5
[Hahaha… I can’t stop laughing! Your Majesty, are you messing with him?]
[Didn’t you notice Hell Bro’s expression go from hopeful to stunned? This is hilarious! She’s not acting. His acting skills aren’t that good!]
[What are you focusing on? The point is, the playboy’s turned over a new leaf, isn’t he?]
Hell Bro quickly recovered. He gave a little laugh. “Your Majesty, please don’t tease a humble man like me, all right? Is it because Your Majesty thinks I haven’t sent enough gifts? Here, here—I’ll send some over right now…”
I put on a serious expression. “I never joke. At midnight tonight, you’ll be nailed to a cross and bleed to death!”
Hell Bro’s smile suddenly vanished. “I understand entertainment, but this is a bit…”
I cut him off. “Hell Bro, three months ago you met Lệ Lệ online. She told you she was an orphan who’d been fending for herself since childhood, wandering from place to place to make a living. She’d gone through a lot of hardship, but still believed she could make it on her own, build a better future, and become a strong, unyielding woman. Isn’t that right?”
Hell Bro nodded in surprise. “That’s right… No, wait! What do you mean, ‘become’ one? That’s just who she is.”
I waved a hand to keep him from getting worked up and continued. “While you were getting to know each other, you wanted to help support her, but she turned you down. She said bringing money into your relationship would make it impure. That’s why you thought she was a good woman.”
“That’s how she made her way into your heart, and you stopped dating other women. Everything was going so well that you even wanted to marry Lệ Lệ!”
“Just today, at Lệ Lệ’s request, you secretly followed her back to her hometown—a small, ancient village that doesn’t appear on any map.”
“But everything about this place seems strange. Everyone in the village gives you a cold stare, while Lệ Lệ is exceptionally gentle, reminding you not to leave your room. And tonight, she’s going to use you as a sacrifice…”
“That’s enough!” Hell Bro suddenly jumped to his feet. He moved so quickly that he knocked over his chair with a loud crash.
“I admit you got some of it right, but plenty of my friends know I went back to her hometown with her. You probably heard about it from them.”
My fans couldn’t stay quiet.
[Hell Bro, you have no idea. Your Majesty hasn’t been streaming for long, but her readings are really accurate. You’d better listen to her.]
But Hell Bro’s fans quickly attacked those who spoke up for me.
[All smoke and mirrors! She’s obviously trying to get famous by riding Hell Bro’s coattails.]
[How is a superstition-peddling stream like this still allowed to exist? Everyone, report it!]
As everyone talked over one another, Hell Bro cut off the connection.
I shrugged. If he wouldn’t take my advice, there was no point wasting my breath.
Some people have to suffer a little before they learn.
6
Hell Bro had so many fans that they kept cursing me out. My own fans wouldn’t stand for it, of course, and the two sides started arguing fiercely.
I rubbed my brow. “Sweeties, is there anyone else who wants a love reading?”
If not, I could take a break. After all, in no more than two days, news that something had happened to Hell Bro would spread across the country. My business would only get hotter then!
Just as I was about to end the stream, “Woodworker Xiao Zhang” sent me a private message: “Your Majesty, please read my fortune. I’ve sent you the last of my money for this month!”
I agreed.
Soon, Woodworker Xiao Zhang appeared on the screen.
He was big and broad, with a square face and muscles all over. When he grinned, he looked a little goofy, but his face seemed kind.
I asked him, “What do you want to ask?”
Woodworker Xiao Zhang looked a little embarrassed and scratched his head. “I’m sorry, Your Majesty. I lied to you. I only have a quarter of the money I planned to send you as a gift left. I was going to use the rest to go find my girlfriend.”
“So…”
Perhaps afraid I’d get angry, he hurriedly added, “I’ll send you some next month when I get paid!”
What a silly guy. I smiled. “It’s okay. Go ahead and ask.”
Woodworker Xiao Zhang said bashfully, “My girlfriend and I met online four years ago. I’ve been sending her money for school ever since.”
“She only graduated recently. She said she’d come to my city, but I haven’t been able to reach her for the past two days!”
Woodworker Xiao Zhang’s chest heaved, and he was clearly getting agitated. “I want to go find her, but I don’t know where she is!”
The netizens who’d just been arguing started making fun of Woodworker Xiao Zhang.
[Seriously? You’re a grown man and you still believe in online love? She obviously conned you!]
[Maybe she’s been keeping some rich guy company!]
[She wrung you dry for four years, then dumped you and ran!]
Woodworker Xiao Zhang was so worried that his face turned bright red. “No! That’s not true! I trust her!”
As everyone mocked Woodworker Xiao Zhang for being lovesick and said he deserved to be cheated, I glanced at the Book of Life and Death. “You two are destined to be together.”
