Rumbling—
The entire room 2901, a three-bedroom apartment, along with the entire Building Nine, collapsed.
At the moment of collapse, Jiang Lin flew out with Liao Kexin through the shattered window.
This time, his flying speed was exceptionally fast.
A blood moon hung in the sky.
From the surrounding dark buildings, blood bats swarmed out once again.
But before they could get close, Jiang Lin had already left them far behind.
This time, the community gate did not endlessly rise,
and there were no longer giant butcher-like figures chasing after him with cleavers.
Jiang Lin, holding Liao Kexin, rushed directly out of the community gate.
Leaving behind that nightmarish place.
...
Crack—
A faint, imperceptible sound echoed in the silent night.
A hairline crack appeared on the jade peace buckle around the girl's neck.
The crack spread like a spiderweb, eventually shattering into several pieces.
At the same time, Jiang Lin's mental power and Liao Kexin's soul and spirit floated out.
Returning to reality.
Before him was a small bedroom.
Peeling paint, a brown wooden wardrobe, faded old bedsheets...
On the bed, a large and a small figure slept nestled together.
The deep blue curtains swayed slightly in the night breeze.
Outside the window, the pure white moonlight poured in, casting a hazy beauty over everything.
"...Grandma."
Liao Kexin looked at the scene before her and murmured.
The grandmother who would call her "precious granddaughter" and pat her head with her long, wrinkled, yet warm hands.
The grandmother who would always cook delicious food for her whenever she came back.
Now, as a soul and spirit, her body was almost transparent, her hands and feet almost invisible.
After emerging from the peace buckle, she could not exist independently for long.
Jiang Lin gently patted her back, "Go back."
"Okay."
Liao Kexin went to the bed, aligned herself with her physical body, and slowly lay down.
Before lying down, she looked at Jiang Lin, her gaze sincere:
"Thank you for coming to save me, you will definitely become a very, very powerful immortal!"
"..."
Jiang Lin nodded slightly in response.
After confirming that her soul and spirit had fully returned, he turned and left through the window.
Stirring up a cool breeze.
"Ding~ Congratulations to the host for completing the message in a bottle mission..."
Behind him, the deep blue curtains fluttered slightly.
The little girl nestled into her grandmother's embrace, her furrowed brow relaxing.
So warm...
...
...
However, tonight was destined to be a sleepless night for many.
"Ahhh—I can't sleep!"
The livestream automatically closed after Jiang Lin and the others exited.
Although the screen went black, the viewers still couldn't sleep peacefully.
With panda eyes, they lay in their beds.
Reliving the scenes they had just witnessed over and over again.
Arguments, dragging bodies, the kitchen...
The more they tried not to think about it, the more those images burrowed into their minds.
They couldn't control it at all.
"It's over, I was careless, now I can't sleep."
In the bullet comments,
viewers immersed in the terrifying scenes, unable to sleep, began to emerge.
"I'm the one who's really crying, I haven't seen the streamer's broadcast in so long, I forgot about the essential equipment."
"I peed myself, I peed myself."
"You can't sleep already? You guys are too timid!"
A viewer named 'Sword Intent Soaring' suddenly spoke.
His tone was clearly one of contempt.
The other viewers were displeased. So you're the only brave one?
You're asking for a beating, aren't you?
Just as they were about to send bullet comments, they saw 'Sword Intent Soaring' continue:
"Let me share my secret to success, don't thank me too much (dog head)"
Then, a list was shared.
The other viewers took a closer look and were all stunned:
"Holy crap..."
"Is that you, Xiu'er?"
"My thirty-meter sword... I almost couldn't hold back."
But they had to admit, it seemed quite useful?
"Thanks, big brother."
"As expected, this is what real men should watch!"
The enlightened viewers exited the livestream and excitedly clicked on another software.
One minute later, cheerful voices emerged from their phones.
"Welcome to Teletubbies..."
"Makka Pakka, Makka Pakka~"
"Calabash Brothers, Calabash Brothers, seven flowers on one vine..."
...
Luolan Community—
Jiang Lin returned to the front of Building Five.
Just as he was about to enter his apartment, he heard cheerful voices from next door.
"Goodnight, Makka Pakka~"
Shen Jie was standing on his bed, tying one end of the bedsheet around his neck.
Facing the phone on the bed, he made flexing gestures with both hands.
He then said, "Goodnight, Makka Pakka!"
Jiang Lin: "..."
After a glance, Jiang Lin averted his gaze.
He entered apartment 1503.
He didn't turn on the lights and lay down directly on the bed in the master bedroom.
He placed his hands casually behind his head and closed his eyes.
He looked inward at his body... at the golden light that had suddenly appeared.
—It was a golden thread finer than silk.
If taken out alone, one wouldn't see it without careful observation.
But now,
within his body, which was filled with ghostly energy, that golden light managed to occupy a small space.
The emitted golden light faintly formed a circular isolation zone.
And this thing was called 'divine power'.
It was obtained after the system prompted the completion of the message in a bottle mission.
"Divine power... the power of an immortal?"
Jiang Lin attempted to summon that trace of divine power, and small ornaments in the room all flew up.
It was quite flexible to use.
It's just... a bit scarce.
He estimated that he would receive new divine power by completing more message in a bottle missions in the future.
At that time, this golden thread would become thicker and thicker.
But why would a message in a bottle mission yield 'divine power'?
In the past, the system's rewards were mostly related to the underworld.
This divine power, however, clearly originated from the heavens.
Most importantly, as a ghostly body, he felt no discomfort when this trace of divine power appeared.
Instead, it felt like well water not interfering with river water, each existing peacefully.
"The previous mission from the system was to fulfill the wish in the message in a bottle..."
Jiang Lin recalled carefully, "Does this mean that human wishes are a way to collect divine power?"
Currently, the system has three daily tasks.
Livestream for two hours, promote underworld culture.
And... obtain one thousand points of Faith Hearts.
Faith Hearts, as Jiang Lin understood it, was human faith in the underworld.
For each completed task, he would receive an equivalent amount of merit and golden light.
As for the message in a bottle,
it was a reward from the system after completing a mission during the journey to the Third Hall.
There had been no activity until recently when corresponding missions appeared.
One collected faith in the underworld, and the other came from the wishes of others.
The former yielded merit and golden light, while the latter yielded divine power.
"This system's capabilities are quite broad..."
Jiang Lin slowly opened his eyes and murmured, looking at the ceiling.
As he completed more tasks and his abilities grew, would this system continue to reveal more functions and powers?
Actually, if one thought about it carefully, the heavens, the human world, and the underworld.
Weren't the three seemingly a cyclical process?
As Jiang Lin was lost in thought, a voice suddenly appeared in his mind:
"How long are you going to keep me locked up?!"
...