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Capítulo 106

"I am Senior Engineer Pi," the experts announced.

Old Master Qiao's gaze fell on Senior Engineer Pi's face, and he thought to himself, "So this is the leader's inside man."

Director Bi smiled and said to Mr. Qiao, "We've all finished speaking. Now it's your turn. Who are you? Do you know what happened to you?"

Master Qiao was plotting how to get out of the room with "Ghost Pot" and Youliang. The few people in the room were not a threat. The key was the soldiers in the courtyard. If they started shooting, even the best martial arts skills would be useless.

He looked down at his naked body and said, "I need to get dressed."

Director Bi waved his hand and hurriedly said, "Quick, find some clothes." Doing as much as possible to comply with this person's wishes would be beneficial to the recovery of his sanity.

Upon hearing this, the forensic doctor casually took off his white coat and threw it to the man.

Old Master Qiao quickly put on his white coat and neatly tied the belt around his waist. He then rolled off the ground, stood on tiptoe, clenched his left fist at his chest, and raised his right hand overhead with his still-erect penis protruding high against the front of his white coat, striking a pose reminiscent of Guo Jianguang from the Peking Opera "Shajiabang." Facing Director Bi, he loudly sang: "Learn from the pine tree atop Mount Tai, standing tall and proud against the sky... Undeterred by the scorching sun, lush and verdant in the bitter cold and snow. The pine tree endures calamities and tribulations, bearing countless scars and wounds, yet its branches are as strong as iron, its trunk as firm as bronze, vigorous and resilient..."

"Oh no, he's a mental patient..." Director Bi thought dejectedly.

"Give me back my 'Ghost Pot'!" Mr. Zhu shouted, his face flushed, as he reached for Mr. Qiao's lower abdomen with both hands.

Master Qiao chuckled, and seemingly unintentionally flicked his finger, striking Mr. Zhu's acupoint at the center of his chest. Mr. Zhu's body went limp and he collapsed.

Director Bi was shocked and shouted urgently, "Comrades, this man knows martial arts, be careful..." He himself was also skilled in the military boxing style, commonly known as "small grappling". In the critical moment, he stepped forward and blocked and grabbed Qiao's wrist, trying to use joint lock technique to capture his arm.

At that moment, Professor Cong and Professor Lu, seeing that things were not going well, quickly got up to open the door, intending to call the soldiers in to subdue this madman who knew martial arts.

No sooner said than done, Old Master Qiao chuckled, spun around on the spot, and with a "plop" sound, a pungent, neither fragrant nor foul, neither sweet nor spicy "neutral gas" emanated from his large, fleshy orifice. This was a kind of poisonous gas from Confucianism that paralyzes the central nervous system; inhaling it would cause a person to fall into a deep sleep.

Youliang had already covered his nose by then. This was something they had agreed on beforehand; whenever Master Qiao farted, he would hold his breath.

"Thump, thump..." The experts all collapsed to the ground.

"You..." Director Bi held on for more than half a minute, but finally collapsed onto Mr. Zhu.

"Let's go." Old Master Qiao grabbed Youliang and rushed out of the room.

The corridor was deserted. Youliang knew the way and led Master Qiao forward stealthily.

"Halt! What are you two doing?" A sudden shout rang out, and an officer emerged from behind the corner, blocking their path. This man was Staff Officer Wang, and behind him stood a soldier with a rifle.

Without saying a word, Master Qiao pushed Youliang forward and into the officer's arms.

"Child, what is this...?" The officer was surprised when he suddenly felt a tightness on his wrist, and then his body went limp and he began to tremble like a leaf.

"Hehehe..." Youliang let out a strange laugh, while intensifying his sucking of his essence. Staff Officer Wang stared in horror as his body gradually went limp and collapsed to the ground.

Seeing that things were going wrong, the soldier hurriedly turned his Type 56 submachine gun around, but it was too late. Master Qiao had already nimbly stepped forward, pinched the soldier's left and right neck acupoints with two fingers, severing his carotid artery, and then gently laid the unconscious soldier on the brick floor of the corridor.

"Youliang, let's go." Old Master Qiao said hurriedly, picked up the officer and walked into the courtyard. The villa's large iron gate was thirty meters ahead.

