Super Thrilling Live Broadcast

Chapter 6: The Last Resort Charm

Fortunately, it was dark, so the bloodstains on the equipment weren't too noticeable. Otherwise, I really wouldn't have been able to explain it.

After sending Uncle Xie back to the adult store, I tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep. I finally managed to doze off until dawn, only to have a nightmare about being locked up in a deserted village inn by a female ghost.

With dark circles under my eyes, I opened the shop door. Regardless of my condition, business had to go on.

I made myself a strong cup of tea and sat at the computer desk, organizing last night's events and recording them in writing on the computer. This habit of mine, developed many years ago, helps me think and prevents me from missing important clues.

The fresh morning breeze blew into the room, lifting the curtain of the military coat, revealing a lively and innocent girl sneaking in.

"Xia Qingzhi, aren't you supposed to be in class today?" My thoughts were interrupted, and I looked at the girl wearily.

"It's still early, so I came by on the way. How's it going? Any progress with my brother?" Xia Qingzhi's hopeful eyes made it hard for me to tell the truth. Looking at her empty chest, I turned the computer screen away. "Last night, I went to the dark road underworld show according to the address on the card and found some traces of your brother. At least now I can be sure that you weren't lying, your brother did exist."

"Then... do you know where he is now?"

"I need to further investigate that. It'll take some time." I grabbed the egg pancake she brought and handed over some money. After a thrilling night, the smell of food finally made my stomach growl.

"Hey! That's my breakfast!"

"Next time, less lettuce and more chili..."

After Xia Qingzhi left, I opened the suitcase I brought back from the underworld show and wiped the bloodstains off the broadcasting equipment, fiddling with it.

There was nothing special about the selfie stick and the camera, but the big-screen phone caught my attention.

I plugged in the charger and waited five minutes for it to turn on. On the nearly eight-inch screen, there were only three lonely icons: a phone book, an inbox, and a pattern that was my own black-and-white photo!

I clicked on this strange app, and a line of text appeared on the screen: "12 hours and 30 minutes until the task is issued."

"I have to admit, these bootleg devices are pretty high-tech." I turned to look at the electronic clock on the wall. It was now seven-thirty in the morning, which meant that the underworld show's task would be issued tonight at eight.

"Again at night?" I seemed to smell a conspiracy. This time, I couldn't just rush over; I had to be fully prepared.

I took out my phone and found a familiar number in my contacts.

"Hey, Er Gouzi, I've got a job for you."

There was the sound of a bottle breaking and a woman screaming on the other end of the phone. It took a long time for someone to pick up. "Jian Ge, I'm a bit busy here, so make it quick."

"Er Gouzi, since when did you start using idioms?" The young man on the other end of the phone was named Chen Er Gou, nicknamed Er Gouzi, and dropped out of school at fourteen to become a thug. Three years ago, he came to my shop to collect protection money and ended up being tied up and electrocuted for half an hour by me. After that, he had a change of heart and became an informant for me.

In our line of work, we come into contact with all sorts of people. Informants provide information, do things for me, and in return, I provide them with some rewards. It's a kind of alternative transaction.

"I'm investigating a supernatural disappearance case recently and need your help with something that can deal with spirits."

"Jian Ge, the police are coming! If you want to tell stories, can you wait until tonight? Damn it! Get to work! Hey, Jian Ge, I'm not talking about you!"

"I know it's hard for ordinary people to understand, but this is not a joke. I need you to get me some consecrated paper talismans or Buddhist amulets before nightfall. Price is negotiable, but they must be effective."

"Gou Ge, the police are here!"

"Retreat, retreat, retreat! Go out the back door! Hey, Jian Ge, I'll make sure to get you the stuff! Get lost, remember, from now on, this Thirty-Eighth Bathhouse is my territory! Let's go!"

Listening to the gradually clear police sirens on the phone, I couldn't help but sigh at the youth.

Around two or three in the afternoon, a young man with a bandaged forehead came to the adult store.

His right hand was in a cast, and his left hand held an old wooden box.

"Jian Ge, you check the goods." Er Gouzi placed the box on the table and opened it with one hand, revealing a variety of talismans and miscellaneous exorcism tools inside. "I don't know what you need, but I tied up the fortune teller at Tianqiao and got these things from his house."

"Fortune teller?" I had met him at the police station before for installing a camera in a hotel without permission. He was just a blind pretender...

As I rummaged through the box and found a silver-plated cross and two long strips of garlic, I became even more convinced of my thoughts.

"What's this? A mix of Eastern and Western?" His range of knowledge is quite broad.

Oh well, at this point, I don't have much hope. I can only grit my teeth and classify and organize the talismans from the box, stuffing them into the pockets of my clothes. It's a desperate measure, but if the fortune teller turns out to be some kind of hidden expert, then I'll hit the jackpot.

"Jian Ge, if you don't have anything else, I'll be on my way. The fortune teller is still being detained, and I'm afraid my brothers might go too far and hurt the old bones." Saying that, Er Gouzi was about to leave with the empty box.

"Wait." Just as Er Gouzi was about to pick up the box, I saw a particularly different talisman.

This talisman was stuck to the bottom of the box, and because it had been there for so long, its color had turned yellow, almost blending in with the box.

"Jian Ge, this peach wood box was passed down from Liu Xiazi's ancestors. You can't have any ideas about it, or Liu Xiazi will have to fight me to the death." Er Gouzi rubbed his arm with the cast. "That old bone still has some skills..."

Hearing Er Gouzi's words, I became even more certain that this box was extraordinary.

It was true. The wooden box, which looked ancient, didn't smell the least bit decayed when placed in front of me. Instead, it had a subtle charm.

"You can take the box, but I

must keep this talisman." I changed into disposable gloves used for autopsies and carefully peeled off the talisman pressed against the bottom of the box.

Thinner than I could have imagined, it was hard to tell what material it was made of, but it was tougher than ordinary paper.

"Jian Ge, what's written on it?"

"If I could understand it, would I be selling adult products here? If you really need it, you can add me on WeChat..." I trembled as I tried to speak, not knowing what I was saying.

"Help me find someone. He hid me under the floorboards, inside the walls, and behind the bathtub in the bathroom a few years ago. Find him, find him!" The crying gradually stopped, but the feeling of terror gradually approached, as if the woman on the phone was coming out of the phone and lying on my shoulder.

"I want to find someone," her voice was devoid of any emotion, as cold as a lonely tombstone in a desolate graveyard.

"I'm sorry, the shop only sells adult products. If you really need it, you can add me on WeChat..." I struggled to find the right words, not even sure what I was saying myself.

"Help me find someone. He hid me under the floorboards, inside the walls, and behind the bathtub in the bathroom a few years ago. Find him, find him!" Her voice abruptly stopped, and the call ended, leaving me to guess endlessly.

"Was she dismembered?" I shuddered, and at the same time, there was a new message in the inbox.

"It's late at night, and the silent desire is about to erupt. Pick up the phone in the guest room, reply to the ambiguous questions, she's actually waiting at the door, staring at you with crimson eyes, waiting for you to invite her in..."

"Live broadcasting task: Check into Room 203 of the Anxin Hotel at midnight and survive until sunrise."

Seeing the message on my phone, I no longer had any illusions. I knew the place in the task; just three months ago, there was a murder in that small hotel on the outskirts of the city, and the victim, a male, died in a very bizarre manner.