Following cinematic convention, the police were the very last to arrive at the scene, adhering strictly to this unspoken rule; they even lagged a beat behind the rushing reporters.
The arrival of these officers and journalists only amplified the chaos and bustle at Tiannan University. The police immediately cordoned off the entire building with yellow tape, clearing away the rubbernecking onlookers. The university committee swiftly convened an emergency meeting, establishing a firm directive to contain all information regarding the incident. The faculty members then mobilized, gathering their students and sternly warning them against spreading any details, issuing a solemn gag order.
Fortunately, Li Yundong had played an unparalleled role as the savior in this ordeal. On this point, even Director Qian, who considered Li Yundong a thorn in his side, dared not step forward to criticize him.
Despite receiving swift orders from the Propaganda Department confirming that this news must not be released externally, some curious reporters still meticulously questioned the students about the sequence of events.
Some of Li Yundong's classmates, still visibly shaken, recounted what had transpired inside the classroom to the reporters. Though each described the events with slight variations in style and method, when they mentioned Li Yundong's almost supernatural ability to dodge bullets, their eyes widened, their expressions alight with an excited fervor.
“You’re saying Li Yundong can actually dodge bullets?” A reporter couldn't help but show a skeptical look after listening to the description given by a male student in front of him.
The young man nodded vigorously, his expression akin to someone who had just witnessed Megatron invading Earth or Ultraman conquering the universe.
The reporter let out a burst of laughter. He paused, suddenly feeling that it was impolite, and suppressed his mirth as he spoke to the student, “I apologize, please continue. I—I just couldn’t help myself.”
The student’s face instantly flushed crimson. He boomed, “You don’t believe me!”
The reporter struggled to maintain his composure. “It’s not that I don’t believe you; it’s just that what you’re describing sounds utterly unbelievable.”
The student became agitated, feeling that the reporter’s disbelief in Li Yundong’s exploits was a profound personal insult. “I’m telling the truth! If you don’t believe me, ask anyone else!”
Just then, a female student standing nearby also spoke up loudly, “I can vouch for him! I saw it with my own eyes!”
The reporter glanced at them, finally managing to stop laughing, and spoke with a serious tone, “Listen, I’ve studied psychology. I know that sometimes, after experiencing significant trauma, people can develop a psychological condition called post-traumatic fantasy. You might be subconsciously arranging and fabricating everything you saw and believing it to be real.”
He took great pains to explain this point, but the young man before him regarded him with intense hostility. Even the girl beside him tugged at his sleeve, saying, “He says we’re mentally ill. Ignore him; I think he’s the one who’s sick!”
The young man nodded, shot the reporter a look of resentment, and then turned and walked away.
The reporter was left standing there, momentarily stunned and lost.
Thanks to Li Yundong’s timely intervention, the tragedy did not escalate further, but the shockwave it sent through Tiannan University was profound. The school committee immediately issued compensation payments to the families of the deceased and injured, securing confidentiality agreements with them.
Although the terrifying skill Li Yundong displayed while saving lives was met with considerable skepticism, Zhou Qin’s subsequent support helped shield him from undue scrutiny. After providing a formal statement to the police, he was quickly released.
A day later, the exchange program between Tiannan City University and the University of Pennsylvania in the United States drew to a decidedly unsatisfying close. The visiting American faculty and students shook their heads at everything they had witnessed, though the one aspect that made their trip worthwhile was seeing a figure akin to a superhero.
The exchange students spoke of Li Yundong constantly, never letting a moment pass without discussion. John and Claire, in particular, debated daily: How could Li Yundong have achieved those ghost-like feats?
It was simply that Westerners habitually sought to explain everything through the established scientific theories ingrained in their minds, rendering any attempt at logical justification utterly impossible.
“When our protagonist caught an adult woman falling from the fifth floor, like the giant Antaeus catching a blow, the terrible event finally reached its conclusion. The terrifying prowess our protagonist displayed throughout this entire incident has renewed my intense curiosity about him—what possible reason could grant him strength that surpasses the mortal realm?”
Claire sat in her airplane seat, fingers flying across her laptop keyboard, typing line after line of text. When she typed the final letter, she let out a long sigh, staring blankly at the screen full of words.
A sharp finger-snap sounded beside her. Claire turned to see John crouching in the aisle, smiling at her. “May I be of service?”
The girl sitting next to Claire was quick-witted. She said to John, “I’ll switch seats with you.”
John smiled at her. “Oh, you are wonderfully sweet and thoughtful, my dear!”
Claire smiled as John settled into the seat beside her. “Could you ask for a glass of plain water for me?”
