Chapter 790: "The Dragon"—the research institute!
Xiao He and the others didn't take Bao Xingsheng's arrival and departure to heart.
In the following days, the filming of "Mang" continued.
The plot of "Mang" also smoothly reached its most important part—
The revelation of the monster's truth and the real origin of the movie's title, "Mang."
"Mang?"
Wang Budao picked up a scrap of paper in his hand and read the word on it with some confusion.
"What does this mean?"
The captured antique smuggler forced a smile and said somewhat helplessly, "This thing was brought out along with that monster. We asked around, but no one knew what it meant, so for the time being, we just called the monster 'Mang'."
The young man, who had been nonchalant until then, flipped down from the railing he was leaning against. He scrutinized the person before him cautiously before saying, "So that's why you intentionally dropped the thing at the Hospital, then had the Hospital find someone to kill that 'Mang'?"
"Ah, you can't really put it that way..."
The smuggler, whose intentions had been seen through, naturally didn't dare to admit it. But he glanced at the young man with the extraordinary aura, then at the tall, stout man beside him. Finally, he swallowed hard and said, "Alright, the truth is we had no other choice. Our people originally brought the items out of a tomb in the mainland, then transferred them to Hong Kong, intending to export them overseas from there..."
"But last month, our cargo ran into some trouble, and we urgently needed to find a master to solve it."
Clearly, the masters these grave robbers found had all failed. Since they had some active connections in Hong Kong, they simply brought a "Mang" along and released it in Hong Kong to see if any masters there had the ability to deal with it.
Unfortunately, modern metaphysics was no longer what it once was. Hong Kong had more frauds than people with real skill. Even if someone was truly capable, the Hospital didn't have enough money to hire them, and they certainly wouldn't be willing to follow a bunch of grave robbers underground. Thus, the °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° matter dragged on until now, when it was resolved by Zhou Zhiyi and his team.
As if seeing a glimmer of hope, this group of guys sought them out and offered a hefty commission that Zhou Zhiyi and the others currently couldn't refuse.
But when it came to entering a tomb, Chu Xin, the only girl in the team, hesitated.
"None of us have experience entering tombs. Besides, if we follow you down, what if you burn the bridge after crossing it?"
Chu Xin questioned the man before her bluntly.
These tomb raiders had no character to speak of; otherwise, they wouldn't be digging up their own country's treasures to sell to others. Chu Xin was truly worried they might have the life to earn the money but not the life to spend it.
—As for whether these tomb raiders were breaking the law?
Please, they were people who, for money, could go against their Daoist sects and act as scientific frauds to debunk metaphysical ones. Did you expect them to be particularly noble?
Furthermore, they had been in contact with such matters for years, existing in a gray area where things were murky. They had seen no small amount of filth. For the sake of money and work, they usually ended up turning a blind eye.
After all, in today's society, supporting oneself is the most important thing, isn't it?
Of course, compared to work and money, life was clearly more important.
"Ah, I didn't make myself clear. We're not going into a tomb."
The antique dealer immediately waved his hands in explanation. "I'll give it to you straight. The great tomb we discovered this time is deep in the mountains of Nanling. Back then, a Japanese abandoned research institute was left above the tomb. It's still in decent condition, so we temporarily moved the items from the tomb into the institute."
"What?"
This time, Zhou Zhiyi's expression finally turned serious.
"We don't know if it's because those bastards committed too many atrocities back then, but that research institute isn't very clean. Those things are even more sinister than what we usually dig up from ancient tombs," the antique dealer said, sounding quite frustrated. "If I had known, we would have taken a longer route rather than temporarily storing the treasures in that institute!"
As it turned out, the people they sent in with great difficulty were gone, the treasures were gone, and the tomb had been disturbed. Now, they didn't even dare to go back in!
This was the real dilemma.
