Cyber Ghosts

“However, those are acceptable…” Hao Ning understood what Zhou Yuan’s meaning was. Although he wanted to admit it, he still did not say it.

“People are growing up…” Zhou Yuan drank, shaking his head. He added, “Shake it off. What we are talking about is our guess. It doesn’t mean it must happen in the future.”

“Yes. Leave it alone. Then what will we do now?” Liu Shuai nodded, looking at Nezha. “How can we stop it happening?” He asked.

“Stop? Stop what?” Nezha was wondering. He asked Liu Shuai in reply, “Why will we stop it?”

“Are you crazy?” Liu Shuai was angry. “Do you know what the world will be if everyone becomes that one?”

“Even if so, the civilization of the Celestial Empire will continue,” Nezha said with closed eyes, calculating. He shook his head and said, “I calculated. It seems that it won’t happen.”

“You!” Liu Shuai was outraged. He thought that Nezha might worry about the souls hunting as he did. He did not expect that Nezha did not care about it at all.

“No offense,” Nezha drank and said. “The Celestial Empire has existed for thousands of years. It is not the first time for it to lose its soul…” he said, looking at Xiao Hong. Xiao Hong nodded. Seeing Xiao Hong agreed with him, Nezha continued to say, “From the view of the incense in our books. This is an inevitable period for the people of the Celestial Empire to suffer. As long as the Celestial Empire civilization continues, it is not a bad thing in the long term even there is a period when it goes down and some people are hurt.”

“To you, ordinary people, it is an easy thing to make the Celestial Empire civilization continue,” Xiao Hong saw that Liu Shuai was angry and was close to start a quarrel. He became an intermediator. He said, “Throughout history, as of now, there are only a few old civilizations exist. They also have their own beliefs. They also have an interdependent relationship with their people. However, their Gods neither managed their civilizations well nor could they protect their civilization well. The nations were very prosperous in their peak times. Once they fell into a decline. The Gods fell into a decline much faster than the national strength. The temples and the written words disappeared. Their beliefs and Gods were crushed. Even some of the nations were eliminated. Beliefs will not exist if there are no people. Under such conditions, their Gods have no power to protect their civilizations from dying away. So, please try to understand what Nezha said. He also wanted to help you, but he has his own beliefs.”

Nezha did not anticipate that Xiao Hong would be at his side. He recalled that they fought in the Gods Creation World. He had a sympathetic feeling about themselves.

“What about you?” Zhou Yuan asked Xiao Hong.

“I, of course, will be at your side to stop it… but it doesn’t mean that I should fight against Nezha. A gentleman gets along with others but does not necessarily agree with them. A mean man does the opposite,” Xiao Hong smiled, patting Zhou Yuan’s shoulder. “Despite that I have a different attitude from Nezha’s on this thing, I still can understand his meaning…” Xiao Hong said. He smiled at Nezha, and added, “It will not stop us from being good friends. I believe that once something big things happen, Nezha will handle it in the first place.”

“Of course!” Nezha said, patting the table and smiling.

Although Nezha and Xiao Hong were kids in others’ eyes, they could explain the reasons so clearly. Actually, they had lived for hundreds of years already! They had experienced much.

“Well, Nezha’s thinking is different from Zhang Quan,” Hao Ning thought. Yunzhongzi was a really enthusiastic person. He would be anxious when he saw any abnormal situations in the world. However, Nezha behaved so calmly.

After hearing Xiao Hong’s explanation, Hao Ning also understood. Nezha did not care about the death or life of an individual’s soul. His bottom line, just like what Xiao Hong explained, was to protect the Celestial Empire civilization from interruption. This might be the bottom line of many immortals in the Celestial Empire. Above the bottom line, we saw both Yunzhongzi’s active actions in the world and Avalokitesvara became “Guan Zi Zai” by Closing Five Senses. Then, we had Nezha who actively participated in the actions of the world but did not care about the death or life of an individual.

Closing Five Senses? When this word appeared in Hao Ning’s mind, he thought of something but he could not remember it clearly. Men always did things like this. We tried hard to think of something but the thing walked away from us. He tried for a while and gave up.

