14: Chapter 14 Chen Wu's Decision: Rather than Hiding, Face the Challenge

The rain in Shanghai fell like crushed clouds, densely enveloping the rooftop terrace of the Public Welfare Foundation. Chen Wu's black jacket was soaked through, clinging to his back with a chill reminiscent of his father's hand before he passed away—it was a rainy night just like this ten years ago. His father had been lying on the hospital bed, his withered fingers still clutching the hem of Chen Wu's training uniform, saying, 'Wu'er, practicing boxing in the rain allows you to practice "Listening Energy." Only when you can hear the breath of the wind can you touch your own soul.'

He reached out to stroke the Taotie patterns on the bronze tripod. The body of the tripod was a Warring States period artifact just borrowed from the museum last week. Its originally dull bronze-green, now moistened by the rain, actually shimmered with an amber-like light. Water pooled in the Taotie's eye sockets like two frozen tears. As soon as Chen Wu's fingertips touched the tripod, he suddenly recalled the advanced hint for "Listening Energy" provided by the System—"All things have spirits, and spirits reside in the breath." At this moment, he truly "heard" it: the copper atoms in the tripod's body were vibrating slightly in the rain, much like the faint, ethereal "Qi" at his father's waist when he used to practice Tai Chi.

"Brother Wu! Three drones are circling 300 meters away. The signal source is Rex's private satellite!" Xu Hao's voice came through the walkie-talkie with static noise, sounding like someone crumpling an old newspaper. Chen Wu looked down at the sycamore leaf in his palm—it had just drifted down from the edge of the terrace. The veins on the leaf pulsed rapidly against his fingertips, much like his own heart thumping in his chest when eighty thousand people resonated at the Sports Center last week.

"Let them lock on," Chen Wu said into the walkie-talkie, rain dripping down his jawline and splashing onto the tripod. "Open the tripod's basic energy frequency and leave a 'signpost' for them."

"Are you crazy?!" Xu Hao's voice instantly spiked. "Rex's Nano-bombs can turn this building into powder!"

Chen Wu turned to walk toward the stairwell, and the bronze tripod suddenly emitted a soft hum—like a bronze bell in an ancient temple being struck by the wind. Holding the stair railing, he remembered three days ago at the Sports Center, when eighty thousand people followed him in the Hunyuan Stance, the tripod had made the same sound. At that time, the wind poured in from the dome, carrying the "Qi" of eighty thousand people, wrapping around him until he felt burning hot, as if he could hear everyone's heartbeat: the slowness of the elderly, the clarity of the children, the vigor of the youth, like ten thousand streams converging into a river.

The office heating was turned up high, yet it couldn't suppress Zhao Mengmeng's temper. The young girl, wearing a pink hoodie, slammed the site layout she had been drawing for three days onto the table. The pencil spun rapidly between her fingers before snapping in two with a crack. "That fraud Professor Wang Hai! He said the Basic Internal Skill Mind-Cultivation Technique is just a copied aerobics routine? My grandfather has been practicing for three months, and yesterday he even climbed six floors to bring me osmanthus cake!" She touched the jade pendant around her neck—a gift from her grandfather for her birthday last year, its cord already worn shiny. "He said this Mind-Cultivation Technique is more effective than blood pressure medication, and now it's being called 'pseudo-science'?!"

Chen Wu picked up the photocopy of the Basic Internal Skill Mind-Cultivation Technique from the table. The edges of the paper were frayed, covered in his red-ink annotations: "Seniors should do 'Cloud Hands' slowly, like kneading dough," and "The breathing rhythm should be like simmering millet porridge; once it boils, pull back." Tucked into the last page was a photo: Zhao Mengmeng's grandfather, wearing a faded military overcoat, stood in a park during morning exercises. Behind him was a row of elderly people doing Stance Training, each with a faint white mist drifting from their heads—a sign of stable "Qi Sense."

"Brother Wu, Lin Xue from the National Security Bureau is here!" Xiao Zhang rushed in holding a coffee, the dark brown liquid spilling onto the documents and spreading into an irregular circle. "She said Rex bribed the stadium electricians and plans to cut the backup power to release Nano-robots!"

Lin Xue's black trench coat was still dripping with water. She didn't sit, instead slamming an encrypted file onto the desk. The "Top Secret" seal on the folder glowed with a blue light. Inside, the stadium's circuit diagram had twelve vents circled in red. "The target isn't you; it's the Awakeners. The Nano-robots will burrow into the skin and disrupt the resonance of 'Qi'—they want to create panic over 'Awakeners losing control and hurting people' to push for the Special Human Isolation Act."

