The next morning, Lao Wei opened the warehouse, and I tried to take pictures of as many cultural relics as possible, and I was busy until half past eleven before completing the shooting task. In Director Deng's office, I typed the photos into my computer, checked the photo catalogue given to me by the editor-in-chief, and found that one item was missing, and the entry read: Panlong City Palace Ruins. It happened to be the meeting place that Wan'er and I agreed to meet. In the dark, everything seems to have its own certainty.

Lao Wei said: "The ruins of the palace of Panlong City are directly in front of the museum, only the appearance of the road, and it is too late to take pictures after eating at noon." ”

I put away my camera. "All I need is a photo that accurately reflects its location, and a panoramic photo will do the trick."

Lao Wei stared at his wrinkled eyes and said, "There is only one angle to take a picture of the ruins of the palace, and many people don't know about it. ”

"Where is it?" I asked right away. The angle of the shot can make or break a photo.

"On the mound south of the ruins of the palace."

"Is that location easy to find?"

"It's right next to the palace ruins on the edge of the vegetable patch, so it's not hard to find. However, that mound used to be a mound. ”

"Sealing the mound? What is the meaning? ”

"We had a custom in Panlong City in the past." Lao Wei is a local. "When some important people die, they will be planted like seeds in the ground, and that mound is the place where people are planted."

"And such customs?" In order to write the novel "The Return of the Dragon" in Panlong City, I have consulted a lot of relevant materials, but I have never heard of this strange custom.

"In the past, the people of Panlong City believed that after death, people would become a kind of seed that would sprout, and after planting it in the ground, it would grow a new life, and because of absorbing the essence of heaven and earth, this life would never die......

When Lao Wei said this, the mobile phone in his trouser pocket rang, and he took it out and saw that it was Director Deng calling.

Lao Wei pressed the call button, put the phone to his ear, said a few good words, hung up the phone, and said to me: "Director Deng asked us to go to the Huangnigang Hotel for dinner." ”

We walked to the front of the museum and saw the guide parked under a row of tall poplar trees, the cab window open, and Minister Zheng was sitting in it smoking. ”

"It's basically done." I say.

"Let's go, get in the car, and go to Huangnigang for dinner. The leader is waiting there. Of course, the leader he said was Director Deng.

The car went to Huangnigang. Director Deng sat at the window of the hotel and beckoned to us.

Due to the rush, the meal was only eaten for an hour. Although Director Deng kept giving his eyes to Minister Zheng and Lao Wei and asking them to toast me, I kept pinching the time to meet Wan'er in the afternoon and didn't accept their offers. Director Deng said helplessly: "Editor Zuo, drink wow, it's still early." ”

I told him that he had something to do in the afternoon and that he had to go to the palace ruins to take pictures.

Director Deng then gave up.

After eating, we drove back to the museum.

At some point, the sky was full of dark clouds, and it looked like it was going to rain, but fortunately there was no further delay. Director Deng, Minister Zheng and Lao Wei each went back to the office for a lunch break. I got out of the car in front of the museum, bypassed the row of poplar forests, turned around and walked east to a small stone path towards the ruins of the Panlong City Palace. The wind was getting stronger and stronger, and the grass and trees were swaying on both sides. I hastened my pace, and after about a quarter of an hour, I came to a high hill that was level. Gaogang faces the lake on three sides, like a peninsula standing high in the lake. There are knee-deep grass growing on the top of the high hill, and there are some ravines inside, which seem to have been left by the archaeological team to investigate and excavate here in the past. Facing the lake in the east of Gaogang, there is a two-meter-high stone tablet, which is written in red lacquer: National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit, Panlong City Ruins.

I looked at my phone, just after a little while, there was still a moment before the agreed meeting time with Wan'er, which was just right to take photos. I prefer to photograph outdoor landscapes rather than indoor still lifes. I took out my camera and tried to take a few photos from a few angles, but I was always not satisfied, either I didn't get a panoramic view, or I didn't get a picture of the lake, and I couldn't show the characteristics of the peninsula facing the lake on three sides.

I searched for the mound of sealed earth that Lao Wei said, and found that there was a protruding mound on the edge of the vegetable furrow in the south of Gaogang, on which grew three peach trees with thick trunks, and it took three adults to hug them. I figured out that this should be the kind of hill that Lao Wei said.

I didn't expect there to be such a thing.

