Chapter 497: 2:30 AM

Only after carefully comparing all the photos did I realize that this strange boy never looked at the camera. His eyes were full of unease, always drifting toward Ye Bing, whether intentionally or not.

'Did he like Ye Bing?' I gathered the group photos from the files and arranged them by age. From starting elementary school at six to graduating at twelve, both of them appeared in every single group picture taken during those years.

'They were the same age? Close? Then why had I never heard Ye Bing mention this boy?' Over those six years, their appearances had changed drastically. Ye Bing was already displaying a startling beauty. The boy, in contrast, wasn't even as tall as her. He slouched despite his young age, his face perpetually filthy. He only grew uglier as he got older, giving off a thoroughly unpleasant vibe.

'Did this little boy go through some special experience?' I couldn't tell anything just from his looks. I closed the file and took out the Underworld Live Show Phone to review the mission details.

'If you want to enter, leave your hope outside the door first? What does this mean?' I pondered the mission information. 'Is the Live Show warning me that the Dream Realm is dangerous and I shouldn't harbor any hope of getting out once I go in, or is it saying that the key to solving this lies outside the door?'

'Does the door in this sentence refer to the boundary between the Dream Realm and reality?'

Standing in the room, I looked around the almost completely sealed hospital ward, unable to figure it out.

Time ticked by. By 11:00 PM, I began my final check of the items on me.

"Paulownia Mulberry Talisman, Good and Evil Asura Mask, the portrait Sakurako gave me, Suppression Talisman, Ghost Ring..." To survive October 30th, I had brought all my trump cards with me. After I came out of No-Lights Road, Tie Ningxiang had helped me keep these things safe in the hospital, including Blind Liu's nearly shattered Ancestral Shoulder Pole and my original suit.

After deciding to help Ye Bing, I took all this assorted gear out. I kept whatever I could carry on my person and tossed the rest into the hospital storage room.

'Old Liu's Ancestral Shoulder Pole is nearly snapped in half because of me. I hope he doesn't blow his top the next time we meet.' This was exactly why I hadn't dared to seek out Blind Liu after my successful usurping fate. Honestly, it was pretty embarrassing. 'I'll find a way to compensate Old Liu later. He's a reasonable man who understands the bigger picture; he shouldn't make things too difficult for me.'

Putting Old Liu's matters aside for now, I waited until 11:15 PM. Once I confirmed no one was monitoring outside the door, I prepared to start the broadcast early.

'The livestream mission requires me to enter Ye Bing's Middle Dream Layer before midnight. Calculating the time, it's still pretty tight.'

I plugged in the Portable Encoding Stick, opened the phone's camera, and aimed it at myself.

"Connecting to chat..."

"Acquiring image..."

"Data stable. Start livestream?"

"Yes."

"Welcome Teletubbies Died of Murder to the livestream room, welcome Master Tieling Biao to the livestream room, welcome..."

The video feed stabilized. I appeared in the livestream room, wearing a hospital gown and carrying the Good and Evil Asura Mask.

I cast a glance at the viewer count. Only a few seconds had passed since the stream started, but the online viewership had already broken a hundred. It seemed many livestream viewers had been waiting for a long time.

"I refreshed the damn app eight hundred times today, and I finally caught you!"

"Can't you stream once a day? I really want to mail you razor blades!"

"Streamer, Streamer! After watching your last broadcast, I'm so hooked I can't pull myself out! Can you give me your WeChat? I'm 1.75 meters tall, I work as a print model, and my profile picture is really me! I'm twenty-seven this year, and apart from being a necrophiliac, I have absolutely no flaws! Please go on a date with me!"

"Necrophiliac? Sweat, then why do you like the Streamer? (Confused Nick Young meme)"

Teletubbies Died of Murder tipped the Super Thriller Live Broadcast Room 99 Underworld Coins: "A hospital gown? Are you streaming in a hospital today?"

"Probably organ trafficking, patient resurrection, or something like that. I've already figured out the Streamer's routine! If it has nothing to do with those, I'll livestream myself eating a keyboard!"

Jiangcheng Veteran Driver: "Young man, your line of thinking is too narrow. Let me recommend a few classic Japanese hospital films to you so you can expand your mind and learn a bit. Like 'Night Shift Nurses', 'Three Days and Two Nights with a Special Patient', 'Imprisoned in the * Hospital'..."

