Goodnight, Mom. See You Tomorrow.

Goodnight, Mom. See You Tomorrow.

Xie Yuan closed his bedroom door and began cultivating inside.

Sitting cross-legged on the bed, he felt waves of pressure from the air within the room.

The pressure was like water currents from the bottom of a deep lake—everywhere, immensely heavy, yet perceptible only while cultivating.

Under that crushing weight, Xie Yuan felt the Blood Qi throughout his body struggling forward under a burden, requiring ten times the effort to circulate.

Yet as he actively drove his Blood Qi, the surrounding pressure squeezed it into accelerating on its own, surging endlessly, just as if he were cultivating beneath the water.

Back and forth, the speed at which his Blood Qi circulated and was refined became several times faster than usual!

Xie Yuan felt the Blood Qi within him nearly boiling and roaring. Had the Azure Fruit not already remolded his physique and innate constitution into that of a martial arts prodigy, his meridians would not have been able to withstand it.

Fortunately, his body was strong enough and his meridians tough enough. Once he gradually adapted to the surging speed of his Blood Qi's circulation, it was time to reap the rewards.

With a furrowed brow, Xie Yuan exerted his strength and controlled his Blood Qi as it continuously circulated through his body, refining its essence to nourish his muscles, bones, organs, and skin, feeling their gradual improvement.

The amount of Blood Qi needed for each further step in the Qi and Blood Transformation Realm was immense. Though Xie Yuan could only sense the tiniest improvement during cultivation now, compared with his usual slow accumulation, it was already an enormous gain!

If he cultivated in this environment for several days or ten days, his realm would visibly advance by a great deal.

And if he stayed for half a month or a month, he could certainly cross one of the minor thresholds within his realm.

By all accounts, Xie Yuan's current cultivation was only at the early stage of the Qi and Blood Second Transformation Realm.

Without a Heavenly Material and Earthly Treasure suited to his realm to assist him, even at his pace, normal accumulation would still take at least another two years before he could break through to the Qi Blood Third Transformation Realm.

Compared with others, that was already an incredibly fast pace. After all, the Qi Blood Third Transformation Realm was the normal limit of the human body's Blood Qi transformation. Those without sufficient talent could not even touch its threshold, while even many called geniuses required five, ten, or even more years of accumulation.

Reaching the Third Transformation Realm in two or three years was a speed ordinary cultivators could scarcely imagine and dreamed of attaining. But if he cultivated here, it would not even take that long—his pace could increase drastically further.

Feeling his cultivation steadily improve, Xie Yuan circulated his Blood Qi cross-legged for a long while before standing atop the bed and beginning to practice the Luohan Stance.

There was barely any floor space in the tiny bedroom. Standing on the bed was better, and with his sense of balance, it posed no problem.

The ceiling was low too, though. He was a little worried about bumping his head against it... This home was still too small and too old.

Fortunately, the Luohan Stance was a Still Stance. Open space was still preferable, but it did not demand that much room.

Standing on the bed, Xie Yuan either balanced on one leg like a golden rooster or half-sank into a horse stance. He controlled his Blood Qi, guiding it along unique routes through corresponding parts of his body, tempering his entire body step by step.

After practicing it once.

Xie Yuan blinked and summoned the panel for the second time here.

Golden Bell Cover · Fifth Layer: (1457/10000)

Watching the Golden Bell Cover's progress increase by nearly fifty points after just one round, Xie Yuan slowly exhaled.

"My cultivation really has improved. Other things might deceive me, but the panel and mathematics won't, because mathematics is mathematics, and the panel is my dear... Ahem.

"Since the panel and mathematics won't deceive me, then the numbers on the panel definitely won't either."

For some reason, Xie Yuan felt that the panel would not be affected by hallucinations.

If it showed his improvement here, then the improvement was real, even if he was cultivating within an illusion.

Next, Xie Yuan cultivated the Yunshan Sword Intent Scripture and the Nourishing Body Skill in turn, then performed a set of Eight Trigrams Mountain Shaking Fist.

The progress of his Inner Strength Nourishing Method was equally astonishing. Inner Breath was normally cultivated at an extremely slow pace, yet the progress of Xie Yuan's Sword Intent Scripture, which matched his realm, rose as quickly as his Blood Qi. And after charging the Sword Intent Scripture, the lower-realm Nourishing Body Skill practically soared forward. Its progress scarcely looked like Inner Strength at all. At one point, Xie Yuan was so frightened that he might suffer a deviation in cultivation that he stopped several times, only continuing after ensuring everything was fine.

