Chapter 134

Xie Baiqiu's words directly made the atmosphere in the entire scene turn eerie.

Gu Xicheng, who came out afterward, tried to maintain a calm expression, but upon hearing her words, he furrowed his brows deeply. "Who is Xiao Ai? Why have you never mentioned her to me?"

Meanwhile, some viewers with remarkable memories in the live chat had already exclaimed: [Xiao Ai? Is she referring to Xie Zong's best friend?]

Other viewers immediately asked what was going on, and the original commenter remained silent for a while before sending a long explanation: [It's the news about the human trafficking village from before! Have you all forgotten? Xie Zong went to find Ke Xingzhou for a fortune telling that day, which led them to Qi Jia Village, where they worked with the police to catch all the criminals! I remember it was just over a month ago, how do you all not know this?]

The online world changes so fast. Honestly, if it weren’t for this commenter, others might never have remembered such a traumatic event.

The entire village, hundreds of people, were all accomplices and perpetrators of human trafficking, including some women and children who had been trafficked themselves.

When the commenter mentioned it, other viewers quickly recalled the event.

[Wait, is it that incident? But wasn’t Xie Zong’s best friend confirmed to be dead? I remember the media even captured her at the funeral, looking very frail.]

[So was the earlier news fake? Or is this person a fake best friend?]

[...Is it possible that this best friend is the real one, and she really did die? Just look at how they’re passing through each other’s bodies! This can’t be a living person!!!]

[But Ke Xingzhou just said to believe in science... and the people he called for help said they were from a bodyguard company...]

[Believe in science, but also rise to the sky? Hahahaha, this world is crazier than I imagined!]

The chat exploded in chaos.

The situation on-site wasn’t any better. Some contestants remembered the news from back then, but when they heard Xie Baiqiu call out her best friend's name, they weren’t sure. After reading the chat comments, they shuddered.

They were about to dismiss the idea, thinking how could a dead person appear here?

Qi Jia Village wasn’t close by either!

Then they saw Xie Baiqiu look at Gu Xicheng with disgust, and she directly confirmed the shadow's identity: "It’s my best friend, what’s wrong? Mr. Gu, I think you're still not fully awake. We two have only a simple cooperative relationship, and the cooperation hasn’t even been finalized. I don’t think I need to explain my personal relations to you."

Xie An quickly realized this guy wasn’t her sister’s boyfriend!

His naive expression immediately turned sharp. He quickly stepped in front of his sister, glaring fiercely at Gu Xicheng: "Who are you? Speaking in such a fatherly tone, be careful, my dad might grab a stick and beat you."

Gu Xicheng’s face turned completely dark, glaring at Xie An: "You don’t know me?"

"I know," Xie An said nonchalantly. Just as Gu Xicheng’s face softened, he snorted: "So what if you're from the Gu family? My family would admit they want the Gu family's order, but would you dare bully people in front of the whole country?"

It didn’t matter to him whether it was the Gu family or the Wang family. He wouldn’t allow anyone to bully his family!Gu Xicheng: "......"

He hadn't realized anything was wrong yet. He arrogantly ignored Xie An and the others who had suddenly barged in, his gaze only landing on Xie Baiqiu: "Baiqiu, come to my side."

Xie Baiqiu: "......"

Everyone: "......"

The shadow around Xie Baiqiu moved a few steps to the side, and the hand that reached out from it passed through Xie Baiqiu's arm, having no effect. She, however, seemed to enjoy it.

However, upon hearing Gu Xicheng's words, she suddenly raised her head and looked toward him.

The hood fell as she moved, revealing a pale face underneath, but it was indeed the face of Xie Baiqiu's best friend Xiao Ai.

Xiao Ai sized Gu Xicheng up, pulling at the corners of her mouth: "You're a young man with high ambitions, huh? A second-generation rich kid living off the family’s legacy, and you dare to act like a CEO? Looks like the few companies that went bankrupt still haven’t taught you anything about yourself. My sister worked from scratch and built her two listed companies! Who do you think you are?"

Her words were sharp, completely different from the naive girl who had been tricked into the countryside for human trafficking before.

Gu Xicheng’s face turned green from the scolding, and the contestants around couldn’t help but glance at him with smirks.

Gu Xicheng: "......"

Xiao Ai opened her mouth to continue scolding, but the shadow behind her pulled her back and whispered, "The Judge is watching."

Her words immediately stopped, and she turned back to glance at the two shadows standing with Ke Xingzhou, her expression becoming slightly guilty.

"Ah-hem." Ke Xingzhou explained to the live chat: "It's the actor’s conviction."

Live chat: [......]

Xie Baiqiu finally realized something was off, "Master Ke?"

