Le Banquet des Cent Fantômes

Chapitre 107

“I want to go too,” Nizi said seriously.

“But…it’s very dangerous.” Shen Caihua hesitated.

"You don't want to take me with you?" Nizi asked, staring at Shen Caihua with a questioning look.

“No… alright then, let’s go together.” Shen Caihua readily extended his hand.

Nizi hesitated before placing her small hand in Chen Caihua's palm...

Mo Mo… Shen Cai’s heart warmed, and he recalled the scenes of the two babies killing a large wolfhound in Hong Kong when he was a child, fighting against the police on billboards, and hunting badgers at the entrance of Linggu Cave. He couldn’t help but have tears in his eyes.

"What's wrong with you?" Nizi asked, looking at Caihua with surprise.

"Shall we use our light-footed skills together?" Shen Cai asked softly as he came to his senses.

Nizi nodded, grabbed Chen Caihua's hand, and floated out at an angle, performing the first move of the Five Forms of Bodhidharma, "Crossing the River on a Reed".

Not to be outdone, Shen Caihua let out a muffled "plop" from his crotch and immediately sprang to his feet. The two of them held hands and used their unparalleled lightness skills to run wildly.

"Did you fart?" Nizi asked, turning her head.

Shen Caihua smiled shyly, tacitly agreeing.

In the time it takes to smoke a pipe, the two of them stood panting on the mountaintop. At that moment, the bright moon hung in the sky, all was quiet, and the lights at the foot of the mountain could be seen in the distance.

“Look, the kappa is locked up over there,” Shen Caihua said with certainty, pointing to the area of light.

A short while later, Dudu, who had gone to scout, flew back and stammered, "I saw... I saw those big iron cages, and the kappa was... locked inside them."

"Is anyone guarding it?" Shen Caihua asked.

“There are two of them, soldiers, and they have…guns,” Dudu replied.

At the foot of the mountain, the courtyard of the township government was brightly lit, with eight large iron cages neatly arranged. Two People's Liberation Army soldiers were patrolling, carrying Type 56 semi-automatic rifles, their bayonets reflecting the cold moonlight.

A banquet was being held in the conference room. After dawn, the eight wild men would be transported to the capital. The township head, secretary, and others specially prepared a Tujia-style feast with five dishes and four accompaniments to send off the experts from the provincial capital and Beijing.

Director He of the Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, was already quite drunk. Holding up his glass, he slurred, "'Shennongjia Wild Man' is... the most significant scientific discovery of the 20th century,... it shocked the world, demonstrating that China is vast and rich in resources, with a complete range of species... Shennongjia corn liquor is so powerful, cheers for the Wild Man..." He then downed the drink in one gulp.

Township Head Ran, a man of great capacity for alcohol and a man of deep emotions, was drinking when he tapped his chopsticks and began to sing a Tujia folk song, "The Weeping Wedding Song," expressing his deep reluctance to part with his superiors: "Twelve branches on the Sophora japonica tree, we share the same root and the same branch, today our comrades must part, our hearts are so lonely! Twelve branches on the Sophora japonica tree, we share the same father and the same mother, today our leaders must leave, it's hard to part, our feelings are hard to sever! The Party's kindness is boundless, words cannot express it all. First, they feared we would go hungry; second, they feared we would fall ill; third, they feared we would be poorly dressed, working tirelessly day and night; fourth, they feared we would be uneducated, sending us to school to study until we grew up, spending money and rice, their kindness is profound..."

Everyone cheered and applauded, and another round of toasts ensued.

In the courtyard, two children, hand in hand, walked towards the iron cage under the moonlight.

Chapter 163

"Halt!" Two soldiers approached warily. Seeing that they were two children, they waved them away, scolding, "What are you two doing here so late?"

Shen Cai raised his head and calmly replied, "We've come to see the 'wild men'."

The soldier laughed upon hearing this and said nonchalantly, "Stand back a bit, take a quick look and then hurry home."

Shen Caihua led Nizi to a large iron cage. Looking closely, they saw a kappa lying in the shadows inside the cage with bandages around its neck, looking listless. It seemed to sense something and slowly turned its face... This was the sixth kappa.

"My woman..." Kappa Lao Liu exclaimed suddenly, staggering to his feet and rushing to the iron fence, his neck stiff, but his eyes shining with an unusual light.

"Hehehe..." Nizi looked at Kappa Lao Liu's disheveled appearance and chuckled softly.

At that moment, a profound thought entered Shen Caihua's mind: "Master, you've come to save us..."

Shen Caihua turned his head and looked over. In the cage next to him, the old man Kappa was excitedly gripping the iron bars, looking at him with tears in his eyes.

Shen Cai stepped forward and sent a telepathic message through the iron bars: "Don't be afraid, I'm here to rescue you."

