71: Chapter 71: The Population Bureau Testifies, and the Big Player Strikes Again.

Kyoto, General Bureau of Population Statistics.

In a pitch-black office, there was only a single, shocked figure in front of a computer.

He was the Director of the Census Office who had been in contact with Zheng Ming: Old Wu.

He had just followed the clues provided by Zheng Ming:

Wang Jianguo, Unit: North Frontier Forest Fire Brigade, Date of Sacrifice: 1985.8.12.

He had very smoothly, yet eerily, pulled up two sets of data from the archives.

One was the file for a fallen firefighting hero:

[Wang Jianguo, Male, Firefighter of the North Frontier Forest Fire Brigade. Born in 1956, died on August 12, 1985, at the age of 29. During the rescue operations for the Northland Great Forest Fire, he sacrificed himself heroically to cover the evacuation of his comrades—a couple surnamed Wang, formerly Sent-down Youth from Magic City. His remains were buried by his brother-in-arms from the same squad, also surnamed Wang.]

The other was an active personnel file.

[Wang Jianguo, Male, Firefighter of the Magic City Fire Brigade. Born in 1991. Father: Wang Tianlin—former North Frontier Forest Fire Brigade firefighter, current Magic City Fire Brigade cadre: died in the line of duty. Mother: Li Meifang: died in the line of duty.]

[According to the comparison of investigation results!]

[Wang Tianlin and the Wang Jianguo who passed away on August 12, 1985, were teammates!]

!!!

Old Wu's portly body suddenly tensed up, his pupils constricted, and goosebumps instantly broke out all over his body...

His eyes were glued to the flickering screen, and his voice trembled as he spoke,

"In the archives, one Wang Jianguo died in the last century at age 29."

"The other is in Magic City, also a firefighter, and his father in this life is the comrade surnamed Wang of the Wang Jianguo who died back then."

"Holy crap!"

When his gaze fell upon the two incarnations of Wang Jianguo...

The dark skin, the tall stature, the piercing eyes, the broad shoulders, and the strikingly similar facial features.

"What is going on?"

"Little Zheng asked me to check... damn it, he's checking past and present lives!"

"Naming his own son with the exact same name as his comrade Wang Jianguo who sacrificed himself..."

Terrifying thoughts kept flashing through Old Wu's mind.

It took two and a half minutes and a glass of ice water before he could calm his racing heart.

He then sent all the information to Zheng Ming in one go, leaving a message:

"Damn it, don't ask me to check this kind of stuff ever again; it's too terrifying!"

...

Late at night on Kyoto's ring road.

Zheng Ming was driving his Ferrari through the night.

Suddenly, Old Wu's agitated voice automatically played from his phone.

"Damn it, don't ask me to check this kind of stuff ever again; it's too terrifying!"

Hearing those words, the blood in Zheng Ming's entire body instantly froze.

*Screech—*

His left hand slipped.

His red Ferrari performed a sudden emergency fishtail drift on the empty road.

It came to a halt sideways in the middle of the road.

Finally, he barely managed to pull the car over into the emergency lane.

By now, his back was already soaked in cold sweat.

He looked at Wang Jianguo's information on his phone.

He held his breath, his eyes filled with horror.

"It matches, it corresponds, it all matches up!"

"He predicted the Magic City hotel explosion in advance..."

"And now, this Wang Jianguo's past and present lives... it's not off by a single bit!"

"How is this possible?"

He clutched his temples in disbelief, the shock in his eyes unable to dissipate for a long time.

"This is practically piercing through Yin and Yang, peeking into reincarnation!"

Instantly, he thought of Wang Chongyang—

The grandmaster of Chinese studies who was once hailed as having god-like abilities.

Even if he could predict fortune and misfortune, survey Feng Shui, and calculate the nation's destiny for the state...

It would still be absolutely impossible to so precisely locate everything about an ordinary hero's past and present lives!

In an instant!

A strong sense of defeat surged in his heart.

Jiang Zhe's appearance had instantly crushed his former pride into dust.

Zheng Ming sat in the Ferrari for nearly fifteen minutes to calm down.

He slammed his fist onto the steering wheel.

His eyes were full of resolve!

"Damn it, let's go public!"

He gripped his phone tightly, looking at the profile of the mysterious [Xiaoyu's brother] online.

"I, Zheng Ming, can afford to lose!"

Even though he admitted defeat verbally, he knew—

This was definitely not over. He didn't believe such fantastical things existed in this world.

He had to find someone even stronger to verify whether Xiaoyu's brother was real or fake.

Suddenly, he thought of someone: Celestial Master Zhang. Hailing from Mount Longhu, he was even more arrogant than Zheng Ming and possessed even more brilliant methods.

A master of numerology and the study of souls...

The young genius of Mount Longhu: Celestial Master Zhang.

He picked up his phone and made a call.