It seemed that Nezha would stay out of the business. It was not necessary to force him to do things for them. And, Mr. Fei’s influence was so powerful. Even if Nezha was willing to help, he would not have any better ideas. So, Hao Ning had to find a way to put aside their difference and seek the common ground. He thought of Nezha’s intention. So, he asked, “Nezha, you invest our company’s project. Is it related to the Soul Coin Engine?”

Hearing what Hao Ning said, Liu Shuai cleared his mind. As a god, Nezha had his attitude to nationalities. Although he could do nothing about it, he thought that if he could infiltrate into the enemy, he might get some useful information. Hao Ning did not be entangled with specific things. It might be a good way to detour. Thinking of this, Liu Shuai asked excitedly, “Yes. What do you want us to do for you? Do you need us to program for the Soul Coin Engine?”

Seeing Liu Shuai behave so actively, Hao Ning understood his intention. However, they were many people around. He could not disclose his intention. So, he joined others, looking at Nezha.

Seeing that they could change the topic so quickly, Nezha said with a smile, “This is not much related to the Soul Coin Engine…”

“Oh…” hearing him, Liu Shuai felt disappointed.

“But there is relation…” added Nezha.

“Oh?” hearing him again, Liu Shuai spirited up again.

“Are you Ok?” Seeing Liu Shuai’s tone changed so quickly, Nezha felt a little confused.

“Nothing,” Hao Ning patted Liu Shuai’s shoulder, implicating he should not hurry. “What can we do for you?”

“Well…” Nezha rubbed his forehead. He should have told them this thing in the day. However, he did not expect that something so big happened to Long Fei. It made him forget his intention. So, he said, “You guy know Didi car-hailing, right?”

“Yes, we do!” Hearing he mentioned an APP, Zhou Yuan thought it was his showtime then. Although he was a moment god, he knew that the Pigeon company had relations with this company. He was interested in this. He asked, “What? Does Mr. Fei want to use the Soul Coin Engine to enter into the travel business?”

Hearing what they said, Hao Ning produced a strange imagination: If every phone user loaded a little Soul Coin Material in his/her phone, the phone might float in the air like the sword in the Legend of Sword and Fairy. If so, nobody would need a car to travel, instead, they would ride their phone and fly in the sky. Ancient people had swords to fly and we had phones to fly. That might be the reason the phone was made bigger and bigger. It would be big enough for the user to ride on it. It was so funny, Hao Ning thought.

“No. No. It was not like that. Not so big,” Nezha shook his head and waved his hand quickly. His motion did not match his good image he just behaved. “As you all have experienced that night when a group of people fought in this restaurant, it made it easier to explain it.”

“The Soul Hunting Sect had applied many approaches to fulfill people’s imagination such as teaching people Kung Fu for souls exchange,” Nezha said. He noticed that they looked at him weirdly. He waved his hand promptly, “Don’t look at me. It was not invented by me. It was my predecessor who invented it. And after many people acquired Kung Fu, they wished to use it. The best way to use Kung Fu is to… Oh, I forgot the word.”

“Rob the rich and assist the poor?” Xiao Hong said.

“No.”

“Curb the violent and assist the weak?” Zhou Yuan said.

“No.”

“Uphold justice?” Liu Shuai said.

“No. No. No.”

“Kick somebody’s ass?” Hao Ning said.

“No… Oh, yes,” Nezha patted his head and said. He smiled and gave Hao Ning a thumb. He added, “This is the answer. Kick other’s ass. To kick those who did not dare to kick before. And they can kick their asses without any fear.”

Hearing what Nezha said, they did not look at Nezha. Instead, they looked at Hao Ning with a contemptuous look and said, “Hao Ning, look at you. Your outlook on life and values are too divisive. People tried hard to learn Kung Fu. They just wanted to kick other’s ass? Is this what you are thinking?”

“Why did you all stare at me?” Hao Ning felt embarrassed and said promptly. “This is not my thought. And look at me, I have learned Kung Fu for a long time. Did I aim to kick ass? Don’t blame me. Isn’t it the tactics of online novels? After learning Kung Fu, the actor will kick others continuously with tricks from his first thing to the last thing.”

“What you said made sense…” Zhou Yuan said. He also read some online novels recently. He agreed with Hao Ning after hearing what he said. He added, “But I don’t understand why we will kick others as soon as we get Kung Fu.”