Later, I checked the relevant information and learned that the so-called planting mound, that is, the bottom and the surrounding area of the tomb were covered with thick ash made of grass and trees, and the coffin was placed on the dust, covered with loess, and then planted with peach trees. When the descendants are guarding filial piety, they will water in drought and fertilizer in case of waterlogging, so that the corpse can absorb the essence of the sun and the moon, absorb the rain and dew, and persist for a few years, and the scattered souls will begin to grow and gather like peach seeds, and the peach trees on the tomb will also grow tall and luxuriant, and the fruits will be abundant. Once the tomb has been dug up, the body has seen the light of day, and has been exposed to enough yang energy, the person can come back from the dead, go to the ground and start a new life, and his appearance will never grow old.

I remembered the story that Director Deng once said about the digger who accidentally saved the woman in white, and I couldn't help but wonder: Is Wan'er a resurrected person in the human mound?

I stood on the mound of people, framing with the camera, and thinking about Wan'er's origin.

Dark clouds shrouded the four fields, the lake froze like ink, and the scenery on the ground seemed to become low and low. The ruins of the palace appear gloomy and gloomy, with green grass and trees turning white-gray, almost overexposed film, and blown to the side by the wind. At that moment, a white dot appeared in my long lens, and the focal length was extended, and I could clearly see a white figure ghostly floating up the hill from the path next to the palace ruins.

I adjusted the focus to make the blurry white shadow clear again.

She stood in front of the stone monument with a high pedestal and looked around, as if she were waiting for someone to arrive.

When she faced the mound, she calmed down a little as if she had seen me, and walked towards me.

She was dressed in plain clothes, and her lotus steps were light, as if she was walking, and as if she was floating, getting closer and closer, and her face became clearer and clearer.

I pulled out the old painting.

The background and portrait of the woman on the ancient painting completely coincide with the image in front of you.

I felt a chill rush from the soles of my feet to my body.

Suddenly, several uniformed men climbed up from under the shore of the lake, five policemen with pistols. They bent their waists and silently copied the white shadow from behind. I exclaimed, "Wan'er-! ”

As if hearing my cries, the white shadow turned and fled into the forest.

The police took me back to the police station and asked me again. I realized that their conversation with Wan'er had been overheard last night.

Guo Zhenchao - I prefer to call him Heita, staring at me like electricity, asking me to tell him who Wan'er is.

I understand that it is not possible not to say otherwise. Because I yelled at her and let her go, it means that I must have some kind of relationship with her. But I don't know how to say that. I tensed my nerves trying to find a plausible answer. I can't say that she is Xiaowan, because it has not been confirmed, and I can't say that he is the heroine of the novel, in which case the police will only suspect that I am insane, and I can't say that he is a fan of my novel, because I am not that famous at all. Who is Wan'er? I really don't know how to answer him.

Blacktower didn't know that his question was full of logical traps for me, and he didn't let up for a moment and stared at me. That seems to mean that I have seen through you, that you are making up lies in your head.

I finally found a harmless answer. "She's my netizen." I said quietly. Only by answering in this way can I show that I am still a normal person and can I not hurt others. Although I suspect I'm going crazy with this strange series of events, I think I'm a sane person, at least so far.

You see, I have a name and a surname, I grew up in an orphanage in the golden town of Wuling Mountain, and now I am the editor of the Hebei Ancient Painting Publishing House. As I recall further, my office was on the twenty-eighth floor of the publishing house, next to the editor-in-chief's office. Most of my work is to go to the library to find chapters and excerpts, and occasionally go on business trips. I also have Aunt Zhu, Shen Ma, Editor-in-Chief Li, and other colleagues around me, all of whom can prove that I am a real modern person, not a ghost of Zuo Lie 3,000 years ago. - Yes, I'm not that ghost, so I can't even say that she is my wife and my husband like Wan'er did. God, I almost said she was my wife.

"You've known her before, haven't you?" Blacktower's hand waved in the air. "What's your relationship?"

I mused for a few seconds, "It doesn't matter. Then I added, "This woman may have read one of my novels and used the name of the heroine of the novel, and that's it." ”

Guo Zhenchao's eyes zoomed in. "Novels? ――What novel? ”

I will try to briefly introduce the novel "The Return of the Dragon".

Blacktower stared me in the eye and laughed. The white-faced police officer named Yin Wenbin walked in, followed by Minister Zheng of the museum.

