Three hours earlier, a sanitation worker found an old man under a bridge.
The old man wore unkempt clothes and had a blank look on his face. It was obvious that he was suffering from dementia.
The sanitation worker couldn't get any information out of the man, so he posted a video clip on TikTok, hoping that he could contact the old man's children through social media.
The incident was so mundane that it would have gone unnoticed online. However, the worker's neighbor just happened to be an influencer with over two million followers. After she shared the video, the post went viral.
The news soon got around and made it all the way to TikTok's hot search list.
The title read, "Abandoned 70-year-old claiming that he was left to die."
Together with a large photo of the old man, the post soon attracted much attention.
It was as if the entire internet was at work. Some made the arrangements to send the old man to a care center, some contacted the police to look up his information, and some checked the street cameras to find where the old man came from. Still, others used their personal connections to search for his children.
Keyboard warriors were also busy doing what they were good at.
"What a bastard! A person who abandons their father is an animal!"
"His children are heartless!"
"Where are those cold-blooded bastards, anyway?"
"We should sue them as soon as we find them. Send them to prison…"
While they were busy pointing fingers, the old man was lying in bed in a care center. He responded to the vulture-like reporters and recording caretakers with the same blank face.
An hour later, the crowd finally gave up. The old man was too demented to remember anything. Someone was generous enough to cover his expenses for the next six months, so they decided that they could wait.
Once everyone left the room, the old man's expression changed.
Looking around the room, his face darkened.
He finally remembered.
He was Himmel Soan, an immortal. He had been Tutankhamun's spy, he had worked as Alexander the Great's general, he had once been the richest man in the world and used the money to help the poor, and he had been a village doctor who treated his patients without charging a dime.
In the past five millennia, Himmel Soan had taken countless identities and over a thousand pupils. He was truly a man with a thousand faces.
At first, he had been resisting the law of nature and fighting the heavenly retribution with his formidable power. As a result, he was able to maintain his appearance. However, he got tired of the struggle 500 years ago and stopped fighting. He began to age, fall ill, and die like everyone else.
Every 70 years, he would enter a new cycle and restart as a baby. Right now, he had three months left in the 70-year cycle, which was why he had a moment of clarity.
Recalling what had happened in this cycle, Himmel smirked.
A little over a decade ago, he had hired an honest-looking nanny at the age of 59. The nanny had three children. Since Himmel had been living an affluent life all on his own, the nanny and her children moved into his large house.
Things went well at first. Himmel paid them well, and the nanny and her children showed him their respect. However, those people changed as time went by.
Seeing that Himmel was becoming befuddled as he aged, they took control of the house and kicked him out. In the past three months, he lived as a beggar until the sanitation worker found him.
Once the memories rushed back, the look in his eyes grew cold. He slowly sat up but fell back down almost immediately. His eyes went glassy again.
His new cycle wouldn't start for another month. Without activating his formidable power, even a demi-god like him couldn't resist the laws of nature.
In the online world, everyone was still busy searching for the old man's family. Finally, someone found out that one of his children was Stella Shane, a member of a popular girl band.
The news ignited the online world like a bomb.
From the company that had signed Stella to the TV channel that held the talent show from which she was picked, every place was bombarded.
The news could easily destroy a rising star. Right now, she was throwing a tantrum in her dressing room.
"Himmel Soan! That old bastard! Why won't he just die?! Didn't we throw him out of Bywater? Why is he still here? You idiot! You can't get anything done!"
Opposite her sat Luna Shane, her older sister.
Luna used to work as a cashier in a supermarket. Thanks to Himmel Soan's money, she was now the boss of a supermarket chain that was worth tens of millions.
"How am I supposed to know? It was Luke's job. If you ask me, he was so busy chasing women that he must have dumped that old fool at some street corner."
Luke, their older brother, didn't like her words. He took a drag of his cigarette and grumbled, "I took him all the way to Cloudinus. I have no idea how he found his way back here! Damn it! It's been three months, yet he's still alive!"
The cigarette smell upset Stella even more, so she snatched it away from between his lips. "All you ever do is smoke! What should we do now?! If I can't make my debut, we would have paid the TV channel 5 million for nothing!"
"What's there to think? We can just kill him," said Luke.
Stella kicked him in frustration. "Everyone is watching that old bastard now! You'll give us away if you touch him!"
"What should we do then?" Luke was never the sharpest tool in the box.
Stella was about to smash a glass when her sister rose to her feet.
"I have an idea, but we'll need a little help from you."
Stella's eyes lit up. "Tell us! As long as we can get rid of that old fool, I'll do anything!"
Luna grinned maliciously and whispered in Stella's ear, "Do this, and not only would everyone sympathize with you, but that old fool would also be ruined forever…"
An hour later, Sea Entertainment held an emergency press conference.
Stella came up to the stage with tears in her eyes.
"Everyone, I'm sure you've all heard about my foster father. First of all, I'd like to apologize to everyone. I'm sorry that my family business has taken up so many resources, but I need to clarify something…"
She wiped her tears and continued, "I didn't abandon my foster father. He was kicked out because he's an animal…"
She burst into tears while the reporters all cried out in surprise.