Chapter 114: The Demon Star Orbits the Earth
“I want to be with Zhang Wuyong! Together forever and ever!”
On a distant balcony, Yao Xueqin clasped her hands over her chest, making a beautiful wish upon a shooting star.
Having quickly finished her wish, she suddenly looked up—there it still was.
She leapt up excitedly, because she had finally made her wish before the shooting star vanished.
As long as one successfully makes a wish before the star disappears, the wish will come true... Wait, is that really a shooting star?
The star in the sky not only showed no sign of disappearing but trailed an ever-lengthening, dark red comet tail.
Yao Xueqin was dumbfounded.
This wasn’t a shooting star—it was a comet?
Had she wished upon some strange, ominous celestial body?
But how could a comet appear tonight?
There had been no news reports about it.
Yao Xueqin, after all, was a high-achieving student who had completed compulsory education plus three years of high school.
She knew very well that with today’s technology, a comet couldn’t approach Earth without being detected in advance.
But that was definitely a comet, wasn’t it? So conspicuous in the sky—it had to be a comet.
A chill ran down Yao Xueqin’s spine... What would happen if one made a wish upon a comet?
Can someone please tell me?!
Behind her, her mother, still in pajamas and holding a phone, stumbled out: “What the heck is going on? Your grandmother called me in the middle of the night, telling me to look at the shooting star. What shooting star... oh my god, what is that?”
...
At the same time, in another distant place,
Liao Xiumei, dressed in a newly bought pink, girlish pleated nightdress, was also standing on her balcony, dumbfounded as she watched the comet streak across the night sky.
Once again unable to resist temptation, she began imagining her temporary boyfriend.
She even pictured that temporary boyfriend as the bright and handsome young man whose arm she would be holding tonight.
She knew it was wrong!
She had been trying hard to restrain herself these past days.
But this time, she failed to maintain self-control.
Noticing the curtain was open—though no one could see in—she shyly came over to close the window.
Then she saw the comet crossing the sky.
When she could no longer see it from the window, she rushed to the balcony, staring in astonishment at the comet trailing its dark red, eerie tail.
A comet is a demon star! Also called a “bo”!
According to the ancient theory of celestial-human resonance: a “bo” is born from an extraordinary evil energy!
“What is going on?”
She felt a deep unease. Though she shouldn’t entertain such absurd feelings toward her student, this phenomenon was beyond extraordinary.
...
Zhang Wuyong and Zhao Yutong came downstairs together and stood in the open space between apartment buildings, watching the comet continue its slow journey toward the horizon.
The comet’s tail, initially dark red, faded into a pale white cold glow lingering across the night sky.
More and more people came down from their windows and balconies to witness the spectacle.
Many lifted their phones to capture photos of the strange comet retreating into the distance.
“Is there a comet in our area tonight?” Zhao Yutong checked her phone. “The meteorological station didn’t send any alerts. The news didn’t mention it either!”
Zhang Wuyong forced a smile. “It can’t have just suddenly appeared out of nowhere, right?”
“This is strange!” Zhao Yutong clutched her phone to her chest and looked up at the comet, which was gradually disappearing.
At this moment,
It was already 1 a.m.
That night, Zhang Wuyong did not rest.
He kept scrolling through the news on his phone.
Reports came in from all over the country—people had seen the comet streaking across the sky.
Online forums were flooded with uploaded photos.
But strangely, every photo was blurry.
They showed a dark red cloud with a trailing tail flying across the sky, but nothing as clear as what the naked eye saw.
This phenomenon defied explanation.
Soon after, other countries began uploading photos of the “comet” as well.
Some nations even deployed military measures, but no one knew the results; nothing could be found online.
About two hours later, the comet was still visible, now on the far side of the Western Hemisphere.
It was clear—the whole world had gone mad.
Discussions erupted everywhere.
On the opposite side of the Earth, the president of the world’s only superpower still standing made an emergency statement.
Experts, amateur theorists, and celebrities all voiced their opinions—though many of the latter made little sense.
But one thing was clear: everyone was anxious, desperate to understand what this thing was.
As dawn approached, the comet reappeared over the Eastern Hemisphere, descending toward western China.
With the arrival of dawn in Rongyang City, it vanished from the night sky completely.
It had circled the entire Earth in one full orbit.
The following day, the world went into a frenzy.
People everywhere were talking.
Some claimed it was a new weapon invented by the Eastern superpower; others said it was an unexplainable supernatural event.
Some believed it was a divine warning; others joked it was because someone sneezed.
By afternoon, for reasons unknown, people began frantically deleting posts.
Communities buzzed with activity; many experts tried to explain it as a normal light refraction phenomenon, denying the comet’s existence.
Some dismissed it as mass hallucination, unworthy of attention.
Then numerous celebrities were exposed for scandals; many public figures were arrested, revealing shocking past misdeeds.
Some countries remained fervent, while others completely ignored the event, pretending to be deaf, dumb, and oblivious.
Later still,
Fearing the world would believe the Eastern superpower really had developed an unbeatable superweapon, the Western superpower began cooling the heat with various scientific explanations and strained justifications.
Zhang Wuyong no longer dared to care about the matter!
This had nothing to do with him... truly nothing!
As for where that “demon star” finally crashed and what might be discovered—well, that was none of his concern.
As long as he ignored it, the world would remain normal!
That afternoon, Zhang Wuyong received a package containing a piece of clothing he had ordered... See? Everything was perfectly normal.
The world of anime and manga was better—no such troubles.
No war between Russia and Ukraine, no Middle East conflicts, no demon stars orbiting the Earth...
Just the simple joy of finding a beautiful girl to wear strange clothes, just for him to see.
That’s how our two-dimensional world is!
Though others saw him as tall, handsome, and sunny, and found it ridiculous that he was into anime, he didn’t care.
Well, actually, he cared a little about what others thought.
He secretly took the clothes out, washed them in secret when his family was away, dried them, and hid them in his system’s inventory.
That night, around eleven, he spent 3,000 of his 4,110 points to draw ten random cards.
That half-step imperial soldier “Human Emperor Banner” was truly unusable.
He didn’t even dare take it out.
Who knew if such a thing might trigger some cosmic phenomenon?
Better to keep it safe in the item inventory.
Ten draws!
Activate!
First draw... white light!
Though already stated in the release notes, he emphasized again: this story leans toward everyday life with a unique path, not about spiritual energy resurgence, urban cultivation, or master heroes descending from the mountains. ^O^