Livestream: Knocking at the Door at Midnight

Just as Jiang Qiao was livestreaming.

Imperial Capital, a secret underground base.

A middle-aged man in a Combat Suit walked up to an elderly man, saluted, and handed him a tablet. "Director, that livestream has gone live again."

"Oh?"

The old man took the tablet from the middle-aged man. Jiang Qiao's livestream was displayed on the screen.

"After investigating, we confirmed that the livestream is indeed as the platform claimed. Its permissions cannot be interfered with, as though it is running on another set of servers beyond our control."

The old man nodded without speaking and watched the stream intently.

After a long while, he looked up and said solemnly to the middle-aged man, "We must find a way to locate this streamer. If private messages don't work, have someone contact him through bullet comments in the livestream."

"More and more Supernatural Events have been occurring lately. All signs suggest that something may be brewing. We must prepare for the worst."

"This streamer can deal with the supernatural, and he is willing to deal with it. I believe that is extremely important information."

"When you make contact, mind your approach. Don't provoke his dislike."

"Yes!" The middle-aged man saluted again, then turned and left.

Once the man had gone out, the old man picked up the tablet again and muttered to himself, "Another so-called New Human?"

In the livestream.

Jiang Qiao had no idea that the Relevant Department had taken notice of him.

He was still chatting with the streamer's viewers.

"I'm telling you, if you encounter a Vicious Ghost, don't panic. First, glare at it furiously and shout, 'Ganniang!' Then hit it with a sliding tackle... That way, at least you'll die with some dignity."

"???"

"Holy crap, after hearing you speak, I feel like I heard something."

"Can't slide, can't slide. A two-hundred-pound shut-in like me should just lie flat. I think that'd be more dignified—at least I wouldn't be so tired before dying."

"The streamer seemed to show off a sliding tackle yesterday too. So, streamer, are you really not planning to join the national football team?"

"Streamer, hurry up and play football so the viewers can get rich. As long as you're on a team, we can just bet against them and we'll definitely win, because the moment you get on the field, you'll be sent off with a red card for a sliding tackle."

"So what time is it now? Why is the streamer still in this crappy house? Where's the car?"

Just as the livestream was buzzing with excitement, a sudden knocking sounded from outside the door.

Thump!

Thump, thump!

Thump, thump, thump!

It was loud and urgent. Jiang Qiao even felt as if someone were ramming the door.

"Who is it?"

Jiang Qiao stood up and went straight over to open the door.

Were Vicious Ghosts this impatient now?

Outside stood a tall woman with a pale face and bloodshot eyes.

She wore a hard hat and a renovation worker's uniform.

"Boss, did you need a wall patched up in your room?"

Her voice was low and hoarse.

Jiang Qiao swept his gaze over her and spotted two faint handprints on her neck, as though someone had just strangled her.

"Who told you to come?" Jiang Qiao asked.

At that moment, the bullet comments flooded past at lightning speed.

"Hahaha, the streamer is finally driving! Those who waited never lose!"

"Hard hat, work clothes, long legs, 666! The streamer truly hasn't disappointed me."

"I'm just here to tag along. May I ask the big bros, has the streamer always been this good at playing around?"

"This streamer's room is awesome. You can even zoom in with two fingers. I'm going to carefully inspect all the fine details in a bit."

"Get lost, perverts. There's obviously something wrong with this woman. Streamer, be careful."

"What's wrong with her? Isn't this young lady quite pretty? Her face is just a little pale, and her eyes... Holy crap, her pupils are dilated?"

"..."

Who knew what kind of black technology Jiang Qiao's paper phone used? Not only was its resolution terrifyingly high, but the livestream could also be enlarged several times with a two-finger zoom.

It was probably a server from the underworld, beyond the constraints of the living world.

"Boss, does your room need the wall patched?"

The woman did not answer Jiang Qiao. Instead, she repeated her previous question.

"No, you got the wrong room. The room next to mine needs its wall patched."

Jiang Qiao replied.

Yet the woman did not leave and continued asking, "Boss, does your room need the wall patched?"

"..." Jiang Qiao.

For fuck's sake, was this forced sales again?

Fine!

"Yes, my room needs the wall patched. Come in."

