30: Ripples in the vast internet

Zhao Xiaowen practically stumbled her way home.

It wasn't until she sat on her family's warm brick bed and held the coarse porcelain bowl handed to her by her grandmother—the rising steam from the hot water blurring her vision—that she felt her heartbeat slowly steady. Yet, the image in her mind refused to fade: the out-of-control drone, frozen in mid-air, slowly descending into that slender palm.

Telekinesis.

These words rolled over her tongue again and again, burning her heart with anxiety.

"Xiao Wen, did you see Daoist Master Li? You didn't say anything out of line, did you?" Her grandmother's voice pulled her back to reality.

Zhao Xiaowen opened her mouth, but the questions and shock rushing to her throat were forced back down by her grandmother's worried gaze. She suddenly realized that some things weren't meant for a college student like her to explain, nor should they be easily disclosed to family.

"No... the Abbot is a very nice person," she replied vaguely, lowering her head to drink water to hide the stormy waves in her eyes.

She locked herself in her room for the entire afternoon.

She flipped through the photos in her DSLR one by one: the ancient cypress tree was a vibrant, dripping green; the vegetable patches were lush and clean; the bluestone of the well platform was warm and smooth. In the midst of the withered yellow winter mountains, the temple looked like a piece of misplaced emerald. The footage from her action camera was even more real—in the final few seconds of the drone's bird's-eye view, the ridge where the temple stood was full of green, forming a jarring contrast with the surrounding desolation.

And the most crucial segment only showed blurry shaking and the final image of the drone landing in a palm.

Should she post it?

Her initial impulse was still there: edit it, add a sensationalist title, post it on Bilibili and Douyin, and let netizens "verify" it. But now, that impulse was suppressed by an inexplicable chill.

What if... it was all real?

The calm gaze of that young Taoist priest surfaced in her mind. It wasn't the gaze of an ordinary person; within its clarity lay a hidden deep sea, and when he looked at her, it was like looking at a weed by the roadside. Would such a person care about online discussions? Or would her rash actions break some delicate balance?

She needed to discuss this.

It was already dusk when she video-called her best friend, Li Shiyu. On the screen, the girl wearing a face mask laughed and teased, "Does the great Young Miss Zhao still remember me after returning to her village? Has the mountain signal not been eaten by savages?"

"Shiyu, I'm serious," Zhao Xiaowen lowered her voice. "I might have... run into something incredible."

Li Shiyu peeled off her face mask.

For the next twenty minutes, Zhao Xiaowen talked about everything from the temple rumors to her personal trip up the mountain, from the anomaly of the ancient cypress tree to the well water test. Finally, her voice dropped even lower: "...When the drone was about to hit the tree, he reached out his hand, and from two meters away, the machine flew into his palm."

On the other end of the video, Li Shiyu remained silent for a full minute.

The mask sheet was crumpled into a ball in her hand.

"Are you sure your eyes didn't play tricks on you? No Late Stage editing? No... hallucinations?" she asked slowly.

"I swear!" Zhao Xiaowen was practically ready to take an oath. "I was standing right next to him; I saw it clearly! And the feeling inside that temple—I felt at peace as soon as I entered. That clay statue clearly has no eyes, but I felt like it was watching me!"

Li Shiyu took a deep breath, her fingers tapping a rapid rhythm on the table.

"What about the footage?"

"I filmed the environment, but the Telekinesis part isn't clear. As for the priest's face... I didn't dare film it."

"It was right not to film it." A sharp light flashed in Li Shiyu's eyes. "Xiaowen, this time you've either struck gold or invited disaster."

"What do you mean?"

"Think about it. If he were a fraud, he'd be dying for you to film more 'miracles' to help promote him. But him? He showed off a trick in front of you but didn't stop your filming—I suspect he noticed it long ago. What does that mean?"

Zhao Xiaowen was stunned.

"It means he doesn't care, or he has nothing to fear." Li Shiyu spoke word by word. "Combined with those environmental anomalies, there's a seventy percent chance you've met a true 'expert.' In novels, such figures are either descendants of hidden Ancient Martial Arts, Espers, or..." She paused. "Cultivators."

Cultivation.

Those words made Zhao Xiaowen's ears ring.