Chen Wu's fingertips traced the red circles on the circuit diagram, and he suddenly frowned. He "heard" it—the Brain-computer interface signal from Lin Xue lingering in the paper fibers, carrying her rapid heartbeat like a drumroll. "What they fear isn't me, but the 'Qi' of these Awakeners connecting together." He closed the file and looked up, his eyes reflecting the rain curtain outside. "If we hide, this 'Qi Network' will break."

The office fell silent instantly. The tip of Zhao Mengmeng's pencil dug into the drawing paper, leaving a black hole. Xiao Zhou from the physics department stopped typing, the aura simulation on his computer screen still flickering. On the back of Xu Hao's hand as he gripped the walkie-talkie, a vein throbbed like a small snake.

At eleven o'clock at night, Chen Wu was the only one left in the foundation's office.

Moonlight leaked through the floor-to-ceiling windows, spreading over the bronze tripod like a layer of crushed silver. Chen Wu pulled up a chair and sat before the tripod, his fingertips brushing over the seal script that had just emerged on the inside of the lid—"Hiding leads to chaos, revealing leads to peace." These eight words had appeared half an hour ago, the ink still slightly moist, as if someone had just written them with a fingertip.

The System panel suddenly popped up, its pale blue light making his eyes shine:

[Major choice detected for the host]

[Option 1: Accept protection and temporarily go into hiding]

[Reward: 1 million points, obtain "Invisibility Charm" (can block all detection)]

[Option 2: Respond publicly and face the crisis head-on]

[Reward: 5 million points, unlock "Martial Dao Domain" (can amplify the "Qi" of all Awakeners within a designated area)]

[Hint: The energy of the bronze tripod has formed a resonance network with the "Qi" of global Awakeners; forcibly cutting it off may cause the network to collapse]

Chen Wu's finger hovered over "Option 1" before he slowly pulled it back. He remembered the private messages he had received last week:

—Abdul, a doctor in an African refugee camp, sent a video: a group of skeletal children huddled around a campfire, following the Chen Wu on the screen in a Horse Stance. Their little faces were red from the cold, yet they smiled and said, "Uncle, I can feel a ball of fire in my belly!"

—Lin Yu, a programmer on Wall Street, sent a physical exam report: "My anxiety index dropped from 92 to 31. The doctor asked if I was on a new medication, and I said it was 'Listening Energy'—now when I code, I can hear the 'breath' of the keyboard."

—Grandma Zhang from the apartment complex downstairs practices Stance Training in the garden every day at four in the morning. Yesterday, she took Chen Wu's hand and said, "Little Wu, my son is abroad, and he said on video yesterday that I look ten years younger than last year!"

These snippets flashed through his mind like movie scenes. Chen Wu suddenly remembered the "Outline of Martial Dao History" in the System mall that had always been grayed out—now it was actually lit up, with the unlock condition reading "Understand the essence of the Legacy." He reached out and tapped it, and the pages flipped open with a "shua" sound, the text inside coming to life:

"The Martial Dao is not the technique of one person, but the collective breath of millions. Qin Dynasty alchemists practiced Breathing Exercises on the shores of the East China Sea, clouds swirling around the bronze tripod; Tang Dynasty swordsmen practiced with their blades under the Chang'an moon, their Sword Qi cutting through red lanterns; Republic of China Martial Artists threw punches in the arena, with banners of 'Strengthen the nation through martial arts' behind them—the so-called Legacy is to stand up in every era so that the light does not go out."

As Chen Wu's fingertips touched the tripod, a sudden hum rang out—a pale golden light seeped from the Taotie patterns and surged into his mind. He saw:

Qin Shi Huang standing on the shores of the East China Sea, watching Xu Fu's fleet, with alchemists gathered in a circle around him, their exhaled breaths condensing into clouds that swirled around the bronze tripod;

A Tang Dynasty swordsman staying overnight on Mount Hua, his sword dancing into silver arcs in the moonlight, his Sword Qi splitting the old locust tree in the courtyard, the bark carved with the words "To be a swordsman is to be a protector";

Huo Yuanjia of the Republic of China standing in the ring at the Jingwu School, facing a Russian strongman, his fists stirring up the wind as his Disciples shouted, "Strengthen the nation through martial arts!"

