I changed the world.

Page 217

"Meimei, stop filming! Run!" Li Tian shouted angrily when he saw this. His girlfriend, Tang Meimei, recently opened her own video account, "Meimei's Beautiful House." Although this is not a new thing, and the video industry has become a red ocean, Tang Meimei, who has the heart of becoming an internet celebrity, is still happy to do it. Although she only has a few thousand followers so far, it does not stop her from wanting to film everything she sees lately.

"This is...a rare...opportunity! Look how fast my...fans...are growing...whew...it's already...over 3..." Meimei ran breathlessly, not forgetting to show off her rapidly growing number of fans to her boyfriend, her eyes sparkling with excitement.

As she spoke, she even pointed the phone at her boyfriend: "My boyfriend and I are... running away right now..."

"That monster... ugh... I don't know what it is... it's chasing us..."

"You crazy woman!" Li Tian cursed. His girlfriend was his college classmate. Because of her beautiful appearance, she had many suitors, and it took him a lot of effort to win her heart.

However, while Tang Meimei also felt fear, the rapidly growing number of viewers in her live stream gave her a glimpse of the possibility of realizing her dream. Originally, as an amateur new streamer, although she would stream irregularly each week, the market, long past its blue ocean phase, meant her video account remained perpetually lukewarm. Following the normal trajectory, she would likely have gradually lost confidence and given up on the account after a few more months.

However, this unexpected encounter has changed everything. What Tang Meimei doesn't know is that the platform's big data algorithm has captured the rapid growth of her live stream's fans and automatically recommended it to the featured section as a high-quality live stream. This move has brought her even more attention.

Chapter 392 Thunder

Seeing that his girlfriend still seemed reluctant to give up the live stream, Li Tian had no choice but to pull her along as they stumbled and ran forward.

Just then, the monster's true form emerged completely from the collapsed restaurant ruins. Amidst the flying dust, thanks to the riverside lighting project, the monster's overall shape was clearly visible. One could even see a fat man running at the back being swiftly grabbed by a black tentacle, howling as he was dragged into the monster's mouth and disappeared.

Immediately following, a piercing scream, like that of a baby crying, rang out. The sound spread far and wide, and those fleeing ahead seemed to have been struck dumb, collapsing to the ground, covering their ears and wailing...

Some people even vomited, bringing up all the food they had eaten for dinner...

The crying sound was naturally the monster's cry. As it cried out, it used its tentacles to crawl forward in a strange but seemingly slow yet fast manner...

Just then, a thunderclap suddenly rang out in the sky, and many people heard the sound of thunder. At the same time, there seemed to be a flash of light, followed by a heart-wrenching wail.

Tang Meimei was kneeling on the ground. She had just vomited some filthy vomit. Fortunately, the sudden clap of thunder seemed to wash away some of the nausea she felt, and she immediately felt much better.

After gagging a few more times, Tang Meimei finally recovered. She covered her chest, which still felt slightly tight, with one hand, and looked in the direction of the monster. To her surprise, she found that the monster was wailing and a huge wound had exploded on one side of its body. The wound was now turned outward like a flower petal, revealing the flesh and blood inside, and some dark liquid was flowing out of the wound.

Clearly, for some reason, the monster was injured.

Could it be that the military launched an attack? Tang Meimei was immediately overjoyed. Ignoring the vomit still on her body and her boyfriend who was still not recovered, she quickly raised her phone again, first taking pictures of the monster, and then turning around to describe the monster's injuries and her guesses. However, after she turned the phone around, she was shocked to find that there was no military presence around.

Meanwhile, some people had already started dialing the police. A well-dressed middle-aged man was shouting hoarsely into his phone, "I'm telling you... there's a monster! There really is a monster!"

“Yes! It’s killing me, it’s going to eat me… I’m telling you, I need help, I’m a taxpayer, I need protection…”

“…………………………”

"……………………"

"Location... oh, right... location... I'm outside the Jiangpanju restaurant right now... yes... yes... it's that Jiangpanju..."

"Hurry! Officer, we're in danger... Please, come quickly!!!"

