On the bus, Bai Mo took out his phone and saw a message from Fang Xiaoyu.
[Master Chong is fine, that Gu insect isn't his life Gu]
[And I've heard that several experts suspect Master Chong faked his fall!]
[He wasn't really that exhausted, just pretended to be miserable to get more bonuses and subsidies!]
Bai Mo cracked a smile, unsure how to comment.
He also discovered that Fang Xiaoyu seemed to enjoy gossiping about such rumors.
Someone boarded the bus and sat beside Bai Mo.
"Bai Mo, are you going for concentrated management too?"
It was Lu Yang speaking, looking worried. Apparently, they had just received an urgent notice that this batch of Immortal-Related Personnel needed to go to the Immortal Technique Committee for concentrated management.
"You're involved with Immortals too? Also Immortal Martial, huh?"
Without waiting for Bai Mo to answer, he already started laughing.
"Haha, who would've thought, I have such a connection with the top student in the whole school.
"During our isolation, we can get to know each other.
"You can teach me how to solve problems!"
Bai Mo didn't bother explaining, just gave an awkward smile and nodded.
...
The bus continued to pick up many Immortal-Related Personnel on the way to Immortal Martial, and even picked up another student from No. 47 Middle School, Yu Tingting. She was quite famous at school... mainly because of her good figure and pretty looks, often attracting inquiries from male students.
Once all the target passengers were on board, the bus merged into the traffic, heading toward the Immortal Technique Committee.
Sitting on the bus, with nothing better to do, Bai Mo took out his tablet to sketch and study Alchemy Dao. It's indeed quite handy.
Lu Yang glanced at Bai Mo, then at Yu Tingting, and his fear of "concentrated isolation" was somewhat eased.
He then turned to chat continuously.
"...My dad said that our being taken to concentrated isolation is actually a form of protection.
"It won't be long before we can return.
"My dad also mentioned that there's an expert on this bus to ensure our safety.
"But I haven't seen where the expert is!"
The nearby students looked around, seeing only the driver up front and someone in uniform, otherwise, it was just students.
"The one in uniform should be a Committee member, right? A staff member? Are they the expert?"
"No! I get it, experts are different from members."
"So where's the expert? Not here? Did Lu Yang's dad get it wrong? Or is the expert being lazy?"
The group started discussing in confusion.
Before long, the bus arrived at the entrance of the Immortal Technique Committee.
The door opened, and Secretary Fang Xiaoyu came in with a few members.
Fang Xiaoyu walked up to Bai Mo.
"Expert Bai Mo, you've worked hard.
"Take a rest, we'll handle it from here."
Bai Mo nodded and stood up to leave.
Leaving Lu Yang and the others completely bewildered.
...
As night fell,
West State City lit up, the street and alley barbecue spots and crawfish joints bustling with life.
Inside the Immortal Technique Committee building, lights remained bright as people busily moved from meeting rooms to corridors and the armory, preparing for tomorrow's actions.
In the office suite, Fang Xiaoyu pored over emails, forwarded several, and opened a spreadsheet for meticulous verification.
She then turned to Bai Mo.
"Tomorrow's operation starts early in the morning.
"Expert Bai Mo, I'm sorry to inconvenience you to stay here tonight."
Behind her, Bai Mo sat against the wall on a camp bed, scrolling on his phone.
For tomorrow's mission, as an expert, Bai Mo would also participate, without specific tasks, just to accompany as a precaution.
Seeing the balance on his pay card, Bai Mo shook his head.
"No trouble!"
The office had air conditioning, the camp bed was comfy, the pillow was latex, and staying this night waived the lodging fee, also allowing him to claim subsidies in return... Bai Mo could absolutely accept this trouble!
After some small talk with Fang Xiaoyu, seeing her continue to work, Bai Mo went back to scrolling his phone. Opening the Immortal Discussion Forum, he stumbled upon a curious post.
[You don't think those cultivators really become immortals, do you?]
[Who cares what rank they are, they're just puppets controlled by the Ancient Immortals!]
[Their Immortal Techniques are taught by Ancient Immortals, their cultivation resources provided by the Ancient Immortals, and every night they must dream of meeting with the Ancient Immortals, where they're completely at their mercy!]
[So, can they defy the Ancient Immortals' will? Dare they not listen to the Ancient Immortals?]
[Of course they don't dare!]
[Aren't they just puppets? The Ancient Immortals pull the strings in dreams, controlling them in the real world!]
[No matter how powerful, just another puppet!]
[What Immortal Technique Committee, what experts, they're just sneaking actions when the Ancient Immortals are asleep]
[Just like Toy Story, have you seen Toy Story?]
[When the Ancient Immortals sleep, these cultivators sneak around either causing trouble or maintaining order, just like those toys secretly up to something]
Bai Mo frowned.
The guy's words were disturbing.
But on second thought, there seemed to be a bit of truth to it?
He continued reading, seeing more from this person.
[So, have you ever wondered what the so-called Ancient Immortals really are?]
[What is their pursuit? Immortality? Transcendent Dao?]
[Or maybe, they're merely a bunch of malicious ghosts, a group dressed and sugar-coated to deceive?]
[What if one day, they crawl out from their dreams to destroy our civilization, control our world, and rewrite our history?]
Bai Mo wanted to read more but saw the screen flicker, "404" appearing. Another flicker and he was back on the forum homepage.
The post, quite obviously, had been deleted by the administrator.
"Puppets controlled by Ancient Immortals?
"Ancient Immortals are all malevolent ghosts?
"Is this really how it is?"
Bai Mo didn't know.
He had no Ancient Immortal Master and had never seen an Ancient Immortal, so these matters were beyond his reach.
...
Under a gloomy sky, a stream flowing gently, beside a thatched hut.
Black Hide and others stood by the Round Stone Ancient Immortal, with over sixty junior brothers and sisters kneeling at a distance. Strangely, this group of junior brothers and sisters wore dazed expressions, their eyes vacant, as if they were asleep.
Black Hide, being the senior brother, still showed fear on his face.
"We initially planned to infiltrate among the junior brothers and sisters, and by tomorrow morning, directly take them to Fuqing Hotel for the ascension ceremony.
"But who would've thought, the people from the Immortal Technique Committee actually sent someone for a surprise inspection!
"Luckily, we had the blood qi restriction left by Master, otherwise, we would've been busted."
Last night, Black Hide had been with a junior brother. Suddenly, an ominous feeling made him retreat in haste, narrowly avoiding getting trapped by the Immortal Technique Committee.
Other junior brothers and sisters also felt lingering fear.
Black Hide hung his head in despair.
"And, the Immortal Technique Committee has put the junior brothers and sisters under concentrated management, we don't know how long they'll be held.
"We might not be able to get them out, can't take them to the ascension ceremony.
"Master, this task… we can't complete it."