Le Banquet des Cent Fantômes

Chapitre 100

"Sigh... let's go." Song Diweng sighed and walked towards the eastern entrance of the valley. Fei Daoshi carried the unconscious Youliang on his back and followed behind.

In the afternoon, they arrived in Sanmenxia City, travel-worn, and checked into a hotel, booking a triple room. After settling in, Song Diweng ordered Master Fei to go to the hospital to inquire about the whereabouts of the relevant leader, while he stayed by the little monk's side, waiting for him to wake up.

At dusk, Master Fei returned from gathering information.

"Master, the commander was indeed sent to the municipal hospital for emergency treatment three days ago. Two bullets were removed, and his life is out of danger. People from the capital came that night. The news was kept very secret, and he was put on the train back to Beijing early this morning," Master Fei said hurriedly.

“Well, we’ll wait for the little monk to wake up. If he already possesses the ‘Intermediate State Corpse Absorption Technique,’ we’ll take him back to the capital. Otherwise, we’ll leave him here. I don’t have time to deal with a little monk who knows nothing,” said Song Diweng.

At midnight, the cool moonlight streamed into the room through the glass window, and Youliang finally woke up slowly.

He slowly opened his eyes. "Huh, where am I..."

Hearing a loud snore, Youliang turned his head and saw that on the opposite bed, Master Fei was sleeping soundly with his upper body naked, and glistening drool dripping onto the pillow.

"Nizi..." Youliang exclaimed in surprise and suddenly sat up.

Chapter 152

"You're awake..." In the moonlight, a short dwarf stood in front of the bed, smiling at him with an unusually kind tone.

"It's you? Where is this place? Where's Nizi?" Youliang asked in surprise.

“Youliang, you have been unconscious for three or four days, I…” Song Diweng said softly.

"Tell me, where is Nizi?" Youliang asked stubbornly.

Song Diweng paused for a moment, then said quietly, "She's already gone..."

Youliang's expression changed drastically. Recalling how Shen Caihua had used witchcraft to bewitch Nizi in the small cave, he asked angrily, "Did that scoundrel Shen Caihua kidnap her?"

Song Diweng was taken aback when he heard this, but he quickly understood and nodded slightly, replying, "That's right, besides Chen Caihua, there's also Hakka Granny and Taoist Master Jia."

You Liangqi's face turned pale, and his body trembled slightly.

“Their martial arts skills are all very high, and they are ruthless. You will probably never see Nizi again in this life. Sigh... Why do these people have to separate siblings?” Song Diweng said, adding fuel to the fire.

"Waaah..." Youliang was heartbroken and couldn't help but sob.

Song Diweng thought to himself that this young monk was an emotional person who could be easily controlled and manipulated. So he reached out and patted him on the shoulder, saying, "Youliang, do you feel any difference in your body compared to before?"

Youliang looked at him suspiciously, stopped crying, and asked in confusion, "No, I'm the same as before."

Song Diweng thought to himself, "Strange, impossible. The blind man has been breathing in and out for three days and three nights, how could there be no reaction at all?" "Youliang, extend your palms," he said.

Youliang was bewildered and hesitantly raised his arm.

Song Diweng placed his palms on Youliang's palms, Laogong acupoints facing each other. He gently channeled a wisp of true energy into Youliang's Pericardium Meridian, slowly moving it upwards through Daling, Neiguan, Jianshi, Ximen, Quze, Tianquan, and finally to Tianchi acupoint three inches below the armpit, without noticing anything unusual. He then channeled the energy into the meeting point of the upper, middle, and lower Jiao of the Pericardium Meridian and then into the Eight Extraordinary Meridians, still without any reaction. He withdrew his palms, filled with suspicion. Strange, the blind man had been breathing for so long with his half-body attached; wasn't he transmitting his energy?

At this moment, Youliang suddenly rolled off the ground, knelt down, and kowtowed repeatedly, saying urgently, "Master, please accept Youliang as your disciple!"

Song Diweng thought to himself that no matter what, he should observe him for a while before giving up easily. With that in mind, he reached out and helped Youliang up, saying kindly, "Alright, I will take you as my disciple tonight. Since your sister has been kidnapped, I have an obligation to bring her back!"

"Thank you, Master..." Upon hearing this, Youliang felt a surge of warmth in his heart and was immediately moved to tears.

“Ziyun, get up. Tonight, your master has accepted Youliang as his disciple. From now on, he will be your junior brother,” Song Diweng said with a chuckle, then turned around and said, “Youliang, go and pay your respects to your senior brother.”

At this moment, Youliang had long put aside his past resentment towards Master Fei. He knelt down on the bed with his knees bent and kowtowed three times, saying, "Youliang greets Senior Brother."

He wouldn't care about anything else as long as he could find Nizi.

"Haha, good, we'll head back to Beijing first thing tomorrow morning," Song Diweng chuckled.

"Master, when are we going to find Nizi?" Youliang asked anxiously.

"Don't worry, Master knows where they went. We can go after we return to the capital and make full preparations," Song Diweng replied.

After daybreak, Youliang followed Song Diweng and Master Fei onto the train and headed straight for the capital.

