Chapter 560: Worsening Situation

The phone rang over a dozen times before someone picked up. The speaker lowered his voice, cautious as a student cheating on an exam. "Gao Jian? Why are you calling me? Let's talk later. My master is right in the middle of a ritual..."

Hearing Leng Qingxuan's voice, I rushed to speak before he could hang up. "It's a matter of life and death! A child took a hit for me in a dream, and she's in critical condition!"

"Injured in a dream? Maoshan deals with all sorts of ghosts and gods, but we don't specialize in dreams. If you really want to save her, you need to go to Xiao Zhuang Taoist Temple." Leng Qingxuan was a straightforward guy who never minced words. "But Xiao Zhuang Taoist Temple holds a transcendent status and ignores worldly affairs. Getting them to help you will be nearly impossible."

"Do you know where their mountain gate is?" I asked, waiting eagerly for his reply.

"I don't. Forget about me, even my master probably doesn't know. When it comes to mysterious sects, Xiao Zhuang Taoist Temple easily ranks in the top three. Zhuang Zhou dreams of a butterfly—their cultivation methods differ entirely from orthodox practices. I'm sorry, but there's nothing I can do to help."

"Is there really no other way? Do you know of any other sect that can heal dream-inflicted injuries? I can trade extremely rare Daoist scriptures or unusual artifacts." Sakurako had taken the blow for me. Without that Paper Doll Painting, I would have died in the Despair District a long time ago. As long as they named a price, I was willing to drain all my Live Show Points to buy whatever they needed to cure her!

"Don't take this the wrong way, but your rare treasures aren't worth much in the eyes of our sects. Still, I can see you genuinely want to save her, so I'll point you in the right direction. A while ago, a Ghost Mother appeared in Jiangcheng and killed a true disciple of Miaozhen temple, causing a massive uproar. The current Daoist sects are preparing to join forces and wipe her out before she fully amasses her power. As part of the Righteous Path Coalition, Xiao Zhuang Taoist Temple will definitely send someone. That is your only chance." Leng Qingxuan spoke with utmost sincerity; I could tell he was looking out for me.

"The Righteous Path Coalition? Wiping out the Ghost Mother?" My lips felt dry. Bad news was piling up, and the situation was only getting worse. "When will that disciple from Xiao Zhuang Taoist Temple arrive in Jiangcheng?"

"Three days at the earliest, a week at the latest. That's all I can do to help you; the rest depends on your own fortune." Leng Qingxuan sighed. "You don't need to worry too much, though. You saved Jiangcheng and have a million merits surrounding you. Even Xiao Zhuang Taoist Temple won't make things difficult for you. You might even get the chance to join their sect. If that happens, healing a mere dream injury will be a piece of cake."

"Merit again? Is this million merits really that important to you cultivators?"

"Merit is a reward bestowed by heaven. With merit on your body, your wishes come true, and you receive the favor of heaven and earth. We cultivators focus on acting in accordance with heaven's will. Whichever sect you join, your destiny will invisibly influence the rise and fall of that entire organization." Thanks to Leng Qingxuan's explanation, I finally understood the importance of merit to cultivators, and I also realized why Fate Usurpers were universally despised.

Normal cultivation meant following heaven's will, whereas Fate Usurpers went against it, destroying the rules of heaven and earth. This kind of behavior was considered a provocation against the heavens, making them even worse than evil cultivators who slaughtered the weak and the young. If anyone managed to kill one, the heavens would reward the slayer with a massive amount of formless destiny.

My head throbbed at his words. If they found out that not only did I lack a million merits, but I was also entangled in karmic obstacles, those righteous cultivators would probably slaughter me in passing while they were wiping out the Ghost Mother.

"My merit is at negative one hundred thousand, and my face is full of the aura of death. Even Blind Liu could figure out my background, let alone those reclusive major sects. What am I supposed to do?" Looking down at Sakurako and Onitsuka Ayaka, a sense of guilt swelled in my chest. "Sakurako suffered this disaster entirely because of me. I will take full responsibility."

