Chapter 449: Deserted Village

The ordinary mountain path beneath our feet was rugged, winding, and utterly desolate, devoid of human tracks.

Weeds grew wildly on both sides, and the trees took on bizarre shapes. From a distance, they looked like malicious figures spying on us.

Feng Minglong, Wang Shi, and I had been following behind the Double-Faced Woman for over half an hour.

"This can't go on. Mr. Lu, why don't we find our own way out?" Feng Minglong rubbed his knee. He was walking at the very back of the group, leaning on a tree branch.

"If you want to leave, I certainly won't stop you." Holding the Large-Screen Phone, I kept a close eye on the Double-Faced Woman while reading the livestream viewers' comments.

"Don't be so cold! We got on the train together, after all. Besides, I'm just thinking of everyone." Feng Minglong had a good temper. He was a real pushover; no matter how much you bullied him, he never got angry.

"Wandering off alone in the middle of nowhere without a local guide is suicide. I advise you to talk less and save your energy." Wang Shi walked in the middle of the group. Cautious by nature, he would never put himself in danger.

Feng Minglong let out a dry laugh. "Alright, alright, whatever you guys say."

The two of them stopped talking. Relying on the light in my hand, they kept their eyes fixed on the Double-Faced Woman so they wouldn't lose track of her.

The woman had long since noticed us following her, but she made no attempt to shake us off, simply making her own way through the mountains.

"When are we going to get out of this hellhole?" Although my face remained calm, I was actually even more anxious than Feng Minglong.

Logically, with the livestream mission completed, I should have breathed a sigh of relief. But as time went on, the more I thought about it, the more something felt wrong. I kept feeling like I had overlooked something. After checking the Underworld Live Show mission text messages multiple times, I finally found the source of my unease.

Among the four optional missions, aside from disguised as Lu Xing without being discovered, there was another about destroying the Double-Faced Buddha Statue. How could I possibly reach the Double-Faced Buddha Statue while stuck on the train? The Underworld Live Show must have anticipated this and arranged a follow-up mission for me. It would definitely involve the Two-Faced Buddha and be extremely dangerous.

Furthermore, the last two optional missions were entirely question marks. I had been pondering their meaning, and I'd only just come up with a reasonable answer.

Those question marks were definitely not a mistake by the Underworld Live Show; they were intentional. The contents of the third and fourth missions were top secret. The show used this method to prevent the details from leaking in case I failed or an accident occurred. These two follow-up missions would only trigger once I reached a specific location or made contact with a specific person.

The Underworld Live Show's cautious approach made me even more certain that there was something wrong with this broadcast. Escaping the train was likely only the first half of the livestream; the second half would be the main event.

'Where exactly is the Double-Faced Woman going? The Two-Faced Buddha didn't hesitate to sacrifice the lives of so many disabled people, using remnant souls to alter fate and send Lu Xing onto the train. Could it be that it was all just to take the train to this place? Plotting so much, what exactly is their goal?' I pondered for a long time without gaining much insight. Compared to the Two-Faced Buddha and the Underworld Live Show, I was ultimately just a chess piece still trapped on the board.

However, I hadn't gained absolutely nothing from this livestream. At the very least, the Underworld Live Show's setup helped me understand one thing.

Triggering the optional missions required certain conditions, but how could the Live Show determine if those conditions were met? They weren't by my side, so how could they monitor my every move?

'The problem probably lies with the livestream itself. There's a mole from the Underworld Live Show in my broadcast room.' As familiar IDs flashed through my mind, I couldn't help but look at the Underworld Live Show Phone.

Comments flew past one after another, an overwhelming mix of witty banter and memes. Occasionally, a veteran user would pop up to make a dirty joke. To me, all of this looked perfectly normal.

'Trying to catch a mole in the broadcast room is just too hard.' Although I was technically a Streamer for the Underworld Live Show, I actually didn't have much authority.

I flipped the switch on the Brooch and swapped the broadcast back to the first-person perspective, making it easier to communicate with the livestream viewers.

Right now, cries to heaven would go unanswered, and pleas to earth would be ignored. I couldn't count on Feng Minglong or Wang Shi, and blindly relying on the Double-Faced Woman might lead us God knows where. I had to prepare for the worst.