Located at No. 28 Fuxing Road, Haidian District, Beijing, in the ward of the PLA 301 Hospital for Senior Cadres, two plainclothes guards stood in the corridor. A chair was placed at the door of the room, where an elderly man with a youthful face and white hair sat upright. He was Mr. Qiao.

Four days ago, he escaped from the Grand Canyon naked, carrying a seriously injured and unconscious leader. On the way, he knocked out a passerby, took his clothes and put them on. He rushed to a fork in the road, smashed the window of the SUV, opened the door, put the leader on the back seat, took out a spare key from under the seat, and drove himself into Sanmenxia Municipal Hospital.

During the emergency surgery, Mr. Qiao made a phone call to the secretary of the leader in Beijing. That evening, the secretary arrived with a team and immediately imposed a strict news blackout, keeping the local government unaware of the incident. On the morning of the third day, the leader, who was out of danger, was carried on a stretcher to a soft sleeper compartment on a train and quietly returned to Beijing, where he was admitted to the 301 Hospital.

To ensure safety, Mr. Qiao temporarily served as the leader's (or perhaps a censor?) personal bodyguard.

The elevator doors opened, and Song Diweng hurriedly walked out with Fei Daozhang and Youliang.

"Master Qiao, has the leader agreed to see us?" Old Man Song asked politely.

"The leader wants to see you. Everyone else, please wait in the reception room over there," said Master Qiao, gesturing for the guards to take Master Fei and the little boy away.

Song Diweng pushed open the door and entered the ward. It was a large suite with luxurious facilities. Fresh flowers were placed on the table, and the air was filled with the faint smell of Lysol disinfectant.

"Commander, are you alright?" Song Diweng tiptoed to the bedside, looked at the commander lying on the hospital bed, and asked softly.

"Well, old man, what happened in the valley afterwards?" The commander gave a wry smile and said with difficulty.

"The blind man was blown up, and his old accomplice was also dead..." Song Diweng recounted in detail what happened in the canyon afterward, but deliberately omitted the matter of the half-body transferring power. Finally, he said, "I have burned the three corpses on the spot, leaving no trace."

“Well done,” the chief nodded approvingly, “but it just benefited Jia Shiming; did they all go to northern Myanmar together?”

"Yes, Chief, I believe that Jia Shiming has already gotten rid of the 'Ghost Pot' in his hands. The money in that combination lock box must have been a reward. His men planted a bomb inside to silence him, but by some twist of fate, it killed the blind man instead," Song Diweng speculated.

"So, he didn't know that Jia Shiming was still alive..." the chief muttered thoughtfully to himself.

"Him?" Song Diweng asked, puzzled.

"Of course, it's the person who instigated Jia Shiming to steal the 'Ghost Pot'," the chief said calmly.

"Chief, do you know who that person is?" Song Diweng asked, slightly surprised.

"Of course I know," the leader interrupted, glancing out the window and sighing softly, "Sigh, it's been six years. I never imagined Huang Jianguo would still be alive, and look at him in such a state..."

In the reception room, Youliang peeked around, finding everything fascinating. He strolled down the corridor and arrived at the ward door.

Seeing that it was just a child, Mr. Qiao didn't pay much attention. But when Youliang brushed past him, a strange chill suddenly ran through his entire body...

"Stop!" Old Master Qiao called out coldly.

Youliang stopped and silently gazed at the old man with the white beard and long eyebrows.

"What's your name?" Master Qiao asked warily.

“Youliang,” Youliang replied.

"You possess martial arts skills?" Master Qiao asked in confusion.

"No." Youliang shook his head.

At this moment, Master Fei walked over and said respectfully, "I have long admired Master Qiao's name. He is my master's newly accepted disciple and my junior brother."

Old Master Qiao muttered to himself, since they were from the same school, yet he couldn't sense any hostility from this senior brother. So he asked in surprise, "Your junior brother seems to have a strange aura about him. What's going on?"

"A strange aura?" Master Fei paused, then after a moment's thought, he immediately understood. His expression became somewhat unnatural as he said, "Well, I'm not quite sure about that either..."

Seeing this, Master Qiao suddenly grabbed Youliang's wrist and said coldly, "You two come in with me." With that, he pushed open the door and dragged Youliang into the ward, while Master Fei followed behind, bewildered.

The leader lay on the bed, staring at them in astonishment...

"Sir, this child is Chairman Song's newly accepted apprentice." Old Master Qiao came to the bedside and said solemnly.

Upon seeing this, Song Diweng quickly said, "Chief, he is my last disciple, Youliang."

The leader glanced at Song Diweng with suspicion: "Is it that little monk Youliang from Fengling Temple?"

"Yes, I saw that he had some talent, so I took him as my apprentice," Song Diweng explained.

"Hmm." The commander gave a noncommittal hum.

Facing Song Diweng, Master Qiao smiled slightly and said, "Chairman Song, did you teach him any internal skills?"

Song Diweng looked at him with a puzzled expression, then shook his head and said, "No."

“That’s strange. There’s a peculiar aura about this child that’s quite perplexing…” said Master Qiao.

