Chapter 343: Comprehensive Enhancement

It was a thick stack, resembling a painted picture book. Using my sleeve as a barrier, I lifted the director's head and pulled the photos out.

I looked down at them, unable to tear my eyes away for a long time. I even forgot the pain in my abdomen.

The photos fell roughly into two categories: women and children.

There was no way to tell what dates they were taken, but judging solely from the angles, the photographer was the abuser.

Photos of women made up the vast majority, and among them, I found a picture of the Ghost Mother from when she was still alive.

If it had only been those photos of women, I wouldn't have lingered. What truly caught my attention were a few pictures of children.

Unlike the abused women, the children in the photos were all neatly dressed—boys and girls alike, though every one of them was wearing girls' clothes.

Watching these terrified children strike different poses at the photographer's demand, I frowned. "A psychopath? This particular kind of twisted taste is rare."

After putting the photos back where I found them, I discovered something else in the desk drawer: some confession letters in messy, blurred handwriting. By the looks of it, the director had written them himself.

After I skimmed through them twice, a rather tragic story took shape in my mind.

Wang Xiusen had discovered that his wife was cheating on him. After their divorce, he raised his daughter alone. As the sweet, cute girl grew older, she looked less and less like Wang Xiusen himself, so he took her for a paternity test.

Sure enough, the girl wasn't his biological daughter. By this point, his mind had become completely twisted. His hatred and rage toward women drove him to commit a heinous act.

One night, right here in this Maternity and Children's Health Center, he murdered his own daughter.

After this crime of passion came endless remorse and terror. Tormented by these tangled emotions, he grew increasingly pathological.

On one hand, he resented the patients who hid their identities and snuck in for abortions; on the other, he developed a peculiar attachment to children around his daughter's age, as if he could see his own daughter in them. Deep down, he knew perfectly well it was fake, but compared to the reality he hated, he preferred living in the illusion he had woven for himself.

That brought up Wang Xiusen's other identity. On the surface, he was the director of the Maternity and Children's Health Center, but in truth, he had close ties with the Jiang family and served as an informant planted in the secular world by the Three Yin Sect to keep the hospital running normally for them.

Although he didn't practice Daoist techniques or evil arts himself, he knew every formation in the hospital, large and small, as well as the procedures for raising ghosts and gathering yin energy. It was by using certain formations in the Maternity and Children's Health Center that he had managed to murder his daughter without a sound.

Cultivating evil arts required vast numbers of Little Ghosts and foul, malevolent yin energy, and the Qicun Maternity and Children's Health Center guaranteed their supply. The Three Yin Sect would likely learn what had happened here very soon.

I didn't linger in the room. Once I confirmed there was nothing else to find, I took Wang Yu and left.

Upon breaking free, the Ghost Mother had unleashed her terrifying might, shattering every formation in the building and claiming every last one of the Little Ghosts enslaved and raised by the Three Yin Sect. Now, the Maternity and Children's Health Center was cold and deserted.

The Infant Spirit inside my Kidney Aperture was still thrashing about, making it feel as if a water snake were coiling and writhing in my belly. Many mysteries in this broadcast remained unsolved, but given my physical condition, I decided to play it safe and take Wang Yu away from the Maternity and Children's Health Center for now.

With her formidable strength, the Ghost Mother naturally thought nothing of the Three Yin Sect. But I was different. Right now, I was practically powerless, and if the incoming evil cultivators caught me, severe physical torment would be unavoidable.

Wang Yu and I didn't go far. We hid in the backyard of a house in Qi Village, silently watching the Maternity and Children's Health Center through a fence and waist-high weeds. About an hour later, seven people in black Daoist robes arrived by car. Every one of them had a restrained aura, and to me, they felt even stronger than Blind Liu.

'Though the strength of these seven people can't compare to the Ghost Mother, it's more than enough to deal with me. Good thing I left early.' The Ghost Mother's unsealing had happened so suddenly, yet the other side had managed to dispatch seven evil cultivators in such a short time. The sheer scale of their power left me shaken.

'It turns out I was viewing the sky from the bottom of a well. I originally thought I had no rivals in Jiangcheng other than Lu Xing, but looking at it now, what I've encountered is probably just the tip of the iceberg in Jiangcheng.'

Several black-robed Daoists went in and out of the Maternity and Children's Health Center. Although I couldn't hear what they were saying, with Chasing Eye I could clearly see their agitated expressions and eyes blazing with fury.

It was nearly dawn by the time these people finally drove away. By the faint starlight, I locked my gaze onto their commercial van. 'I've seen that license plate in the Century New Garden parking lot before. It seems this group is very close to the Jiang family.'

For fear they might double back, I stayed put until daybreak before finally stepping out of the backyard. I retrieved the Black Leather Suitcase, flagged down a taxi, and took Wang Yu back to Ting Tang Road.

[Ding!]

[Broadcast Mission: Arrive at Qicun Maternity and Children's Health Center before midnight – Completed.]

[Completed the broadcast mission, earned 1 point; peak concurrent viewers exceeded 9,000, rewarded 10 points; total gifts received during the broadcast exceeded 10 Yuanbao, rewarded 10 points; completed a commission from the Underworld, rewarded 1 extra point.]

[Optional Mission 1: Find the missing children – Completed, rewarded 5 points.]

[Optional Mission 2: Find the true culprit – Incomplete.]

[Optional Mission 3: Successfully save one person's life – Rewarded 1 extra point.]

