Chapter 485: Extermination

Handing over the Dream Wing Gu would net me a massive amount of points and a host of broadcast privileges. I hadn't even heard of some of these perks before, but every single one would be incredibly useful to me.

That was why the interviewer's offer tempted me. If used well, those privileges could easily carry me through two or three livestreams.

The downside, however, was that I would lose the only Gu worm capable of resisting the Plum Blossom Gu. In the long run, I would undoubtedly suffer for it.

"The Dream Wing Gu fell into a slumber to save me. It's resting inside my Liver Aperture, so I can't extract it right now," I said, tactfully rejecting the interviewer's deal.

"Won't you reconsider?" The Paper Doll Mask completely obscured the interviewer's expression, and his tone betrayed no emotion. "If you agree to hand the Dream Wing Gu over to the Live Show, we will step in to purge the Yin poison from your body. Think carefully before you answer. The Yin poison has seeped into your bones; left untreated, it will threaten your life. Besides, there isn't much time before your next livestream. Going into a broadcast in your current state is nothing short of suicide."

When I charged alone through the swarm of underworld soldiers borrowing the path, my body had been invaded by 'yang' poison in multiple places. Large patches of bruised, black-and-purple discoloration still mottled my skin.

"No need. I'll figure out a way to deal with the Yin poison myself." The Underworld Live Show was notoriously stingy, and I knew I stood little chance of getting the better of them. I stood up to leave.

"I think it would be best if you reconsidered." The Paper Doll Interviewer remained seated, his posture completely unchanged. "Take out your phone and look at your current status. I believe you'll change your mind."

"My current status?" A bad feeling washed over me. I pulled out the Underworld Live Show's Large-Screen Phone and checked my profile. A shocking change had occurred in one specific category.

In the merit column, my balance had gone from a negative six or seven hundred straight to negative one hundred thousand!

"How is this possible?" I blurted out.

"You used the Yellow Springs Token without authorization, opened the Ghost Gate, interfered with the cosmic cycle of reincarnation, and released vengeful spirits and malicious ghosts to ravage the land. Deducting a hundred thousand merit is perfectly normal," the interviewer said mildly, as if he had anticipated this. "If you have a mirror, take a look at your face."

"Look at my face?" Still reeling from the shock of my merit balance, I subconsciously took out my phone and opened the front-facing camera.

The screen displayed a face shrouded in black energy and a bloody haze. Physiognomic signs of 'impending disaster' or 'dark clouds pressing down' were absolutely nothing compared to what I was looking at right now.

"Terrible luck, unfavorable years, completely jinxed. Right now, whatever you do will fail. Whatever you hope for will backfire. A single moment of carelessness will bring about a bloody disaster. Although you managed to escape your preordained time of death, that doesn't mean you'll live a long life. On the contrary, since your life and death are no longer governed by heaven and earth, you might die decades from now, or you might die in the very next second." A deep, bone-chilling terror seeped from his flat voice. The interviewer's words pierced straight to my heart, voicing my greatest fear.

"You were successful in usurping fate. Even we didn't anticipate that. You gave us a little surprise, but that's all it was—a surprise." The interviewer toyed with the card in his hand, letting the silence hang.

I frowned, unable to parse his meaning.

With a negative one hundred thousand merit, my future would be fraught with constant hurdles. I would be plagued by bad luck and could trigger natural disasters at any moment. That was manageable in my daily life, but if an accident happened during a broadcast, it could cause irreversible, catastrophic consequences.

"When I saved Jiangcheng, you took away my million merits. Now that I'm in dire straits, couldn't you..."

"No," the interviewer interrupted before I could finish. "Mr. Gao, you need to understand one fact. You were only able to save Jiangcheng because of the Live Show's arrangements. Therefore, that merit never belonged to you."

He refused without hesitation, leaving absolutely no room for negotiation.

My brow twitched. Through his resolute tone, I had discovered a crucial detail: the Underworld Live Show also needed merit. In fact, they seemed to crave it far more desperately than the orthodox sects did.

Why would such a bizarre broadcast organization—one that siphoned the luck and lifespans of its viewers—need massive amounts of merit? What were they trying to do?

