168: Chapter 168 I'm Going to Livestream!

Zhou Jinan took a step forward, wearing an appropriate smile as he spoke.

"What is the Qian Family implying..." His tone was perfectly measured. "It is just that the status of our Zhou Family... makes us unsuitable for such things..."

The attendant's professional smile stiffened for a moment. He glanced at Qian Congrong on the stage.

Qian Congrong stood beside the Pool of Ten Thousand Wishes, hands behind his back, his brow furrowing imperceptibly.

The Zhou Family... Qian Congrong's fingers rubbed gently inside his cuffs. Then, he nodded at the attendant.

The attendant immediately withdrew his gaze and said, "We do not force every guest to offer blessings..."

"This is just a tradition of the Qian Family. We hope every guest can respect it, and we also hope it can bring you good luck..."

Speaking to this point, he deliberately paused, his gaze lingering on the golden leaf in Zhou Jinan's hand for a second.

"If..." The attendant's voice dropped another half-tone, "you are truly unwilling, we hope you do not affect the other guests..."

Zhou Jinan nodded. "Thank you for understanding," he said. "We will not affect the other guests."

The attendant bowed slightly, turned, and walked back into the shadows at the side of the stage. The entire process did not exceed two minutes.

The guests around them who were injecting Source Power into the golden leaves hardly noticed this little interlude; they were too busy. Busy writing wishes, busy feeling the warm sensation coming from the golden leaves.

On the stage, a Qian Family member next to Qian Congrong, a middle-aged man in his forties, leaned forward half a step and asked in a low voice, "Should we deal with those three from the Zhou Family..."

He didn't finish his sentence. Qian Congrong turned his head and glared at him. "The Zhou Family's situation is different." Qian Congrong withdrew his gaze, his tone very flat. "You don't need to worry about so much."

"Yes..." The middle-aged man lowered his head, fine beads of sweat seeping out on his forehead.

Three people who won't write can't turn the sky upside down... There is no need to cause extra trouble for three uncooperative people.

The arc of Qian Congrong's mouth rose again, returning to the appearance of that gentle elder.

Off the stage, Su Wan watched the surrounding guests, the corners of her mouth curling slightly. She loved dealing with this kind of situation...

If she hadn't obtained the soul-calming glazed lamp yesterday, there would be no way. But now her soul power was already enough for her to perform this operation.

Su Wan began to wander through the entire venue. Her movements were very natural.

Holding a wine glass, her pace unhurried, she nodded slightly in response when someone greeted her, looking like an ordinary guest walking casually through the banquet.

No one noticed the half-second she paused by each person, or even less than half a second; just at the moment of brushing past them, her fingertips hooked gently inside her cuffs.

A wisp of extremely faint ice-blue light flicked from her fingertips, silently landing on the target's collar, cuff, or the hairline on the back of their neck.

A Holy Soul mark... Each mark was only the size of a needle tip, and even the most precise surveillance in the world couldn't detect it... This thing was the power of the soul...

It wouldn't cause any impact on the target, at least not now. But once the things inside the Pool of Ten Thousand Wishes really exploded, these marks would immediately sever the connection between the victims and it.

One. Two. Five. Ten. Until everyone at the venue was marked by Su Wan.

...Lu Cheng headed toward the villa the old man Qian mentioned. According to what he said, underneath every villa was a prisoner from the main bloodline of the Qian Family. That was why his Seeking Good Fortune and Avoiding Bad Luck had been effective in every place.

Lu Cheng looked up and scanned the area. Under the night sky, the entire manor was built against the mountain, and from the foot of the mountain to the mountainside, it was all Qian Family territory.

The main building was at the highest point, its silver-white outer walls embedded with Source Power light strips, and the side buildings and independent villas extending from both sides numbered at least a dozen. Every building was lit up, and under every building, there might be a person from the Qian Family main bloodline tied up.

Lu Cheng took a deep breath. Supervisor Lin should be going to submit the collected data to the people from the Origin Organization and the current high-level members of the Qian Family. Normally, it would be to calculate what to do next based on their reactions. But... Lu Cheng felt there was another way now.

He took out his terminal and first sent a message to Su Wan. "Dare to flip the table directly in the banquet hall in a while?"

Less than three seconds after the message was sent, Su Wan replied with one word. "Dare."

