Leyenda del pueblo de Baima

Capítulo 8

I walked down the stairs, touching the handrail, into the intense summer sun of Shanghai, glanced at the grand Western-style building behind me, and quickly left the Writers' Association compound.

I hailed a taxi and headed straight back to the newspaper office. Looking at the bustling city outside the car window, I thought I was safe for the time being. But the sudden turn of events had left me completely bewildered. I didn't know what had happened, what kind of force it was, or why it had targeted me. So, I was somewhat at a loss about what would happen next.

No, there must still be clues. Am I getting closer to the heart of the matter? Are these unusual signs related to these three diary entries?

Two years have passed since I opened the Morning Star's cabinet and saw the first entry in Na Duo's journal. This unsolved case that has puzzled me for so long is about to reveal its hideous true face!

I opened it with all my might, trying to recall every detail related to this matter over the past two years.

"Things have started, and if I don't try, I'll definitely be devoured by that force," I told myself. My intuition is always quite accurate when it comes to bad things. At the same time, I'm glad I made the wise choice not to drag Ye Tong into this.

Welling received three copies of the journal at the same time, while I only received two, and they arrived at different times and in different ways. Why is there such a difference? If they were discovered at the same point, at least the timing should be consistent. It doesn't make sense that all three were sent to the magazine at once, but were sent to me intermittently over a long period.

If, based on your own reasoning, all of Na Duo's journals were sent out at the same time, then why did they take so long to reach me? And why didn't I receive the copy of "Na Duo's Journal: From the Ancient Times"? Or were only two copies sent to me?

There is no solution. No matter how I reason, the final result is a paradox, a self-contradictory paradox.

There's another crucial point, another crucial point that I haven't grasped yet!

Sitting in my seat at the newspaper office, I took out the July 2001 issue of "Mengya" and began to carefully read "Na Duo's Notes: From Taigu".

This is a wonderful story, even more so than the previous two journal entries I read.

Fifth, the third entry in Na Duo's journal: Na Duo, digging in a vegetable cellar, unearthed a "monster" with a thin membrane resembling an animal brain. According to this newspaper, Wang Jie, a resident of Pingfang District, recently showed reporters a white object that looked like an animal brain. Its texture and hardness were somewhat like rubber, covered by a thin, elastic membrane.

According to Wang Jie, his friend found the object a few days ago while digging a vegetable cellar in a rural area of Shuangcheng. The object has a thin, elastic, transparent membrane on the outside, and two root-like structures at the bottom. The object is as hard as rubber, and the material on it is arranged like an animal brain. It is approximately 17 centimeters long, over 10 centimeters high, and about 10 centimeters wide.

Harbin Daily, June 15, 2001

When I arrived at the newspaper office that day, it was around 11:00 AM. The news department was empty; I was the only one there. I knew I was too early; usually, everyone arrives at the news department in the afternoon, around 3 or 4:00 PM, when it's busiest. But I had nothing to do at home, and I didn't have any interview assignments, so I just wandered over to the office.

I was engrossed in playing Breakout when the phone rang.

I picked up the receiver, and the operator told me that someone wanted to speak to a reporter, anyone would do, and it was a long-distance call from Harbin. The call was then transferred to me.

I said okay.

A very young man's voice came from the other end of the phone, with a non-local accent.

"Hello, are you a reporter?"

"yes."

"What's your name?"

"Na Duo. Na of the Yehenara clan, Duo Duo of how much. Is there something you need?"

There was a moment of silence on the other end, as if they were considering how to speak: "My name is Wang Liang. I'll be in Shanghai on a business trip next week. I have something on my hands, and I'm wondering... do you have a way to find out what it is?"

I didn't understand. It's his own stuff, but he doesn't even know what it is. What does that mean?

Wang Liang probably knew I didn't understand, so he said, "Tell me your fax number, and I'll send you something. Then you'll understand."

I gave him the fax number, and he hung up, saying he would call back later.

A minute later, I saw Wang Liang's fax next to the fax machine. It was a fax copy of the social news section of the Harbin Daily on June 15th, and the content was the report mentioned at the beginning of this article.

