HDRDTH -Chapter 30 Science or Mysticism?

Inside the living room of the Jinshui Bay villa.

The silk banner reading “Terminator of Crime” had already been stuffed by Yu Xian under the sofa cushions.

But on the TV, Chief Smith was still rambling endlessly, praising him as “God’s gift to mankind.”

Click!

Yu Xian finally snapped. He turned off the television and threw the remote onto the coffee table with an irritated smack.

“This life is impossible to live.”

He collapsed onto the sofa, staring blankly at the crystal chandelier on the ceiling.

“I’ve got life experience. I’ve got god-tier cooking skills. I just want to be an ordinary kept man in a rich neighborhood. Is that really so hard?”

“Very hard.”

Wang Dafu was squatting on the floor sorting through a mountain of invitation letters without even looking up.

“Dad, you’re a top celebrity now. You know what the delivery guy at the gate just said?”

“He said if he could touch your hand once, he’d gladly give you his electric scooter because it could ward off evil spirits.”

Yu Xian: “…”

“Dad, look at these.”

Wang Dafu excitedly handed over a stack of flashy invitations.

“Super Brain wants you to be a guest judge and test whether contestants’ brainwaves can connect with aliens.”

“Impossible Challenge wants you to perform a live ‘tractor drift while fishing an aircraft carrier.’”

“And this one— the producers of Singer want you to sing I Don’t Want to Be the Big Brother Anymore. They said whether you catch fish or not doesn’t matter, as long as your presence can dominate the stage.”

“Get lost.”

Yu Xian rolled his eyes.

“I just want to ask—aren’t there any normal shows? Like How to Get Rich Raising Pigs or maybe A Bite of China?”

“There is one…”

Wang Dafu hesitated, then pulled out a gold-stamped invitation with the CCTV logo from the bottom of the pile. His expression turned strange.

“But this one’s even crazier.”

“Face to Face, CCTV’s flagship interview program. The topic is…”

Wang Dafu cleared his throat and read aloud:

“Entering Yu Xian: Is It a Quantum Mechanics Coincidence, or the Revival of Eastern Mysticism?”

Yu Xian nearly coughed up blood.

“Are they serious?”

His finger trembled as he pointed at the invitation.

“I’m just a fisherman! What the hell do I have to do with quantum mechanics?!”

“A lot!”

Wang Dafu immediately launched into a serious analysis.

“The internet’s split into two camps now. One is the ‘Mysticism Faction,’ saying you’re the reincarnation of the Dragon King sent here to clean up the world.”

“The other is the ‘Science Faction’—those physicists are trying to explain why mines and submarines keep crashing into your fishing hook using something called the ‘strong gravitational wave aggregation effect.’”

“The two sides are fighting so hard online that Weibo’s servers have crashed three times already.”

At that moment, Su Wanyi—who had been silent the whole time—put down her phone and walked over with a grave expression.

“Xiao Yu… I’m afraid you have no choice but to go on this program.”

“No! Absolutely not!”

Yu Xian shook his head like a rattle drum.

“I’ll just stay home. I refuse to believe they’ll break down my door.”

“Director Zhang just called me.”

Su Wanyi sighed and handed him the phone, her eyes full of sympathy.

“The higher-ups have spoken. The rumors surrounding you are already seriously affecting social order. Some elementary school kids are even skipping homework and taking fishing rods to rivers, claiming they’re going to ‘fish up the answers to summer vacation homework.’”

Yu Xian: “…”

Fishing for homework answers?

Were these bratty kids insane?!

He took the phone. On the other end came Director Zhang’s earnest yet faintly murderous voice.

“Brother Yu, I’m begging you here. Just go on the show and clear things up scientifically.”

Director Zhang paused, his tone turning extremely serious.

“The higher-ups said that if you refuse to cooperate, then to prevent fanatical crowds from causing mass incidents—and considering the ‘abnormal phenomenon’ of dangerous objects constantly appearing around you…”

“The bureau will immediately place you under the highest level of protective isolation measures.”

Yu Xian’s heart skipped a beat.

“What does that mean?”

“It means,” Director Zhang replied coldly,

“We’ll fill in the scenic lake at Jinshui Bay, permanently seal every drain in your house, and prohibit any body of water within a ten-mile radius!”

“And your lifetime qualification to purchase or possess any model of fishing rod will be revoked!”

“Special police will monitor you twenty-four hours a day to ensure you never even get near a mud puddle for the rest of your life!”

Boom!

Fill in the lake? Ban fishing?!

This wasn’t protection—this was worse than killing him!

The veins on Yu Xian’s hand bulged as he gripped the phone. He stared out the window at the private lake where he had just dumped three hundred pounds of premium bait, breathing heavily as cold sweat instantly formed on his forehead.