Then I read the next line, and my expression changed at once. “This is bad! Hurry and go save her!”
7
Woodworker Xiao Zhang was startled and stared at me blankly. “What’s wrong?”
I said urgently, “It’s an emergency. Get to Xindian Hotel outside Jinzhou Station right away. You’d better bring a few people!”
“Don’t just stand there! Your future wife is about to be sold overseas!”
That’s right, she’s in Jinzhou right now! But who knows what’ll happen after today!
Hearing that, and seeing how serious I looked, Woodworker Xiao Zhang didn’t ask any more questions. He got up and ran.
Fortunately, Woodworker Xiao Zhang’s construction site was nearby, and he got along well with the others. A few phone calls brought more than a dozen coworkers over.
Woodworker Xiao Zhang came running up to the hotel, panting. He immediately saw a middle-aged couple pushing a wheelchair out, with a young woman in it. Her face was deathly pale, and her eyes were shut tight.
Woodworker Xiao Zhang roared and charged over, shoving the middle-aged couple off balance before shouting, “Who are you? What are you doing to my wife?”
The commotion drew quite a few curious passersby.
The man’s eyes darted away for a moment, but the woman didn’t panic. She yelled, “Where’d this lunatic come from? This is my daughter! How’d you suddenly become my son-in-law?”
Xiao Zhang shouted, “Xiao Li’s parents are both dead! Where’d you get parents from? You’re human traffickers! Come with me to the police station!”
The middle-aged couple naturally refused. Their argument immediately attracted nearby police officers. When the couple spotted them in the distance, they abandoned the wheelchair and ran.
That was when Xiao Zhang’s coworkers came in handy. They immediately surrounded the pair and blocked their way.
That’s right. Woodworker Xiao Zhang’s girlfriend had come to Jinzhou two days earlier to surprise him. But as soon as she got off the train, a criminal gang took her captive. Today, they were going to transport her away!
Rescuing her from the gang and bringing the two of them together would also earn me some good karma.
8
Since nothing had come of Hell Bro’s reading, and I’d already finished my three free readings, I was about to end the livestream.
Just then, I received a connection request from Hell Bro, begging to come on.
[Your Majesty, save me!]
Huh? Didn’t he just refuse to believe me and cut off our connection, making me look bad?
I decided to leave him to his own devices.
Hell Bro couldn’t wait another minute. He kept sending me private messages.
[Your Majesty, I’m begging you, please connect with me!]
[Your Majesty, I was wrong!]
[Your Majesty, help me! I’ll definitely repay you!]
I thought for a moment, then messaged him: “I haven’t had lunch yet.”
Hell Bro: “I’ll treat you to a full Manchu-Han banquet!”
That could work.
I agreed.
In the dim light, Hell Bro’s deathly pale face suddenly appeared. He looked overjoyed. “You really connected!”
After saying that, he glanced around like a thief, afraid someone might see him.
Only then did everyone get a clear look: Hell Bro was kneeling beneath a gigantic cross, and a figure blackened all over was chained to it, like a sculpture.
The only light in the entire room came from a pair of candles on the altar.
The flickering candlelight fell on the sculpture and, for some reason, filled everyone with dread.
Hell Bro was frantic. He swallowed hard. “Your Majesty, my girlfriend and some villagers brought me to their shrine earlier to kneel before their village god. They were really insistent and said it was their village’s custom... Then they threw me in here and searched me!”
At that, his fans tried to comfort him.
[You’re fine, Bro. You’re just imagining things because the streamer’s words got into your head.]
[Exactly. Some places just have rather strange customs...]
Hell Bro suddenly broke down and roared, “But I can smell something burning really strongly, along with a stench—and there are dried bloodstains!”
“I suspect the thing on that cross isn’t a sculpture. It’s a person who’s been burned alive!”
“And there’s something strange about this place. I can’t make calls or send messages. The only place I can reach is Your Majesty’s livestream! Please help me call the police!”
Hell Bro’s words left everyone stunned.
The camera shifted, and everyone could indeed see red spots on the ground.
[What is this? What kind of bizarre ghost story is this?]
[Is this a hoax? I’m a total coward—please don’t scare me!]
[Please tell me this is just a stunt to get more views.]
I looked Hell Bro straight in the eye. “That’s right. The person on the cross was the last one to be sacrificed. You’re next!”
“They’ve locked the door from the outside, and there’s someone keeping watch! There’s a dog hole under the window beside you, but it’s been blocked too. Try pushing...”
“What do I do? They found out! Hurry up and die!” A sudden soft laugh cut me off. A hand reached toward the camera, and the connection was cut.