He felt as though he were drawing nourishment, energy, and Spiritual Qi from the illusory Profound Water. In the environment of Profound Water at the lake bottom, it was almost comparable to a blessed grotto-heaven, which was what supported such rapid cultivation without leaving Xie Yuan feeling depleted of vital blood.

At least he would not need to make up for it by eating more. There was no surplus food at home to begin with... Xie Yuan was still thinking about household expenses.

Under the immense pressure of the Profound Water, his combat techniques improved greatly as well. Though not as exaggeratedly as his Nourishing Method and cultivation methods, they were clearly on a completely different level from training on land. Unfortunately, he had no sword in hand, so he could not practice the Cloud Dragon Nine Forms that he now focused on. He could only throw some punches to see whether they helped, and in this little room, he still had to hold himself back.

With the door shut, he trained from noon until night. Wang YaFang knocked twice during that time, somewhat worried, but each time she heard Xie Yuan answer in a strong, steady voice that he was fine.

Considering that her son was no longer young, she did not disturb him too much.

After a full day, Xie Yuan confirmed that he could cultivate here, and that the results were unexpectedly good. He felt both the satisfaction after training and a complicated swirl of emotions.

He had not wanted to cultivate here at all. He had only wanted to immerse himself in the ordinary life of the past.

But perhaps that had been too weak. Reality—even reality within an illusion—was forcing him to wake up.

He was no longer the person he had once been.

Still, that was not necessarily a bad thing.

Xie Yuan looked at the golden light in his hand and clenched his fist tight.

After a day of cultivation, he could feel his physique easily awakening. He had completely recovered his original realm.

Standing before the full-length mirror, he watched his figure flicker between light and shadow, then let out a long breath.

When he opened the door, he saw that Wang YaFang had prepared a full table of dinner—chicken soup, pork ribs, and more. Xie Yuan could not help saying, "Mom, I don't need that much nourishment. Save some money. Besides, chicken soup is all purines and fat. It's not necessarily that nutritious."

"What does a child like you know? Drink it while it's hot!"

Wang YaFang chided him, ladled out a bowl of chicken soup, and placed it before him. Under her watchful gaze, Xie Yuan could only gulp it down.

"Drink slowly! Don't burn yourself."

Wang YaFang immediately told him to slow down.

Xie Yuan set down the soup bowl and looked at Wang YaFang's face, so full of relief. It had gained many fine lines, and though she was not yet fifty, her hair had already turned somewhat gray.

His mother used to love looking pretty and dressing herself up. Since he woke up this time, he had not seen her wear makeup even once. At most, she simply combed her hair.

She truly looked at least five years older than before.

If not for this incident, she would not have become like this...

Xie Yuan's heart ached. He silently ate dinner when a flash of inspiration suddenly struck him, and his chopsticks paused.

"What is it? Doesn't it suit your taste? Did I put in too much salt? Sigh, I haven't cooked much lately. I'm getting rusty..."

Wang YaFang asked anxiously.

Xie Yuan shook his head. "No! It's delicious, I love it! Mom, after dinner, let's go downstairs and take a walk."

"Huh? You're not going to Wang Yibing's today?"

"He has something to do today. I'll go tomorrow. Let's head downstairs in a bit. I'll teach you some boxing."

"Huh?"

After dinner, Xie Yuan took over all the cleaning without hesitation. Once he efficiently finished everything, he brought Wang YaFang downstairs.

The old residential complex barely had anything that could be called a courtyard. Parking spaces were scarce, cars were left haphazardly everywhere, and the place was packed to the brim.

Still, there was an open area where quite a few elderly residents exercised.

Xie Yuan and Wang YaFang took their positions. Smiling, he said, "Mom, this is a health exercise I learned at school. A health expert taught it, so it's definitely useful. Practice with me."

"...All right."

Wang YaFang had not been in great spirits lately and was not particularly interested, but since her son had said so, she did not want to disappoint him.

Xie Yuan simplified the first two forms of the Nourishing Body Skill. He demonstrated them for his mother once, then slowly broke down the movements and had her follow along.

So this was how you simplified a cultivation method...

Though he had simplified it himself, Xie Yuan had practiced the Nourishing Body Skill for a long time and could still grasp its core. It was less effective than the original, but it would definitely nourish the body and cause no harm.