"Fellow livestream viewers, you've all seen what I've encountered along the way. Is there any expert who can step up, give me some pointers, and tell me where I am right now?"

Teletubbies Died of Murder tipped the Super Thriller Live Broadcast Room 99 Underworld Coins: "Streamer, you're finally willing to talk to us? If you ignore me again, I'll beat you to death with my little fists!"

"I've watched so many livestreams, but this is the first time I've seen a streamer get himself lost. You've got balls!"

Master Tieling Biao tipped the Super Thriller Live Broadcast Room 9 Yuanbao: "Holy shit, this is baffling. Every time I leave a tip in a livestream, the bastards who pick a fight with me the next day end up completely screwed, getting their heads busted open and bleeding. Can anyone tell me how that works?"

"Are you a shill hired by the Streamer? Why did I have bad luck for three days and nights after tipping just once? Three whole days and nights! I'm not even bullshitting, I'm still stuck in an elevator right now. Sigh, let me give you fellow livestream viewers a piece of advice: when you go downstairs to grab a package, never run out wearing just your boxers. It gets incredibly awkward."

Half-immortal Liu from Qingcheng Mountain: "Little friend, in this place you look up and see no sky, look back and see no return path, and look down and see no human shadow. It is highly likely you have strayed into the Yin-Yang Boundary."

Amidst the flood of comments, I had to use my Judging Eye to spot Half-immortal Liu's message. When my gaze swept over his ID, my furrowed brows relaxed. "Half-immortal, long time no see!"

I hadn't even had time to clearly read the contents of Half-immortal Liu's comment; just seeing him appear was enough to lift my spirits. "I'm saved!"

"What do you mean, you're saved? Does your phone have a signal?" Wang Shi ran over to my side in a few quick strides. When he saw the livestream screen, his expression became extremely strange. He struggled to find the words for a long time, completely at a loss for what to say.

"This is my biggest secret. Don't go telling anyone." After cautioning Wang Shi and Feng Minglong, I stared earnestly at the screen and began to consult Half-immortal Liu. "Daoist Liu, what kind of place is the Yin-Yang Boundary? Is it the Underworld we usually talk about?"

"The living are passersby, and the dead are returning travelers. The Yin-Yang Boundary is neither the Underworld, nor does it belong to the Yang Realm. It is inconvenient for me to explain its existence for the time being. If the right opportunity arises one day, perhaps I can tell you in person." I could understand the deeper meaning behind Half-immortal Liu's comment; there were too many mixed voices in the broadcast room, and some things simply couldn't be said.

I nodded and silently committed the term Yin-Yang Boundary to memory.

Half-immortal Liu from Qingcheng Mountain: "May I ask, little friend, why have you come to this place? As far as I know, mortals must pay a massive price to enter the Yin-Yang Boundary."

"I didn't want to come here either. If I told you the exact reason, you probably wouldn't believe it." I found it hard to speak my mind; I couldn't exactly expose the Two-Faced Buddha and the Underworld Live Show. "Half-immortal, do you have any way to get me out of this hellhole?"

It took a long time before I saw Half-immortal Liu's comment: "The one who tied the bell must untie it. The best method is to go back the same way you came."

"You might as well have said nothing." Half-immortal Liu was also out of ideas. Feeling somewhat disappointed, I moved my gaze away from the phone screen and suddenly noticed that the Double-Faced Woman had stopped walking a short distance away.

"What is she doing?" Holding my phone, I walked over quickly. Once I crested the hill, the view suddenly opened up. Within a hollow thick with gloomy Yin energy, a deserted village appeared.

"Why would there be a village in a place like this? Should we go in and take a look?"

Feng Minglong looked at me. I was also somewhat undecided. "Let's wait a bit longer and see what that woman does."

"It's so dark. Why don't we go in and take shelter first? Even if we don't run into anyone, we'll at least have a place to rest our feet, right?"

Feng Minglong was somewhat tempted. Beside him, Wang Shi shot him a glance. "Do you know why these deserted villages form deep in the mountains?"

"Life outside the mountains is better. The young people go out to work and eventually take the children and the elderly with them. What else could it be?" Feng Minglong hadn't realized the danger of this deserted village at all.

"What else could it be?" Wang Shi sneered. "Natural disasters, famines, bandits, epidemics. Everyone in the village died off or couldn't survive anymore, which is why it became a deserted village."