Chapter 584: Brooch

"You want to imprison me?" Gripping the Ghost Ring in one hand, I felt anger flare in my heart. These stubborn old Daoists were pushing their luck.

"We're just inviting you to stay the night. Don't be nervous." Xu Yan didn't give me a chance to speak further. Talismans faintly swayed beneath his Daoist robes. They were all Lesser Vehicle Talismans arranged in a formation. If a fight broke out, he could likely suppress me in an instant.

Although my strength had improved and I had the ability to break formations, doing so took time. In that window, the other Daoists would have long since taken me down.

Circumstances are stronger than people; I could only lower my head and endure.

"Once your child is safely delivered tomorrow, we will discuss our cooperation in detail." Xu Yan exchanged a glance with Lu Chen. He took a jade pen from his robes and began writing something on the rice paper set out on the private room's table.

They blocked my view with their bodies. Since I hadn't cultivated Penetrating Eye, I could only see their movements without knowing what they were actually writing.

Once the writing was done, the Daoists passed the rice paper around. By the end, I was the only person in the entire private room who didn't know what was written on it.

"Did everyone understand?" Xu Yan asked. The group nodded, and he immediately burned the rice paper. "I have calculated the date to execute the Ghost Mother. Now, we simply need to rest, build up our strength, and wait."

The others voiced their agreement. Xu Yan then called for Jiang Chen, instructing him to lead me to a guest room to stay for the time being.

Returning to the hall, the guests looked at me with completely different expressions.

Are you kidding? Jiang Detao and Huang Boyuan, the business titans of Jiangcheng, had been kicked out, yet a nameless nobody like me had stayed until the very end. There had to be something fishy going on!

Many people were whispering among themselves. Someone with a good memory suddenly exclaimed, "I think I saw him at Jiang Shao's wedding!"

That single remark snapped everyone to attention, and more and more people began to gossip.

"I remember now! I was wondering why he looked so familiar. Isn't this the young man who caused a scene at Jiang Shao's wedding?"

"Damn, what's his background? He crashed the wedding, wrecked the Jiang family's event, and now he actually has Jiang Shao personally guiding him to a guest room?!"

"Is he the son of some big shot from the province?"

"Doesn't look like it. His outfit is way too ordinary."

"What the hell do you know? It's called keeping a low profile. Maybe everything he's wearing is limited edition and intentionally made to look worn out!"

Hearing the guests' chatter, Jiang Chen quickened his pace. Despite his decent self-restraint, he was absolutely fuming.

His face was ashen. He had likely fantasized about our meeting countless times, but he never imagined it would be under these circumstances.

Staring at Jiang Chen's trembling shoulders, the corners of my mouth curled up. The world was truly unpredictable. A month ago, I was just a "rat" hiding in the corners of Jiangcheng, running a shady business. Back then, Jiang Chen was an existence I could only look up to. Yet a month later, the once-unreachable young master was leading the way for me like a waiter.

I didn't know when it started, but the Jiang family was no longer worth my attention. If I ranked the opposing forces by their threat level, the Jiang family would only be at the very bottom.

The Three Yin Sect, the Traitors, the Orthodox Sects, the Two-Faced Buddha, and even the Underworld Live Show! These were the forces that posed a genuine threat to me.

I was constantly growing too, both in my worldview and my strength.

"One day, I'll unravel all these mysteries and stop scrambling just to survive."

Taking the elevator to a VIP suite on the sixteenth floor, I realized these rooms were originally prepared for those Daoists. I never expected to be the first one to stay here.

"Here's your room card." Jiang Chen shoved the card at me with a cold face. Finally unable to endure the humiliation any longer, he stormed off.

"Your self-restraint still needs some work!" I called out to his retreating figure down the corridor. A few seconds later, the sound of a trash can being kicked flying echoed from around the corner.

Opening the door, I stepped inside. This was my first time staying in a five-star hotel's VIP suite. I inserted the card for power, turned on all the lights, and thoroughly checked every corner. Only after confirming there were no hidden cameras or listening devices did I lie down to rest on the massive bed, which was large enough for three people to roll around on.

Taking a deep breath, I reflected on how immense the pressure had been when facing those orthodox cultivators.