I immediately understood what Wang Liang meant by "something"—it must be the brain-shaped monster in the report. I've seen many reports like this before, but many are fake news, many are mistakes made by the parties involved, and a small number simply disappear without a trace, the unidentified creatures in the reports vanishing without a trace. I never imagined I might have the chance to see the real thing.

When Wang Liang called again, the conversation was much easier. I learned that Wang Liang was the marketing manager of a trading company called "Rongjie" in Harbin, and also an enthusiast of UFOs and other paranormal phenomena. He had bought the "monster" from Wang Jie for 500 yuan, intending to send it to the relevant authorities for proper research. However, there was no suitable place in Harbin, so he planned to take advantage of his business trip to Shanghai to see if there were any institutions there willing to study the "monster."

If Wang Liang hadn't happened to call our newspaper seeking help, if I hadn't happened to be at the newspaper office that day, if I didn't have a classmate like Liang Yingwu, and if I didn't know Liang Yingwu's other identity, then the series of bizarre and inexplicable events that followed would not have happened.

But this series of coincidences brought me together and unknowingly made me the facilitator and witness of a shocking and bizarre event, which almost endangered my life.

On the Tuesday of the following week, I waited for Wang Liang in the departure hall of Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport.

Waiting with me was a tall, thin young man wearing glasses; he was my high school classmate, Liang Yingwu.

Liang Yingwu had a great passion for biological sciences and was exceptionally talented. After graduating from the Department of Biochemistry at Fudan University, he stayed on as a teaching assistant. What is even more unimaginable to most people is that, due to his wealthy family background, Liang Yingwu had set aside a room in his home as a laboratory during his university years. The equipment in it was comparable to that of professional laboratories at Fudan University. When he was in a good mood, he could stay in his laboratory for three days straight without leaving, working on a research project.

As a close friend of Liang Yingwu, I learned of his second, unknown identity: a researcher at Organization X.

Liang Yingwu wouldn't tell me the real name of this so-called Organization X. All I knew was that it was a semi-military secret organization specializing in the research of abnormal biological phenomena. All research results and processes were kept strictly confidential and reported directly to higher authorities. Liang Yingwu was able to enter this organization due to his talent in biology. As for the content of their research, I could only imagine it myself. Liang Yingwu sometimes told me that if some of Organization X's findings were made public, it would inevitably cause unease and panic, and might even endanger national security, hence its top-secret nature. He usually stopped there, which only fueled my curiosity and made me restless.

Of course, I don't want Liang Yingwu to take this brain-like monster to the X Agency for research. That way, I wouldn't know any of the research results, and Wang Liang would be even less likely to know. I just want Liang Yingwu to conduct his research in his own lab, and, drawing on his experience working at the X Agency, tell me what it is. Maybe that will be big news. Of course, maybe it won't be anything at all.

Wang Liang will entrust that monster to me. This person, whose curiosity is just as strong as mine, doesn't want any reward. His only hope is that if the research yields any results, I can let him know.

My phone rang; it was Wang Liang. He had arrived. After briefly explaining my location, we met Wang Liang quickly.

Wang Liang was very tall and had a burly appearance, with dark and piercing eyes. He was dragging a large suitcase, which seemed to contain the "monster."

I introduced Liang Yingwu to him, but of course, I only mentioned his position as a teaching assistant.

Wang Liang greeted Liang Yingwu politely. I could see the doubt in his eyes. Perhaps in his mind, I should have brought a famous expert.

I smiled and said, "My friend is a genius in this field. Besides, this kind of research requires curiosity and imagination, so it might be more suitable for young people."

Wang Liang laughed heartily, indicating that he agreed with my opinion. It seems that he is a very easy person to get along with.

We drove straight to Liang Yingwu's home, which was a multi-story residential building in Quyang Community. Liang Yingwu had bought two adjacent two-bedroom apartments on the third floor and combined them into one. He had only recently moved in, and it was my first time visiting.

I initially thought Liang Yingwu was incredibly extravagant, living alone in such a large house. But when I arrived, I learned he had actually knocked down every wall that could be removed in one of the two bedrooms and living rooms, transforming it into an 80-square-meter laboratory. Wang Liang, unaware that Liang Yingwu had a home lab, was completely stunned, touching the instruments and muttering to himself. It seemed he knew far more about these things than I did, recognizing their considerable value. Now, he was filled with trust in Liang Yingwu, his face practically glowing. With a quick "click," he deftly opened the suitcase.

