Luo Cheng sat inside his temporary shelter, frowning in deep thought.
Inside his temporary dwelling, he could hear voices from the street outside, conversations from neighboring shelters, crying, phone calls, and even the sound of someone snoring.
Like the people next door, Luo Cheng had lost his home overnight, and all his belongings were temporarily gone. But unlike them, he seemed to have something mysterious in his possession.
On the gossip news app, Luo Cheng found some strange “future” news. He came to this conclusion based on the timestamps of those news reports and the fact that an article about his city being attacked by demonic beasts and birds had been pushed to the front.
Luo Cheng wasn’t sure how much of the gossip app’s content was true. So, he opened a browser and searched for earlier shocking news reports stories he had only vaguely heard about or knew nothing of. To his surprise, those events had indeed happened, though official news sites reported them differently, with varying details and focus.
In short, the gossip site undoubtedly followed a rule: "The published article must have the most eye-catching and shocking headlines, and also it should also apply a “moderate” amount of wishful thinking (适度的YY literally translates to "moderate amount of mental lust" or "imaginative indulgence." Where YY is a shorthand for 意淫 (yì yín). It originally referred to sexual fantasies or indulging in lustful thoughts. But it is usually used as a modern slang that means wishful thinking, fantasizing, or fabricating details—often in an exaggerated or unrealistic way. It is commonly used to describe media, gossip, or fiction that distorts reality for dramatic effect.) to the event details" before releasing the news.
So, while the events themselves were real, many of the details were undoubtedly fabricated by the gossip site.
Luo Cheng stared blankly at the search results for a moment. Then, a thought struck him, and he quickly typed "Gossip News Network" into the search bar. However, when the results appeared, none of them had anything to do with the app on his phone.
Luo Cheng raised his eyebrows slightly and flipped through the pages one by one. Finally, on the third page of results, he found some related content. Clearly, this was the official website's proper link, yet it had been pushed all the way to the third page by various advertisements. But if he directly searched for "news app," it would jump straight to the first page in the first result. He really did not know what to say about this.
After entering the website, the layout inside looked similar to a typical news portal. The entire page seemed to be imitating one of the more popular and widely used news websites. However, the content inside was full of extremely sensational headlines and overly gossip-like news, completely incomparable to proper news sites.
Luo Cheng carefully searched through the site and found that the content here was basically the same as what was in the app. The only difference was that there were no news articles with time discrepancies.
Luo Cheng took a deep breath, reopened the app, and looked at the news article that was squeezed between the eighth and ninth, the one that should only appear today. After thinking for a moment, he reopened the news website and began repeatedly refreshing the page. He wanted to see if this news article would actually be updated today on the official website of this app.
The general update rule for this website and app was that if there was an eye-catching breaking news story, it would be pushed separately as a single article. If the event happened close to the scheduled news update time in the evening, it would be released as the headline of a full news push.
If there was no suitable major news for the day, the app would gather several random pieces of news from unknown sources and compile them into a full update. This was similar to how some public accounts on other apps operated. The news about Luo Cheng’s hometown had been pushed separately when it was placed between the eighth and ninth. This meant that it could be updated on the website at any time throughout the day rather than waiting for the evening update.
At around eight in the morning, Luo Cheng refreshed the page again. Sure enough, he saw the exact same news article on the news website as the one that had appeared in the app days ago. He quickly opened both the app and the website and compared them word for word. He confirmed that every single character and punctuation mark was completely identical.
At this moment, Luo Cheng felt his heartbeat quicken. Calming himself, he opened the app again and scrolled to the latest article, which had a publication date of the twenty-eighth. It was still possible that the news about his city was just a formatting mistake. Perhaps when he installed the app, the editors had already prepared today's article, but it had not yet been officially updated on the website and had mistakenly been inserted among older news in the app. However, there were simply too many such errors.
Earlier, while skimming through the app, Luo Cheng had already noticed that there were times when several days in a row had news that was ten or even twenty days ahead of schedule. Yet on the internet and in the comment sections, there was not a single user complaining about this.
But the article dated the twenty-eighth was far too early. He only needed to wait about eleven days to see if any real news about people getting bloated from drinking river water would appear. That would determine whether this app was real or fake... but this seemed too slow for Luo Cheng. Deep down, he had a vague sense of unease, as if danger would soon arrive if he did not make a decision immediately.
Feeling a slight headache, Luo Cheng rubbed his temples. Before he could think further, the noise outside interrupted his thoughts. Looking toward the window, he saw that a crowd had gathered on the street. It seemed that officials had sent someone over, and all the residents who had been temporarily relocated last night had come out to listen.
The officials were here to address two main issues. First, they would explain how compensation for damaged houses would be handled. Second, they would report on the progress of clearing the wreckage.
Families who had suffered casualties were mostly at the hospital, and their cases were being handled separately, so there was no need to mention them for now.
As for the damaged belongings, that part was easy to deal with. The authorities had plenty of experience handling such matters. Overnight, they had sorted through the contents of the two collapsed buildings. Whether it was clothes and personal items that were still intact or broken furniture and smashed tables, everything had been gathered and placed in temporary shelters on the other side of the street. Residents could claim their belongings, assess their losses, and either contact their insurance companies or request government compensation as needed.
The more important issue was the damage to the houses themselves.
The government provided two options. The first option was to rebuild the houses on the original site. The government would provide some compensation, and the construction would take about three months. During the building process, temporary housing would be provided for the residents.
The second option was compensation in the form of a portable house voucher. However, aside from basic facilities, all other furnishings and customizations would have to be purchased separately. Additionally, there would be no cash compensation for the lost houses.