"So that's how it is," Chen Wu murmured to himself, the light from his fingertips flowing back into the tripod. The rain outside had stopped, and the scent of osmanthus drifted in the wind—it was from the tree planted by Zhao Mengmeng's grandfather below the foundation building.

He picked up his phone and sent a message to Lin Xue: "No need to deploy troops. The public class will proceed as scheduled, and the livestream will not stop." Then he clicked on the livestream's backend and posted an announcement:

[To all Awakeners:

In the public class three days from now, we will not only practice boxing but also teach everyone how to use "Qi" to protect yourselves.

Location: Shanghai Sports Center (including three surrounding blocks)

Time: 9:00 AM

Special Segments:

1. On-site breakdown of Nano-robot working principles (Professor Li's team)

2. "Qi Film Defense" demonstration (Zhao Mengmeng)

3. Real-time connection of the global Awakener "Qi Network" (Africa / USA / Europe sub-venues)]

The moment he clicked send, the System notification sounded:

[Congratulations to the host for making a choice. "Martial Dao Domain" will be activated on the day of the public class]

[Global Awakener "Qi" resonance detected—Current count: 31,245 people]

Chen Wu looked at the jumping numbers on the screen and suddenly smiled. He touched the jade pendant on his chest—it was left by his father, carved with a Tai Chi diagram, its cord worn shiny. Ten years ago, his father said before passing away: "In martial arts, the most important thing is to avoid stage fright. The stronger the opponent, the more you must stand in the sunlight and let everyone see your Moves clearly."

The sky outside turned the color of a fish's belly, and the first ray of sunlight pierced through the clouds, shining on the bronze tripod. Within the Taotie patterns of the tripod, a pale golden light expanded and contracted like a breath.

Xu Hao was the first to slam the table.

"Do you have any idea how toxic Rex's Nano-robots are?!" He threw the proposal onto the table, coffee stains splashing onto the words "Emergency Evacuation Route." "Last year, they used this stuff to take down three research teams! Can Mengmeng's 'Qi Film' stop that? She's only 19!"

Zhao Mengmeng, however, stood up. Wearing a white training uniform, she walked to the center of the office and held out her right hand—a layer of pale blue light slowly rose from her fingertips, like a thin veil wrapping around them. "I tried it yesterday. I can catch a glass falling from the third floor." She pointed to the water glass on the table. "Watch."

Xiao Zhou picked up the water glass and threw it hard toward the floor. Just as the glass was about to hit the ground, Zhao Mengmeng's "Qi Film" suddenly expanded like a soft hand, steadily catching the glass. The sound of the glass colliding with the "Qi Film" was very light, like a feather landing on a petal.

[part:gemini-3.1-flash-lite]

"Professor Li says the essence of 'Qi' is a quantum state energy field."

Zhao Mengmeng's fingertips were still trembling, but her eyes were bright as stars.

"The vibration frequency of the nanobots is 120Hz, and my 'Qi membrane' is 240Hz—exactly the opposite, which can neutralize its energy."

Professor Li pushed up his glasses and opened the simulation diagram on his computer: "We used the energy field of the bronze tripod to run the simulation; as long as the 'Martial Dao Domain' is activated, the 'Qi' of the Awakened will form a resonant barrier, and the nanobots won't be able to get in at all."

He pointed to the Taiji diagram on the screen, "It's like covering the entire area with a 'Qi Shield'."

Lin Xue leaned against the doorframe, touching the holster at her waist—it was her habitual action, something she only did when extremely nervous: "I've left an emergency team on standby on the roof of the stadium; if the situation goes wrong, the helicopter can arrive in five minutes."

Chen Wu shook his head and pointed to the large screen on the wall.

On the screen were real-time messages from Awakened individuals around the world:

— Yunnan Tea Farmer: "I sent twenty catties of ancient tree tea, picked at three in the morning; it can stabilize 'Qi'!"

— Jingdezhen Potter: "I fired one hundred cups, and engraved the 'Move's of the 'Mind-Cultivation Technique' on them!"

— American Engineer: "The 'Qi Energy Detector' I invented has arrived; the Chinese manual was written by my daughter!"

"Look, they are already 'standing' up."

Chen Wu picked up the package on the table—the Yunnan tea farmer's letter contained a tea leaf that still carried the scent of morning dew.

"Professor Wang Hai says we are 'pseudoscience,' so we will put 'science' on display: let everyone see how 'Qi' interferes with electronic signals, how it blocks nanobots, and how it lowers blood pressure in the elderly and warms up children."