I comforted Onitsuka Ayaka for a bit and told her to take Sakurako to a large hospital in the Provincial Capital for a checkup and treatment. Injuries sustained in a dream usually didn't cause immediate death, so I still had time.

Leaving the Yiyun Community, my heart felt incredibly heavy. The recent chain of events had nearly crushed me.

"There's always a way through the mountain. I can't panic. The greatest danger hasn't arrived yet, and I can't break my own stride. If I give up and retreat now, then I've truly lost." Pulling myself together, I returned to Ting Tang Road.

But before I could even enter my shop, I saw a taxi parked out front. A somewhat balding driver was holding a laptop, pacing back and forth beside his car.

'Balding Uncle? What is he doing here?' I had a lot on my plate, so after a polite greeting, I headed inside the shop. Unexpectedly, he followed right in and mysteriously shut the door behind him.

"Uncle, is there something you need?" I lit a cigarette, hoping the tobacco would numb my nerves.

"It's not that I need something from you. It's that you're in huge trouble!"

Balding Uncle opened his laptop and clicked into a folder. "See for yourself."

"What is it?" His actions were a bit strange. I looked at the laptop screen, where a video quickly began to play. The footage was blurry, as if someone had used another camera to record a monitor.

"This is..." Light gradually appeared in the pitch-black footage. There was no audio. The screen showed what looked like a prison cell. Once I clearly saw the layout of the cell, my fingers trembled, and the cigarette I had just lit dropped straight to the floor.

This looked exactly like the place where I had live-streamed before!

It felt as though someone were tightly strangling my neck, making it difficult to breathe. The video on the laptop continued to play, and every single frame was intimately familiar to me.

The underground cell, the hall with eleven seats, the Electric Chair, and the twelve participants!

The Real Death Game!

This was clearly a recording of my live stream!

'How is this possible?' I had conducted so many live streams, and no one had ever managed to capture a recording before. Why had an accident occurred this time?

I had used the Brooch to broadcast that particular stream. My figure didn't appear in the video, but everyone else had been fully recorded. Out of the twelve participants, only three survived!

The Electric Chair, the blood, the charred corpses, the violently shaking door. The video was choppy and lasted only three minutes in total, but it specifically highlighted the most gruesome scenes.

I watched it from beginning to end. There was no audio, yet it sent a chilling coldness through my entire body.

"I've tried taking screenshots and recording your live streams before, but none of it ever worked. Even if I recorded them with another phone, they would inexplicably vanish the next day." Balding Uncle pushed the laptop in front of me. "But this person is clearly a computer expert. They cracked your security protocols."

"A computer expert? A hacker? No, whoever did this was absolutely no ordinary person!" The hot ash burned my fingertips, but I didn't feel any pain. "Where did you find this video?"

"I didn't drive yesterday. I was at home watching your live stream, but the entire second half went pitch-black. Bored, I went online to browse some forums. There was a thread that got pushed to the top within just a few minutes. Curious, I opened it, and it was this video of yours." Balding Uncle's tone was full of astonishment; it seemed he still hadn't recovered from the shock. "The original title of the thread was something about the dark web and a murder broadcast. I wanted to notify you, so to preserve the evidence, I recorded this video."

With Balding Uncle's help, I found the forum. It was a highly active supernatural message board. The original thread had already been deleted, but its contents had left a widespread impact. The entire forum was discussing the matter.

"Since you were able to record it, others probably could too. This live stream video has been completely exposed." With eight lives involved, my heart trembled. "Who exactly did this? To dare expose the existence of the Live Show—aren't they afraid of its retaliation?"

I lit another cigarette, forcing myself to calm down.

I had been wearing the Brooch during the broadcast, so I wasn't exposed in the video, and there was no audio. That was a silver lining in the misfortune. "Right, what time was this video uploaded last night?"

Balding Uncle thought for a moment before saying, "Probably around three in the morning. It wasn't light out yet."

"Around three in the morning?" I narrowed my eyes. That was exactly when I had escaped from the Deep Dream Layer and returned to reality. The timing was suspiciously precise.

"Not afraid of the Live Show? And they didn't completely expose me either. It feels more like a threat. Could the ones who posted the video be the Traitors?"