227: Chapter 225 Questioning the Heart

Leaving the Municipal Building, Zhang Mu strolled through the streets with his Shadow Technique active.

Perhaps influenced by the supernatural events, the crowds on the streets were much busier than half a year ago.

Besides those looking for immortals, there were also many live-streaming teams just joining in the fun.

Most of them wore white robes similar to Immortal Xu's and tied their hair long like ancient people; those with short hair were forced to wear wigs to make up the numbers.

Not just them, the locals of Su City were in a similar situation.

Looking at the streets and citizens that seemed to have returned to an ancient city, Zhang Mu estimated that even if he deactivated his Shadow Technique, probably no one would discover his identity.

This was indeed the case.

Upon revealing himself, as expected, no one around him cried out in surprise or crowded over.

Instead, because of his outstanding temperament and his "very similar" attire and demeanor to Immortal Xu, he was pulled by many young girls for photos.

Time slipped away quietly, and in an instant, it was already sunset.

Under the dim yellow streetlights, Zhang Mu stood with his hands behind his back, his gaze falling on the bustle across the road.

The environment of this commercial street was decent, with lush camphor trees planted on both sides and the street swept clean and tidy, so many teams chose this as their live-streaming location.

They set up tripods directly on the road in front of the rows of shops, placed their phones horizontally, and could start broadcasting.

As a Magister, Zhang Mu's hearing was exceptionally sharp; even though the surroundings were full of car noises, conversations, and the occasional honking of sedans, he could still clearly hear the streamers' "family members."

They didn't reveal any valuable information to their viewers; after all, they hadn't seen Immortal Xu themselves.

But it had to be said, they were professionals after all, and they had a way of manipulating people's hearts.

"Ten rockets, and the streamer will head to the outskirts overnight to take the family to find the immortal's dwelling!"

It was roughly that kind of rhetoric.

Zhang Mu couldn't help but want to laugh; did people really believe that?

"Thank you, boss! Boss is generous! Come on, let's go!"

Looking up, a young man across the street picked up his phone tripod and sped away in a sedan with his friends, disappearing into the night at the end of the road before long.

"..." After a moment of silence, Zhang Mu sighed helplessly, "It takes all kinds to make a world."

"Handsome guy, can we take a photo?"

His shoulder was tapped; turning around, he saw three young girls wearing JK uniforms.

Actually, they weren't that young.

Looking up, Zhang Mu smiled: "Feel free."

"Wow, we've photographed so many people today, but you have the most authentic vibe."

The three of them took turns, each finishing a photo with him. The girl who spoke peered at the silver hair behind Zhang Mu: "A wig? Dyed?"

"It's real."

Probably not used to his conciseness, the girl blinked: "Immersive cosplay?"

Shaking his head without saying more, Zhang Mu turned and walked to the right, in the direction out of the city.

"Where are you going?"

"Home."

As his leisurely back receded, the three of them looked at each other: "He's a pretty good-looking guy, but his head seems a bit off."

"Maybe he's too into character."

The girl in the middle raised her phone, pointed the camera at the nearly disappearing Zhang Mu and took a photo, then swiped the screen with her index finger: "Tsk, he's really photogenic, if only... Huh?"

"What's wrong?"

"He looks a bit familiar, come look."

The two heads leaned in, staring together at the clean image on the phone.

"Do you know him?"

"Let me think..." She wrinkled her face in deep thought for a moment, then suddenly screamed, "Holy crap!"

"What are you doing?!" The two were startled and complained dissatisfiedly.

Without explaining to them, the girl in the middle opened an app and pulled up a video: "Look, exactly the same!"

In the paused frame, under a dark sky thick with black clouds, the back of a white-clad figure with wild silver hair hung in the air, facing the lightning looming in the clouds.

The three stared in silence for a while, then looked up at the same time and glanced at each other. The girl on the right said hesitantly: "Could it just be a resemblance?"

The one on the left agreed: "I think so too. Su City is so big, and the immortal is so elusive. How could our luck be so explosive that we'd run into him just by stepping out?"

"But..."

The girl in the middle couldn't refute it, but she was a bit unwilling, so she pulled them to chase after Zhang Mu.

Strangely, even though the person had only been gone for a minute and there were no side paths or intersections on the commercial street, they ran for ten minutes and surprisingly didn't see him.

Where did he go?

The three of them, a bit dazed, stood by the roadside clutching their waists and panting.

After catching their breath, they asked an old man sitting on a bamboo chair in front of a shop if he had seen a young man in white ancient clothing pass by.

The old man waved his hand.

The three of them were stunned.

"Was it really him?"

"Otherwise, how did he disappear? The pedestrian street only has one main road."

"We..."

She only said half of it, but both companions understood what she was going to say next.

"It's past six o'clock. Will it be dangerous to go into the mountains?"

The concern made sense, so they dialed their parents' phones.

Because they were too excited, they didn't mention taking a photo with the immortal, only saying they were going to the mountains.

