The modern world is like a sieve (8): 

China’s global evacuation of overseas citizens attracted a lot of attention, naturally including Han Zhen, who had been frustrated and depressed ever since his rebirth.

This large-scale withdrawal and relocation of Chinese citizens had also happened in the future within Han Zhen’s memories. At that time, zombies had appeared in China, and the government urgently evacuated residents of nearby cities to prevent the number of zombies from growing further.

After that, the Travelers’ Alliance appeared, occupying several nearby cities. The residents of those cities were quickly escorted away by the Chinese military and relocated to provinces with stronger military forces.

But now, before any disaster had struck, China had already taken the initiative to prepare in advance, even extending its protective measures to Chinese citizens living abroad.

What did this mean? It meant the Chinese government had already sensed something was wrong and had made preparations ahead of time.

Han Zhen was extremely annoyed by this—if things went on like this, even if he found the Alliance Leader, the Travelers’ Alliance’s plan to conquer China would encounter even greater resistance than in his previous life. The Chinese people would not panic in the face of disaster the way they had before, nor would they suffer such heavy casualties.

For him, this was absolutely bad news.

Out of habit, he went online to spread remarks like “The government is making trouble out of nothing, there’s no need for compatriots working and living abroad to return.” But his account was quickly silenced after sending out the message. He cursed angrily about “literary inquisition” and “not even having freedom of speech living here,” completely unaware that his every move was already under surveillance, every statement recorded and filed away as material for evaluation.

Lying on his bed, counting down the days until the apocalypse, Han Zhen scrolled through short videos on his phone.

A highly popular video popped up on his screen. A young man dressed in azure martial attire, with long black hair flowing behind him, leapt down from the rooftop of a six-story building, causing gasps of shock from the crowd below.

“My god, is he trying to kill himself?!”

“Ahhh, call the police!!”

Before anyone on-screen could react or comment, the young man, supposedly about to commit suicide, flipped in midair and, most unnaturally, paused briefly in midair before landing lightly on his feet like a swallow, stunning the surrounding crowd.

The person filming stood not far in front of him. In the footage, when the youth landed, there wasn’t even the thud of a heavy object hitting the ground—his landing was so silent that even the footsteps of passersby were louder.

The person filming could be heard sharply inhaling in shock, then quickly rushing toward the young man in ancient garb, trying to talk to him.

The youth himself looked utterly bewildered as he watched the person rushing at him with a strange metal object in hand. His lips parted slightly as if to speak.

Suddenly, a group of people carrying cameras and audio equipment rushed over from the side, pointing their gear at him.

Then another youth, also in ancient costume but dressed in white, came “flying” in, with an obvious wire rig attached to his waist, and clashed with the youth in azure.

The young man had no time to ask questions, quickly fending off the sudden enemy attack.

The two fought fiercely, every punch and blow landing solidly. The “bam bam” sounds made viewers’ blood boil. Ordinary people living in a peaceful city had never seen such an exciting and spectacular fight.

A stagehand holding the wire rig muttered helplessly, “Brother Zhou is really something, thinks he’s from Shaolin Temple and has good kung fu—he actually jumped straight down without using the wire. That’s way too dangerous.”

The onlookers suddenly understood—this was a film crew shooting a scene. The young man in azure had nerves of steel and actually jumped straight down without a harness.

The crew likely hadn’t expected this either, only managing to capture his jump on film before hurriedly rushing in with cameras to shoot the continuation—the current fight with the youth in white.

And truth be told, the fight was really impressive!

The director shouted through a megaphone: “Alright, next switch to the alley fight. The swordsman in white drives the main character into the alley!”

Right after, the white-clad youth struck the azure youth with a palm, slamming him into a wall. Clutching his chest, he couldn’t speak for a while. Then the youth in white lightly tapped the ground with his toes, flying toward him in a flash.

If anyone on site had looked carefully, they might have noticed that the wire on the youth in white’s waist had bent loosely in midair when he flew up, not supporting him at all.

The crew hurriedly followed with their cameras and audio gear, while the crowd was kept outside the alley, watching the commotion from afar without daring to disturb the filming.

What happened afterward wasn’t recorded in the video. Presumably, everyone dispersed after enjoying the spectacle.

Comments under the video read:

“So it was a shoot! That jump scared me at first.”
“That guy’s crazy, jumping straight from the sixth floor!”
“The crew is too careless. How could they let him do that? What if something happened?!”
“Wow, is Shaolin Temple really that amazing? Now I want to learn martial arts!”
“Old martial arts movies were all like this—those breathtaking shots were filmed by actors risking injury.”
“What drama is this? I want to watch it…”
“Wait! Did you guys notice that guy in white’s face? What kind of peerless beauty is that?! Too stunning!!”
“When he flew up, I seriously thought a celestial being had descended… But this has to be a wuxia drama, right? Hahaha!”