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Meanwhile, the monster's attention had completely shifted away from the people it was chasing. All its tentacles stretched out in all directions, trembling constantly, like a porcupine with its body covered in sharp quills. It seemed to be sensing something with these tentacles, looking around anxiously, as if searching for something...

In the darkness, a flash of light seemed to appear, followed by a rumble of thunder, then a muffled sound, and several tentacles snapped off. The monster then let out a painful howl.

Tang Meimei, who was secretly filming from the side, soon noticed that the monster seemed to have another horrific wound on its side, and a strange, foul smell began to fill the air, making people want to vomit.

Not far away, a patrol car with police markings that had just been patrolling along the road heard the shouts of the fleeing crowd and stopped by the roadside. Two uniformed patrol officers got out of the car and frowned as they observed the situation in the distance.

From their perspective, because the monster was obscured by some plants, they couldn't see its condition. They could only judge that something must have happened ahead, otherwise there would be no chaos.

The two men exchanged a glance. One of them drew his small revolver, while the other spoke a few words into the communicator to report to headquarters before getting up and heading to the front to investigate.

As the sidearm of patrol officers, the police revolver is arguably the least modified weapon. Although some minor improvements have been made over time, it is essentially no different from the revolver of decades ago.

This is primarily because the Great Zhao Dynasty was a country with strict gun control. In fact, the control over the private possession of weapons by civilians has been consistent throughout the central dynasties, from two thousand years ago to the present day. The only difference is that in feudal times, possessing weapons was considered treason, and in modern times, possessing firearms is equally a serious crime. Under these circumstances, the law enforcement environment for the police is relatively safe; they rarely encounter serious criminals armed with firearms. And if such a situation does occur, the officers who step in are certainly not patrol officers armed with revolvers.

On the other hand, for ordinary crimes, the most common incidents that patrol officers encounter are fights, robberies, and thefts. For these cases, they need a non-lethal, small-caliber weapon with basic stopping power. In addition, considering the requirements for police weapons in terms of ease of maintenance and ease of use, as well as budget considerations, the revolver, a weapon that can be described as "ancient," has been used ever since.

The two policemen stepped directly over the roadside flowerbed, clearing away some of the plants that obscured their view, and walked forward. They hadn't gone far when they were able to see clearly what was happening ahead through the thinning plants, using the moonlight and lamplight...

By this time, most people had recovered from their initial discomfort and began struggling to their feet, then struggling again to run away into the distance. Beside Tang Meimei, her boyfriend Li Tian grabbed his girlfriend, who was still engrossed in filming, and ignored her struggles as they fled further away.

Left with no other option, Tang Meimei pointed the video at the direction of the monster, trying her best to control the shaky phone camera while still explaining to the viewers in the live stream: "Dear friends, it's too dangerous here, my... my boyfriend is pulling me to a safer location... In the meantime, I will continue to explain for you..."

Chapter 393 Flying Sword

"Dear friends, although I don't know why, you can see that... that monster seems to be injured..."

Before Tang Meimei could finish speaking, a thunderous sound rolled over her head. At the same time, as the air currents surged, she subconsciously looked up and saw something passing by her head at an extremely high speed.

However, when she looked up, she could see nothing. At that moment, the monster let out another painful howl. Then, it twisted its body like an insect burned by a cigarette butt, trying to find the thing that had hurt it.

The next moment, the tentacles around its body opened up like straight tendrils, vibrating at a high frequency, emitting a series of cries even louder than before...

The people who were still running around collapsed again. Some of the weaker ones were about to give up. An elderly man who was walking at the back suddenly collapsed to the ground, his eyes rolled back, and a wetness came out from his genitals. He had clearly lost control of his bladder.

Even Tang Meimei and Li Tian collapsed to the ground again. This time, their reaction was even stronger than before. Both of them curled up in pain, covering their ears tightly, yet their bodies still convulsed in agony...

Further away, the two police officers not only finally saw the whole scene, but also heard the excruciating cries. Fortunately, they were some distance away, and there were some trees blocking their view. Even so, both of them felt nauseous and their chests tightened. They stumbled back to their police car and began loudly reporting to headquarters and calling for backup...

