Chapter 593: The Thirteenth Live Broadcast

The person delivering food to my door was actually Chen Jiuge, and he had just asked an incredibly pointed question.

"Have we met somewhere before?" he asked, holding the food tray as he repeated his earlier words.

I finally snapped back to reality and frowned. "Trying to buddy up to me? Let me guess, that ox-nosed old Daoist sent you. If you have something to say, spit it out. Stop beating around the bush."

I didn't say a word about whether we had actually met. My tone was blatantly impatient, but my terrible attitude didn't seem to offend Chen Jiuge at all. In fact, his expression relaxed slightly.

"Maybe I have the wrong person." Chen Jiuge looked past me into the suite. "Aren't you going to let me inside?"

"Are you sick in the head? I just beat up one of your people, and now you're rushing over to cozy up to me? You even brought my food yourself. Did you poison it to lower my guard?" I stared at him with blatant suspicion. In reality, I was rather apprehensive, unsure if Chen Jiuge had actually recognized me.

"You're overthinking it." Without waiting for my permission, Chen Jiuge walked straight into the room and set the tray on the table. "I came here personally because someone asked me to. You have history with the Maoshan Yin Master, Leng Qingxuan. He told me a few things about you. He mentioned that someone close to you was injured in the Dream Realm, and he wanted me to step in and treat them."

My brow twitched, and my frown only deepened. Leng Qingxuan meant well, but he had no idea his attempt to help had just put me at risk of exposure.

Chen Jiuge was a smart man. The moment he heard someone had been injured in a dream, he would naturally associate it with that live broadcast in the Deep Dream Layer.

Perhaps in his eyes, even if the injured person wasn't a streamer, they were definitely connected to that incident.

This was exactly why he had come to my room under the guise of delivering food.

Tonight was the night of the Underworld Live Show live broadcast. He wanted to make contact with me beforehand to verify his suspicions.

From the moment I saw Chen Jiuge, I had brainstormed six or seven different countermeasures, only to reject all of them. Pulling the wool over the eyes of someone like him would be extremely difficult. Sometimes, a careless excuse only ended up deepening suspicion.

Seeing me keep my distance, Chen Jiuge offered a friendly smile. "I only came down the mountain on the orders of my sect. If I offended you earlier, I hope you won't take it to heart. I studied under the Xiao Zhuang Taoist Temple. You must have heard the idiom of Zhuang Zhou dreams of a butterfly, right? Our sect has some expertise regarding the Dream Realm. If your friend truly was injured in a dream, I might be the only person capable of saving him."

Chen Jiuge was keeping his posture very humble. The underlying meaning of his words was that he wanted me to take him to see this friend of mine.

"Are you really that kindhearted?" I put on a show of hesitation and conflict, neither refusing nor agreeing.

"This is the first time this humble priest has heard of someone in the secular world getting injured in a dream. I am merely curious, that is all. I hope you won't overthink it, Destined Patron." Chen Jiuge chuckled as he walked toward the door. "I will be the one bringing you breakfast tomorrow morning. If you've made up your mind, you can tell me then."

He stepped into the doorway, but just as I was about to shut the door, he looked back and gave me a deep stare. "You feel very familiar to me. Have we truly never met?"

His words carried a pointed implication. "I don't mean in reality. I mean... is it possible you've dreamt of me?"

"Dreamt of you?" I raised an eyebrow. "Don't you think that sounds a bit disgusting?"

Chen Jiuge let out a laugh. "True. That would definitely be a nightmare."

Once he was gone, I shut the door, only then realizing my palms were completely drenched in sweat.

"This Chen Jiuge is anything but simple!" I glanced at the clock on the wall. It was 6:40 PM. There was still a little over an hour before the Live Show released the mission details.

After finishing my meal, I went to the hotel's front desk to borrow a phone charger. Under the watchful eyes of the sect cultivators, I returned to my room, plugged my phone in, and waited quietly.

The situation was incredibly unfavorable for me—a near dead end. Slipping away from under the noses of these sect cultivators to complete my live broadcast mission, only to return completely unnoticed the next morning, was going to be extremely difficult.

I took a deep breath to steady myself. To avoid leaving the smell of smoke on my clothes, I didn't even dare to light a cigarette. I simply sat there, staring at the wall clock.

'If the difficulty of this live broadcast mission is too high, I'll just abandon it and sabotage Chen Jiuge's mission instead. He's already suspicious of me, so I need to eliminate him as soon as possible.'

The hands of the clock slowly ticked forward. Finally, it was eight o'clock.

The screen of the Live Show Phone on the nightstand flickered with a cold light. I picked it up and held it to my ear.

"Hello?"

A strange sound came from the other end of the line—a rhythmic bubbling, like air constantly rising from underwater.

A few seconds later, I heard the clatter of metal instruments being set down on a table. It sounded like whoever was on the line was inside an operating room or a laboratory.

"Mr. Gao, congratulations on passing our test once again."

