Chapter 422: The Eleventh Live Stream

The Ghost Mother did not go after Lu Chen, staying quietly by Wang Yu's side. Not daring to disturb the mother and son, I slipped quietly into the Laboratory Building alone.

The rampant yin energy had already dissipated. I walked over to the corner with a faint smile. Zhong Jiu clutched the wound on his stomach, watching me with extreme vigilance. "You're actually not dead yet?"

"Yeah, good people do not live long, while scourges last for a thousand years." My fingers gently stroked the Ghost Ring Jade Bead, summoning the Desire Ghost.

"What do you mean?" Zhong Jiu sensed that something was wrong.

"I mean that you are a good person." I waved my hand at the Desire Ghost. Thirsting for blood and dominated by his urges, Number Nine could no longer hold back. The nails on both his hands elongated, and he lunged at Zhong Jiu as if wielding ten carving knives.

"Where is the young master? Where is Senior Brother Lu Chen? Gao Jian, if you dare kill me, Profound Truth Dao will never rest until you're dead!" Zhong Jiu shouted with all his might, coughing up several mouthfuls of blood.

I shook my head, admiring the Desire Ghost's slaughterous feast. "I didn't kill you. The Ghost Mother did. I was just acting in self-defense and accidentally hurt you, that's all."

I had already come up with this excuse before making my move, pinning everything on the Ghost Mother. I was sure Her Ladyship wouldn't mind.

After Zhong Jiu died, I walked out of the Laboratory Building. To my surprise, the dense yin energy on campus had dissipated, and the Ghost Mother was nowhere to be seen. I didn't know if she had gone after Lu Chen or if she had gone into hiding to lay low for a while.

I picked up Wang Yu from the ground. His expression had softened significantly. His eyes were wide open, numb and lifeless, though the corners were slightly damp with a trace of crystalline tears.

No one could walk into his heart, and no one knew what he was thinking about right now. I checked his injuries and found only superficial flesh wounds. All the yin energy had been expelled from his body. "Having a Ghost Mother as a mother... I really don't know if that's your fortune or misfortune."

Taking one last look at Lu Jin's corpse, I left Xinhu High School with Wang Yu without looking back.

The commotion on campus had been massive. Er Gou and the others hadn't left at all; they had been hiding at the gate this whole time, ready to rush back in and risk their lives at a moment's notice. Just having that intention was enough to move me. "It's over. Let's go home."

Back at Jingying Sanatorium, I settled Wang Yu into bed. Then I gave Er Gou and the others another physical checkup, driving most of the yin energy out of their bodies before letting them leave.

I rested at the sanatorium for the night. Early the next morning, as soon as I walked out into the courtyard, I saw Er Gou and his brothers pulling up in a minivan and blocking my door. The spectacle gave the sanatorium security guards quite a scare.

"What are you guys planning to do?" I asked, a bit puzzled as I looked at the group standing neatly in a row. Ultimately, Er Gou stepped forward.

"Jian Ge, what happened last night opened the door to a new world for us. We only just realized that we're nothing but frogs at the bottom of a well. So we discussed it all night and unanimously decided to learn your skills!" Er Gou wasn't joking around; he spoke in an extremely serious tone that was rarely seen from him.

"Learn my skills?" I couldn't help but laugh, noticing that they had not only buzzed their hair short but also coordinated their outfits. Each of them looked like a newly enlisted recruit. "Even if you want to learn, I have no way to teach you."

Most of the cultivation methods exchanged from the Underworld Live Show were the core mental methods of various contemporary sects. After this incident with Profound Truth Dao, I finally understood that secretly learning a cultivation method was equivalent to shaking the very foundation of a sect. This was a completely irreconcilable conflict, so I couldn't bring harm upon Er Gou and the others. The Yin-Yang Ghost Art could be given to them to practice, but the side effects of ghost arts were massive. Those who dealt with yin energy year-round and cultivated nether ghost arts would not live very long.

"Jian Ge, just teach us a move or two. That way, in case something happens next time, we can help you, right?"

"Yeah, Jian Ge. From now on, if you tell us to go east, we'll never go west!"

"Thinking about it now, I even got pinned down by a sleep paralysis ghost when I was a kid. If I knew Daoist arts, there's no telling who'd be pressing down on who!"

They all chattered at once, fantasizing about all sorts of scenarios once they learned Daoist arts. I just shook my head as I listened. I was slowly beginning to understand why the major mountain sects had such strict requirements for the practice of mental methods, Daoist arts, and talismans. To cultivate methods, one must first cultivate the mind. Methods were merely a facet of the Dao. Cultivating the Dao purely for the sake of the methods would ultimately only lead one astray.