At this very moment, high in the sky, undetectable to those on the ground, two military probe satellites simultaneously adjusted their attitudes and began locking onto the area near Jiangpanju in Linzhou…

At this moment, the monster's cries had already caused chaos on the surrounding roads. Although it was a considerable distance away and the surrounding area was not the busiest part of Linzhou, this was still the busiest time of night. In a large city like Linzhou, it was impossible for the riverside to be deserted.

As a result, some passing drivers were affected by the sudden shouts, causing them to lose control and crash, while some pedestrians screamed, covered their ears, and crouched on the ground...

However, amidst the chaos, another clap of thunder rolled across the sky. Such a clear-sky thunderstorm was rare in Linzhou. In particular, the thunder inexplicably reduced the side effects of the eerie cries, and some people's discomfort was immediately alleviated.

Just then, a muffled explosion rang out, followed by a ring-shaped ripple appearing in the air dozens of meters away from the monster, as if some kind of barrier had been broken through. Then, the eyes on both sides of the monster's fish-like body exploded simultaneously, as if some kind of sharp weapon had pierced through them completely...

Suffering this fatal blow, the monster suddenly stood upright, letting out a shrill scream. Then, it crashed heavily to the ground, writhing and struggling for a while like a trampled insect, before gradually becoming still. Next, its body began to turn to ash, scattering into the air, but not completely dissipating, ultimately leaving behind a massive skeleton.

In the distance, a streak of light descended from the sky, wrapped around Zhang Jing's wrist, and transformed back into an ancient-looking bracelet.

Although this was Zhang Jing's first time using flying swordsmanship in actual combat after advancing to the next level, his understanding of swordsmanship was far beyond that of ordinary beginners because of his previous experience with the "Enlightenment Stone." Therefore, he did not feel awkward at all when using flying swords.

....................................

Shortly after the monster fell, a loud whooshing sound echoed through the air, followed by a black-painted tiltrotor rapidly approaching from afar. Around it, two air force-marked attack aircraft circled. One of them even began releasing special types of missiles into the sky. These missiles, after exploding at high altitude, formed a special cloud layer with shielding capabilities, obscuring information below.

The pilot of the jet was clearly highly skilled, rapidly descending and adjusting his attitude over a short distance, and finally hovering over a hundred meters away from the riverside residence with a large tactical stop. The hatch on the belly opened, and some soldiers wearing mechanical exoskeletons quickly slid down.

Some people began to organize the surrounding civilians to evacuate, while other soldiers walked cautiously toward the huge skeleton...

On the other side, a soldier wearing officer's insignia approached two patrol officers who had been waiting for backup on the perimeter, saluted, and then pulled out his identification: "Greetings, gentlemen. We belong to the Special Crime Investigation Bureau of the Department of Justice, Special Operations Force. We have full authority to handle the events that have occurred here. This is my identification."

Both patrol officers had undergone professional training within the police force. The moment they saw the identification, they knew it was genuine. In fact, let alone the identification, the aircraft in the sky hadn't even left yet—how could it be fake?

Then, one of the older, middle-aged patrol officers spoke up: "Sir, is there anything we can do to assist you?"

"I need your cooperation in maintaining order. Set up a cordon around the perimeter. Here... there... no unrelated people are allowed to gather or approach this area." As the officer spoke, he gestured with his hand to indicate the location.

"Okay, okay..." The patrolman nodded hurriedly, while the younger patrolman hesitated for a moment, but finally couldn't suppress his curiosity and interjected, "Sir, we just saw a huge monster... I don't know... what it was?"

The middle-aged patrol officer standing nearby seemed annoyed that his colleague was being so tactless, and subtly nudged him with his elbow, but the words had already been spoken, and it was too late to warn him...

Sure enough, the officer glanced at the patrol officers. Although the two officers couldn't see the officer's expression because they were wearing tactical helmets, they guessed it wasn't pleasant. The officer said in a cold voice, "This incident involves state secrets. Don't ask what you shouldn't ask, and don't say what you shouldn't say. Keep your mouth shut."

Seeing that his colleague seemed to want to say something more, the middle-aged patrolman quickly reached out and nudged his colleague on the back again, while interjecting with a smile, "We understand, sir, we know what's important."