Seeing a screenshot of that face shared by netizens, Han Zhen suddenly sat bolt upright, clutching his phone, his eyes fixed on the screen in disbelief as he muttered, “The Alliance Leader… it’s the Alliance Leader?!”

How could Si Qi be here? No, Si Qi should have appeared long ago!

But why was he with these people, “acting” in some film? Could it be that he was using this as a way to trick that Traveler?

Based on Han Zhen’s understanding of Si Qi, there was no way he could have come up with such a plan himself. That meant someone else was helping him strategize. Damn it, that person should have been him!!

Online, videos of Si Qi and the youth spread rapidly, going viral everywhere.

A trending hashtag, #ImmortalDescendsToMortalWorld, spread Si Qi’s face across the entire internet. Many people tried to dig up information about him—his name, who he was, and whether he had other works.

Unfortunately, this breathtakingly beautiful, cool, otherworldly youth couldn’t be found anywhere online. Netizens searched tirelessly for three days and nights but still found no trace of Si Qi. They angrily accused the production crew of incompetence—having such a skilled martial arts actor, such a peerless beauty, and not even doing the bare minimum of promotion. Outrageous!

While netizens were furious about not having high-quality photos of a handsome idol to swoon over, Han Zhen was furious for an entirely different reason: after his rebirth, everything was different from his previous life.

Watching Si Qi and that group work together seamlessly, effortlessly tricking the Traveler in front of everyone without alerting the authorities, Han Zhen fumed with resentment, feeling abandoned.

Just like the others scouring the internet for information on Si Qi, Han Zhen did the same. But even after searching the entire web, he couldn’t find a single clue about him.

Frustrated, Han Zhen lashed out, flooding major forums with information about the Travelers, publicly exposing exact details about Si Qi and the Archangel, and revealing the truth behind the video in hopes of drawing Si Qi’s side’s attention.

But all his efforts were in vain.

Si Qi didn’t go online to read any of this. Instead, the department shadowing Han Zhen and monitoring his every move instantly noticed his intent.

When Han Zhen insisted, “That stunning angel cosplayer is actually a real angel,” they were about to delete his posts. But netizens only laughed after seeing them. Some said Han Zhen was just being delusional, spouting nonsense with a straight face. Others joined in the joke, saying, “Wow, you found out such a big secret?” Of course, all those characters were clearly just cosplayers, the wigs and contact lenses not even that convincing. Hey, wait—didn’t that cat demon’s ears fall off and look just like a headpiece? Must’ve been an illusion. Definitely an illusion.

Mocked by countless people, Han Zhen fumed, thinking bitterly that in this day and age, no one believed the truth anymore. He then tried to expose the flaws in the “jumping” video, insisting Si Qi really could fly, that he wasn’t lifted by wires. He claimed Si Qi was a cultivator from the cultivation world who could soar through the clouds and command the wind and rain, even seriously declaring that he wished to join Si Qi as his trusted right-hand man.

His words were so earnest that even through the screen, one could feel his seriousness. And he wrote such long paragraphs that the surrounding netizens were left speechless, unable to resist commenting:

“Bro, are you okay? Read too many cultivation novels and gone crazy? There are no cultivators in this day and age.”

“Instead of dreaming about cultivating immortality, why not go train at Shaolin? Didn’t you see that guy jump off the sixth floor unharmed? Cultivation is still way too far-fetched.”

“Tsk, tsk, sounds like a case of chuunibyou.”

“The poster must be under fifteen. When he looks back on this comment later in life, the embarrassment will probably kill him, hahaha…”

Han Zhen was mocked by a crowd of people, gritting his teeth in anger.

He hated being looked down on, but he couldn’t stop reading the comments. He only hoped to find a reply from Si Qi, some kind of clue about him.

But he was destined never to find it.

Recently, Si Qi had become very interested in aerospace engineering. After all, in cultivation, the ultimate goal was to break through the boundaries of one’s world and reach the immortal realm where spiritual energy was more abundant.

Now that he’d suddenly learned the outside of the world was a vacuum, that it was the universe, and that humans could fly beyond the atmosphere using metal machines without cultivating at all, he found it incredibly fascinating.

At present, Chinese researchers were struggling over rocket fuel—how to ensure enough while still minimizing rocket size, in order to launch them into outer space.

Si Qi suddenly had an idea and said, “How about using a teleportation array?”

Everyone: ???

“A teleportation array… you mean the thing from novels, where you arrange spirit stones into a formation and then step inside to instantly move somewhere else?”