To be honest, if considering only value, the portable house was clearly worth more. However, the problem was that these houses were mainly meant for cultivators who traveled frequently for training or sought opportunities across different regions. In order to protect the interests of ordinary citizens and limit the rate of spiritual energy consumption in cities, almost no cities had designated areas for portable houses.
On the other hand, along the main roads connecting different cities, it was common to see designated open spaces for portable houses. But these were always located at a certain distance outside city limits. Moreover, portable houses parked in these roadside areas could not remain in one place for more than five days at a time, nor could they stay in the same area for extended periods multiple times within a month. Additionally, residents were required to provide free assistance in city defense. If demonic beasts or rogue cultivators attacked, those staying in these areas were obligated to help defend the city. If they refused, they would be fined spirit stones.
But if one were to live in a remote, uninhabited place, naturally, no one would care. Because of this, it is said that in certain relatively safe wilderness areas, small markets and small residential areas have even formed.
So for ordinary people who do not plan to travel for long periods, it is certainly better to wait for their houses to be rebuilt. But if one has plans for a long journey or intends to go out for cultivation, then choosing a portable house is undoubtedly more suitable. If one no longer needs the house in the future, it can even be sold! However, factors such as the house’s condition, model, design, and interior decoration may all become reasons for buyers to haggle over the price, and getting a good price when selling the house would require some luck.
Faced with these two choices, the majority of residents were fairly satisfied after hearing the compensation amount. Of course, some were planning to bargain and see if they could get a bit more money. There were naturally no objections to the compensated housing.
As for Luo Cheng, at this moment, he suddenly felt a bit hesitant.
He had a stable job in the city, and having grown up and lived here for more than twenty years, he was very familiar with this place. If he chose to wait for the house to be rebuilt, not only would he be able to move into a brand-new house identical to a newly constructed one, but he would also receive a relatively generous compensation. At least enough for him to renovate the house well and buy many things, whether necessary or not.
But… at this moment, he hesitated.
This hesitation came from his concern over his parents' relics suddenly appearing. Maybe he had read too many messy novels or watched too many shows, but he instinctively felt that this matter was not so simple. Of course, if he did nothing and acted like he had never discovered anything, perhaps after a long enough time, the other party would give up on him completely and ignore him. But there was also the possibility that some people, after investing so much effort into him, might not be able to obtain anything valuable and would simply flip the table and kill him in frustration.
And this hesitation also came from the question of how exactly his parents had died. What had happened back then? Why did it seem like someone wanted to get some kind of information from him? If these matters were not figured out and continued to pile up in his heart, they would always weigh on his mind.
Besides, honestly, as a man, who had never dreamed of wandering the world and adventuring everywhere? The reason he had not chosen the path of cultivation back then was, on one hand, because his talent was mediocre. He had not shown any outstanding potential during high school body training classes. On the other hand, it was because of his resentment toward his parents for focusing only on cultivation and neglecting their family. That rebellious part of him had subconsciously gone against them. Since cultivation made them unwilling to return home, made them abandon their parents and son without even coming back for a glance, then he would simply refuse to cultivate.
Moreover, at that time, he and his grandmother did have some savings. It was enough for her to live comfortably in retirement, enough for him to finish his studies without any problems, and even enough for him to stay at home for a few years. But for a cultivator, that amount of savings was like a cup of water trying to put out a cart full of firewood, far from enough to support another cultivator.
The current world is one where cultivation is widespread. But after cultivation became common, most people, if their opportunities were ordinary, their family wealth average, and their cultivation talent also completely unremarkable, could at most cultivate to the Foundation Establishment stage. After that, it would be very difficult to take another step forward. The pills needed to achieve the Golden Core stage were expensive, and those without enough talent were almost completely incapable of breaking through on their own through accumulated cultivation.
Many ordinary cultivators would look back and sigh. If they had known that cultivation would lead to nothing but loneliness, that in the end, they would only live a few decades longer than ordinary people who took longevity medicine, they might as well have spent that money doing business or simply bought a house in a city to live idly. Perhaps their days would be far more comfortable than struggling at the lowest level of the cultivation world as they do now.
Nowadays, with the development of the internet, cultivators also go online to share their cultivation experiences, complain about all kinds of misfortunes, and upload videos of the various things they encounter on the path of cultivation. There are even idol cultivators who attract followers while taking on entertainment industry jobs to earn money for buying pills to aid their cultivation.
There are also many cultivator content creators making comedic videos, hoping to follow in the footsteps of the great cultivator "Little Brother Gang," 小刚哥 "Xiao Gang Ge" or Litttle Brother Gang is a reference to a well-known figure in Chinese internet culture. A nickname of a person named Wang Gang (王刚). He is recognized for becoming an influential figure through live-streaming and his online presence and is often credited with being one of the early pioneers in live-streaming in China. He is humorously referred to as someone who "entered the Dao" through his live-streaming activities. Now, the phrase "Little Brother Gang" has been widely used in internet slang, often made in a joking or exaggerated context. who became a cultivator through livestreaming centuries ago. They use videos and livestreams to increase their popularity and earn money on video platforms to buy cultivation resources.
In the end, the world today is no different from the world five hundred years ago before spiritual energy revived. The only difference is the emergence of a profession called "cultivator."
As for Luo Cheng now, his mind was already mature, and he no longer needed to hold grudges against his parents, who had passed away many years ago. After his grandmother's passing, he had long since lost any attachments to this city. And now, he had an opportunity to exchange for a portable house, along with that inexplicable sense of unease.
Most importantly, Luo Cheng lowered his gaze, his eyes sweeping over the pocket containing his parents' relic—a phone. Perhaps, after more than twenty years of having neither opportunities nor talent, he finally had a sliver of hope.
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