Chapter 423: Digging a Pit, What Am I Doing?

When he returned to Yujing, he arrived just in time for lunch.

Lunch was settled at the neighbor's house next door. The neighbor surnamed Zhang had bought a large pot of pickled vegetable and bean curd hotpot from outside. Inside, besides the pickled vegetables and bean curd, there were all sorts of meats boiled in it, as well as some potato slices, with a dipping sauce provided for each person. When Chen Shu arrived, they were already seated, four people and one cat. They had left an empty seat for him between Qingqing and Chen Banxia, with a bowl and chopsticks set on the table.

Chen Shu was always the one cooking, always waiting for others to eat. It was rare for others to prepare the meal, set out the bowls and chopsticks, and wait for him; he actually felt a different kind of warmth.

"Hurry, hurry, we were just waiting for you!"

"Where did you go?" Chen Banxia turned her head to ask. "You didn't reply to the messages I sent you."

"I'm here, I'm here."

Chen Shu walked over and sat down, picked up his chopsticks, and replied to Chen Banxia: "I had something to do this morning, so I went back to the Spirit Sect. I was in the air before."

"Why did you go back to the Spirit Sect?"

"I had business."

"What business?"

"You have so many questions..."

"What kind of attitude is that? Your sister is concerned about you!"

"Eat, eat."

Chen Shu was the first to reach his chopsticks into the pot.

The pickled vegetable and bean curd used a rich broth; the soup base was bright and fresh, mixed with the flavor of the pickled vegetables.

Although bean curd was the main ingredient, there was a great deal of meat boiled inside. Just a glance was enough to see chicken, Crispy Meat, slippery meat, and snakehead fish slices, as well as ham sausages and some meatball products, so it didn't seem bland at all. Added to that was a sprinkling of pea tips and tomatoes, so it didn't feel too greasy either.

Chen Shu first picked up a piece of bean curd and rolled it in the dipping dish. The mixture of various spices created a flavor completely different from the hotpot; it was the soul of the bean curd.

One bite, and he could eat a large mouthful of rice.

He then turned his head to ask the person beside him: "Banxia Laoshi, you've been teaching for more than half a semester now, and with the final exams approaching, how are the teaching results?"

"They're great."

"You won't fail half the class in the finals, will you?"

"How is that possible! I guarantee everyone will pass!"

"Anyway, whether they pass or not is up to you to decide, right?"

"Pah! My teaching quality is excellent. The department arranged for other teachers to sit in on my classes, and they couldn't stop praising them after listening!" Chen Banxia explained, unable to help but frown at her younger brother. "You! I ask you something, you don't answer, and you say I have too many questions, yet you turn around and ask me!"

"I'm concerned about you..."

"No! Only I am allowed to be concerned about you!"

"Can't be bothered with you."

Chen Shu picked up another piece of slippery meat and again coated it in the dipping dish.

"How is it?"

Zhang Suannai looked at him expectantly: "Is it good? My former roommate recommended it. I ran twenty kilometers to get it packed."

"It's good."

This evaluation made Zhang Suannai very happy. Otherwise, she was always sponging off his good meals, and the takeout she ordered or the restaurants she treated him to were all just average—how could that do?

"Hehe..."

In the early winter season, steam rose, mixed with laughter. This kind of worldly atmosphere, compared to the plain life Chen Shu usually led with Qingqing and Xiaoxiao, had a bit more liveliness and felt a bit more grounded. For a moment, Chen Shu felt that even if he spent the next few hundred years like this, it would be a pretty good thing.

In the afternoon.

Chen Shu sat on the swing, scrolling through videos.

The events in Xixiao the day before yesterday had undoubtedly become the biggest news in the world these past few days.

The Square Body was unearthed; Yiguo dispatched an Aircraft Carrier Formation and a Sky Carrier for combat; a battle of the Ninth Stage; the secret realm was empty after the Square Body opened. Any one of these news items would have been enough to dominate the top of the trending searches, yet they were concentrated together the day before yesterday. The attraction for anyone was enormous.

Many bloggers smelled the scent of traffic in this.

But Chen Shu scrolled through several in a row, yet he smelled something other than traffic.

"Everyone must be very concerned about what happened in Xixiao the day before yesterday. Today, I will give you the most detailed reveal and analysis on the entire internet..."

"Who dares to go against Zhongzhou and Dayi? Who is worth us dispatching a Sky Carrier and an Aircraft Carrier Formation? Who could fight the current Sword Master to a draw under the threat of a Sky Carrier and an Aircraft Carrier Formation? Who could empty out all the treasures in the Xixiao Tesseract Secret Realm under such powerful military guard? Today, I will sort out the sequence of events for everyone in detail. Most information comes from special channels; if there are any errors, I take no responsibility..."

"..."

Video after video, the content was much the same.

