Chapter 558: One Man's War (2)

'Why did Elder Chen let me enter the Dream Realm? I didn't know him, yet he seemed to know me. What is his identity? Which faction does he belong to?' The Three Yin Sect was already crippled and lacked the ability, and aside from Xia Chi, absolutely none of the Traitors could escape the Dream Realm. Eliminating those options left only one possibility: Two-Faced Buddha!

He wanted me in the dream because he was cooperating with the Traitors; they were using each other.

He could eliminate me as an obstacle while earning a favor with the Traitors. Killing two birds with one stone so silently and seamlessly was truly chilling.

Thinking it over, Elder Chen and Two-Faced Buddha actually shared many similarities.

An orphanage was the easiest place to filter out children with special Fate Patterns and secretly cultivate them from a young age.

Furthermore, whether in Shuangfo District or Heaven's Gate, there was a large population of disabled individuals. The heavenly Dao has flaws, taking from the surplus to make up for the deficit. Whatever luck the cosmic order invisibly granted to those disabled individuals might have all been stolen by Two-Faced Buddha.

The timeline also lined up. Heaven's Gate was founded twenty years ago, and Two-Faced Buddha's scheme regarding the Eight Characters Divine Fiends had also begun twenty years ago.

There were simply too many coincidences.

I sat silently on the hospital bed, watching Elder Chen maintain a somewhat transcendent air amid the crowd. A thought surfaced in my mind: 'Could he be Two-Faced Buddha? That person who is neither monk nor Daoist?'

After examining Ye Bing, the doctor left. Elder Chen and Chu Men were escorted out by Zhao Bin and the others after giving brief statements. Only the unconscious Ye Bing and I remained in the ward.

'If Elder Chen is Two-Faced Buddha, and tricking me into the dream was part of his deal with the Traitors, then the killer outside the door shouldn't be his man. If it's not the Traitors or Two-Faced Buddha's people, who could it be? Who else wants me dead?' Finding such a perfect opportunity meant the killer knew me very well and possessed extensive criminal experience. Combined with the stab wound on Blind Liu, the attacker was likely a professional hitman.

'Did another live show streamer make a move on me?' I pondered this carefully before another thought struck me: 'Could it be Tie Ningxiang?'

When Tie Ningxiang's name surfaced in my mind, my first thought was my experience in Despair District. 'Is she from the Live Show? That shouldn't be the case; it was just a Dream Realm.'

Deep down, I didn't want to suspect Tie Ningxiang, but upon further analysis, I made a startling discovery.

Working backward, Tie Ningxiang was a criminal police officer with extremely strong anti-reconnaissance awareness. She also had both the time and the ability to commit the crime. Back in the police academy, even the instructors had praised her close-quarters combat skills.

'Could it be her?'

By noon, Zhao Bin informed me that Blind Liu was out of danger, and he led me to another ward.

The moment I walked in, I saw Blind Liu's spindly, hemp-stalk body wrapped in layers of bandages.

His complexion was terrible. He lay there with a deep scowl, constantly muttering something under his breath.

"Old Liu, I've come to see you." I walked into the ward with Zhao Bin and called out from a distance before I even got close.

Hearing my voice, Blind Liu bristled like a frightened cat and hurriedly waved me off. "Stop right there! Don't come any closer! Your heaven and earth energies are completely inverted, and you've got one foot in the grave. Even gods and ghosts are avoiding you! I don't dare get anywhere near you!"

Stopping at the door, I felt somewhat embarrassed, but I knew he was probably telling the truth. I simply stood by the entrance and asked, "Why did you collapse outside the intensive care unit? What were you doing at the hospital in the middle of the night?"

"What was I doing? It was all because of you, you walking disaster! I handed over my family heirloom to you, and you just vanished without a word!" Blind Liu glared furiously. Disregarding the stab wound on his stomach, he forcefully bent over and pulled out a heavily cracked, nearly broken shoulder pole from behind him.

"This is the treasure passed down from my ancestors to safeguard our family's fortune! Look at what it's become now!" Blind Liu was genuinely furious. Through his scolding, I gradually pieced together what had happened last night.

