Chapter 132: Make Him Never Return! A Sinister Person!
Chen Han frowned and thought for a moment.
What exactly was this Devourer of News, he really could not figure it out right away.
“Senior brother, what are you thinking about? Why the worried look?” Xiao Yu walked in and asked in confusion.
“I am thinking whether our Chen Clan has any place that can be targeted,” Chen Han explained, then said, “after all, when a person becomes popular, trouble follows. We have to guard against many potential problems, and not let others seize on any handle.”
Xiao Yu nodded. “Mm, I will inform the clan members, have everyone pay attention, no slacking off, and no trying to cut corners.”
As she spoke, Xiao Yu also took out her mobile phone and drafted an announcement in the family group. After that, she went over to the spirit fire stove and the pressure cooker, started handling the medicinal herbs, and began refining body tempering pills.
Chen Han took out his mobile phone and opened Douyin to check.
In the game plot, the Chen Clan’s reputation spread far and wide, making the demonic path feel threatened, so demonic cult rogues targeted them, and this Devourer of News appeared.
In reality, the Chen Clan had gone viral on Douyin and gained traffic heat, so in this era where traffic is king, the Devourer of News would, to a large degree, likely come from the internet.
Of course, it was also possible there would be one in reality, and this was something to remind Uncle Dagou to pay attention to as well.
Today’s Douyin videos were somewhat heavy in tone.
After he scrolled for a bit, he came across two tragic news videos.
One was about a girl who had an accident while hiking; her body was found at the bottom of a cliff.
People really need to pay attention to safety when going out and not casually challenge dangerous things. This is showing awe for life, being responsible for oneself, and not causing extra trouble for society.
The other was about a 20-year-old girl who went missing, and before going missing she had been in Myanmar.
This too was regrettable. After all, the authorities had been repeatedly reminding and promoting safety knowledge in this area, yet why were there still people who did not take their own lives seriously, thinking they were the lucky ones who could get tens of thousands in monthly high pay?
Really, if you make five thousand a month domestically, there is no such one-in-ten-thousand chance that once you go abroad you can suddenly get tens of thousands a month.
But just searching for the Devourer of News like this was not a method; there was nothing specific to align with.
He then searched for videos related to the Chen Clan to make the search more precise.
This time he really did see quite a few people criticizing the Chen Clan’s ancient tourism. Some of the criticisms left him speechless, for example this one: 《“The Chen Clan lets so many dogs run around the scenic spot and even uses that as a promotion point; there are quite a few potential hazards!”》
Regarding the stray dog issue, the Chen Clan had from the start vaccinated and dewormed the dogs.
He had not expected people to latch onto this point to criticize, but that video had not gone viral, and in fact there were many people in the comment section cursing that blogger.
“Making trouble out of nothing, you can go eat shit. I have been to the Chen Clan; those dogs are very well-behaved.”
“When I went, I saw the dog demon king even pose cooperatively when people took photos, ridiculously well-behaved.”
“……”
All those insults were ignored by the blogger. Instead, when there was a comment supporting the blogger, the blogger replied, “Exactly, this is irresponsible behavior by the Chen Clan.”
Seeing this, Chen Han really felt helpless, and after checking further, he found many bloggers had posted similar videos.
It was not that the Chen Clan had done poorly, and it definitely was not that these bloggers had grudges against the Chen Clan; it was simply because such content had popularity.
The Chen Clan had gone viral these two days, so there was heat, and many people online were trying to piggyback on that popularity, just like Ming Di, who had gained a lot of heat.
Those were still positive, which was fine.
What he feared was people who deliberately nitpicked, then stood on the moral high ground to condemn you. Many of these people were, in fact, nobodies.
The key was, some of them had many fans. For example, that very famous Mou Xuesong, who pretended to be so righteous, always placing himself on the moral high ground, yet was full of scandalous black marks, even officially criticized by the authorities.
The key was, he still had so many fans. As long as he grabbed a hot topic, he could fool many people. If his background had not been exposed, or if he had not blown up himself, his fans would never have known his true face.
