Three thousand miles away, between the vast river and the sea, stands a huge city. In Lujiazui, at the bend of the Huangpu River, the chimney of a factory is spewing black smoke, much like a poet's poem just written: "The dark bay, the moored steamers, the steamers in progress, the countless steamers / The chimneys of each branch are blooming with black peonies!" / Oh, the famous flower of the 20th century! / The strict mother of modern civilization! ”

In the seventeenth year of the Republic of China, in the spring of 1928 AD. A pair of glass-colored eyes staring at the factory on the other side of the Huangpu River. Behind her, the buildings of the great powers, the most majestic edifice from the Suez Canal to the Pacific Ocean, and the Statue of Peace, like the Statue of Liberty in New York, overlooks the crowd of people who first disembarked from the ship and came to the city.

She is Ouyang Anna.

The factory on the other side of the river is called the Ink Maker Tiangong Aircraft Company. As soon as she heard the name, as well as the flying machine, and the general manager of the company was called Qian Ke, she naturally remembered Qin Beiyang.

Last year, the Nationalist Government returned to Nanjing. Qi Yuanshan served on the Military Council and traveled between Nanjing and Shanghai. Just after New Year's Day, Ouyang Anna took her daughter Jiuse and the thousand-year-old black cat that came out of the tomb of Princess Yongtai, bid farewell to Wuyang City and Yuexiu Mountain, and came to Shanghai by boat to settle in the French Concession. When I returned to Shanghai, I found that the Earl of Dharma Mountain's Fund, after investing in real estate and bonds, had increased in value far beyond one million silver.

Anna took back one of the small western-style buildings and sent her daughter to the best French primary school in Shanghai, where she was picked up and dropped off by a driver and bodyguards every day. After the Spring Festival, Qi Yuanshan was ordered to participate in the Second Northern Expedition, and finally had the opportunity to lead his troops to fight. Under Chang Kaishen, he prepared to march north from Xuzhou, attack Shandong, Hebei and other provinces, and attack Beijing to overthrow the Beiyang government controlled by the warlords.

In the spring of March, Ouyang Anna crossed the Huangpu River and visited the Mozhi Tiangong Aircraft Company. Walking into the open factory area, the roar of machines sounded in the workshop, and the sturdy laboratory building entered and exited the Westerners.

Suddenly, a man's mellow voice sounded behind him: "Anna? ”

As soon as she turned around, the spring sun shone on a handsome face, as if every inch of her skin was bouncing with droplets.

Anna blurted out: "Li Longsheng? ”

"It's really a distinguished guest who has come down from the sky, we haven't seen each other for ** years, right...... Don't come unharmed? ”

"Oh...... Be...... Yes......" Anna subconsciously arranged her hair and skirt, vaguely remembering the last time she saw Li Longsheng, she was saved from the Arctic Ice Sea, she had just parted with Qin Beiyang, as if it was a matter of the previous life, "Don't come to harm!" ”

"You and I are all right, very good! Very good! ”

"Don't talk sour, I'm a mother." Anna directly rushed at Li Longsheng, looking at the Huangpu River on the Pudong side, "You don't know, right?" ”

"I know a little bit about it."

"What about you?" Ouyang Anna narrowed her eyes, looked at Li Longsheng's face in the sun, and remembered that in Manhattan, New York, at the reception and dance of the Chinese diplomatic delegation, she danced a waltz with this man in the wind of Yushu.

"I just arrived in Shanghai yesterday, and I was in Cambridge, England a few days ago." Li Longsheng's smile didn't change, but there were a few more traces of time on his face, "I am the chief scientist of this factory, and I still have some shares in the factory, so I will come back this time to do a new experiment." ”

Anna stopped going around the bend: "Is the owner of this factory Qin Beiyang?" ”

"You really asked...... Not bad! Seeing Ouyang Anna's eyes trembling slightly, Li Longsheng asked, "Do you still want to see him?" ”

"No, what do you see him doing? I have nothing to do with him for a long time, and now I am Qi Yuanshan's wife. ”

"Anna, that's not what you mean." Li Longsheng's eyes were really vicious, "I'll take you to meet a few old friends." ”

Ouyang Anna was so smart, she had already guessed who she would meet. Li Longsheng led her to the office building of Mozhi Tiangong, where Anna first met the general manager of the Qian Ke factory, a descendant of the Qian family in Huzhou, and the first generation of aircraft engineers in China.

Then there is the dashing Italian Giuseppe Caproni, who has taken root in Shanghai and is bent on building the greatest flying machine of the twentieth century. When he was in Paris, he also wanted to kiss Anna, but she whipped him. Now seeing this Italian flying hero again, Anna generously shook hands and hugged Caproni with Western etiquette.

The last one, about the same age as Anna, wearing a white suit and combing a shiny head, was Timur, the king of Ordostoro. He and Ouyang Anna are classmates in the history department of Peking University, and they haven't seen each other for many years, so they are very embarrassed.

The little county king had already guessed why Anna came, and coughed embarrassedly twice and said, "I haven't seen Qin Beiyang for several years, and the last time was when Feng Yuxiang forced the palace and invited the last emperor out of the Forbidden City." ”

Qian Ke nodded in agreement: "I only know that he is on Taibai Mountain, and since last year, Taibai Mountain has cut off the telegraph connection to Shanghai. Originally, our airship had carried spirit stones, but now there is little news. ”

Li Longsheng frowned: "Could it be that something happened on the mountain?" ”

"I heard that Qin Beiyang was imprisoned on the mountain by his wife."

