I felt like I was fighting the entire world, standing alone against absolutely everyone.

For some reason, the text message prompt from the Underworld Live Show flashed through my mind: "The lives of the entire city will hang by your hands alone. You control their fate, you stand by their side, yet you have been pushed into the abyss by them. The millennium's dawn will not arrive. The eight characters have been gathered. The dragonslayer will eventually become the dragon."

Purely from the perspective of the broadcast task, all I needed to do was find Qiu Ren at midnight to complete the mission. This was a live broadcast with an extremely high degree of freedom and no geographical restrictions. That meant I could completely leave Jiangcheng, wash my hands of this disaster, and hide in another city.

Becoming an Underworld Live Show Streamer made me a prophet of disaster, but who decreed that a prophet of disaster was obligated to save the ignorant?

They were still completely in the dark. They wanted to capture me and put me to death.

Wicked thoughts sprouted in my heart like a datura flower. I recalled the final line of the message: "The dragonslayer will eventually become the dragon."

The dragonslayer slays the evil dragon, but loses himself in wealth and beauty, becoming the new evil dragon.

'That sentence is a warning to me.'

In the optional tasks, the reward for saving Jiangcheng was merely a single chance to ask a question. Ask who? Ask what? Could the answer to one question really outweigh the lives of an entire city?

My mind was a mess. Unable to decipher the Underworld Live Show's intentions, I climbed out of the tunnel and wiped away the bloody tears leaking from Blind Liu's eyes.

"Rest here peacefully. Leave the rest to me."

The situation had escalated far beyond my expectations. Lu Xing and Qiu Ren had planned tonight's operation for five whole years, making it watertight. I had brushed shoulders with him multiple times, yet I was completely powerless against him.

Escorting Jiang Chen downstairs, I saw police lights flashing outside, looking like a crowd of mocking faces. I tightened my grip on the gun and suppressed the murderous intent in my heart, forcing myself to calm down. 'The Paper Doll Interviewer once said that this live broadcast is the real test. But what exactly are they testing?'

'Thrills? Terror?' Sweeping my gaze over the rows of police cars in front of me, I didn't feel a shred of human fear—only disappointment and a chilling desolation.

'Perhaps this is exactly what the Underworld Live Show wants me to see, what it wants me to understand.' Staring coldly at the armed police officers, I abandoned my last shred of wishful thinking.

Sitting back in the car, I glanced at the Mother-Child Gu. The direction the Mother Insect pointed toward should be the Jingying Sanatorium.

'I'll leave the Jingying Sanatorium for Huang Boyuan to deal with. I can't let Lu Xing lead me by the nose anymore.' The only way to turn this passive situation around was to find the Buddha statue before Lu Xing did.

'I know the location of the Double-Faced Buddha Statue at Xinhu High School. Tonight's final battle will take place there!'