Wang YaFang barely had any exercise habits, so even this extremely simplified Nourishing Body Skill came out crooked and awkward.

But with an expert like Xie Yuan beside her to correct her, that was no problem. The Nourishing Body Skill could originally be used to lay foundations for novice martial artists, much less this simplified version. Even elderly people could practice it.

As Wang YaFang continued, she gradually got on the right track. It felt as though a warm current were flowing through her body, and her spirits lifted somewhat.

Her face was full of wonder. "Son, this boxing really does seem to work!"

"Of course. Do it twice every morning and evening, and I guarantee your hair will turn black and your wrinkles will lessen."

Xie Yuan smiled.

The idea had suddenly occurred to him while eating. Since he could cultivate here, could his parents do so as well?

After Wang YaFang tried it once, there really were some effects on her body. But Xie Yuan did not dare determine whether that was the effect of exercise or the special effect of the Nourishing Body Skill. He could only wait and see.

But no matter what, getting moving was a good thing.

Watching his mother become interested and begin practicing on her own after listening to him, Xie Yuan felt somewhat comforted.

After all, when there were obvious rewards, most people would become proactive.

To some extent, that was the greatest function of his panel.

The elderly men and women nearby watched the mother and son, whispering among themselves.

Xie Yuan's ears twitched, and he caught words like "usury," "gangsters," and "security officers."

He pursed his lips. Seeing that many people looked wary and cautious, keeping their distance out of respect, he shook his head.

"This boxing's kind of interesting..."

Besides the gossip, one or two elderly people were evaluating the routine. Xie Yuan had not thought much of it at first, but then another idea struck him.

He deliberately moved closer to the two old men who seemed interested and slowly practiced by himself.

From the corner of his eye, he saw them sitting beneath a tree, secretly mimicking his movements with their hands. Xie Yuan smiled faintly, turned around, and cupped his hands. "Uncles, do you usually practice boxing too?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. We do Tai Chi, Eight Brocades, that sort of thing."

The old man was a little surprised and answered casually.

"Uncles, this is a new boxing method I learned at university. It exercises the body, and the results are fantastic. Want to practice together?"

"No! No need."

Both old men refused decisively.

Xie Yuan froze for a moment, not expecting them to be so firm. After a beat, he smiled. "I'm not charging money... Besides, an Olympic champion taught this. My university PE teacher is an Olympic champion, and this boxing is the essence of ancient martial arts. It really works. Anyway, I'm teaching my mom to exercise. If you want to practice beside us, I can teach you."

This year's Olympics had only recently ended, so Olympic champions were still highly convincing. The two old men clearly hesitated.

As for his teacher at university... there really was an Olympic champion there, though Xie Yuan had never attended that teacher's class.

Still, this boxing method was only better than anything an Olympic champion could teach.

After saying that, Xie Yuan returned to Wang YaFang's side and guided her through the routine.

The two old men exchanged glances, somewhat hesitant. One of them said, "Nothing else to do. Want to give it a try?"

"You go ahead. I'll watch first."

The other one urged him on.

So the first old man walked over to Xie Yuan, looking a little embarrassed as he stiffly followed along.

Seeing this, Xie Yuan secretly laughed.

As long as one person came over, none of them would get away.

He enthusiastically guided the old man, teaching him from beginning to end while assessing his physical condition. With his eye, he could tell that the man liked exercising and would have no major problems practicing.

The old man stumbled through one full round. Like Wang YaFang, he felt some effect; his body warmed slightly, and his interest immediately rose.

The other old man sat alone beneath the tree and watched for a while before he could not resist joining them too. Xie Yuan gained another student.

After two rounds, Wang YaFang and the two old men were all breathing slightly hard, yet their faces were rosy and they looked energized. Xie Yuan smiled. "Uncles, how does it feel?"

"Good! Very good! Your boxing really works. No wonder an Olympic champion taught it!"

One old man gave Xie Yuan a thumbs-up right in front of his face and kept waving it around.

"It really works. I haven't felt this energetic in ages!"

The other said.

His voice was strong and loud, and all the elderly men and women who had secretly been watching around the open space heard him. They immediately looked at one another and began whispering.

Hearing them, Xie Yuan almost gave the two old men a thumbs-up himself. They were so cooperative, practically like shills he had hired.

