Chapter 556: The Killer Hasn't Left

'Why is he here?' I used my Judging Eye to look out into the hallway. The lights seemed to be broken, leaving only the emergency exit sign to cast a faint green glow.

Gruesome bloodstains smeared the floor tiles. Chairs were scattered in every direction, evidence of a fierce struggle.

After making sure no one else was hiding in the shadows, I threw open the ward door. "Old Liu! Old Liu!"

Blood was seeping from beneath Blind Liu's Daoist robe. His lower abdomen, thighs, and arms were covered in knife wounds. 'He passed out from blood loss. How could a struggle this violent happen in a hospital without anyone noticing?'

I didn't dare leave him, afraid of falling for a scheme of luring the tiger away from the mountain. I pulled out my phone to call the police, then dialed Tie Ningxiang directly.

"Senior, come to Ye Bing's ward immediately! Someone is dying!"

More than ten minutes later, the hallway lights suddenly flickered back on. I vaguely caught sight of a figure darting past in the stairwell. Judging by the build, it looked like a man.

'Someone really was hiding in the shadows. Who could it be? Why are they targeting me?'

I didn't dare give chase. A little while later, hurried footsteps echoed up the stairwell.

The police officers stationed nearby, Jiang Fei, and the on-duty doctors and nurses all came running.

"There's blood! How did this person get in?"

"Quick, bring out a gurney!"

The crowd swarmed over, but I held onto Blind Liu and didn't dare let go. I carefully observed every single person; it was highly possible the killer was hiding among them.

'Who wants me dead? Who attacked Blind Liu? And why was he outside the special care ward in the first place?' Having just left the Dream Realm, my mind was still groggy and muddled. Thinking made my head feel like it was going to split open. The pain was agonizing.

"Everyone step back! Let the doctors in first!" an unquestionable female voice rang out. The crowd parted as Tie Ningxiang, wearing her police uniform, hurried over with two doctors. "Gao Jian, what happened here? Weren't you treating Ye Bing?"

"I don't know. I woke up from the dream and saw Blind Liu covered in blood outside the special care ward! The killer shouldn't have gotten far. They might still be in the hospital! Until dawn, none of you come near this ward! No one is allowed in!" I slapped my face and bit the tip of my tongue, using the pain to jolt myself fully awake.

I quickly realized the killer's true target was inside the special care ward. It could be me, or it could be someone else.

"Secure the scene, and don't disturb the people inside the ward! Take the injured man for treatment!" Tie Ningxiang swiftly took charge of the situation.

"Senior, accompany Blind Liu to treatment yourself. He might be the only eyewitness. You have to save him."

"Don't worry. Zhao Bin, stand guard here. Without my orders, no one is allowed to enter the special care ward!"

"Yes, ma'am!"

The doctors and Tie Ningxiang left with Blind Liu, leaving Zhao Bin and two other officers to guard the door and protect the scene.

Covered in blood, I leaned against the doorframe, still reeling from the shock. Before entering the dream, I had heard strange noises outside the ward, but I hadn't paid them much mind. I never expected something this terrible to happen.

'Next time I enter a dream, I have to find an absolutely safe place.' Once inside a dream, the physical body was left completely defenseless. It was far too dangerous.

I swept my gaze over the few people still present, trying to compare them to the figure I had seen at the stairwell. Although he had disappeared quickly, his general height and build were etched into my memory. 'Who could it be?'

Right now, outside the special care ward, there was only one outsider left besides the police and nurses: Jiang Fei.

Compared to a month ago, she had undergone a drastic transformation. Her fiery red hair had been dyed back to black; she was no longer flamboyant, appearing somewhat subdued.

"Why did all the lights in the hallway go out just now?"

I asked the question casually just as the on-duty nurse walked over. "We haven't figured out the cause yet, either. The hospital's circuits have been having issues lately, so we suspect it's aging wiring. I noticed all the lights went out, so I hit the emergency switch and left the nurse's station to contact the electrician."

The on-duty nurse probably wasn't lying. On the morning I went about usurping fate, I had even seen electricians rushing to make repairs in the hospital.

'But isn't this a bit too coincidental?' Shifting my gaze away from the nurse, I looked back at Jiang Fei. "Have you been waiting outside the whole time? By the way, where is Elder Chen?"

"I went to get help with the on-duty nurse. Elder Chen wasn't feeling well, so he left early." Jiang Fei stared at the blood on the floor, lost in thought. Her legs were trembling slightly. "I was sitting on the bench out here earlier. If I hadn't left, I'm afraid I'd be the one lying here right now."

