Chapter 82

Chapter 3: Fermentation and Returning Home

If the burning of Tianhai Tower was like an eternal firework on the horizon, capturing everyone’s attention, then the live-stream recording was a deep-water bomb that exploded in the depths of the dark sea.

In the dormitory, two roommates finished watching the video together. Qiao Lili had to turn off the comments so the entire screen wouldn’t be overwhelmed with nothing visible.

The number of simultaneous viewers had already exceeded seven digits, even causing the website to lag.

“There’s actually this kind of inside story,” Qiao Lili couldn’t calm down for a long time. “And it happened right next to us.”

She flipped through her mobile phone again and let out another exclamation: “The heat is insane; the whole internet is discussing this. Several video websites have been brought to their knees.”

This was a true nationwide video. Anyone who had free time these past two days would pick up their phones to watch it.

Gu Hui mused thoughtfully, “Mainly because it’s too rare, not something we see often.”

A video accusing unscrupulous factory bosses isn’t exactly uncommon. A revenge monologue video might be catchy and spread easily, but that’s about it.

What truly made it a nationwide sensation was that towering flame.

For the first time, people directly witnessed the power of high-tier Spiritual Energy Manipulators.

Yuan Xiaoling quietly climbed back into her little bed and scrolled through the comment section on her phone.

[“Ah, what a pitiful person, unfortunate to encounter such a heartless black factory.”]

[“He could’ve had a happy life (#tears).”]

[“Damn, blow up the Chamber! (#anger) (#anger)”]

[“Who knew Fire-type Spiritual Energy Manipulators were so strong.”]

[“Yeah, thinking about it makes me even angrier. He had such great power and instead gambled his life away for justice.”]

[“We can’t let criminals continue to roam freely!”]

Yuan Xiaoling looked at these comments and felt somewhat reassured.

Just as He Shu had predicted, he used his life to tear open a wound in the Chamber, drawing sharks from all sides to attack them.

[“Brothers, I’ve found out. The Chamber and company mentioned by Brother He are the ‘Haitian Yise’ Chamber in Tianhai City and Yunhai Company.”]

[“I know, local monopolistic enterprises in Tianhai. Because of them, small businesses in Tianhai City can’t survive.”]

[“Chamber President Wang Xingsheng and Chairman Murong Yi of Yunhai Company aren’t good people.”]

[“Let me tell you secretly, they once ran someone over with a car and dragged them for a long time until they died. But since Tianhai City is their territory, they got away with no punishment.”]

[“Sigh, that’s terrifying.”]

The trial began, and countless revelations emerged like bamboo shoots after rain, whether true or false didn’t matter. Now, as long as you said it, it was considered fact.

In the afternoon, some short videos became popular.

In the video stood a man in camouflage fatigues as someone approached him with a bowl of instant noodles—local Tianhai-produced fresh shrimp noodles. The man glanced at it and waved his hand: “These are noodles from the ‘Haitian Yise’ Chamber, I won’t eat them.”

“Why?”

“Because the ‘Haitian Yise’ Chamber has no conscience, it’s a Tianhai City enterprise,” he declared solemnly into the camera, “By resisting such companies, we’re helping truly conscientious, good seafood enterprises!”

“What a clown!”

Somewhere in a tea house, Wang Xingsheng threw his phone onto the ground, shattering it into pieces.

He hadn’t slept well these past few days. The burning of the building was only part of the reason; the main issue was Bai Ling had escaped, and the forces sent to intercept her were almost completely wiped out.

Two Fourth-tier Spiritual Energy Manipulators were dispatched, one instantly killed, the other missing. Whether it was due to Wu Bian’s betrayal leading to this result or not, the current situation was perilous—offending a Spiritual Energy Manipulator above the Fourth-tier level, suffering heavy losses, and escalating the conflict to a point where it was nearly a fight to the death.

In comparison, He Shiyong setting fire to Tianhai Tower wasn’t much of anything. In Wang Xingsheng’s view, the tower incident was just money, while Bai Ling was a matter of life and death.

“How’s Murong Yi?” he asked the assistant beside him.

“He’s still in the hospital, physically fine, but his mental state isn’t great,” the assistant carefully answered, glancing at the shattered phone fragments on the ground. “The doctor says he suffered a severe shock.”

“Absolutely useless!”

Wang Xingsheng sat down, picked up another phone, and started sending messages to other bosses in the Chamber.

With both property and life under threat, the most important thing now was stabilizing the situation and keeping the group together.

The assistant hesitated for a long time before finally speaking up, “Boss, public opinion online isn’t favorable for us. Should we handle it?”

