20: Chapter 20 The Cut-Off Livestream and Xu Mo's Panic

"Zzz—-"

The sound of the microphone being overloaded by electricity was exceptionally jarring in the dead of night.

In the real world, the screens of hundreds of millions of viewers watching the "s-rank instance first clear" instantly went black, leaving only a line of cold, blood-red prompt in the center—【Signal Source Lost】.

Mythical Forbidden Zone, Mortals Beware.

Three seconds later, the barrage comments surged back like a tsunami, nearly melting the servers on the spot.

【(IP: USA) WTF?! What kind of special effect was that just now? Who were those two strange men wearing tall hats? Why did they cut the livestream?】

【(IP: Japan) Baka! It must be that the Dragon Country people cheated and were punished by the system! The iron rule of the Thriller Game is: players cannot be brought out of the instance, they must have been erased!】

【(IP: Sun Never Sets) Shut up, you sour chickens upstairs! Didn't you see the last frame? That pressure emanating from the spatial rift, I wanted to kneel just looking at it through the screen! You call that erasure? You call that ascension!】

Inside the Dragon Country livestream room, it exploded into chaos, with anxiety and wild ecstasy flying side by side.

【(IP: Dragon Country) Praise Seventh Master! Praise Eighth Master Fan! This is the official lineup of the Underworld! I just have to ask, who else compares?!】

【(IP: Dragon Country) Status! This is what status looks like! Other countries are still praying to gods and buddhas inside the instance, and we directly have "I have relatives working down there"!】

【(IP: Dragon Country) But I'm a little panicked... A living person entering the Underworld, isn't that against the rules? Can Duo Duo still come back? Does this count as "illegal entry"?】

All major forums were instantly flooded with the trending topic of the "s-rank instance mysterious blackout".

Some analyzed that the Thriller Game had encountered an epic-level BUG, while others confidently claimed they saw signs of the Dragon Country myths reviving.

However, all this clamor had already been completely physically isolated by that heavy Yin-Yang barrier.

...

Beneath their feet was an ancient, winding loess road stretching forward. On the roadside bloomed enchanting, fiery Red Spider Lilies, so red they looked like they were about to drip blood.

Pei Duo sat inside the carriage, completely at a loss.

The carriage was pulled by four tall and robust Netherworld Bone Horses. Their hooves were suspended in the air, treading on cerulean ghost fire, yet the ride felt completely free of any bumps.

The carriage body was entirely crafted from ten-thousand-year-old gloomy wood. The window frames were carved with intricate Red Spider Lily patterns, and the tassels hanging down were actually exquisite soul jades, providing their own heating effect.

"Your Highness, it is windy and damp on this Yin-Yang Road. You are a precious body; please do not catch a chill."

Outside the carriage, a voice sounded, one that was overly gentle.

The famous White Impermanence, Xie Bi'an, had currently suppressed the murderous aura that could scare ghosts to death. His tone was as benevolent as an old butler watching his granddaughter grow up.

"His Majesty specifically instructed us, fearing you might be frightened, to prepare this 'Soul Calming Carriage' for you. In the hidden compartment inside, there is warm soup just freshly brewed by Lady Meng. It's the 'special supply version' made without the Water of Oblivion, most effective for soothing the spirit and replenishing vital energy. Drink a couple of mouthfuls while it's hot, rest a while on the soft couch, and you'll be home when you wake up."

Pei Duo clutched the black jade pendant in her hand, still completely dazed.

She could only nod mechanically: "Th-Thank you, Seventh Master."

"Oh dear, you flatter this old servant too much!"

Xie Bi'an repeatedly apologized, his tone laced with a hint of cautious doting.

...

Fifty meters behind the imperial carriage.

If Pei Duo was in first class, the vehicle following behind was the economy class.

It was a standard black wooden horse carriage. The interior was lined with thick felt, perfectly capable of blocking wind and rain, and it even had a small stove.

Lin Sa pulled her blood-stained assault jacket from the instance tighter around herself. Although her face was pale, her eyes were frighteningly bright, as if she had just won a fifty million lottery jackpot.

"Xu Mo... We've struck it rich! We've really struck it rich this time!"

Lin Sa rubbed her hands, her voice trembling with excitement: "Did you see that? This is Black and White Impermanence! Escorted personally by the Ten Great Underworld Marshals! We actually managed to hitch a ride with the Underworld! If this gets out, which ghost or monster in the Thriller Game would dare mess with us later?"

The more she spoke, the more excited she became, even wanting to peer out the window to look at the scenery: "This is absolutely the prelude to a legendary rating! I knew that jade pendant wasn't simple; Pei Duo is a living lucky charm! We've latched onto the right power this time, immense fortune awaits!"