"How about this. I'll do my best to think of a way for everyone. For now, you guys practice Crushing Fist. Biting off more than you can chew is no good. Once you all develop inner strength, I will teach you Daoist internal mental methods." I had swung my fists with all my might tens of thousands of times in my dreams before developing inner strength. Achieving that in reality would be absolutely impossible without several months of practice.

The group was slightly disappointed, but they quickly perked up. They drove off in the minivan with great vigor, heading off to who knows where to practice their punches.

"It's great to be young." I went back inside. Bai Qi was lying lazily on the sofa, wagging his tail. Wang Yu, wrapped in bandages, was sitting at the table with a watercolor pen, completely engrossed in his drawing.

"Wang Yu, what are you drawing?" I walked over with a smile. Unexpectedly, seeing me approach, the child grabbed the drawing paper and ran off, not letting me look at all.

"This little guy." My smile slowly faded. Actually, the moment he picked up the paper, I had already seen it with my Judging Eye. The figure drawn on that paper was exactly the Ghost Mother.

Dark clouds pressed down from above. She stood atop a tall building, her black hair dancing wildly as she reached out and touched the sky.

"It looks so real."

...

Leaving Jingying Sanatorium alone, I returned to Ting Tang Road. Compared to the sanatorium, my own little shop felt much more comfortable.

Just as I reached the entrance to the shop, I saw a Daoist priest in blue robes pacing the street. "Daoist Leng? Are you here to ask for the Rice Altar Incense Burner back?"

I had bought breakfast and was carrying steamed buns and fried dough sticks. "Do you want to come in and sit down?"

When Leng Qingxuan saw me, it was as if he had seen a ghost. He wore a look of absolute disbelief, taking a long moment to recover his wits. "You... aren't dead?"

My face darkened. "It's early in the morning, what nonsense are you spouting? Want some buns?"

"No need." Leng Qingxuan waved his sleeve, looking me up and down. "Senior Brother Lu Chen and Junior Brother Lu Jin didn't return all night, so I was a bit worried. They said earlier that they were going to look for you. I wonder..."

"Oh, Lu Jin is dead, and Lu Chen's odds probably aren't great either." I ate my bun as if there was no one else around. "Yesterday they took me to Xinhu High School to carry out a Heart-Slaying Dao Inquiry. As a result, the Ghost Mother appeared, and the two distinguished disciples of Profound Truth Dao proved their soaring righteousness. Lu Jin died in battle, and Lu Chen lured the Ghost Mother away alone. Such an act of self-sacrifice is truly admirable!"

Leng Qingxuan gave me a suspicious look. "You're not lying to me? This time, Maoshan and Profound Truth Dao came to Jiangcheng together. If something happens to our Daoist friends from Profound Truth Dao, I will inevitably be questioned by my sect."

"When that time comes, I hope Daoist Leng can put in a few good words for me. With our Profound Truth Daoist friends suffering an accident this time, I feel truly guilty. I've been unable to eat or sleep in peace, and the mental pressure is massive. I won't keep you here any longer, forgive me for not seeing you off!" Swallowing the bun in my mouth, I unlocked the shop door and went inside. I could still hear Leng Qingxuan murmuring.

"Unable to eat or sleep in peace, yet eating until your mouth is greasy? Forget it, I should return to the mountain early to report back. Lu Jin is the number one figure among the ninth-generation disciples of Profound Truth Dao. He was treated like a son by Dao Zheng. I'm afraid his death will cause a massive earthquake in Jiangcheng. No one will be able to stay out of it."

I didn't know whether Leng Qingxuan had said those words specifically for me to hear. By the time I walked back out with the incense burner, the Maoshan Yin Master was already long gone. "After the Heart-Slaying Dao Inquiry, Profound Truth Dao shouldn't suspect me of secretly learning the Profound Truth Mental Method anymore. It's just that between them and the Ghost Mother, it's probably truly a fight to the death now."

I worried for the Ghost Mother in my heart, but I also knew that this worry was completely superfluous. The difference in level between me and the Ghost Mother was far too great. It was a gap that couldn't be made up for by a few talismans or external schemes.

"When soldiers come, block them with weapons; when water comes, block it with earth. What's the point of overthinking?" I didn't delay any further, returning inside to cultivate the Profound Truth Mental Method, strengthening my yang meridians to prepare for tonight's eleventh live stream.

...

A cold wind blew in through the window. We had already entered autumn, and it was getting dark earlier and earlier. The nights were growing longer, which was definitely not good news for me.

After finishing my day's cultivation and eating dinner, I packed up all my live-streaming gear. Holding the Underworld Live Show's Large-Screen Phone, I waited quietly.

The hands of the clock overlapped; it was eight o'clock.

A faint, cold light shone on my face. I looked at my reflection in the screen—pale, yet firm and calm.

"Hello?"

"Are you Gao Jian?"

"I am."

"We've met before. Can you take me out of here?"

"Where are you right now?"

"I... I'm in the well."