"The Interviewer?" Hearing that voice, I couldn't help but shiver. I had made plenty of guesses about the contents of the thirteenth live broadcast, and I had even collected quite a few supernatural legends about Jiangcheng, constantly preparing myself to head to any of those locations. But the moment I heard the Interviewer's voice, a sudden, ominous premonition washed over me. This live broadcast might be completely different from the previous ones.

I steadied my emotions. Knowing that the call time was limited and he could hang up at any second, I quickly asked, "What test did I pass?"

"During the last live broadcast, you made a very correct choice."

"You mean my contact with the Traitors? Was that all part of your plan? That last live broadcast—was it purely to test me?"

"You could interpret it that way. You did well. You didn't disappoint us."

The Interviewer's voice was lukewarm, yet it sent a wave of guilt crashing through me. In truth, I had considered betrayal; the Traitors just hadn't offered conditions tempting enough to sway me.

Every single move I made was under the surveillance of the Underworld Live Show. Although they couldn't directly interfere with the live broadcasts, they were constantly monitoring my stream.

"You intentionally sent me to the Traitors. Weren't you afraid I would actually betray you?"

"Afraid? It seems you still don't understand the true meaning behind the existence of the Underworld Live Show. But you'll understand soon enough." The Interviewer let out a rather eerie chuckle. "Tonight's live broadcast will be completed alongside other streamers. I hope you have a pleasant time."

"Wait!" I realized the Interviewer was about to hang up and hurriedly said, "Explain yourself clearly! What do you mean by 'completed alongside other streamers'? Are we going to be cooperating, or competing?"

At my question, the Interviewer's tone grew even stranger. "Neither cooperation nor competition. The relationship between you will be that of hunter and prey. Use everything in your power to survive. No matter where you flee, they will find you. However, since you are a newcomer, I will give you one crucial piece of extra information."

"What information?" I focused all my attention, not daring to miss a single word.

"Think carefully. Why is everything in the hospital white?"

"The hospital? White?"

Before I could even react, the call disconnected. Listening to the steady beep of the busy signal, I stood frozen in the suite.

'This is completely baffling! I clearly passed the test, so why are they making me participate in such a dangerous live broadcast?' The Live Show's Interviewer had said that the streamers would be hunters and prey. Even though I had twelve live broadcasts under my belt, I had absolutely no advantage when compared to the others. Just like Xiao A had told me in the Deep Dream Layer, I was the tenth streamer—the one with the fewest broadcasts and the weakest foundation.

'Thinking about it that way, does that make me the miserable prey?' I let out a helpless smile. There had been a hidden meaning in the Interviewer's words. By telling me in advance that I would be found no matter where I fled, he was warning me not to evade this live broadcast.

And that hint he gave was probably my compensation. To make the game more interesting, he had given me a crucial clue to grant me the ability to fight back.

'Why is everything in the hospital white? What a bizarre question.' The Live Show would never issue a mission that guaranteed death. But making the streamers hunt each other down—a move that essentially amounted to pure internal attrition—shook all my previous theories regarding the Live Show's true purpose.

'Wait, the Interviewer's exact words were, "No matter where you flee, they will find you." They? Are there going to be a lot of streamers participating tonight?' My expression stiffened. Here I was, thinking about hunting down Chen Jiuge, when in reality, the moment the live broadcast mission was published, I might very well become his target.

'Being found no matter where I flee means it's not safe for me to stay here. My location might be exposed, and when that happens, Chen Jiuge will definitely connect the dots.' Century New Garden was located in the city center, and the surrounding rooms were filled with sect cultivators. Logically speaking, this should be the safest place in the world. The fatal flaw, however, was that Chen Jiuge was among them. Once he found out I was a live show streamer, he would undoubtedly try to kill me on the spot.

'I can't entrust my safety to others. Since I hold a crucial piece of information, there's a chance I can turn this situation around.'

As I was lost in thought, the Underworld Live Show Phone received the mission details for the thirteenth live broadcast.

"Ding!"

"Live broadcast mission: Arrive at the Jianghu Cancer Research Hospital at midnight and survive until dawn."

"Optional task one: Reward of one point for every person killed."

"Optional task two: Reward of ten points and two Live Broadcast Immunities for every live show streamer killed."

"Optional task three: Locate the Traitors. An additional reward of ten points for killing them."

"Optional task four: Rescue the innocent. Reward of ten points for every person saved."

"Optional task five: Kill everyone inside the Jianghu Cancer Research Hospital aside from yourself. Upon task completion, reward of one hundred points."

Opening the phone's inbox, I stared at the thirteenth live broadcast's mission, my face turning deathly pale.

This was a multiplayer mission. According to the task prompts, the participants were roughly divided into three identities: innocents, live show streamers, and Traitors.

It was clear from the optional tasks that this was a mission encouraging slaughter. The fifth optional task was utterly deranged. Wiping everyone out would net a staggering reward of a hundred points!

'Salvation and slaughter rest on a single thought. The roles of hunter and prey are also constantly switching.' I touched the Good and Evil Asura Mask tucked in my jacket, unsure of whether or not I should get involved.