Chapter 545: Struggle

'Is all this real? Have I already left the Dream Realm?' When I saw the Underworld Live Show Phone, my body felt like it had plunged into an ice cellar. A deep chill washed over me. As far as I knew, the Underworld Live Show Phone couldn't be fabricated. Only a live show streamer knew what was inside it. 'The interface hasn't changed. It isn't a fake. This is my Live Show Phone.'

I clenched my fists, staring at the blood-red negative points on the screen. 'Comatose for thirty days. Points deducted into the negatives... which means the Live Show's obliteration is about to begin.'

"Gao Jian, what's wrong?"

The voice beside me was just like I remembered—gentle, yet full of strength. Catching Tie Ningxiang's unique scent, I slowly calmed down. 'Outsiders don't know the internal functions of the Live Show Phone, but I do. If this is a dream woven from my own memories, then everything makes sense. I might still be in a dream.'

"Get some rest. I'll be right outside if you need anything. And don't worry about the medical bills; the reward for your courageous act has already been approved."

Feeling the warmth spreading from her palm, I subconsciously tightened my grip, unwilling to let go. "Senior..."

I cut myself off halfway. Everything around me felt far too real. I still couldn't be sure whether I was in a dream or back in reality.

My head throbbed. There were things I wanted to say but didn't dare. After all, if this was reality, my fate was already sealed.

In my current state, I didn't even have the right to struggle.

"Gao Jian, why are you acting so weird today? Did you sleep so long that your head is fuzzy?"

Our fingers intertwined. I stared blankly at her pale, slender fingers, as exquisite as flawless white jade.

"Beautiful."

I didn't dare look at Tie Ningxiang's face. Deep down, I knew that the more beautiful a thing was, the less likely it was to last—which only made it all the more precious. "Senior, I don't have much time left. Actually... there's something I've always wanted to tell you."

"Say it, then. Hesitating like this isn't your style." Tie Ningxiang looked helplessly at her hand in my tight grip, but she didn't pull away. Only in front of me did this sharp, serious police officer reveal a different side to herself. She had a special kind of patience for me.

I gathered my thoughts, carefully weighing every word. But the moment I prepared to tell her everything, I found I simply couldn't.

A sharp, needle-like pain suddenly flared in my wrist. I glanced over. The plum blossom-shaped wound had split open, oozing bright red blood.

'Is this a warning? Telling me to stay quiet?' Having just undergone a liver transplant, my body was incredibly weak. The slightest movement sent pain radiating through my limbs. 'Forget it. This is fine, too. Being forgotten by everyone is far better than leaving behind a painful memory. It's just...'

I looked up at Tie Ningxiang. Only at this final juncture did I realize how deeply I didn't want to let go. Maybe I couldn't bear to part with the woman in front of me, or maybe I just wasn't ready to leave this world behind.

'I struggled for so long, but in the end, nothing changed.' I lowered my eyes. Tie Ningxiang said a lot more after that, but none of it registered. I just lay there until night fell and the sky turned pitch-black.

"Get some sleep. I'll be keeping watch right outside, so call me if you need anything." Tie Ningxiang left the hospital room. I lay there, staring at the clock on the wall, the rhythmic ticking of its hands filling my ears.

The rain outside hadn't stopped. In fact, it was only falling harder, drumming against the glass like a bizarre farewell song.

Rushed, mournful, and agonizing, carrying an undertone of madness and sheer despair.

At exactly midnight, the very second the hand ticked past twelve, the lights in the hallway suddenly died.

'They're here...' I lay on the bed, my mind flashing back to the very first time I visited Xia Qingzhi's house. Underneath the bed in her brother's room, I had found tiny words carved with a knife, each letter dyed crimson with blood, radiating an unspeakable terror—"I know they're here."

In that moment, I felt exactly the same way Xia Chi had back then. I was even surprised by my own reaction—why was I so utterly terrified of the Live Show's obliteration?

