**Chapter 289: Going Home**
When Luxianbei discovered that Water Brother, Nanling Yaohua, Gu Qiqi, and even the General were all gathered together below the stage, he immediately understood that a tragic social d*ath was looming over him.
It was a total social d*ath without a shred of mercy.
It was just like when a whole family gathers for a meal, and they happen to come across news on television showcasing your cross-dressing cosplay interview.
If the family didn’t recognize you, that would be fine, but if they did recognize you…
“Hey, hey, hey! Is that the original Miracle Saintess? She looks a lot like the Calamity!” Gu Qiqi shouted excitedly from the audience.
Hearing her “blunt truth,” Luxianbei’s face instantly turned dark.
The shame that he had been able to suppress with his flexible ethical boundaries surged up violently.
His cheeks burned as if he had a fever of forty degrees.
He felt a tingling sensation beneath his skin, like electric currents coursing from head to toe.
His ten toes seemed to be holding a wild dance party, wriggling uncontrollably in his shoes.
Why must you be so chatty! Didn’t anyone else notice? Why aren’t they speaking up? Luxianbei thought gloomily.
At that moment, Shen Baiwei noticed Luxianbei’s abnormality and leaned closer, gently nudging him with her elbow, whispering, “What’s wrong? You seem a bit off.”
“It really doesn’t feel right…” Luxianbei lowered his voice and replied, “If your family, friends, dubious allies, and the big leaders from your workplace are all down there now, your state is even worse than mine!”
Upon hearing this, Shen Baiwei followed Luxianbei’s gaze to the direction he occasionally glanced at. Realizing that Bai Kai and the others were dressed distinctly differently from the residents of God Realm Yumen, she nodded thoughtfully and said earnestly, “Sorry, that kind of situation is hard for me to imagine.”
“After all, I don’t have family or friends anymore. The leaders at work… ah right, the elders of the Miracle Cult, they probably all died recently when the First Generation Miracle Saint arrived.”
Shen Baiwei didn’t mention the dubious allies, considering that person was standing right next to her, about to vanish in a tragic social d*ath.
“Wait, is there really no one you care about in this world?” Luxianbei quietly retorted.
“There are!” Shen Baiwei replied nonchalantly, “But I think that if they are watching me down there and know what I’m doing, they’d probably be happy for me?”
“After all, I’m saving people, doing good deeds, and not engaging in anything disgraceful!”
Upon hearing this, Luxianbei was momentarily taken aback. He looked at the residents of God Realm Yumen below, whose eyes sparkled with fervor, and then glanced at Long Bang behind him, whose face was brimming with anticipation, frowning slightly.
He suddenly felt that Shen Baiwei had a point… After all, she wasn’t doing anything disgraceful!
Although being watched by Water Brother and the others brought about a certain level of social d*ath, how could he let that small matter spoil Long Bang and the expectations of all the residents of God Realm Yumen?
Seeing Luxianbei delay in responding, Shen Baiwei tilted her head and quietly asked, “Haven’t you thought it over yet? If it’s really tough, should I show you how first?”
“No need!” Luxianbei steadied himself, raising an eyebrow at Shen Baiwei. “Such a small matter won’t stump me; what’s that saying?”
“Oh right, as long as I’m not embarrassed, it’s them that should be! If all goes well, I want to make a game segment and invite them all up here for some friendly interaction with the residents of God Realm Yumen!”
Social d*ath doesn’t vanish into thin air, but it can be redirected. Once the local idol is discovered by family, inviting them on stage to interact with one’s fans will prevent social d*ath!
With that, Luxianbei confidently strode to the front of the stage, took a deep breath, and spoke in a slow yet powerful tone.
“To be honest, seeing all of you makes me really happy. Thinking back to a thousand years ago, when we first arrived here, the Shaman Queen’s Army was at our door, and Yumen was on the brink of collapse. Thankfully, we had Nanling Prefecture King Longxiang, and the saint monk Hong Bian…”
On the way to the venue, through Luxianbei’s entanglement, Shen Baiwei had already summarized the information she gleaned from that little booklet.
She had to speak; after all, calamities always find ways to extract information.
At this moment, as Luxianbei spoke, he was also sorting through the events that transpired in God Realm Yumen over the past thousand years that he had just heard from Shen Baiwei, and began narrating them.