[The lifeline call function was not used during this broadcast. The free opportunity will be saved for the next broadcast.]

[Tally complete. A total of 28 points were earned during this broadcast. Current point total: 112 points.]

[Merit tally for this broadcast: Released the Ghost Mother of a Thousand Resentments, causing endless harm. Deducted 500 merit.]

[Ninth broadcast completed. Unlocking new product catalog.]

[Dragon-Capturing Technique, Volume One (100 points); Yin-Yang Ghost Art (Heaven is Yang, Earth is Yin; Man is Yang, Ghost is Yin. Secret Manual of Ghost Arts, 25 points); Mayfly Sutra (Born a mayfly, yet possessing heaven-spanning ambitions; introductory lecture on Fate Cultivation, 50 points); Amitabha Sutra (One hand pointing to heaven, one hand pointing to earth, I alone am honored in heaven and on earth; Mahayana Buddhist sutra fragment, 40 points); Records of Bizarre Beasts (Map of anomalous beasts across the Land of Shenzhou from the past thirty years, fragmented edition, 30 points); Eight-Step Crushing Fist (Undefeated for fifty years, lost boxing manual, 5 points); Sight-Clearing Pill (Assists in cultivation, grants rapid mastery of Heavenly Eye ability, 5 points); Stone Spirit Powder Prescription (Harmonizes the inside and outside, body like a solid rock, 9 points)...]

Sitting in a chair in the Adult Shop, I regulated my breathing and circulated my qi, but no matter what method I tried, the sharp pain in my abdomen refused to fade. 'The Infant Spirit is thrashing around, and my faint breath of Pre-Heaven qi can't do a thing to it. It seems the only way to deal with ghosts is by using ghost arts.'

I thought through the extraordinary people I knew, but none of them could help me with this. I would have to solve it on my own.

I browsed the Underworld Live Show's product catalog. Many of the newly added items tempted me. 'Volume One of the Dragon-Capturing Technique costs a hundred points, but now that I know flood dragons really exist in this world, I can redeem it once I have points to spare. That would also fulfill one of Blind Liu's wishes.'

'The Yin-Yang Ghost Art is a Secret Manual of Ghost Arts, which fits my needs perfectly, and twenty-five points is reasonable. Still, Old Liu and I once discussed the dangers of ghost arts. If I fall into corruption and my mind is affected, my body will probably be taken over by ghosts. If that happens, the best I could hope for would be ending up like Ye Bing, locked in an endless sleep.'

Studying ghost arts carried immense risks, but to eliminate the Rakshasa Ghost Infant, it was a risk worth taking. 'As long as the Ghost Infant isn't removed, my life rests in the hands of the Ghost Mother. I must find a way to get rid of it.'

The Eight-Step Crushing Fist, along with the pill and prescription listed after it, would also be very useful to me. I had trained in close-quarters combat and could easily flatten street thugs, but I struggled against truly practiced fighters. That day atop the dam, for instance, Lu Xing had fought me bare-handed for a long time and nearly dragged me to my death with him in the end.

'For this boxing manual to be priced at five points, there must be something extraordinary about it.' I had another reason for redeeming the prescription and the boxing manual. The Three Yin Sect had been entrenched in Jiangcheng for years, their roots running deep. Last night, on short notice, they had managed to summon seven cultivators no weaker than Blind Liu. Standing against them on my own would be extremely difficult. That made me think of Er Gou and his band of brothers; if I could train them up, they would be a tremendous help.

Several broadcasts had left me with a generous stash of points. I held the Underworld Live Show Phone and entered the items that caught my eye. "I want to redeem the Yin-Yang Ghost Art, Eight-Step Crushing Fist, Sight-Clearing Pill, and the Stone Spirit Powder Prescription."

[Exchange successful. Remaining points: 68.]

Pressing my wrist against my lower abdomen, I stood up, ready to take Wang Yu to the Central Bank. When I turned my head, I couldn't help smiling.

Wang Yu had congenital autism and refused to communicate with anyone. Ever since I rescued him, he hadn't spoken a single word to me, acting as though he were deaf and mute.

He was deeply guarded against everyone, including his own mother.

Yet the scene unfolding in the Adult Shop right now let me glimpse a trace of childlike innocence hidden deep in his heart.

He and Bai Qi were staring wide-eyed at each other. He curled his fingers, wanting to pet Bai Qi's head, but he was a bit afraid. The boy and the dog just stared at each other in this conflicted stalemate.

"Do you want to play with him?" I took Wang Yu's small hand and gently placed it on top of Bai Qi's head. The soft, furry feel brought a touch of color to Wang Yu's hollow eyes.

His touch as he petted Bai Qi was very light. The gentleness of it surprised me; it felt as though his small hand were reaching right through the flesh to stroke the soul itself.

"Bai Qi, take good care of him." I patted Bai Qi's back, left him and Wang Yu to watch the place, and headed out alone with my phone.

I took a taxi to the Central Bank. Walking inside, I suddenly felt something was wrong, like something was missing.

I was holding my phone and about to head for the VIP lane when two security guards blocked my way. "The VIP lane is only open to VIP clients. Please wait patiently in line outside."

"I've always gone straight through the VIP lane before. Where's your lobby manager? Get her over here."

The guard didn't go get her as I asked. He lowered his head and said slowly, "I'm sorry. Manager Shen got into a car accident a few days ago. She's gone."