79: Chapter 79 Tribulation

Lin Miao was swept along by the crowd, passively moving along the asphalt road toward the outskirts of the city.

Thunder loomed in the dark, heavy sky, and deafening roars echoed between heaven and earth from time to time, a scene like the approaching apocalypse.

"Don't push! This way!"

The soldiers in camouflage by the roadside waved their hands while shouting directions with already hoarse voices.

"Boom—"

Even though it had been thundering for several days, Lin Miao still couldn't get used to it, and she pressed her hands tightly over her ears.

"Ah!" someone screamed.

Subconsciously turning her head and standing on her tiptoes, Lin Miao saw a charred, deep black crater emitting smoke in the middle of the asphalt road where the crowd had just passed.

After a moment of stunned silence, the crowd suddenly erupted in panicked shouts, frantically pushing forward.

Lin Miao, already physically exhausted, didn't react in time and was pushed toward the ground.

Her eyes were filled with terror, and her hands clawed desperately at her surroundings.

With so many people, if she fell to the ground, she could be trampled to death.

"Be careful."

Just as she was about to fall with nothing to grab onto, a hand suddenly reached out from the left and grabbed her arm.

"Are you okay?"

Lin Miao regained her footing in a panic and continued to be pushed forward by the crowd. To her left, in the dim light, she saw a girl with ear-length short hair.

"What's your name?" The two young girls' left and right arms were linked together, allowing them to stand more steadily in the flow of people.

Song Lan.

"And you?"

Lin Miao.

Miss Song, thank you. If it weren't for you, I almost..."

"Just call me Xiao Lan." Song Lan smiled with narrowed eyes, seemingly not worried at all about the thunder filling the sky.

With a companion, Lin Miao's stumbling pace eased significantly, and she breathed a slight sigh of relief: "Xiao Lan, why don't you seem afraid at all?"

"If you're unlucky enough to be struck by lightning, you can't run away anyway, so you might as well be happy."

"Are you in Su City alone?" Lin Miao was somewhat surprised. This girl looked about the same age as her, but her mindset was much better.

Moreover, she had been unable to contact her senior brother and was worried sick, yet this girl looked as if nothing was wrong.

"A while ago, my parents and Su Jie's family went to the neighboring city for some business, and Zhang Mu hasn't returned from his trip abroad yet. They're all safe."

Zhang Mu?

Lin Miao vaguely felt that the name was familiar, as if she had heard it somewhere before.

"Boom—"

Another pillar of lightning struck behind the crowd. The citizens, whose emotions were already near breaking point, went completely frantic.

"Hurry up! The lightning is coming!"

"Don't push!"

Lin Miao and Song Lan saw a little girl in front of them being squeezed so hard she could barely breathe, and they shouted as they reached out to pull her.

After much effort, they finally pulled the little girl into their arms.

Though the two of them were small and couldn't withstand the immense pressure from the people around them, they still did their best to protect the little girl between them, pushing outward with their bodies to avoid crushing her.

After moving a bit further, someone in the crowd suddenly shouted: "Look, the lightning has stopped!"

Hearing this, Song Lan and Lin Miao quickly looked up at the sky.

The thick, dark clouds had not dispersed, still shrouding Su City as if it were night, but the lightning that had been looming within the clouds had indeed vanished.

"Are we safe?" Lin Miao was somewhat happy.

"Don't stop!" The captain by the roadside, who had just hung up his walkie-talkie, waved his hands urgently. "Keep moving!"

"Then... look at the sky, quickly! It's a person! He's flying! Someone is flying in the sky!"

A person?

Lin Miao and Song Lan were blinded by the strong wind, but they still followed the lead of the citizens around them, tilting their heads back and squinting into the distance.

High in the sky, there was the back of a figure in a clean white robe, flying higher and higher, heading straight toward the dark clouds.

What is that?

Even though the figure in the white robe was clearly human, Song Lan and Lin Miao couldn't help but wonder in their hearts.

"Even if dark clouds can hide the sun, the haze is but a fleeting moment."

"The world wonders what an immortal is?"