"Hey, come here, see why he suddenly fainted?" Old Master Qiao shouted to the two armed guards at the gate.

The two guards were startled and rushed forward, calling out, "Staff Officer Wang, wake up..."

With two sharp taps, the guards were struck on the chest, their middle fingers pointed at their chests. They groaned and collapsed.

Old Master Qiao sneered, threw down Staff Officer Wang, grabbed Youliang by the back of his clothes, took two quick steps, and with a "whoosh," they both leaped over the high wall.

The two eventually made their way back to Hospital 301.

"This is the 'Ghost Pot'?" the leader asked in surprise, looking at the large, brownish-yellow skull.

"Hmm, this is truly a wonderful thing. I never imagined that this 'Ghost Pot' could greatly enhance one's power," Master Qiao replied with satisfaction.

"Your whereabouts haven't been exposed, have they?" the commander asked cautiously.

"Don't worry, Chief." Old Master Qiao recounted the events in detail.

"Well done, Mr. Qiao, you've worked hard," the chief said, relieved. Looking at the skull in his hand, he muttered to himself, "Hmph, Director, now that the 'Ghost Pot' is in my hands, let's see how you continue to implement the 'Xuanyuan Plan'?"

Soon after, the experts inside the villa gradually woke up.

"Where's the madman? Wait, the child is gone too..." The forensic doctor got up from the ground and said in surprise.

Director Bi stood up, his face ashen. He adjusted his glasses and ran out without a word. At the corner of the corridor lay the unconscious Staff Officer Wang and a soldier. He stepped over them and rushed into the courtyard. The villa's large iron gate remained tightly shut. Two armed guards lay on the ground, but the old madman and the child were nowhere to be seen.

The experts inside the room came out in a daze. At this moment, the soldiers who were taking a break from their shifts also rushed out in a panic, buttoning up their uniforms, and looked at the guard who had fainted on the ground with confusion.

"Professor Lu, quickly find a way to wake them up," Director Bi ordered.

"Quickly, carry them inside!" Professor Lu hurriedly directed the soldiers to carry the unconscious soldier into the conference room for emergency treatment.

"Did they escape?" Engineer Pi asked.

"My ancestor's skull was also stolen by that old madman!" Mr. Zhu cried out in grief and indignation.

Director Bi pondered for a moment, then chuckled coldly twice. Gazing at the high wall, he said ominously, "That old guy isn't crazy. He's perfectly sane. He managed to take down four well-trained soldiers and then calmly climb over the wall. We've been tricked..."

"But," Professor Cong asked doubtfully, "that old man was clearly dead."

Director Bi shook his head and said, "I've heard that Taoism has a kind of 'turtle breathing technique' that can feign death, perhaps..."

Professor Cong was still puzzled and muttered to himself, "Then why did he pretend to be dead?"

"'Ghost Pot'...the purpose is to steal the 'Ghost Pot'!" Director Bi replied.

"What grudge does my Zhu family have against him? Why would he steal the head of my ancestor?" Mr. Zhu said through gritted teeth.

"No, he was trying to steal the 'Wind Queen's Ghost Pot'; he took the wrong one," Director Bi replied calmly.

"Sigh..." Mr. Zhu stamped his feet anxiously.

"No one should leave Xiangshan Villa. I'm going back to the city immediately to report to the director," Director Bi ordered sternly.

Director Bi personally drove back to Beijing at breakneck speed, heading straight into the Xinhua Gate of Zhongnanhai.

Inside a small Qing Dynasty-style building in Zhongnanhai, the director listened attentively to Director Bi's report. Then he stood up and paced back and forth in the room. Although the war years were long gone, he still maintained the vigorous demeanor of a soldier, with a straight back, a resolute expression, and spoke with a strong and clear voice.

"Very good. The 'Ghost Pot After the Wind' truly has the power to bring the dead back to life. The ancestral teachings of the Zhu family are not empty words, and they have also been confirmed by Ji Xiaolan's record in 'Notes from the Thatched Cottage of Close Observation'," the director said with satisfaction.

Director Bi cautiously reminded him, "Director, the old man and the young man who stole the Zhu family's 'Ghost Pot'..."