Either make a fool of himself before the entire nation…

Or lose forever the dignity of being a fisherman…

The two choices were like poisoned blades pressed against his throat.

“Fine…”

After a full thirty seconds of deadlock, Yu Xian gritted his teeth and forced the word out through clenched jaws, his heart bleeding.

“I’ll go. I refuse to believe that with the eloquence from two lifetimes, I can’t fix these people’s warped worldviews!”

“I’m going to teach them a proper lesson on what materialism really means!”

…

Three days later, Beijing, CCTV Studio Hall.

To match the serious atmosphere of the program, Yu Xian was forced to abandon his trademark baggy shorts and flip-flops for a perfectly tailored dark gray suit.

The hairstylist had also forcibly slicked his hair into a center-parted style, making him look like some refined but dangerous scoundrel.

The studio was packed.

Not only were there audience members, but the front row was occupied by several elderly scholars wearing thick black-framed glasses.

Their badges clearly read:

Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Their solemn expressions and scrutinizing eyes made it seem as though they were dissecting a rare laboratory mouse. Clearly, they had come specifically to “solve the case.”

The spotlights lit up.

The host was the famous sharp-tongued presenter Dong Qingqing. Sitting elegantly on the sofa, she maintained a composed and intellectual demeanor.

But as she looked at Yu Xian across from her, her eyes carried unmistakable curiosity—as if examining some extraterrestrial lifeform.

“Good evening, viewers. Welcome to tonight’s episode of Face to Face.”

Dong Qingqing opened with a smile.

“The gentleman sitting beside me should need no introduction. He is a ‘concerned citizen,’ a ‘nemesis of crime,’ and—according to netizens—a ‘causality weapon’: Mr. Yu Xian.”

“Mr. Yu, please say hello to everyone.”

Yu Xian loosened his collar and forced an awkward smile at the camera that looked worse than crying.

“Hello everyone, I’m Yu Xian.”

“A perfectly ordinary fishing enthusiast who has long suffered from catching nothing.”

A wave of meaningful laughter instantly spread through the audience.

Ordinary?

Did you perhaps have a fatal misunderstanding of the word “ordinary”?

“Mr. Yu is truly very humorous.”

Dong Qingqing opened the script in her hands.

“We’ve gathered the questions netizens are most concerned about.”

“First of all, regarding the incident in the Maldives where you used a fishing rod to reel in a submarine— the physics community generally believes this violates the basic laws of mechanics. Some people even claim you used some kind of ‘supernatural gravitational field.’”

“How do you explain this?”

Here it comes!

The main event!

Yu Xian immediately straightened his posture, wiping away his lazy expression.

“This is completely in line with physics.”

He raised one finger and tapped the table.

“First, it was only a mini-submarine.”

“Second, I utilized the principles of leverage and fluid dynamics. At the time, the submarine was in an emergency surfacing state, and buoyancy had already offset ninety percent of its weight.”

“My specially designed fishhook just happened to catch onto the base of its periscope—which was the absolute center-of-gravity support point!”

“Combined with the instant peak torque generated by the specially modified heavy-duty tractor engine on my boat—”

“Even a soft noodle can slice through steel plates under the right acceleration and angle!”

“This is the kinetic energy theorem combined with fluid cavitation effects!”

“There’s no mysticism here, only science. Everyone should trust that Newton’s coffin lid is nailed down very tightly!”

The speech was delivered with absolute confidence.

However, the moment he finished—

“Utter nonsense!”

An elderly professor with graying hair from the front row suddenly stood up.

He slammed a thick stack of A4 papers covered in formulas onto the desk, causing the microphone to screech sharply.

“Mr. Yu, are you insulting our intelligence?!”

The old professor’s eyes flashed like lightning as he pointed at the mechanics simulation displayed on the giant screen behind him.

“Our supercomputer simulations show that the instantaneous drag force produced while the submarine rolled underwater reached at least fifty tons!”

“To achieve the ‘force-bearing pivot point’ you described, the tensile strength of your fishing rod would need to exceed twenty thousand megapascals!”

“That surpasses the limits of the strongest aerospace materials currently known on Earth!”

“Not to mention that as a human being, your bones should have been crushed instantly under that kind of force! How do you explain that?!”

The entire studio fell into dead silence.

The air itself seemed frozen.

The red recording lights of countless cameras focused directly on Yu Xian’s face.

The audience held their breath, and even the livestream comment section suddenly went blank.

Yu Xian’s heartbeat skipped.

Cold sweat instantly soaked his back.

Holy crap, these old men are serious?!

They even used a supercomputer?!

How the hell am I supposed to explain this?!

Don’t panic!