But there was no way around it. Many people made a living this way, and indeed there were many who spoke out with a sense of justice.
At least many vulnerable groups’ calls for help were amplified by such righteous people, gaining assistance, and sometimes even punishing evil and upholding justice.
For example, many big figures of the demonic path had massive hoards of ill-gotten wealth at home, and there was the son of a demonic path magnate wearing an abnormal demonic artifact necklace. It was these righteous people who eliminated them, making it impossible for that demonic heir to continue harming others, and even that demonic path magnate was executed.
Unfortunately, those who truly did things seriously did not flaunt themselves, nor did they stand on the moral high ground to condemn others.
Those who flaunted themselves and stood on the moral high ground were themselves filthy, often caught in scandals, making people feel the entire group was rotten.
There was an ancient saying, something like, “those who truly work stay silent, those who boast make noise, yet the credit goes to the latter.”
Perhaps the Devourer of News was this kind of person.
Devour, greedily seizing. Devouring news meant, for the sake of explosive news videos, using any means, greedily chasing sensational points, randomly attacking and biting, without caring for fairness.
But Chen Han also knew that the videos he had seen so far had not caused any major impact, not enough for the game system to issue a special prompt.
Just as he was thinking this, Xiao Mi suddenly hurried in. “Chen Han, there is a news commentator criticizing the Chen Clan’s tourism, saying You Fu and the others are very dangerous, and the video’s heat is already extremely high.”
“Show me the video,” Chen Han said instinctively.
Xiao Mi immediately pulled up a video and handed it to Chen Han. It was posted by a blogger named Ma Xue’er: “Cows not leashed in a scenic spot, this is treating public safety as a joke!”
As soon as she began, Ma Xue’er’s righteous voice sounded. “Cows are huge in size and possess astonishing power. Once they are startled or lose control, if they run wildly through a crowd, the consequences are unimaginable. For example, injuring elderly people or children; this is absolutely a bloody hidden danger!”
In the video, she even inserted several news clips of people being gored by cows, including one where a person’s chest was pierced by an ox horn.
Seeing this video, Chen Han’s brow furrowed. The situations shown were indeed heartbreaking, and indeed those cow owners in the clips did not value human life.
However, Chen Han could be certain that the Fu Lu Shou Three Bulls were already as intelligent as spirits, with gentle temperaments, and such incidents would definitely not happen.
Ma Xue’er continued, “Over at the Chen Clan’s tourism site, for their own convenience, not only do they not leash the cows, there is not even anyone watching them, and they even use cows greeting guests as a gimmick in promotion, yet they throw others’ life safety to the back of their minds.”
“This is not only a lack of sense of responsibility, but also a disregard for public order. And do not use ‘our cows are gentle’ as an excuse. An animal’s stress response is unpredictable.”
“And do not use ‘nothing has happened before’ as a defense. A fluke mentality will eventually cause great disaster. We must have the most basic awe for life. Fasten the safety rope. This is the bottom line, and also an obligation!”
After watching, Chen Han was somewhat silent, because the video’s arguments were in fact very objective, based on normal reasoning, well-founded and logical.
Moreover, the video had already received a great number of likes and heat, no wonder Xiao Mi was anxious.
So, looking at Xiao Yu who had come over to watch too, he instructed, “Later, arrange three people to leash You Fu and the others. We will also post a video to show our rectification.”
Since someone had raised the issue, the Chen Clan would just address it. After all, people did not know the three bulls were enlightened and would be fearful, and you could tell from how many people supported Ma Xue’er.
They of the Chen Clan had no way to prove it to the public, no way to make them believe that spirit bulls posed no threat.
Since that was the case, they might as well carry out the rectification the public and tourists wanted to see. It would not have much impact anyway.
Add one more person to watch them, then give that person the title of member of the Spirit Beast Hall, and later prepare a set of work clothes, with the character for “beast” embroidered on the front and “hall” on the back.
How fitting.