He dialed Mei Wushuang's communication directly. The terminal rang twice before it was answered. "Lu Cheng?" Mei Wushuang's voice came through, carrying a hint of surprise. "Aren't you at the Qian Family Manor right now?"

"I am." Lu Cheng said while walking, his steps not stopping. "Aunt Mei, I will tell you the situation now."

He explained the situation underground at the fastest speed. The Pool of Ten Thousand Wishes, the Swallowing Wish Golden Toad, the Qian Family main bloodline tied underground as sacrifices, Qian Congrong colluding with the Origin Organization to unseal the Ancient God, and Qian Shuying and Qian Duoduo being locked up under the main building.

"I am going to start a livestream in about ten minutes." "Livestream?" Mei Wushuang's voice finally had some fluctuation.

"Yes," Lu Cheng said. "I want to reveal everything about the Qian Family's affairs and the Black Seed in the Qian Family's banquet hall, in front of everyone." He paused. "Sister Mei, I hope you can help me communicate with the higher-ups at Jiangyin Platform to get higher traffic for the livestream."

The other end of the call went silent. Mei Wushuang sat in the office, the fingers of one hand tapping gently on the desktop. The Qian Family's affairs involved some secrets from before the Recovery. Although there were no restrictions from above, and it wasn't forbidden to talk about, normally, information of this level would not be told to the public.

Mei Wushuang's fingers stopped. Since it was being done this time, it was all or nothing. Lu Cheng was alone in the Qian Family Manor, Su Wan was in the banquet hall, Chu Xiuxiu's whereabouts were unknown, and Qian Shuying was tied up underground. This kid wanted to start a livestream now, which was equivalent to exposing himself completely to the gaze of all forces. However... wasn't this exactly the result everyone wanted?

"Do you need support?" Mei Wushuang asked. "Of course I do." Lu Cheng's voice came from the other end of the terminal. "Send people as soon as possible. The faster, the better."

Lu Cheng was not the kind of fool who would charge in alone with hot blood... Mei Wushuang nodded. "Take care of your own safety," she said. "I will contact the Jiangyin Platform now, and the livestream information will be synchronized directly to your terminal. You just need to click start to begin the livestream."

"Thanks, Aunt Mei." The communication hung up. Mei Wushuang put down the terminal, tapped the desktop one last time, and then stood up. She pressed a button on the side of her desk.

A light screen popped up above the desktop, displaying the interface of the Navigator Academy's emergency communication channel. Her fingers swiped a few times on the screen, bringing up the communication code for the Jiangyin Platform's higher-ups. She dialed it. Waited five seconds.

"Who is this?" A middle-aged man's voice came from the other side, with keyboard tapping sounds and low conversation in the background. "Navigator Academy, Dean of the Mechanical Institute, Mei Wushuang." Mei Wushuang's voice was very calm. "There is an emergency situation that requires your cooperation."

The middle-aged man's voice paused. "Dean Mei? So late..." "In ten minutes, an account will start a livestream on Jiangyin Platform." Mei Wushuang interrupted him. "The location of the livestream is inside the Qian Family Manor. I need you to give this account the highest level of traffic support."

"Qian Family Manor?" The middle-aged man's voice changed. "Dean Mei, do you know that today the Qian Family is in the main building banquet hall..." "I know." Mei Wushuang interrupted him again. "I also know what the content of the livestream will involve... You just need to... support it."

The other end of the call was silent for a full three seconds. "Dean Mei..." The middle-aged man's voice was very low. "If you don't tell us... it's very difficult for us to cooperate..." "I will bear the consequences." Mei Wushuang's tone had no fluctuation. "You only need to provide technical cooperation..."

"...Are you sure?" "I am sure." Another two seconds of silence. "Okay." The middle-aged man took a breath. "Send the account over."

Mei Wushuang cut off the communication and sent Lu Cheng's Jiangyin Platform account information over. She leaned back in her chair, closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them again.

Mei Wushuang's fingers swiped on the light screen, bringing up another communication code. This time it was the academy's security headquarters. "I am Mei Wushuang." After the communication connected, she spoke directly, "All academy armed forces performing missions near Rong City, immediately mobilize to the Qian Family Manor. I will send you the coordinates immediately."

