A Supernatural Live Stream: The Real Young Master is Trending Again - Chapter 5

《Peering Through the Mist》 is a half-puzzle-solving, half-lifestyle variety show that has aired for five seasons, with each season spanning a full year. The organizers are backed by immense capital; contestants selected for the official challenge receive a one-million-yuan prize just for entering the main competition. Depending on final voting results, the prize money can soar to nearly ten million.

What sets this show apart from ordinary variety programs—and what made it go viral—is that the “decipherers” on the show all claim to possess special abilities: spirit channeling, divination, magic, witchcraft, or even being self-proclaimed spokespersons for deities.

In the first season, a city predicted to have an earthquake actually experienced one a year later. A former host predicted to die passed away in a car accident six months later. There were even cases of cold-blooded killers being brought to justice after 13 years due to show leads—case after case, event after event.

With all these occurrences, even materialist viewers who don’t believe in the occult are easily drawn in.

Every episode, numerous people send emails to the show’s backstage. The production team synthesizes these into various challenges, which include but are not limited to: “Hide and Seek,” finding murderers, exploring haunted houses, world mysteries, and live-streamed explorations alongside entertainment industry idols.

The champion of each season is chosen via votes from the audience, the host, and guest stars. With top-tier promotion, full live broadcasts, and edited versions on official platforms, the competition spans the globe, keeping its popularity sky-high since its inception.

The generous prize money and the boost in fame attract countless people claiming to have special abilities, all scrambling to sign up. However, the show maintains a strict selection process: a maximum of only four contestants are chosen each season for the official challenge.

While the show concludes with a vote for the “strongest” guest, the final selection is less a test of strength and more of a popularity contest. After the first season, not only the contestants but also the participating celebrity guests gained massive fame and fanbases. Realizing the commercial value, top-tier starlets and trending idols began accepting invitations to participate in “half-lifestyle, half-deciphering” live streams with the contestants.

In every episode, contestants have a segment where they record daily life variety content with these idols. On the live stream, the “supernatural” aura allows many contestants to amass huge followings, with some debuting in the industry or becoming major influencers after the show. Because of this segment where fans observe the contestants’ daily lives up close, the final voting feels less like choosing the strongest expert and more like a “fandom” vote for the center (C-position) of an idol group.

Exiting the page, Si Ye rubbed his throbbing forehead. During his university days, he had often heard people discussing the show, but back then, he was too busy handling his own affairs to pay attention.

To make a large number of people generate emotions toward him, he had to face the public. Joining the entertainment industry was the easiest path, but he knew he wasn’t cut out for singing or acting. This show was highly popular, his abilities were perfectly suited for it, and the locations specifically marked by the production team for this season happened to be places he needed to visit.

But how could it be such a coincidence?

Also… where did this data come from?

He glanced at the man currently engaged in a staring contest with the kitten. Si Ye calmly looked away. Never mind, I’ll ask next time.

Then there were the people from his past—memories that clung to the depths of his soul like a curse.

He was a soul born from the Book of Truth, the foundational law of the world that dictates the rules of all things. The “Law” was essentially his “Mother.” Because of this connection, he possessed the ability to use portions of those laws. His flesh and blood could heal almost any disease, and he had the power to nurture special forms of life.

Yet, he also bore the responsibility of maintaining the rules and guarding this world—and the continuation of life within it—which were also born under those same rules.

Aside from him, other special beings had been born under the rules, existing as long as heaven and earth. However, because their infancy was too fragile and the land back then was plagued by rampant Calamities and evil spirits, their survival rate was extremely low. Thus, he had reluctantly picked up a few and raised them by his side.

Decades after his birth, once he had a preliminary understanding of the world’s layout, he found many Calamities and spirits destroying things at will. Ordinary people could not resist them, so the task naturally fell to him. He and Rocheville assisted each other, killing enemies as partners. During that time, he was so busy he barely had time to squeeze in a trip home to “nurse the kids.”

Fortunately, as the other “cubs” grew up, his workload lightened as they shared his burdens. However, while spirits were easy to deal with, Calamities could not be destroyed. They were born from the sins and desires of the world; as long as those existed, they could never truly be eradicated. Thus, he used the Laws to build the High Tower, locking the restless Calamities inside.

Humans had established a sporadic connection with him, and they lived together for a long time. He granted humans the ability to protect themselves and a safe life; they gave him love and a home. In that initial period of upheaval, they relied on each other; they were essentially his family.

Except, the desires in human hearts are bottomless. Once the initial chaos passed, the few he had raised… and the people worshipped as new “gods” during the upheaval, began to want more. They even set their sights on the Book of Truth, the book that gave him birth and was rumored to be able to rewrite the rules. But the book had always been in his possession.

