What is the truth?
Twenty years ago, Qi Tian was already a famous master of dark arts in China. He performed the Seven Stars Coffin Seal ritual to extend his own life, going so far as to murder many innocent children in the process.
After succeeding, he went to South Korea, where he met the father of the 3Q Group chairman and participated in establishing the Heart Redemption Society, acquiring a large sum of unexplained wealth.
Later, sensing that the Seven Stars Coffin Seal would fail in about a decade, he traveled far to the other side of the world, to the Americas, in search of the legendary immortality tree.
In Twilight Town, he found the mysterious immortality tree, killed young Frank, took his place, and successfully restored his aging body.
However, he was simultaneously bound by the immortality tree, unable to leave Twilight Town, and could only patiently lie low, searching for a substitute.
Jian Jing used three bombs at the time, successfully destroying the immortality tree's lair, the "White Kingdom," but this also freed Qi Tian from his constraints.
He fled without a trace.
For a while, Jian Jing suspected he had gone to Southeast Asia, where witchcraft was most prevalent, but this was not the case.
Qi Tian secretly rushed to South Korea and approached the Spirit Descent Society, which was originally the Heart Redemption Society. He intervened to save the chairman, who was on the brink of death, making him deeply believe in Qi Tian's abilities.
He deceived the chairman, claiming he was willing to spread God's gospel to every believer. In reality, he had already formed an alliance with the chairman's daughter, planning to turn the old folks participating in the ritual, along with the people on the cruise ship, into sacrifices for their god.
This was the confession of the chairman's daughter.
Jian Jing believed she wasn't lying, after all, her knife was still at the aunt's throat at the time.
Qi Tian's motives weren't hard to guess.
After losing the fruit of the immortality tree, his body had severely deteriorated, barely sustaining itself on stolen branches of the immortality tree. To fully recover, he needed to revive the stolen parts.
Reviving plants is simple – just add fertilizer.
The immortality tree fears fire, so Qi Tian set the location at sea.
An absolutely sealed environment where sacrifices couldn't escape, and the cause of death would be difficult to investigate – it was perfect.
Moreover, Qi Tian planned to kill two birds with one stone – using the sea disaster to eliminate Jian Jing, and having her complete the most important step for him.
Severely damaging the revived immortality tree.
After absorbing the power of the sacrifices, the immortality tree would experience its first rapid growth. In Qi Tian's current state, he was no match for it. The Spirit Descent Society members were willing to die for their god and accept divine gifts without reservation – how could they harm their god?
He had no legitimate reason to make others take action.
But Jian Jing certainly would.
Qi Tian knew that whether or not she recognized the tentacles as the immortality tree, she would certainly choose to destroy it.
If he timed it right, he could achieve the result of them both being severely injured.
By then, Jian Jing would surely die, and he could easily subdue the badly injured immortality tree.
The plan was perfect, but unfortunately... Jian Jing had also wanted him dead for a long time.
With Qi Tian gone, the shrewd middle-aged woman naturally wouldn't continue to work for him.
"How about we make a deal?" Jian Jing asked her.
And she had no choice.
Jian Jing not only held a knife but also a phone, with the camera recording the scene of their father-daughter engaging in superstitious practices. The faces and voices were crystal clear – if leaked, the 3Q Group would be finished.
She had to agree to Jian Jing's demands, first letting the fishing boat return to port and allowing the survivors to leave.
In exchange, Jian Jing would hand over the video to them.
On their side, the 3Q Group's efficiency was naturally not lacking. They sent the survivors to the hospital, using this to contain the news and examine everyone's bodies.
Oh, and the chairman was also hospitalized.
With Qi Tian dead, the root's constraints disappeared, and the old man had breathed his last before disembarking.
The other elderly, though uninjured externally, seemed somewhat mentally unclear and were also kept in the ward for observation.
This was the middle-aged woman's opportunity.
How fierce the internal struggles of large consortiums can be – just look at the Jiang family. She was busy seizing power and had neither the courage nor the time for small maneuvers.
The next day, the foreign survivors were searched, confirming that apart from Min-cheol Park, no one had taken photos of the relevant scenes or secretly kept any items from the scene.
They were directly transferred to the airport and boarded the earliest flight back to their countries.
Jiang BaiYan, Zhang Xue'er, and Wu Lie sat together, their expressions a bit peculiar.
Jian Jing didn't come.
She had disappeared again.
Even a fool would know something was wrong.
