We got down the car when we reached the Institute, heading first to Uncle Quan's classroom and found him reading a newspaper at his desk. He peered through his glasses when we came through the door, beaming brightly at us as he put down the papers. Lin Feng's little apprentice darted over to him, joyously calling him "Grandpa Lin". We left the little girl in his care and told him of our crusade to Inner Mongolia. The old man patted Lin Feng on his shoulders at the end of our tale. "I will have nothing to say to you, Son. You have my whip and my darts. Use them well and be careful!"
We took our leave and walked to the end of the corridor and pushed through the door. To say that the room was in complete disarray would be an understatement; it was pandemonium. We waded through the clutter of objects in the room and even found a shabby sock on the desk at the front of the classroom with holes on it! An old man was lazing in his armchair, listening to a recording of a pings
The Seven Ghostly Sisters seemed to love bickering and teasing each other. It was later revealed that Aunt Fen and Xiao Er (literally, Little Two), the second of the Sisters, were dead much earlier than the rest, who died around the same period; hence they looked almost the same age. Aunt Fen then explained to her ghost siblings of our purpose. All six of them bellowed with such joy and excitement that I could not resist asking Aunt Fen of their sudden outburst. Apparently, having long being cooped up indoors, the six of them were anxious for an opportunity to alleviate their boredom and we had just presented them with the means of doing so. They had longed to roam the open, grassy steppes of Inner Mongolia and to seek fresh adventures upon the vast prairies of the North. We could hardly suppress a weak smile; we would be in for a hell of a trip, I guessed. I began to wonder who ordinary folk would think if anyone were to know that we would be traveling up north with h
We barely slept that night. For the first time, I truly experienced first-hand the agony that Mr. Zhang had endured on a nightly basis. The six Sisters practically threw up an all-nighter party last night at the center, the strong Yin energy in the night fuelling their exuberance and excitement of being able to travel! How could anyone have hoped to even close their eyes when six ghosts, all dead in myriads of ways imaginable, were zipping around wildly in the Center in a celebratory mood! We reached at the Wu Zhong County train station at 11 in the morning, carrying our backpacks on our shoulders. Our destination was the final stop of the train: the Beijing station, and our band, each with our bags and packs clinging to our arms, blended nicely into the crowd of youngsters traveling into the capital for work. We reached Beijing at 1 in the afternoon. It was hardly a long journey, since Wu Zhong was only about a hundred kilometers away from the capital. W
Lin Feng plotted the course to our destination with his GPS. "Oh my! How nice of him to choose such a far location to meet!" He grumbled. "As if we can do anything about it," I snapped, "Just get on with it!" We were halfway into our journey, when my phone rang, and the display on the screen of my phone showed a number that I could not recognize. I tapped on the "Answer" button and answered. A male voice responded at the other end, saying that he was sent by Tao Gang to meet us. Things might have turned urgent, I guessed. We were barely halfway when they were already expecting us. I told the person that we might need some time, since we were still on the way. Hearing this, Lin Feng's foot depressed the pedal and picked up more speed. The accelerating car hastened at Lin Feng's insistent, rendering blurry scenes outside the window that made me felt dizzy and I fell asleep. In my nap, I lost track of time until I was awakened by the ringing of my phone. It
With a crack, the ropes binding me broke simultaneously. The two women in the room screamed, which drew the other two women outside the door. At this moment, seeing what was happening, the women outside the door pulled out their guns. Pointing their guns at me, they said, "Don't move. Or we will shoot you!" Xiao San and Xiao Qi looked at each other, expressed a tacit smile, and held their guns. After that, I laughed and said to them, "I don't get it. Why do you put your hope on your guns? Are guns useful to you? It's just a concept introduced by foreigners! In their eyes, American weaponry is definitely better than millet plus rifles. But the truth is, what decides the winner is not the weapon but the capability. Like now! If I tell you that your guns will kill you, would you believe that?" While I was saying that, I snapped my finger with a crack. Then with a swoosh, Xiao San and Xiao Qi grabbed their guns and pointed it at the women! Of course, they wer
While listening to this woman giving a lively description, doubts came to my mind. Therefore I said, "It's hard for me to buy your story. Are you going to say that my calabash gourd is exactly the same as the one in the past?" Unexpectedly, she nodded her head and said, "I am Wulan! I led these people to become bandits. After my brother died, I moved to this semi-farmland region and contracted the farm. Over these years, I have recruited many people. In public, they are farmers who have property and farms. However, in the dark, they are bandits. For men who have abandoned their wives and children, like your dad, we punish them on sight! You told me you could uphold justice for me. Now let's see how you'll do it!" I said, "Okay, I will call my dad and ask about the story!" Then I rang my dad's phone... Actually, I didn't believe that my dad would cheat on anyone. And from what this woman told me, it seemed that my dad didn't do anything to her. What's more
These female bandits couldn't figure out what had happened. But to me, it was nothing hard to understand. Although Chongxi sometimes missed his shots on fortune telling, he was lucky today and figured out the right direction right away. Therefore he went ahead and waited for them. With the help of Xiao Si and Xiao Wu, these mortal women were definitely no match for him! Then he found a chair there, made slide bars, and made the women carry him all the way. What a trick! I bet that was a wicked idea from Xiao Si and Xiao Wu. When they all came back to Wulan's place, they made peace with each other. Wulan finally knew the truth in the old days, apologized for her abruptness, and thanked me for showing them mercy! Only my team didn't take extreme measures to deal with her followers. She knew that Murong Hai was a big shot, and it was impossible for his son to be weak. Therefore she understood that the reason why I didn't hurt them was that I was kind and benevolent enough
A month ago, a housing estate resident made a report to the local police, saying that there was a foul smell coming frequently from the house downstairs of his. It was Tao Gang who performed the task. He asked the residents around there. And according to the information provided by the neighborhood committee, the house owner had moved to Beijing. The person who lived there now was a tenant and had stayed there for half a year. He was a middle-aged man and a loner. No one had ever seen any visitors of his. At that time, Tao Gang knocked on that door and found there was indeed a foul smell in the house! Something was being cooked on the stove. Tao Gang took a look at it but couldn't figure out what that was. So he questioned the middle-aged man, "What is in the pot?" The man answered, "It's meat!" Tao Gang asked again, "What kind of meat?" The man answered, "It's not human meat!" Seeing that this man was perfunctory, Tao Gang didn't say anything more. After opening the f
Lin Feng, Chongxi, Xiao Qi, and the others walked up to the table, looked at the word that I wrote, and laughed. Tao Gang and Deputy Director Zhao did a search of the house, but they couldn't find anything. The rooms were all empty without any hard evidence left. Then Deputy Director Zhao sent someone to collect things like fingerprints. However, unexpectedly, there was no trace of the suspect in the whole house! I took up the rice paper, folded it, put it in my pocket, and said to Tao Gang, "Do you know the reason why that man replied to you with weird and short sentences when you questioned him?" Tao Gang said, "I have no idea!" I said, "The reason was that he was the man who called the police. He made a copy of the phonecard of his neighbor from upstairs and called the police. In fear of being recognized by you that he was the caller, he had to control his speech!" I took out the cigarettes, handed one to Tao Gang, lit it, and then said, "This case has been a scheme