He was the key to balancing the Calamities. To get the Book of Truth, they had to go through him. So, those people thought of the Tower. They wanted to replace him with the Tower, using it to balance him and the rules within it to restrict him.

He had rushed there, thinking his “family” was trapped, only to find that the High Tower—built for Calamities—was meant to trap him. His “Source” was forcibly separated from his body, turning into the Book of Vows. However, without his blood or authority, anyone trying to use his items was simply daydreaming.

Rocheville entered the Tower to try and rescue him. But Si Ye wasn’t trapped by the Tower; he was trapped by the Rules. The Tower ran on his power; with his Source forcibly separated, he no longer had the strength to suppress the Calamities inside.

The conspirators realized the severity of the problem, but it was too late. To keep the Tower running, Si Ye handed everything over to Rocheville, letting him consume a portion of the Book of Truth’s usage rights so Rocheville could suppress the Calamities both inside and outside the Tower. Si Ye himself used his final flesh and blood to lock the Tower, sealing the Calamities and those people inside with him.

He thought he would dissipate, but “Mother” stabilized his dying state and forced him into the cycle of reincarnation. Meanwhile, Rocheville guarded the world and maintained the other half of him—the Book of Vows. Due to the laws of Karma (Causality), Rocheville could not touch him, nor could anyone else seeking him. Whenever anyone got close, the Rules would manufacture an accident.

It wasn’t until ten thousand years later, when he was on the brink of death, that Rocheville used a loophole in the rules to bring him into the Tower, allowing the scattered pieces to return to him.

But Rules are Rules. Though he was given a chance, he still had to follow them. In this reincarnation, he was entangled in the Karma of the Shi family. Therefore, he could not fully merge the Book of Vows back into his body.

The Book of Vows was his “Source,” a pure existence born of the Law. But currently, he was a child of the Shi family, carrying their blood karma. He had to return to personally sever those blood ties and re-acquire enough “Faith”—which was essentially emotions like love or hate—to allow the Book of Vows to return to his body.

As a blood relative, he could not personally use physical violence to “solve” those family members. If he did, the knot of Karma would never be untied.

Thinking of the past, whether for physiological or psychological reasons, a wave of nausea rose in him, and his body felt uncomfortable. He had only two choices now: first, wait for those in the Shi family connected to him to die naturally, or… collect enough emotion. Adoration, disgust, liking, love, or hate—as long as the emotions were sufficient, even if he couldn’t merge with the Book of Vows yet, he could pour that energy into it. He could then use the Book of Vows to connect to the Book of Truth and use the Rules to erase their blood relationship, breaking his shackles.

In the past, Rocheville relied on the Tower to suppress those things, but now the Tower had collapsed and the Calamities had escaped. He didn’t know how long the shackles left on them would last. If those entities cooperated, Rocheville couldn’t handle them alone. Even if they were suppressed again, they would cause incalculable casualties.

He had to recover quickly. Not just because he was a soul born of the Rules, but for the sake of the families who had truly loved him—and their families.

While pondering, he browsed the web. He paused as he saw a trending topic: The Shi Family and Wan Family enter a partnership…

The Wan family.

Wan Xuyan…

The screen stayed on a photo of a red-haired man and a representative of the Shi family. Si Ye’s fingers tapped lightly on the desk.

Shi Jingning…

Wan Xuyan…

When he was pushed off the cliff, his consciousness was hazy due to the drugs. He only remembered Shi Jingning crying in his ear; he couldn’t see or hear anything else. It was true that Shi Jingning was among those who murdered him. But knowing Shi Jingning’s “softie” personality, it was impossible for him to come up with the idea to kill him alone, let alone prepare so thoroughly.

But Wan Xuyan, who cooperated with the Ji family…

And Ji Mengxue…

Thinking of this, Si Ye suddenly laughed—partly mocking others, partly mocking himself. How pathetic.

The mockery in his eyes vanished, replaced by indifference. Initially, hatred and resentment were what kept him alive, but after what he experienced in the Tower, the Shi family was nothing more than a farce. Hating someone required energy.

He would definitely have his revenge, but the unbreakable bloodline and Shi Jingning’s identity were too troublesome to handle immediately. He would deal with them later; he didn’t know when or from which corner those “things” would spring out.

It was only in the Tower that he learned that collecting those emotions could not only restore his energy but actually make it stronger. This was what people called “Faith.” In this era, spiritual qi was no longer abundant; he might as well use what was available.

He didn’t know which eras his former teammates had returned to, or if the “cubs” had lived well after coming out. And… the children he had raised himself.

Si Ye rubbed his aching temples as a wave of dizziness hit. His top priority was to strip away these restrictions. The Laws currently needed his maintenance. He didn’t know when the Calamities would appear; if they collaborated…

What a headache.

Having formulated a simple plan in his mind, he prepared to continue researching the data.