The Tale Never Ends Chapter 170 Professor Zhang

The Deputy Director was also overjoyed and relieved when Zheng Shuang reported to him that I have come up with a way for them to explain the incident. "Personally, I myself failed to make out why was this incident related to the police? Since when does "natural phenomenon" like this fall under the jurisdiction of the police?" Then I heard how serious this matter had become: the higher-ups of the authorities had deemed this case so serious that this task force involved not only the city police forces but also the county-level headquarters.

But I was too young to understand the significance of this. It was only when I was reminiscing this incident with an older Zheng Shuang many many years later, when I finally got it. It was only human behavior. Fear and panic would sweep a community when faced with the inexplicable and incomprehensible. Thus, the authorities would have no other ways but to act, or be seen to be acting to it to restore order and peace.

But that would be a subject of discussion for another day.

The expert that Zheng Shuang introduced us was a local geologist who was famous in the country. He had come all the way from the capital and had temporarily taken up residence in Zunhua City. But he was also a stubborn and intransigent person who would have no other way but the truth and only the truth. Sadly, it was this very temperament of his that later posed a good many hindrances to resolving this matter.

The sky was dark at night when we met the man in a motel. Apparently, the old professor had refused the lodgings that the city had arranged for him, instead insisting to stay on his own initiative. When he first saw us, he misunderstood who we were. Accompanied by a few of the officers when we arrived, he saw us through the door and asked, "You kids are the ones who had witnessed the scene and took the recording, did you? Come on, tell me what you saw?!" We were stunned and Zheng Shuang hastily explained, "Err... Professor, these are not the people who uploaded the video clip. They are..." He paused to look at the few other officers who were from the Zunhua City police force, not knowing how he should continue.

The Professor stared strangely at us before his eyes twinkled as he understood Zheng Shuang's intention. He waved at the other officers escorting us. "Please, officers. I'd like a moment with these young chaps."

So all of the police officers, Zheng Shuang included, were huffed out of the room, even with the protests of the officers who tried vainly to reason to the old man about safety and security. At last the door shut, with only five of us in the room, the white-bristled man turned to regard us briefly before he spoke. "Speak. What do you four know about? Truth be told, I doubt there's anything these days that will surprise an old man like me. But even I could make nothing of this. Tell me. Is there more to this than a simple natural phenomenon?"

I nodded. "What an old fox you are, eh?" The old man was able to guess much just from Zheng Shuang's hesitant mumbles. I smiled at him wryly and nodded silently. His eyes twinkled again with interest and enthusiasm. "Heh heh heh heh! I knew it! I knew it when the captain contacted me, saying that somebody wishes to speak to me. What else could it be? Surely you're not here to ask an old senile like me to tea?" "So Zheng Shuang merely told Professor Zhang that some people wished to speak to him," I mused, "And he had intentionally omitted the purpose of our visit. But this old man was able to correctly divine who it was who wished to speak to him!"

I would have immediately spewed everything to him, including my idea of how should we resolve this matter. But it was hardly something that I could be open with him. Instead, I began by asking, "Mr. Zhang, have you ever considered the possibility that what happened at the Yellow Soil Ridge was something inexplicable by science?"

The white stubbles of whiskers on the old man's face rattled as he let loose a chuckle. "Of course I did. There have been instances such as the mysterious rays of light over the top of Mount Emei, and the haunted forest at the foot of Paektu Mountain; some of the many things once considered mythical and beyond the comprehension of humankind. But these have all been debunked by our country's top scientists of different fields and studies. Hence, I am sure that we will also discover the scientific and logical explanation behind the sudden growth in the vegetation of the Ridge despite the cold season!" Lin Feng giggled and said, "Be that as it may, old man. But how would you explain the crop circle mysteries, the UFO sightings, and the hanging Pantuo Rock? What about the Beijing w.a.n.ggongchang Explosion in 1626? The giant skeleton found at Mount Kunlun? The mysterious island near the Spratly Islands first seen in 1933? The 1988 Nanfu battery found in Dunhuang in 1965? The Death Valley of Kunlun? And the sightings of lightning streaking across the skies of Shanghai two years ago where there were speculations that someone was trying to endure the Crucible of Heaven?" Like a Gatling gun, Lin Feng hurled examples after examples at the old professor, finally putting to good use all the strange and unsolved mysteries that he had been so interested in reading about.