Si Qi: “That’s right.”

The crowd grew interested at once: “Can you show us how it actually works?”

Si Qi: “Sure. Someone come with me, I’ll show you.”

Hands shot up all around, everyone eager to volunteer as the test subject.

Si Qi casually chose the most excited young man, then took out a few spirit stones from his jade talisman and tossed them onto the ground.

The researchers marveled at how Si Qi’s casual toss landed in a perfect circle.

Then the young man, holding a portable camera, stepped eagerly into the teleportation array with Si Qi.

Just as he was about to ask if he needed to prepare anything, his vision blurred—and the next second, he found himself in someone’s home.

Flushed with excitement, the young man shouted, “This is just… way too cool!!”

Without saying much, Si Qi tossed down a few more spirit stones and beckoned him over again.

The young man jogged into the array, and in the next instant, those in the research institute were left stunned by Si Qi and the volunteer vanishing into thin air.

These were aerospace bureau staff, and they hadn’t even had time to express their amazement before Si Qi brought the volunteer back.

They crowded around the young man, checking the footage on his camera.

In the thirty-second video, the seamless change of scenery twice in a row left everyone exclaiming in awe, envious of him beyond measure.

Someone asked Si Qi: “Did you two go into someone else’s house?”

Si Qi: “That’s my dormitory.”

Everyone nodded, then in academic fashion asked, “To set a teleportation array, must it be a place you’ve already been?”

Si Qi answered with scholarly rigor: “In theory, as long as I know the exact coordinates, I can.”

Their amazement was impossible to conceal. “So are there environmental requirements? Like high-pressure under the sea, or a completely vacuum region…”

Si Qi: “We can try.”

Immediately, the group dove into experiments, their excitement overflowing. Compared with spending hundreds of billions to send rockets into the sky, wasn’t it far easier for Si Qi to set up an array and send one straight to the moon?

Forget first cosmic velocity and second cosmic velocity—such things weren’t even worth considering. Not just the moon—even Mars would be within reach!

Just imagining it thrilled them to no end!

The group worked busily all day, with Si Qi taking them all around the globe, leaving everyone exhilarated.

As evening fell, Si Qi said he was off work. They instinctively thought he would casually throw down a few spirit stones to go home.

But instead, he seriously walked to the aerospace bureau’s entrance and waited a couple of minutes for a car to arrive.

Peering outside, someone remarked: “Seems like it’s always this car that comes to pick up the Immortal Lord.”

“The driver is Director Chu, right? The one who looks like a movie star.”

“Say, if the Immortal Lord can get home in under a second, why does he insist on riding someone else’s car every day? That’s at least an hour round trip.”

“I heard Director Chu is notoriously difficult to deal with—nobody’s words sway him. So why is he willing to be the Immortal Lord’s chauffeur every single day?”

The single folks muttered for a while before concluding: “These two are really strange!”

Only a few married researchers exchanged knowing looks as they watched Si Qi and Chu Feng drive away. They whispered meaningfully: “So the Immortal Lord likes that kind of thing.”

“I used to wonder if his children would inherit his extraordinary physique, but it turns out he bent instead.”

“Does Director Chu even know the Immortal Lord likes him?”

“Well, if he’s willing to drive him back and forth every day, he must feel something for him too.”

They had no idea how sharp Si Qi’s hearing was. Listening to their chatter, Si Qi—who hadn’t even realized himself that always letting Chu Feng drive him home meant something—was left dazed by their analysis.

He admitted he had a bit of fondness for Chu Feng, but was it already that obvious?

Chu Feng was thoughtful and perceptive—could he already have sensed it and assumed Si Qi liked him?

And the fact that Chu Feng never suggested he use a teleportation array but willingly picked him up and dropped him off every day—could it be that he also…?

The more Si Qi thought, the hotter his face grew. He stole a glance at Chu Feng, saw the man relaxed and cheerful, and when he noticed Si Qi’s gaze, he turned back with an unbelievably dazzling smile.

Si Qi’s heart skipped a beat.

He wasn’t the type to deliberately suppress his emotions. Even if he knew nothing about romance, he was willing to give it a try.

He said to Chu Feng: “I just overheard people talking about marriage. They were curious if my child would inherit my cultivator’s bloodline and possess extraordinary potential.”

Chu Feng: “Do you want to have children?”

Si Qi: “I probably won’t have any.”

Chu Feng chuckled: “Oh? Why not?”

Si Qi boldly said: “Because the person I like is male.”

Chu Feng looked curious and asked him, “Who is the person you like?”

Si Qi pressed his lips together, ultimately still a little shy.

He took a deep breath and asked in return, “Then, do you have someone you like?”