“Hey. You will desire for something that you want the most,” Hao Ning smiled. He added, “If you are bullied by others in reality often, you should allow them to imagine that they can kick others in their imagination. But…” Hao Ning became serious and said, “If they get Kung Fu in reality, there will be many troubles…”

“Yes, I agree!” Nezha patted the table with a rural accent. “Let me tell ya— en, where did I get this accent? No. No. Let me tell you. We did not expect it at the beginning. And later, we found that everyone who traded Kung Fu by his soul had the tendency. That meant that all of them would go out for something at night. If there are tens of them coming into this restaurant and kicking each other’s ass. You guys can imagine what will happen. The experience will be poor. They will think this is a total mess — It has been a big mess with only so few souls traded…”

“Hold on!” Liu Shuai gave a stop gesture, rubbing his forehead. He added, “Why is it related to Didi car-hailing?”

“Hey,” Nezha rubbed his head and massaged his hands. He added, “I knew a few things in the secular world. However, I think there are many people outside who want to kick others’ asses. If I can provide them with a place, and allocate their time, and coordinate them by an APP on the phone, then…”

“Didi ass-kicking?” The tea Hao Ning drank was almost sprayed out by him. He swallowed it and said this. He continued to say, “You want to copy Didi car-hailing mode?”

“Yes!” Nezha patted the table again. The plates on the table jumped up and down a little by his excitement. He continued to say, “Laozu is Laozu. You can understand it as I just said half of my plan.”

“I am Hao Ning. Don’t call me Laozu…” Hao Ning rubbed his forehead. He continued to say with a bitter smile, “Your thinking is so strange…”

“What is his points?” Liu Shuai was a little confused. “I almost got it. However, I lost myself again. What is Didi ass-kicking?”

“Hey. It is easy to understand,” Hao Ning took out his phone, opening the Didi car-hailing APP. He tried to explain to Liu Shuai with this APP. He said, “I suppose that you had gotten Kung Fu. You want to kick somebody’s ass with your Kung Fu. So, you turn on your phone and you will see how many restaurants around you are holding ass-kicking activities. If you want to join them, you need to wait in line. You also can see how many people are serviced right now before you. And you also can estimate how many minutes you need to wait for your turn. Then you click ‘I want ass-kicking’. The system will allocate you to the nearest restaurant or place automatically. By doing this, you can be serviced without any delay. And there will be no conflict between you and others.”

“Then we can sell membership to them. For example, the Diamond Member enjoys the privilege to jump the line. And the system can select automatically a lower-level opponent for the Black Diamond Member,” Zhou Yuan was worthy of his name of moment god in Penguin company. He said it with over-excitement. He continued to say, “By doing so, you can both kick others’ asses and practice Kung Fu with others. The most important part is that you will win anyway, which will make you comfortable and be in a good mood. If you are a super member, you can choose a skin or other specific effect based on your mood.”

“Oh, you excel in it!” Nezha was so excited. He couldn’t help applauding. He said, “I didn’t think of this! You are so good at it!”

“This is a piece of cake. Let me tell you,” Zhou Yuan was over-excited. He continued to say, “You can sell props that are the magic weapons. If the participants use these magic weapons, they will feel easier to kick asses.”

“Zhou…Yuan!” Zhou Yuan heard a shout behind him, making his ears almost deaf while he was talking. He turned back, seeing Hao Ning and Liu Shuai looking at him with serious facial expression. Zhou Yuan confused for a short time and he said in a fawning smile, “Sorry, my professional habit…”

“What professional habit,” Liu Shuai looked at this moment god seriously. He said again, “Don’t make anything to develop based on your profession. Will you be responsible for the consequences?”

“Don’t worry. We still have Doctor Xue!” Nezha said promptly.

“No,” Liu Shuai shook his head, saying disapprovingly. “It is not a good thing at all.” He added.

“It’s really not a good thing,” nodded Hao Ning. “But it is not a bad thing. We will do it anyway.” He added.

“Hao Ning — You!” Liu Shuai was indignant at him. He patted the table. He seemed that he wanted to fight against Hao Ning.

“Don’t be angry. Let me finish,” Hao Ning put Liu Shuai at his seat with his soft strength. “Those people, no matter what, are troublemakers anyway. Rather than leaving them alone and worry about when they will make trouble, we should take measures to control them. And…” Hao Ning winked at Liu Shuai, “I am convinced that you can trace them, right?”