She had thought that seeing her deceased best friend meant her time was near and that her friend had come to escort her. Now, seeing so many people present, she realized things might not be as she had thought.

After all, she had built a listed company from scratch. She quickly calmed down, scanning the crowd and piecing together the situation.

During this time, she had still been following Ke Xingzhou's movements. Plus, with a younger brother who got along well with Ke Xingzhou, she naturally knew about the batch of "good ghosts" working under him.

Her best friend had always been smart, and handling matters like this was easy for her. She had probably passed the "Yangjian Resident Permit" and came to join the Immortal Sect.

Since learning that things burned could truly be delivered to the deceased, she had been burning a lot of paper money and gold ingots recently. Why did it still come to the point where she had to come up and work to earn incense money?

Looking down at her best friend’s hand constantly passing through her body, Xie Baiqiu felt a pang of sorrow in her heart.

Xiao Ai seemed to notice her thoughts, quickly waved her hand to signal that she would explain later and ran back into the group of shadows.

Before leaving, she shot Gu Xicheng a fierce glare, clearly still upset about his earlier words.

At this moment, someone noticed something was wrong and carefully looked behind Gu Xicheng. Suddenly, they screamed: "Oh my god! So many bugs!"

Everyone then turned to look inside the room, only to be shocked by the wriggling mass of small bugs inside.

Upon a closer look, the creatures pouring out from the door were not just ordinary bugs, but spiders!

Everyone felt their scalp tingle, and in an instant, they all felt uneasy.They could tolerate small animals, since they were visible and tangible, but so many green bean-sized spiders were truly unbearable for them—

Such small creatures, if they landed on them, they might not even notice. Just thinking about it was enough to make them feel uncomfortable all over.

Ke Xingzhou couldn't help but frown.

The swallows, wild cats, and wild dogs that had appeared earlier were still tolerable, but the large number of juvenile spiders suddenly appearing was a bit too strange.

What on earth had happened here?

At this moment, the other animals that had been following them also arrived. The crowd was momentarily stuck in a dilemma—either retreat and fall into the claws and beaks of the stray animals behind them, or move forward and be covered by countless small spiders, most of which they wouldn't even see.

Gu Xicheng and An Heguang, who had suffered earlier, were sweating profusely.

Gu Xicheng didn’t say anything, only remaining silent out of consideration for the Gu family's face. An Heguang, however, had no sense of being a second-generation rich kid and started screaming as soon as he saw the situation.

An Heguang: "Ah! Master Ke, save me! Bull-headed horse-faced guards, save me! Beautiful ghost sister, save me!!"

Ke Xingzhou slapped his face to shut him up and turned to explain helplessly to the camera: "Trust science, don’t believe him."

Audience: [......]

Everyone: [......]

That said, the crowd looked at the animals and spiders on both sides, and honestly, neither option seemed good.

At this point, the orange cat that had earlier spoken in human language arrived, leading a group of smaller cats standing on the yard wall, looking down at the panicked humans from above.

It looked quite pleased with itself: "Scared now? Shocked, right? That one, what’s his name, said it right. If we don’t show you some color, you won’t know what it means to be a king or a loser!"

The crowd thought to themselves, what does this have to do with kings and losers?

The orange cat probably thought its own plump body and sleek fur had scared them, but suddenly, its expression changed, and it made a fierce, threatening face, letting out a "meow-roar."

The crowd began to stir. A few weak-willed humans were already stunned, afraid—

"So... so cute."

Orange Cat: "?"

The humans: "I just want to sit on it and squish it."

"......" The orange cat was shocked!

How could these humans be so cruel? They were in this situation, yet still thinking about torturing cats!

It thought, whoever said it was right—humans are such creatures that even when death is near, they show no remorse. If it weren't for the way the heavens favored humans and placed restraints on them, they really shouldn't be spared.

The crowd watched as the orange cat lowered its body, growling a threatening low sound in its throat, leading the other animals to take a stance as if preparing to attack.

Only then did everyone become tense again, huddling together and looking to Ke Xingzhou.

While these animals individually might not cause much harm, in large groups, even with so many people, they couldn’t help but feel uneasy.Moreover, among these animals, there were undoubtedly many that had turned into spirits.

The crowd was panicked, all looking towards Ke Xingzhou for help, hoping he could once again miraculously save them from this peril.

However, when they looked closely, they couldn’t help but feel a jolt—there were very few talismans left in Ke Xingzhou's hand!

Even the shadows he had summoned seemed somewhat restrained in front of these spirit-turned animals. For some unknown reason, they seemed to be hesitant and clearly unable to exert their full strength.

It was bad—were they really going to meet their end here?