Knowing that his goal had been achieved, he said, "That's good. From now on, I'll come downstairs to practice boxing every morning. If you want to join, you can all come. Practicing alone is practicing, and practicing in a group is practicing. I'll teach you for free."

He deliberately said it loudly, then went upstairs with Wang YaFang.

After the two left, the two old men continued eagerly discussing it, while the elderly residents nearby crowded around them, asking questions all at once.

From a window upstairs, Xie Yuan watched the scene. Smiling faintly, he withdrew his gaze.

Wang YaFang was somewhat excited. "Son, your boxing really works. I feel much more energetic. And you taught those uncles in the complex, they..."

"As long as it works. I'll teach Dad later too. As for teaching them, hehe, once I teach them, they won't keep thinking about driving us out every day."

Xie Yuan smiled.

"They weren't really trying to drive us out. We really have affected them... Sigh, son, you've grown up."

Watching Wang YaFang's rosy face as she nodded repeatedly, feeling that her son knew how to handle people, Xie Yuan quietly let out a breath. Another worry was off his mind.

Early the next morning, Xie Yuan brought his mother downstairs to practice again and found two more elderly men and women quietly waiting behind them.

Without showing anything, Xie Yuan treated everyone equally and taught each person seriously.

Most elderly people had practiced common routines such as Eight Brocades and Tai Chi. Though those had some effect, they clearly could not compare to this cultivation method truly brought from the world of cultivation.

Just one round of his simplified Nourishing Body Skill was enough to win the old men and women over. They praised it again and again.

Xie Yuan was not an Olympic champion, but what he taught was far better than what one could teach. It was impossible for these elderly people to cultivate Inner Breath if they kept at it, but adding five years to their average lifespan would not be difficult.

And his mother was receiving extra instruction from him. If she kept practicing from now on, living past a hundred without illness or disaster would not be a dream.

But he would most likely not be around to see it...

Seeing the people around them eager to give it a try, along with even the neighborhood committee aunties, there would probably be even more people tomorrow.

Before long, Wang YaFang would be Coach Xiao Xie's mother. In this residential complex, she ought to be able to swagger about without a care in the world.

If things continued like this, then when Boss Tian dared come again next month, he would not need to step in. The elderly men and women could make them pay dearly.

Loan-shark thugs who acted according to the law still had to be dealt with by top-tier elderly men and women... Besides, this complex consisted of old employee dormitory buildings in the city center. Many of these elderly residents' children now worked in government departments. If one or two of them got shoved in a scuffle, the lending company might not even be able to stay in business.

Xie Yuan exhaled, feeling much more at ease.

After having lunch with Wang YaFang, whose complexion was clearly much improved today, Wang Yibing picked him up and brought him home that afternoon.

Inside the gaming room, Xie Yuan asked:

"How should we handle this?"

Wang Yibing shook his head, his expression somewhat grim.

"Let's try it first."

They started the stream.

As usual, Xie Yuan displayed moves beyond the limits of human capability. In fact, he was in even better form today than before, leaving both Wang Yibing and the viewers dumbstruck.

Honestly, with Xie Yuan's current reaction speed and physical abilities, playing a game with a cap on mechanical skill was little different from competing against a top-tier AI. Since he actually knew how to play, his performance was even more dazzling.

But today's popularity was less than half of what it had been before.

Even though there were still plenty of comments and viewers, the stream's popularity simply would not rise. They could not even be found on the homepage.

After the stream ended.

Xie Yuan and Wang Yibing held a small meeting in the room.

Wang Yibing sighed.

"Just as expected..."

"Da Bi Ge did this?"

"Definitely. This is him forcing us to agree. And today was only a small test of the blade..."

"Is that so."

The next day.

Wang Yibing discovered, with an ugly expression, that the stream's popularity had been cut in half again. Now they were not even on the homepage of the category rankings.

Not only that, but there were clearly far more abusive comments today. Things like "vegetative-state retard," "This is so ugly, what disgusting crap, how come you didn't fall to your death?" and "Baleful Intent idiot streamer, scammer, may your whole family die," along with countless other bottomless insults, flooded the screen nonstop. He could not ban them fast enough.

Clearly, they were paid trolls sent by Da Bi Ge.

There was no bottom to how low chat could sink. The insults could be uglier than anything. Wang Yibing kept banning people with an awful expression, but it was useless.