Relying on the mental toughness forged from living two lifetimes, Yu Xian forcefully suppressed his fear within a fraction of a second.

He let out a cold laugh. Not only did he refuse to retreat, he slowly stood up and looked down at the old professor from above.

“Professor, did your supercomputer model account for underwater turbulent vortex interference?”

Yu Xian’s brain spun wildly as he began spewing terms that sounded incredibly profound despite making little actual sense.

“What?” The professor froze.

“Real combat isn’t greenhouse laboratory data!”

Yu Xian leaned forward with both hands pressed against the table, staring the man down with overwhelming pressure.

“At the time, two opposing ocean currents were tearing against each other beneath the sea surface! The submarine hull already had metal fatigue microfractures from long-term disrepair!”

“My pulling force wasn’t fighting fifty tons of weight directly. I merely followed the tidal shear force of the ocean current and achieved a clever application of force—using four ounces to move a thousand pounds!”

“It’s like using a needle to pop a high-pressure balloon. Does the needle need to withstand huge force? No! It only needs to find the critical point!”

Spreading his hands, Yu Xian wore an expression of deep disappointment.

“Don’t mistake coincidence for miracles. Don’t mistake ignorance for mysticism!”

“The end of science isn’t magic—it’s seeking truth from facts!”

This combination of misdirection, concept swapping, and overwhelming confidence actually managed to bluff the old professor.

The old man opened his mouth, then looked back down at his formulas, brows tightly furrowed as if genuinely considering the possibility of “tidal shear force interference.”

Seeing Yu Xian forcibly stabilize the situation, a sharp gleam flashed through Dong Qingqing’s eyes.

She took a deep breath and revealed the true killing move of the night.

“Mr. Yu’s practical experience is indeed astonishing.”

Dong Qingqing adjusted her earpiece and subtly flashed an “OK” gesture toward the backstage director.

“But what the audience cares about most… is that glaring one hundred percent.”

A statistical chart appeared on the giant screen:

Yu Xian’s normal fishing success rate: 0%

High-risk object catch rate: 100%

“You just claimed this was also survivorship bias and nature’s warning against ocean pollution.”

The smile on Dong Qingqing’s face slowly faded.

“Since you firmly believe everything is science and probability…”

Accompanied by the heavy sound of metal pulleys, four masked security staff slowly pushed a giant transparent glass water tank onto center stage.

Inside was crystal-clear purified water.

Five premium red koi fish, each as long as a human arm and starved for two days, swam frantically inside searching for food.

There was nothing else in the tank.

No debris.

No corpses or underwater mines to snag.

Certainly no space to hide a submarine.

This was an absolutely sealed, absolutely controllable closed environment.

“Then, in order to verify your ‘scientific probability theory’…”

Dong Qingqing accepted an utterly ordinary children’s plastic toy fishing rod from a staff member, complete with a cheap dough bait attached, and handed it to Yu Xian with both hands.

“This is a closed television studio. The water is one hundred percent purified, with absolutely no pollution.”

“These five fish have been hungry for two full days. As long as there’s bait, they will definitely bite.”

Staring at Yu Xian’s face—which was twitching slightly from nervousness—Dong Qingqing lowered her voice.

“Mr. Yu, instructions have come from above.”

“If today, in this environment where the probability is absolutely one hundred percent, you catch even a single fish, all rumors will collapse on their own, and you can go home and continue living your carefree immortal life.”

Then her tone abruptly sharpened like a blade.

“But… if in a fish tank where even an idiot could catch a fish, you still come up empty-handed…”

“Or worse, pull out something else that defies common sense…”

“Then I’m sorry. Vehicles from the Academy of Sciences are already parked outside the studio.”

“We may need to invite you to the ‘Institute of Abnormal Phenomena Research’ for several years of… ‘deep interviews.’”

Boom!

Yu Xian felt his mind buzzing as his limbs turned ice cold.

This wasn’t a test.

This was the ultimate judgment on his lazy peaceful life.

Catch a fish, and live.

Fail completely—or catch some cursed bizarre object—and die.

Hundreds of eyes in the studio, along with tens of millions of viewers across the nation watching from their televisions, stared fixedly at him.

The physicists adjusted their glasses, barely daring to breathe.

Yu Xian swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing with difficulty.

His trembling hand accepted the lightweight children’s fishing rod.

He walked to the water tank.

The five red koi swam right before his eyes, opening their mouths and blowing bubbles.

“Heavens… I’m begging you…”

Yu Xian let out the most desperate howl of his entire life in his heart, shut his eyes tightly, and clenched his teeth so hard they nearly shattered.

Plop.

The dough bait splashed gently into the crystal-clear glass tank.

Tiny ripples spread across the water.