“Oh…” Liu Shuai understood. Hao Ning did one thing under the cover of another. Through this APP and the backdoor of the APP, Liu Shuai could know how many people who lost their souls. And he might know what Mr. Fei was doing eventually.

“And if this APP can run smoothly,” Hao Ning continued to say. “Mr. Fei will favor Nezha more. And he may prompt Nezha. At that time…”

“We can know more about him,” Nezha also understood. He smiled and said again, “It will be easier for us to fight against Mr. Fei.”

“Hey? You just said you won’t help us, right?” Liu Shuai was wondering why Nezha changed his mind so quickly.

“I didn’t say I won’t help you.” Nezha felt confused. “I just asked why we should stop Mr. Fei. And as a god, my bottom line is to protect the Celestial Empire civilization from extinction. So, I cannot spare my efforts too much on other things. I cannot spare all my efforts to stop Mr. Fei. If there is a way to stop Mr. Fei with little efforts, why should I reject it?”

“…” Hao Ning and Liu Shuai looked at each other. They both looked at Xiao Hong then. Xiao Hong shrugged his shoulders and said nothing. He also did not expect that Nezha changed his mind so quickly. He regretted that he just explained so much to help Nezha.

Hao Ning sighed to himself and thought: This man, did he have a clear logic or poor expression ability?

“Just think that he was out of mind due to his kidnap that night,” Hao Ning and Liu Shuai heard Zhou Yuan’s voice. They turned back. Zhou Yuan looked at them with a smile. He did not speak anything, but they heard his voice. “They cannot hear what I am talking about — Nezha, maybe the one who speak high but to do low. As he said he will help us, let’s believe him at this moment.”

After hearing what he said, Hao Ning and Liu Shuai cleared their minds. All in a sudden, everyone in the room was amicable to each other.

After seeing Nezha and Xiao Hong off, Hao Ning and the other two were standing at the cross. Hao Ning held the leaving Zhou Yuan.

“You want to say something?” Zhou Yuan was wondering.

“I have one question,” Hao Ning looked at Liu Shuai and Zhou Yuan. His expression in the eyes made Liu Shuai and Zhou Yuan uncomfortable. Hao Ning continued to ask, “Why did you two not mention the treasure money when facing the apricot bamboo hat today?”

Hao Ning thought of this when he had his dinner. Last time, Dao and Kong used his treasure money to break the apricot bamboo hat. Instead, they forced Xiao Hong to use his strength and adopted many approaches to defeat his opponent. There was much treasure money available at hand. Although Xiao Hong and Nezha might not know the number, Zhou Yuan and Liu Shuai knew it clearly. Did they have thoughts as they never mentioned the treasure money?

“The treasure money?” Liu Shuai blinked, patting his head. He said, “I forgot it. I lost myself as I saw Long Fei and heard what they said. I forgot if you didn’t mention it.”

“Really?” Hao Ning stared at Liu Shuai and Zhou Yuan. He said, “What about you? Are you also scared of death?”

“What death?” Zhou Yuan looked at Liu Shuai. He added, “You say what you want to say. Why do you hide it?”

“What happened?” Hearing what Zhou Yuan said, Hao Ning knew that they had something hiding from him. They did not want to mention it before him.

“Your treasure money might not work again since last time,” Zhou Yuan waved his hand, saying.

“If so, we can make a new one!” Hao Ning said with relief. He asked again, “We made one last time, right?”

“Let me explain. First of all, this is the first time we cooperate with Nezha and Xiao Hong,” Zhou Yuan explained. “In particular, Nezha is Mr. Fei’s man. Hearing and analyzing what they said, I guess they did not grasp the know-how to make the treasure money. As we still did not know Nezha was at our side or not. We should not let him know how to make the treasure money. If he knew the know-hows, you guess what will happen?”

“He will… hire me again?” Hao Ning answered. He negated his own answer and said, “That is impossible. Will he kidnap me for slice research as an ET?”

“Don’t make yourself scared,” Zhou Yuan smiled. “You have a really good imagination. He won’t do that. Instead, he will restrict your freedom and research you. Look. Long Fei, who had mediocre power, was chased and killed by so many men sent by them. If they knew you can make the treasure money, guess what they will do to you?”