He had been a streamer with tens of thousands of followers himself, and he had seen plenty of abuse before. His mindset was solid. But now, the filthy words flooding the screen outnumbered every comment from his peak combined, and quite a few directly attacked Xie Yuan's accident. That was more than he could bear.

When he saw a comment reading "fall to your death fall to your death fall to your death xN," Wang Yibing finally snapped. Red-faced and furious, he roared:

"Fuck you, Baleful Intent idiot! Tomorrow your whole family can fall off a building and die too!"

"The streamer's raging lololol"

"Idiot streamer sprays his viewers, unfollowed"

"What a classy streamer, everyone report him"

The comments began flooding again in a new wave. Quite a few fans saw what was going on and asked:

"Did paid trolls come to smear you?"

But normal viewers' comments were pitifully few by comparison. And in this environment, combined with Wang Yibing losing control just now, many ordinary viewers impatiently closed the stream. The popularity plummeted by the second.

After a while, a message even popped up directly on the screen: "Due to the streamer violating platform regulations, the livestream has been closed for 24 hours."

The stream had been forcibly shut down.

Wang Yibing took several heavy breaths, then slammed his hand onto the table with a thud.

"This is going too far!"

Xie Yuan silently poured Wang Yibing a glass of water and patted his back, telling him to catch his breath first.

Wang Yibing drained the water in one gulp, set the cup down heavily, wiped his mouth, then asked somewhat strangely:

"Xie Yuan, aren't you angry?"

"I'm in a vegetative state. I can't get angry."

Xie Yuan said flatly.

"...You really are a streaming genius."

It was not that Xie Yuan was not angry. But after understanding the essence of the matter two days ago, he had already expected this.

Getting angry was useless. Besides, compared to what he had seen before, things here were at least far more civilized.

A battle of words was a gentle blade, but a gentle blade would never draw real blood.

Just as Wang Yibing was about to speak again, his phone suddenly vibrated.

He picked it up and saw an unfamiliar number. Frowning, he answered it.

"Hello? Who is this? I'm not taking out a loan... Da Bi Ge?!"

He immediately sat up straight. His expression turned serious, and his tone became much more polite.

"Yes... uh, I'm considering it. Today..."

Wang Yibing's brows knitted tightly as an exaggerated voice came from the other end.

"Today had nothing to do with me, okay? I've got too many streamers under me, I can't manage them all. Just come work with me. I guarantee I'll push you to number one in the category! Then you can transition into selling goods, and the money will flow like running water! What are you still considering?"

Nothing to do with him? The moment the stream got shut down, this call came in...

Wang Yibing pressed his lips together.

"Da Bi Ge, I really do want to work with you. But how come I heard your brother-in-law say that if we join you, we definitely won't get any traffic? He's in the same lane as us, right? Would Da Bi Ge really put righteousness before family?"

"..."

The other side fell silent for a moment, then gave a soft laugh.

"Kids don't know anything and just talk nonsense. Think it over carefully these next two days. The terms can be favorable. But if you wait too long... my time is precious, and my patience is limited."

"Beep beep beep..."

The call ended, and Wang Yibing slowly put down his phone.

Xie Yuan shook his head.

"I heard it all. He's really arrogant."

"He's always been wild. He's done plenty of flaunting his wealth and all that. The relevant authorities gave him a warning, so he reined it in a little, but it was useless. He's one of the city's major taxpayers. Even the dog he keeps streams itself eating Wagyu every day, and it has a dedicated account with over ten million followers."

"A dog has over ten million followers?"

Xie Yuan was genuinely surprised.

"You're not even as good as a dog?"

"...Did you wake up without brushing your teeth? His main account has over fifty million followers. A casual traffic boost gives numbers like that."

Wang Yibing said helplessly.

"An arm can't twist a thigh..."

Xie Yuan nodded silently, then suddenly said:

"Then why not just submit to him? We're this popular. He should at least leave us something, right? There's no need for him to turn his back on money."

"Submit to him? The way you put it..."

Wang Yibing shook his head.

"There was a streamer in a situation similar to ours before. He blew up too, but after he got taken in, you can't even see him anymore. He has fewer followers than I used to.

"I studied it these past two days. Da Bi Ge has too many streamers under him. Even though our popularity is high, the money we make is nothing to him.

"What he wants isn't money. He wants a monopoly, he wants status. As long as the market is in his hands, he doesn't care about this little bit of money. Especially since we happen to be in the same lane as his brother-in-law, and things between him and his wife are a complete mess too... Anyway, if we go over there, we'll most likely be finished immediately."