Xiao Zhang ran in holding his phone, his voice laced with urgency: "Professor Wang Hai is causing trouble again! He brought an excavator and is blocking the entrance of the Public Welfare Foundation, saying he wants to 'demolish the pseudoscience base'!"

In the live broadcast on the screen, Professor Wang Hai stood on the bucket of the excavator, shouting through a megaphone: "Chen Wu's Public Welfare Foundation is a 'cult den'! It hides a 'Qi Wave Device' that can control human brains! Today, I'm going to demolish it on the spot!"

The "expert team" behind him held loudspeakers, playing an edited recording—it was Chen Wu talking to himself last week while redeeming items in the 'System' mall: "How should I modify this 'Qi Sense Enhancement Talisman'..." which had been spliced into "I want to fake a divine martial art..."

Chen Wu looked at the excavator on the screen and suddenly laughed: "Tell the technical department to make the foundation's design blueprints public."

He turned to Zhao Mengmeng, "Change the venue layout; include the foundation building in the 'Martial Dao Domain'—that day, we won't just be teaching in the stadium; the entire block will be our 'classroom'."

Zhao Mengmeng's eyes lit up: "I'll add the Taiji rebar diagram of the foundation! Every steel bar hides the pattern of 'Cloud Hands,' which can guide the flow of 'Qi'!"

"Also," Chen Wu pointed to Professor Wang Hai on the screen, "retrieve the original file of his 'edited recording'."

He rubbed his chin, "Let everyone hear how his so-called 'evidence' was cut together."

On the day of the public lecture, the weather was clear and bright.

Chen Wu stood on the roof of the Sports Center, looking down at the surging crowd below.

Eighty thousand tickets had sold out three days ago, and over twenty thousand people were crowded into the surrounding streets, holding various signs: "Believe in Martial Dao," "I am an Awakened, I haven't lost control," "Grandpa's blood pressure medicine has been replaced by the Mind-Cultivation Technique."

The child at the very front held a drawing—a bronze tripod colored with crayons, with crooked Chinese characters written beside it: "I want to learn boxing from you."

"Brother Wu, Rex's people have entered the ventilation ducts!"

Xu Hao's voice came through the earpiece, trembling with a hint of excitement, "The technical department has adjusted the energy frequency of the bronze tripod to reverse—the moment the nanobots touch the 'Qi Shield,' they will melt!"

Chen Wu nodded and looked at Zhao Mengmeng in the crowd.

The young girl was wearing a moon-white martial arts uniform, teaching the children in the front row how to do Horse Stance: "Your knees should be like you're sitting on a small stool; don't stick your butt out too high!"

Her movements were standard and cute, drawing rounds of applause from those around her.

Not far away, Professor Li was with his students, debugging equipment; they were going to demonstrate on the spot how 'Qi' causes mobile phone signals to fail—a student held up a phone, the signal bars instantly dropped from full to zero, and the crowd gasped.

At nine o'clock sharp, Professor Wang Hai's team appeared on time at the stadium entrance.

He was wearing a crisp suit, standing on the excavator, his voice through the megaphone sounding like fingernails scraping against glass: "Don't be deceived by the charlatans! So-called 'Martial Dao' is just mental control! The Awakened are all victims of brainwashing!"

The "expert team" behind him held loudspeakers, playing that spliced recording, and in the background, one could faintly hear the prompt sound of the "editing software": "Clip imported."

A commotion broke out in the crowd.

Several of Professor Wang Hai's supporters held signs saying "Down with Pseudoscience" and tried to rush into the stadium, but were stopped by volunteers.

Chen Wu took a deep breath and walked to the bronze tripod in the center of the stage—within the taotie patterns on the body of the tripod, pale golden light was already overflowing, wrapping around him like morning mist.

[ "Martial Dao Domain" has been activated, coverage area: 5 square kilometers]

[ Number of Awakened individuals online in real-time globally: 47,892]

[ Total "Qi" available for use: equivalent to the energy of a magnitude 3.5 earthquake]

Chen Wu's voice, conducted through 'Qi', was transmitted clearly to everyone's ears—even those standing on the furthest streets felt as if he were speaking right beside them: "My friends, today we are not just practicing boxing, we are also going to talk about a word: 'Face'."

He pointed in the direction of Professor Wang Hai: "Some people say Martial Dao is 'pseudoscience,' so we will use 'science' to prove it to everyone."