"I am an immortal!"

A gentle tone fell from high above, echoing throughout the entire Su City.

At this, even the soldiers directing the crowd by the roadside forgot their duties and stared blankly at the sky.

An immortal?

He said he is an immortal?

Scenes from movies and literature about immortals flashed through their minds. The citizens stood frozen on the streets, not even remembering that what they should be doing now was escaping the city.

Some who reacted faster pulled out their phones and pointed them at the figure that was gradually becoming smaller.

"Holy crap! Mom, look, an immortal!"

His actions woke those around him, and citizens one after another pulled out their phones to start recording.

Lin Miao and Song Lan did the same.

Using the camera's zoom function, Lin Miao saw on her phone screen the back of a man in ancient clothing with silver hair dancing wildly behind his head.

The dark clouds ahead, which blotted out the sun, looked like a beast opening its bloody maw, ready to devour people.

"Boom—"

Before everyone's eyes, the clouds that had seemingly calmed down just now suddenly began to churn. A few seconds later, a bolt of lightning surged out from the clouds and struck straight toward the man in ancient clothing.

The man in ancient clothing didn't dodge or hide, opening his arms to face the magnificent heavenly might.

Seeing this scene, one word abruptly popped into everyone's minds—Tribulation.

Will he die?

It was written in novels that an immortal might die during a tribulation.

Song Lan clearly didn't know him, but her heart instinctively tightened.

The twisting lightning snake vanished, and the figure floated safely beneath the clouds. Song Lan patted her chest.

"What is there to fear?"

"Come!"

A voice filled with abandon fell, ringing in everyone's ears.

That person seemed to be provoking it.

The clouds reacted as expected, churning even more violently. Within them, lightning flashed into a sea, as if brewing a fatal blow.

"Why isn't he running!" Song Lan's hand gripped Lin Miao's arm tightly.

Lin Miao winced in pain: "I don't know, I'm not an immortal... hiss... it hurts, it hurts, it hurts."

"Ah? I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

Coming back to her senses, Song Lan quickly apologized and let go.

"Boom— Boom—"

While the two were talking, the clouds launched their final attack.

It was no longer one lightning bolt at a time, but more than ten. Like lightning snakes that wanted to split heaven and earth, they frantically bombarded the person beneath the clouds.

The deafening thunder was incessant, but Song Lan, like the citizens around her, didn't care to cover her ears. She held her phone with both hands and raised it as high as she could, as if this would allow her to film more clearly.

On the phone screen, Song Lan clearly saw the lightning snakes all strike the man in ancient clothing directly.

His silver hair danced, his long robe billowed, and lightning exploded all over his body.

The lightning snakes did not stop, still crashing down continuously.

This lasted for a full three minutes. The churning clouds seemed unable to do anything to him. The lightning and thunder stopped, gradually calming and dissipating.

The long-lost sunlight pierced through the dispersing clouds, casting a golden glow over the crowd who were looking up.

The man turned around while suspended, seemingly looking down at the living beings on the earth.

After a long time, he moved.

His whole body was shrouded in lightning that had not yet faded, and he flew toward the hills outside the city, disappearing among the undulating peaks.

Leaving only a silent scene behind.

"Beep—"

The captain in camouflage by the roadside snapped out of it and quickly picked up his walkie-talkie and held it to his ear.

"Understood."

"Everyone." Putting down the walkie-talkie, he clapped his hands to draw everyone's attention. "It's over now. Everyone disperse in an orderly manner and go home."

The people who had been in a hurry to leave just now were no longer in a hurry.

"Did you guys see that?!"

"Holy crap, he said he's an immortal?"

"Damn. He was flying! And he got struck by lightning! That's freaking awesome, okay! What else could he be if not an immortal?"

"I saw the immortal fly into the mountains in the suburbs. Does he live there?"

Damn! I'm going to find the immortal and become his disciple!"

Lin Miao, who was enjoying listening to the people around her argue, suddenly had her phone ring.

Seeing the words "Senior Brother Ye" displayed on the screen, she answered with a beaming smile.