Atavismo - Capítulo 7
"I'm so angry! If you laugh at me again, I'm cutting ties with you all."
The two finally managed to stop laughing.
"Okay, okay, we won't laugh then. Why did you agree, Brother Feng?"
Gu Feng angrily munched on his bread and said, "Who told her to be a sixth-dan? What can I do if I'm not convinced?"
"Our judo club is the best. There's only one gorilla coaching the black belts. Although he's a bit brutal, we won't be ridiculed."
"What do you mean, Ah Mao?" Gu Feng cursed, clutching the soda bottle.
"Hey, don't hit me with that bottle! I didn't mean to!"
Gu Feng said angrily, "What's wrong with me these past two days? My luck has been so bad!~~"
Xiaobing said, "Maybe it wouldn't be a bad thing for Miss to be your coach."
Gu Feng asked doubtfully, "What do you mean?"
Little Pancake chuckled mischievously, "As the saying goes, 'being near the water tower allows one to get the moon first,' so, Brother Feng, you're not... um!"
With a dismissive "Tch," Gu Feng said, "Are you looking for K?"
Ah Mao pondered, "I think I saw the young lady getting very close to that nemesis in the cafeteria just now!"
Xiaobing said, "Really? I didn't see it. If they have any connection, then Brother Feng has no chance."
Gu Feng knew very well what he meant by his unintentional remark. In terms of family background and martial arts, he was no match for him in any way. What did he have to compete with him?
"Thump!"
The little pancake got hit on the head by a soda bottle.
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Volume 1, Chapter 8: The Laboratory
"Brother Feng, since we're so tired, why don't we just skip class this afternoon?" Ah Mao suggested.
Gu Feng sat down again helplessly: "I want to too! But the bishop said that if Shi Xin makes a request and I am absent without reason, I will be treated as a regular student. If I am kicked out of the Three Paths Society, that won't be fun."
"Are you kidding me? Miss wouldn't be that ruthless, would she?" Xiaobing asked in astonishment.
Gu Feng shrugged: "What do you think?"
"Class doesn't start until 2 PM. Are we just supposed to sit here and wait?"
Gu Feng opened another can of soda and pondered, "In that case, I do have somewhere to go."
Ah Mao asked excitedly, "Where?"
Gu Feng raised his hand and said, "I'm afraid you'll start to back down again after I tell you what I'm saying."
Xiaobing said disdainfully, "Going there? It must be some desolate wilderness again. We're not doing that kind of work."
Gu Feng shook one finger: "Otherwise!"
Ah Mao said, "Or maybe it's some kind of mass grave... or your house?"
Gu Feng understood that they regarded the funeral home, which was like their own home, as a forbidden place. Although A Mao compared it to a mass grave, he was not angry.
Gu Feng said, "How could that be? It seems you'll never guess. The place we're going to is... the 'Cultural Bureau'."
The Cultural Bureau and the Sandao Society are only half an hour's drive apart. A little after 12 o'clock, the three appeared in the lobby of the Cultural Bureau.
Gu Feng was quite familiar with the old man guarding the gate, so he got a 30% discount on the admission fee.
This city is not large and does not have a separate museum. The Cultural Bureau's exhibition hall is the place in the city with the most antiques. Over time, as more people visited, in order to increase the bureau's revenue, now you have to buy a ticket to enter.
The three of them insisted on not using a guide, and the hall was equipped with the latest high-tech anti-theft measures. They were not afraid of what the other party might do, and they would let them do as they pleased.
The lights were dim, and Ah Mao cursed, "What's with the mystery? It's so dark I can't even see the road. Brother Feng, why did you come to this godforsaken place?"
Gu Feng waved quietly and said, "Come with me!"
Gu Feng and his father had visited this place countless times, so they knew exactly which side was the toilet and which side was the main entrance. There was a small door next to the display case at the back, which was usually unlocked. Gu Feng opened it, and the three of them filed out.
Outside the exhibition hall is a large lawn with a cluster of low-rise buildings. The white building on the far west side, though only one story high, is the very spot where the ancient style is located.
He remembered that it should be the Cultural Affairs Bureau's laboratory.
Yesterday I was too scared to open the coffin. Although Shixin was a strict coach this morning, I was still bothered by this. Since I had some time during my lunch break, why not come and find out?
The Cultural Bureau's closing time was close to that of the martial arts hall. Seeing that there were no people around, Gu Feng, relying on his father's acquaintance with the bureau chief, boldly opened the laboratory door, only latching it, not locking it.
The coffin was placed on a large white laboratory table. Gu Feng frowned when he saw that it was still untouched and said, "Holy crap, are you kidding me! It's so early in the morning and they still haven't opened it?"
Ah Mao said, "I thought you were up to something! Turns out you still can't let go of this coffin. Why didn't you open it last night?"
Gu Feng gave a "shh" sound but did not answer him.
He jumped onto the experimental table and placed his hand on the coffin lid.
"I don't believe ghosts can come out in broad daylight."
Gu Feng took a deep breath; the scene from last night was still vivid in his mind.
