Controlling the Five Thunders and the Two Worlds

Chapter 228 Key Figure: Gu Zhao

"Gu Zhao, 23 years old, from Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, just graduated last year and has not been looking for a job. He is currently unemployed."

"My father, Gu Qi, is the owner of a well-known local timber furniture factory. My mother, Li Man, is from Sichuan Province and stays at home full-time."

"But Gu Zhao's grandfather was an unaffiliated Taoist priest. Gu Zhao learned martial arts and Taoist magic from his grandfather from a young age, and he also opened a short video account to explain Taoist culture."

The large screen is playing news about Gu Zhao and some of his photos and videos.

Then, the large screen switched to display a photo of one man and three women.

"They are Gu Zhao's father, Gu Qi, Gu Zhao's mother, Li Man, and Gu Zhao's two girlfriends, Xiao Ya and Jiang Shishi."

In the conference room, everyone noticed what the four had in common: they were all wearing sandalwood bracelets on their wrists that were exactly the same as the ones in the center of the table.

"Hiss—" someone gasped, "This magical artifact can be mass-produced?"

Another person chimed in, "At least it's not that rare."

"Here are a few more surveillance videos for you to take a look at." The host switched the screen.

Three videos were played in sequence on the big screen.

The scene in the first video appears to be at a banquet in a Southeast Asian country. Xiao Ya and Jiang Shishi appear in the frame, seemingly talking to other people, when suddenly a middle-aged man opposite them is sent flying backward.

The scene in the second video appears to be a hotel lobby. Xiao Ya and Jiang Shishi are following a middle-aged man out. As they pass a group of people, an elderly man seems to reach out to grab Xiao Ya's hand, and then he is suddenly thrown backward.

The scene in the third video is clearly a parade or celebration in Europe, with many people singing and dancing. Suddenly, an explosion occurs, and everyone scatters to take cover. However, in an inconspicuous corner of the video, a flying car door stops and falls when it hits a couple, who then escape in the chaos.

"The man who was thrown backwards in the first video is Bansa, a wealthy businessman from Siam. Rumors circulate that he is skilled in black magic."

The host pointed to the elderly man in the second video, "This is Bansa's father, Moncha, a famous monk in Siam, a well-known religious figure who frequently visited the Siamese royal palace."

Based on our assessment, it seems these two were attempting to cast a dark spell on Xiao Ya and Jiang Shishi, which was then countered by the Golden Bracelet.

The host glanced at another document in his hand. "According to news from Siam, Bansa and Moncha are still recovering from their injuries and are staying home as much as possible."

An elderly man pointed to a screenshot from the last video and asked, "These must be Gu Zhao's parents, right?"

"Yes, they went to Europe for tourism a few days ago and happened to be there during a terrorist attack. This video was recorded by a surveillance camera at the entrance of a hotel. It was an unexpected discovery by our technicians while they were investigating the whereabouts of Gu Zhao's parents."

"In other words, everyone around Gu Zhao also has Golden Qi Bracelets." An old man nodded, then asked, "But why do you say he's a key figure?"

The host picked up the documents while displaying screenshots of the surveillance video on the big screen.

"Last June, Gu Zhao met Xiao Ya and Jiang Shishi. The three of them went to Qingcheng Mountain together and met Daoist Yansong of Qingcheng Mountain. Not long after, Daoist Yansong went to Guangzhou."

"Last August, Master Yihong invited Gu Zhao to Hong Kong through Xiao Ya to participate in the centennial grand ceremony of Penglai Immortal Hall. Gu Zhao met Master Yunyang in Hong Kong. After that, Master Yihong also left a message in Yandu saying that he was going to Guangzhou to cultivate."

"Last October, Gu Zhao invited Daoist Yunyang to the Celestial Master's Mansion in Longhu Tianshan, where they met Daoist Mingyu. After that, both of them left messages for their relatives and friends saying that they were going to Guangzhou to cultivate."

