Chapter 129

Media people are all a bunch of reckless folks.

Earlier, when lightning flashed and thunder roared, the media people who had been hiding near the experience base were about to escape. But just as they were running away, someone suddenly shouted, "Look, there’s someone in the clouds!"

This shout immediately drew everyone's attention.

At first, everyone thought it was nonsense. How could there be anyone in the clouds? Not to mention this extreme weather, even under normal conditions, no one would be doing extreme sports in the skies over Beijing.

But when they looked up, they actually saw someone.

With a telephoto lens, two figures appeared clearly in the viewfinder. What was even more shocking was that these two figures weren't stationary—they quickly got into a fierce fight.

Although the figures were obscured by the clouds, the speed of their movements and the intensity of their attacks couldn’t be explained away by optical illusions.

As soon as the video was uploaded online, it sparked widespread discussion:

[“What the hell, is this real? Are special effects really this advanced now?”]

[“Could it be some light refraction thing, like the Tyndall effect or something? This doesn’t look like that, though. Waiting for experts to come out and fool us.”]

[“I knew someone was secretly practicing cultivation behind our backs. Who is this Taoist friend, and why are they crossing tribulations above Beijing? Was the flight route approved?”]

[“The world has finally gone crazy in the way I like. By the way, when is the cultivation world opening? I need to quit my job and give my stupid boss a piece of my mind.”]

[“Do cultivation schools have failures?”]

Because the media's videos and pictures were of such high definition, and multiple outlets reported on it in a short period, with content filmed from different angles, the explanations provided by meteorologists seemed very weak.

Especially the enormous gate shadow that appeared at the end, which made netizens speculate even more.

[“A few days ago it was Ghost Gate, and now this? Is it South Heaven Gate?”]

[“I’ve discovered some proof that the world is fake... suddenly wondering if there have always been immortals in the world, but we just ordinary people aren’t allowed to know.”]

As the media snuck into the experience base, the calls to the Cultural and Tourism Bureau were almost overwhelming. The Bureau Chief, dealing with inquiries from various units, nearly blacked out when he saw the online public opinion.

What was even more exhausting was that the media kept probing with relentless questions: “Bureau Chief, why are you here? Who were the two figures in the clouds earlier, did you see them? Can you explain the situation to the public?”

“Is Ghost Gate real? Someone online says the young person who fainted at Ghost Gate was a tourist plant arranged by the experience base to attract visitors. Is that true? If so, why is the base closed and refusing entry?”

“What secret is the experience base hiding?”Someone noticed a child in the crowd crying and covering his bottom, and daringly speculated, "Is this your child? I heard that your child with your wife is already in college. When did you have a second child, or is this the result of another lover?"

Director Wen: "…"

Everyone: "…"

What the hell, another lover?

Director Wen was so furious his hands were shaking, but he still had to maintain his composure and try to explain the recent battle between the artifact spirit and the demon clan in the most scientific way possible.

However, before he could come up with any good excuses, a pair of dark-skinned middle-aged men suddenly rushed into the crowd, crying and shouting, "Son! Mom and Dad finally found you!"

Everyone: "???"

The media immediately pointed their cameras at the couple’s faces. They were seen dodging left and right, somehow slipping past the obstruction of Director Wen, the officials, and the Taoist priests, and making their way directly to the chubby child in the back of the crowd.

Crying, they began to hit the child: "You little debt collector, we worked hard to save some money to bring you out to play, and you just get lost! Luckily, we met so many kind leaders who helped us find you… Why are you still standing there? Don’t you thank the leaders?"

Their hands slapped the child’s back with a resounding smack. If it had been any other child, they probably would’ve been too stunned to say anything, but the child just treated it like an itchy scratch.

The child looked at them strangely: "Who are you?"

The scene suddenly fell silent for a moment.

The couple probably didn’t expect him to be able to speak. Their eyes shifted, and they cried out again, "My child! How could you forget your parents? Come on, let’s go to the hospital. We’ll sell everything to get you treated…"

They said, picking up the child and running off, their speed almost like that of a race.

What’s more, they were as agile as loaches. Despite so many media people present, none of them managed to stop them. They watched as the couple squeezed through the crowd and drove off in a van, disappearing without a trace.

