The Lesser Underworld
The Old Third got a bit defensive from the constant taunts in the live stream and started launching personal attacks in return.
"You know nothing! Your third brother has been fighting wits and courage against all sorts of ghosts since he was conscious. You're scared? What a joke!"
"Hey you on the screen, don't be a coward! Give me some 'Divine Sense internet access,' and let's see if you're scared!"
"Come at me if you dare!"
"Go for it if you dare! Anyone who chickens out is a coward!"
Surprisingly, the Old Third's rant actually had an effect.
Those who initially criticized him are now being criticized by the general public.
"Yeah, whoever chickens out is a coward! Chen Batian, bro, you go for it!"
"Don't be afraid. At worst, your yang energy will be weak and your Divine Sense will be listless for a few days. It's no big deal."
"This is one of the few opportunities in our Heavenly Gate to deal with ghosts. The haunted houses in amusement parks aren't exciting enough; this effect is truly powerful."
Although Old Third is not yet a top streamer with tens of millions of followers, his fan base is about to break a million, making him a leader in a certain niche.
The number of followers increased extremely quickly.
The main thing is that what he does on live stream is quite unique—he delivers takeout to ghosts on live stream, a trend that no one has successfully imitated yet.
There's no way around it; these days it's hard to find a place with lots of ghosts. Even ancient Daoist priests have become program designers.
The rich guy named "Chen Batian" also behaved himself, after all, he had genuinely purchased a membership and used his Divine Sense to connect with the membership live stream.
The feeling of a female ghost crawling along the internet cable almost scared him to death.
He's just an Early Foundation Establishment!
However, after a brief exchange of criticism about their teammates, netizens quickly shifted the topic to another area: whether the streamer's "ghostly" channel was real or fake. After all, if it was real, where would they find so many "real ghosts"? If it was fake, how could they simulate such a realistic effect? Was it some kind of special Cultivation Method — Underworld Cultivation Method combined with a V-view?
Having successfully silenced the critics, the Old Third was immediately satisfied and began to get back to the main topic.
"Brothers, do you know why Many Gates Residential Complex is the most dangerous residential area in Dachang City? It's not because there are thousand-year-old vengeful ghosts here. Other residential areas also have thousand-year-old vengeful ghosts. The danger lies in the fact that before the Dachang Metro opened, it was the only external connection passage, but it was an out-of-control passage."
"In other words, when you open a door, you might enter this house, or you might enter the world of some vengeful ghost, but more likely, you'll be thrown into a crack in the Yin-Yang Passage, dying without even knowing how you died."
"But the reason we were able to take on the challenge of delivering food to this neighborhood, cough cough, is naturally not because your third brother is fearless, but because with the opening of our city's Ghost Subway, the external access here has been closed. So all we need to worry about is the old security guard at the gate, and the vengeful ghosts that might jump out from inside."
"And guys, look what this is--"
The Old Third pulled a room key from the strange red scarf around his neck, chuckled smugly.
"Brothers, I own a house now, and I'm a standard resident in this neighborhood."
"This means that I'll enjoy the same rights as all the residents of this community. For example, when I deliver food in the future, I won't get randomly teleported, causing all sorts of delays. All we have to deal with is the ghost in the house. Your third brother here has way more experience dealing with ghosts than I do."
The Old Third, while facing the camera and carrying takeout, was completely unaware that the white lights in the hallway were flickering, as if they were about to go out at any moment.
"Won't we be teleported?" one viewer asked in the live chat.
"Brother, I'm not bragging, it's 99% certain," the Old Third knocked on the door and replied, "What's the remaining 0.1% chance? It's that I just happened to run into some ancient ghost in this five-star neighborhood and got eaten by its Ghost Haunt."
"The chances of that happening are extremely slim... Holy crap!!"
With a "Holy crap!", the Old Third's figure vanished instantly, leaving only a ghostly hand reaching out from inside the door, catching the takeout box, marking it as delivered, and even giving it a good review.
Even though there are no living people around, I'm still giving a good review!
As it turns out, you shouldn't pretend to be something you're not. Pretending to be something you're not sure will get you struck by lightning, but it might get you trapped in Ghost Haunt.
At this very moment, the Old Third was running wildly through the Ghost Haunt.
The Ghost Haunt is not the Ghost Domain, because the latter is outside the body of a fierce ghost, while the Ghost Haunt is inside the belly of a ghost.
Therefore, the Ghost Haunt is also known as the Lesser Underworld.
All around was a hazy, ghostly mist.
The thick fog, like solidified smoke and dust, slowly churned about three feet above the ground, obscuring all vision; you could only see a few steps ahead, beyond which all that remained was a blurry gray-white expanse.