"I was targeted by the will of heaven this time, and my fated death was set. The root cause was taking the Death Train to the Yin-Yang Boundary. I ran into this disaster while completing a mission you assigned. Aren't you going to give me an explanation for that?" I wasn't going to hand over the Dream Wing Gu. My physical condition was already horrendous; I might as well act like I had nothing left to lose.

"Mr. Gao, I think you've misunderstood. Your preordained death at the hands of heaven's will has nothing to do with your previous mission. In fact, you should be thanking us. It was precisely because the Live Show sent you onto the Death Train that you had the chance to see yourself in the October 30th Carriage, allowing you to foresee your own death!" The interviewer rested his chin on his hands, his voice slow and tranquil. "In other words, even if you had never executed that broadcast mission, even if you had never become an Underworld Live Show Streamer, your destined time of death wouldn't have changed. You simply would have died in a different manner."

The interviewer was a smooth talker, and his logic actually made a certain amount of sense.

"So according to you, if I hadn't become a live show streamer, I probably would have died in an accident on October 30th anyway, right?" I scoffed. The event had already passed; there was no way to prove the truth either way.

"Yes." The interviewer gave me no room to maneuver. Conversing with him made my skin crawl. He seemed to understand me perfectly, predicting my every thought. "We won't gift you merit unconditionally, but we also won't just leave you to wither and die. After all, you are currently the most outstanding streamer we've ever seen."

He paused for a moment before adding, "That's right. The most outstanding. You were born for this profession. Therefore, we've made a sudden decision to give you a choice."

"What choice?" I had the distinct feeling that the Underworld Live Show had already laid out a snare, just waiting for me to dive in headfirst.

"Two options. First, you hand over the Dream Wing Gu, and we will give you an item guaranteeing that heaven's will won't target you. Second, you do a task for us, and I will tell you how to evade heaven's will and conceal your karmic obstacles."

"I choose the second one."

The interviewer seemed to have anticipated my answer. Spreading his hands, he said, "This task is very simple. It will just be a matter of convenience for you. We want you to kill everyone in the Three Yin Sect without leaving a trace, ensuring that information regarding the Underworld Live Show never leaks."

"Everyone..." I froze, gaining a newfound appreciation for the Underworld Live Show's sheer ruthlessness. The Three Yin Sect and I were locked in a blood feud, and I had already planned to seek revenge, but I wasn't crazy enough to slaughter all of them. At most, I would only execute a few of their ringleaders.

"Exactly. Every disciple of the Three Yin Sect—kill them! Every ghost held captive by the sect—kill them! Even the ordinary mortals associated with the Three Yin Sect must not be spared!" The interviewer slowly raised his head to look at me. "Can you do it?"

My breath hitched. Part of me wanted to agree, but slaughtering that many people was simply unrealistic.

"Still hesitating?" The interviewer placed the Underworld Live Show promotional card on the table. "Mr. Gao, please think it through before you answer. This is the absolute bottom line for the Live Show."

"Fine. I accept. But I need time," I replied woodenly, my face completely deadpan.

"Not a problem. You just need to complete it before you die." The interviewer tapped his finger against the table. A strange, single-horned insect crawled through the cracks in the floorboards. I had seen this bug during my first interview here; there was an eighty percent chance it was the Plum Blossom Gu. "I expect you to follow through with our agreement. Don't do anything stupid."

"Why would I? I have no sympathy for the Three Yin Sect."

"Good." The interviewer had me take out my Underworld Live Show Phone and find a specific item in the catalog. "I've sent you a gift. You can go to the bank tomorrow and retrieve it. As long as you keep it on you, you won't draw the attention of heaven's will. However, this is only a temporary fix, not a cure. As for your massive merit debt, you'll just have to slowly pay it off."

I took my phone back and checked my messages. My point balance hadn't decreased. The receipt notification showed that the item I purchased was the Damaged Good and Evil Asura Mask.

I had seen this item before. It was a new addition to the store after I finished my eleventh broadcast, capable of slightly masking changes in the heavenly secrets. It cost twenty points.

'An item added to the store right after my eleventh broadcast just happens to solve my most desperate crisis? Is this a coincidence, or is this all part of a trap laid by the Underworld Live Show?!'