But this was a South Korean airline, and although it seemed nothing special, out of some intuition, the three tacitly agreed not to discuss this. They went to sleep as soon as they boarded the plane, not even eating the in-flight meal.
Several hours later, the plane landed in Beijing.
As soon as Jiang BaiYan got off the plane, he sprang into action, heading straight for a phone store to buy a new phone, get a SIM card, and then dialed Kang Mu Cheng's number.
"Jing Jing?" He answered quickly.
Jiang BaiYan: "It's Jiang Yan."
"Where's Jing Jing?"
"She was left behind in South Korea," he said rapidly. "Before I boarded the plane, she told me not to worry, that she would find her own way back, but I'm concerned."
Once bitten, twice shy – this must have been the tenth or twentieth time by now. Kang Mu Cheng's heart had been well-tempered and he asked quite calmly: "Is she alright?"
"She's fine," Jiang BaiYan gave a definitive answer.
Kang Mu Cheng's tone relaxed: "I saw an announcement saying the ship encountered a storm and returned to Busan early, and the show's recording was postponed. Did something happen?"
"It's a bit complicated, I'll tell you in person," Jiang BaiYan said. "See you soon."
He then called Qiu Lin, reassuring his manager, before logging into his Weibo account. After pondering for a moment, he posted a new message.
Jiang BaiYan V:
The ship encountered an accident at sea and returned to Busan early. Now @Model Xue'er, @Actor Wu Lie and I have safely returned to Beijing. Everyone is safe, thank you all for your concern.
Hope Teacher Jing Jing can come back soon~
Posted.
Then, without looking at the comments, he immediately bought the earliest flight ticket to Peace City.
During the wait for his flight, he felt the inside pocket of his jacket.
This morning, when Jian Jing bid them farewell at the airport, saying she had something to attend to and couldn't return yet, she had slipped a Corgi butt-shaped USB drive into his collar while the surrounding guards weren't paying attention.
What was inside?
Jiang BaiYan took out the USB drive and plugged it into his new phone.
Two videos.
One was footage captured by a drone, only a few seconds long and very shaky. The other was filmed in a room on the fishing boat, showing an evil ritual.
He put on his earphones and used automatic translation software to barely understand what they were saying.
So that's what happened. Jiang BaiYan turned off his phone, pondering what to do.
If leaked, Jing Jing would surely face retaliation, but if they remained silent, the 3Q Group, who now held this leverage, would certainly find ways to eliminate Jing Jing.
He called Sister Chen.
"Xiao Bai, are you alright? When are you coming back?" the manager asked anxiously.
Jiang BaiYan said, "I'm coming back soon. Sister Chen, which planning company did we use for my overseas promotion?"
Sister Chen gave him a name.
"Find a water army studio to buy an account, and contact their people, saying there's big news to break." Jiang BaiYan cropped out a photo of the tentacles, deliberately cutting out the huge World Cruise Liner logo to make it look like a movie special effect.
Sister Chen asked, "What are you up to?"
Jiang BaiYan: "Tell them that the U.S. military is secretly researching biological weapons at a base, and South Korea is sending death row inmates to participate in experiments in exchange for benefits."
Sister Chen was dumbfounded: "Huh??"
"Just make up something sensational, more conspiracy theory-like," he said. "Get the water army to promote it a bit, someone's bound to believe it."
Sister Chen still didn't understand: "What are you doing this for? This isn't something to joke about."
"Don't worry, there will definitely be even more outrageous stories," Jiang BaiYan said. "Contact them soon, find a few professionals, just don't get caught. After it's posted on foreign websites, find some marketing accounts to repost it domestically, but don't take it too seriously, just make it seem like a joke."
Sister Chen hesitated for a moment but still agreed, though she couldn't help but worry: "Don't do anything rash."
"Boarding now, I've got to go," he hung up the phone.
*
As Jiang BaiYan had predicted, his news wasn't the first, nor was it the most outrageous.
The Reasoning King was an American show. When the production team evacuated, who could guarantee no one had taken photos? Moreover, many people in the production team had been in cahoots with the Spirit Descent Society for a while and weren't under strict supervision.
And those who believe in God can also believe in money.
For example, director Marlon, whose wife Jenny is a member of the Spirit Descent Society—yes, this cult has expanded internationally after decades of development—met with people from the 3Q Group after being rescued. Through fragmentary clues, he vaguely guessed part of the truth.
As soon as he returned to the United States, he leaked this information.