Besides all the personal items, a small wooden box was prominently displayed inside the suitcase. Wang Liang carried the box to the table, unlocked the small lock, and a strange creature he had never seen before, wrapped in plastic wrap, appeared before his eyes.

I've never seen such a disgusting creature in my life. Its body shape is somewhat similar to a slug, oblong and milky white. It's covered in grooves and ravines, like a brain that's shed its shell. Two long, thin tentacles protrude from its underside, probably over a meter long. Simply put, it's like a magnified slug combined with a human brain, plus squid tentacles, but without suckers. This thing looks soft and squishy, as if it's about to collapse.

I tentatively touched it through the thin membrane, and upon closer inspection, I discovered that the surface was actually covered by an extremely thin, transparent membrane, just like human skin, enveloping the wrinkled, brain-like body. It felt very smooth to the touch. I pressed down harder, and my finger sank slightly, but when I released it, the surface returned to its original shape, indicating excellent elasticity.

In short, this doesn't seem to be a man-made product at all. Moreover, according to Wang Liang, the person who unearthed this monster was digging a vegetable cellar and had already dug down to a depth of more than five meters when they were about to give up. They then discovered the upward-pointing tendrils of this thing and dug down another meter or so before finally digging it out completely. At that depth, the soil layer hadn't been disturbed for at least several hundred years. Even if it is a man-made product, it is definitely big news.

Liang Yingwu's face showed little surprise; his composure was far superior to mine. A thought suddenly struck me: he must have seen countless bizarre creatures in that X organization, which was why he wouldn't be so easily alarmed.

Wang Liang asked Liang Yingwu, "How much time do you need?"

Liang Yingwu said, "It's hard to say. I think it would take at least a week to get a general idea of what this thing is made of. If the structure is very complex and unusual, it might take much longer."

Wang Liang nodded and said, "Anyway, let me know when there are results."

I left with Wang Liang; we were both heading to the West District, so we were going the same way.

I suddenly thought of a question: "I remember the report said that this thing is similar in hardness to rubber, and only that the film is more elastic. I just pressed it, and it seems to be a bit softer than rubber."

Wang Liang chuckled. He said, "I washed it with water before coming here, and it softened a little."

I nodded and said, "Judging from its appearance, if it were alive, it would most likely be an aquatic creature."

The conversation ended there, without further development, and Wang Liang and I parted ways. For the next period, I was incredibly busy with a series of interviews, including a trip to Nanjing, and had absolutely no time to follow up on Liang Yingwu's progress. Of course, I could never have imagined that it was water that would cause such an unimaginable change in this brain-like monster.

More than a week after I went to Liang Yingwu's house, a chance discovery reminded me of the incident, and I immediately rushed to Liang Yingwu's house.

It happened at work. A colleague asked me about a very obscure character, and I didn't know it. I suggested he look it up in the "Cihai" dictionary, which we have in the office.

When he looked it up in the dictionary, I stood beside him watching. He looked up the character by its radical and was flipping through the pages when I suddenly called him to stop.

On the page he had just quickly turned, I saw a picture that made my heart skip a beat.

It took me a lot of effort to find that page, and I laughed. Yes, it was that picture, drawn almost exactly like that brain-shaped monster. Due to the simplicity of printing, the picture only depicted the shape, without the brain-like patterns on the body, but the body shape and those two long whiskers were exactly the same.

I looked at its name: Omba protozoan. When I read down the entry's explanation, I knew I was wrong.

This is an ancient creature, a single-celled organism that appeared in the ocean when life first emerged on Earth. Like trilobites, it is now extinct. Undoubtedly, this microscopic worm is too small to be seen with the naked eye, and it certainly wouldn't have brain-like markings on its back.

However, I still decided to go find Liang Yingwu. There are many strange things in this world; perhaps the Omba protozoan and the brain-like monster really are related. More importantly, I really want to know how Liang Yingwu's research is progressing.

