82: Becoming an internet celebrity just from having a meal?

Ghost Old Man's face was deathly pale, filled with both shock and rage, yet he could not utter a single word.

He knew it clearly in his heart.

This battle was a complete and utter defeat for him!

If he persisted, the only path left was death.

As long as the green hills remain, there will be wood to burn!

He glared at Ye Chen with resentment, turned abruptly, and with a few leaps, darted towards the car in the distance like a startled Night Owl, even faster than when he arrived!

The Men in Black who could still move scrambled to follow, and within moments, they had all fled completely, leaving behind a scene of chaos and several unconscious accomplices.

Ye Chen did not pursue.

Do not pursue a cornered enemy.

He turned around, looked at Yi Yue and the others who were still shaken, and a reassuring smile appeared on his face.

"It's over, you were frightened, weren't you?"

Yi Yue shook her head. Although her face was still pale, her expression had calmed down. "I... I'm fine. As long as you're safe, that's all that matters."

Yi Zhengtian looked at Ye Chen, his eyes full of amazement. "Little Ye, your martial arts... they are simply miraculous, far stronger than any of the experts I've seen in the service!"

Aunt Zhang clutched her chest, sighing repeatedly.

"Little Chen, Aunt Zhang has truly seen something today. This isn't fighting; it's like a deity descending to earth!"

Sophie opened her big, youthful eyes, looked at Ye Chen, then at the broken sword on the ground, and muttered, "Ye Chen... are you a driver or Superman?"

Seeing the four of them still in shock, Ye Chen just smiled, picked up the broken sword, threw it into the trash can, and said nonchalantly.

"Just a petty trick, nothing more than keeping fit."

He glanced around and saw many people holding up their phones to film them, so he continued, "Let's go. We agreed to celebrate today; don't let this little episode spoil our mood."

After saying this, he opened the car door and signaled for them to get in.

Yi Yue nodded, and together with Aunt Zhang, helped her father into the car. Sophie also hurried to follow.

The car drove away slowly, leaving behind a crowd of onlookers at the entrance of the residential complex, whispering to one another.

After the excitement died down, the crowd gradually dispersed.

But in the crowd, a pretty woman with short, neat hair and a casual jacket lowered the phone she had been holding for a long time, but her gaze fell upon the broken sword that Ye Chen had thrown into the trash can.

She hesitated for a moment, then walked over, used a tissue to wrap her hand, and picked up the tip of the sword.

It felt cold to the touch, heavy, and the edge was terrifyingly sharp.

She gently wiped her finger across the blade— "Hiss!" A sharp pain came from her fingertip, and a tiny bloodstain immediately appeared.

"It's real... it's a real sword!" Wen Yating's pupils constricted, and her heartbeat accelerated suddenly.

She hurriedly looked at her phone screen... The lightning-fast exchange, the bare-handed breaking of the blade, and the surging shockwaves had all been recorded by her!

It wasn't a movie shoot... it was all real?!

As a lifestyle and curiosity blogger on a short video platform with over three million followers, Wen Yating had been worrying about her lack of content and declining traffic recently.

She had originally come to meet a friend today, but accidentally stumbled upon this "street duel."

At first, she also thought it was a film crew shooting, until she touched this broken blade with her own hands...

"I've found a treasure..." She whispered to herself, a burning light flashing in her eyes. She quickly wrapped the broken blade in a tissue, stuffed it into her bag, gripped her phone, and turned to leave in a hurry.

One hour later. Wen Yating sat in front of her computer, the screen illuminating her focused face.

The editing software was running, and she replayed that video repeatedly, cutting out the most exciting clips— Ye Chen stomping his foot to send everyone flying! Crushing the thin sword with his bare hands! The shockwaves bursting forth when he clashed palms with Ghost Old Man, even causing the camera footage to flicker with static...

She added tense, suspenseful BGM, along with an eye-catching, exaggerated title and expression effects. Finally, she typed out the description:

【Encountered a real-life martial arts expert on the street! Bare-handed blade breaking, a stomp that shakes the surroundings, is this really special effects? Location: Xiamen City, waiting online, urgent!】

After checking for errors, she clicked upload. The video entered the review queue.

Wen Yating leaned back in her chair, let out a long sigh, and a confident smirk curled the corners of her mouth. She had a premonition that this video... was going to go viral!!!

Sure enough. The video quickly passed review and appeared on Wen Yating's account homepage.

At first, there were only a few sporadic likes and curious comments, but in less than five minutes, the backend data suddenly started jumping crazily! The number of likes jumped from a few hundred to over ten thousand, and the number of comments and shares skyrocketed.

Immediately after... #RealLifeMartialArtsExpert#, #BareHandedBladeBreaking#, #MysteriousYouthOnXiamenCityStreets#... and other search terms quickly surged onto the platform's trending list, and immediately reached the top spot!