He spoke of how Longxiang and Hong Bian risked their lives to save Yumen, how he and Shen Baiwei cleaned up the hidden dangers left by the Shaman Queen, how the Longxiang Army Armor Soldiers sacrificed themselves, how the five sons of Yumen left to search for hope, and how, after the hope was lost, Long Bang led everyone to survive in despair…
Before he could finish, the residents of God Realm Yumen below were moved by the emotions in his words, their eyes turning red, their gazes drifting as if recalling poignant memories, touched by some soul-stirring past.
Truly a calamity! Shen Baiwei glanced sideways at Luxianbei, silently lamenting.
Seeing the changes in the surrounding residents of God Realm Yumen, Gu Qiqi, with a puzzled expression, asked, “System… why are they crying?”
“Switch places, and you’d cry too,” the system replied.
It wasn’t like it hadn’t experienced similar situations before. The reason those residents of God Realm Yumen became so emotional had little to do with whether the speaker on stage was a calamity.
They, along with their ancestors, had lived in God Realm Yumen, clinging to the elusive hope of the “Original Miracle Saintess” to survive until now, just like a drowning person, struggling for many days on a piece of driftwood that might sink at any time, finally waiting for rescue.
Their emotions weren’t moved by the return of the Original Miracle Saintess, nor completely due to their ancestors’ deeds, but because a reliable voice finally told them, “You are saved!”
In such a case, if anyone stood on the stage to say something relatively normal yet compelling, they would all be moved to tears.
Of course, whether positive or negative, calamities have always been adept at stirring emotions…
The General stroked his chin thoughtfully as he listened to Luxianbei’s words. When the story was nearing its end, he finally nodded as if coming to a realization. “So, they changed the past?”
As he finished speaking, Luxianbei’s remarks were also drawing to a close.
“The ebb and flow of the world’s fortunes, though said to be destiny, human beings collectively triumph over fate. We two, though messengers of the Miracle Flower, believe that Long Bang and all of you are the true miracles!”
“Good—! Well said! No wonder she is my… my Miracle Saintess! I love you!”
Before Luxianbei, including everyone present, could react, loud cheers erupted from the audience.
Following the direction of the cheers, Luxianbei spotted a middle-aged man wearing tattered white clothes, good-looking yet slightly flamboyant, excitedly blushing and clapping, his eyes darting around restlessly as if searching for something.
Indeed, the man was Bai Kai, Luxianbei’s first fan.
If the residents of God Realm Yumen had a concept of “water army,” they would definitely think of him as the one hired by the Miracle Saintess.
What an embarrassment… Nanling Peak facepalmed, peering through the gaps between his fingers, glaring at Bai Kai, then turned to Nanling Yaohua beside him to complain, “What do you think of him? It’s one thing to cheer and clap, but why is he looking around?”
“Maybe it’s a professional habit?” Nanling Yaohua pouted. “I heard that those working with Master Bai have a custom of giving flowers and liquor to the girls after their performances, kind of like tipping, so he’s probably looking for opportunities to tip!”
Upon hearing this, Nanling Peak felt even more embarrassed.
How did I end up with such a disciple?
Can’t he learn from his two shixiongs…
Halfway through his thoughts, Nanling Peak forced himself to cut off his reverie.
He suddenly recalled that although Bai Kai’s two shixiongs were indeed superior to him in many ways, they were overly excellent, to the point of self-destruction; from a certain perspective, they might not even be as good as the unpredictable Bai Kai.
However, just as he was thinking this, Bai Kai, holding a huge bottle of aloe vera liquor he somehow found, raised his hand and activated his spirit energy, causing the liquid to bubble up violently, spraying all over his face.
Nanling Peak, “……” I take back what I said earlier!
————
In the end, Luxianbei did not manage to invite Bai Kai and his gang onto the stage as she had hoped. Just as she finished speaking, she was pulled away by Shen Baiwei to the back of the stage, next to Long Bang.
“Hey, let go! What are you doing? I’m not done over there yet!”
“Tsk!” Shen Baiwei spat disdainfully, rolling her eyes and pointing, “Look at him! He’s like that, and you still want to keep it going?”
Hearing this, Luxianbei glanced in the direction Shen Baiwei was pointing, and was instantly stunned.
She saw Long Bang crouched alone in the corner, cradling a bundle of hemp rope in his hands, murmuring to himself.