Chu Feng deliberately teased him: “Aren’t you good at divination? Why don’t you calculate who it is that I like? Who I’ll marry in the future?”

Si Qi: “…”

Si Qi: “…………”

Seeing how conflicted Si Qi looked, Chu Feng laughed loudly.

He said, “Actually, you don’t need to calculate. I can just tell you directly.”

Si Qi tried hard to suppress his emotions. “Mm, who is it?”

Chu Feng didn’t answer. He casually picked up the phone beside him, opened it, flipped through it, and said, “I have his photo.”

Si Qi pretended to be calm. “Oh…”

“Do you want to see it?”

Si Qi: “Mm.”

Chu Feng handed the phone to Si Qi.

Si Qi took it and looked.

What he saw was the selfie interface of the camera.

On the screen, it showed Si Qi’s entire reaction, from confusion to blushing, while Chu Feng’s low chuckle sounded in his ears.

Time passed quickly, and it had already been a month since the global evacuation of Chinese nationals.

Mockery against China from countries around the world never stopped. The internet users, just like their governments, did not take China’s warnings seriously at all, pouring out their worst suspicions about what kind of conspiracy China might be plotting.

Chinese people, bearing this ridicule, still followed the government’s call and returned home one after another. Seeing how peaceful everything still seemed abroad, they couldn’t help feeling uneasy inside.

Just when everyone was confused, secretly grumbling about how their lives were being disrupted, a video suddenly exploded across the internet—footage of the U.S. military clashing with demons outside a city, where half the city was swallowed into nothingness by the demons.

Everyone was dumbfounded.

……

The U.S. has many superhero movies. In those movies, the villains often use an entire city’s population as hostages to highlight the greatness of the hero.

Many movie fans, instead of liking the heroes, preferred the villains—because villains were “bad” enough and had more personal charm than the heroes.

When the video was first uploaded, people laughed and joked, saying the special effects looked amazing, the screams before death were very realistic, and the demon flipping a tank with one hand looked so powerful that it was actually quite likable.

The only flaw, perhaps, was that the filming angle was terrible—it never changed once from beginning to end. They suggested the creator study up on cinematography and improve next time.

But right after these comments appeared, the uploader pinned a reply at the top of the comment section, written in all caps: “THIS VIDEO IS FROM SURVEILLANCE ON THE TOP FLOOR OF A BUILDING IN DISTRICT X. EVERY FRAME IS REAL!!!”

The three glaring exclamation marks left netizens baffled. Many even replied below, saying, “Nice creativity, bro. Is this some new kind of ad slogan?”

But before long, more and more people searched the keywords and rushed in from the site’s homepage, shouting desperately: “The video is real! My family in District X sent me footage—the place has been overrun by demons!!!”

“The demons escaped from a military base outside the city. I’ve seen videos online before of the army capturing demons, but I thought they were just people in costumes. Later I noticed all those videos disappeared everywhere online, and I felt something wasn’t right. Now the disaster really happened!!”

“So the government already discovered demons a month ago but hid the news from us. Now the demons escaped from the lab and clashed with the army?? Is this really not a joke?!!”

“It won’t come here, will it?? I want to leave the U.S.! This place has already become the demons’ territory!!”

The video spread everywhere, and everyone saw the tragedy in the U.S.

Many countries that had been trying their luck, imitating the U.S., finally realized how terrifying otherworldly beings were. They no longer played dumb and instead mobilized forces to go after the transmigrators within their borders.

Because of these simultaneous actions, people began noticing that the supposedly peaceful world was actually erupting in one military conflict after another.

And stranger than the sudden outbreaks of battles was that in the videos from different countries, those fighting against human armies were often not humans at all—but otherworldly creatures!!

They wielded powers humans could not imagine, clashing with all kinds of advanced weaponry. Against such incomprehensible strength, humans were thrown into chaos. Some countries, after taking casualties, managed to capture otherworldly beings. Others, however, lost territory to them and fell into embarrassing predicaments, constantly pleading for outside help.

Civilians everywhere hid at home, too afraid to go out. Work, school, social life—everything was forced to a halt. The only thing anyone could do was check their phones constantly, trying to figure out what had happened to the world, when the wars would end, and why so many incomprehensible events had suddenly appeared!!

And then, foreign netizens glued to the internet discovered something especially unbelievable, something they found hardest to accept.

How was it that the entire world was in chaos, while only China remained calm and peaceful, with life as usual?

Wasn’t China the third largest country in the world by land area? Didn’t it have the second largest population? Wasn’t it still a developing country, weak and behind? By logic, there should have been even more monsters in China, more troublesome than in any developed country!!!

Why!!!