The director waved his hand and smiled slightly, saying, "I know who did it."

"You know?" Director Bi was extremely surprised.

"Well, let's ignore him. We'll just play along and let them think they've succeeded. Director Bi, the final stage of 'Project Xuanyuan' can now begin," the director said decisively.

“But…” Director Bi paused, then carefully whispered, “we haven’t yet obtained the Bon religion’s ‘Resurrection Water’…”

"Don't worry about that, I know what I'm doing," the director said calmly, patting Director Bi on the shoulder with a smile.

"Yes, Director." Director Bi straightened his posture.

The director stood with his hands behind his back in the courtyard, his gaze fixed on the portrait of Chairman Mao hanging on the wall, muttering to himself, "A new era is about to begin..."

Chapter 162

Having exited the entrance to the Yuxi Grand Canyon, the Hakka grandmother prepared to head west straight for Tongguan.

“No, Hakka Granny, if the people from the capital want to pursue us, they will definitely head straight for Tongguan. They may have already laid an ambush there. Going west now would be tantamount to walking into a trap.” Jia Shiming was shrewd and his words made perfect sense.

"This..." The Hakka woman was not familiar with the geography of the mainland, so she hesitated and asked, "Then, what do you think, Master Jia?"

“This place is within the territory of Lushi County, Henan Province. We will immediately turn south to Shangnan, head to Yunxi County, and then go straight to Shennongjia in Hubei Province. From there, we can reach Badong in the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River. In particular, the Shennongjia primeval forest is sparsely populated. No one would have expected us to take this risky step,” Jia Shiming explained.

The Hakka woman looked at Shen Caihua and Xiong Dahai. With their physical strength, traversing deep mountains and forests was no problem for them. So she nodded and agreed, "In that case, please lead the way, Master Jia."

Jia Shiming carried Nizi and "Xiao Cui'er" on his back and walked in the lead, with Shen Caihua following closely behind with a suction tube in his arms. The Hakka Granny and Xiong Dahai brought up the rear, while Dudu spread its wings and soared in the air. The group traveled south, covered in dust, heading straight for Shennongjia.

In ancient times, Shennongjia was a vast ocean. After being uplifted by the Yanshan and Himalayan orogenies, it became a mountainous area. It is a transitional zone for plant species from north to south in my country and a crossroads for the breeding and survival of many animals. It has the only well-preserved subtropical forest ecosystem in the mid-latitude inland region of the Northern Hemisphere.

The legendary ancestor of the Chinese people, Shennong, also known as Emperor Yan, once built a wooden frame here to collect medicinal herbs, hence the name "Shennongjia". In 1980, the state established the Shennongjia Nature Reserve.

The Hakka women and their companions traveled quickly, and several days later, at dusk, they arrived at a place called Guanfeng on the northern edge of the Shennongjia Forest District.

“Let’s stay in the village ahead tonight. We’ll be entering the forest tomorrow,” Jia Shiming said, stopping in his tracks and turning back.

The village ahead was small, and most of the villagers were hunters who made their living by hunting. The group stayed overnight at a house at the north end of the village. On the door of the simple wooden house hung a wooden carving of a fierce and ferocious face with blue fangs, known as "Tunkou." The owner was an elderly Tujia man who held a pipe more than a meter long and was warm and hospitable.

Dinner was sumptuous, featuring Tujia-style cured pork hock and sweet and delicious Shennong cakes, along with a jar of potent corn liquor, making Jia Shiming grin from ear to ear.

"You're going to cross Shennongjia?" The old man was taken aback and reminded him, "Have you ever heard of the wild men here?"

Jia Shiming smiled faintly. Ancient books had recorded the "Shennongjia Wild Man," who was called "Mountain Ghost," "Hairy Man," "Bear," "Thunder," and "Baboon," but few people had actually seen him.

"Are there wild men in these mountains?" Shen Caihua asked curiously.

Jia Shiming drank his corn liquor smoothly and soon became more talkative: "Qu Yuan's hometown is in Zigui County, south of Shennongjia. He once wrote a poem called 'Nine Songs: Mountain Spirit,' which describes the wild people here. According to him, these creatures are actually quite adorable..."