Xie Yuan fell silent after hearing that. He knew less about this market than Wang Yibing did. He had not expected things to be like this.

His fingers moved slightly, but he still shook his head.

"Then, Brother Bing, what do you think we should do?"

Wang Yibing said nothing. He kept scrolling through the backend for a long while, then suddenly let out a breath.

"I checked. There were still quite a few gifts today. Every day from now on will definitely drop sharply, but counting the earlier ones, if we stream for a month, we should be able to scrape together around five hundred thousand! Enough for you to pay back the usury loan.

"Let's just keep leeching along like this for now. Even a mosquito's leg is still meat..."

Xie Yuan nodded. Hopefully, things would go that smoothly.

Wang Yibing, meanwhile, ran straight to the Buddha statue in his living room, pressed his palms together, and muttered under his breath.

"May Buddha bless my stream to go smoothly..."

Looking at the cyber-Buddha statue with flickering neon tubes installed inside it, Xie Yuan was speechless.

This was probably the Buddha streamers ought to worship... But when had this guy started worshipping Buddha?

"You specifically got it to make sure your streams go smoothly?"

"Yeah. Cool, right?"

Wang Yibing said with a smile.

"I'm also planning to get a Guan Gong statue, then go pray at a church over the weekend. Anyway, I'll worship every god there is to worship. One of them has to bless me."

"...With devotion like that, I'm afraid none of them will give a damn about you."

On the third day.

After the stream went live, aside from the low popularity and the huge numbers of paid trolls hurling abuse, there were also porn-spam guys.

Porn-spam guys were people who constantly posted porn sites and porn WeChat accounts.

Wang Yibing could not ban them fast enough, but having learned his lesson from the past two days, he did not dare argue with the comments.

After a while.

"Due to the streamer violating platform regulations, the livestream has been closed for 48 hours."

"What fucking regulation did I violate?"

Wang Yibing punched the table, then angrily contacted the super moderator. The reason given was that there were too many porn-spam guys, creating a bad influence.

"What do porn-spam guys have to do with us? That's the platform's own failure to manage things properly, not me selling porn!"

The appeal was completely useless, because they were openly targeting him.

Wang Yibing and Xie Yuan exchanged a look and completely lost heart.

"Fine. Admit it. An arm can't twist a thigh."

Xie Yuan nodded.

Wang Yibing dialed the number from the day before yesterday. A smiling, exaggerated voice came from the other end.

"Who is this?"

Pretending...

Wang Yibing forcibly suppressed his anger.

"Da Bi Ge, it's me, Little Bing. My online name is Young A-Bing."

"Oh, you. What is it?"

"About the streaming..."

"Wait, I'm busy. Call me again in an hour... beep beep beep."

Listening to the busy tone from the other end, Xie Yuan's expression darkened as well.

Wang Yibing waited an hour with a black face before calling again, only to find that he could not get through.

"Fuck!"

Another hour later, Wang Yibing tried twice more. At last, the call connected.

"Da Bi Ge! It's A-Bing. Are you busy?"

"Go ahead."

A lazy voice came through.

"I'm still very willing to join your company..."

Wang Yibing forced himself to say a whole lot, sounding extremely sincere.

Da Bi Ge gave a soft laugh.

"What did I tell you two days ago?"

"Huh?"

Wang Yibing did not understand what he meant.

"I said I was busy, and my patience was limited. If you waited another two days, the terms might not be so good anymore. Remember?"

Da Bi Ge spoke softly.

Wang Yibing grew nervous.

"You mean you won't take us?"

"I'll take you, of course I'll take you! Since you're so sincere. It's just that the terms need to change. Ninety percent of gifts and livestream revenue will go to the company. As for traffic boosting, there will be some. You'll have to wait."

The veins on Wang Yibing's forehead throbbed. He took a deep breath.

"As long as we join your company, our stream can be restored, right?"

"About traffic boosting, just—wait—do you not understand human language?"

"...I agree."

Wang Yibing fell silent for a moment, but he still agreed.

If he did not agree, he would get nothing. If he agreed, then no matter how little it was, there would at least be something.

"Oh, maybe I wasn't clear. That ninety percent includes all the revenue you'll settle next month, which means it includes the gifts you received over the past few days."

