Chapter 8: Return to Golden City

A moment later, Kong Zhe finally finished suturing the wound. Strangely enough, as soon as he stopped, the girl’s once pale face immediately grew rosy, and she even let out a soft moan, her eyelids fluttering open ever so slightly.

The flight attendant had already rubbed her eyes in disbelief when she saw the blue glow emanating from Kong Zhe’s fingertips, thinking she must have imagined it. But now, seeing the girl awaken, she was utterly dumbfounded.

What kind of technique was this? Such a simple treatment, yet its effects were so swift!

Recalling the blue light she’d seen earlier, she couldn’t help but wonder if this was the legendary inner power she’d heard about. Yes, surely he was one of those martial arts masters—how else could he possess such remarkable skills?

Kong Zhe paid no mind to the flight attendant’s amazement. He was drenched in sweat, the act of conjuring magic out of thin air had placed an enormous strain on his body. He felt lightheaded, as though he were deprived of oxygen.

He hurried into the restroom to wash the blood from his hands, splashed his face, and finally felt a little better. Somewhat unsteady on his feet, he returned to the cabin.

By then, the kidnappers had been securely bound and tossed into a corner, watched over by several burly men. After the incident, the plane was immediately ordered to turn back, and most passengers voiced no objection—lives were at stake, and after such an ordeal, none were in the mood to continue their journey. Only a handful grumbled about demanding compensation from the airline upon landing.

The moment Kong Zhe emerged, a crowd quickly gathered around him, eager to talk and curry favor. The passengers were all people of status—some even prominent figures in society. Money was no object for them, but the chance to befriend someone with such formidable skills and medical prowess was an opportunity none would pass up.

Kong Zhe exchanged a few polite words, shoved the offered business cards into his pocket, and then ignored them, returning to his seat to rest with his eyes closed.

An hour and a half later, the plane returned to Jin City.

Ambulances and detectives were already waiting. As soon as the plane landed, they rushed aboard, escorting the patient and the kidnappers away. The rest of the passengers were asked to remain in the waiting lounge for the time being.

Moments later, a middle-aged man in police uniform burst into the hall, shouting, “Who subdued the kidnappers? Where is he?”

This officer was in charge of interrogating the suspects. At first, he hadn’t paid much attention to the story of someone subduing the criminals on the plane, but after hearing the kidnappers' own accounts, he was astounded—a single move incapacitated two guns. What kind of skill was that? He immediately dropped everything to search for the hero.

Upon hearing his question, everyone instinctively searched for the master, but he was nowhere to be found.

Meanwhile, Kong Zhe was already out on the road outside the airport. As soon as the plane landed, he slipped away unnoticed from the waiting lounge.

He had to return home and retrieve that item as quickly as possible. There was no time to linger at the airport.

Fortunately, the police were focused on the kidnappers and paid little attention to anyone else, so Kong Zhe slipped out easily. No one noticed that he had taken a gun with him—the one he had seized from the criminal, tucked into his waistband, and no one came to reclaim it.

On the plane, passengers and the flight attendant alike thought it only natural for him to carry the weapon, while the airport police had no idea about it. Thus, Kong Zhe managed to take the gun out of the airport without trouble.

He hailed a taxi on the road outside.

“Driver, take me to Blue Mountain Community. Please hurry, I’m pressed for time,” Kong Zhe said as soon as he got in. Now, only thirty-eight minutes remained before the apocalypse began. He had to reach the item’s location as fast as possible.

However, the driver seemed completely indifferent to his urgency, replying lazily, “Even if you want to hurry, you can’t. These traffic lights today—who knows what’s wrong with them—change every few seconds, causing a jam. And the signal’s terrible, keeps cutting out. Can’t even get navigation to work,” he grumbled, fiddling with his phone.

Kong Zhe frowned. Before the apocalypse, the leakage of magic onto Earth did indeed cause signal disruptions.

Thinking of this, he said, “Driver, I really am in a hurry. Don’t worry about the lights—I’ll pay extra. If you can get to Blue Mountain Community in half an hour, this thousand yuan is yours.” With that, Kong Zhe handed over all the cash in his wallet.

The driver stared at the wad of money, momentarily stunned, but then his stubborn streak kicked in as he pointed at Kong Zhe and lectured, “You young people these days, think money can solve everything? Shallow! Can money buy safety? Can money buy life? Can money…”

The driver suddenly fell silent, for Kong Zhe had pressed the gun to his head. The metallic click of a bullet being chambered nearly made the driver soil himself.

“B-brother, I, I…”

“Now, you have fifteen minutes left!”

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