I changed the world.

Zhang Jing, carrying a simple backpack, strode out of Luntai International Airport. Luntai City is the capital of Anxi Province. During the reign of Emperor Taizu of this dynasty, the Anxi Protectorate was established here, restoring the old system to control the Western Regions. However, at that time, the imperial court mostly adopted a policy of indirect control over many forces in this land, enfeoffing local tribal leaders to govern their territories. Even during the reign of Emperor Yizong, due to the weakening of the central government, constant natural disasters and man-made calamities, and ultimately the southward relocation of the court, the central government's control over Anxi became merely nominal.

It wasn't until the later years of Emperor Hengzong's reign that the court, riding the wave of its great victory in the Northern Expedition, regained control of the Western Regions, and Anxi returned to the court's hands. Nearly three hundred years ago, Norman explorers and pioneers crossed the Xianbei Mountains and reached Anxi, secretly colluding with local tribal leaders in an attempt to seize control of the region. For decades afterward, the Normans and the Great Zhao constantly clashed along the Xianbei Mountains, engaging in numerous battles. Due to the ease of supplying supplies, the Great Zhao maintained control of the war until the establishment of the People's Alliance, after which the friction between the two countries gradually subsided.

Stepping out of Luntai International Airport, Zhang Jing looked up at the bright sunshine in the sky. Wearing sunglasses, he saw that the sky in the north was cloudless, clear and transparent. The surrounding houses were generally lower than those in Linzhou City, and even the roads were much narrower.

Chapter Seventy-Six: Experts Online

The vehicles on the roads here are mostly old-fashioned off-road vehicles. You can even see many herdsmen on horseback and animal-drawn carts. The coexistence of the primitive and the modern gives Zhang Jing a novel feeling of being in a foreign land.

Two policemen, holding whips, maintained traffic in the large square in front of the terminal. If they saw any horse-drawn or livestock vehicles stopping in the square or on the road in front of it to solicit customers, they would walk over and wave their whips to drive them away. The herders were obviously afraid of the police and would leave quickly when they were driven away.

Zhang Jing waited by the roadside for a while and finally flagged down a yellow tricycle, a common mode of transportation used for carrying passengers in the area. After gesturing with the driver for a while, Zhang Jing agreed on a fare of 5 yuan to go to the train station.

Zhang Jing's destination was Khotan. Since there was no airport there, he had to take a train from Luntai. Khotan has been one of the best nephrite jade producing areas in the Zhao Dynasty since ancient times, and its white jade has always been a high-end material for jewelry and carving.

Zhang Jing's purpose this time was to use his "True Fire Refining Eyes" secret technique to see if he could find any bargains in the jade's place of origin. Currently, Zhang Jing has over 113 million yuan in bank savings, which isn't a small amount, but it's not a huge sum either. Zhang Jing has some initial plans for his future, but no matter what those plans are, money is a crucial element.

The train line from Luntai to Khotan is not a popular route, so it has not undergone modernization. The current train line was built nearly 50 years ago and was mainly used for transporting troops. With the easing of international relations, these lines have gradually been converted to dual military and civilian use.

The Luntai Railway Station is not far from the airport. About fifteen minutes later, the tricycle arrived at the station. Zhang Jing paid and got off, buying several kilograms of local specialty naan bread from a restaurant outside the station for food on the way. Before coming here, he had done his research online. According to the information, because the trains are relatively old, some trains do not have dining cars, and given the long journey, it is best to bring your own food.

Having successfully purchased his ticket, Zhang Jing waited in the waiting room until 11:05, when his train finally arrived. It was an old-fashioned green train that would take about 16 hours to reach Khotan.

Before coming here, Zhang Jing had heard some rumors, such as that the security situation in Anxi was not very good, that there were often thieves with knives who would pickpocket bags on trains, and that in some remote areas, one could often encounter bandits on trains. Zhang Jing was even somewhat looking forward to this. However, whether it was luck or misfortune, he did not encounter any accidents until he arrived at the Yutian Railway Station.

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We arrived at Khotan train station at 03:43 AM. The train's arrival time wasn't exactly accurate, causing a slight delay. The passengers seemed quite used to it, and no one complained.

Zhang Jing got off the train with his backpack on his back. The several kilograms of bagel he had bought at the station were now inside him, making him feel very light.

Yutian Station is a small station; apart from a row of simple platform buildings, the rest of the facilities are open-air. Standing on the platform and looking around, the dry, barren land and withered vegetation were Zhang Jing's first impressions. Zhang Jing knew that for this small county town nestled in the Gobi Desert, jade trading was the main economic product. In addition, most of the locals relied on agriculture for a living. Although located in the Gobi Desert, thanks to glacial meltwater, there were rivers with relatively large flows, so agricultural products could not only be produced domestically but could also be sold to surrounding areas.