"Oh, don't underestimate these savages. They're water monsters, with disheveled hair and long brown fur all over their bodies. They have webbed toes, a large water-filled depression on the top of their heads, and three anuses that can spray venom... A few days ago, when we were trying to capture them, quite a few people were injured. If the People's Liberation Army hadn't come to help, we wouldn't have been able to catch these savages at all," the old man said with lingering fear.

"Grandpa, how many wild men are there in total?" Shen Caihua asked quickly, a thought suddenly occurring to him.

"There are eight in total. Two are old, one male and one female, and the other six are all male," the old man answered, counting on his fingers.

"Kappa!" Shen Caihua and Nizi said in unison.

In May 1976, the Chinese Academy of Sciences organized the "Northwest Hubei Strange Animal Expedition Team" to venture deep into the Shennongjia primeval forest area, hoping to find the legendary, fantastical, and mysterious animal—the "Shennongjia Wild Man." Six years later, the expedition only discovered the "Coffin Beast" on the southeastern slope of Shennongjia. This was a rectangular monster with a large head, short neck, and long, grayish-brown fur. Although some film was taken, no live specimens were captured. Furthermore, in a valley called Yinyu River in the western part of the forest area, the expedition saw many white golden monkeys, polar bears, and white muntjacs. The cause of these albino animals remains a scientific mystery. As for the "Shennongjia Wild Man," it was never found; only some feces and hair suspected to be left by the wild man were found. Until recently, hunters encountered these eight wild men deep in the forest. When they attempted to capture them, seven or eight hunting rifles fired simultaneously, wounding two and forcing them into a cave, but they still dared not rush inside. While the situation remained deadlocked, the local garrison was quickly notified. The army swiftly dispatched a platoon of People's Liberation Army soldiers, who, under heavy fire from machine guns and grenades, finally stormed into the cave and captured the eight wild men. After the battle, in addition to several wild men seriously wounded, more than ten hunters and PLA soldiers were also injured. The capture of the "Shennongjia Wild Men" was a major scientific discovery, and many experts from the provincial capital and Beijing immediately flew in to conduct preliminary diagnosis and research in the township government compound. Not long ago, eight specially made large iron cages were transported from the provincial capital, and preparations were underway to transport them back to Beijing within the next day or two.

That night, under the warm moonlight, Shen Cai lay quietly on his wooden bed, fully clothed, gazing at the bright moonlight outside the window, his mind replaying the old man's words. The poor kappa couple and their six brothers—they only wanted to return to their homeland, yet they had suffered such hardship. The kappa considered him their master; how could he stand idly by? No, he had to rescue them…

Beside him, the snores of Xiong Dahai and the Tujia old man rose and fell. At the far end, leaning against the wall, was Master Jia, who had drunk too much corn liquor last night and was now deeply immersed in his dreams. The Hakka old woman was in another room, and the old man had specially vacated his bedroom for her to stay in in order to take care of her.

Shen Caihua tiptoed to his feet, put on his shoes, and quietly slipped out of the room into the courtyard.

"What...what are you doing, where are you going?" Dudu yawned from the roof and stammered.

"Shh..." Shen Cai put his finger to his lips to stop Dudu from making a sound, then gently waved and quietly left the wooden house.

"I'm going to save the kappa," Shen Caihua said resolutely.

“I…I’m going too,” Dudu said excitedly, “but…do you know where they are…where they are locked up?”

"Grandpa said that once you cross that mountain, the place with the lights is the township government, and that's where the kappa are kept," Shen Caihua said, pointing to the dark mountains ahead.

Just then, in the moonlight, a small, dark figure rapidly approached from the direction of the cabin, its movements incredibly graceful and elegant...

“It’s Mo Mo…” Shen Caihua exclaimed in surprise.

"Mo Mo, you're here," Shen Caihua said with delight.

“I am Nizi,” Nizi replied calmly.

"Oh," Shen Caihua gave an awkward "hmm," but then said with genuine admiration, "So you know how to use light-body kung fu..."

“This is ‘crossing the river on a reed’,” Nizi said proudly, then asked, “Are you going to rescue those kappa?”

“Yes…yes, we have to go save, save the kappa…” Dudu interjected quickly from the side.