With great determination, he placed his hand at the optimal point of leverage. He exerted force, but "click," it didn't budge.
With a forceful effort, it moved a tiny bit with a "click".
With more force, "creak!" it almost opened, there was a small crack.
Ugh! Ugh! Gu Feng blushed and strained.
"Boom!"
It was all for nothing; all that effort to open it a little only to have it close again.
"Hey, what are you doing!"
A loud shout, as loud as thunder, rang out, and a massive figure appeared in the doorway…
"Hehe, Uncle Zhao, it's me!" Gu Feng said awkwardly to the elder with a face full of fat.
"Gu Feng? Why are you here instead of staying in the San Dao Society?"
"No, uh! This..."
Seeing Gu Feng's embarrassed expression, the cultural bureau director surnamed Zhao couldn't help but smile.
"Alright! I was wondering how something that was unearthed from your place could be brought back to you, Gu Feng, in such good condition. Turns out you just couldn't hold back."
Gu Feng scratched his head.
"This coffin does indeed have many strange features."
Gu Feng said, "Then why don't you open the coffin and take a look?"
The elder laughed and said, “It seems you and your father have the same impatient temperament! Do you think we archaeologists just look at the results and that’s it? We have to be responsible for our culture, and we can’t overlook any detail! Take this picture above, for example. You laymen might just think it’s strange, but we have to meticulously draw a photograph of it. If we do some in-depth research and damage the original painting, we have the data to examine it, we have to estimate the age, and we have to take protective measures. Do you think we can get it done in one step?”
Gu Feng chuckled sheepishly: "So, have you finished with all that now?"
The elder looked at the coffin and said, "We've done everything we needed to, but the staff just reported that there might be an ancient corpse inside. We need a sealed environment before we can open the coffin."
Gu Feng said awkwardly, "Then what I just did..."
The elder said, "Is it true that a small crack appeared when it was unearthed yesterday?"
Gu Feng nodded and said, "Yes!"
The director frowned and said, "Looks like we need to speed things up." Turning around and seeing that most of the staff had arrived, he said, "Alright, let's get ahead of schedule. Now, prepare to open the coffin!"
Gu Feng was excited and asked with a smile, "Uncle Zhao, may I stay here?"
The curator pondered for a moment and said, "Since the coffin has already been opened, there's no issue of whether it's sealed or not. If you want to see it, stay a while!"
The three of them were excited.
Before long, preparations were complete, and six people stood on opposite sides, each holding a crowbar. Once they exerted force, it would be strange if the coffin, which looked so rotten it was about to fall apart, didn't open.
The bureau chief gave the order.
All six parties acted simultaneously.
"Creak!" The coffin opened, and the staff member holding the cane was the first to see what was inside.
"Huh!" They all stared wide-eyed in astonishment, clearly finding it hard to believe the astonishing scene before them.
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Chapter 9 of Volume 1: Strange Photograph
The ancient style rushed forward.
"Whoosh!"
It was the corpse of a woman dressed in white ancient clothing. The bright color of her clothes contrasted sharply with the mottled coffin. The woman? The face of the corpse showed no signs of decay, only faint lividity on her neck! Although her complexion was ashen, one could still tell that she must have been an exceptionally beautiful woman in life. Even in death, she still captivated some people. If it weren't for the faint stench of decay, who would believe that such a beautiful woman was dead? And dead for over a hundred years?
The onlookers couldn't help but sigh, "What a pity!" They stared at her intently for a long time.
Director Zhao Zhong was the first to regain his composure; to become the director of the Cultural Bureau, a certain amount of self-control was necessary. He shouted, "Quickly, get it to the sealed room! The body will oxidize easily if it's exposed to air for too long, hurry!"
Someone hurriedly went down to prepare.
Zhao Zhong muttered to himself, "What an amazing miracle! Even the Mawangdui female corpse, which was preserved with such strict sealing and isolation techniques, cannot compare to this."
"That's very strange!"
Gu Feng gazed at the female corpse and said calmly.
"Yes! The coffin is rotten like this, but the dead body is still so intact. It's really strange!"
Gu Feng looked up at A Mao and said, "I don't mean that. I suddenly feel that she looks a lot like the shadow I saw yesterday!"
Ah Mao looked at him suspiciously: "Brother Feng, you're joking, right?"
"I'm not in the mood for jokes."
"Hehe! Don't try to fool me. I'm used to seeing you use your audacity to make these kinds of jokes in weird situations. Go away, I'm not talking to you anymore."
Gu Feng glanced helplessly at A Mao. He really did think this female corpse was strikingly similar to the white shadow he'd seen on top of the coffin yesterday…
Zhao Zhong shouted loudly, "Aren't you all excited? Our discovery this time will definitely shock the world, and the name of our L City Cultural Bureau will be on the front page of every newspaper!"
"Oh! Great!" everyone cheered.
The isolation room was ready. They sprayed some preservatives on the female corpse, lifted the coffin onto a trolley, and moved it to the isolation room.