Chapter 534: A Blessing in Disguise

At this point, a lot of things went without saying. Xia Qingzhi—the girl who handed me the advertisement card and brought me my first commission—was seventy percent likely to be connected to the Underworld Live Show.

'Could this also be the Live Show's setup?' I looked at the delicate pendant hanging from my phone, a sudden chill washing over me. I never would have imagined that this small, inconspicuous trinket would play an irreplaceable role in the Deep Dream Layer.

Even now, I still couldn't be entirely certain about Xia Qingzhi's connection to the Live Show. The image of her thin shoulders, her school uniform, and her vulnerable silhouette surfaced in my mind. 'Perhaps she doesn't know the truth. Maybe she was just dragged into this.'

Looking back on every moment I had spent with Xia Qingzhi, I couldn't find a single suspicious detail. To me, she was just an ordinary high school girl—I even felt a touch of sympathy for her.

In this world, she was the only one who knew my secret. She was the only one who knew I was an Underworld Live Show Streamer. Likewise, I knew hers. Xia Chi's disappearance was a mystery, and in this entire city, only she and I knew about it.

We knew each other inside and out. That was why I had always been so reluctant to suspect her.

'During the Real Death Game Live Broadcast, Xia Chi told me that someone from the Underworld Live Show was hiding right beside me, and he warned me to stay alert. He said this when Du Yu was present, so Du Yu can be temporarily ruled out. Given the current situation, that person is very likely Xia Qingzhi.' I clenched my fists, trying hard to banish that innocent face from my mind. 'Now is not the time to think about this. If I can't escape the Deep Dream Layer, everything outside will no longer have anything to do with me.'

"Streamer, are you alright? I feel like you've been acting a bit strange ever since you entered this building," Chu Men said from outside the room. He didn't dare approach the door, as if afraid some terrifying monster was locked inside.

"I'm fine," I said with a faint smile, not letting a single flaw slip into my expression. 'What's inside this room? Why was this place abandoned in the first place? If this really is the Live Show's setup, why haven't they issued me a live broadcast task?'

This was what baffled me the most. If the real-world Xia Qingzhi truly belonged to the Live Show, and it had taken so much effort to enter the Deep Dream Layer during this broadcast, they would definitely squeeze every drop of value out of me to achieve their goals. Yet, the Live Show hadn't issued a single task related to this district. They probably never expected that I would not only enter the Deep Dream Layer, but also stumble upon this place.

'Is it because I didn't hand over the Dream Wing Gu during the last broadcast, drawing the Live Show's ire? Or is it because I have the potential to become a Fate Usurper, and they're worried I'll turn into a second Two-Faced Buddha?' Reaching this conclusion, I was almost certain that Xia Qingzhi giving me the Plum Blossom Pendant might have been an accident. The pendant had to be more than just a simple key.

The Live Show doubted my loyalty, and to be fair, I actually had entertained thoughts of betraying them. After all, under the Live Show's rules, scraping together ten thousand points was simply too difficult. I would be much better off finding a way to break the Plum Blossom Gu and teaming up with Xia Chi instead.

I pondered for a moment before making a quick decision. Detaching the Plum Blossom Pendant, I pocketed my phone and prepared to unlock the door.

'There are Live Show staff hiding among the livestream viewers, watching my broadcast the entire time. Taking precautions is never a bad idea. As for the viewers themselves, they're already used to brief black screens anyway.'

I gripped the Plum Blossom Pendant and slotted it into the lock cylinder. It was a perfect fit.

I gave it a gentle twist. The composite lock clicked as the springs popped open. I gave it a push, and this final door finally opened.

"Old Chu, stand guard outside. I'll be out in a moment," I told Chu Men, then stepped into the room.

'Carpet, cabinet, desk... It doesn't look any different from the other rooms.' I tapped around the space, refusing to overlook a single detail, and finally made a discovery.

There was a hidden door behind the wardrobe. I couldn't tell what material it was made of, but it resembled a pane of frosted glass.

'The secret of this room should be hidden in here.' I glanced back out into the corridor. Chu Men was standing there, and he gave me a nod, quietly saying, "Safe for now."

