Chapter 468 - 467: All Rounded Up
Dian Province, on the outskirts of a city near the border.
Convoys of military vehicles sped down the highway, leaving onlookers stunned.
"What’s going on? We’re not at war with the country next door, are we?"
"Maybe there was an earthquake somewhere that needs relief?"
"I don’t know. I haven’t seen anything on the news."
The local residents soon saw the military vehicles drive to an open, undeveloped field. Squads of soldiers quickly disembarked, rushed into the field, and began rapidly setting up tents.
Large encampment tents, barbed-wire fences, a basic electrical grid, simple latrines...
"Looks like they’re building a camp?"
"A military exercise?"
"But why the barbed wire?"
"To prevent unauthorized people from approaching a military unit."
"Oh, I see. For a second, I thought it was a concentration camp."
...
"Faster, faster, faster!" the commander urged. "We only have two hours!"
"Keep everything basic. As long as it’s functional, it’s fine. The people staying here are all telecom scammers. There’s no need to prepare hot meals for them. The lights just need to work, and the latrines just need to be adequate."
"Hot meals? My aunt got scammed out of a hundred thousand by them. I wish I could just mow them all down!"
"I know. That’s why I didn’t bring you any guns."
"There are probably people who were tricked into this among them, right?"
"Their families have all filed reports. They’ll definitely be sorted out later."
Thanks to frequent training and drills, the soldiers were experts at setting up field camps. This time, however, the scale was just a bit larger.
As time passed, the construction of the entire camp proceeded in an orderly fashion. It quickly began to take shape.
As dusk fell, the searchlights above were switched on, bathing the entire camp in light as bright as day.
Although the commander’s orders were to keep things just functional enough, the quality of domestic industrial products was simply too good. The soldiers, accustomed to their usual training standards, subconsciously built the camp to a rather high-spec.
The deputy commander jogged over to the commander, who was inspecting the camp. He snapped to attention and saluted. "Reporting to the Commander, the temporary camp is complete. Awaiting your orders!"
The commander returned the salute. "Have the soldiers guard the camp and begin patrols. Prepare to maintain order."
"Yes, sir!" The deputy commander’s eyes gleamed as he immediately relayed the order to the soldiers in the camp.
The soldiers, one by one, tightened their grips on their rifles. After so much training, they were finally seeing some real action.
Well, even if it was just guarding a bunch of telecom scammers, it was still a welcome change of pace—certainly more exciting than daily drills.
Just then, everyone seemed to sense something. They all looked up in unison toward the southern sky.
"He’s here!"
Watching a streak of golden light tear across the night sky and arrive in an instant, the deputy commander couldn’t help but wonder, ’It feels like he’s going supersonic, so where’s the shock cone?’
The commander said flatly, "Shouldn’t your first question be why a person is flying at all?"
The deputy commander, "..."
The next moment, the golden streak of light came to a halt above the camp, revealing Yunyang’s figure.
Although Lü Zon was the farthest away, its telecom scam industry was the smallest, so Yunyang was the first to return. He had received the camp’s location from Taoist Ming Chong en route and headed straight for his destination.
Yunyang made no effort to conceal himself, so the civilians around the camp also saw the streak of light cutting across the sky and turned their gazes toward the hastily constructed camp.
"How come even a Taoist Master is here?"
"What are they preparing to do?"
Under the bright moonlight and the glare of the searchlights, they saw Yunyang take a gourd from his waist, pull out the stopper, turn it upside down, and give it a little shake.
"Out you come!"
With his command, a dense mass of black specks poured out from the gourd. They grew as they fell through the air, quickly returning to the size of normal people.
"AHHHH!"
"Help! Help me!"
"Mercy, Immortal, have mercy!"
Amid a cacophony of panicked screams, the group of people rained from the sky, all of them crashing to the ground.
Yunyang had controlled their fall well. Although they were covered in bruises from the impact, none were seriously injured, nor had they crushed any of the pre-assembled tents or latrines in the camp.
After hitting the ground and finding themselves on solid earth, the people pushed themselves up, grimacing in pain. They then saw the soldiers not far away, gripping steel rifles and watching them with cold eyes.
The telecom scammers, "..."
The next moment, a full spectrum of human reactions was on display.
Some, with tears in their eyes, cried out for their parents and tried to rush forward.
Some, their eyes filled with terror, expertly dropped into a squat with their hands over their heads.
Some had shifty eyes, subconsciously looking for a place to hide.
Of course, even more people were simply bewildered, standing rooted to the spot, unsure of what they were supposed to do.
"Quiet! Quiet!"
Even those who tried to rush forward for help were stopped by the soldiers, who then directed everyone to line up in the open area at the center of the camp to receive a number tag.
Under the dual threat of the Taoist Master in the sky and the armed soldiers on the ground, everyone was completely compliant. They received their number tags with maximum efficiency and were assigned to their respective tents accordingly.
"There are compressed biscuits and bottled water in the tents! That’s your dinner!"
"Four tents will share one public latrine! Form a line to use it!"
"No loud noises unless it’s an emergency!"
"If you need something, find a patrolling soldier! No gathering in groups and no wandering around!"
"Tomorrow, someone will come to register your identities. At that time, if you have a grievance, you can state it. If you are guilty, you will confess!"
"Anyone who attempts to escape will be considered guilty of a capital crime and shot on sight!"
The orders were severe, but the steel rifles in front of them were even more so. Everyone obediently returned to their tents.
Even those with schemes brewing in their minds didn’t dare to act out or resist. They could only scheme internally about how to feign innocence and escape punishment, not daring to make a single suspicious move.
...
Just after the people Yunyang brought had been quickly processed, Jing Chun Taoist and Taoist Yuan He also returned.
The two Daoists took turns releasing all the telecom scammers. Even with many stations handing out number tags, it was nearly eleven o’clock at night by the time the several hundred thousand people were all assigned their tags and tents.
Yunyang, Jing Chun Taoist, and Taoist Yuan He didn’t leave. Instead, they landed at the camp’s command post.
The three of them performed a Taoist salute.
Taoist Yuan He stepped forward and said, "This was all done in a hurry. Thank you all for your hard work."
"Not at all, sir. We are only following orders!" the commander said with a salute.
Taoist Yuan He smiled slightly. "With several hundred thousand people, things could easily get chaotic. We will stay here tonight, just in case."
"Thank you, Masters." The commander quickly agreed, breathing a sigh of relief. He had indeed been worried about potential chaos.
So, the commander arranged for a separate tent for the three of them. When the restless troublemakers saw that the three Daoists were also staying in the camp, they completely suppressed their scheming thoughts and resigned themselves to their fate.
The next day, the sun rose.
Convoys of buses drove into the camp, and professional personnel such as public security officers and inspectors began their work.
Taoist Yuan He and the other two took their leave. After ascending into the sky, they scattered Taoist True Qi, gathering the clouds and mist to refine the bodies of all the soldiers and professional personnel present. Only then did they transform into rainbows and depart.