"Last December, Gu Zhao went to Shancheng for tourism with Gu Qi and met Master Jingfeng of Fengdu Temple in Shancheng. The next day, Master Jingfeng passed on the position of abbot of Fengdu Temple and then went to Guangzhou to cultivate."

"This Spring Festival, after receiving calls from Daoist Yansong and Daoist Mingyu, Daoist Yanling of Qingcheng Mountain and Daoist Mingchong of the Celestial Master's Mansion left messages for their relatives and friends and then went to Guangzhou to cultivate." "Gu Zhao went to Zhenwu Mountain for tourism during the Spring Festival holiday and met Daoist Qingyuan of the Sanfeng School of Zhenwu Mountain. Daoist Qingyuan also left messages for his relatives and friends and then went to Guangzhou to cultivate."

"Shortly afterward, Daoist Yihong and Daoist Mingyu took the lead in establishing the Guangzhou Taoist Research Institute, which was nominally affiliated with the Taoist Association, but the list of Taoists invited to the institute was drawn up by them."

"Are all the people on the list those who went to Guangzhou to cultivate themselves?"

"Yes." The host nodded. "Recently, we have also added Master Shenhao from Sanmao Mountain, Master Yuzhang from Feiyun Mountain, Master Jingfa from Baxian Palace, and Master Jinghong from Longmen Cave."

"Surveillance video shows that Gu Zhao attended the Qingming Festival ritual at Sanmaoshan during the Qingming holiday. He had a pleasant conversation with Daoist Shenhao and Daoist Yuzhang. He then went to Baxian Palace. However, Daoist Jingfa was not at Baxian Palace at the time, but at Longmen Cave. So Gu Zhao went to Longmen Cave and toured Longmen Mountain with Daoist Jingfa and Daoist Jinghong."

"Then, in the next two or three days, these four Taoist priests set off for Guangzhou." The host put down the documents in his hand. "Then they disappeared in Guangzhou."

The host reiterated, "During their time in Guangzhou, apart from occasionally making phone calls and sending messages to relatives, friends, or younger disciples, there was almost no trace of them living in Guangzhou."

"However, according to our investigation, when they reappeared and returned home to visit their relatives, the complexion and health of their family members improved significantly, and their closest relatives would wear Jin Gang bracelets."

"Although they instructed us not to talk about it, they did not require strict confidentiality."

The host paused for a moment, then said, "According to Li Chang'an's description, this Golden Gang Bracelet is a Taoist magic weapon. Although it is relatively rare, it is not a secret among the higher-ups of the Taoist sect. It's just that ordinary people don't know about it."

The meeting room fell silent once again.

"Bullshit!" someone couldn't help but curse. "If the Taoist priest had this ability, wouldn't we know?"

“Therefore, Gu Zhao is indeed a key figure,” an old man judged. “Only Taoists who have interacted with him and have been invited to Guangzhou by him can have this ability, or rather, can have this benefit.”

The host nodded. "There's also the sandalwood used for the Jin Gang bracelet. Since last year, Gu Qi's factory has been supplying sandalwood furniture in fixed quantities. Although he has a complete customs declaration list, according to our investigation, this sandalwood is not imported from abroad."

At this point, the host played another video on the big screen. "This was last May, and it's the last video he released to date."

The host was referring, of course, to the palm-sized grenade video that Gu Zhao used to show off.

"It's all made of sandalwood inside!"

“Some people questioned whether the video was created using special effects because of the sandalwood, but if the sandalwood came out of nowhere from Gu Qi’s timber factory, then it would actually be evidence.”

"You could say he was exposed from the very beginning, but nobody believed him at the time."

"A single line connects them all."

"It was a world suitable for human survival, suitable for Taoist cultivation, and not lacking in sandalwood."

Everyone's eyes were shining; this was a groundbreaking discovery that shocked the world!

only……

"Why would he bring so many modern Taoist priests with him through time?" another old man wondered. "Wouldn't doing this pose a great risk of him being exposed?"

(End of this chapter)