Unconcealed laughter came from the other end.

Wang Yibing froze, his voice trembling slightly.

"Da Bi Ge, we streamed those ourselves before. They have nothing to do with your company, do they?"

"How can you say that? That was all traffic you stole from us! But we're family from now on, so let's not talk about that. Treat it as your pledge of allegiance. I'll let bygones be bygones."

"...I'll think about it."

Wang Yibing directly put down the phone, then cursed loudly.

"Fuck! What a fucking idiot."

Xie Yuan patted Wang Yibing on the shoulder.

"What do you plan to do next?"

Wang Yibing found the question somewhat strange, but did not think much of it. He merely silently looked through the backend statistics. After checking them, he gritted his teeth.

"Agreeing means death, and refusing means death. At worst, I'll just abandon this account! When next month's settlement comes around, these gifts should add up to more than a hundred thousand. I'll withdraw it all. It can ease a lot of your pressure too!"

"But this is the career you worked so hard to build..."

Xie Yuan said gravely.

Wang Yibing shook his head:

"Whatever. Things are already like this anyway. Worst comes to worst, I'll go deliver food again. I won't starve to death. Damn it, I'll ask right now whether I can withdraw it..."

He immediately contacted the backend staff and the super moderator, then stared blankly at the screen.

"The platform has detected that your recent livestream may have violated regulations. Your gifts may be confiscated. We're verifying it now, so please wait."

"Super mod, don't scare me. How did I break the rules?"

The super moderator did not type another word, instead sending over a screenshot of a chat.

"Da Bi Ge: That kid cursed at me without turning off his mic. He did it on purpose. Don't leave him a single cent."

Then the super moderator sent another message.

Super moderator: Offending Brother B is a violation.

The message flashed for a moment before the super moderator withdrew it.

Xie Yuan and Wang Yibing fell completely silent.

"That's illegal, isn't it?"

Xie Yuan said softly.

Wang Yibing gave a bitter smile.

"It is, but where would we get the energy or time to sue Quick Shake's legal department? Could we even win?"

Xie Yuan said inexplicably, "This Da Bi Ge really is overbearing. He sounds like some village tyrant."

"Tell me about it. That influencer dog of his—he didn't leash it during a livestream before, and it mauled a little girl in the neighborhood badly. It caused a huge uproar at the time... but he still managed to suppress it. The homes in their neighborhood cost over a hundred thousand per square meter. What kind of people live there? They couldn't beat him either. I heard he never leashes that dog. It throws its weight around because of its owner and has bitten a lot of people. It's been breaking dog-raising regulations for ages, but it doesn't matter."

"Oh, what neighborhood does he live in? It's that expensive?"

"Isn't it obvious? Dijiang Qiushui, the most expensive place in the city. His unit is the king among kings of buildings. The price per unit is in the tens of millions, almost a hundred million..."

Xie Yuan nodded and patted his shoulder.

"Got it."

"What the hell do you mean, got it? What, are you planning to buy one?"

Wang Yibing shot him a sidelong glance.

But he was in low spirits, utterly dejected.

"Let's go. We can't stream anymore. I'll take you home first. If it really comes down to it, I'll have to submit to him. At least there'll still be a mosquito leg's worth left... Sigh, my ass is doomed."

Before leaving, Wang Yibing went to pray once more before the flashing nightclub-style Buddha statue, muttering under his breath.

"Buddha, you have to bless me and let me get all my money back..."

Yet the Buddha statue said nothing. It flickered bright and dim, its split grin seeming to mock the people below it.

The two sat in the car, both somewhat silent.

Xie Yuan rolled down the window, rested his hand on the window frame, and watched the city in the night.

Neon light blurred in his eyes like an illusory reflection.

"Yuan, what're you thinking about?"

Wang Yibing looked to the right and asked with some concern.

Xie Yuan turned back and shook his head.

"Nothing."

Wang Yibing sighed.

"Don't worry. If this route doesn't work out, I'll help you too. Five hundred thousand isn't a big deal. You're strong now—worst case, we'll don the yellow robes and deliver food for a few years. We'll pay off the debt, won't we? Getting rich is hard, but earning a little money isn't."

"You sound like you're going to shoulder the debt with me. I still owe you seventy-three thousand nine hundred sixty yuan and fifty-two cents. Damn it, forget the fifty cents—but you even transferred the two cents? Don't tell me you went hungry for two days yourself?"

