Chapter 487: Number 9?

Dusting off my clothes, I staggered out of No-Lights Road. The alley entrance still bore the wreckage of last night's fierce battle, but the bodies and bloodstains were completely gone.

"Three Yin Sect, you won't get away." I patted my pockets for a good while but couldn't find a cigarette. Coughing a few times, I walked to the main road and flagged down a taxi heading for the nearby First People's Hospital.

I registered for emergency care and was rushed into the ER. My clothes had stuck to my wounds, some of which were already infected. The gruesome sight gave the doctors quite a scare.

Before treating my injuries, the doctor insisted I contact my family. They needed a relative's consent to perform surgery and cut away the festering tissue.

Out of options, I racked my brain and finally borrowed the doctor's phone to call Tie Ningxiang.

"Senior, I'm at the hospital. Could you come sign some paperwork for me?"

"..."

About half an hour later, having just dropped Yi Yi off at school, Tie Ningxiang hurried over to the hospital. Seeing her stern expression, I felt a twinge of guilt and didn't dare to meet her gaze.

"After taking care of the little one, I have to come babysit the big one. Can't you two give me a break?" Tie Ningxiang signed the forms, inspecting my wounds with the scrutiny of a medical examiner at a murder scene. "How did this happen? You were just discharged yesterday, and you're this severely injured again? What exactly are you doing every day?!"

I opened my mouth but didn't know what to say. If I flat-out told Tie Ningxiang that I had been usurping fate and actually succeeded, the nearby doctors and nurses would probably die laughing.

"Never mind. Just hurry up and get him a room."

"His condition is quite complicated. If it isn't handled properly, it could be life-threatening, so I recommend hospitalization," the doctor said, flipping through my admission records. "Also, beds are currently scarce. He'll have to share a room with another patient for now, but it's only temporary."

"We'll do that, then. Thank you, Doctor," Tie Ningxiang said, before turning back to roll her eyes at me. "Are you going to be alright, or do I need to take the day off?"

"No need, go do your work. I just needed a family member's signature and had no other choice but to call you." I stole a glance at her and noticed her eyes widen slightly at the words 'family member,' the tension around her mouth easing significantly.

"Who's your family? I'm just fulfilling my duty as a people's police officer." Tie Ningxiang put on her police cap. "Focus on resting and don't go running around again. I'll bring you lunch at noon, got it?"

"Got it. Thanks, Senior." I sat obediently in my chair and squeezed out a smile.

"Save it. That smile looks worse than you crying." After Tie Ningxiang left, the doctors wheeled me into the surgical theater.

It was past ten in the morning by the time all my wounds were fully treated. A nurse escorted me to a special care ward, but the moment I walked through the door, things got a little awkward.

A young man wrapped head to toe in bandages lay in bed number one. Seeing me walk in, he was just as stunned.

"Mr. Lu, what a coincidence. We meet again..." Feng Minglong seemed to be recovering well; his complexion looked good.

"Yeah, what a coincidence." I forced a smile and didn't say much.

The nurse beside me looked surprised. "You two know each other? Why didn't you say so earlier? We were worried you might not want to share a room."

'Which eye of yours sees me wanting this?' I desperately wanted to retort, but ultimately kept my mouth shut and lay down sideways on bed number two.

"Why wouldn't we be happy? Mr. Lu and I are friends who've been through life and death together. If we're talking about our story, it's a real mix of thriller and fantasy..." Feng Minglong had clearly been bored out of his mind cooped up in here; he began talking a mile a minute.

"Hold on, why are you calling him Mr. Lu? This gentleman's surname is Gao; his name is Gao Jian," the nurse interrupted. Covering her mouth, she let out a soft giggle before leaving the ward. She was already entirely used to this patient who spouted endless nonsense and seemed a bit mentally unhinged.

"Gao Jian?" Feng Minglong turned to look at me. "Your surname isn't Lu? Didn't you say at the subway station that your name was Lu Xing, and that you had a daughter named Lu Feng?"

