The figure rushing over on a motorcycle was none other than the Lord of Flying Swallow Martial Arts Academy.
Bright Winged Swallow, Ji Xuantong.
His expression was grim.
The Void Thing wasn't strong, but its appearance at this moment was worrying. Perhaps before the Taihu Virtual Realm intersection was discovered, many void things had already hidden in Su City, waiting to consume people.
Or perhaps, there were other intersection points in Su City.
Ji Xuantong said solemnly:
"I saw that the driverless car suddenly headed toward a secluded alley, and I sensed something was wrong, so I followed. These ghostly things love to kill people this way. Come on, get on the bike. Where do you live? I'll take you home."
The motorcycle had already fallen to one side, and Ji Xuantong quickly righted it.
He dialed a number on his phone.
[Lord, what's the matter?]
Lu Chenzhou's voice came from the other end.
"Have you arrived home?"
[I'm home, and already practicing Heavenly Pile]
"Be careful, it's best to sleep with the [Yang Flame Lamp] on. Don't worry about the electricity."
[Lord, have Void Things appeared?]
"Yes."
[Thank you for the reminder, Lord. I'll be careful.]
After that, Ji Xuantong also called home and contacted Ji Feiyan, and sent a message in the martial arts academy's small group, telling everyone to stay alert.
He wasn't too worried about his daughter's safety. The kind of ghostly entity that appeared just now, Ji Feiyan couldn't kill it, but the thing could do nothing to her either.
What's more, his daughter lived at Dragon City Martial Arts University. That place was a forbidden zone for void things; the soaring Qi-Blood smoke from the martial artists was enough to make almost all void things retreat.
Rumble! Rumble! Rumble!
The motorcycle started up. Hugging the Lord's waist, Du Men finally felt a sense of security. He'd lived a peaceful life for over a decade, but it was his first time facing a Virtual Disaster. After witnessing the Lord slay a Void Thing, he now felt an overwhelming desire to become a Martial Artist!
He would never forget this night.
He had been tormented, humiliated, and stripped of dignity by the void thing!
Thinking of his junior brother Lu, who was already about to surpass him, Du Men made up his mind to devote even more effort to martial arts, no matter the cost!
Ji Xuantong made another call while driving.
"Officer Lu, sorry to disturb you."
[What's wrong?]
"A Void Thing was hiding in a driverless car and attacked one of my students. I sensed something was up, followed it, and dealt with it. I'm worried there might be more..."
The other end of the line was silent for a moment.
[What level was the Void Thing?]
"Floating Level."
[Understood. Thank you for the reminder.]
The motorcycle roared down the midnight streets and vanished without a trace.
...
Stone Lake Garden, Building 3, Apartment 2802.
"What? Another Virtual Disaster?"
Li Xianghua and Lu Guoping came out from the bedroom, their faces panicked.
Lu Chenzhou decided not to hide the truth from his parents. Although ordinary people couldn't change much, it was still better for them to know than to greet death in ignorant confusion.
"Du Men was attacked. Our Lord saved him."
Previously, Lu Chenzhou felt the Virtual Disaster was distant from him; perhaps it was because misfortune had never happened nearby, only appearing in news reports.
Du Men's encounter showed him… danger had never been far away.
Li Xianghua gripped Lu Guoping's hand and asked:
"What should we do now?"
"I don't know… maybe leave the lights on?"
The elderly couple had witnessed many Virtual Disaster reports in over forty years, but it was the first time anything had come so close; they had no experience at all.
Bright lights filled the house, as bright as day.
Lu Chenzhou had already switched on the [Yang Flame Lamp].
"Just keep it on from now on. Don't worry about the electricity cost."
The Yang Flame Lamp was a high-tech special device developed by the Void Control Department that could effectively prevent most low-level void things. Real estate developers had to install them in commercial apartments, and the fire department would inspect them regularly. Faking installation would land you in jail.
The downside was high power consumption.
