Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

The subway station at night was packed with people, too. Everyone’s face was as gloomy as a solar eclipse, like a bunch of burnt-out zombies.

Maybe it was because Li Yao was dressed like a construction worker, but the tools in his pocket did not cause much trouble when he went through the security check.

Li Yao bought a one-off subway ticket with cash and waited in front of the platform.

When the first subway arrived, there were too many passengers. He did not find a suitable candidate and had to wait for the next one.

When the second subway entered the station, a suitable candidate appeared.

It was a tired, groggy, and staggering office worker.

Yawning, he walked out of the subway and put his phone back into his pocket. It seemed that he had just finished browsing a webpage and his phone was not locked yet.

Li Yao walked towards the office worker and quietly bumped into a young girl who was dressed very avant-garde next to him. The young girl was pushed into the arms of the office worker. While the office worker was in a flurry or secretly happy, Li Yao passed by and took the still-shining mobile phone.

When the doors were closed and the subway slowly opened, the office worker was still in a hurry to apologize or strike up a conversation with the avant-garde girl. This was probably a rarely-seen bright color in his boring and boring life. Through the glass window, he could see that his neck had become thicker from excitement. He didn’t even notice that his phone was missing.

Li Yao was somewhat relieved. He dialed Zhang Daniu’s number without changing his expression.

“Pick up the phone! Pick up the phone now!”

Li Yao screamed in his heart and roared at the deities, hoping that he would not see Zhang Daniu’s cold body when he arrived.

Five seconds was as unbearable as five days and five nights. Finally, the call was connected!

“Cough cough.”

Updates by

Li Yao coughed twice first.

“Cough cough, cough cough cough cough cough!”

The guy was dazed for a moment. Then he coughed, too.

It was a code that the two of them had agreed upon. If they both coughed, it meant that everything was normal, and if they both coughed, it meant that one of them was in danger.

So far, nothing had happened to Zhang Daniu, but the alarm deep inside Li Yao’s brain was getting louder and louder.

“Listen, we are being watched. My roommate has just been hypnotized into a monster with immense physical strength who is adept at assassination techniques. He is trying to kill me.”

“I estimate that the root of the problem lies with you,” Li Yao said. “The people who are targeting you should be on their way and will find you soon.

“What?”

Zhang Daniu was shocked. “Then—then what about me? How long until you arrive?”

“It will take me half an hour to forty-five minutes to reach you.”

Li Yao said, “In the meantime, you must calm down and protect yourself in order to survive the disaster.

“Calm down? How can I calm down?”

Zhang Daniu screamed, “This morning, you just told me that this is a world with superpowers. Then, you ate an entire sack of bread right in front of me. Then, you tore open a dictionary that was thicker than a brick and snatched away the 20,000 bucks that I had painstakingly saved. At night, at night, you will tell me that I’ve been targeted by a certain ‘evil superpower organization’. How am I supposed to calm down? This won’t do. Call the police. There’s a police station in our neighborhood and a community police station in the neighborhood across the street. At the crucial moment, I still have to believe in the government!”

“No. It is not a question of whether or not to believe in the government, but how to make the government believe in you.

Li Yao said, “Think about it. If you call the police, what are you going to say? That you have discovered the existence of superpowers in this world and an evil organization of superpowers is hunting you?”

Zhang Daniu said, “Well…”

“If you really say that, you will definitely be controlled as a drug user.”

Li Yao said, “The community police can’t resist the superpowered people, but they can control your movements and reduce your only advantage in mobility. Such a warning is tantamount to walking into a trap.

“Then—then what do we do?”

Zhang Daniu sounded like he was about to cry. “I’m coming out now to meet you?”

“That won’t work, either. I’m not sure whether or not somebody is spying on you. Maybe they will be more than happy to see you leave the house. A fully-enclosed van will take you away from the gate of the neighborhood within one second.”

Pondering for a moment, Li Yao said, “Listen, what you are going to do next is to follow my instructions strictly for every step. Maybe you can make it to the next hour.

“Firstly, do you have any flammable materials in your house? Books. Oh, that’s right. You have so many books. Look for a few books that are old, have crisp paper, and are easier to burn. Then look for some pillowcases, clothes, or even plastic bags.

“Secondly, you have a pressure cooker in your house, right? If you have one, then that’s good. Throw the flammable material into the pressure cooker, ignite it, and then throw in pillow covers, clothes, cotton wool, plastic bags, and the like to burn. Remember, of course, I don’t want you to really start a fire, but I want you to create intense black smoke.

“Thirdly, when the black smoke comes out of the pressure cooker, bring the cooker to the balcony and let the black smoke drift out of the window. It would be best if everyone in the neighborhood could see and smell it.