Chen Shu usually paid attention to this kind of information, and he often scrolled past several well-known bloggers—the type you would see even if you didn't follow them. But the few bloggers he saw today were all a bit unfamiliar. Clicking in, the follower counts weren't low, ranging from hundreds of thousands to over a million, but compared to the top bloggers with several million to tens of millions of followers, they were still quite a bit behind.

Probably spent money on promotion, right?

Taking advantage of a hot topic to spend money on promotion was understandable, but the videos they made made Chen Shu detect something unusual.

First, the quality was very high, the script was very strong, and the explanation was very logical. Flipping through their usual videos, they didn't have such high quality... If every one of their usual videos could have such high quality, they would be top-tier bloggers.

Second, the content had a certain bias.

They emphasized Cao Ci's power, and when mentioning his identity as a citizen of Yiguo, they followed up by mentioning his actions in other continents and countries, but they didn't mention the news of him injuring the Imperial Family's Ninth Stage expert or him severely injuring an Imperial Family descendant last year, nor did they mention the actions of the Mengyue Sect in Dayi.

It didn't sound like there was anything wrong.

At least most people couldn't hear anything wrong.

But even if Chen Shu sensed something was off, he could only say that the videos these bloggers made were not objective enough, and the information was biased and incomplete.

It was an introduction to Cao Ci, and Cao Ci was indeed very powerful; they were just stating facts. As for other matters, they were just video bloggers after all; they might not have the ability to link those things to Cao Ci, or they might not be very familiar with what the Mengyue Sect did in Dayi. Moreover, compared to other countries, the Mengyue Sect was indeed extremely, extremely restrained in Dayi.

But several videos were like this.

Dayi had a population of one billion, and the high level of cultural popularization had created hundreds of millions of netizens. As the saying goes, in a big forest, there are all kinds of birds.

A small portion of people had a very strange psychology—

If there was a fellow countryman who was very powerful and went around burning, killing, and looting in other countries, and people in those other countries could do nothing about him... they wouldn't feel that this person had lost face for them; instead, they would feel proud because of it, and even develop a little bit of worship for him.

This portion of people accounted for a very small, very, very small percentage, and they were largely concentrated among younger netizens.

Most people's intelligence and values are still normal.

But the total number of people is just too high...

Chen Shu continued to scroll down.

"The most detailed video on the entire internet revealing the identity of that Ninth Stage powerhouse in Xixiao is here, family, I suggest you like and save it, and while you're at it, hit that follow button. If I don't post a new video tomorrow, it means I was killed by people from the Mengyue Sect.

"... Cao Ci... the eldest disciple of the former Ming Sect Sect Master, the senior martial brother of the current Ming Sect Sect Master... the strongest person of that era... a contemporary of the current Sword Master, the Former Emperor, and the Calamity-Responding Buddha...

"He once suppressed an entire era...

"He once entered Yuanzhou alone when it fell, fought a bloody battle for fourteen days, his Indestructible True Body nearly annihilated, and reclaimed Yuanzhou...

"He once...

"Later, because he was single-mindedly devoted to the martial path, he made a mistake and was expelled from the Ming Sect, and later drifted overseas to establish the Mengyue Sect..."

It was a very objective summary of Cao Ci's life.

At this point in time, when the whole world is paying attention to this person, posting a video like this is as normal as it gets.

Yet Chen Shu frowned more and more.

He then clicked into the comment section—

Bird Will Stand Out: Seems like a super badass big shot. I heard he spent his whole life pursuing powerful personal martial strength, pursuing further advancement his whole life. I guess there's some method in the Mijing that can help him reach a higher level. (Expand 6542 comments)

I'm Just Talking Nonsense: No one in the world can beat him, right? (Expand 3242 comments)

Tourist 4: This guy isn't bad. Not only did he make great contributions to the country, but he also appeared twice recently because of the Square Body. Once in Duqin, he didn't make a move until everyone stationed around the Square Body had evacuated. Once in Xixiao, there were several county towns below, and even though he could have used them as hostages, he went straight to the sea hundreds of kilometers away to fight. (Expand 3423 comments)

Galaxy: To be honest, if I were Cao Ci, the strongest in martial power of an era, and had fought to the death to make so many contributions to the country only to be expelled from the sect, I would be capable of doing anything. (Expand 4312 comments)

"..."

Chen Shu fell into deep thought, then sighed—

The era really is different now.

There are too many people online, and all kinds of people exist. If this continues, many people will really start to worship Cao Ci.

And you can't even delete it.

Because this group of people is often quite rebellious; the more you delete, the stronger their curiosity becomes, the more they feel you are hiding something, and the more they feel that worshiping Cao Ci and being different from others is a cool thing.

At the same time, with the help of Cao Ci emptying the Mijing and escaping unscathed under the siege of the Sword Master and the Yiguo army in Xixiao a few days ago, Cao Ci's reputation has already resounded globally, and information about him will inevitably ferment rapidly online. Who knows how many rebellious teenagers and brainless youths it will attract.