Overjoyed, the old man Kappa wept, sobbing as he thought, "Water, fill our heads with water, we have no strength left."

“I understand,” Shen Caihua replied.

Two soldiers carrying guns strolled over. "Alright, you've seen the savages, you two should go home now," one of the soldiers said impatiently, reaching out to grab Nizi.

Nizi turned her face expressionlessly, opened her mouth slightly, and a beam of blood-red light suddenly shot out under the moonlight, landing on the back of the warrior's hand. The giant blood flea instantly launched a surprise attack, pricking his hand with a needle, and then "whoosh" retreated back into Nizi's mouth, flashing like lightning.

The soldier looked up blankly and let out a long sigh. His eyes were fixed on the bright moon in the night sky, as if he were lost in endless contemplation.

The soldier next to him sensed something was wrong, so he stepped forward and gently nudged him: "Hey, what's wrong with you? Are you possessed?"

Seeing that his companion did not react, he became alert, took the rifle off his shoulder and held it in his hand, looked at Nizi with a puzzled look, and asked, "What... what's going on?"

Without saying a word, Nizi slightly moved her left arm, and a faint shadow of her arm flew out and hit the soldier on the forehead. With a "thud," the man fell backward to the ground and immediately fainted.

When Shen Cai saw that Mo Mo's side had started fighting, he was about to go forward to help, but the two soldiers were subdued in an instant, which surprised him greatly.

Nizi turned around, clapped her hands triumphantly, as if to say, "Now it's your turn."

Shen Caihua smiled slightly and muttered, "Om Om Ho, Nangjie Shana Taghahara..." He pointed his index finger upwards and slashed downwards, and the padlock on the large iron cage of Kappa Lao Liu snapped off with a "crack".

Next, Shen Caihua swayed his body and, with a series of "crack, crack" sounds, cut the iron locks on the remaining seven large iron cages, releasing the kappa.

There was a large well in the courtyard of the township government. Shen Cai threw the bucket with the rope attached into the well, lifted out a bucket of cold water, and poured it on the dent on the head of the kappa leader...

Inside the room, the table was already littered with cups and plates. After a hearty meal, people were reluctantly saying goodbye when they were suddenly struck by a foul stench. Upon closer inspection, they were all terrified...

At the entrance, under the light, stood eight savage-like figures with brown manes...

The kappa turned around in unison, each sticking out their buttocks, their long hair parting to reveal three anus holes. "Puff puff puff..." A burst of blue smoke billowed out, instantly filling the room with a fishy and pungent smell. Mayor Ran and the experts immediately felt dizzy and collapsed under the table, including several cooks and kitchen staff from the township government canteen.

The kappa happily devoured the leftovers, licking even the last drop of juice clean.

"We need to hurry," Shen Caihua reminded him anxiously.

"Yes, Master." The Kappa father sent a telepathic message to everyone to retreat. The Kappas left the township government office with satisfaction, passed through the dense forest to the top of the mountain, and then headed straight for Guanfeng Village under the guidance of Shen Caihua and Nizi.

At midnight, we finally arrived at the wooden house of the old Tujia man in the north of Guanfeng Village. The people inside were still fast asleep, and Xiong Dahai's snoring was still deafening.

"Woof woof..." It was someone's dog that first heard the noise and started barking, which then caused all the dogs in the village to start barking together.

"Caihua, where have you gone?" The Hakka nanny leaped out of the house alertly, looking in surprise at the group of brown-haired wild men behind the child.

Shen Caihua proudly said, "Grandma, Momo and I rescued all the kappa."

The Hakka woman was taken aback by this, but after a moment's thought, she quickly said, "Quickly bring them inside."

At this moment, those sleeping in the outer room were awakened and were astonished to see a group of monkey-like savages rushing in.

After listening to Shen Caihua's account, Jia Shiming pondered and said, "In that case, we must set off tonight. Once those people wake up, they will definitely launch a large-scale search operation."

The old Tujia man stood to the side, trembling with fear, not daring to look directly at these fierce-looking savages.

“Grandpa, the kappa aren’t bad people, they just want to go home…” Shen Caihua comforted him.

“Where do their talents live?” Jia Shiming asked.

Shen Caihua replied, "Dongting Lake and Peach Blossom River."

“Oh, after crossing the Yangtze River at Badong into western Hunan, and then heading southeast, you can reach Taohuajiang in Yiyang,” Jia Shi said thoughtfully.

The old Tujia man clasped his hands together, his body trembling as he pleaded repeatedly, "Please, please leave here quickly, otherwise if others find out, I'll be in big trouble."

The Hakka woman looked at Jia Shiming and said, "Master Jia, let's set off immediately."

The group quickly packed their belongings and, with the kappa, left Guanfeng Village under cover of darkness, heading south through the Shennongjia primeval forest, heading straight for the direction of Laojun Mountain at Tianmenya.