"Don't worry about my money. I was going to treat it as money burned for you anyway."

Wang Yibing shook his head.

"If you're really in trouble, I'll pay it back with you. We're two young men with hands and feet. Even hauling bricks would pay it off. But don't make that face. These past two days, I've kept feeling like you were about to leave this world... Yuan, you're my only brother. If you leave, what's Dad supposed to do?"

Xie Yuan looked at his half-serious, half-joking cry and felt somewhat helpless.

"When you put it like that, it makes me want to leave even less..."

"What, you were really thinking of doing something stupid?"

Wang Yibing's eyes widened.

"But things can't keep going on like this."

Xie Yuan muttered to himself in a low voice, too soft for Wang Yibing to hear.

"Don't worry. I won't die. It wasn't easy finally coming back to life."

Wang Yibing let out a breath.

"That's more like it."

When they arrived downstairs from Xie Yuan's home, Wang Yibing watched him get out of the car and reminded him, "Don't overthink things when you get back. Take a hot shower, reward yourself, and you'll sleep like a log. But your place is small, so remember to wear headphones."

"Get lost already."

Xie Yuan cursed with a smile.

"Hahaha—"

Wang Yibing stepped on the gas and drove away. Xie Yuan watched his green-plated car disappear into the distance, then looked toward the neon lights in the city center.

This place was not far from the very heart of the city. Beyond a gloomy old neighborhood that had been said to be slated for demolition for ten years but had never actually been torn down stood CBD skyscrapers blazing with light, shooting straight into the sky.

Even from the entrance of this neighborhood, where the streetlights had fallen into disrepair, he could see the riot of colors over there.

It had rained during the day, and the road was still damp.

Layers of clouds had yet to disperse overhead. The moon and stars were nowhere to be seen, making the night sky seem especially deep.

Xie Yuan stood there for a long time. Cars came and went with glaring headlights, their howls nothing more than passing guests.

The night was a little lonely.

Xie Yuan suddenly started walking, but not toward the neighborhood.

Both sides of the street were lined with closed shops. Dim yellow streetlights mingled with car lights, reflecting shadow after shadow in the shops' display windows.

Xie Yuan's shadow kept flickering across one glass door after another, moving faster and faster, brightening and darkening with the rhythm of passing cars.

Then, in a blind corner beneath an awning, Xie Yuan walked in—but his shadow never came back out.

No one stood on the damp sidewalk after the rain.

The Heaven Concealing Art was the weapon Xie Yuan had used time and again to defeat powerful enemies.

Its strength lay in the fact that it altered the light around its caster, distorted the surrounding air, and blocked the opponent's senses.

In other words, it concealed the source, the path, and the endpoint.

That was why Xie Yuan, despite possessing strength far below that of a grandmaster, had repeatedly been able to sneak before grandmasters.

This also meant that although cameras possessed no senses, the Heaven Concealing Art, which warped both the caster's own light and the ambient light, still worked against modern devices.

And it worked especially well.

Xie Yuan had already tested it many times with his phone camera and reached that conclusion.

But Xie Yuan had not wanted to use these methods in the first place.

Every world had its own rules. Xie Yuan had wanted to live properly here under this identity, whether that life was long or short.

Using other methods always felt like cheating;

And if he cheated, it would seem... even less real.

Xie Yuan was deeply enamored with the immersive experience of this dream.

Though that little room had felt unfamiliar at first, it had still given him the feeling of home;

Though his friend had felt somewhat distant when they met again, he was still the same as ever.

He did not want to burst this dazzling bubble, and he could never quite let it go.

But someone had forced him into this, someone had reminded him that everywhere was the same.

That familiar scene kept stirring memories of the past, while the thoughts etched into his instincts made him feel completely out of place here.

But this was who he was now—the real him.

So that the ending of this dream would leave no regrets behind,

Xie Yuan could only become once more the person who did not belong here.

He picked up his phone, edited a message, and sent it.

Then he looked up at the distant neon lights and skyscrapers, merging himself into the stream of traffic.

Xie Family.

Wang YaFang was lying absentmindedly on the sofa watching television when her phone suddenly vibrated.

She picked it up instinctively and found a message from her son. Her spirits immediately lifted a little as she opened it.

"Mom: Tonight I'm not coming home. I'm staying at Wang Yibing's place, so you two should get some rest early. Good night, Mom. See you tomorrow."