“Dog Brother, I’m here to see you again!”
As he spoke, he pulled out a half-eaten piece of somewhat moldy bread from his pocket and offered it to the bundle of hemp rope, “Hehe, it’s braised beef!”
As he spoke, the wrinkles on his face revealed a childlike innocent smile, reminiscent of his childhood over a thousand years ago.
However, while such an innocent smile may suit a child, on the face of an elderly man nearing d*ath, it appeared somewhat crazed and foolish, tugging at the heartstrings.
“What now?” Shen Baiwei whispered to Luxianbei, “He seems to be out of his mind… is there a chance of danger?”
Although she didn’t believe that normally Long Bang would have any ill intentions, if he had indeed lost his mind, that would be another story.
A creature that had lived for over a thousand years, a calamity-class old monster, losing its reason and going mad could be quite dangerous.
At such times, one must not provoke him; the best approach would be to amuse him first, and then figure out how to…
Just as Shen Baiwei was subtly calculating, she noticed Luxianbei’s actions, and her heart leapt to her throat.
Luxianbei heard Shen Baiwei’s words and understood what she meant, but completely ignored her, stepping forward and giving Long Bang a slap on the back of his head.
“Smack!” It was a loud and satisfying smack.
Shen Baiwei, “???” What is this behavior of hammering a bomb? What does the calamity want to do?
“Hey, Long Bang, you actually hid here?” Luxianbei placed her hands on her hips, glaring at Long Bang with a deadpan face. “You even took the braised beef at home to feed the dog? Do you know this was prepared for tonight’s banquet? Now I’m going to be scolded!”
She knew about Long Bang’s secret affair with his Dog Brother, and her words mirrored what Long Bang would hear when he was caught by family back then.
Except for not understanding the local dialect of Xiaoxiang, it was almost unchanged.
She didn’t care that this action might provoke Long Bang, leading to terrible things. She only knew that with Long Bang’s prideful character, he absolutely wouldn’t want the residents of God Realm Yumen to see him acting deranged.
Even running the risk of being crushed to d*ath by a crazed Long Bang, she wanted to preserve the last bit of dignity for him.
After being slapped on the head and scolded a few times, Long Bang, who was initially blank-eyed, slowly raised his head, stared at her intensely for a few seconds, and suddenly appeared to brighten, showing a flustered expression.
“Qiaomei, you’re here!”
Qiaomei? Who is that? Never mind, since he says who I am, then I am who I am! Luxianbei thought, rolling her eyes, “You still have the nerve to say that? You disappeared early in the morning, and now it’s almost dark and you’re still not home. Do you know what day it is?”
“What day is it today?” Long Bang tilted his head.
“It’s the winter solstice!” Luxianbei grabbed Long Bang’s ear, leaning close to his face and shouting, “The old lady told you a few days ago that the winter solstice is a day for everyone to have a meal together. She asked you not to run around, and you never listen, right?”
“Oops! I’m sorry, Qiaomei! I was wrong!” Long Bang exclaimed, wriggling out of Luxianbei’s grip and then spinning his eyes around, quietly asking, “Qiaomei, my mother hasn’t noticed that I sneaked out, right?”
“Not yet!” Luxianbei huffed impatiently, “But if you don’t get going soon, it might be too late.”
Upon hearing this, Long Bang was alarmed and promptly said, “Then what are we waiting for? Let’s hurry home!”
As he spoke, he grabbed Luxianbei’s hand and headed in the direction of the County Prince’s Mansion.
Going home… it was indeed time to go home. Gazing at the distant outline of the County Prince’s Mansion, Luxianbei silently echoed those words.
At that moment, Long Bang suddenly let go of her hand, turned back, took off his outer coat, and laid it over the bundle of hemp rope, gently saying, “Dog Brother, it’s getting cold. Take care of yourself. I’ll come to see you again another day!”
Thus, the two figures gradually walked away, appearing like a pair of grandchildren, yet sounding like siblings in conversation.
“Qiaomei, did you bring money? I’m a bit hungry…”
“Want something to eat? How about the sesame cakes?”
“Why do you bring that up? I mistook someone last time!”
“…”
After a long while, until the sounds of Long Bang and Luxianbei had faded from earshot, and their figures dwindled to two small dots, Shen Baiwei regained her senses, let out a long sigh, and stepped forward to catch up.