Professor Li's team pushed the equipment onto the stage.

The transparent container held dozens of nanobots, which looked like wriggling little worms under the microscope.

Zhao Mengmeng extended her finger and gently tapped the wall of the container—a pale blue "Qi membrane" instantly covered the entire container.

The next second, those rapidly moving nanobots suddenly stopped, and then, like snow meeting sunlight, slowly melted into liquid.

"This is not magic; it's 'resonant cancellation'."

Chen Wu picked up the microphone and pointed to the frequency curve on the screen, "It's like two tuning forks; when you strike one, the other will resonate—but if the frequency is opposite, it will go 'mute.' Our 'Qi' is that 'opposite frequency'."

The crowd erupted into enthusiastic applause.

A bespectacled programmer jumped up holding a sign: "I am Lin Yu! I cured my anxiety with 'Listening Energy'!"

He pulled up the sleeve of his shirt, revealing the scars on his wrists—left from a past suicide attempt, "Now I don't have any thoughts of suicide anymore!"

Professor Wang Hai's face instantly turned deathly pale.

He raised the megaphone to continue shouting, but found that his voice was blocked by 'Qi'—no matter how hard he tried, the people around him couldn't hear his voice.

Chen Wu picked up the original recording from the table and plugged it into the sound System: "Everyone listen to how Professor Wang Hai's 'evidence' came to be."

Chen Wu's voice came from the speakers: "How should I modify this 'Qi Sense Enhancement Talisman'? It needs to be suitable for the elderly to use..." followed by the 'System' prompt: "Redemption successful, 5000 points consumed."

The crowd burst into laughter.

Professor Wang Hai's "expert team" began to stir, and a bespectacled "professor" quietly took off his name tag—it read "Department Chair of Physics at XX University," but Chen Wu recognized him as a con artist who had been expelled from the school three months ago.

"Next, let's talk about the 'clone' rumors."

Chen Wu clicked on a video; on the screen was a laboratory on the Antarctic ice sheet.

He was wearing a white lab coat, injecting his own blood into a petri dish, "Rex says this is an 'experiment to clone the Awakened,' but in reality—"

He pointed to the cells in the video, "These are stem cells I cultivated using 'Qi,' which can repair damaged nerve cells. Last month, we used them to cure three patients with ALS."

The ALS patient in the video slowly raised their hand and made a "V" sign at the camera.

In the crowd, some were sobbing, some were applauding, and some were holding signs that read "We believe in you" and shouting until their voices grew hoarse.

Suddenly, a buzzing sound came from the sky—three drones swooped down, spraying white powder over the crowd.

"Rex's nanobots!"

Xu Hao's voice cracked in the earpiece from urgency.

But the moment the powder made contact with the crowd, a pale golden light shield suddenly expanded—like covering the entire area with a "Qi Shield."

When the white powder touched the light shield, it instantly turned into little specks of light, drifting down onto the crowd's heads like fireflies.

"This is the 'Qi' of all of us."

Chen Wu raised his hand, and the Awakened in the crowd raised their hands simultaneously—everyone's fingertips glowed with pale golden light, like millions of stars connected into a web, "Martial Dao has never been the battle of one person; it is the 'breathing' shared by millions."

Professor Wang Hai slumped on the excavator, the megaphone falling from his hand and emitting a harsh, discordant noise.

His suit was covered in dust, his hair disheveled, like a defeated rooster.

Several volunteers walked over and handed him a cup of warm water—it was the ancient tree tea sent by the Yunnan tea farmer, still steaming.

Chen Wu stood in the center of the stage, looking at the surging crowd below.

Sunlight pierced through the light shield, casting countless spots of light on the ground, like a growing starry sky.

He touched the jade pendant on his chest—his father's warmth was still there, very much like the light of the bronze tripod.

"For the next class," he smiled at the camera, "we are going to an African refugee camp. The children there need 'Qi' to warm their bodies and need 'Stance Training' to strengthen their 'Physique'. Is anyone coming with me?"

The comment section was instantly flooded with "I'll go."

The number of people online on the screen jumped to 12 million, and an African child sent a video, saying in stiff Chinese: "My name is Mba, I want to learn boxing from you!"

Chen Wu looked up at the sky—white clouds floated like cotton wool, and in the sunlight, the light of the bronze tripod was still spreading, wrapping around everyone's "Qi," like millions of streams merging into a river.