I carried far too many secrets that couldn't be exposed. Whether it was the Underworld Live Show live broadcast or the matter of the Fate Usurper, pulling a single hair moves the entire body. I couldn't let myself sink into a deeper quagmire over the Ghost Mother.

Massaging my temples, I recalled Xu Yan and Lu Chen's final actions. They seemed to have written something on the rice paper and passed it around for everyone else to read behind my back.

"What was written on that paper? Why did they do it right in front of me on purpose?" I stared blankly at the chandelier above. "When I was leaving, Xu Yan said he had already calculated the date to kill the Ghost Mother. But they just arrived in Jiangcheng and don't even know where she is, so how could they calculate the date?"

At this thought, I felt even more conflicted. 'In another two days, it'll be time for my next Underworld Live Show live broadcast. If they delay taking action and keep me imprisoned here, how am I supposed to stream?'

Escape using the Human Skin Mask? Doing that would likely expose it as one of my trump cards, which would be a massive waste. Forcing my way out would be extremely difficult too. These Daoists might be arrogant as hell, but they possessed real skills. Putting aside older cultivators like Xu Yan and Lu Jingxiu, Chen Jiuge from the younger generation was a live show streamer with countless methods and hidden cards. Lu Chen was also someone capable of escaping the Ghost Mother with his life—I had deeply experienced his strength last time.

"There's no way to escape. Looking at it this way, I can only use points to cancel my next broadcast." I sat up on the bed. "No, wait, I still have a chance. Chen Jiuge is also a live show streamer; he absolutely has to participate in his broadcasts. We ran into each other during the last broadcast, and based on the three-day cycle, we should be streaming at the exact same time again. I can observe what he does. Maybe there will be an unexpected harvest."

I was in the dark, while he was out in the open. Worst-case scenario, I would spend points to exempt myself from one broadcast, then tail Chen Jiuge and sabotage his streaming task. If I could set him up to die, that would truly be perfect.

Every live show streamer was incredibly difficult to deal with, but the rewards for killing one were astonishing. I could clearly see that from my own situation.

Having survived twelve broadcasts, I possessed countless treasures. If I were to take some of them out, it would probably drive those orthodox Daoists outside completely mad.

"Chen Jiuge's broadcast time is the same as mine..." I abruptly stood up as a memory flashed through my mind. Right before my broadcast at Qicun Maternity and Children’s Health Center started, my Live Show Phone had received a call for help!

That streamer told me to go to the underground morgue at Jiangcheng Central Hospital. Later, Tie Ningxiang and I found the corpses of victims killed by the Blood Fox in that morgue, along with a Plum Blossom Brooch Camera!

"That Plum Blossom Brooch Camera belonged to another streamer. He must have accidentally dropped it while fighting the Blood Fox." I thought back to the scene in the morgue at that time; there had been no signs of a fierce struggle, and the bodies had all been hidden away.

"That's not right. When the Blood Fox killed people in the subway station, it didn't even know how to hide the bodies. Its nature is overbearing and direct, and it disdains doing such things. I should have realized it sooner. That murder scene was forged! The one who hid the bodies and arranged the scene wasn't the Blood Fox at all—it was the streamer who called me for help!"

My eyes darted around as I thought of another inconsistency. 'He called me for help, which meant his situation should have been critical. How could he still have the leisure time to hide bodies and forge a crime scene? Unless... calling me from the very start was just setting a trap to hunt other streamers?'

Cold sweat slowly trickled down my forehead. It was a good thing I hadn't gone over there back then.

'Who could this streamer hunting other streamers be?'

At that moment, I recalled another detail. When I first encountered Chen Jiuge during the broadcast in the Deep Dream Layer, he had been holding an Underworld Live Show Phone in his hand, actively streaming.

However, I noticed that he never interacted with his livestream viewers, and his broadcast's popularity was quite low.

Our encounter had been completely abrupt; he hadn't prepared for it in advance. That must have been his usual state while broadcasting.

That brought up a question: since he never communicated with his livestream viewers, why did he even bother holding a phone to broadcast?

He could have easily worn a Brooch to stream, which would have freed up one of his hands.

My eyes narrowed as a thought surfaced in my mind. 'Could that Brooch have been Chen Jiuge's? Is he only using a phone to broadcast because he lost his Brooch?'