“You go deal with it. Don’t bother me with trivial matters,” Wang Xingsheng said irritably, “Do it the usual way, smear them heavily.”

In reality, even now, he hadn’t fully understood what happened to the tower, assuming the culprit was Bai Ling’s accomplice using surprise tactics.

The situation was still brewing.

The Chamber’s previously invincible PR tactics met their Waterloo in this incident. On one hand, there were simply too many people paying attention this time, making it impossible for the PR team to form a numerical advantage. On the other hand—

[“For personal gain? The guy gambled his life, planning to spend his money in the underworld, huh.”]

[“Competitor? If your competitor could hire such a powerful Spiritual Energy Manipulator to smear you, would they need to resort to this method? They’d just send a few to wipe you out; how long would your Chamber last?”]

[“A dying man speaks the truth. When someone uses their life to seek justice, I believe them.”]

[“Forget contracts and laws. We only care about debts being repaid and murderers facing justice.”]

Dead men have no weaknesses—at least not until the Chamber is pulled down.

Wang Xingsheng received word of the mishandling but didn’t take it too seriously. After all, they were just a bunch of ignorant commoners, incapable of stirring up any real trouble.

What mattered most was closely monitoring Bai Ling. As long as this white-haired girl remained in school, none of the Chamber members could sleep peacefully at night.

Only a select few could foresee that if things continued this way, they would gradually spiral towards the most extreme outcome.

“This is wild. These videos really capitalize on human tragedy.”

Having no classes in the afternoon, Qiao Lili spent the entire day watching various entertaining short videos on her tablet, all capitalizing on the Tianhai Tower traffic.

“Some people even filmed themselves causing chaos in stores affiliated with the Chamber, and the comments are full of cheers,” her roommate marveled. “It’s crazy.”

Yuan Xiaoling frowned slightly, thinking that the real madness hadn’t even begun yet. She couldn’t imagine what Tianhai City would become. It was possible that you’d go out for a stroll in the square, only for it to explode mid-stroll.

She remembered Bai Ling mentioning during their May Day date that the Tianhai Square would eventually be bombed.

“Gu Hui, Qiao Lili, listen to me,” Yuan Xiaoling sat up seriously, “After the final exams, don’t stay here.”

Meanwhile, in the Physical Education Department dormitory, Bai Ling was also considering this issue.

“After the exams, go back to your hometowns,” she told her roommates, “Don’t stay in Tianhai City.”

Naturally, the roommates on both sides were confused.

“Why?”

On the broadcasting side, Yuan Xiaoling thought for a moment, tapping her chest confidently:

“Don’t ask questions, trust me. Just believe in me.”

Gu Hui and Qiao Lili exchanged glances and nodded:

“Alright, I was planning to go back anyway.”

“Same here. I could go or not, but since you say so, I’ll go home during the break.”

They knew that although Xiaoling liked to boast normally, when it came to serious matters, she never spoke without careful consideration.

As for the Physical Education side, Bai Ling thought for a long time but couldn’t come up with a convincing way to persuade them.

She wasn’t good at this kind of thing anyway… Her eyes flashed with a red light momentarily.

“Alright, I suddenly feel homesick.”

“Me too.”

Her roommates yawned and climbed onto their beds. They suddenly felt sleepy, with a hint of nostalgia creeping into their hearts.

Bai Ling sighed in relief.

Using her mental invasion ability to plant a bit of psychological suggestion, this should count as “benign intrusion,” right?

After a while, her phone buzzed, and Bai Ling received a message from Luo Zou Cheng, the owner of the Nameless Bar.

It turned out that after Yuan Xiaoling had warned her roommates earlier, she remembered the friends at the bar and thus messaged Big Sister Lan, telling her that Tianhai would soon descend into chaos and to be cautious.

Big Sister Lan reported it to Luo Boss, who decided to consult Bai Ling for advice after pondering it over.

[Not much advice, if you want to get involved, do so, but remember to know when to stop.]

Bai Ling briefly offered her opinion.

After sending the message, the white-haired maiden lay down to sleep, turning off the lights and gazing at the moonlight outside the window, suddenly feeling something was missing.

The moonlight, the round moon, the rabbit on the moon… Oh, now she understood.

So she picked up her phone and sent a message to the big white rabbit: [Goodnight.]

After waiting for more than ten minutes with no response, Bai Ling fell asleep.

Zzzz…

“Wake up, wake up! Early bird catches the worm, don’t forget today’s the final exam.”

Awakened by her roommate’s voice, the white-haired girl opened her eyes and slowly sat up.

Final exams, a term so distant in memory.

Walking into the bathroom, washing her face, using telekinesis to comb her hair, Bai Ling touched her cheeks in front of the mirror. Smooth and tender to the touch.