In his version, there was evidence of a deal between a Korean consortium and a mysterious military force on the "World Cruise Liner," and the 3Q Group deliberately caused a maritime disaster to silence everyone, intending to sink the cruise ship into the Pacific Ocean.
He said this not to conceal anything, but because he was drunk and didn't see the monster. He was convinced that the monster was just an excuse, and the whole incident was a conspiracy.
The reason his wife Jenny was involved was that she had joined the Spirit Descent Society and accidentally learned about the military's secret, so she was also silenced.
Then, Jiang BaiYan's screenshots were leaked.
Many netizens believed that the monster in the picture was a biological weapon, specifically developed by another country to target them.
Which country?
They could tell by looking at where the ship came from and where it ended up.
Korean netizens disagreed, but they discovered that Ran-er Kim, Liu Sau-chi, and Min-cheol Park, who participated in the show's recording this time, hadn't spoken out on social media platforms.
It wasn't until the public opinion reached a boiling point that Liu Sau-chi and Ran-er Kim appeared, stating that they were safe and that the cruise ship had only encountered a rare storm, and nothing like what was being said online had happened.
On the same day, the TV station where Min-cheol Park worked received news of his death.
Outside of Korea and the United States, netizens from other countries were generally calmer. Japanese netizens were protesting against Korean netizens' speculation about nuclear waste, while domestic netizens were generally concerned about Jian Jing's safety.
As the winner of the Asian chapter of "The Reasoning King," Jian Jing's whereabouts and safety undoubtedly caught the attention of audiences worldwide.
Everyone wanted to know: Was she still alive? Was she being held captive? Did she know some secret?
*
If Jiang BaiYan could guess that the 3Q Group would surely cause trouble, how could Jian Jing not know?
She sent the others to board the plane, then immediately went to the bathroom.
The bodyguards watching her exchanged a glance and immediately sent a female bodyguard to follow her.
Jian Jing quickened her pace, squeezing into the crowd, seemingly trying to shake off her follower. But the bodyguard was well-trained and always managed to keep her in sight.
She pushed through the crowd and stepped out of the bustling airport.
Outside, people were busy boarding, and there were many taxis. She randomly got into one and told the driver, "To the duty-free shop."
The driver stepped on the gas and sped away.
The pursuers' car cut in.
The driver noticed and asked, "Why is that car behind us following us?"
Jian Jing remained calm and said, "Ex-boyfriend, don't mind him."
But the bodyguards' car was much better than the taxi, and they quickly overtook them.
The driver glanced and suddenly doubted, "Which one is your ex-boyfriend?"
"None of them. He's the son of a wealthy family, and those are his family's bodyguards," Jian Jing said, seeing an intersection ahead. "Never mind, you can drop me off at the roadside. I'll clear things up with them."
The driver, not wanting to get involved in trouble, believed her and stopped at the intersection.
Jian Jing didn't have Korean currency, so she left US dollars to pay, then jumped out of the car at top speed and dashed into a small alley.
She moved nimbly and swiftly. Although the bodyguards stopped their car and gave chase immediately, they still fell behind by a distance, barely able to see which direction she went.
Jian Jing ran aimlessly, specifically looking for places with many intersections, and soon saw a park.
There was a public toilet at the entrance.
She quickly slipped in, took off her wool coat, revealing a loose sweater and jeans underneath, then put on the mask Zong Ye had given her from the storage compartment, and inserted the specially made dental prosthesis into her mouth.
She put on a wig, switched her glasses to contact lenses, changed the color of her high-tech watch, and applied a bean paste-colored lipstick.
It took her 2 and a half minutes.
Stepping out of the toilet, her aura instantly dissolved.
Two bodyguards rushed up to her, almost colliding with her.
"S-sorry," she said, using the voice changer, bowing repeatedly, her voice filled with panic.
The bodyguards glanced at her.
In their impression, Jian Jing was: a gray-haired girl, with silver-framed glasses, fair skin, agile as a cat.
The girl before them: chubby-cheeked, black short hair, dressed in Japanese autumn style, light makeup, no different from Korean girls on the street.
They peered into the toilet stalls again, which were clean and empty, with no clothing left behind. The girl only had a shoulder bag, which couldn't hide a thick coat.
"Keep searching," the lead bodyguard gestured, ordering his subordinates to split up and search the park.
The girl curiously watched them for a while, then walked into a convenience store by the road and ordered an iced coffee.
When she came out, the lead bodyguard shifted his gaze away and strode into the park.
