Chapter 227: Chapter 226: Golden Gang Bracelet Prevents a Car Accident, Finally Discovered
While a great battle raged in the Bai Shi Prefecture of the Otherworld, where several great masters from the Daluo Palace besieged the White Bone God Monarch and his wife, a surveillance video was playing in a certain conference room in Yandu, on Blue Star.
It showed an ordinary intersection. The traffic lights cycled between red and green, and pedestrians waited at the edge of the crosswalk.
Just then, perhaps because the light was about to turn green, the waiting pedestrians began to stir. But at the same time, a semi-truck shot into the camera’s view at an extremely high speed, apparently trying to beat the yellow light and get through the intersection as quickly as possible.
The next moment, a fast-accelerating electric scooter came from another direction, zipping across the screen and pulling out in front of the semi-truck.
At the critical moment, the semi-truck slammed on its brakes. Its cab swerved slightly, and then the entire vehicle, its center of gravity lost, tipped over and crashed. The trailer behind it was flung to one side by inertia.
It was flung directly toward the pedestrians waiting at the crosswalk.
The pedestrians screamed and scattered, but there was no way they could outrun the trailer.
And at the very front of the crowd was an elderly man whose legs seemed unsteady. He appeared to be trying to escape as well, but it was too late.
The next moment, the trailer slammed into the old man.
The surveillance camera was positioned behind and to the side of the old man, providing a clear view of the trailer hitting him.
Ordinarily, the next frame should have shown the old man being sent flying or crushed underneath the trailer—if not dead, then critically injured. At least, that’s what anyone watching the video for the first time would expect.
But in reality, the moment the trailer struck the old man, it stopped dead in its tracks as if it had hit a wall of solid steel. It even bounced back slightly.
Modern surveillance footage is quite clear. When zoomed in, you could even see a man-shaped dent on the trailer.
The video ended. Everyone in the conference room fixed their gaze on a bracelet resting in the center of the table.
The bracelet had a beautiful grain. An expert could tell just by its feel that it was made of high-quality Purple Sandalwood. Twelve medium-sized beads were strung together, along with three slightly larger decorative beads: one large and two small.
The surfaces of these three beads were lightly engraved with intaglio carvings, the grooves filled with Cinnabar. The patterns looked like Taoist Sect Talismans, but since no one present was a practitioner of Daoism, they didn’t recognize them.
After a moment, the presenter in the conference room began his explanation.
"This video shows a traffic accident that occurred five days ago in West Capital, Qin Province. Aside from the truck driver, who suffered some soft tissue contusions, there were no other casualties."
"The old man in the video who stopped the trailer is named Li Chang’an. He’s sixty-two years old and a local of West Capital. All our records indicate he is an ordinary person."
An elderly man in the head seat looked at the bracelet in the center of the table and said in a low voice, "So you’re saying he was able to do what we saw in the video because of this bracelet?"
"After the accident, Li Chang’an waited at the scene. According to him, this bracelet was a gift from his son. Both he and his wife received one."
The presenter continued, "His son’s birth name is Li Dongyang. He later became a disciple and joined Daoism. He’s now with the Dragon Gate Sect, part of the ’Yun’ generation stationed at the West Capital Eight Immortals Palace. His Daoist name is Yunyang, and he also goes by Li Yunyang."
The room fell silent.
Another elderly man next to him couldn’t help but ask, "In other words, this bracelet is a Taoist Sect Magical Artifact?"
Most of the people present were influential figures, and they were generally aware that some Daoists could cultivate Inner Breath True Qi. They knew this Qi could help regulate a person’s vital energy, expel Yin and malevolent auras, and even perform Enlightenment on Talismans and Magical Artifacts, which would have sleep-aiding and health-preserving effects.
Besides Taoist Masters, they knew there were also practitioners of unorthodox paths who could cultivate Evil Skills and harm people in secret.
However, according to the intelligence they had gathered, these methods, while secretive and strange, weren’t actually very powerful. To say they were ’better than nothing’ might be an understatement, but there was certainly no need to pay them any special attention.
But they had never known that a Taoist Sect Magical Artifact could withstand a direct Attack from a semi-trailer fully loaded with cargo!
Given the momentum of that trailer, it could have flattened a small car, for crying out loud!
But the presenter nodded and confirmed, "According to him, this bracelet is called a Golden Gang Bracelet. Long-term wear can preserve health, strengthen the body, ward off evil, and provide life-saving protection."
The room fell silent once more.
The presenter continued, "After Li Chang’an handed this bracelet over to us, we ran a series of tests in the shortest possible time."
"The Runes engraved on these three beads are, one, the Celestial Spirit Talisman from the *Shangqing Heavenly Heart Righteous Method*, and two, the Vajra Profound Talisman from the *Shangqing Cave Heaven Three-Five Vajra Profound Register Ceremony*."
"We discovered an anomalous field reaction within a sixty-centimeter radius of the bracelet," the presenter explained. "This field reaction is similar to that of Magical Artifacts that have undergone Enlightenment by Daoists who have cultivated True Qi.
"When we put the bracelet on a mannequin and then attacked the mannequin, the defensive effect did not trigger. However, when we had a living person wear the Golden Gang Bracelet and attacked them, the defensive effect activated."
"Why is that?"
"We don’t know." The presenter shook his head. "Li Chang’an doesn’t know why, either."
Everyone’s gaze returned to the Golden Gang Bracelet on the table. "This bracelet can actually tell if its wearer is alive?"
Some people looked toward the presenter, knowing that the key to this mystery wasn’t Li Chang’an, but Li Yunyang.
The elderly man in the head seat tapped the table, silencing the room. He then said to the presenter, "Continue."
"Yes, sir!" The presenter nodded.
"Li Yunyang, thirty-one, native of West Capital, Qin Province. He entered a Taoist Sect at sixteen and successfully achieved Qi Refining at twenty-four. To date, he has created three Magical Artifacts and dispelled tomb Yin Qi on one occasion."
"He was previously cultivating at the West Capital Eight Immortals Palace, but he left of his own accord last year, reportedly to cultivate in Yangcheng. He later joined the newly established Yangcheng Taoist Research Institute."
The presenter added, "The Yangcheng Taoist Research Institute is a Daoist cultural research organization spearheaded earlier this year by Taoist Yi Hong of Yandu White Cloud Temple and Taoist Ming Yu of the Dragon Tiger Heavenly Mountain Heavenly Master’s Mansion. It is nominally affiliated with the Taoism Association, but Taoist Yi Hong and Taoist Ming Yu are in charge."
"Are those two also Daoists who have achieved Qi Refining?" someone asked.
"Yes." The presenter nodded, and his voice suddenly dropped. "We also discovered something. Whether it’s Taoist Yunyang, who went to cultivate in Yangcheng, or Taoist Yi Hong and Taoist Ming Yu, who spearheaded the Taoist Research Institute, they all should have been living in Yangcheng. But after an urgent investigation, we found that during their time there, aside from occasional contact with their families and a few appearances at the institute, there is no trace of them ever having lived in Yangcheng at all!"
"Our investigation led us to a key person of interest."
"Who?"
The large screen, which had gone dark, lit up again, displaying a photograph of a young man.
"Gu Zhao!"