In the mirror, the cold and expressionless girl blinked, looking somewhat cute.

Could she look this good too?

Back in the dormitory, Bai Ling picked up her phone and noticed an unread message just sent.

[Lemon: Hey? I was already asleep last night, didn’t see it.]

Bai Ling snorted inwardly, thinking about how Lemon was acting all casual, but she’d make her um-um after the exams.

Perhaps this was her way of covering up the awkwardness of saying goodnight for the first time and failing.

First, focus on the exam.

Two days of intense and stimulating final exams were in full swing.

Neither Bai Ling nor Yuan Xiaoling had studied much recently, so the exams weren’t easy, but with the mindset that passing was enough, they managed to breeze through easily.

Outside the school, the boycott actions caused by the Tianhai Tower incident escalated further.

While they were busy taking exams, various videos appeared outside, with some people claiming to be Spiritual Energy Manipulators seeking justice for their deceased coworkers, restoring clarity to Tianhai City.

[Mr. Wang of the Chamber, address: Imperial Mansion Villa Area, exact doorplate unknown.]

[Mr. Murong of the Chamber, address: King’s Premier, Zone 2, one of the buildings.]

[Mr. Zhou of the Chamber, address: Central City Garden Villa, between No. 13 and No. 17.]

[Mr. Huang of the Chamber, address: Seaside Scenic Villa…]

First came the information, providing the final conditions for those claiming to seek justice. All that was left was the decisive move—waiting for some top-tier players to appear.

Of course, it could also be a top-tier swordsman, top-tier axe master, top-tier gunner (cold weapons), top-tier fire mage, etc., etc.

For some astute individuals, Tianhai City was already brimming with stormy clouds. However, the Chamber bosses paid little heed, mainly because they were preoccupied.

Their attention was solely focused on Bai Ling. Where would she go after the final exams ended?

…

“Exam’s over~”

As agreed beforehand, Yuan Xiaoling, with her backpack filled with luggage, went to the school gate to wait for Bai Ling after the exam.

After about ten minutes, Bai Ling leisurely walked out.

“Why so slow?” Yuan Xiaoling pouted. “You’re a physical education student.”

Physical education students were supposed to run here in half a minute.

“A bit too much stuff,” Bai Ling responded awkwardly.

Yuan Xiaoling took a closer look and realized Bai Ling was carrying three bags on her slim figure.

“What did you bring? So much.”

“Just clothes.”

Bai Ling stiffened her icy face, unwilling to elaborate. During her last mall trip with her roommates, she somehow ended up buying everything they recommended despite her initial reluctance.

She originally didn’t plan to bring everything back, but then she reconsidered. She bought these clothes specifically to look pretty when visiting Yuan Xiaoling’s family, leaving them behind at school would defeat the purpose.

Thus, she brought them all along.

“Wow, all brand names,” Yuan Xiaoling circled around her and spotted Bai Ling’s backpack. “Oh, Baizaki Suna!”

She remembered that a few days before Children’s Day, she heard classmates say Bai Ling went shopping outside and returned with this backpack full of items.

Strange, wasn’t it just one Arona cosplay outfit? Why would it need such a large bag?

Bai Ling’s eyes flickered, and she smirked.

“Just some daily necessities.”

“You can carry it if you want. By the way, you have telekinesis, no need to strain yourself,” Yuan Xiaoling initially wanted to help carry one of the bags but remembered this point. “Then let’s go.”

At this point, they could directly head to the airport and grab lunch there.

This time Bai Ling didn’t borrow the Academic Advisor’s car, instead hailing a taxi on the road. The car stopped in front of them, they got in, but didn’t specify the destination. The driver didn’t ask, humming a tune and stepping on the gas pedal heading toward the airport.

Yuan Xiaoling immediately understood that Bai Ling was controlling the driver with her abilities.

Noticing the blonde busty girl’s gaze, Bai Ling softly explained, “We’ve broken ties with the Chamber, so we must be cautious to avoid being ambushed.”

Later at the airport, she would use her spiritual power to scan the area for anyone suspicious.

Such prudence stemmed from her decade-long escape experience from her previous life.

“I see,” Yuan Xiaoling expressed admiration, “truly worthy of you.”

Time to go home. What was the Yuan family like? And those familiar strangers.

Sitting in the car, Yuan Xiaoling thought about her “never met” parents, feeling a mix of anticipation and nervousness.

Familiar yet strange, because in her current memories, having just crossed over, she hadn’t met her parents yet. But realistically speaking, in her previous timeline, they had already spent a decade together.

Anyway, better send a message first.

[Lemon: Dad, I’m boarding the plane, arriving home tonight!]