Chapter 254

"Director Yang, you've been going over these files for two days straight—is it really that necessary?"

The young man driving, seeing her puzzled expression, couldn't help asking.

The Yang woman set down the documents in her hands and sighed: "You wouldn't understand."

"I don't get it—it's just some random retirement home, why do you need to come yourself?" the driver muttered, "You've even paused your overseas work..."

"Look around you."

Director Yang pointed out the car window.

Under the evening sun, the vegetation on the hillsides looked unnaturally dark green.

"Tell me—in Jingcheng, at this time of year, have you ever seen anything like this?"

"The experts said this year's climate is abnormal... plants sprouting early and all that... and the livestream added special effects, so it's even more..."

"Those experts? I hired them." Director Yang smirked, "Otherwise, who knows how big a stir this might've caused."

The young driver stared at the bizarre scenery beyond the hills, his confusion deepening.

"So what exactly is going on with this retirement home?"

"Let me put it this way—I've consulted several senior teachers." Director Yang explained further, "Current technology... simply can't achieve this effect."

"Then... what exactly is the origin of this retirement home?"

"How would I know? Maybe some secret cult faking miracles, or maybe they've acquired alien tech and plan to become modern gods—it's all speculation."

"..."

The driver winced at this—he knew the matter was extremely sensitive; mainly because this retirement home truly seemed to have something real going on!

"So what are you planning to do, Director Yang?"

"Do you think I've done nothing these past two days?"

"Huh?"

"Above has prepared several contingency plans—they're aliens, they're immortals descended from heaven, they're faking miracles..." Director Yang explained, "I'm here to scout the ground."

"Scout what kind of ground?"

The driver blinked, unconsciously asking.

Director Yang glanced at him, saying nothing.

The driver suddenly seemed to realize something, his face filled with shock.

"If they weren't so sensitive in status, and if we didn't know whether these people were friend or foe, or what their goals were... they'd have come themselves."

Hearing this, the driver clenched his lips, as if afraid to ask further: "No wonder they sent you, Director Yang..."

Director Yang shook her head, seemingly reluctant to say more, then pulled out several personnel files:

"These five people in the retirement home each have their own background—they're all no ordinary individuals. But two of them came later; the original core should be these three..." Director Yang pointed to the files of Zheng Fa, Tang Lingwu, and Bai Lao.

"Of these, this young lady is just exceptionally beautiful—nothing else special. Her family has some money, but that's nothing unusual."

"The odd ones are the other two."

"This young man, Zheng Fa—an orphan. Among these people, he has the poorest background, underwent the most drastic changes after his parents' death, has the least documentation, and is extremely mysterious..."

"So he's an alien?"

"..." Director Yang hesitated, then shook her head, "I suspect this Professor Bai."

"Huh?"

"First, he has sufficient social standing. Zheng Fa would find it hard to gather such a group of highly educated people—relation-wise, everyone here except Zheng Fa is connected to him: Professor Tian is his old friend, now his wife; Tang Mu Dao knew him from years ago; Tang Lingwu is his relative..."

"Second, he studied qigong in his youth..."

"Third, in a recent livestream, he displayed extraordinary physical vitality—almost like reversing aging..."

"This man is likely the mastermind behind all of this, while Zheng Fa, being an orphan, was placed on the surface as a decoy..."

Hearing her analysis, the driver couldn't help nodding.

As they spoke, the car arrived at the retirement home's gate.

The gate slowly opened—as if it had known they were coming.

Director Yang glanced at the driver; the driver pressed his waist, then nodded to her.

Both took a deep breath, and the car drove into the compound.

As they reached the main building, a slightly chubby man stepped out—he was someone they both knew: Tang Mu Dao.

"This man isn't ordinary either—he holds some standing in the overseas academic world and has turned the Daoist Association into a thriving organization."

Tang Mu Dao hurried forward, showing great enthusiasm: "Young Lady Yang, Mr. Chen, welcome to you both!"

Director Yang and the driver exchanged a glance—suddenly more alert. They both felt the people in this retirement home were truly extraordinary, and more importantly—it felt like a warning.

Seeing their expressions, Tang Mu Dao seemed to understand their thoughts and smiled: "Don't overthink it—I call you this way only to show we know who you are... it's just our style."

"Style? What style?"

"If we know, we say it. If we can speak, we speak." Tang Mu Dao smiled at them, "We're straightforward—no mysticism, no pretense."

Director Yang froze, her step halting.

Clearly, this was not what she had expected.

But she didn't ask further.

The three passed through the main building and arrived at the smaller house where Zheng Fa and the others lived.

"It's not that we're deliberately neglectful—everyone except me is extremely busy, racing against time."

Tang Mu Dao apologized.

Director Yang was startled again, thought for a moment, then asked: "Aren't you deliberately drawing us here?"

"Of course!" Tang Mu Dao nodded promptly, "But our main work is still research—trying to attract you is also part of the research..."

