Chapter 146 Stepping into the Mortal World
Valkyrie, an all-female team, won the championship in their first competition, sparking heated discussions across the internet.
From mockery to genuine appreciation, Valkyrie proves her critics wrong with her skills.
[As it turns out, being good at something has nothing to do with gender. I don't know how many guys I've been tricked by, haha.]
[Are those who said the women's team was no good feeling now?]
Meanwhile, a video of Thunder team coach Zhang being taken away by the police went viral on social media.
In the video, he covered his face with his hands, looking disheveled. When he was escorted out of the stadium, an angry audience member threw milk tea on him.
Police reports indicate that dozens of online troll accounts were found on his phone and computer.
Of the thousands of comments posted by these accounts, 90% were malicious attacks against Valkyrie.
Most shockingly, the investigation revealed that he had long colluded with underground betting syndicates, and this hiring of a hitman was precisely to manipulate the odds for the final match.
Coach Zhang has been dismissive of the women's team from the very beginning. His discrimination against women is deeply ingrained, both in life and in the game.
When the Valkyrie team suddenly rose to prominence, he started a frenzy of posts on anonymous forums:
[Can the women's team win? Unless their opponents are all disabled.]
[Analysis of Valkyrie's operational flaws (with slow-motion screenshots)]
After venting his anger online, he suddenly had a brilliant idea and realized that this was a great opportunity to make a fortune.
He has a gambling hobby. At first, he bet 5,000 yuan that Valkyrie would be eliminated in the quarterfinals.
Later, they added 100,000 yuan to their bet that they wouldn't make it to the top four.
Before the semifinals, the women's team, having bet 400,000 yuan, lost the final.
As expected, he lost his temper and became desperate.
The hatred towards Valkyrie deepened.
If the women's team wins in the final, he will almost go bankrupt.
Therefore, this gambler, blinded by greed, chose the most extreme method.
He took a risky tactic, anonymously threatening Bai Zhiyu and hiring someone to harm her.
Little did they know, a trap set up by Lu Yao had been waiting in the ward for a long time.
After the truth came to light, the event organizing committee issued a statement overnight:
Coach Zhang has been permanently banned from participating in any professional competitions, and the Thunder team has been disqualified from participating in the next season.
He was also convicted of multiple crimes, including threatening the personal safety of others, hiring someone to cause harm, malicious defamation by online trolls, participating in gambling, and manipulating odds, and was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
That's a story for another time.
After leaving the stadium, Yao Muling took everyone to a hot pot restaurant in a van to celebrate their victory.
As soon as the car came to a stop in front of the mall, Lu Yao saw through the car window that the entire mall building was shrouded in an ominous black fog.
She slammed her hand on the car door, her pupils contracting slightly.
"Don't go in."
Lu Yao's voice was very soft, but it instantly silenced the laughing and joking team members.
"This place will be a ruin in five minutes."
After a three-second pause, Yao Muling unconditionally trusted Lu Yao and held the phone to her ear: "Dad, evacuate everyone in Henglong Plaza immediately! Yes, now!"
Her voice trembled, but she was unusually resolute: "Use the highest level alarm, just say... just say there's a gas leak!"
Inside the mall, a piercing alarm suddenly sounded.
A girl who was trying on lipstick was dragged out by a shop assistant, and the diners in the hot pot restaurant didn't even have time to grab their coats.
A little boy was crying and refused to leave the play area, so the security guard simply carried him on his shoulder and rushed out.
In less than five minutes, the entire mall was emptied, leaving only the revolving door still spinning on its own.
"What exactly is going on?"
Standing a hundred meters away from the mall, Bai Zhiyu grabbed Lu Yao's sleeve and asked in a low voice.
Before the words were finished, a deafening explosion came from the fifth floor of the mall.
The entire building shook violently as if struck by a giant's fist, and the glass curtain wall shattered into countless fragments before everyone's eyes.
Amidst the towering flames, the private room they had just booked had collapsed into a sea of fire.
Terrified screams erupted from the crowd, and some people collapsed to their knees.
Yao Muling stared intently as her businesses collapsed in the fire, her back drenched in cold sweat.
If it weren't for Lu Yao, she and her teammates would be toasting in that shattered private room right now.
Still shaken, You Qing clung tightly to Lu Yao's arm, her voice trembling: "Who else did your team offend?"
Lu Yao gently shook her head, her gaze as deep as a cold pool: "No, it has nothing to do with the team."
Her fingertips trembled as she sensed the fluctuations of spiritual energy.
Suddenly, her pupils contracted sharply.
In the middle of the chaotic crowd, Lu Yao spotted a short-haired girl.
She was dressed in a smart leather jacket and calmly directing the crowd to evacuate.
In Lu Yao's eyes, a thick black mist was swirling above the girl's head.
What bothered her even more was that there were several faint golden threads intertwined between them, a manifestation of their intertwined fates.
"...So you were here."
Lu Yao whispered.
Those golden threads were the threads of cause and effect she had been searching for for a thousand years.
Unexpectedly, it appeared at this time and place.
Fourteen-year-old Lu Yao stood on a stone bridge in the misty rain of Jiangnan.
She reached out and caught the raindrops dripping from the eaves, her fingertips gleaming slightly.
This is her second year away from her master's school.
At the age of twelve, while girls her age were learning embroidery in their boudoirs, she formed her golden elixir in a dilapidated Taoist temple, witnessed by her master.
Master stroked her head and smiled gently, “Yao’er, you are exceptionally talented, but if you only stay within the mountain gate, you will never achieve great things.”
That morning, her master tied a peach wood sword to her waist and watched her step into the mortal world alone.
In the past two years, she has traveled through the war-torn border towns of the north, told fortunes for people in bustling capitals, and performed rituals for the souls of the unjustly deceased in remote and impoverished villages.
The joys and sorrows of the world flashed before her eyes like a revolving lantern, yet she still could not find the "Tao" that her master spoke of.
At this moment, it was the plum rain season in Jiangnan. Lu Yao stood at the bridgehead, watching the ripples spread by the black-awning boats as they passed over the water, and suddenly felt a sense of emotion.
She untied the tortoise shell from her waist, and three copper coins jingled in her palm.
Just as they were about to cast a divination, a commotion suddenly arose in the distance.
Lu Yao looked up and saw several burly women roughly dragging a mother and daughter in front of a white-walled, black-tiled house at the end of the alley.
The old wicker trunk was thrown out the door, hitting the bluestone slab with a dull thud, and the clothes inside were scattered all over the ground.
"Please...this really is our home..."
The woman knelt in the rain, her trembling hands reaching to pick up the items that had been soaked by the rain.
The girl who was being shoved was about the same age as Lu Yao. She stubbornly straightened her back, protecting her mother behind her, and the cloth bag she was tightly holding was already soaked with water.
Lu Yao flipped the copper coin in her hand and calculated that it was a secret recipe for a sauce.
"This is what Father left us!" The girl's voice was hoarse, but every word was firm and resolute. "Father made the sauce himself, and his name is clearly written on the land deed of the house!"
The leading old woman sneered and raised her hand to strike: "You little slut, how dare you talk back! Your father, a mere illegitimate son, dares to monopolize the Jiang family's secret recipe?"
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