"Everyone has a different constitution and a different aura. Perhaps he spent too much time in the temple," the leader said dismissively.

“No!” Master Qiao said with unusual seriousness, “His aura is very similar to that of someone else.”

"Who is it?" the commander asked, puzzled.

"It's that blind man in the Yuxi Grand Canyon..." Old Master Qiao said with lingering fear.

"Huang Jianguo?" The leader was taken aback.

“Exactly,” Master Qiao said with certainty. “Discerning a person’s aura is the foundation of my Confucian skills. The ancients called aura ‘symbols of heaven and earth.’ ‘Heaven has its measure, and the meridians and acupoints of man share the same source. Earth has its mountains and rivers, and man has its meridians that combine with its wonders. The three hundred and sixty meridians are nothing but the connection of meridians, and the eighty-four thousand meridians are all the penetration of the skin.’ The human body has invisible channels of all sizes, crisscrossing and rotating repeatedly. The material flow transported in the channels is qi, which connects the five internal organs and the skin pores. The qi in this child’s body is neither yin nor yang, colorless and odorless, neither cold nor hot, but ‘intermediate yin qi’.”

"'Intermediate Yin Qi'? What is that?" the leader asked with great interest.

Master Qiao explained, “Both Buddhism and Taoism have many interpretations of the ‘intermediate state’ (bardo). Some say it refers to the period from death to reincarnation, as in the saying, ‘The previous bardo has passed, the next bardo has not yet arrived, and the intermediate state is present.’ But this is not accurate. From a Confucian perspective, the so-called ‘intermediate state’ is simply a special biomagnetic field, also called ‘qi field,’ which, along with ‘yang qi,’ ‘yin qi,’ ‘harmonious qi,’ ‘aura of killing,’ ‘the qi of moderation,’ and ‘righteous qi,’ belongs to one of the many qi fields in the universe. ‘Intermediate qi’ is a death qi, commonly seen within forty-nine days after death. In layman’s terms, after death, when the body’s organs fail, consciousness, or biomagnetic field, leaves the body. In folk superstition, this is called ‘the soul.’ The biomagnetic field that has just left the body is unaware that it has died. It may even try to speak to the relatives present, but of course, no one can hear it or pay attention to it…”

"Oh, the so-called 'intermediate yin energy' is the biomagnetic field within forty-nine days after a person dies, because after the seven-day period, it decays to zero." The leader grasped these things very quickly.

“Yes, this child’s living body actually contains the ‘intermediate yin energy’ of a dead person…” Old Master Qiao said slowly with a solemn expression.

Chapter 153

The leader stared intently for a while before his gaze slowly fell on Song Diweng's face. His mouth remained tightly shut, and he didn't say a word.

Song Diweng suddenly felt his mouth go dry and his heart was filled with unease. It seemed that it was extremely unwise of him to hide the fact that the blind man had passed on his skills from his superior.

"Old man, what's going on?" The commander's sharp eyes exuded authority without anger.

“Commander,” Song Diweng swallowed hard and explained, “I was just about to report to you that when the briefcase exploded, the blind man’s arms and legs were blown off, but his body landed intact behind the bushes. When we found him, his severed body was on top of Youliang, and he was giving him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Youliang is currently unconscious and therefore knows nothing…”

"Go on," the commander said coldly.

"The blind man's half-body had bled out. At the time, the old man thought it was just his nerves twitching. Unexpectedly, the entire breathing process lasted for three days and three nights before he fell down. Ziyun then picked up the dead half-body and burned it. This strange thing is really incomprehensible. The old man also wondered at the time if this was 'transferring power'? But when I took Youliang's pulse, I couldn't feel anything abnormal in his body. I am still puzzled to this day," the old man Song recounted.

"Oh, is that so?" the commander said excitedly. "Mr. Qiao, what's your opinion?"

After pondering for a moment, Master Qiao said thoughtfully, "Transferring power through the 'intermediate state' is theoretically impossible, because the consciousness in the intermediate state cannot control a dead body... but..."

"But what?" the commander asked.

Old Master Qiao hesitated for a moment and then slowly said, "I have heard that the ancient Zhuyou technique has many physical phenomena that we modern people cannot understand. For example, the 'Intermediate Yin Corpse Suction Technique' from the Jin Dynasty is said to have been passed down from master to disciple mouth to mouth."

"The Corpse-Sucking Technique in the Intermediate State?" the leader asked in confusion.

“That’s right. This is a unique and unparalleled evil skill created by Guo Pu, a great scholar of the I Ching during the Eastern Jin Dynasty. However, after Guo Pu’s death, this skill has never appeared in the martial arts world again. People throughout the dynasties have spent their lives searching for this skill, but to no avail. It can be said with certainty that it has long been lost.” Master Qiao said.

Song Diweng thought to himself, "This Master Qiao does have some real talent and learning."

"Master Qiao, what do you think of that blind man's martial arts skills..." The commander suddenly realized something.

“Yes, it could be the ‘Intermediate Yin Corpse Sucking Technique’…” Old Master Qiao said with a furrowed brow.