The room was dim. Occasionally, a bolt of lightning would tear across the night sky, and in those split seconds of illumination, I saw crooked letters beginning to surface on the windowpane.

The words were forming on the inside of the glass, traced into the condensation and radiating murderous intent.

I completely understood how Xia Chi had felt. The Live Show was mysterious and unpredictable, and right now, all that unknown was transforming into pure dread. I had no idea how the Underworld Live Show was going to obliterate me. I only knew that they were already here.

The intense fear had practically become a psychological suggestion. The immense pressure made it hard to breathe.

Thump... thump... Footsteps echoed down the hallway. I stared at the small window in the door, but the corridor was completely pitch-black. I couldn't see a thing.

'I can't just sit here and wait to die. I'm still alive.' A fierce will to survive spurred me on, forcing me to sit up. My body felt like it was falling apart. Every major movement pulled at my wounds, and patches of crimson quickly bloomed through the stark white bandages.

"It hurts," I exhaled softly. I adjusted my breathing and circulated the Profound Truth Mental Method, guiding the Pre-Heaven True Qi to flow through my withered meridians. "Come on, then. Let me see how the Underworld Live Show wipes a living human being from everyone's memory."

The footsteps in the hallway drew closer and closer until they stopped right outside my door. Looking through the small window, I couldn't see anything. But just as confusion set in, the door suddenly swung open.

The pitch-black hospital corridor was dead silent.

"This..." The door hung open, and the footsteps started again. My heart leaped into my throat. I activated the Judging Eye to sweep the room, quickly realizing that wet shoeprints were appearing on the floor, one after another!

Trailing water, they were stepping steadily toward my bed.

"Who's there? Stay back!" I stared at the shoeprints speeding up across the floor. Grabbing the vase by my bed, I swung it wildly at the empty air like a madman. "Get away from me!"

Even the Judging Eye couldn't see their figure. The Live Show's retaliation was a complete unknown, and the unknown was always the most terrifying thing of all.

"What the hell is this thing?!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. The vase had already shattered, cutting long gashes into my arm, but none of it stopped those wet, advancing shoeprints.

They finally stopped right by my bed. An utterly absurd feeling washed over me—someone was standing right in front of me, staring down at me, deciding exactly how to wipe me out of existence.

"I don't want to die! I can't die yet!" My mind was a chaotic mess of surging emotions. I snatched up a jagged shard of the vase, ignoring the blood running down my fingers, and fought back with everything I had.

I must have made too much noise, because Tie Ningxiang, who had been keeping watch at the hospital, came rushing back. She shoved the door open, saw me fighting empty air like a lunatic, and immediately darted forward.

"Gao Jian! Calm down!"

A shard of the vase sliced her arm as well, but she completely ignored it. She kept coming, desperately trying to restrain me. "Nurse! Where's the doctor on duty?!"

"Senior, don't call a doctor! We have to go!" I knew the owner of those shoeprints was standing right next to me, even if I couldn't see him. I scrambled out of bed, grabbed Tie Ningxiang, and dragged her stumbling out of the room. "Get out of here, hurry! Get out of here!"

"Leave?" Tie Ningxiang didn't waste time asking questions. Just as she always had, she stood firmly by my side. She never doubted me, and she never gave up on me.

Supporting my weight, she helped me run right out of the room without even asking why.

"Take the stairs..." I glanced over, only to see the elevator doors sliding open. The stairwell was just too far away. "Forget it, come with me."

I knew full well that dragging Tie Ningxiang along might put her in mortal danger, but I was out of options. She was the only person I had left to rely on.

We dashed into the elevator. Blood was seeping through my bandages in a dozen places; I looked like an absolute wreck.

I hit a floor button and fixed my eyes entirely on the hallway. Peering through the dark with the Judging Eye, I saw the wet shoeprints leaving the hospital room and sprinting straight toward the elevator!

"Come on, come on!"

I watched the doors slowly slide shut, my heart pounding in my throat.