At this time, the entire city was basically asleep. Zhang Jing walked out of the train station and saw no one on the empty streets. He turned on his phone, but the network signal was intermittent and the connection was very slow, which made Zhang Jing frown.

Accustomed to the ubiquitous network coverage of his previous life, he had always been somewhat critical of the internet in this world. Because Da Zhao's network company was a private enterprise, the construction of network base stations was mostly focused on developed cities, where the internet speed was indeed incredibly fast. However, in small cities like the one Zhang Jing was currently in, the network was sometimes very poor, and in the wilderness, it depended entirely on luck.

At the same time, the infrastructure here is also very poor. Apart from a few main roads that have been paved with asphalt, most of the rest of the roads are uneven dirt roads. Walking on them, you can easily get dusty in sunny weather and muddy in rainy weather.

Zhang Jing found a small hotel nearby run by locals. These hotels didn't require any identity registration; you could just pay and stay. He booked a room for an hour and checked in.

The room was somewhat dilapidated, but thankfully it was clean enough. Zhang Jing lay on the bed and opened the wishing book, ready to check the latest progress.

Then he discovered a newly generated special event at the very bottom:

Special Event: You saved actress Li Yun. This event has been filmed by the crew of "After Sealing the Sword" and uploaded to the internet, and it has already spread to a certain extent.

Your actions have significantly altered the perception of Taoism among a small number of people, causing a slight disturbance in the world's underlying consciousness, and this disturbance is currently expanding.

A total of 2893 wish points have been added.

The total number of wish points generated as a result has reached 11137, returning to over 10000.

It's finally here! Zhang Jing perked up, put away the wishing book, took out his phone, and quickly started searching online for information about the drama "After Sealing the Sword". Soon, he found that the production team had posted a message on multiple platforms at the same time.

Zhang Jing accessed the production team's Weibo account on Qianniao.com. The latest post was published yesterday afternoon at 15:16:

Last week, the crew went to Liyang Mountain in Qingshan County, Jiangdong to shoot outdoor scenes. They unexpectedly encountered a thrilling moment. There happened to be a multi-dimensional camera on site shooting behind-the-scenes footage, which captured this heart-stopping moment.

We would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to the kind person who happened to be passing by and bravely intervened. Unfortunately, this person turned and left after helping, and the crew chased after him for a long time but couldn't catch up. Afterwards, the crew visited some elderly people in Yongning Village, who mentioned that there are hermits living in huts on Liyang Mountain. We speculate that this rescuer might be one of them. In any case, the entire crew wants to say thank you, thank you so much!

Following this blog post was a video attached below. Zhang Jing clicked on the video and saw that the video quality was quite good. Moreover, because it was a multi-dimensional camera, this type of camera with built-in low-light compensation function could shoot 360-degree panoramic shots. Movies shot with this type of camera can be viewed in theaters using VR devices for stereoscopic viewing, and it is currently the standard for theatrical films.

In videos, because the shooting scenes are quite comprehensive, you can choose the angles you need to create your own content.

The video begins at night, with various filming equipment and crew members visible along a mountain path through a bamboo forest. The camera deliberately circles around to show viewers that this is a film set. At this moment, the people on set are clearly resting, chatting and laughing together. It appears to be drizzling, as many are wearing disposable raincoats.

Then, the camera shifted to the mountain path to the side, and in the darkness, a figure gradually became clear, walking over seemingly slowly but actually quickly.

Upon closer inspection, one could clearly see that the person wore a large, conical bamboo hat, a light blue linen robe, carried a bamboo staff, and was barefoot in straw sandals, his clothes fluttering as he walked along the mountain path. However, due to the obscuring effect of the hat, his face remained unclear.

The camera follows the man in the straw hat, zooming in and out, panning over his hat, robe, bamboo staff, and straw sandals...

The comments section was filled with:

master!!!

Warning: High-energy content ahead...

High energy ahead! +1

A master has appeared!

…………

After that, the camera followed the man in the straw hat into the film set. The man in the straw hat was obviously just a passing traveler. He did not even look at or stop in front of the camera equipment and crew members on both sides, and walked straight through the mountain path in the middle of the filming location.

Just then, the surrounding bamboo forest began to sway violently, clearly a sudden gust of wind had arrived. The camera then slightly adjusted its angle, placing Li Yun, who was sitting by the roadside, in the center of the video. The light above her head was swaying, followed by a chorus of exclamations. At the same time, a heavy lampshade fell from above her head...

