"Ah!" Xu Chao let out a muffled grunt in pain, his grip on Sun Wenli loosening involuntarily.
With her hands freed, Sun Wenli quickly grabbed the hard stone she had been forced to drop just a minute earlier and swung it down onto his head.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!" One strike, two strikes, three strikes...
The viewers in the livestream couldn't see the scene but could only hear the sounds.
"Are you still there, sister?"
"I'm so anxious right now! Who has subdued whom? You have to hold on!"
"So this is the sound of hitting someone with a rock; that's at least ten hits. His skull must be shattered."
After several more blows, Sun Wenli finally exhausted her strength, her windbreaker splattered with a mix of red and white blood. She lay on the ground, gasping for breath, slowly calming her trembling body.
She tried to pick up her phone, but her hands were too sticky, causing the phone to slip from her grip multiple times.
"What's happening? What's happening?"
"Lili won! I saw a delicate hand flash past the camera, but... but it was covered in blood!"
"This is a life-and-death battle; how can you fight without bloodshed?"
Sun Wenli finally aimed the camera at herself. "I won! I won, streamer!"
Seeing her state of mental instability, Xiang Wan quickly reassured her, "Yes, you won! Lili, you'll be out of danger soon. You did nothing wrong; the ones at fault are those traffickers. They deserve to die. Calm down, then turn the camera to Xu Chao. I need to see his face to find the way down the mountain."
"Okay, okay, I will, streamer." Sun Wenli took a few deep breaths to suppress her racing heart before turning the camera to Xu Chao's lifeless face.
At that moment, Xu Chao's face was covered in blood, with bits of white matter mixed in, creating a truly horrific scene.
"I can't take this anymore, I'm reporting it!" one viewer exclaimed.
"If you can't take it, you can leave! What are you reporting? Do you know that if this livestream ends, Lili could very well be captured by traffickers and sold up north?" another viewer shot back.
"This is her problem; if she was foolish enough to be deceived, that's her fault. But now this livestream is just bloody violence! My child is watching and is scared to tears. I'm just exercising my rights as a citizen and viewer. I can't care about others' lives, and neither can you. Mind your own business!"
"Everyone, don't be like this! Didn't you see the technicians in the livestream haven't censored anything? If your reports cause the livestream to be shut down, who will be responsible for Lili's life?"
"Please, everyone, don't report! Lili is my daughter. If it weren't for my niece telling me, my phone almost got Lili killed! I wouldn't have known that I could see her almost getting sold to traffickers in such a dangerous situation!"
Xiao Zhang from the technical department was also under immense pressure, nervously looking at Manager Hong. "Manager, we..."
Manager Hong stood by Xiang Wan, saying, "Can't you see the streamer is saving someone? For those who can't handle it, just kick them out of the livestream; we don't need those overly sensitive tourists."
"Manager, it's not just those weirdos; there are also a lot of trolls from other platforms like Elephant and Orca trying to stir up trouble," another technician chimed in.
"If we ensure the stability of the livestream, those trolls just want to see the downfall of Zhuan Zhou Meng Die's channel, hoping to capitalize on it. That's not happening; let them dream," Manager Hong replied confidently.
Just then, his phone rang. "Boss, it's like this... Okay, I understand. I'll keep an eye on it."
With that call, Manager Hong spoke with even more conviction. "Continue the livestream, ignore the reports."
"Got it!" With the backing of higher-ups, the technician felt reassured and focused on maintaining the stability of the livestream.
Xiang Wan's livestream had always been the center of attention. Many of her devoted fans would edit her streams for external platforms, attracting a massive audience who would circumvent restrictions to watch her broadcasts.
Today's initial stream, featuring a woman trapped in a basement, had drawn a large online audience from all directions. Now, with the second stream showcasing the woman's fight back against her traffickers, the scene was intense. Many viewers were exhilarated; traffickers were loathed, and watching them receive punishment was cathartic. Sun Wenli had effectively become a force for justice.
To prevent Xu Chao's blood from obscuring his features for Xiang Wan, Sun Wenli held her phone while wiping away the blood covering his face with her sleeve. However, it seemed like an endless battle, with fresh blood oozing down every time she wiped it away.
After a painstaking series of attempts, the blood finally lessened enough for her to focus the camera on Xu Chao's face. "Can you see clearly now, streamer?" she asked.
Xiang Wan glanced at Xu Chao's lifeless body and slightly closed her eyes. She could see his fate unfolding before her, allowing her to understand the paths he had taken up and down the mountain, including all the shortcuts.
"I can see it clearly. Now, head up the mountain until you spot a tree stump. Move past the right side, where there are bushes full of raspberries, and you'll find a small path leading down..." she instructed.
"I'm really scared; it's terrifying how much information you can get from a corpse. If this were applied in criminal investigation, it would be chaos," one viewer commented.
"The streamer is so amazing; the country should definitely protect her. Otherwise, if some unscrupulous people take notice, she could be in real danger," another viewer added.
"Who knows, maybe the streamer is already being protected? Someone with such insight into fate would definitely be guarded closely," another viewer suggested.
After resting a bit, Sun Wenli carefully wiped the blood off her hands with dirt and leaves, allowing her grip on the phone to stabilize. Xu Chao's body had turned cold next to her. Though she was terrified, the fact that she had fought back eased some of her tension compared to the fear of being captured by traffickers.
As she prepared to leave, Xiang Wan frowned and quickly warned, "Xu Chao has a gun at his waist; grab it quickly. The couple is heading back!"
After briefly feeling weak, Sun Wenli's expression and strength returned. She reached for Xu Chao's waist and felt a hard, metallic object. Pulling out the gun from his belt, she exclaimed, "I found it! I found it!"
"Do you know how to use it?" Xiang Wan asked.
Sun Wenli nodded immediately, racking the slide and disengaging the safety. "I've learned a bit."
"That's good." Having a gun for self-defense was much better than relying on a rock for a sneak attack. Killing Xu Chao was a stroke of luck, but repeating the same tactic on the couple would be challenging.
In the overwhelming darkness, even the slightest sound could amplify her fear, especially on a windless night where every movement and noise could potentially alert her pursuers.