Then, as expected, they received "kind concern" from their parents, asking if they wanted a beating.

After quickly explaining the reason, the three pairs of parents suddenly hung up the phone in unison.

Ten minutes later, the six of them ran over together.

"Where's the immortal?! Let me see quickly!"

Taking the daughter's phone, he pulled out his own, opened the long-saved video of the tribulation, and put them together for comparison.

"No mistake!"

He was spitting with excitement, asking his daughter where the immortal was.

"Uh, we didn't catch up, but the immortal said he was going home."

Home?

Wouldn't that be the deep mountains in the outskirts?

"Let's go, let's go, let's go!"

Although this dad was exceptionally impatient, the other two couples, who had been old friends for many years, didn't think it was excessive.

As locals of Su City, having experienced several manifestations of the immortal, they had already summarized a wealth of experience.

Whenever the immortal appeared, something big would happen.

Hadn't the news already broadcasted that the Mountain Gate was recruiting disciples? Maybe they would have a chance too?

The nine people drove their own cars, and the small convoy of three cars sped out of the city.

And Zhang Mu indeed, as they guessed, arrived at the riverbank in the mountains.

The gravel beach, which had been peaceful, became lively again.

It was still that campsite filled with tents, and there were still police outside maintaining order and protecting the safety of the public.

Only compared to last time, the tents and police force had increased by more than just a little.

And even though it was dark, people still kept flocking in.

Zhang Mu stood on the top of the slope and gazed for a while, his Mental Energy wrapping around his body as he shot straight into the sky above the camp.

Because the night was deepening and he was floating in mid-air, no one noticed him for the time being.

But it wasn't a big problem; he had a way to gather their gazes.

He took out a crystal from his inventory and suspended it above his head, pouring magic power into it. Pure white light immediately radiated in all directions, illuminating the surroundings like daylight.

With such a big commotion, even someone with impaired vision could sense the light source.

The people who came here were all physically sound, so they naturally noticed the anomaly immediately and rushed out of their tents, lifting the curtains.

"Crap! Wife, come quickly to see the immortal!"

Hearing the shouts, Zhang Mu felt very melancholy, as if he were performing like a monkey.

Composing himself amidst a light sigh, he raised his voice: "The Mountain Gate opens, the cycles of time turn; the word 'Fate' lies in this very day."

As his voice fell, he waved his large hand, and twenty jade pendants shimmering with colorful light lined up neatly, floating up and down in front of him.

"Those with fate shall obtain them."

In the next second, as if receiving a command, the jade pendants lit up with dazzling colors and then scattered in all directions, streaking across the night sky like meteors with flaming tails.

He looked down at the noisy crowd below.

There were those hurriedly rushing out of the camp to find the jade pendants, those kneeling and bowing incessantly on the spot, and some who seemed not to have reacted to what was happening, pulling the people around them to ask.

It was done.

Zhang Mu stayed no longer, extinguished the light, and flew away.

He didn't go home, but headed straight for the workshop in Jiu Jin Mountain.

The jade pendants had built-in formations for creating illusions; as for recruiting disciples, he wouldn't have to worry about it after this.

Now, he had to prepare for bringing the disciples into the Mountain Gate.

Even schools welcoming new students have to create some momentum to keep up appearances.

After all, it was an "Immortal Sect"; walking, or flying with his physical body, or even riding a sword, he felt it was lacking something.

He had been thinking about it on the way, and once he reached his own factory, he roughly had an idea.

Immortal Beasts.

Immortals and immortal beasts were always discussed together; the two coexisted, and whenever one was mentioned, the other could not be absent.

Compared to the wizard pets in Hogwarts, procuring immortal beasts was much more troublesome.

The Saul Continent had a large number of magical beasts that could serve as magic pets; he could just grab some with gentle temperaments that could be tamed.

But the general perception of immortal beasts seemed to be "ethereal, auspicious," and so on.

Zhang Mu had looked for them on the Saul Continent but couldn't find any magical beasts that met the criteria.

Each one was either big and clumsy, had a hideous appearance, was exceptionally violent, or the species didn't fit.

Light-attribute magical beasts were slightly more suitable, but only a small number inhabited the Holy Mountain of the Church, and there was no chance to catch them.

Moreover, if Zhang Mu really traveled a long way to the Holy Mountain and took huge risks to poach a few, it wouldn't really work.

Uh, putting a holy unicorn in a Chinese Mountain Gate wouldn't feel right.

Therefore, the only way was to create puppets.

Zhang Mu planned to build a Kunpeng; this was a massive project, and the resources required were also enormous.

Sitting at a wooden table in a corner of the workshop, he held a pen and listed various materials on a white piece of paper.

It took half an hour to finish. He stood up and summoned a Portal to the Other World.

He called Solon over, gave him the material list, instructed him to prepare everything as quickly as possible, and immediately returned to Blue Star to start getting busy with the bit left over from making the Owl.

...

The next day, Su City, China.