"Elder Chen left?" I furrowed my brow. The figure I saw earlier looked different from Elder Chen, so it probably wasn't him.

"That Daoist priest will be alright, won't he?" Jiang Fei asked cautiously.

I shook my head slightly. "I don't know. All of you, stay outside the ward and don't come in."

Leaving the door open, I sat inside the ward, circulating the Profound Truth Mental Method and silently regulating my breathing.

My Liver Aperture had been opened in the dream, increasing my body's recovery rate by four or five times. The Pre-Heaven True Qi in my lower dantian had also grown far more robust. Now, I could easily use an Upper Vehicle Talisman.

My gains from entering the dream this time were immense, but the scene I encountered upon waking made it impossible to feel happy about them.

'Someone wants to take me out, and my trip into the dream was the perfect opportunity! The killer's timing was impeccable. They're definitely no ordinary person. Who could it be?' I simply had too many enemies. No matter who I suspected, it was a genuine possibility.

After completing a Major Heavenly Cycle, I exhaled a breath of stale air and glanced out the window. The sky was already turning the pale white of a fish's belly. The sleeping city was about to wake up.

Calming down, I temporarily put aside thoughts of Blind Liu and the killer. I shoved the Live Show Phone into my pocket and began to inspect myself.

I had already taken off the Good and Evil Asura Mask and placed it inside my coat. Reaching in to touch it, I realized there were other things tucked against my chest as well.

'This is...'

A few wrinkled, yellowed pages of notes were messily stuffed against my chest. Pulling them out, I realized they were the exact Deep Dream Realm Map I had extorted from Chen Jiuge, complete with Xiao a's annotations.

'I have the Dream Wing Gu, so this thing is a priceless treasure to me!' Quietly tucking it away, I sifted through my things, only for two more items to fall out.

One was the Ink-Colored Pixiu. It looked like an ordinary pebble the size of a thumb, completely inconspicuous.

'The Ink-Colored Pixiu is what I got from killing the nightmare. That nightmare is related to the fierce entity suppressed beneath the Bridge No. 3 Crematorium. I definitely need to keep this Pixiu stone carving; it might be of great use later.'

The other item was the Mirror Fragment I had found in the Lightless District, at the former branch of the Live Show.

I really hadn't expected that a fragment I randomly picked up would actually follow me out of the Dream Realm and into reality.

Soon, something even more unexpected happened.

Fiddling with the Mirror Fragment, I suddenly noticed that it could reflect the scenery. It could reflect Chu Men and Ye Bing lying on their hospital beds, and even everyone outside the ward. But the only thing it couldn't reflect was me!

Holding the Mirror Fragment with both hands, I pointed it at my face, but the surface only reflected the wall behind me, as if I simply didn't exist.

'Why? Why doesn't this mirror reflect me, of all people?' Knowing absolutely nothing about the mirror's origins, I pondered it for a long time without finding an answer. I had no choice but to put it away alongside the Ink-Colored Pixiu.

Aside from those things, the Buddhist Prayer Bead Bracelet I originally brought into the dream was still there. Unfortunately, two of its beads were covered in cracks, looking as though they would shatter at the slightest touch.

'I have already returned from the dream. This livestream is technically a complete success. However, because I refused the demands of the Traitors alliance, they might fly into a rage out of humiliation. To prevent me from taking the Live Show's side, they will definitely spare no effort in targeting me. For those lunatics to survive under the Live Show's thumb, their abilities must be considerable. My life is only going to get harder from here on out.' Escaping danger in the dream only to find out someone wanted to murder me in the real world—and that they had nearly succeeded—was truly an awful experience.

I sighed and stared blankly out the window. Just as the first ray of sunlight shone into the room, the inbox on my Live Show Phone received a message.

"Ding!"

"Livestream task: Enter Ye Bing's Middle Dream Layer before midnight - Successful. Reward: 1 point. Livestream viewership exceeded 10,000, reward: 10 points; received 3 Yuanbao and 1 Paper Boat during the livestream, reward: 13 points. Completed a commission from the Underworld, bonus reward: 1 point."

"Optional Task 1: Bring Ye Bing's main consciousness out of the Dream Realm - Incomplete."

"Optional Task 2: Uncover the Good and Evil Buddha's layout within the Dream Realm - Incomplete."

"Optional Task 3: Kill one nightmare - Complete. Reward: 10 points."

"Optional Task 4: Kill the Traitors - Incomplete."

"Optional Task 5: Incomplete."

"Calculation complete: A total of 35 points were earned during this livestream. Your current point total is 88 points!"