"Old Zhang, I need your help."

"I've sent you a live stream clip and recording, along with a population file."

"Trust me, it's not a script. Go take a look; this Xiaoyu's brother is incredibly eerie!"

After finishing the call.

Zheng Ming posted a piece of news on his Weibo account with millions of followers:

[Xiaoyu's brother, you won!]

As soon as he posted, a massive wave of comments flooded in.

"Weren't you just trashing Xiaoyu's brother on Weibo?"

"Old Zheng is admitting defeat today?"

"Oh, how rare, truly rare!"

"..."

...

Shortly after Zheng Ming issued his apology statement.

News regarding Xiaoyu's brother also began to appear and go viral across the internet.

[Shocking! Chinese Studies Giant Proves the Existence of Reincarnation Online!]

[Can You Believe It? We All Have Past Lives!]

[Consciousness is Eternal; We Might Become Holographic Projections After Death!]

[Indeed, It's Xiaoyu's brother Again, and It's Her News Igniting the Reincarnation Theory!]

[Is He a Rising Star of Chinese Studies or a Once-in-a-Century Genius? A Flash in the Pan or...?]

These news items about Xiaoyu's brother quickly hit the trending searches.

Some occupied the top spots, while others were just outside the top ten.

Countless night owls lurking in the depths of the internet poked their heads out suspiciously.

"Is this for real? This makes me too scared to even die now."

"This is too mystical, isn't it? How is it possible? Waiting for an official debunking!"

"If it's true, who was I in my past life?"

"This Xiaoyu's brother has been very popular lately, but he just doesn't have a Weibo. Various public accounts say he predicted the Jingxuan Pavilion explosion in Magic City, and it came true."

"I'm going to @ the National Think Tank... the Think Tank doesn't seem to have posted any information related to Xiaoyu's brother."

"Official accounts haven't shown any support or verification for Xiaoyu's brother either..."

"..."

Amidst the shock and skepticism...

Old Wu, an insider from the [Census Official Weibo].

He intentionally and 'accidentally' leaked a bit of information.

[Evidence Report of Wang Jianguo's Two Lives as Calculated by Xiaoyu's brother...]

Faded old photographs from the last century and current-life Wang Jianguo's red-background ID photos surfaced.

Looking at the comparison of the two sets of data...

Instantly, tens of thousands of netizens were so shocked their scalps went numb and their bones felt weak.

"Holy crap, holy crap, holy crap!"

"Solid proof, it's solid proof! Even official archives have come out to corroborate it!"

"My god, first the big shot Zheng Ming admits defeat, then the official account 'accidentally' leaks evidence... Maya, is this still the materialistic world I know?"

"Xiaoyu's brother, please take my strong and powerful knees!"

"My worldview is completely shattered, I need a makeup lesson to save me!"

"..."

The night owls instantly transformed into hyperactive heroes.

Sleep? Non-existent.

They all went online to search for 'Past and Present Lives'.

Even the terms [Past and Present Lives] and [Xiaoyu's brother] climbed to the top of the Qiandu hot list.

However...

The expected fervor did not continue.

About 25 minutes later...

Topics related to Xiaoyu's brother and past and present lives all vanished.

Whenever the night owls clicked on links that were still related to the trending searches, they would only see...

[According to relevant laws and regulations, this information is suspected of being false superstition and has been banned!]

[This topic is controversial and is currently being verified. Please believe in science!]

"Seriously? The Giant Hand is striking again."

"As expected, an invisible Giant Hand is covering something up."

"It seems like we've touched upon the truth?"

The sharp-eyed night owls were very smart; they had their own judgments in their hearts.

But the majority of night owls chose to believe in the Giant Hand.

...

Just as the boiling excitement on the internet began to cool.

Inside an elegant Chinese-style villa filled with the scent of flowers.

Wang Chongyang, his First Senior Brother, and Third Junior Sister had just returned from lecturing in Tianjing.

The three were resting in the tea room.

First Senior Brother casually scrolled through his phone, and his expression suddenly changed.

He immediately handed the phone to Wang Chongyang.

"Master, look, Junior Brother..."

Wang Chongyang took the phone, put on his glasses, and browsed carefully.

He saw Zheng Ming's apology statement—apologizing to Xiaoyu's brother, which had drawn a massive amount of mockery and praise from netizens.

He also saw the archives from the Census Office regarding Wang Jianguo's two lives...

As well as the wave of praise for Xiaoyu's brother on the internet!

His hand holding an orange trembled slightly.

"Master?"

First Senior Brother and Third Junior Sister thought their master had drunk too much and his nerves were acting up.

"It's nothing."

Wang Chongyang took a deep breath, his face full of shock.

"Calculating the future, peeking into past lives..."

"Is the appearance of this Xiaoyu's brother a good thing or a bad thing? Is the world of Chinese studies and metaphysics really about to change?"