The plane was about to take off when Qiu Hong's phone rang. Seeing the caller ID, her pupils contracted instantly.
Qiu Hong immediately instructed the crew to halt the takeoff procedure. A few minutes later, a man arrived at the plane via a shuttle bus and boarded directly.
The man appeared to be in his early forties, wearing black-rimmed glasses. He had an unremarkable appearance, the kind of person who would blend into a crowd without attracting any attention.
As the plane's door closed, Qiu Hong rushed forward and embraced the man tightly.
Although Qiu Hong had never met him before, the familiar scent emanating from him immediately revealed his identity. This man was none other than Ling Tian!
During the crash, Ling Tian was pinned to his seat by the inertia. Out of desperation, Ling Tian performed an extreme maneuver. He first released the albatross from the Beast Taming Garden within his spiritual realm. At the moment the beast was released, he fixed the spiritual realm's coordinates onto the jade pendant around the albatross's neck and then retreated into the spiritual realm.
The crash was happening at an incredibly high speed. For him to enter the spiritual realm, he had to be within tens of meters of that marker. If he had been a fraction of a second late, it would have been difficult to imprint the marker of the Spiritual Realm Key onto the albatross.
This meant that even if Ling Tian hid in the spiritual realm, the immense impact force and high temperatures generated by the explosion could still damage the marker of the Spiritual Realm Key, potentially trapping Ling Tian within the spiritual realm forever!
It could be said that Ling Tian had narrowly escaped death this time!
However, Ling Tian found it inconvenient to reveal himself. After all, surviving a plane crash like this was an unbelievable feat. Ling Tian did not want to become a lab rat for others to study. Therefore, Ling Tian disguised himself, even impersonating a local villager and participating in the on-site search and rescue operations.
Of course, Ling Tian also witnessed the meeting of the four women.
However, what Ling Tian did not expect was that the anticipated antagonistic situation did not occur. The immense grief had made the women empathize with each other, and they had become sworn sisters, which saved Ling Tian a lot of trouble.
They embraced for a long time until the plane was taxiing on the runway. Only then did they separate and quickly take their seats, fastening their seatbelts.
"Ling Tian, you're alright, that's wonderful! You scared me to death! How did you escape?"
"It's a long story. I have my methods. But this time it was very close. I was just a fraction of a second away from being toast, and I would never have seen you again, Sister Qiu Hong."
"Shouldn't you tell Bing Xia and the others now? They're so worried about you. Bing Xia and Cai Feng haven't slept for days, and Cai Feng's voice is hoarse from crying...
And Aurora, although her emotions are more reserved, I can feel that her feelings for you are no less than Bing Xia's."
Ling Tian shook his head. "It's inconvenient for me to show myself right now. On one hand, how I survived involves many secrets I possess, and it's difficult to explain to the outside world.
On the other hand, if I reveal myself, the mastermind behind this might go into hiding, making it difficult to find the true culprit. They might even set a trap to kill me again.
Conversely, if everyone believes I am dead, they will let down their guard. Some demons and ghosts who are hostile to me will even reveal themselves. I want to expose them all and then capture them in one fell swoop!"
Actually, Ling Tian had many things he didn't say. His supposed death in the attack had caused a huge stir. Many people, even government officials, were mobilizing all available manpower and resources to investigate the matter.
If they knew Ling Tian was alive, it would be difficult for them to fully investigate this matter. Ling Tian knew very well that the mastermind was hiding very deeply, and without mobilizing all their strength, they wouldn't be able to find anything.
"Ling Tian, you are indeed thoughtful. This is a good plan, but I think you should at least inform Bing Xia and Cai Feng, don't let them worry..."
Ling Tian gave a wry smile. "I want to, but I can't. Right now, countless people are watching Wang Bing Xia and Zhang Cai Feng.
If they knew I was still alive, their emotions would surely fluctuate. Neither of them is very good at hiding their emotions, making it easy for observant people to notice something.
Once they are suspected, not only might my whereabouts be exposed, but they could even be put in danger!"
Qiu Hong nodded, agreeing with Ling Tian's reasoning.
"You can secretly tell a few of our masters. They will know what to do. By hiding my tracks, I can also do many things conveniently.
I still have family vendettas to avenge, so before that, I must eliminate some hidden dangers to avoid being constrained."
Qiu Hong nodded. "Where are you going now?"
"To the capital! I've already found some suspicious points, and I need your help!
I had something to attend to that day and temporarily changed the flight path. Not many people knew about this, and even if the pilot had suddenly died or become incapacitated, the plane wouldn't have crashed in that manner. There must be something wrong here!
I suspect the pilot did this intentionally. But I have no grudge against him, so he must have done it for a reason. I need to investigate what happened to him recently, or who he came into contact with..."
Qiu Hong nodded. "We have internal information. Samples taken from the pilot's remaining blood and body tissues did not reveal any poisons, hallucinogens, or narcotics."
"Yes, your aircraft has a very high safety factor. Even if both engines failed, a pilot with decent skill could glide and land it using the aircraft's excellent aerodynamic layout.
Now, mechanical failure seems unlikely. The problem most likely lies with the pilot.
Ling Tian, the clue you provided is very effective. We will focus our investigation on this aspect, but we will not neglect other possibilities!"
A few hours later, the plane landed at the airport on the southern outskirts of the capital. Qiu Hong disembarked first. Half an hour later, Ling Tian quietly got off the plane with the crew.
He did not linger in the capital. Instead, he used a fake identity to take a high-speed train to the northern province of Meng. Upon arrival, Ling Tian retrieved an off-road vehicle from his spiritual realm and sped across the grasslands.
As he drove, the albatross flew at an altitude of over a thousand meters, searching for Ling Tian's target!
Ling Tian's narrow escape from the plane crash had unexpectedly revealed a new way to utilize his spiritual realm, opening a door to a new world for him.