Everyone: "!!!"

"Oh no, those two are human traffickers!" someone in the media shouted.

The next second, everyone was either calling the police or chasing after the van.

The Taoist priests were stunned as well. They couldn’t even stop those traffickers, who had just abducted the artifact spirit right in front of them!

It was an utter disgrace!

The Taoists immediately started calculating the direction the couple had gone, and some of them even wanted to follow the media’s vehicles to catch up. But the couple’s movements were incredibly fast, they kept their faces covered the entire time, and the van didn’t stop at all—it just drove off. It was obvious they were seasoned criminals.

In this situation, calling the police didn’t guarantee an immediate arrest. If they managed to escape the city, it would be even harder to catch them.

The Taoists were desperate, and instinctively looked toward Lian Cheng and Chen the Blind for help.

These two were big shots in the Underworld; surely they had other methods to track down the culprits?

But when they turned, they found Ke Xingzhou’s face was not looking too good. Lian Cheng paused for a moment, then pulled out an orange from somewhere and handed it to him.

It was already peeled.

One of the Taoists suddenly remembered that the couple had probably just run past Lian Cheng and Ke Xingzhou. They probably thought the two of them were young and inexperienced in society.

Neither of them had even tried to stop them.So the artifact spirit was abducted right under their noses?

This was even harder for the Taoists to accept than when the artifact spirit was kidnapped in front of them earlier. Not to mention now that the artifact spirit was gone, the two of them didn’t seem worried at all. Ke Xingzhou even found a place to wash his hands before slowly eating the orange.

The sweet and sour taste filled his mouth, and the dizzying sensation finally faded.

He looked up and met the Taoists' gazes, then slowly blinked: "Is something wrong?"

The Taoists: "…………"

What do you think?!

Ke Xingzhou ate the orange and, finally understanding something from the Taoists’ desperate expressions, he still didn’t understand what they were worried about: "He is the artifact spirit."

The Taoists were stunned and slowly nodded.

So what?

Zhu Chu couldn’t stand it any longer and couldn’t help but speak: "What kind of immortal gets kidnapped by a mere mortal? You’re overthinking this!"

The Taoists: "…………"

The nearby police station immediately dispatched patrolling officers to search the passing vehicles after receiving the report, but the human traffickers were clearly seasoned criminals. Once they were out of the sight range of the pursuing vehicles, they abandoned the old second-hand white van.

When the police found the van, it was already empty, and they couldn’t help but feel a sense of unease.

Just then, the intercom crackled with a colleague’s loud shout: "In broad daylight, what are they doing in the car? Open the door and get out!"

At first, they thought it was just an overly shameless couple, but moments later, the colleague’s voice came back, full of surprise: "Found them! Discovered the kidnapped child and the trafficking ring, heading toward the southern bypass!"

The leader immediately became energized and reminded the officers on-site to be cautious and not provoke the traffickers, to avoid the traffickers harming the kidnapped child.

As he directed the operation, he couldn't help but mutter inwardly, thinking how careless the child’s family was—how could they let the traffickers snatch the child right in front of them?

Just as he finished speaking, there was a sudden, deafening noise, like a fight breaking out.

Moments later, the officer on-site hesitated and spoke up: "Leader…"

The leader's heart skipped a beat, fearing something bad had happened, his hands trembling: "What’s going on? How’s the kidnapped child?"

Then, the officer on the other end of the intercom paused for a moment before replying in a rather hard-to-explain tone: "He’s fine, it’s just the kidnappers who aren’t doing too well."

Leader: "?"

What the heck is this reply? How is the kidnapped child fine?

He was about to get angry when the intercom suddenly transmitted the child’s innocent voice: "These people just cursed at me, so I knocked them all out. Can you take me back to where we were earlier? Uncle Lian Cheng and the others are still there."

Leader: "?????"

The police looked at the unconscious kidnappers, already bruised and knocked out in the van, and then looked back at the delicate, chubby child. They felt a bit ashamed: no wonder when he got lost, it was passersby who called the police. None of the family members seemed to be in a rush!This fighting power, it must be from Shaolin, right?