Of course, Gu Zhao had no idea what had happened at the Yellow Heaven Altar and the White Bone Cave.
He had just climbed out of Xiao Ya’s bed and was on the phone, listening to his parents express their utter shock.
"A huge explosion!"
"It happened right near us!"
"Cars were sent flying!"
"So many people died!"
"It was terrifying!"
"And we were completely unscathed!"
"That Golden Gang Bracelet of yours is a lifesaver!"
"Half a car door slamd into , and I didn’t feel a thing!"
Gu Zhao listened for a while before he finally pieced together what had happened to his parents.
Gu Qi and Li Man had originally planned a trip for the Spring Festival, but work got in the way. Many custors were checking out holiday furniture promotions, and they had many business associates to entertain, so they postponed their vacation.
With the recent economic downturn, and everyone saying that Southeast Asia was in turmoil, they decided to go to Europe instead. Besides, the Gu family was relatively well-off and had traveled to Southeast Asia before.
And they ended up running into sothing major.
"Weren’t the terrorist attacks in Europe supposed to have died down?" Gu Zhao asked, confused. "How did you guys end up in the middle of one?"
"How were we supposed to know?" Gu Qi grumbled. "We thought the worst we had to worry about over here were pickpockets, so we were just keeping a close eye on our belongings. Who would’ve thought we’d run into a terrorist attack!"
"Your dad and I were out shopping when we happened upon so kind of festival parade. We decided to watch for a bit, and then a car right next to the road suddenly exploded," Li Man added.
"It was only about ten ters away. If it weren’t for your Golden Gang Bracelet, we would’ve been toast." Gu Qi was still terrified just thinking about it.
"You said the Golden Gang Bracelet’s protection has a limited number of uses and a damage threshold, but we can’t tell what its status is," Li Man said, still shaken. "We’re getting ready to fly back. You can check it for us when we’re ho."
She never used to think much of it, but after this, Li Man felt like she wouldn’t even dare to step outside without her fully charged Golden Gang Bracelet.
Gu Zhao felt a pang of fear himself. He had made the Golden Gang Bracelets for his parents as a "just in case" asure, never thinking they would actually be used. Not only had they been used, but they had been tested in a major incident.
"Okay, co on back then," Gu Zhao nodded. "There isn’t much to do over there anyway. The small towns are inconvenient, and the big cities are dirty, chaotic, and rundown. You even have to pay to use a public restroom."
"Forget the public restrooms, so places even charge for the elevators!" Gu Qi continued his rant. "I thought all those travel bloggers who make a living complaining about major European cities were just cherry-picking the bad stuff. I never thought it would be so common!"
"The streets are covered in trash, and there are so many holess people," Li Man sighed. "Those pictures and videos online with all the filters look beautiful, but once you get here, you realize it’s not even as nice as it is back ho."
Gu Qi thought for a mont before offering a fair counterpoint. "It’s a case of being easy to go from frugal to lavish, but hard to go the other way. Truth be told, thirty years ago, things back ho were worse than here. It’s just that our country developed so quickly, while this place hasn’t changed in decades."
"Oh, that’s enough of that," Li Man cut him off. "Stop getting all philosophical. Haven’t you heard the saying ’the river flows east for thirty years, then west for thirty years’? The tables have turned. Who’s to bla but themselves for not developing? Now things here just aren’t as good as back ho! I don’t see anything special here. I’d rather be shopping back in Yangcheng."
Gu Qi couldn’t help but sigh. "I mainly wanted to see the landmarks and museums. We just saw the Louvre Palace, and we haven’t even gone to the Mi Qi Museum yet."
But Li Man had no interest. "What’s there to see? It’s full of artifacts plundered from all over the world, and most of them are ours. It’s just depressing to look at. Why would you want to go and make yourself upset?"
Gu Qi was speechless. "It’s called a patriotic education."
"I watch the evening news with you every day, isn’t that enough education for you?" Li Man huffed. "You get all teary-eyed every ti you watch *Escape from the Mi Qi Museum*. When we get ho, I’ll put it on for you a hundred tis and we’ll see if you still cry then!"
Gu Qi cut her off, embarrassed. "Okay, okay! We won’t go, we won’t go! We’ll head ho. We’ve seen most of the places we wanted to anyway. If we have to skip Mi Qi Country, so be it."
Gu Zhao, amused by their conversation, waited for a pause before asking, "Dad, you said a mont ago that a car door slamd into you?"
"It ca flying at sideways. If the Golden Gang Bracelet hadn’t done its job, I’d be in two pieces right now." Gu Qi’s heart pounded just talking about it.
Li Man’s tone softened. "Your father instinctively shielded with his body."
Gu Qi shook his head. "The shockwave was incredibly powerful too. People even farther from the blast than we were got thrown through the air."
"But there we were, just standing there without a scratch on us. It must have looked a little strange," Li Man added. "Your dad’s quick-witted, though. He had us lie on the ground for a bit, and once he saw how chaotic everything was, he grabbed and we made a run for it."
Li Man said with a laugh, "It was so chaotic that nobody noticed anything odd about us."
"Well, there were probably security caras," Gu Qi continued. "That’s why your mother and I booked tickets for tomorrow. We’re getting out of here early."
The effect of the Golden Gang Bracelet was beyond the understanding of an ordinary person. But since there was no public information about such supernatural phenona, the couple guessed it must be sothing the authorities were deliberately keeping under wraps.
It would have been one thing if they were back ho, but being in a foreign country made them nervous. Their imaginations were already running wild with stories of decades-long feuds between their ho country’s Cultivation Realm and the foreign Superpower Realm.
Gu Zhao was speechless at their line of thinking, but he didn’t argue.
After all, no matter how powerful the Golden Gang Bracelet was, there was no way to replenish its Spiritual Qi on this side. If his parents’ bad luck continued and they ran into a few more incidents, they could be in real danger.
Their romanticized view of foreign countries had all but shattered. It was for the best that they were coming ho.
After he hung up, Jiang Shishi, who was already on her phone, looked up. "The news cycle is insanely fast these days. Your parents just called, and the story is already out."
Gu Zhao and Xiao Ya leaned in to look and saw a news brief about the explosion in Gaul.
It was just a single paragraph without any specific details, but they could guess the gist of it. It was no doubt for one of the usual reasons.
"It’s so dangerous overseas. If it’s not terrorist bombings, it’s Black Magic Masters trying to kill you," Jiang Shishi pouted. "Can we even risk traveling abroad anymore?"
Xiao Ya couldn’t help but laugh. "I think we just have terrible luck. If this kind of thing happened every day, how would ordinary people survive?"
Gu Zhao gave Xiao Ya a slap on the thigh. "Hey, watch what you say!"
The two won looked back at him in surprise, then couldn’t help but start giggling.
After all, whether it was them running into a Black Magic Master in Siam or Gu Zhao’s parents facing a terrorist attack in Gaul, both incidents seed to have happened right after Gu Zhao had given them a Protective Talisman.
’If there was a cause-and-effect relationship there...’
Jiang Shishi was doubled over with laughter. Xiao Ya couldn’t hold back a smile either. She bit her lower lip and leaned close to Gu Zhao. "There, there, I didn’t an it like that. Don’t be mad, okay~?"
Xiao Ya whispered, then lowered herself down.
"Hiss—"
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