In the corner, Xu Mo remained silent.

His face was as pale as paper, and cold sweat had already soaked the back of his shirt. He was huddled next to the stove, yet he was still shaking violently.

It wasn't from the cold, but from terror.

A deep despair that settles in the bones after an intelligent person sees through the situation.

"Fortune?"

Xu Mo raised his head. At this moment, his bloodshot eyes were filled with panic and self-mockery.

He pulled at the corner of his mouth, his voice hoarse as if he had swallowed a handful of sand: "Lin Sa, is your brain filled with paste? What do you think this is? A one-day tour of the Underworld?"

"Isn't it?" Lin Sa paused, looking somewhat confused. "Didn't Black and White Impermanence say they were taking us as guests..."

"Guests?"

Xu Mo nervously grabbed his own hair, his knuckles turning white from the force, his voice suppressed extremely low, as if afraid of disturbing whatever was outside: "Have you ever seen anyone mobilize the regular army just to entertain guests?"

"What are you talking about?" Lin Sa frowned.

"Don't move!"

Seeing Lin Sa about to lift the curtain, Xu Mo suddenly lunged over and firmly held down her hand, his eyes terrified like a startled rabbit: "Don't look outside! You'll die!"

But it was already too late.

The carriage curtain lifted slightly due to the jolting of the carriage.

Through that narrow gap, Lin Sa saw a scene that made her scalp tingle and would haunt her for the rest of her life.

Amidst the gray mist, it was not empty.

It was an ocean.

A black sea of soldiers.

Tens of thousands of heavily armored Yin Soldiers, holding long spears, marched in perfectly synchronized steps, silently guarding both sides of the convoy.

There was no clamor, no sound of footsteps, only that condensed, substantial aura of iron and blood, transforming into rolling black clouds that pressed down, causing people's breathing to stagnate.

The aura emanating from the assembled Yin Soldiers was several degrees more terrifying than that of the s-rank Vampire Count from the instance just now.

This was hardly an escort for friends?

This was clearly an Imperial procession, sweeping across the desolate lands!

Lin Sa's hand froze mid-air, her throat seemed sealed with cement, and the thought of "latching onto a powerful backer" instantly vanished like smoke.

This was not a game.

This was true Netherworld Imperial authority.

"Do you understand now?"

Xu Mo released her hand and collapsed onto the soft cushion, as if his spine had been removed.

He looked at the bewildered and terrified Lin Sa, and a trace of envy actually surfaced in his eyes.

"Lin Sa, I truly envy you,"

Xu Mo murmured to himself, a bitter smile playing on his lips: "You are simple, you are straightforward. In the instance, you protected Pei Duo because you are a good person, out of a veteran's sense of responsibility. You genuinely treated her as a teammate."

"But I am not."

Xu Mo lowered his head, looking at his own long hands, which were skilled at plotting. At this moment, those hands were trembling uncontrollably.

"From the very beginning, I was scheming. I used her as bait to draw out the Skin Flayer. I deliberately performed a self-inflicted injury act in front of Lei Lie to gain her sympathy. Every step I took was weighing the pros and cons, every word I spoke was manipulating her."

His voice trembled, carrying the regret of "cleverness being mistaken for foolishness": "In that s-rank instance, that was called wisdom, survival strategy, a game of chess."

"But..."

"In the eyes of that 'Majesty,' I treated his own sister as a chess piece, as bait. I schemed against 'Imperial Relatives'."

Xu Mo's tears began to fall.

"Lin Sa, put yourself in his shoes. If someone used your most beloved sister as a shield, even if she was saved in the end, would you thank that person?"

Lin Sa opened her mouth, struck dumb.

Thank him? Not a chance.

"So, stop thinking about rewards."

Xu Mo closed his eyes, curled his body into a ball, like a death row inmate awaiting final judgment.

"Is this carriage comfortable? Heh... This is probably the treatment for my 'last meal'."

"Right now, I only pray that His Majesty, considering I at least fought with my life at the end, will let me die quickly. Or perhaps... just treat me like a fart and let me go, so as not to dirty his hands."

This was the sorrow of an intelligent person.

Fools only saw the powerful backer and rejoiced;

But the intelligent person saw the blood staining that backer, and the knife hanging over their own neck.

The wheels rolled forward, driving toward the unknown depths of the Netherworld.

Xu Mo took a deep breath, straightened his messy collar, forced himself to kneel on the soft cushion, lowered his head, and lowered it further.

No matter what he faced next.

At this moment, only extreme humility might possibly earn him a sliver of a chance to survive.