The mist contained tiny, dust-like particles that floated slowly in the air. When inhaled, it carried a faint burnt smell, like the aroma of burnt paper money and incense ash mixed together.
The ground was grayish-white, like incense ash trampled by countless people. It was soft and slippery underfoot, leaving only shallow footprints that were quickly smoothed out by the swirling mist.
In the distance, some blurry outlines can be vaguely seen.
Some resemble a collapsed archway, others a row of crooked wooden stakes with tattered strips of cloth hanging from their tops, swaying gently; still others look like a dry well, with wisps of black gas rising from its opening, as if something is breathing deep down inside.
Those silhouettes appear and disappear in the mist; they vanish as you approach and reappear as you move away, as if they are always keeping a fixed distance from you.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!!!!"
The Old Third is running for his life.
They were literally risking their lives, because if they didn't, they'd be dead!
A dense, incessant sound, like countless fingernails scraping the ground simultaneously, came from the depths of the fog, growing closer and clearer.
In the mist, countless pale arms emerged from the ground, from the mist, and from behind those blurry outlines; some arms were as thick as tree trunks, some as thin as withered branches, some still attached to half a torn sleeve, and some were just bare bones.
They were like a white tide, surging in from all directions, their five fingers opening and closing, scratching wildly in the void, spreading towards his location.
The Old Third suddenly turned and rushed towards a place where the fog was thinner.
But those arms seemed to sense his movement; as he turned, the ground in front of him began to crack—a bluish-gray hand emerged from the ashes and grabbed his ankle.
The Old Third stumbled and almost fell. He looked down and saw a skeletal hand with only three fingers gripping his ankle tightly, the bones digging into his flesh, sending a piercing pain through him.
He gritted his teeth and kicked the bony hand away. The sound of breaking bones was particularly crisp in the empty Ghost Haunt, but more arms were already surging in from all directions.
"Holy crap, I'm going to die, I'm going to die!"
Brothers, please help!
"This is unbelievable! I've seen a ghost!"
"Damn it, how could they run into that!"
The Old Third screamed as he ran.
Meanwhile, the screen was flooded with comments.
"666! The streamer's serious this time! Everyone, think of something!"
"How about calling the police? The network should be able to locate it now, right?"
"Should we report to the Demon-Suppressing Guard or the Devil-Suppressing Guard? Who is in charge of the Underworld now?"
Are there any high-level experts in the live stream?
Thankfully, this time, both haters and true fans tried to save the Old Third.
This is different from before. In the past, at most, you could run away, and at worst, you'd be late. But now, you don't even know how to run away.
And it seems like it really is going to end.
In the scene, a thick arm suddenly emerged from the mist on the side, grabbed his "yellow robe," and dragged him backward.
The Old Third brother instantly lost his balance and was pulled to the ground by the enormous force. Ashes flew everywhere, choking him and making it impossible for him to open his eyes. More arms immediately surged up—some grabbed his legs, some pulled at his clothes, some wrapped around his wrists, and some even grabbed his buttocks.
His body was being pulled by those arms, like an insect caught in a swarm of ants, being dragged little by little into the depths of the fog.
But strangely, just before those ghostly hands were about to drag him completely into the depths of the fog, his body suddenly twisted at an angle that completely defied human biomechanics, as if he had no bones, and he slid out from an impossible angle.
Those ghostly hands that had been gripping his limbs lost their footing at that moment. Some grabbed nothing at all, some only tore off a piece of his clothes, and some were even tangled together by his struggles, forming a knot.
After landing, Chen Xiaosan did not stop; his body slid forward almost touching the ground, like an eel swimming through the mud.
His movements were extremely strange. Sometimes, just when it seemed he was about to crash into a wall of arms emerging from the mist, he would make an unbelievable turn at the last moment and slip through the gap.
Sometimes, even when several hands are grabbing his feet at the same time, he can shake them off with a slight jerk, as if his feet are greased.
His Movement Method were completely unpredictable; every step he took was in the most unexpected places, and every turn occurred at the most improbable moments.
Faced with such a dangerous situation, Chen Xiaosan not only did not give up, but instead displayed unpredictable and strange Movement Method.
However, the Yin Qi grew heavier and heavier, and the figure of the thousand-year-old ghost that Chen Xiaosan had mentioned appeared in the sky above him.
It appeared to be a giant willow tree, with countless branches reaching into the mist. If Hu Mang were here, he would be quite surprised, because this thing was the same large Ghost -Ghost-Binding Willow at the entrance of the Liu Residence.