Just as the crowd was trembling with fear, the spirits and animals finally moved. The orange cat leapt down from the wall, stretching its limbs fully, claws extended, leading the charge toward the crowd.

The closest contestant felt as if a small, coal-gas canister-sized whole wheat bread was charging at them. They vaguely sensed a sharp glint like a dinner knife and screamed in terror: “Ahhh! It’s going to attack me!”

However, at this moment, everyone was surrounded, facing attacks from all sides, and no one could afford to help them.

As the tide of stray animals and spiders surged toward the crowd, everyone couldn’t help but widen their eyes, looking at these normally inconspicuous little creatures rushing toward them, about to decide their fate.

Screams rang out one after another.

But the next moment, they didn’t feel the expected horror. Apart from the spirit that had been the first to charge and failed to stop in time, the other animals and the spider swarm all stopped at their feet.

Ke Xingzhou had indeed taken action. He suddenly raised his arm, one hand extended straight ahead, the other bent at his side, as if aiming at something.

The crowd saw that in his left hand, he was holding a delicate and small model bow.

Everyone: [......]

What could such a small bow do?! With such a grand gesture, they thought he was about to unleash some big move!

The crowd couldn’t help but feel speechless. Honestly, they shouldn’t have come to find someone in the first place. Wouldn’t it have been better to get some supplies and come back later?

Although the room full of small spiders was indeed frightening, it wasn’t as urgent as the situation they were in now, being squeezed between two forces, right?

Some people in the crowd looked at Ke Xingzhou and Xie An with strange expressions, but in the next moment, a delicate and imposing longbow appeared in Ke Xingzhou’s hands.

The bow was carved with intricate patterns, and as it appeared, it seemed to shimmer with light. But whether it was their illusion or not, although the patterns on the bow were complete, they somehow gave off a sense of being on the brink of death.

Ke Xingzhou's bow had no string, but when his fingers touched it, a golden light suddenly appeared, wrapping itself around the bow and forming a bowstring.

As Ke Xingzhou slowly drew the bowstring, an arrow composed of golden light and Taoist magic materialized out of thin air.

The arrow was imposing, and as soon as it appeared before the crowd, the animals and spider swarm that had been watching hungrily all instinctively retreated in fear.

Only the orange cat and a few stray animals around it didn’t move.

The moment they felt the threat, they arched their backs, not hesitating to take an attacking stance, their fur standing on end, making their already round, plump bodies look even rounder.

Ke Xingzhou’s arrow pointed directly at the orange cat, which flattened its ears and growled threateningly at him.

The atmosphere became tense.

Then, the orange cat suddenly twitched its fur and leapt towards Ke Xingzhou—only to zip past him and dash straight into the nearest mouse hole, kicking aside the dumb dog that was blocking it. It kicked furiously for dozens of times, finally squeezing its way out of the narrow mouse hole.The plump figure disappeared into the hole, and everyone couldn’t help but exhale a sigh of relief.

It finally got out.

Wait, no, that’s not right.

The crowd: “?????”

The small courtyard fell into a brief silence. No one had expected Ke Xingzhou’s bow to be so effective; just taking it out had scared away the leader of the animals.

The animals were also stunned. The wild dogs, who had been following the leader and preparing to escape, looked at the mouse hole, which was only large enough for the muzzle of their own snout, and howled mournfully, tilting their heads to the other side of the courtyard.

There was no response from the other side of the wall. The orange cat leader had probably run far away by now.

Behind them, Ke Xingzhou had already drawn his bow and aimed it. Feeling the terrifying aura, the dumb dog under the orange cat’s command shook its hind legs, tail tucked in, and timidly turned around. Its large, grape-like eyes welled up with tears, which fell to the ground with loud splashes.

On the other side, the swallow, which had been flying upwards, was also pointed at by Ke Xingzhou’s arrow. It awkwardly flapped its wings and flew back.

It landed on the dumb dog’s head, flapping its wings twice, looking nervously at Ke Xingzhou before suddenly starting to hop around, performing a courtship dance.

Swallow: “Chirp! Chirp chirp!”

The crowd: [......]

The encirclement finally dispersed.

The remaining animals were likely not spirits. After the leader fled, they looked around in confusion. Their natural fear of humans overpowered their obedience to the leader, and they quickly scattered.

Only a few swallows and the group of small spiders remained, staring intently at An He Guang and Gu Xicheng, as if they had some sort of grudge.

An He Guang sniffled long and hard: “Swallow bro, swallow sis, I promise I won’t take your bird nests again. Please, great birds, don’t hold grudges, spare me…”

Great birds...

The crowd fell silent for a moment, but it seemed like the swallows really understood, as they dropped a few piles of bird droppings on him before flying off.