A friendly smile appeared on Jiang Qiao's face. He wanted to see what this ghost was planning.

Just as Jiang Qiao agreed.

A creak suddenly came from the room next door, and its door opened a crack.

Through that gap, Jiang Qiao saw several pairs of eyes stacked one above another.

It seemed as though several people were standing behind the door, piled together as they peered out.

Jiang Qiao remained calm and pretended not to notice, but inwardly, he was excited once again.

Sure enough, there were quite a few Vicious Ghosts in this hotel.

Under his Dual Pupils, the strength of these Vicious Ghosts was laid completely bare. They were all only Tier One.

The female ghost dressed as a renovation worker entered the room and casually locked the door behind her.

Then Jiang Qiao saw her feet leave the ground as she floated over to the head of the bed.

She did not use any tools. She simply dug a huge hole straight into the wall, leaving Jiang Qiao dumbfounded.

He also had a talent called Mason.

Had he run into a colleague?

After digging open the wall... the woman lay down inside it!

Then she stopped moving.

"What the hell is this?"

Jiang Qiao was stunned.

He had considered many possibilities. For example, a pile of corpses crawling out after the wall was opened.

Or perhaps the woman wanted to brick him into the wall... after all, he often did that himself in the Simulator.

But... what kind of move was this?

Jiang Qiao walked over and pried the woman out of the wall.

He discovered that she did not react at all.

The Ghost Qi around her had already dissipated as well. She seemed to be nothing more than a cold corpse.

"Vicious Ghosts imitate things people did while they were alive."

Jiang Qiao pondered.

Although he still did not know why Vicious Ghosts put on these imitations, it did not prevent him from inferring many things from such behavior.

For example, this hotel might once have truly existed.

A Murder Case had very likely occurred here.

When a female renovation worker entered a room, someone strangled her to death and bricked her into the wall.

Jiang Qiao suddenly recalled that when the female ghost had entered just now, the door next to his had quietly opened. Behind it were several pairs of eyes that looked shady at a glance, peeking out.

"We'll talk about it after midnight."

Jiang Qiao was worried about alerting the enemy and scaring the Vicious Ghosts away.

So he did not deal with the corpse. He merely tossed it under the bed.

The night grew later and later.

Yet the popularity of Jiang Qiao's livestream continued to rise.

Streamer's viewers from other platforms had gathered together, directly pushing the number of online viewers to one hundred thousand.

And they were all living people!

A dense flood of comments kept flashing past, far too quickly to read.

"I'm starting not to understand this. I suspect that really was a ghost. What living person could stuff herself into a wall?"

"That was a ghost! I'm from Hujia Village, and I'll say it again: there's no hotel in our village at all! I've already hidden under my blanket. I just hope Vicious Ghosts follow the rule about not bullying people under blankets, or I think I'm done for tonight."

"You're such a coward. I refuse to believe that's a ghost."

"How about we go check it out in person? Any big-balled Bin City locals want to join?"

"You go if you want. I'm not going anywhere."

"I'm from Bin City, not far from the Eastern Suburbs. Weren't there a few guys from the Eastern Suburbs just now? Let's form a team and see whether the streamer's putting on a scripted act."

"I'm from South City District, and I'm curious too. Let's gather more people and go together. There's strength in numbers—we won't be afraid of ghosts."

"Count me in. How about we meet at Renmin Plaza in the Eastern Suburbs later?"

"Alright!"

There really were quite a few people bored out of their minds at night.

Half-believing and half-doubting, a large number of Bin City local streamer's viewers actually planned to come to Hujia Village and see for themselves.

Those who had never encountered a Vicious Ghost would never understand just how fragile ordinary people were before them.

But Jiang Qiao did not stop them.

For one thing, he knew it would be useless even if he tried.

Besides, after midnight, he would make his move and kill the Vicious Ghost. These people might not necessarily come to harm.

Of course, if something did happen, it had nothing to do with Jiang Qiao.

They could only blame themselves for courting death.

On the other hand, letting the entire internet learn that Supernatural Revival was happening was not necessarily a bad thing.

What was meant to come would come eventually. There were only a few days left anyway—what was the point of hiding it?

If people made some preparations, at least more of them would survive.

Even if it changed nothing, at least they would be mentally prepared for death.

Right?