"Accumulated Yin energy, a clash of two breaths—" Zhou Zhiyi murmured, his expression quite grim. "An ancient tomb naturally carries tomb-sha Yin energy. By bringing so many things out, you effectively released the Yin-sha from the tomb. Then it encountered the mess left by those Japanese people. There must be many vengeful spirits of those who died wrongful deaths there. When the two types of baleful energy meet, they agitate each other, linking and amplifying... This will directly lead to the leakage of earth energy and the birth of aberrant evils... The guys who came back from there with you, they're probably mostly dead by now, aren't they?"
The antique dealer's face turned ashen. "Yes, that's exactly right... We just thought it was the miasma left in the institute by those Japanese..."
"From a scientific perspective, that is indeed a factor. After all, they were conducting bacterial research there back then..."
Zhou Zhiyi regained his composure and nodded slightly, though his fingers involuntarily tightened.
Traditional Feng Shui speaks of the 'Three Great Main Dragons,' divided into the North Dragon, Middle Dragon, and South Dragon.
Nanling is the main vein of China's South Dragon. It originates from Kunlun, passes through Yunnan-Guizhou to enter the Five Ridges, and spans across Hunan, Jiangxi, Guangdong, and Guangxi. It is the dragon vein hub and the gateway of earth energy for the southeastern half of the country.
Back then, when Guangzhou fell, the Japanese army established secret research institutes. One of the most notorious bacterial warfare units in history was located here. They used refugees from Guangdong and Hong Kong, as well as Chinese prisoners of war, for inhumane live experiments and vivisections, and deployed bacteria. It could be said they were malicious and cruel to the extreme.
It was said they continued north, and in the deeper parts of Nanling, there were also traces of their secret base activities.
The experiments inside would only be more horrific and devoid of humanity than anyone could imagine.
Just thinking about it or hearing it would make one tremble with rage and find it difficult to breathe.
Wang Budao grabbed the antique dealer by the collar and spat, "Damn you, you useless piece of trash! Your mother would have been better off giving birth to a piece of char siu!"
"How could you do something so stupid? Do you have any idea about the blood debts those people left here back then?"
"And you even moved things into that research institute. Why didn't you just let the items soak in more baleful energy so they could come back and wipe out your whole family?!"
With his face sprayed by Wang Budao's saliva, the antique dealer could only wail with a miserable face, "Help! I really don't want to die yet!"
"Get out, get out—"
As Wang Budao spoke, he was about to toss the man out. "We can't take this job! We can't!"
However, just as Wang Budao was about to shut the man out, he was held back by Zhou Zhiyi.
"Wait."
Zhou Zhiyi looked at the man before him, falling into a brief moment of thought.
Wang Budao's expression changed. "No way, Ah Yi? You're not actually eyeing their money, are you?!"
"No, it's those things called Mang..." Zhou Zhiyi took a deep breath. "Although we don't know if they're actually called Mang, let's just call them that for now! You've seen their power; it's definitely not that simple. They've already moved those ancient artifacts into the research institute, which has accelerated the leakage of earth-sha. If we continue to leave it alone, I'm afraid more and more 'Mang' will come out of there..."
Furthermore, there was a great tomb below. According to these tomb raiders, they had already connected the tomb and the research institute! If that were true, the supply of Yin energy would be constant, and the situation would eventually become uncontrollable!
"Brother Zhou is right."
Chu Xin's expression was equally grim, but as a member of a family with a traditional inheritance, she understood the stakes very clearly.
"Then what do we do? You saw the situation yesterday! One was already enough to handle. If there are more, or even a whole swarm, we'd just be walking to our deaths!"
Wang Budao was frantic.
"So... we can't go alone."
Zhou Zhiyi closed his eyes and remained silent for a moment. When he opened them again, there was only determination. The usually frivolous man had suddenly become steady and reserved.
"So, I need to return to the mountain."
An unworthy disciple, who had ventured out to wander the world of anti-metaphysics, feared he would be met with cold stares upon his return.
But there were some things they simply had to do.