Everyone suddenly realized and turned their gazes toward the only person still being glared at—Gu Xicheng.

Gu Xicheng: “……”

To be honest, it wasn’t that he wasn’t willing to admit fault, but An He Guang had really done something wrong and needed to apologize. Apart from having a nightmare where he ate half a spider, he hadn’t done anything to deserve the anger of these little spiders!

He was still being relentlessly pursued by the small spiders. Earlier, he had been able to stand next to Xie Baiqiu, but after saying those annoying words, even Xie Baiqiu didn’t want to stand with him anymore.

Others were keeping their distance, wanting nothing to do with him.

—Didn’t anyone realize he was from the Gu family?!

Gu Xicheng was really angry.

But the crowd was completely oblivious to his anger and only felt the joy of finally escaping danger.

What confused everyone was that, although the crisis had been averted, Ke Xingzhou was still tense, holding his bow and aiming it at the sky.Hadn't the swallow spirits already been scared down?

Everyone was confused, just about to look up to see what was happening, when Ke Xingzhou stopped them.

Ke Xingzhou spoke in a low voice: “Lu Pan, please take them all out.”

Covered in a black robe, standing in front of the ghost group, Lu Zhi Dao also sensed something was wrong. He waved his hand and pointed out a subordinate from the ghost group: “You, escort them out of here.”

After speaking, he threw her a brush the length of an adult’s forearm.

Xiao Ai immediately stepped forward, catching the brush. She shook her head at Xie Baiqiu, who was looking at her, and spoke to the crew: “Follow me.”

The crowd thought that since nothing was chasing them anymore, couldn’t they leave on their own?

In the next moment, a violent wind suddenly rose, and the tiles on the roof of the Wangfu were lifted, crashing to the ground and breaking into pieces.

The sky above them had turned dark, and thick, ink-like black clouds gathered above the Wangfu. A roaring voice came from within the clouds: “Hmph! Do you think you can come and go as you please here?”

The voice was deep and thunderous, sounding like a thunderclap in their ears. Everyone felt a sharp pain in their eardrums and immediately covered their ears, but still felt a buzzing in their heads.

They wanted to look up to see what was happening, but heard Ke Xingzhou’s voice cutting through the noise and the obstruction of their hands: “Don’t look up, just follow the intern judge… and the actor in front.”

Everyone: “……”

You said it out loud! Do you think we’re fools?!

However, this was not the time to dwell on such things. The pressure from the black clouds above only intensified, and the raging winds hit them as if a giant hand was slapping and playing with them back and forth.

Everyone was terrified and had no time to ask more questions. They focused on Xiao Ai and Xie Baiqiu and buried their heads, following them outside.

Even Xie An, no matter how slow-witted, realized that the situation was extremely dangerous. Otherwise, Ke Xingzhou wouldn’t have sent someone to escort them. After all, Ke Xingzhou had taken a detour to help his sister. He hesitated, wanting to stay and help.

His luck had always been good, and his brother had said that their family’s merits were deep, always leading to unexpected results at crucial moments.

Maybe he could help his brother this time?

Just as he turned back, about to speak, he was suddenly grabbed by the shoulder. Gu Xicheng, who he didn’t know had come to his side, pulled up his collar to cover his nose and mouth, and reached out to press his lips.

“Don’t look back.” His voice came muffled. Xie An saw the intense will to survive and fear in his eyes. “If you run, your sister’s best friend won’t want to take us out!”

Xie An thought he was doing it for his own good when he heard the first half, but when he heard the second half, his face changed, and he struggled with all his might.

However, Gu Xicheng, who had been training for years, had physical strength comparable to his. The key was that someone behind him was also pushing him forward.

He was both furious and frightened. He turned his head to see who it was, only to see his sister, An He Guang, and Ke Yuanbai being pushed outside. Someone whispered in his ear: “Please, Ke Xingzhou said she would take us out. Can’t you just escort us out first?”

“Let us go first, Ke Xingzhou can do it!”

“Aren’t there still so many helpers?”

The voice above them laughed loudly: “Look at these humans. Even to those who saved them, they’re so heartless and ungrateful! Why are you still protecting them? Why not join my demon clan, live forever, do as you please! No need to suffer under that fake Heavenly Dao’s restrictions anymore!”

The wind was so strong, carrying thick dust, and everyone kept their heads down.

Xie An’s vision blurred, unable to see their faces. Even when he wanted to turn back to warn Ke Xingzhou to be careful, he couldn’t open his mouth because his lips were covered. He could only helplessly widen his eyes, and the skin on his face was pressed and deformed.He wasn't sure if it was an illusion, but he felt like he saw a group of people quickly approaching his brother.

He seemed to have even seen Mr. Nie.