The Underworld.
After inquiring from various sources, a middle-aged man found his way to Jiang Lin's small wooden hut.
The middle-aged man was sturdy and had an honest, simple appearance.
He looked at the wooden hut before him and reached out as if to knock.
After a moment's thought, he withdrew his hand, tucking both into his sleeves.
It wouldn't do to disturb the Wuchang if he was busy.
The middle-aged man paced in front of the hut, glancing at it from time to time.
Two hours passed.
He found a stone stool, sat down, and waited in the posture of a farmer.
When Jiang Lin returned, this was the scene he saw.
Their small wooden huts were different from those in the mortal world; they didn't require locks or keys.
Their own ghostly energy served as the best lock and key.
If the ghostly energy used to open the door didn't match the owner's, it couldn't be opened.
Of course, if someone was powerful enough, they could force their way in.
However, doing so would trigger an alarm throughout the entire residential area.
Legend had it that in the past, two ghost messengers had a dispute and caused chaos in many residential areas.
Before the two ghost messengers could react, they were surrounded by a crowd of arriving ghost messengers.
The group of ghost messengers looked at them, their gazes seeming to say, "Go on, keep fighting!"
This sent shivers down the spines of the two ghost messengers, who were on the verge of being ganged up on.
Later, it was said that they were taken by the passing King Yama to do hard labor.
It was unknown if they were still doing hard labor now, or if their conflict had been resolved.
The middle-aged man sitting on the stone stool was clearly unaware of these events. Seeing that the small wooden hut he was looking for had opened,
he quickly stood up. Just as he was about to speak, the hut door closed.
He scratched his head and paced outside the door.
In the end, Jiang Lin noticed the movement at the door and opened it.
"Are you looking for me?"
The middle-aged man was startled, then sheepishly rubbed his hands.
"Yes, yes. I heard that Lord Jiang Wuchang can help with sending dreams, so I wanted to ask for your help."
Jiang Lin took one look and could tell the state of his soul.
He had clearly only recently arrived in the Underworld.
A few days ago, he had heard that more people had deviated from the path to the Yellow Springs due to obsession, though he didn't know why.
Everything in the mortal world was in the past; why should the dead dwell on it?
Despite this, Jiang Lin, who had been interacting between the mortal world and the Underworld for years and even used dream-sending as a side hustle, knew the reason.
The things in the mortal world that caused these souls to be fixated...
There weren't many, and while complex, they were also simple.
There were only a few things that made them linger in their thoughts.
Yet, it was precisely these few people and things that, over his hundreds of years as a ghost messenger, had kept so many trapped.
They were separated from the cycle of reincarnation, unable to enter the next life.
But Jiang Lin didn't quite understand this feeling.
Even knowing that he might have died of poverty, his desire for money had never reached such a frenzied level.
Even some of his current goals and directions were merely to add flavor to his life, to give him more hope.
Perhaps, one day, he would understand this feeling, or perhaps he never would.
Jiang Lin glanced at the middle-aged man before him, then at the current broadcast duration in the live stream.
"Alright, let's go."
He did this side job less often now, but when he had time, he still did it.
It was just a casual thing.
Secondly, he could also complete more daily tasks in the live stream.
There hadn't been any new tasks recently, and Jiang Lin guessed it was because he hadn't met some requirement.
Points? Strength?
Or perhaps he hadn't done enough daily tasks?
He could only accumulate more of each.
At that time, he would know the reason.
"Thank you, Lord Wuchang! Thank you, Lord Wuchang!" the middle-aged man said, nervously rubbing his hands and repeatedly expressing his gratitude.
"Where is this?"
"Is the live stream on or off?"
There was no light in the live stream. Upon first glance, new viewers might have thought the stream hadn't started.
Viewers who had been in the stream for a while, holding their magnifying glasses, spoke up.
"New viewers, don't panic, the stream has started."
"Look closely, there's a person lying on the bed."
"A person? On the bed? Where?"
"Am I blind? I can't see it!"
The live stream was pitch black. The viewers strained their eyes for a long time before they could make out the outline of a room.
Then, within the room, they found the outline of a bed.
"What's going on? Even playing 'Where's Waldo?' isn't this hard on my eyes."
"The streamer said he was here to send a dream."
"Upstairs, so is this inside a dream or outside?"
*Knock, knock~*
The bedroom door was knocked.
Jiang Lin also noticed the bullet comments and reached out to adjust the brightness of the live stream.
In an instant, the entire bedroom was revealed.
On the bed, a tall, thin figure was indeed lying down.
His face was youthful, appearing to be only seventeen or eighteen years old.
He had dark circles under his eyes, a faint stubble on his chin, and his hair was as messy as a bird's nest.
The entire bedroom, like the person, exuded a sense of decadence.
A woman's voice came from outside the door, "Chenchen, it's time to eat."
Her voice was very gentle, as if she was afraid of disturbing something.
After a long silence, a sigh came from outside the door.
On the bed, the young man stared with wide eyes at the ceiling, saying nothing.
Living, perhaps, had lost its meaning for him.
He didn't even know why he was still alive.
Was he alive to cause trouble for others?
Was he alive to cause pain to his family?
Why was someone like him still alive?
Wasn't he just wasting air? Wasting food?
"What's wrong with him?"
"I don't know if you've noticed, but there are some marks on his wrists."
"Let me see, let me see!"
After the brightness of the live stream increased, some observant viewers noticed several faint and deep marks on the young man's wrists.
They looked like they had been made by cutting.
This immediately made them think of many things.
"Actually, for a while, I was like this too. I just wanted to lock myself in my room, not see anyone, and not hear anything."
"Is it self-harm?"
"During my teenage years, every time I argued with my parents, I couldn't understand why I was alive."
"But as I grew older and experienced more, I gradually realized some things. Parents also need to grow; they've just lived a few more years than us."
Many viewers who had gone through adolescence and had come to terms with it sighed.
When they were young, they felt their parents were everything, and arguing with them was like the sky falling.
Only after growing up and supporting the entire family themselves did they discover many things they hadn't noticed before, and see many things they hadn't seen.
It turned out that parents weren't omnipotent either.
Just as the viewers were sighing, they noticed that the streamer had suddenly moved.
Seeing that the person on the bed had no intention of sleeping anytime soon, Jiang Lin went forward and stopped above the young man.
The mourning stick appeared in his hand.
Ghostly energy condensed around the mourning stick, creating a low whistling sound.
As the mourning stick swung, the young man's eyelids began to droop, and he gradually fell asleep.
A ball of black mist then left the mourning stick and entered the young man's body.