Clicking into the video, the bullet comments were already overwhelming...

"Holy crap, is this real or fake? Are special effects this realistic now?" "I've watched that shot of him stomping and sending people flying ten times; the ground really cracked!" "The old man even drew his sword, and the young guy snapped it with his bare hands? Is this scientific?!" "Am I the only one who noticed that the one wearing purple... ahem, off-topic."

And the hottest comment in the comment section was pinned to the very top: "Coming in, calm and composed, leaving in a rush, scrambling away— I give this contrast a perfect score!"

The number of likes had already exceeded one hundred thousand and was still soaring.

Wen Yating stared at the data on the screen that was constantly refreshing and skyrocketing, her breathing becoming rapid. She gripped her phone, excitement flashing in her eyes.

"Traffic code... this is the traffic code!" She whispered to herself, then shook her head heavily. "No, it's not just traffic... This person, these events... are definitely not as simple as they appear on the surface."

She pulled up the full video she had just recorded, dragging the progress bar back and forth, her gaze locked on Ye Chen's calm yet impressive face. "I must find him. This lead... I'm following it to the end!"

Ye Chen and the others were at a restaurant, having ordered a few dishes that blended Chinese and Western styles. The atmosphere was relaxed and pleasant, and this meal was exceptionally heartwarming.

However, as they were eating, Ye Chen keenly sensed that something was wrong. The gazes of the guests at the surrounding tables seemed to be glancing towards their table, intentionally or unintentionally.

At first, it was just sneaking looks, but later it gradually became blatant, and some people even took out their phones, with the lenses seemingly pointed in their direction. Whispers could be vaguely heard.

"Looks like him, really looks like him..." "Right? I think so too, especially the side profile..." "Look, look, he's looking up! Wow, he doesn't seem this handsome in the video?" "The girls next to him are so pretty, are they celebrities?"

Ye Chen frowned slightly. He could be certain that the focus of those gazes was... himself!!!

Yi Yue also felt it, put down her chopsticks somewhat uneasily, and asked in a low voice, "Ye Chen, why... why do they keep looking at us?" On Sophie's youthful face, a hint of nervousness also appeared. "Are they... accomplices of those people from earlier?"

Ye Chen shook his head, just about to offer some comfort— "Mommy! Mommy!" A little boy, about five or six years old, was being led by his mother past their table when he suddenly stopped, pointed his chubby little finger at Ye Chen, and shouted crisply. "Look! It's that uncle! It seems to be the one from the phone!" "The uncle who made a 'snap' sound and broke the sword!"

Children speak without taboos, and the voice was loud. The entire restaurant fell silent for an instant. All gazes converged in unison!

The little boy's mother was stunned for a moment, subconsciously looked at her phone screen, then suddenly looked up at Ye Chen, her eyes instantly widening: "My god... it, it really is!"

It was as if a drop of water had splashed into hot oil! "Whoosh—" The surrounding diners suddenly became excited and stood up one after another. Some held up their phones to film, while others surrounded them directly, all talking at once, the voices noisy.

"Brother! Is that video online real? Do you really know martial arts?" "Handsome, handsome, is the bare-handed sword-breaking a special effect? Is your hand okay?" "Can you perform that foot-stomp that sends people flying? I want to film a short video!" "Little brother, which sect are you from? Do you take apprentices? We can negotiate the tuition!"

The crowd gathered tighter and tighter, and the phone cameras were almost shoved into Ye Chen's face. Yi Yue and Sophie were scared and leaned closer to Ye Chen, while Aunt Zhang hurriedly protected Yi Zhengtian, looking nervous.

Ye Chen was completely bewildered. What video? What bare-handed sword-breaking? What martial arts expert? He frowned tightly and raised his voice: "Everyone, calm down. Haven't you mistaken me for someone else?"

"How could we have mistaken you!" A young man wearing glasses squeezed to the front and excitedly showed his phone screen to Ye Chen. "Look! Is the person on this you? Right at the entrance of Yunqi Garden! No blur, it's crystal clear!"

Ye Chen looked closely, and his brain went "buzz." His face instantly darkened. On the phone screen, a short video was playing.

In the footage, it was clearly him today at the residential complex entrance, bare-handedly snapping Ghost Old Man's thin sword, and the key moments where shockwaves burst forth when he clashed palms with Ghost Old Man! The shooting angle was clear; although there was some shaking, his face, his movements, and even his cold expression at the time... were all captured clearly!

The video title was even more exaggerated: 【Real-life martial arts expert appears in Xiamen City! Bare-handed blade breaking, externalizing qi energy, definitely not special effects!】 The number of likes had already exceeded one million, and the comment section and share count were astonishing!!! Ye Chen: "..."