"Qin Beiyang's wife?" Ouyang Anna asked blankly.

The little king pinched Qian Ke's thigh and told him not to talk nonsense. Ouyang Anna remembered that she had met Ah You in Guangzhou a few years ago, and her heart naturally sank, but her face was expressionless: "It turned out to be Ah You's sister." ”

In fact, Qian Ke has always been thinking about Qin Beiyang, and he deliberately said these words to Anna: "It is said that there is a three-year agreement, and Qin Beiyang is confined to Taibai Mountain by Ayou. Now that the three-year appointment has passed, he still has no news, and I'm afraid he won't be able to come out. ”

Ouyang Anna paced two steps, saw an Italian Caproni biplane entering the hangar in the factory operation area opposite the window, and blurted out: "Let's go to save Beiyang together." ”

Li Longsheng walked up to her: "Anna, are you serious?" ”

"I take it seriously."

"When to go?" Chanco was already gearing up and putting his arm on Giuseppe Caproni's shoulder.

Two days later, Ouyang Anna took her eight-year-old daughter to Nanjing and found Chang Kaishen's official residence.

A few months ago, Chang Kaishen was newly married in Shanghai. Mrs. is a well-known family and graduated from a prestigious school in the United States. Qi Yuanshan and Anna and his wife both went to eat the wedding wine. Xiao Jiuse also made flower girls for the bride and groom. So, Anna asked Mrs. Chang to take care of Jiu Se for a few days. Mrs. Chang likes Jiuse very much, since this child is Chang Kaishen's goddaughter, Mrs. Chang has become a godmother. In today's world, Chang Kaishen's mansion is the most heavily guarded place.

Anna kissed her daughter goodbye, the black cat that came out of the ancient tomb, refused to be hugged by Mrs. Chang, and was always vigilantly coiled around Xiao Jiuse. She believed that Jiu Se was staying here for the time being, and she didn't have to worry about safety, but she was just a little reluctant.

She returned to Shanghai alone and boarded a large transport plane piloted by Giuseppe Caproni. Chanco also brought the Four-Winged Angel Tomb Beast with him. He understood that the radioactivity of the spirit stone was serious, and over the years, the four-winged angel had been isolated in the cellar of the factory, and had not gotten along day and night like Qin Beiyang and the town's tomb beast Nine Colors.

Before takeoff, the engine began to roar, and Li Longsheng said loudly: "Anna, have you thought about it?" Give you one last chance, it's too late to regret it. ”

"I've made a decision in my life, and I've never regretted it!"

Anna ruffled her hair on her forehead, had already changed into a neat overalls, had a pistol at her waist, and had a few blank checks in her arms, and now the last thing she was bad for was money.

"Does Qi Yuanshan know about this?"

The little king said more, after all, he had attended their wedding.

"I have told Qi Yuanshan that I am going to Taibai Mountain to find Qin Beiyang. Yuanshan said that Beiyang was his sworn brother, and he only wished to die on the same day, the same month, and the same year. It's a pity that Yuanshan is fighting on the front line of the Northern Expedition, and he really has no time to withdraw from the rain of bullets and bullets every day, otherwise he would have gone to Taibai Mountain earlier than me. ”

This is the end of the matter, and there is no need to say more. Five people and one beast took off from Lujiazui, Pudong, Shanghai, flew over the Huangpu River and the Bund, bid farewell to the first metropolis in the Far East, and flew into the land of the south of the Yangtze River in the cold spring.

Caproni flew along the Yangtze River. When we arrived at Hankou, we landed and refueled, rested for a short night, and continued westward along the Han River.

Anna looks down on the turbulent land of China from the air. In the past two years, the city has changed its banner, the Beiyang government will eventually be replaced by the national government, and the political center will soon change from Beijing to Nanjing. But the suffering of the common people in this land has not diminished in the slightest.

In the spring, the plane landed at an airstrip outside Hanzhong City, but it snowed heavily.

Kaproni stayed next to the plane, and the rest of the people loaded the four-winged angel in a cart and set foot on the road to Taibai Mountain.

On the second day of departure, Li Longsheng disappeared. No one knows where he went. Everyone looked for him for three days and three nights, but there was no news after all.

Anna decided to go to Taibai Mountain immediately, hiring the Qinling mountain people as guides, plus dozens of mules and horses to form a team. There was heavy snow in the mountains, and everyone advised her not to take risks. She said that since she had come all the way, why didn't she go and take a look? The king of Xiaojun has long heard of the name of Taibai Mountain, and his heart is also a little itchy, if he can climb to the top of the legendary Qinling Mountains and pull out the immortal platform, it will be a good trip.

They walked in the hinterland of the Qinling Mountains for several days, but they never got the essentials and could not find the road to the top of the mountain. Sixty years ago, the remnants of the Kingdom of Heaven settled on Taibai Mountain, destroying the ancient plank road and opening a new secret path, so that the mountain people who had settled here for thousands of years could no longer climb Taibai Mountain.

That night, Kankan arrived at the foot of Taibai Mountain. Ouyang Anna looked at the top of the mountain, but found that a raging fire was ignited, accompanied by a loud sound of avalanches and mudslides, as if the entire Qinling Mountains were about to collapse......

She saw the end of Taibai Mountain.