Amidst the chaos, a few meters away, the man in the green robe flashed and appeared beside Li Yun as if by teleportation. With a flick of his sleeve, the lampshade flew out, followed by a loud bang.

This series of unexpected events unfolded swiftly and chaotically, leaving many viewers unaware of what had happened before the incident was even over. As a result, Zhang Jing saw a flood of comments like "Watch it again" and "Didn't see it clearly" scrolling through the screen.

After that, the crew, led by Sun Yue, tried to persuade the man to stay, but the man in the green robe walked further and further away without stopping...

Because of the distance, the camera couldn't follow the group, but even after the man in the green robe disappeared from the frame, faint chanting could still be heard in the shot of the mountain path:

Do not heed the sound of rain pattering through the trees; why not chant and stroll leisurely...

With bamboo staff and straw sandals, I travel lighter than on horseback; who cares? A straw raincoat in the misty rain, I'll let life take its course...

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The video ended there. Zhang Jing looked down at the comments section and found that there were already over a thousand comments discussing the issue. After a quick glance, Zhang Jing noticed that netizens were basically divided into two camps, with a large number of people believing that this was a publicity stunt by the production team. For example, these comments that received multiple likes:

"Could this be another staged performance? And the footage is so clear, it doesn't seem plausible!"

"Are moviemakers these days so creative? They not only make movies, but also marketing and promotional videos?"

"There's no bottom to this hype!"

"A new marketing tactic?"

However, a considerable number of people tend to believe the production team:

"I think it's real. Didn't you guys notice? The crew uploaded the original footage, without any special effects."

"It feels real, this person is amazing!!"

Among them are followers of Taoism who directly support the cause from a religious perspective:

"Amitabha! Mount Liyang is one of the thirty-six grotto-heavens of the Xuanmen sect. May I ask which virtuous and high-ranking immortal resides there?"

“I remember four years ago, when I went to Liyang Temple to offer incense, I met some hermits who lived in huts. These people were truly dedicated to spiritual practice!”

Of course, there are also some who are just fans:

"Can you guys stop being so filthy? Do you know how hard Jiang Jiang works?! How could she lie? It must be true!"

"Ah! Our poor Xiaoyun, she was in such danger, I feel so sorry for her, let me pat her! Thank you so much to that expert!"

Finally, quite a few people actually wanted the last poem:

"Doesn't anyone think the last poem is quite good? I've searched online but can't find it anywhere. Does anyone know the full poem?"

"That poem is truly excellent; it's not something an ordinary person could write."

"Please provide the complete poem."

"Same request!"

Zhang Jing also noticed that many Weibo accounts had already forwarded this message, including members of the production crew, such as director Sun Yue and lead actors Jiang Shanyun and Li Yun.

Li Yun, as the person involved, also wrote a short essay to express her fear at the time and her gratitude and admiration for this master, saying that she was "fortunate" to meet such a "character from a chivalrous novel".

From an outsider's perspective, Zhang Jing believes the production team is likely using this incident as a marketing ploy. Of course, from his perspective, he'd welcome this; the question now is how high the incident's popularity will reach.

....................................

The next day, Zhang Jing left the hotel. The sun was shining brightly in Khotan. It was 08:34 in the morning. Zhang Jing was hungry and decided to find a place to have breakfast.

There were already quite a few locals on the street. This is a multi-ethnic area, which can be seen from the appearance of the residents. Most of the residents here have high noses and deep-set eyes, curly hair, and obvious mixed East and West features.

Most of the local residents wore traditional clothing, a kind of robe or a mandarin jacket, mostly worn and patched. The surrounding buildings were mostly adobe houses, and the roads were not wide. As Zhang Jing walked, he could hear the mixed sounds of Buddhist bells and shamanic drums, which gave a glimpse into the complexity of religious beliefs in this land.

Holding an electronic map he had downloaded earlier for offline viewing, Zhang Jing headed towards the Yutian Jade Bazaar. "Bazaar" is the local word for market. As he walked, he looked around, intending to buy something to eat if he came across a breakfast stall.

As he walked around a street corner, he saw a thin little girl, about 8 or 10 years old, walking towards him from the roadside. The little girl was dressed in tattered clothes, her hair was somewhat dry, and she was carrying a worn-out woven bag. She kept her head down, glancing around from time to time, her eyes filled with a blank and hesitant expression.

Chapter Seventy-Seven: The Jade Grand Bazaar