"The guy above is badass. I've watched so many streams, and this is the first time I've seen words get censored!"

Master Tieling Biao tipped the Super Thriller Live Broadcast Room 9 Yuanbao: "Let's get hyped! Dedicating a rendition of 'Ugly Monster' to all the livestream viewers present!"

Socrates Paradox: "23333, dedicating a rendition of 'Too Handsome to Have Friends' to myself..."

The livestream viewers were in high spirits. The chat flew by wildly, message after message. I spotted a few familiar names among them. After smiling and greeting them, I dove into today's main topic.

Holding the Underworld Live Show's Large-Screen Phone, I showed everything inside this sealed hospital room to the livestream viewers and delivered the opening remarks for this broadcast.

"Welcome, everyone, to the Super Thriller Live Broadcast Room. Before we start today's stream, I must tell you that I am heading to a place no one has ever reached before. It is a world whose existence remains unconfirmed by the academic community even to this day. I will lead you to witness the most heinous evils and unearth the secrets buried in the deepest depths of the human heart. This is a journey of extreme risk, and I am betting my own life to complete it! Remember this: once I step through this door, until I pass through the next one, you must absolutely not look around you. Because the things you see beyond your screens might actually exist!"

"Now that you're done talking big, hurry up and hit the road..."

"Ugly monster, ah ah ah~~ Can you not turn on the lights? The love I want, ah ah ah~~ haunts the pitch-black stage!"

"Lord Biao, I'm begging you here, can you give it a rest?"

The livestream viewers habitually ignored my warnings, but there was nothing I could do. After checking my gear, I took out the Paulownia Mulberry Talisman and gently placed it over Ye Bing's head.

But just as I prepared to chant the incantation and enter the dream, a sudden noise rang out from outside the ward! It sounded like someone had knocked over a mop in the corridor.

I walked to the door. Because the glass window was covered by a heavy black cloth that blocked out the light, I had to press my ear against the door to listen. There were no sounds outside. It seemed the noise just now was merely my imagination.

'Is someone outside?' I couldn't be sure. Unlocking the door to check outside now would waste too much time.

'The lock on the door can only be opened from the inside, and there are no surveillance cameras in the room. Elder Chen and Jiang Fei are also standing guard outside. Nothing should go wrong.' I turned and walked back to the bed. Taking a deep breath, I gripped the Live Show Phone, put on the Good and Evil Asura Mask to block heaven's interference, and sank my consciousness into the Paulownia Mulberry Talisman to search for Ye Bing's life star based on her Fate Pattern.

"Mourning apparel, condolence visitor, and funeral door. Found it!"

The star map flowed, and my consciousness crashed into a pale white life star—the mourning gate star.

"Waking from the grand dream, where am I today? Once the Paulownia Mulberry is entered, three thousand years fade away!"

...

My vision blurred, and my head throbbed. I slowly opened my eyes. Everything before me had become completely unfamiliar.

'Is this Ye Bing's Shallow Dream Layer?'

The last time I entered Huang Xue's dream, it left a deep shadow over me. So, I was doubly careful this time. I stood firmly in place, not daring to move recklessly, and observed my surroundings first.

I was in a closed space. I couldn't feel the slightest breeze or hear any sound. The silence was somewhat terrifying.

This appeared to be the inside of a house. It wasn't large, and the living room was quite small, but it featured two bedrooms and two bathrooms. All the doors were wide open.

'Looks like a private apartment?' Only after confirming there was no immediate danger did I begin to walk around the house.

'Last time, it was because of the interference from the Primal Destiny Divine Fiends that I plunged straight into the Middle Dream Layer. I'm currently in the Shallow Dream Layer, so I shouldn't encounter any massive danger.' I checked all the furniture in the living room but found nothing useful. There were a few magazines and books, but their pages were entirely blank. It seemed the owner of the dream had long forgotten their contents.

The only noteworthy thing in the entire living room was the clock on the wall. It was an ordinary, old-fashioned wall clock, and the time displayed on it was 2:30 AM.

The hands of the clock were still moving silently, vaguely giving me a sense of urgency.

'The text in the books didn't appear because her memories of them are blurry. But the time on the living room clock is incredibly clear. This means the time recorded by the clock is deeply unforgettable to the owner of this dream! What happens at this time?'

I left the living room and entered the first bedroom. A large pile of children's clothing was tossed on the bed, and some of the garments bore the lingering traces of being violently torn.