The commotion caused by Zhang Mu quickly fermented on the internet.

First, there were a small number of close-up photos of the immortal uploaded by individual accounts.

At first, the comments were all ridicule and skepticism: "Do you think the immortal is a monkey? Wandering around the street and taking photos with whoever pulls him?"

But when the video of the immortal in the air and the jade pendants scattering across the Divine Land was frantically reposted, and within a day it had spread to the point where everyone knew about it, the tone of the comment section immediately shifted.

Comments asking for the "original photo" were like Soldiers in formation, and the formation was perfect.

But it was only for a short while; soon people's attention was drawn to "recruiting disciples."

To prevent lawless elements from taking the opportunity to fish in troubled waters, the Special Investigation Bureau chose to immediately disclose to the public and explain the details.

The effort was exceptionally large.

Besides publishing text announcements on the official accounts of major internet platforms, local TV stations uniformly broadcasted relevant news simultaneously, the 24-hour continuous kind.

Even neighborhood committees at all levels were fully mobilized, posting notices in streets, alleys, and at the ends of villages.

The general content was that individuals who obtained a jade pendant should immediately contact the Special Investigation Bureau's hotline, and the state would assist in increasing the test pass rate.

To prevent some idiots with heads full of persecution paranoia from doing something stupid, the Special Investigation Bureau also released a video of Zhao Qi talking with Immortal Xu.

Thanks to the live stream when Luo Xiling became a disciple, Zhao Qi's appearance was already well known to the public.

With this as proof, the fact that the Special Investigation Bureau and Immortal Xu had a deep relationship was beyond doubt.

At the same time, the Director sent out all the staff, combined with the manpower urgently transferred from other departments, to search for anomalies within the borders.

They had discussed this; since Immortal Xu said "anomalies can be seen," they must be very conspicuous.

Therefore, although they didn't know exactly what the anomalies would be, they still carried out actions around this Core.

It wasn't until the first person to luckily obtain a jade pendant appeared that the Director realized it was all a waste of effort.

That person lived in the urban area of A City. It was the middle of the night when suddenly a pillar of light shot up from the city center, straight into the clouds.

Did they even need to look specifically? People from a hundred miles away could see it clearly with the naked eye.

Like dominoes, the second one followed closely, a beam of light rising in a certain mountainous area.

In about half a month, all twenty lucky ones had appeared.

It must have been the result of the Special Investigation Bureau's efforts; none of them hid, but instead quickly dialed the phone and were sent to Su City by arriving helicopters.

When everyone arrived, although the Director was eager to know the mystery of the jade pendants, he still restrained his impulse and let the somewhat anxious group finish their meal first.

After their tension eased, the Director gathered them in the top-floor conference room of the Municipal Building to ask about the details of the test.

The answer left him puzzled; these lucky people didn't know themselves.

According to their accounts, the jade pendants flew to them on their own.

At that time, there was no pattern to what they were doing—eating, napping, playing games, working.

They were all busy when suddenly they felt an itch on their chests. Pulling open their collars, they saw a tattoo in the shape of a jade pendant on their chests.

Before they could figure out the reason, the tattoo shot out a pillar of light that reached the sky.

All twenty people said the same thing, and the Director was at a loss, so he could only call the expert team that had been on standby for a long time to give them a comprehensive physical examination.

Another day passed, and the written report of the results was placed on the Director's desk.

Not unexpectedly, there were no abnormalities; everyone was a healthy, normal person.

Oh, one wasn't; he was found to have a tumor, malignant.

After the Director finished reading, he hurried to comfort him.

Pushing open the room door, the man was lying on the bed with his eyes closed. Stepping forward to call him, the Director was shocked to find that he couldn't be woken up no matter what.

If his chest hadn't been rising and falling, the Director would have almost thought he couldn't handle the pressure and had swallowed pills.

Doctors were immediately brought in from all over the country for a consultation, but the famous doctors were helpless.

All the equipment that could be used was used, and there was no shortage of Chinese medicine practitioners.

The test results were the same as before—except for the tumor, all other organs were completely normal.

The Director wondered, a tumor shouldn't make someone fall into an unbreakable sleep, right?

If it were usual, he would probably have thought it was some difficult and complicated disease meeting humans for the first time.

But since this happened right after the jade pendant reached the person, he wouldn't believe it if someone said there was no connection even if he were killed.

Thus, the entire Special Investigation Bureau, including the remaining nineteen lucky ones, all waited eagerly for him to wake up.

The sun rose and set, ten times.

The man opened his eyes.

He blinked and saw a circle of faces in front of him, but he wasn't panicked or surprised.

Sitting up and pulling out the IV tube from the back of his hand, he smiled: "Heart Inquiry."

"Heart Inquiry?"

"Yes, if you want to enter the Mountain Gate, you just need to pass the Heart Inquiry stage."

Why did his tone sound so relaxed?

Zhao Qi shook his head and quickly spoke: "What was asked?"

"Heart Demon."