"Give it a rest." I glared at him impatiently. "Leave me out of your crazy delusions. What kind of nonsense were you just spouting?"

"Mr. Lu, could you be suffering from amnesia?! It's me, Feng Minglong! Did you forget about the train that came after midnight? Don't you remember the coffin we carried together? That strange woman named Lu Shan, the Blood Fox, and oh right, Mr. Wang Shi!" Feng Minglong genuinely thought I'd lost my memory. It wasn't surprising; an experience like that would be impossible for any normal person to accept.

"Calm down for a second." I gestured for him not to get worked up, preparing to carefully straighten out his logic. "Do you still remember how you died?"

The question left Feng Minglong dumbfounded. "Aren't I alive and well right here?"

"I mean, do you still remember what happened before we boarded the last train at midnight? Let's go through it from the beginning," I said helplessly.

"Oh, right. The homeless guy and I were the last to leave the subway. We were both scratched by the Blood Fox and left clinging to life, but then I saw you and someone else come out of the restroom. You know everything that happened after that. When the train arrived, I wanted to warn you about how dangerous the Blood Fox was, so I snuck over to your side."

After Feng Minglong finished speaking, something suddenly felt off. I activated my Judging Eye to examine his expression, but he didn't appear to be lying.

"Is there a problem?" Feng Minglong stared at me blankly, then repeated himself.

"Wait!" I abruptly sat up in my hospital bed. "You said you were with the homeless man the entire time? And you saw me come out of the restroom with someone else?"

"Yeah, why?" He looked at me in confusion, clueless as to what he'd said wrong.

"You never went into the subway station's restroom at all?" My chest heaved violently as bubbles of fear burst in my heart.

Before that livestream had started, I'd been hiding in the station's restroom. Just as I was about to go live, I discovered a person lurking in the darkness of the adjacent stall, constantly spying on me.

I still couldn't forget that scene even now. The sudden, overwhelming dread was simply indescribable!

"I did go to the restroom before the station closed, but no one answered when I knocked, so I left," Feng Minglong said in all seriousness.

"So that person wasn't you?" I carefully recalled the situation. I had indeed heard footsteps—first coming in, then leaving, followed by absolute silence. "If the one making the footsteps was you, then who was hiding in the stall next to mine? And why did they have your exact face?"

"What person?"

My questions were starting to panic him. His expressions were all completely normal reactions; he didn't look like he was lying.

I pondered for a moment before continuing, "You said you saw me come out of the restroom with someone else. Do you remember what that person looked like?"

"I didn't get a clear look at his face, but he was also wearing a subway station staff uniform."

"Did you notice anything unusual about him?" Sitting on the edge of the bed, I stared at Feng Minglong like a hawk.

"No specific details." He racked his brains. "I was curious why an extra staff member had suddenly appeared in the station, so I instinctively glanced at the ID badge on his chest."

"Did you find anything? Was he one of your people?" I asked urgently, the unease in my heart growing heavier by the second.

"Probably not. I didn't get a clear look at what was written on the badge. I only saw the number 9 written in black marker," Feng Minglong said after thinking for a long time.

"9?" I rubbed my chin, turning it over carefully in my mind. "What does this number mean? Before, in Room 444 of the Underworld Live Show, the advertising card on the interviewer's desk also had a 9 on it. Is this just a coincidence, or is there some kind of connection between the two?"

The fact that I had survived and successfully usurped fate had even surprised the Live Show. The interviewer had stated more than once that I exceeded their expectations.

In that case, this number 9 might be tied to another Streamer. A livestream wouldn't stop just because a single person died, so there would naturally be newcomers brought in as replacements.

"Number 9 might be the Streamer taking my place, but thinking about it like that isn't right either." I gripped my head. The previous livestream had already concluded, yet this sudden extra person sent chills down my spine, making me look at everyone with suspicion.

"Who could Number 9 be? Is it possible I've met him?"