35: I'm coming clean! In front of my parents, I made the pothos plant bloom!

The next day.

A black, specially modified Hongqi sedan silently drove away from the military base and merged into the traffic of Yuzhang City.

Outside the car window, the city's neon lights and bustle flashed by.

Jiang Ming watched all this, his heart completely calm.

Two hours later, the vehicle slowly drove toward an old residential community.

However, as soon as the car reached the entrance of the community, its speed suddenly dropped.

Blinding flashes of light flickered wildly through the car windows.

A dense crowd of people blocked the community's only main road, making it impassable.

Dozens of media cameras were packed together, and hundreds of influencers and fans holding glowing signs surrounded the entrance to Jiang Ming's apartment building so tightly that not even air could pass through.

"Holy crap! What a scene!" In the driver's seat, the young Ninth Bureau driver couldn't help but curse under his breath.

Over a dozen police officers from the local police station had set up a fragile cordon and were shouting themselves hoarse to maintain order. However, in the face of the excited crowd, their efforts seemed inadequate; the entire cordon was teetering, and order was on the brink of collapse.

"Mr. Jiang, we can't get through. Should we take another route or wait for backup?" the driver turned back to ask for instructions.

Jiang Ming didn't answer.

He simply put on a face mask and a baseball cap calmly.

"Stop the car."

"I'm getting out."

The driver was stunned for a moment, but he immediately executed the order.

The soft click of the door unlocking was barely audible in the noisy environment.

Jiang Ming pushed open the door and stepped out.

A sharp-eyed reporter was the first to react, screaming in a hoarse voice.

"It's the Crow God! He's back!"

Boom!

The crowd instantly went wild.

The media and fans, who had been somewhat restrained before, now completely tore off their masks. Like sharks smelling blood, they surged forward frantically.

Countless microphones, cell phones, and recording pens were almost poked into Jiang Ming's face.

"Mr. Jiang Ming! What exactly happened when Flight CA4527 lost contact?"

"Is the official report lying? Was it you who saved everyone?"

"Are you a god? Or an alien?"

"Crow God! Look at me! I've been your fan for ten years!"

"Can you perform the trick of making withered wood bloom?"

...Sharp questions and fanatical shouts mixed together, forming a wave of sound that could instantly swallow an ordinary person.

Jiang Ming stopped and stood in the center of the surging crowd.

Under the focus of countless lenses, he slowly raised his hand and took off the mask from his face.

That delicate, calm face, which had been analyzed billions of times across the internet, was thus exposed to everyone without any cover.

The noise at the scene miraculously quieted down.

Everyone held their breath, waiting for his first response.

Jiang Ming scanned the crowd, his gaze not lingering on any of the excited faces.

Facing the nearest camera, he spoke calmly.

"First, regarding the plane, I will hold a live stream on TikTok later to answer everyone's questions."

"Second, this is my home, where I live. I don't like being disturbed."

"So, now, please leave."

After saying these three sentences, Jiang Ming no longer paid attention to anyone's reaction.

He put his mask back on and walked straight toward the entrance of the apartment building.

The crowd was intimidated by his last forceful words, but their bodies were honest; no one was willing to give way.

A burly reporter carrying a camera blocked him directly in front, refusing to budge an inch.

Jiang Ming didn't take a detour, nor did he pause.

He walked straight ahead.

His shoulder made contact with the reporter's body.

The burly man, who weighed at least two hundred pounds, felt an irresistible force surge through him. He involuntarily stumbled several steps to the side, knocking down two people behind him.

Exclamations rang out.

The crowd that had surrounded Jiang Ming like an iron barrel didn't want to move, but they had to.

Jiang Ming's constitution was as high as 20 points, four times that of an ordinary adult male.

He didn't even need to use any techniques; by simply walking forward, he forced a path through the crowded throng.

No one could stop him.

Everyone could only watch helplessly as he walked into the stairwell step by step with composure, disappearing from their sight.

In the stairwell, Jiang Ming stopped and took out the encrypted phone given to him by Chen Jianguo.

He dialed the only number on it.

The call was answered almost instantly.

"It's me."

"Director Chen, I'm at my doorstep in Yuzhang."

Jiang Ming leaned against the mottled wall and spoke in an unquestionable tone.

"I'll give you one hour to clear out all unrelated personnel here."

Chen Jianguo on the other end was silent for a second, then replied in a steady voice.

"Received. Forty minutes at most."

Jiang Ming hung up the phone, stuffed it back into his pocket, and walked upstairs.

In less than thirty minutes.

A low roar of engines came from downstairs.

Several black SUVs and a signal jamming vehicle never seen before drove into the community with an overbearing posture.

The doors opened, and a group of efficient men in black uniforms and sunglasses quickly got out of the vehicles.

Without any extra words, they immediately began to orderly but forcibly disperse all the reporters and influencers.

"Sir, according to national security regulations, this area has been designated as a temporary restricted zone. Please leave immediately."

"Ma'am, please cooperate with our work, or we will take coercive measures."

Facing these "official personnel" with powerful auras and decisive actions, the media reporters who had been so arrogant moments ago instantly withered.

In less than an hour, the area downstairs of the entire community became empty... Meanwhile, Jiang Ming was already standing at his front door.

He knocked on the door.

The door opened, and his mother's familiar face, filled with anxiety, appeared before him.

"Xiao Ming!"

His mother hugged him tightly, and her long-suppressed tears instantly burst forth.

"You scared Mom to death! You scared Mom to death!"

His father stood aside, his eyes red. He kept reaching out to pat Jiang Ming's back, looking him up and down to confirm he wasn't missing any limbs.

"It's good that you're back. It's good that you're back."

Jiang Ming let his mother hug him and gently patted her back.

He walked into the house and went to the window.

Downstairs, the Ninth Bureau personnel had established a strict blockade. All vehicles and personnel attempting to approach again were blocked hundreds of meters away.

The encrypted phone in his pocket vibrated.

Chen Jianguo's call came in.

"The scene has been brought under control."

"I sent an action team from the Yuzhang branch there. They will be stationed on the outskirts of the community twenty-four hours a day to ensure the absolute safety of your family. No one will be able to disturb them again."

"Good," Jiang Ming replied with a single word.

"Also," Chen Jianguo added on the other end, "regarding your parents... do you need us to send psychological experts to 'communicate' with them?"

"No need."

Jiang Ming hung up the phone.

In the living room, his parents' emotions had calmed down a bit, but the way they looked at him was full of worry and countless questions.

"Son, what on earth... what on earth is going on?" his mother asked with a trembling voice, holding his hand. "The things said online, and those people downstairs..."

Jiang Ming looked at his parents' worried faces and didn't explain much.

He just reached out his hand toward a Pothos plant in the corner of the living room that was growing quite ordinarily.

The next second.

Under the shocked gaze of Jiang Ming's parents, the leaves of that ordinary Pothos plant stretched and grew at a speed visible to the naked eye, becoming so glossy they almost seemed to drip with moisture.

The bright green vines grew wildly, climbing up along the wall.

Most incredibly, at the tip of this Pothos plant, a flower bud appeared out of thin air and then rapidly bloomed.

The entire living room was filled with a fresh, exotic fragrance.

Jiang Ming's father and mother, looking at this scene that defied common sense, involuntarily opened their mouths wide and were stunned for quite a while.

Time seemed to stand still.

After a long time, Jiang Ming's father was the first to regain his senses.

He didn't press for answers about this supernatural scene. He just gave his son a deep look and then nudged his wife, who was still in a daze.

"Go cook."

"Our son just got back; he definitely hasn't eaten yet."

"Whatever it is, we'll talk after dinner."