What's even more terrifying is that these bloggers, as well as the netizens in the comment section, aren't all paid. At least most, if not the vast majority, are just following the trend or acting spontaneously. They aren't even talking nonsense; they are just speaking their own truths, and that alone achieves this effect.

And these people are just a few among hundreds of millions.

Chen Shu even once felt that Cao Ci coming to Xixiao wasn't just for the things in the Mijing, but also for this step. He even suspected for a moment that perhaps Cao Ci's team and the Heavenly Human Mirror had the upper hand in this small confrontation with the Command Center, and that his emptying of the Mijing was also within their expectations.

I wonder how the Secret Sect big shot will play this game with him.

"Cao Ci has capable people under him..."

Chen Shu sighed, his hand scrolling down again.

"Recently, with the end of counter-terrorism in Xixiao, counter-terrorism in Zhongzhou has also basically come to an end, and our country's military forces have begun to withdraw from various countries. As everyone knows, in this process, our country recruited many volunteer ancient cultivators from major sects within the country. Speaking of which, it's unbelievable, but the youngest among them is actually just twenty-four years old. So let's take stock of those young talents of our era who have surpassed the ancients. (Taking the ancient cultivator path privately is illegal, please do not imitate.)

"First is the closed-door disciple of the Sword Sect Sword Master, the most beautiful Sword Immortal on the highway, the youngest Seven-Tier Cultivator in history, Zhang Suannai, who shocked the entire ancient cultivation academic world with her article 'Research on Traditional Sword Cultivator Tactics Against Wangting Sword Sect' and became the goddess in the hearts of traditional sword cultivator enthusiasts nationwide. As a Sword Sect Disciple, when the country has combat needs, she is naturally unambiguous...

"Second is the Imperial Family member who went to fight in Puluo the year before last but unfortunately suffered injuries, the youngest generation direct descendant, Meng Haoran, who has also advanced to high-tier...

"Then there is the Spirit Sect cultivator, Chen Shu, also just 24 years old, a student at Yujing Academy, a fifth-year student this year. Everyone might be a bit unfamiliar with this name, however, as far as I know, this person is also an extraordinary figure in the Traditional Magic Academy at Yujing Academy, but compared to the first two, he has always been low-key...

"Let me put it another way, in the last University City Martial Arts Tournament (those who don't know can search for 'Martial Arts Tournament' on my homepage to know what the Yujing University Martial Arts Tournament is and its weight), it was Chen Shu against Zhang Suannai in the final battle. In the end, Chen Shu suppressed Zhang Suannai, the previous champion, and successfully took the crown..."

Chen Shu couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth.

"This..."

Just then, the door was pushed open.

Two figures walked in.

Chen Banxia spotted him at a glance and asked casually: "What are you looking at? You're so engrossed..."

"Nothing..."

Suddenly, the mobile phone rang.

Chen Banxia asked again: "Whose call is it?"

"Your mom's..."

Chen Shu held up the mobile phone and pressed answer.

Hearing this, Chen Banxia immediately trotted over, moved close to his side, took his arm, and leaned against him, her eyes sparkling—given her height, she needed to stand on her tiptoes slightly to press her ear against her younger brother's mobile phone to eavesdrop on Mom calling him.

"Chen Shu, are you trying to die...

"You're hiding things pretty deep...

"If I don't ask you, you won't tell me, right?

"You've really grown up, haven't you? You can even do such dangerous things...

"..."

Chen Shu couldn't help but hold the mobile phone further away, then turned his head and said to Chen Banxia with a chuckle: "Your mom's voice is quite loud..."

Chen Banxia opened her eyes wide, concentrating on eavesdropping.

Zhang Suannai was also listening from the side, but not to the content of the call, but secretly feeling this sensation of having parents who care.

It's so nice...

A few minutes later, the call ended.

Chen Banxia blinked her eyes and looked at her younger brother: "What did you go do this past month? You made Mom so angry! I was wondering why you never came to find me."

"I wasn't thinking that you had to go to class and sleep, so how would you have time to worry about other things."

"Nonsense!"

"Isn't it?"

"Hurry up and tell me, what on earth did you go do?"

"Don't you have other information channels?"

"I can't be bothered."

"Then don't ask..."

"No way! I want to ask!" Chen Banxia grabbed Chen Shu by the neck, "Tell me quickly!"

"Not saying."

"Tell me so I can cover for you!"

"Find a way to satisfy your own curiosity."

"..."

Chen Banxia paused for a moment, then suddenly turned her head and looked at her little friend with burning eyes: "I suddenly realized, you haven't come to play with me for a month either! Do you know what Chen Shu went to do this past month?"

"..."

Zhang Suannai's heart was still echoing with the feeling of Wei Lvshi caring for Chen Shu just now, and her expression was blank. Hearing her little friend's words, she first glanced at Chen Shu, then glanced at her little friend; reason told her that she should expose this dog right now so that he would be scolded by his sister right after being scolded by his mother, but for some reason, when the words reached her lips, they turned into—

"I don't know either..."