When I called, Liang Yingwu was home. I asked him how things were going, and he said it was hard to explain over the phone and that I should come over to talk to him.

I'm the kind of person who can forget things completely when I want to, but when I remember them, even a short delay makes me uncomfortable. As soon as I left the newspaper office, I hailed a taxi and headed straight for Quyang.

I was startled when Liang Yingwu opened the door for me. His eyes were bloodshot, he had a cigarette dangling from his mouth, and his hair was a mess.

I said, "How many days have you not slept?"

Without turning his head, Liang Yingwu walked straight to the laboratory and said, "Two days."

I asked in surprise, "You don't have to go to work anymore?"

Liang Yingwu said, "I took leave, why are you talking so much nonsense?" He pointed and added, "Didn't you come to see this thing?"

I looked in the direction Liang Yingwu was pointing and saw the monster lying on the lab table, surrounded by reagents, microscopes, and a whole bunch of instruments I couldn't understand, all in a mess.

I said, "Huh, it's still intact. I thought you had already dissected it into pieces and studied it."

Liang Yingwu snorted, disdainful of arguing with someone as ignorant as me.

I asked, "How's the research going? I was looking through the dictionary today and saw a bug that looks a lot like this thing, called 'O...O..."

"What do you mean 'O'? It's Omba protozoa."

I was taken aback: "You already knew."

Liang Yingwu found a chair and sat down, saying, "Nonsense, what do you think I've been doing all these days?"

I said, "So, this thing really is related to the Omba protozoan?"

Liang Yingwu's expression turned serious, and he slowly said, "It's not related to anything; this is the Omba protozoan."

I laughed and said, "Don't try to fool me, Omba protozoa aren't that big."

Liang Yingwu looked at the monster and said, "This is not a single Omba protozoan, but a composite of countless billions of Omba protozoans."

“Coral,” I blurted out. “You mean, like coral polyps.”

Liang Yingwu nodded and said, "It does resemble coral somewhat. I discovered this by cutting off a small piece of its tentacles for analysis. That piece, about the size of a mung bean, contained countless Omba protozoa. Although most of them were deformed, I could still recognize them." "Deformed?" I asked, puzzled.

Liang Yingwu said, "It's like a person who is missing a leg or only has half a head, but you still know that it is a person."

Suddenly, a thought flashed through my mind, and I couldn't help but shudder. I said, "But when coral polyps die and become coral, the shapes of coral are all kinds of strange and irregular. So why do Omba protozoa die and gather together to form a giant Omba protozoa? Could it be that they did it on purpose?"

Liang Yingwu stood up and paced back and forth in front of the giant Omba protozoan, seemingly pondering a perplexing question. I didn't ask him anything, because my own thoughts were also in a state of confusion.

Liang Yingwu suddenly stopped and said, "First, the Omba protozoan has been extinct for hundreds of millions of years. However, based on the analysis of the slices, this thing was formed not long ago, no more than a hundred years ago, and it may even have been formed in the last few years. Why would the extinct aquatic biological clock reappear, and why would it appear in the suburbs of Shuangcheng?"

Second, the structure of Omba protozoa differs from that of corals, making it impossible for them to naturally aggregate into a single entity. What force attracts them together? Third, if it's due to mutation, what is the source of the mutation? Fourth, why is the aggregate a giant Omba protozoa, and why does it exhibit brain-like markings? Fifth, these Omba protozoa are already dead and should gradually decompose, but why haven't they changed at all? What energy keeps them in this state?

After Liang Yingwu finished speaking, he paused, then said in a low voice, "I know nothing about any of this."

Although I don't understand biology, I was increasingly alarmed as I listened, and couldn't help but say, "You've been researching for so long, and all you've come up with are these unanswerable questions?"

Liang Yingwu smiled wryly and said, "This thing is extraordinary, far beyond my expectations. Even though I have seen a lot, I have never seen anything like this before. I think we should send it up."

I was taken aback for a moment before realizing that Liang Yingwu meant to hand him over to Agency X. I said, "In that case, even if there are results, they will have to be kept secret. Wang Liang won't agree to that."

Liang Yingwu said, "I can tell Wang Liang the general results, but we definitely can't get the items back."

I said, "Then I need to tell Wang Liang."