Director Yang and the driver exchanged a glance, both feeling even more confused in their hearts.

After walking two more steps inward, they understood why Tang Mudao had said that—

In the agricultural laboratory, Teacher Tian, wearing a white lab coat, was busily observing the various crops just harvested by Tian Zhong.

It was just the dead of winter, yet the crops growing extremely lush in this field made the two of them look twice.

Tang Lingwu sat before a computer, her fingers dancing on the keyboard.

If one ignored the fact that Tang Lingwu was sitting cross-legged and floating in mid-air... this scene looked quite normal.

That old man Bai Lao, the big boss in their minds, held a pencil in his hand, writing and drawing on paper, scratching his graying hair as he wrote, looking very troubled.

He didn't even know they had arrived.

Seeing the two wires attached to the old man's body, the corners of the two men's eyes twitched.

As for Zheng Fa...

A large monitor stood before him, displaying what appeared to be an e-book.

The man held a remote control, flipping pages rapidly, while his gaze remained on the monitor, seemingly reciting something aloud.

Indeed, Zheng Fa was the only normal person in this courtyard!

Zheng Fa actually knew the two had arrived earlier; he wasn't putting on airs, he was simply very busy—he had found many books and materials related to coding, computer architecture, and instruction sets, preparing to memorize them all at once to take back for Zhang Shijie's reference.

He didn't fully understand this direction either.

On the other hand, perhaps one of those books could give Zhang Shijie a spark of inspiration?

So he had long made up his mind not to waste a single minute, memorizing as much as possible—treating himself as a mobile hard drive.

When the two entered the courtyard, Zheng Fa finally spoke to them: "Welcome, both of you."

He led the two to the first-floor living room of the small building, and Tang Mudao quietly departed.

At this moment, Director Yang was startled, realizing this person was the one in charge of this nursing home.

She also seemed to have figured out Zheng Fa's personality a bit, speaking directly: "Mr. Zheng, you sought us out; is there something you need?"

"I know your position, but I am not very familiar with the authority of your work; now please tell me, can you accomplish these two matters?"

Zheng Fa indeed had no intention of playing tricks; he simply handed the two experimental project proposals to this person.

"Research on Special Electromagnetic Signals During the Twenty-Four Solar Terms?"

"A Circuit Configuration for Artificial Intelligence?"

Director Yang raised her head, her expression even more puzzled, yet she closed her mouth and looked down at the project proposals.

"This... I need to ask someone, and..." Director Yang smiled slightly with deep meaning, "What I can accomplish depends on who you Mr. Zheng and your people are, and what your purpose is."

Zheng Fa sighed lightly in his heart.

He was just a bit annoyed by this kind of mystery, hoping to speak plainly and openly.

"You have seen it; we are conducting research."

"Research on what?"

"Research on cultivation."

"I never thought these two words could be used this way..." Although Director Yang had already suspected this, Zheng Fa saying it still made her sigh; she paused for a moment and said, "But Mr. Zheng... this statement won't convince anyone."

Zheng Fa smiled lightly, and suddenly, the entire person vanished before the two of them.

Director Yang's eyelid twitched, yet her face remained expressionless: "Mr. Zheng, this method of invisibility... some technology can achieve that too."

"I simply do not wish for others to see us."

"Us?"

Director Yang was stunned, looked down, and only then realized she herself seemed to have vanished into the air.

Looking again, the driver beside her had also disappeared.

"Miss Yang, you are a local of Jingcheng, are you not?"

"Yes."

Director Yang responded with a slightly dazed tone.

"Then trouble you to show me around Jingcheng."

"Ah?"

The next moment, the two of Director Yang felt themselves wrapped in a force, flying rapidly toward the direction of Jingcheng.

It took them nearly three hours to come from Jingcheng to this place.

Yet in less than twenty minutes, they had returned to the place of departure.

Zheng Fa seemed very interested in Jingcheng, visiting several places—yet all were in the air, and no one discovered them along the way.

When the two emerged from the nursing home, Director Yang was still somewhat absent-minded.

She tightly gripped the project proposal in her hand, yet her neck felt a bit stiff, as if she dared not look back.

"Director Yang?"

When the car reached the foot of the mountain, the driver finally spoke: "We... are just going back like this?"

"What else?"

Director Yang's tone carried a hint of self-mockery.

"Then... do we just listen to them?"

"Didn't Tang Mudao say their purpose is cooperation? They just need us to demonstrate our capabilities first."

"... Do we believe whatever he says?"

"Did you think that Zheng Fa really took us on a tour?" Director Yang sighed, "With abilities like his... if he wanted to do something, who could stop him?"

"..."

【121】 "..."

The driver's face paled in alarm as Director Yang spoke:

"You can only pray that these people truly wish to cooperate with us."

"And..." Director Yang produced a glass bottle containing several peas. "They have already stated their price, haven't they?"