But recalling Li Muchen's transcendent aura and those inconceivable methods, she felt... it might not be impossible?

"Regardless of what he is, he's not an ordinary person." Li Shiyu steadied herself. "So you absolutely cannot post your footage recklessly. Especially anything involving him personally or that blurry clip—absolutely not! Who knows what taboos such an expert might have?"

Zhao Xiaowen felt a chill down her spine and nodded repeatedly.

"However," Li Shiyu's tone shifted, "you can post the environmental wonders. The ancient cypress, the vegetable garden, the winter warmth, the well water test—he didn't forbid you from filming those. It might be a tacit approval, or even... an intentional move to let the outside world know about the temple's uniqueness?"

"You mean... he's fishing?" Zhao Xiaowen caught on.

"Smart!" Li Shiyu's eyes lit up. "So you can first edit a short video with a mysterious title. Focus only on the strange environment, emphasize that it's an authentic recording, and don't mention anything supernatural. Throw out a hook and see what ripples it makes."

Zhao Xiaowen hesitated.

"Just try it," Li Shiyu urged. "You didn't film his face, and you didn't mention the supernatural; you're just showing off a scenic wonder. What could go wrong? Besides, I'm going back to my grandmother's house in Jin Province for the New Year, which isn't far from you. After the New Year, I definitely have to go see it for myself!"

Hearing her friend say this, Zhao Xiaowen felt more at ease. Posting only the environment should be fine. She truly did need an outlet to verify and share this bizarre discovery.

"Okay, I'll listen to you."

For the next two days, she stayed in her room editing the video.

She picked the clearest shots of the ancient cypress—its leaves dazzlingly green under the winter sun; she chose the vegetable garden footage—cabbages and radishes standing tall as if it were spring; she compared snowy village photos with the greenery she filmed; she inserted the well water test data—PH 7.3, TDS 18. For the background music, she chose ethereal zither music, and her narration was deliberately calm, stating only facts without adding speculation.

She deliberated over the title for a long time, finally settling on: '[Field Investigation] An Oasis Appears in a Deserted Mountain Temple in Winter? Ancient Trees Turning Green, Vegetable Gardens Unfrozen—A Natural Miracle or Unknown Mystery?'

After checking it three times to ensure there was nothing that could expose Li Muchen's identity or mention anything supernatural, she took a deep breath and clicked upload.

She posted it simultaneously on Bilibili, Douyin, and Xiaohongshu.

After doing all this, she slumped in her chair as if she had finished a marathon.

At first, the ripples were small.

Under the platforms' algorithms, the video was first seen by local users and mystery enthusiasts. The comments were sparse:

"Nice Photoshop."

"Five points for the special effects."

"Probably some local microclimate?"

But as time passed, the clear and authentic footage, the intense visual contrast, and the restrained, calm narration began to attract more attention. Likes, comments, and shares slowly climbed.

"I'm in Central Jin, the mountains here are all bald, how is this tree green?"

"Open-air vegetables look like this in winter? Requesting the address, I want to go steal some vegetables (doge face)."

"The water quality is good, but is it really that miraculous?"

"Is there a hot spring underground?"

"The drone footage is steady, doesn't look like special effects."

"Am I the only one who thinks the temple itself feels eerie? There's an indescribable peace within the decay."

The discussion heated up. Terms like 'Yuntai Mountain Qingfeng Temple,' 'Winter Oasis,' and 'Ancient Tree Meeting Spring' began to quietly circulate in the corners of the internet.

Zhao Xiaowen stared at the backend data with complex emotions. She read every comment; some questioned her for faking it, some analyzed scientific principles, and some simply marveled at the wonders of nature. Occasionally, a few comments like 'There must be Spiritual Qi here' or 'Is there a Taoist master practicing there?' would pop up, making her heart skip a beat.

She didn't know that this video had already been captured by certain special algorithms.

In an encrypted chat group, a link was dropped:

"An anomalous ecological point has been discovered in the Yuntai Mountain area of Jin Province. Preliminary analysis of the video shows no traces of special effects. Suggest adding to the observation list."

The reply was concise: "Received. Marked as 'Green Pine-07,' initiating Level 2 observation procedures."

Deeper undercurrents were quietly surging beneath the sea of the web.