I shifted the wardrobe aside and slowly pushed the hidden door open. The moment this peculiar door opened halfway, something spilled out.

I looked down. Torn and tattered Paper Doll Masks were tumbling out the door.

"This..." Pushing harder, I swung the hidden door wide open, only to freeze in pure shock.

The ten-square-meter hidden room was filled to the brim with Paper Doll Masks!

Yellowed and damaged, a portion of the masks completely shattered into ash just from the draft of the opening door.

'How long have these masks been piled up in here? How can there be so many?' It took a long while for me to recover from the shock. 'I once looked into Room 443 of Jiangcheng Lightless Road. If every single room was fully occupied, and each person was assigned one mask, it just might be possible to amass a pile this massive.'

Looking at the mountain of Paper Doll Masks, my scalp tingled. I knew exactly what these masks represented within the Dream Realm. Each mask likely symbolized a soul and a set of memories. 'Has the Live Show really buried this many people in the past? This is practically a mass grave on a battlefield!'

Two or three seconds later, I forced myself to calm down, my shock swiftly giving way to excitement. Based on my past experience, a stalk of Dream-Entangling Grass could be growing beside every single Paper Doll Mask!

'This plant only grows in dreams, taking root in memories. It thrives best on souls steeped in all sorts of emotions.' I reached out and brushed aside the pile of Paper Doll Masks, quickly spotting a faint hint of green. My heart leaped into my throat, but my hands didn't stop moving. As I pushed away more and more masks, vibrant emerald stalks symbolizing life came into view.

'There are actually this many!' I gulped, the corners of my lips curling up uncontrollably. Stalk after stalk of Dream-Entangling Grass grew beneath the Paper Doll Masks—so many that they were impossible to count!

'With all this, the Dream Wing Gu won't just recover. It will probably break past its limits and become even stronger.' The Dream Wing Gu resided in my Liver Aperture; the stronger it grew, the more help it could offer me.

Like a plague of locusts sweeping through a field, I eagerly reached out with both hands, unwilling to miss a single stalk.

I never wanted to set foot in the Deep Dream Layer again for the rest of my life. Opportunities like this were rare, so naturally, I wasn't going to leave a single one behind. I was taking them all!

Five stalks, ten stalks, twenty!

By the time I absorbed the thirtieth stalk, the Dream Wing Gu—which had been deep in slumber, only absorbing energy passively—finally woke up.

Its dream-like pale blue butterfly wings fluttered gently, scattering specks of dream dust that resembled starlight.

The antennae atop its head softly unfurled. It looked as if it had just awoken from a wonderful dream, a lingering trace of drowsiness still in its eyes.

"Little guy, you're finally awake," I murmured with a smile. I hated owing anyone, especially those who had helped me. The Dream Wing Gu had fallen into its deep slumber just to save me. Seeing it wake up so quickly eased the heavy guilt in my heart.

Perhaps hearing my voice, the Dream Wing Gu clutched the last remaining fragment of the Thousand-Year Locust Tree Flower and scurried into the corner of my Liver Aperture. It seemed terrified that I might snatch it away, looking exactly like a stingy miser hoarding its gold.

"Is that really necessary? Am I that terrible in your eyes?" I shook my head and went back to absorbing the Dream-Entangling Grass. By the time I took in the fiftieth stalk, not only was the Dream Wing Gu flourishing, but my own body was brimming with vitality. My soul felt completely purified, and my thoughts were clearer than ever before. My willpower had also grown immensely. 'My mind feels so much sharper, and I'm bursting with energy. Normally, drawing four or five talismans would leave me exhausted, but right now, drawing ten in a row wouldn't be a problem at all.'

Willpower was of the utmost importance to a cultivator, yet it was incredibly difficult to improve. One could only rely on cultivating their mind and character, letting it grow slowly over time. However, due to devouring such a massive amount of Dream-Entangling Grass, my willpower had skyrocketed explosively. I was fairly certain my current level was an entire realm higher than Leng Qingxuan, the true disciple of Maoshan.

'I guess this is a blessing in disguise.' Fifty stalks of Dream-Entangling Grass only accounted for a quarter of the entire hidden room. With my eyes practically shining, I made up my mind to absorb every last one of them.