I was a rookie reporter in the 00s

Chapter 283: Time and Space Rift Opens

The thunderstorm arrived as expected, with dark clouds and strong winds, as if the entire world was shrouded in darkness. Li Wei, Fu Siyuan, and Zhang Wanqing stood on a tower in the suburbs. The tower stood alone in a barren field, with no light around, only the occasional lightning that streaked across the night sky, bringing brief illumination.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Zhang Wanqing stood at the top of the tower, looking at the bottomless darkness below, her heart filled with fear. She gripped the railing tightly, her body trembling slightly.

"Don't worry, we're ready." Li Wei tried to sound calm, but his hands were shaking slightly. He drew talismans on yellow paper with cinnabar, muttering something to himself as the peach wood sword traced strange paths through the air. Every movement he made was extremely cautious, as if the slightest mistake could lead to disaster.

Fu Siyuan stood beside Li Wei, holding a homemade insulation device they had designed using modern scientific knowledge to protect Zhang Wanqing from direct damage from lightning. He kept a close eye on Li Wei's movements, ready to respond to any unexpected events.

"It's almost here, the lightning is coming!" Fu Siyuan looked up at the sky. The dark clouds were rolling, and lightning flashed through the clouds like giant dragons.

Suddenly, a dazzling flash of lightning streaked across the sky, heading straight for the tower. Li Wei quickly placed the talisman on Zhang Wanqing's body. The talisman emitted a dazzling light, enveloping her entire body. Zhang Wanqing felt a powerful force surging from the talisman, and her body began to heat up slightly, as if enveloped by some mysterious power.

"Success!" Fu Siyuan shouted excitedly, but his voice was quickly drowned out by a loud thunder.

At that moment, something unexpected happened. Lightning struck the tower, and the powerful current instantly penetrated the insulation and struck Zhang Wanqing directly. Li Wei and Fu Siyuan looked at Zhang Wanqing in horror. Her body trembled violently from the current, and the light of the talisman dimmed instantly under the impact of the current.

"Wanqing!" Li Wei and Fu Siyuan exclaimed at the same time. They rushed towards Zhang Wanqing and tried to pull her out of the electric current, but the power of the current was too strong and they could not get close at all.

Zhang Wanqing felt a sharp pain deep within her body, and her consciousness began to blur. She saw Li Wei and Fu Siyuan desperately shouting in the distance, but their voices were getting farther and farther away. She felt herself being pulled by an invisible force, as if she was being torn to pieces.

Just as Zhang Wanqing was about to lose consciousness, the space-time rift opened as expected, but only a tiny opening, slowly widening. At that moment, a powerful electric current completely destroyed the talisman's energy, instantly closing the entrance to the space-time rift. Zhang Wanqing's body was knocked unconscious by the current, and she collapsed limply onto the tower's railing.

Li Wei and Fu Siyuan finally rushed to Zhang Wanqing and hugged her tightly. The current had disappeared, but Zhang Wanqing's body was still trembling slightly, her face was pale, and her breathing was weak.

"Wanqing, how are you?" Li Wei called out anxiously, but Zhang Wanqing did not respond at all.

Fu Siyuan quickly examined Zhang Wanqing and found that while her life was not in danger, she had suffered a severe electric shock and needed immediate medical attention. They carefully carried Zhang Wanqing down from the tower and drove her to the nearest hospital.

In the hospital's emergency room, doctors and nurses busily worked to save Zhang Wanqing. Li Wei and Fu Siyuan sat on a bench outside, their hearts filled with remorse and guilt. They knew their time-travel plan had failed; not only had it not worked, it had nearly cost Zhang Wanqing her life.

"It's all our fault." Li Wei lowered his head, his voice filled with tears, "We shouldn't have taken the risk."

Fu Siyuan didn't say anything, but just held Li Wei's hand tightly. They all knew that this failure made them lose the most important thing - Zhang Wanqing's safety.

"How did she get like this?" asked the doctor.

Fu Siyuan and Li Wei didn't dare to tell the truth. The doctor sighed and said, "Playing with fire will only get you burned!"

A few days later, Zhang Wanqing finally woke up from her coma. She saw Li Wei and Fu Siyuan sitting beside her bed, their eyes full of guilt and worry.

"Are you okay?" Zhang Wanqing asked weakly.

"We are fine, you are the most important." Li Wei couldn't help but shed tears, "We shouldn't have let you take risks."

Although Zhang Wanqing was still weak, her eyes were firm. "I know you're doing this for my own good. We failed this time, but we can try again. Although I wasn't conscious at the time, I saw the space-time rift really open. It started as a very small opening, slowly getting bigger. I might be sucked in when it's fully opened. Unfortunately... we were just a little bit off... We forgot there's an insulation device on the tower... Next time, next time we must be fully prepared before trying again."

"No, we can't try again," Fu Siyuan said firmly. "We can't risk your life again. This failure has made us realize that our understanding of the space-time rift is far from enough."

Zhang Wanqing was silent. She knew Fu Siyuan was right, but her heart still longed to return to ancient times and fulfill her mission. She looked at the sky outside the window, her heart filled with helplessness and confusion.

"We have to continue our research and find a safer method. We must be more cautious, otherwise you will lose your life, sister!" said Li Wei.

Zhang Wanqing was amused by Li Wei's call of "sisters." "Okay, sisters, with you around, I'm not afraid of anything!"

After the failure of the crossing plan, Li Wei and Fu Siyuan deeply realized that they needed to improve the plan more scientifically and cautiously to ensure Zhang Wanqing's safety.

Li Wei and Fu Siyuan realized that while lightning is a powerful source of energy, it is also uncontrollable and extremely dangerous. Therefore, they decided to search for other possible triggering conditions for time travel. They felt that such a complex task would be difficult to accomplish on their own. Therefore, they sought expert collaboration. They contacted historians, physicists, and talisman experts to jointly research the feasibility and safety of time travel. These experts could provide in-depth theoretical support and technical guidance.

According to ancient texts, lightning was once believed to be the power of the gods, but modern science has revealed the electromagnetic mechanisms behind it. They can study other natural phenomena, such as changes in magnetic fields and specific astronomical phenomena, which may also be able to trigger rifts in space-time.

They delved into ancient texts to understand the ancients' understanding of lightning and time and space. Descriptions of lightning in ancient texts like the Classic of Mountains and Seas and the Book of Documents might offer new insights. Mysterious locations like the "Abyss of Time" mentioned in these texts might hold secrets that could safely trigger time travel. They could seek out these relics or artifacts as a means of achieving this goal.

They discovered that while ancient talismans were mysterious, modern science offered plausible explanations and improvements. Consulting ancient texts such as the "Taishang Dongyuan Shenzhou Jing" and the "Taishang Mifa Zhenzhai Lingfu," they learned that the talisman's energy might be related to natural electromagnetic phenomena. They sought a safer talisman that could channel lightning energy without harming the user. The talismans mentioned in the "Taishang Zhuguo Jiumin Zongzhen Miyao" could ward off evil spirits and cure illnesses, and perhaps even protect time travelers.

Using modern electromagnetic knowledge, they could design a device that could effectively disperse and absorb lightning energy. They could also refer to the principle of a Faraday cage and create a protective device that could protect Zhang Wanqing from electric shock.