“Fourthly, you know what to do, right? Call the fire alarm and let the fire department handle it.

“Fifthly, after you’re done, leave the room immediately. But don’t go downstairs. Turn around and go to the rooftop. I’ve observed the structure of your residential building. It’s an old-fashioned water supply system. There’s a very large water tank on the rooftop, so you can definitely go to the rooftop from the stairs, right?

“It doesn’t matter what method you use to open the lock from the corridor to the rooftop. If you want to go up and hide, it would be best to hide in the water tank and make sure that the high vantage points in all directions can’t directly aim at you… Don’t be nervous. This is just in case. The domestic firearms control is so strict. I estimate that the other party won’t be as brazen as the ‘T3 Game Show Shooting’. If they really want to make a move on you, it would be through an ‘accident’. They wouldn’t be so arrogant as to get a few sniper rifles, right?”

“Right, before that, leave your phone at home and don’t bring any communication equipment. I will look for you on the rooftop within the next hour. Do you understand?”

“Ah, ah ah!”

Zhang Daniu shouted a few times. He seemed to be frightened by Li Yao’s words. “Then, then what if someone else besides you comes to the rooftop to find me and drag me out of the tank?”

“Whoever is pretending to be a police officer or a firefighter, don’t trust them.

Li Yao said solemnly, “Activate your courage and fight him bravely!”

“…Fight?”

Zhang Daniu said, “Are you joking?”

“Of course not. I know that you are no match for him, but what can I do?”

Li Yao said, “I’m just a superhuman who has just awakened the ‘power of Cultivation’. I’m not an omnipotent god. My enemy is so mysterious and strong. I’m not confident that I can defeat him. I can only try my best to save you if I can.

“At the very least, one piece of good news is certain.

“Oh?”

Zhang Daniu said, “There’s more good news?”

“Judging from the experiences of Gilson, the author of Blood and Sand, Takaya Ibo, and Garriott, the ‘Father of the Ring of Stars’, the guy is a well-trained professional. He is decisive and will not make his target suffer for long.

Li Yao said, “Therefore, you don’t need to worry that you will be captured, interrogated, or chopped into pieces. Chances are that everything will be over before you know it.

“…”

Zhang Daniu said, “Are you really f*cking here to help me? You can’t be sent by my mortal enemy to play with me!”

“Alright, I’m not joking. I have a situation here that I can’t talk about.”

Li Yao said, “I’m dead. Remember, save your own life!”

“Wait, wait!”

Zhang Daniu suddenly panicked. “Hey, what’s wrong with you? You—you—you haven’t been attacked by the superpowered people again, have you? Li Yao, Li Yao!”

“No.”

Li Yao was pinned to the glass window by the crowd and could not move at all. He struggled to breathe as he said, “I was on the subway and just passed by a big station. All of a sudden, more than 10,000 people rushed in. I—I was completely suppressed. Huhu. Many people. Huhuhu. I can’t even move my hands and feet. Don’t push. Can’t you have some manners… Hey, where’s my phone? Where did I drop my phone? Who stepped on my phone? Can you please move your feet? My phone!”

…

Li Yao brought his super power to maximum and finally made his way out of the subway. Of course, the stolen phone was still nowhere to be found. Maybe it had been stomped into pieces.

Li Yao apologized to the innocent office worker in his heart and left the subway to find a row of shared bicycles.

The latest model of shared bicycles had an anti-stealing alarm system. Li Yao didn’t have a cell phone, so naturally, he couldn’t scan the QR code to unlock it.

Fortunately, nowadays, the competition for shared bicycles was fierce. Many first-generation, old-fashioned bicycles had been left behind. The rusted locks were just a decoration for the deaf.

With a light pinch and a twist of two fingers, one of the locks broke. Li Yao flew up and rode the shared bicycle with the imposing aura of a racing motorcycle. In less than five minutes, he arrived at the entrance of Zhang Daniu’s neighborhood.

At this time, the urgent cry of a fire engine could already be heard coming from the residential area. A small support car had just entered, but a large fire engine had been blocked at the entrance of the residential area because it had occupied the road and was parked illegally. The local people raised their spirits to watch the show and gathered in twos and threes inside and outside the residential area. They waved their fans while pointing at the residential building rented by Zhang Daniu and whispering to each other.

It was almost seven o’clock in the evening, but the summer days were particularly long. The sky was still full of gray brightness. Hundreds of eyes around the residential building saw everything clearly.

Since the Ark Foundation had chosen to disguise itself as a charity, it was apparently wary of the consequences. There was no way that it would attack somebody in public, was there?