After usurping fate, I was critically injured and near death. I was admitted to the hospital, and my personal belongings—including the Ancestral Shoulder Pole—were placed in the hospital's storage. Later, Elder Chen invited me into Ye Bing's Dream Realm. With so much going on, I hadn't called Blind Liu, so naturally, I hadn't returned the pole to him either.

Blind Liu had called me several times during this period, but they all went unanswered. Worried that something had happened to me, he cast another divination for me last night. The resulting hexagram indicated certain death with zero chance of survival, throwing him into a panic.

After making numerous inquiries, he found out I was staying in this hospital and rushed over in the dead of night. He had originally planned to just take the pole and leave, but he unexpectedly noticed evil spirits haunting the premises. He followed the trail, ultimately stumbling right into the killer's plot.

"Only after meeting you did I truly realize just how grueling the path of cultivation is. Seeking good fortune and avoiding disaster? That's complete nonsense with you around!" Though Blind Liu complained, I could hear a trace of genuine concern in his voice. Jiangcheng was massive, home to millions, but I had very few friends. Blind Liu was one of them.

"Old Liu, never mind me for now. Tell me the details of what happened last night. Did the killer who stabbed you have any distinct features?" Blind Liu was the only witness; his testimony was crucial.

"When I came to retrieve the pole yesterday, the hospital staff absolutely refused to hand it over. They said I needed the owner's permission to take any stored items. I tried to find your ward, but they stopped me again, saying no one was allowed near the intensive care unit. I had no choice but to wait for you in the lobby." Blind Liu straightened his back, absolutely refusing to admit he was here to help me, repeatedly stressing that it was all for the pole. "Deep into the night, the hospital lights started flickering. I sensed something unclean moving about, so I followed it. That's when I saw a dark figure standing right outside your ward."

"Was that the killer?"

"Yeah. The shadow was just standing outside your room, staring silently inside through the window. It was incredibly eerie. The corridor was completely empty and unlit, and he was just planted there like a wooden post. I knew something was wrong, so I grabbed a talisman and went to check it out. Then, without any warning, the guy attacked me." Blind Liu pointed to the stab wound on his stomach. "He likely knows Daoist arts, but he fought me like an ordinary person. He was probably afraid of exposing his identity."

"That's way too vague. Do you have any more specific details?" I pressed, wanting answers.

"It was too dark to see clearly. All I know is that it was a man, around 1.8 meters tall. Taller than me, anyway."

After questioning him for half an hour without getting any more useful information from Blind Liu, Tie Ningxiang and I had to leave for the time being.

"The victim suffered a penetrating abdominal wound from a sharp instrument, but our search of the hospital turned up no weapon capable of inflicting such a wound. Later, I pulled the security footage. Unbelievably, multiple cameras malfunctioned during the time of the attack." Tie Ningxiang walked ahead of me, recounting the results of her overnight investigation. Following behind her, I wasn't really listening; I was just staring at the back of her neck.

Through her falling hair, I could faintly see her smooth, fair skin. There was nothing there.

"Go back and recover from your injuries for now. I'll find you when there's a break in the case," Tie Ningxiang said before leaving with Zhao Bin and the others. I returned alone to the ward where I had initially stayed.

...

Pushing the door open, I saw that Feng Minglong wasn't up yet. Not wanting to wake him, I quietly gathered my belongings and prepared to check out.

Although I still had several unhealed wounds, opening my Liver Aperture had boosted my recovery rate to five or six times that of an ordinary person. These injuries weren't particularly severe, so there was no need to waste any more time in the hospital.

I went to the hospital storage to retrieve my belongings, got dressed back in the ward, and cast a final glance around the room before leaving.

Feng Minglong was still fast asleep. His slippers had been casually tossed under the bed, the toes pointing toward the bed.

'The toes are pointing toward the bed?'

Hospital beds weren't very high. Since patients were injured and had limited mobility, the normal way to get into bed was to sit directly on it. If done that way, the toes of the slippers should point outward, away from the bed.

I picked up Feng Minglong's slippers and inspected the soles. Tiny specks of mud and grass seeds were stuck to the bottom.

'He left the hospital yesterday?' I returned the slippers to their original spot. Staring at the still-sleeping Feng Minglong, I said nothing. I simply opened the door quietly and left the hospital.