Also, Ma Xue’er seemed to be someone who actually did things, not purely riding on traffic, so she might not be the Devourer of News.
To complete the task of making the Devourer of News come and never return, they still needed to keep searching.
“Mm!” Xiao Yu was not unreasonable and understood the idea, so she said, “I will go film You Fu and the others, and at the same time arrange people to hold their leashes, then use my account to post a statement.”
Chen Han nodded.
Xiao Yu left the kitchen. Soon, she came back with a video for Chen Han to see. In the video, clan elders were already leading the cows.
They were the three elders of the Demon Subduing Hall.
During the day, there were clan members working at the Thunder Bamboo Spirit Tea cauldron room, so the elders did not need to watch there and could be arranged to lead the cows.
Chen Han found the video acceptable and had his junior sister upload it.
Xiao Yu nodded and uploaded the video to her own account, with the title: 《“The Chen Clan’s cows are very gentle, but in order to reassure tourists and just in case, we have already implemented rectifications!”》
Because there had been a heat-driven video denouncing the hidden danger of the cows, many supporters had even @-mentioned the Chen Family Head and Xiao Yu Za, so as soon as her video was posted, many people noticed it.
Especially those who supported Ma Xue’er.
However, the Chen Clan’s quick rectification made these people quite satisfied, and most comments on Xiao Yu’s video were positive.
“The Chen Clan is still responsible, rectifying so quickly.”
“In fact, the three cows of the Chen Clan are really smart and probably not dangerous, but they are still willing to adjust, truly putting tourists’ safety in their hearts.”
“Just for how responsible the Chen Clan is, I will go there for the upcoming holiday.”
“……”
After reading the comments for a while, Xiao Yu said to her senior brother, “Senior brother, no problem now, all the comments are positive.”
Chen Han nodded and planned to continue going online to search for traces of the Devourer of News, but at that moment, the game task prompt appeared:
【The methods of the Devourer of News are truly unfathomable. Infiltrating the righteous path and using righteous methods, they actually made your Chen Clan suddenly expose a hidden danger and be questioned by righteous people from all sides.
Even though the Chen Clan promptly corrected it, the opponent has already gained reputation among the righteous through this and will use this reputation to strike at the Chen Clan again. This time, the threat will be even greater.
However, the Devourer of News is too arrogant and has transmitted news back to the demonic path, wanting everyone to know they suppressed the Chen Clan, and you have purchased this information through a special channel!
So, you begin to make thorough preparations. This time, you must make sure this Devourer of News comes and never returns!】
Chen Han was stunned. He immediately took out his phone to check Ma Xue’er’s homepage again, and could not help feeling that he had thought she might be righteous, not the Devourer of News, yet it turned out she was.
He clicked her video again and replayed it. Such righteous words, such admirable behavior, how could she be the Devourer of News?
She was yet another Mou Xuesong-type character.
Think of Mou Xuesong, who appeared even more righteous than Ma Xue’er on the surface, but in fact engaged in regional discrimination, guided trolls to attack, twisted facts, took money for reviews, and so on, even being publicly criticized by the central authorities, yet stubbornly refusing to admit fault.
Everything was still all about benefits, all for popularity.
And Chen Han had even taken her as a righteous person, which was simply an insult to truly righteous people.
Moreover, according to the game prompt, she would strike at the Chen Clan again, which very likely meant she would come directly to make trouble at the Chen Clan. Otherwise, simply spraying online would not be enough to pose a real threat.
From the prompt, the opponent would definitely come, which was why the game system urged making thorough preparations.
And people who appeared righteous but were in fact filthy, willing to use any means for benefits, were the hardest to deal with.
There was a method though: once she came, he could simply use the magic qi ring’s hemorrhoid infliction x10 to make her get lost.
But the game system’s task was to make this Devourer of News come and never return, which in the game plot should mean physical destruction.
In reality, it should not be as simple as letting her leave with hemorrhoids; there must be destruction to a certain degree. So he might need to seek help.