"Dean Mei, the reason for the mobilization is..." "Emergency reinforcement." Mei Wushuang stood up and picked up her coat from the back of the chair. "There are students in danger inside the Qian Family Manor, and high-level warriors from the Origin Organization may be involved. I need you to arrive in the shortest possible time." "Understood."

Mei Wushuang turned off the light screen and put on her coat. In her office, the data monitoring images on the walls were still jumping. The blue light shone on her silver-blue hair, reflecting a cold, sharp light.

...Lu Cheng put away his terminal and looked up at the front. The main villa. Unlike the small building where Qian Fuyun was locked up, the scale of the main villa was several times larger. The guards at the entrance were a Meridian Opening Realm squad.

Three people, standing in a triangular formation; this kind of thing, if placed in Rong City, would be high-end combat power! Here, they were just gatekeepers. Lu Cheng walked up to the guards. The three Meridian Opening Realm guards turned their heads at the same time.

The leader's gaze scanned him, from his face to the badge on his chest, and then to the gold-thread logo on his uniform cuff. Lu Cheng spoke, "Something happened over at Qian Fuyun's side just now... I want to report it to the higher-ups."

Supervisor Lin's task was only to measure data; normally, he wouldn't be able to enter the main villa. But for some reason, the people below neither installed surveillance in the villa nor sent people to patrol inside. All supervision was only guarded at the entrance. As long as he passed the entrance, no one would be watching inside. Therefore, any changes required human communication.

The three guards looked at each other. The leader brought up a light screen and verified Supervisor Lin's identity information and task status. "What's the situation?" he asked. "I'm sorry, I can only communicate with the higher-ups." Lu Cheng said without changing his expression.

The leader frowned. He stared at Lu Cheng for two seconds, that disgusting face... made him a bit creeped out... Then he stepped aside. "Go in." The other two guards also retreated to the sides, clearing the stone path leading to the main entrance of the villa.

Lu Cheng nodded slightly and walked past the three of them. He felt the gaze behind him linger on his back for a few seconds. Then those gazes moved away. He walked into the main entrance of the villa.

The decoration in the living room was extremely luxurious. Leather sofas, crystal chandeliers, several valuable Source-Guided picture frames hanging on the walls, deep red cashmere carpets on the floor, and a faint scent of incense drifting in the air.

Several guards were guarding the entrance to the underground. Hua Hai Realm... A Hua Hai Realm expert, who would be enough to establish a family in Rong City, was just a gatekeeper here. He steadied his breathing, put Supervisor Lin's smile back on his face. He repeated what he had just said...

The Hua Hai Realm guard looked at him, also verified his identity and task information, and then cleared the entrance to the underground passage. Lu Cheng walked down.

The passage here was completely different from the one at Qian Fuyun's side. The walls on both sides of the stone steps were covered with traces of modern technology. A large number of runes, Source Arrays, and energy conduits were embedded in every inch of the wall. Dark golden inscriptions flowed slowly on the wall, emitting a very low-frequency humming sound. The floor was made of flat alloy plates, with anti-slip patterns and complex circuit diagrams engraved on the surface. The further down he went, the higher the density of the Source Arrays became.

He kept walking down. It was much deeper here than at Qian Fuyun's side. The stone steps turned three corners, and after walking for nearly two minutes, he finally reached the end. And then he saw it.

An extremely exaggerated altar... The entire underground space was at least three stories high, with a huge Source Power crystal core embedded in the dome, emitting dark golden light.

In the center of the altar was a complete Pool of Ten Thousand Wishes, which was more than five times larger than the one in the banquet hall. The walls of the pool were covered with dense seal script inscriptions, and every character was glowing. The toad in the middle held a golden bead in its mouth...

All around were people dressed in black. At least twenty of them... Some were kneeling on the edge of the altar, their hands pressed on the nodes of the Source Array on the ground, injecting Source Power into the array eye. Some were holding golden leaves, tossing them into the pool one by one... Some were holding recording terminals, monitoring the fluctuations of the golden liquid in the pool...

And behind these people in black, there were several stout men standing. They were dressed in luxurious clothes, with greasy smiles on their faces, their fingers covered in Source Stone rings. Lu Cheng only looked once and knew who these people were. The high-level members of the Qian Family branch. The people who really wanted to release the Golden Toad were all here.