HCB Chapter 58: National and Personal Hatred, Let's Avenge Them Together!
Chapter 58: National and Personal Hatred, Let's Avenge Them Together!
The night is still the same night.
Outside Ma Cong's dormitory, chaos reigned.
The deathly silence on the training ground was shattered the moment the Purple Cloud Sword broke into a shower of light, turning into utter madness.
"Medics! Quick! Master Qingfeng has fainted!"
"The area is cordoned off! Everyone stay put and do not leave!"
"Technical department! Take control of all recording equipment. Not a single bit of the raw data can be leaked!"
General Zhou's adjutant, a colonel, was shouting hoarsely as he directed the operation. His forehead was covered in cold sweat, and his voice trembled. There was nothing he could do; what had happened today had far exceeded his capabilities.
Meanwhile, in the observation seats, the generals who had been chatting and laughing just moments before now seemed to have lost their souls, slumped in their chairs, panting heavily.
"Old Chen...I...am I seeing things?" General Zhou's hands trembled as he fumbled in his pocket for a long time before finally pulling out a special cigarette, but he couldn't light it no matter how many times he tried.
His hands were shaking so badly.
Chen Beixuan didn't answer him, but stared intently in the direction where Ma Cong had disappeared, his cloudy old eyes burning with an almost manic intensity. He kept muttering, "罡气 (Gang Qi)... to transform Qi into罡 (Gang)... it's true... the legends are all true... our Chinese martial arts should flourish! Flourish!"
Qin Zhenshan was in the worst condition. His face was as pale as paper, his eyes were lifeless, and he seemed to have aged ten years in an instant. The pinnacle of martial arts that he had pursued all his life had been easily trampled underfoot today in a way that he could not understand or even imagine.
That feeling wasn't jealousy or resentment, but a pure despair stemming from the gap in our levels of life.
"A god...that's the power of a god..." he murmured to himself, his voice filled with bitterness. "We've trained our whole lives, and we're still just human. But him...he's no longer human..."
"What nonsense are you spouting!" General Zhou suddenly came to his senses, snatched the lighter from the guard next to him, and finally lit his cigarette. He took a deep drag, coughing repeatedly and tears streaming down his face.
"What god! He's a human! He's a Chinese citizen with an ID card!" General Zhou's voice became shrill with excitement. "His name is Ma Cong! He's the soldier you brought, Elder Chen!"
He jumped up, pointed at Chen Beixuan, then at Qin Zhenshan, and said breathlessly, "You two are martial arts masters, tell me, what exactly happened just now? Science! Explain it scientifically! Don't give me that damn divine explanation!"
He needed an explanation he could accept, an explanation he could include in his report. Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to explain it to his superiors. Was he supposed to write in the report: "The target is suspected of possessing supernatural powers, breaking a sword with a single finger; it is recommended to treat him as a deity?"
Then his time as a general is over.
Chen Beixuan finally turned his gaze away from the distance. He glanced at General Zhou, who was on the verge of collapse, and then at Qin Zhenshan, who was completely distraught. He let out a long sigh.
"Science?" he said with a wry smile. "Brother Zhou, when you can't explain a phenomenon with existing science, it's not that the phenomenon is wrong, but that your science isn't 'scientific' enough."
"What he used was 'Jin'. A higher level of energy that transcends Ming Jin, An Jin, and Hua Jin. We call it 'Gang Qi'," Chen Beixuan said, word by word. "Using his own spirit, he mobilized the energy within his body, resonating with the outside world, forming a high-frequency vibration at his fingertips. Its frequency resonated precisely with the inherent frequency of the metal of the sword. At a microscopic level, it directly destroyed the internal structure of the sword."
"This...this is your guess?" General Zhou was stunned.
"No, this is the highest realm that only exists in theory in martial arts classics." Chen Beixuan's eyes blazed with fervor once more. "We always thought this was just the imagination of the ancients, but we never expected... we never expected that someone could actually reach it!"
General Zhou listened to this explanation, a mix of science and metaphysics, and felt even more confused. Resonance? He knew the term. But how could the human body generate that kind of force?
"Never mind who he is!" General Zhou slapped his thigh. "The most important question now is, how should we deal with this person?!"
He pointed in the direction of Ma Cong's dormitory: "Treat him like a soldier? Or a...national treasure? No, a nuclear weapon! A walking, thinking nuclear weapon!"
This question left both Chen Beixuan and Qin Zhenshan speechless.
Yes, how should we deal with this?
If someone can shatter divine weapons with their fingers, are modern weapons still effective against them? Can bullets hit them? Even if they do, can they harm them?
The unknown brings the greatest fear.
"I'll go see him." In the end, it was Chen Beixuan who spoke first.
"I'll go too." Qin Zhenshan stood up, a glimmer of clarity returning to his eyes. Although his martial arts spirit had been severely damaged, he was still a grandmaster, his temperament far beyond that of ordinary people. He knew that he had to personally confront this "monster" and untangle the knot in his heart.
"Let's go together." General Zhou slammed his cigarette butt down on the armrest. "I have to ask him myself what he's up to."
Meanwhile, the outside world was in complete uproar.
Although the military immediately cut off all live broadcast signals and activated the highest level of internet information control, those final few seconds of footage still managed to leak out through various means.
"A sword broken with a single finger!"
This term, with unstoppable momentum, soared to the top of all social media trending lists in just a few minutes, followed by a bright red "hot" label.
At first, everyone thought it was photoshopped or a movie special effect.
"Is this real? The special effects are so cheap, the sword shatters like glass."
"This blogger has no shame for clicks; how dare they post videos like this?"
"I've already reported it. You're welcome."
However, as more and more videos from different angles, including even the screen recording of the last few seconds before the official live stream was cut off, leaked, the voices of doubt began to diminish.
Especially when someone discovered that the "Debate Conference" was held at the Southern Theater Command General Training Base, and that a row of generals with stars on their shoulders were sitting in the observation seats, the entire public opinion shifted completely.
"Holy crap! An official live stream? Military background? Then... is this for real?!"
"My God, what am I just seeing? Is this some kind of fantasy movie? A finger shattered a sword?!"
"That's no ordinary sword! That's the treasure of Wudang Mountain, the Purple Cloud Sword! Legend has it it was forged from meteorite iron from outer space!"
"Master Ma... no, this can't be called a master, this is a deity!"
"From today onwards, if anyone tells me that martial arts is just for show, I'll slap them to death! Can your fancy moves even break a sword with your finger?!"
The entire Chinese internet was in an uproar that night. Countless people's worldviews were shattered, and countless others couldn't sleep.