There was virtually no way that science could explain the events which Lin Feng had listed out, although we could. Take the discovery of the Nanfu battery at Dunhuang, for example. We knew that demiG.o.ds or immortals with powers such as Master Six's could travel back in time with apparent ease. The Death Valley at Kunlun, come to think of it, was hardly different from the Labyrinthian Canyon that Zhu Mei had enchanted with his Windchaser magic. Then there were also the sightings of the mysterious island in 1933; that, for all we knew, could have been another demiG.o.d or immortal performing his or her magic by conjuring a piece of land in the middle of the sea and the event must have been witnessed by someone.

But the old man was overwhelmed into speechlessness by Lin Feng's retorts. Until he broke into laughter, a roaring, thunderous laughter! This time, it was our turn to be flabbergasted! The old man continued sn.i.g.g.e.ring as he produced a box of teabags and made us tea. He chuckled again. "Good, very good! I'm pleased that you are so interested in all these, young lad!" I nudged Lin Feng in the ribs and whispered, "Hey, did you just drive him nuts by your machine-gun-like peppering?"

The old professor burst into another peal of laughter. "No, no, no! I'm nowhere as nuts as any of you! I am really glad! The things that you just mentioned..." He looked at Lin Feng and continued, "Indeed, we cannot explain most, if not all, of them. Some of them may just be myths or hoaxes, but I daresay that scientists today like me do indeed have no way to explain them!" He pointed a bony finger at Lin Feng. "And it all falls to young people like you to unravel these secrets!" And he continued guffawing again!

But I was still confused. I interrupted immediately. "Wait a minute. Professor, we're not here to talk about unraveling mysteries and secrets. We're here to discuss with you about what happened at Yellow Soil Ridge. Is there any way you can attribute this incident as "unexplainable" or "inexplicable?" I'll be direct—there's no way you'd find any scientific way to expound what happened then. This is why we are here. To implore upon your authority to keep things under wraps lest panic and fear will spread."

The old man eyed me suspiciously. "He must be wondering if we were behind what happened!" But I knew better than to keep the truth from him. "I'll be frank. You might not believe in the paranormal. But what happened was just exactly that!"

The old man slammed a fist into his table. "NONSENSE! How can young people like you believe in such rubbis.h.!.+" My head shook as I sighed, exasperated. It was as I feared; the old man was a stubborn intransigent unless we pummel some sense into him. I took out a pair of gla.s.ses; the ones Father gave me last year. It functioned like a set of lenses that allowed mortals to see spiritual beings like ghosts and wraiths. The old man saw me producing the gla.s.ses and barked, "What's this! Save it! There's no way I'll believe in all that nonsense!" I ignored him, smiling weakly as I used a talisman to activate a pseudo-Divine Sight while handing the set of gla.s.ses to the old professor.

That was because Professor Zhang was of an advanced age that did not permit the consumption or use of any talismanic charms. Hence, the gla.s.ses were the only viable alternative for him to glimpse the supernatural. I walked to the window and opened it, looking out to find a few wandering spirits drifting aimlessly about. Satisfied that they looked harmless enough, I was hardly perturbed to find them, but an impatient Professor Zhang grumbled, "What are you up to, boy!?"

Just then, one of the ghosts drifted by under the window. Realizing my chance, I shouted at him, "Hey! You there! Yeah, you! Come here!"

Two minutes later, the old professor was sitting in his room, his mouth hanging wide, stunned beyond words. Somehow, we were beginning to worry; it was a relief for us that the appearance of a ghost did not scare the living daylights out of him, but he might be caught up in despair as the very foundations of his belief system could crumble!

The old man stared wordlessly at the ghost for so long that we could have thought that he had truly gone mad. But the ghost turned to me suddenly and asked, "So, what is the reason for summoning me here, dear sir?"