He directly took out his phone and dialed the number of Reporter Wu from Provincial Xin City News.
To be honest, in front of such provincial-level official news, a Devourer like Ma Xue’er was really nothing.
If she dared to come, she would not only get to taste the happiness of hemorrhoid infliction x
In the province, Wu Ying was at home discussing the Thunder Bamboo Spirit Tea with her husband.
Her husband was full of emotion. “Wife, the effect of this Thunder Bamboo Spirit Tea is truly incredible. Those I gave it to, like Old Gu, Director Fu, Old Master Liao, all love it. This will greatly benefit my business in the future, better than sending any other gift.”
Wu Ying had already realized this when the Chen Clan and the Chen Family Head proposed giving her the agency for Thunder Bamboo Spirit Tea, so she now said, “The premium Thunder Bamboo Spirit Tea is already gone. I will contact the Chen Family Head.”
“Mm!” Her husband nodded and reminded her, “This Chen Family Head is definitely a remarkable person, and the Chen Clan is absolutely not simple. Maintain a good relationship. When we have time, I will accompany you to visit him.”
Wu Ying nodded.
At that moment, her mobile phone’s ringtone sounded.
It was actually the number of the Chen Family Head.
She answered immediately. “Chen Family Head, I was just about to contact you about the Thunder Bamboo Spirit Tea.”
Hearing this, Chen Han went along with it. “Reporter Wu, we happen to have some freshly produced Thunder Bamboo Spirit Tea. Why not come to the Chen Clan tomorrow to have a taste?”
“Alright, Chen Family Head!” Wu Ying understood that since he was calling, he probably needed to ask something of her, so she agreed.
She would go tomorrow to see what it was, and whatever help she could offer, she would definitely provide for the sake of the Thunder Bamboo Spirit Tea.
…
The online criticism from Ma Xue’er about the hidden danger of the Chen Clan’s cows cooled down rapidly after Xiao Yu Za’s rectification on behalf of the Chen Clan.
After all, the core point of conflict in the video was gone. If the Chen Clan had already rectified quickly and shown a good attitude, and someone still kept harping on it, people would start to question their motives.
Only, this left Ma Xue’er very displeased. The video’s heat had been rising quickly at first and had gained her nearly thirty thousand fans.
Her assistant reported from the side, “Sister Xue, the video’s heat is dropping. I did not expect the Chen Clan to rectify so quickly, really did not expect it. It would be better for us if they had stubbornly refused to change.”
Ma Xue’er watched Xiao Yu Za’s video, then instructed the assistant, “Help me shoot a video praising the Chen Clan, commending it as a scenic spot with responsibility and a conscientious person in charge. Then book tickets to the Chen Clan, and state that I am going to play at such a conscientious scenic spot.”
Since the hidden danger of the cows got so much attention, she would go and create a big piece of news. For example, even after the Chen Clan rectified, the cows still had an accident.
And if she herself were the one involved, that would absolutely explode.
As for how to cause an accident with the cows, that was simple. Just jab them with a needle and they would have a stress reaction, and if she could arrange it so she fell off a cow’s back, that would be even better.
By then, no one would know what happened. The cows could not speak, could not accuse her of jabbing them.
The final outcome would definitely be that the Chen Clan was officially ordered to rectify.
The cows would very likely end up on the table. After all, who would dare keep cows that had shown such stress reactions?
And she would naturally gain fans.
A result where everyone, in her mind, was satisfied.
Thinking this, Ma Xue’er went with her assistant to record a video praising the Chen Clan. Before that, she had to appear harmless and put the Chen Clan at ease.
Maybe, after she posted this video praising the Chen Clan, the Chen Family Head would even want to invite her to co-film a video to hype the heat.
If so, she could agree. Then they would be even less likely to suspect that the cow’s stress reaction was her doing, and she might even get compensation money.
Thinking of this, Ma Xue’er’s smile grew wider. She edited the video praising the Chen Clan and uploaded it to Douyin, and at the same time @-mentioned the Chen Family Head and Xiao Yu Za.