Chapter 394 The Policeman Who Fears "Disappearing"

Upon hearing this, the officer nodded slightly, said nothing more, and turned to leave.

Seeing the officer leave, the middle-aged patrolman lowered his voice and turned around to scold his partner: "Are you stupid? This is something we shouldn't be asking too many questions about!"

"I was just curious... Hey, Brother Qian, let me tell you, what was that just now? I think the higher-ups might really be hiding a lot of things..." The young patrolman said excitedly.

“Watch your mouth. Illness enters through the mouth, and disaster comes from the mouth. If you don’t want to live, then keep talking nonsense…” the middle-aged patrolman said sternly.

The young patrolman had only recently been promoted from intern to full-fledged officer. The middle-aged patrolman was both his partner and his superior, and usually took good care of him. Seeing his superior's expression, his voice gradually softened, and he muttered, "Brother Qian, is it that serious...?"

The middle-aged patrolman sighed upon hearing this, glanced around, and seeing that the officer had already walked away, continued in a low voice, "Don't you think about it? This monster couldn't have just sprung from a crack in a rock, could it? If it existed, it would have existed long ago, it couldn't have just appeared today..."

“Yes, yes, I was just thinking that the monsters and demons in these myths might actually be real… Tell me, are they monsters or demons?” The young patrolman got excited again upon hearing this. As a fan of online novels, he had quite a rich imagination.

“Yes… Before today, I also thought it was all fake, all those demons and monsters, gods and pagodas… weren’t they all just lies…” the middle-aged patrolman sighed, then his expression turned serious, and he subtly gestured with his lip backward: “But look at those people, they are clearly from a special forces unit, which means that there must be a whole set of contingency plans in place to deal with this kind of thing.”

"But until today, did you know they existed?"

The young patrol officer shook his head thoughtfully upon hearing this.

The middle-aged patrolman stared into his partner's eyes: "Most people now believe that those myths and legends are false, that they don't exist... Think about it, so many media outlets, newspapers, the internet, books, scholars, experts... have managed to keep such things a secret for who knows how many years..."

"Just how powerful must this be?"

“Yes… It seems they’re keeping it a secret not only domestically, but also internationally. I’ve never seen any reports like this before…” The young patrolman pondered for a moment, then suddenly thought, “That’s not right. I heard that the old abbot of Yunxiao Temple ascended to heaven, and it caused quite a stir a while ago.”

"However, I thought it was just a hoax at the time, and I didn't take it to heart..." At this point, the two patrol officers exchanged a glance, both feeling a chill run down their spines. The power behind such brainwashing was far beyond what two junior officers like them could handle. Even letting slip a secret could bring unpredictable risks. They might be "silenced" at any moment.

At this moment, the young patrolman finally understood his colleague's concerns. The two looked at each other in silence for a while, then the young patrolman suddenly said, "Brother Qian, my mother has mentioned several times that the incense at Yunxiao Mountain in Dinghai is very effective, and she wants me to accompany her there to offer incense and pray for blessings. However, I've been busy with work at the station and haven't had time. Now it seems that this matter can't be delayed any longer. I'm planning to take my mother to Dinghai this weekend and also donate some money for incense offerings..."

“I’m also planning to take my family there once. My grandmother believes in this stuff…” the middle-aged patrolman said after thinking for a moment, then glanced in the direction where the monster had appeared. “We bumped into something so evil, I don’t know if it caused any harm, but we should at least get rid of the bad luck…”

Just as the two patrol officers were muttering and setting up obstacles and driving away some pedestrians who were trying to get close, Zhang Jing silently glanced at the hovering aircraft in the sky from the shadow of a sycamore tree not far from the monster, and disappeared without a sound.

When she reappeared, she was already beside An Huiling.

"Senior brother, was that a flying sword just now?" An Huiling asked with bright eyes and a look of admiration.

“Yes, it is the art of flying swords.” Seeing An Huiling’s eager expression, Zhang Jing added, “Practice diligently. Once your cultivation and swordsmanship improve, you will naturally be able to learn flying swords…”