Of course, if they encountered void things like those in the [11.3 Virtual Disaster Case], this lamp would be useless. The only hope would be that the void thing wouldn't randomly choose their home.
Li Xianghua really didn't want Lu Chenzhou to go out.
"Chenzhou, how about practicing at home from now on?"
"Mom, we'll see what happens tomorrow."
Lu Guoping said:
"You all go to sleep, I'll stay up tonight."
Lu Chenzhou said:
"Just go to bed. Staying up is pointless; if the Yang Flame Lamp can't stop them, there's no use keeping watch. What I need is to get to Fourth Rank in martial arts as soon as possible."
Lu Chenzhou had read the Void Control Department's educational materials: if human Qi-Blood breaks through 2, it significantly lowers the chance of encountering an ordinary Virtual Disaster.
To void things, a martial artist's Qi-Blood was blazing like the sun.
After his persuasion, the elderly couple went to bed.
In his bedroom, Lu Chenzhou resumed practicing Heavenly Pile.
Until he heard a prompt from the Martial Arts Tree.
[Dragon and Tiger Heavenly Pile: Fourth Acupoint (2%)]
During the day, he'd just learned the pile skill for condensing the [Shaochong Acupoint], and he could clearly feel it had become noticeably harder to raise proficiency.
It would only get more difficult. But with the Martial Arts Tree, he believed as long as he put in a bit more time each day, reaching the fourth acupoint in a month should be doable.
He just needed to grind harder.
Before, without the Martial Arts Tree, he had persevered without any hint of a path forward. Now, with real-time proficiency feedback, he could be more diligent than anyone!
"Sleep!"
Lu Chenzhou still kept regular hours, lying down and preparing to sleep.
A text came in from Su City police, announcing to all citizens to turn on their Yang Flame Lamps, not to go out at night, and not to take driverless cars.
Starting tomorrow, all schools would temporarily close, employers were urged to let staff work from home, and police would sweep the city for possible lurking void things.
Tonight was destined to be another sleepless night.
Many people, recalling the disturbances at Taihu, felt Su City was really about to change, and more people would likely move away starting tomorrow.
Online, some people took the opportunity to spread rumors and stir up panic, but the police quickly tracked down their IP addresses and brought them to justice.
In the Flying Swallow Martial Arts Academy chat group, many expressed concern for Du Men, marveling at his luck. There was also a deepened recognition of Ji Xuantong's strength.
After this incident, everyone would probably train harder in martial arts.
Lu Chenzhou watched for a while, lost interest, and soon went to sleep.
All he could do now was build up strength and grow stronger, step by step.
...
The next day.
Lu Chenzhou got up early to practice punches.
The elderly couple had worried all night and barely slept.
"Thank goodness, everyone's alright."
Li Xianghua called the family's closer relatives and friends. No one had been hurt, but news reports mentioned victims besides Du Men.
The deceased was a woman who came out of a nightclub drunk and fell asleep by the road. When found, her whole body was swollen, her skin broke at the slightest touch with yellow fluid oozing out, and finally, she was reduced to a sheet of human skin.
She'd been hollowed out, her bones and organs all melted.
The void thing's methods were extremely cruel.
This was the second death by void thing this year.
Li Xianghua felt deeply distressed reading it.
"Sigh, so pitiful. I wonder whose parents are going to be heartbroken."
Lu Guoping was on the phone with his work unit, his face dark.
"What a lousy company! Does anyone think I'm missing work by choice?"
"What's wrong?"
"During the work stoppage, they're only paying minimum wage."
"Whatever, it's better than getting laid off."
"The kid needs money now more than ever."
"It's okay, we'll get by. We have enough savings for a while. I can make more handicrafts and earn a bit... Once the child gets into Martial Arts University, I remember the state has scholarships for kids like Chenzhou."
"It's fine, I'll just take this time to rest."
"Yeah, and Chenzhou can teach us some punches, too."
For the elderly couple now, no matter how bleak life became, all the misfortunes were eased by Lu Chenzhou's excellent performance, which became their faith.
Everything will get better!