227: Is there spiritual energy on Earth? Zombies!

"Little... Little Chen?"

Lu Xiangyang's pupils suddenly constricted. He stared intently at the familiar yet unfamiliar face before him.

"You really are Little Chen!" he exclaimed, losing his voice.

"Big Brother."

Lu Yuchen took a step forward, a hint of guilt in his eyes.

"It's me."

These two simple words struck Lu Xiangyang's heart heavily.

He looked at the face before him, almost unchanged from twenty years ago, at the familiar eyes, the familiar corners of the mouth...

The memories he had sealed away for twenty years surged forth frantically.

"It really is you..."

Lu Xiangyang couldn't control his emotions. He rushed forward, embracing his long-lost younger brother tightly. A man nearing fifty, he was now crying like a child.

"You brat! Don't you know! Where on earth have you been for the past twenty years!"

Lu Xiaoya stood dumbfounded, her mind blank as she witnessed the utterly unbelievable scene.

Uncle?

Her... her little uncle, whom she had only seen in old photographs, and who was said to have disappeared twenty years ago?

He... he's actually alive?! And still so young!

...

The two brothers hugged for a long time before slowly separating.

"Where are Mom and Dad?" Lu Yuchen's voice trembled slightly.

Upon hearing this, the joy on Lu Xiangyang's face was instantly replaced by a touch of sadness.

"Your Mom and Dad..." His eyes reddened, "Some time ago, they were diagnosed... both with late-stage cancer. Now, they're staying at the City People's Hospital."

Boom!

Lu Yuchen's entire body trembled.

...

City People's Hospital, special care ward.

When Lu Yuchen arrived.

His parents, already emaciated by illness, couldn't believe their eyes.

"Little... Little Chen?"

"Mom! Dad!"

He clutched his parents' withered hands tightly, his eyes already filled with hot tears!

"Your son is unfilial! Your son is unfilial!"

The family embraced, crying bitterly.

After their emotions had somewhat calmed, Lu Yuchen, under the pretext of wiping his parents' bodies, quietly infused a strand of extremely pure wood-attribute magical power into their bodies.

That immense vitality, capable of bringing dead wood back to life, instantly eradicated all the necrotic cancer cells, repairing their bodies that had been hollowed out by illness.

...

The next day.

The entire Guangnan City People's Hospital was in an uproar!

Two late-stage cancer patients, for whom all experts and professors had issued critical condition notices, and who were predicted to live no more than three days, had miraculously... recovered overnight?!

Not only had they recovered, but their physical functions had even returned to a healthier state than before they fell ill!

This was simply a miracle in medical history!

No one could explain it.

Ultimately, it could only be attributed to... a "miracle."

...

That evening, the Lu family home was brightly lit.

A lavish reunion dinner was laid out on the table.

Lu Yuchen looked at his parents' radiant faces, at his elder brother's heartfelt smile, and at his little niece, who was full of curiosity about him but dared not ask too many questions. His heart, which had wandered for years, finally found its home.

"Little Uncle, are... are you really my Little Uncle?" At the dinner table, Lu Xiaoya finally couldn't hold back. Blinking her big eyes, she asked curiously, "But you... why are you still so young? You look even younger than me."

Lu Yuchen grinned, revealing a mouthful of white teeth, and a very showy expression appeared on his face.

"Guess?"

After dinner, Lu Yuchen returned to his room, which his elder brother had already cleaned thoroughly.

He lay on the bed, looking at the familiar ceiling, but his heart was filled with confusion.

"System, get out here!"

"What exactly happened?!"

He questioned the System, which had long been silent.

However, only dead silence responded to him.

The System, it seemed... had completely disappeared.

Lu Yuchen frowned, an ominous premonition welling up in his heart.

Just as he was about to try calling the System again.

His body suddenly trembled!

His keen Divine Sense had actually detected a trace of... an extremely faint, yet incredibly familiar energy fluctuation in the seemingly ordinary air!

Spiritual Qi!

This... how is this possible?!

How could there be Spiritual Qi on Earth?!

...

At the same time.

Thousands of miles away, in a heavily guarded secret conference room of the Great Xia Council Chamber.

Eight white-haired, high-ranking elders were staring intently at the huge screen before them.

On the screen, a final video, transmitted by frontline soldiers with their lives, was playing on a loop.

In the video, a team of fully armed soldiers was engaged in a fierce battle with a stiff-moving, rotting-faced, yet incredibly strong and invulnerable... monster!

The monster, with a green face, fangs, and black fingernails, was clearly a... zombie!

"Everyone, speak your minds."

The elder at the head of the table slowly spoke, his voice hoarse, "What exactly is this thing?"

No one answered.

The entire conference room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

After a long while, the elder spoke again, his voice carrying an undeniable authority.

"This matter is classified as top secret! No one is to leak it!"

"Furthermore..." He paused, a look of determination flashing in his eyes, "Go, send people to 'invite' the Sect Heads of Longhu Mountain, Maoshan, Mount Qingcheng, Wudang Mountain... and also Shaolin, Mount Emei, and other major Daoist and Buddhist Schools!"

"I want to see them within an hour!"

...

An hour later.

In a large conference room in the capital.

The Celestial Master of Longhu Mountain, the Daoist Priest of Maoshan, the Immortal Master of Wudang, the Abbot of Shaolin... more than a dozen Sect Heads, revered as "Enlightened Masters" in the outside world, gathered together.

They watched the looping, bloody footage of soldiers fighting zombies, their worldviews shattered one by one.

"Gentlemen."

The elder slowly rose, his gaze like electricity, slowly sweeping over everyone present.

"I only have one question, and I hope you can give me a truthful answer."

"In this world, does... the extraordinary truly exist?"

At these words, all the Sect Heads present looked at each other, and from each other's eyes, they saw deep embarrassment.

They wished more than anyone that it did.

But, they knew perfectly well the true state of their own Schools.