John cheerfully pressed the service indicator light on the plane, called the flight attendant to fetch a water for Claire, and then leaned close to the computer, reading softly, “When I was very young, my grandmother told me that on the distant Eastern continent, there are mysterious individuals who possess unparalleled power, much like the demigods in Western myths, such as Achilles or the giant Antaeus. However, their strength comes from relentless personal cultivation, whereas the power of Western mythical heroes stems from their divine lineage…”
Reading this part, John turned to Claire. “What are you writing? Your memoir?”
Claire stretched languidly, her upper body creating a beautifully sensual curve. She replied, “This is a factual report intended for The Philadelphia Inquirer. Unfortunately, they confiscated the footage I shot on my phone, which drastically reduces the credibility of this piece. Otherwise, I’d be making a fortune off this article!”
John laughed loudly. “Stop dreaming, Claire. If we hadn't seen it with our own eyes, would you believe that people capable of dodging bullets exist? Even if you posted videos of this online, people would just call it fakery!”
John pointed mockingly at his own eyes and ears. “People only trust what their eyes show them; they aren't keen to trust their ears!”
Claire’s expression grew thoughtful. She stared blankly out the airplane window at the vast expanse of piled clouds. After a moment, she turned back to John. “Do you believe it, John?”
John nodded emphatically. “Of course, I believe my own eyes! This guy is a legend! When I get back, I’m applying to transfer schools and get a visa to study in China. I need to come here and ask him to be my master!”
Claire was momentarily captivated by the fervor burning in John’s eyes.
John asked, “Are you coming, Claire? Aren’t you intensely curious and fascinated by this land and the strange things happening here?”
Claire hesitated, then sighed. “I don’t know, John. I have to go back and ask my grandmother.”
John urged her on. “Don’t hesitate, Claire! For your Pulitzer Prize aspirations, for your yearning for Chinese culture, you must come! Think about everything we witnessed in that one person! Knocking a man two to three meters away flying with a single blow, taking down over a dozen thugs armed with steel knives barehanded, dodging pistol bullets from several meters away, catching an adult woman falling from four stories high in mid-air, and then immediately catching another adult woman falling from the fifth floor with both hands!”
John exclaimed dramatically, “My God, even the wildest fantasist wouldn't dare imagine such things!”
His exaggerated tone caused a young man sitting in the row ahead to turn around, smiling as he spoke to John, “Hey, John, you’ve become his fan.”
A girl seated next to this young man also laughed. “I’m his fan too. Didn’t you see how he popped his dislocated hands back into place? I swear to God, he is the most manly man I’ve ever seen! If I could make love to him in bed, I’d die from excitement! Good heavens, I suddenly wonder what his performance in bed must be like!”
Westerners were open and candid about their desires, making no secret of their preferences.
The girl’s comment drew a burst of laughter from the exchange students around the plane. The young man next to her teased playfully, “Louise, didn’t you see he already has a girlfriend? And a very beautiful one at that!”
Louise shrugged, a look of regret on her face. “I saw. If that weren't the case, I would have asked him out already.”
John bantered briefly with his classmates in the row ahead, saying, “Hey, don’t make a move on my master!”
This statement caused his classmates to laugh and tease him in turn. “John, are you really going to take this Chinese man as your master?”
The smile vanished from John’s face, replaced by a look of serious commitment. “Absolutely. He is a legend. I am going to follow him and become his student!”
The students laughed. “Like Luke Skywalker in Star Wars, asking Master Obi-Wan Kenobi to be his teacher?”
John nodded vigorously. “Yes, exactly like Skywalker seeking Master Obi-Wan! He is my Obi-Wan Kenobi!”
The surrounding students burst into laughter. “Be careful he doesn’t refuse you!”
Recalling the time Li Yundong had playfully tormented him, John’s expression shifted to one of awkwardness and frustration. He mumbled, “I’m not afraid. I know a Chinese saying, it goes like this… Jing, jing—Claire, what does it start with?”
John struggled, his tongue heavy, trying to recall a Chinese phrase Claire had taught him. Claire couldn't help but smile. “Idiot, it’s Jing cheng suo zhi, jin shi wei kai (Sincerity can move mountains)!”
John grinned, rolling his tongue awkwardly as he tried to mimic the pronunciation. “Jing cheng suo zhi, jin shi wei kai?”
Claire let out a snort, shaking her head while pressing her forehead. “John, you still have a long way to go with your Chinese!”
Saying this, she ignored John struggling to roll his tongue over the Chinese characters and turned her gaze toward the vast sea of clouds outside the airplane window.
In that trance, it seemed to her, at the edge of this sea of clouds over the land of China, she glimpsed a world she had never seen before…
“He is a legend, and I will ask him to be my master!” John’s voice echoed relentlessly in Claire’s mind.
============================================================ Second update, third update at nine o’clock tonight!