As dawn broke, Mayor Ran and the experts gradually woke up.

"Have we drunk too much? I feel like some wild men came into the house to drink last night..." Township Chief Ran said, shaking his head vigorously. "Our Tujia corn liquor isn't this strong, is it?"

"A savage?" Director He muttered to himself, then suddenly cried out, "Oh no! I remember now! Go check quickly, the savage has probably escaped!"

Everyone rushed out of the house in a hurry, and sure enough, all eight large iron cages were open, and none of the "Shennongjia Wild Men" they had captured with great difficulty had disappeared.

"This is the most significant discovery of the 20th century..." Director He burst into tears.

Two PLA soldiers were guarding the area; one had collapsed to the ground, while the other stared blankly at the sky, lost in thought...

Township Chief Ran grabbed the broken lock and shouted, "Look! Someone sawed through the iron lock and let the savage escape! This must be a deliberate sabotage by class enemies!"

The township party secretary, a veteran cadre, addressed the group with an unusually serious expression: "Comrades, do you see this? This is a new trend in class struggle! I must report this to the county party committee immediately..."

The sun rose, its warm rays shining down on the dejected group of people.

Meanwhile, on a secluded path at the bottom of the Yuxi Grand Canyon in Henan, walked Song Diweng and Master Xufeng, both dressed in sharp suits and with shiny leather shoes.

“Jia Shiming left from here. I overheard them talking about going to the Nmai River in northern Myanmar,” Song Diweng said, standing by the Zhennu Pool.

"Why would they travel such a long and arduous journey to northern Myanmar?" Xu Feng asked, puzzled.

"It was for that little boy's pet, a strange creature that looked like a mat. That thing saved the child's life; otherwise, he would have died long ago from Master Qiao's true energy binding him," Song Diweng replied.

Xu Feng recalled the green-furred, umbrella-like tube that Chen Caihua always carried in the "Guanzhong Earth Navel," and nodded with a sigh, saying, "Animals are even more affectionate and righteous than humans... But why did Jia Shiming and the Hakka nanny and her apprentice travel together?"

"It seems to be because of that girl, Nizi. As for the specifics, I don't know much about it. Master Xufeng, do you think Jia Shiming and the others will go west to Tongguan and then take the train south?" Song Diweng asked.

Master Xufeng thought for a moment and replied, "If we want to conceal our whereabouts, we won't go directly through Tongguan. That would be too easy to expose us, especially since Shen Caihua is also carrying a large blue-feathered parrot that can talk, which is extremely conspicuous."

“That’s right. They might deliberately choose to travel through remote and desolate places. However, Jia Shiming is cunning and treacherous. Perhaps, in order to gain a time advantage, he might risk breaking through Tongguan Pass and escape from the Northwest as quickly as possible,” Song Diweng said with doubt.

Would Jia Shiming be willing to take the risk? Master Xufeng shook his head in denial.

"Let's ask around as we go," Xu Feng said.

After exiting the western entrance of the Yuxi Grand Canyon, the road ahead leads straight to Tongguan. To the left, there is a secluded path that appears to be rarely visited.

“We’ll take the back roads and ask around when we come across villages. If no one in two or three villages has seen Jia Shiming and the others, then they might be heading towards Tongguan,” said Master Xufeng. The two quickened their pace and ran as fast as they could.

News spread in the first village that some children had seen a group of people pass by a few days earlier, but could not remember anything else, except for a beautiful blue bird.

"As expected, they've headed south to northern Hubei," Master Xufeng nodded.

Three days later, at noon, the two finally tracked down to Guanfeng Village in the Shennongjia Mountains and entered the courtyard of the first farmhouse at the north end of the village, covered in dust.

When the Tujia elder and the villagers saw the dwarf for the first time, men, women, and children all came to see the spectacle, pointing and gesturing and discussing it animatedly.

“This little man looks a bit like the ‘Shennongjia Wild Man’ we captured a few days ago,” a woman whispered.

“No, the savage is covered in brown hair, while this little man has white hair…” a woman retorted.

The Tujia old man warmly offered corn wine, cured pork hock, and Shennong cakes. The mountain people are simple and honest, and they are willing to offer their best food to guests from afar.

"You discovered and captured the 'Shennongjia Wild Man'?" Song Diweng asked in surprise. He knew that the "Shennongjia Wild Man" had been listed as the number one of the four great unsolved mysteries of nature in the world, which was a remarkable scientific discovery of the 20th century.

"Of course, and we caught eight of them at once," the villagers said with pride.

"Where is it? Can we go and take a look?" Song Diweng asked excitedly.

The villagers looked at each other, and finally someone replied dejectedly, "They all ran away later."

"They ran away?" Song Diweng asked, puzzled and disappointed.