Minister Zheng said, "Editor Zuo, let's go." ”

"That's it?" I asked Blacktower, and he was still laughing.

“…… Yes, you can go. Yin Wenbin glared at the Black Tower unobtrusively.

"You've figured it out? I am a victim. "I am not happy with the contempt that the Black Tower has given me.

"You take him away." Yin Wenbin seemed a little impatient.

I stood up and walked with Minister Zheng to the outside of the police station.

Blacktower pressed the speakerphone button on the landline phone on the desk, dialed a string of numbers, and the call went through. "Hey! Who is it? "It's the voice of our editor-in-chief.

"Are you the editor-in-chief of the Ancient Painting Publishing House?"

"Yes."

"I'm the Panlong City Criminal Police Team. There is a man named Zuo Yan in your unit who is in our bureau. ”

Editor-in-Chief Li seemed to jump out of his chair. "What's wrong? Did this little bastard cause me something wrong? ”

"It's not. We felt like he was ...... nervous."

“…… Yes...... How could it be ......? ”

I had already walked outside the police station and sat in the passenger seat of the guide, and the conversation between Heita and Editor-in-Chief Li could no longer be heard.

The guide left the street where the police station was located, turned onto Linjiang Avenue, and after walking for more than ten minutes, he turned into the airport expressway. Minister Zheng has changed his old style of talking and laughing, and has always remained silent.

The car took me straight into the terminal.

We got out of the car and walked into the waiting hall, and a woman in white walked up to us, who turned out to be Xiaowan.

Minister Zheng showed a smile and said, "Editor Zuo, thank you for coming to our pavilion to collect style, we asked Xiaowan to send you back." ”

I could clearly hear that he was desperate for me to get out of here so that I could go back on an errand, and I couldn't understand why the two policemen said that I was insane, which meant that I was insane. Moreover, it is clear that Minister Zheng has also believed the words of those two stupid policemen, and his attitude towards me has changed 180 degrees. The tone and look were as if they were really facing a nervous disorder. This feeling is unbearable, like when you are not sick, but someone forces you to take injections and medicine. Luckily, I'm about to get out of this place by plane. Whatever the fuck you do to me, let me die...... I cursed angrily in my heart.

Xiao Wan went through security with me, boarded the plane, and sat next to me.

"Tell me the truth, why did you come to see me off?" I said emotionally, "Do you think I'm nervous like them?" ”

"That's nonsense." Xiao Wanman's delicate chin curled nonchalantly and handed me a card. Her face and Wan'er were as one person as ever.

The moving voice of the flight attendant sounded in his ears: "The plane is about to take off, please fasten your seat belts and open the portholes......"

The curtains that covered the portholes were pushed open, but there was not much light in the cabin. Dark clouds rolled outside the porthole.

"What is this?" I stared at the card that Xiao Wan handed me in his hand, it was rough and yellow, only half the size of a palm, and there were all kinds of strange symbols engraved on it, and when I looked closely, it was all oracle bone inscriptions from the Yin Shang period.

I suddenly remembered that this was the ID card that Wan'er had stuffed into me through the crack in the door the night before.

My heart was beating violently, and out of the corner of my eye, I seemed to see two long fangs sticking out of Xiao Wan's mouth.

My body suddenly became cold, as if the whole plane was a huge ice hole.

Suddenly, there was a loud bang on the left wing of the plane, and a wave of air swept away the thick ink-like clouds, revealing a crack about several miles wide and tens of kilometers long, as if the sky had been punctured. A white light rose from this huge crack and was just outside the porthole, instantly filling the entire universe.

Almost at the same time, the passengers let out an exclamation.

The whole plane began to shake violently.

At that moment, no one knew what was going on.

The stunned flight attendants ran from the aisle of the cabin to the front of the plane in a panic and sat down, struggling to fasten their seat belts.

The loudspeaker on the top of the cabin sounded sharply, and the flight attendants spoke quickly but clearly: Please note that in the event of an emergency, please fasten your seat belts, put your knees on your head, keep your chin close to your chest, clasp your knees in your hands, take a deep breath, stay calm, and follow the command. Then the flight attendants repeated this little passage again......

It's a horrific scene like what we see in the movie, but the next scene is something we can't see in the movie.

A bolt of lightning illuminated the entire sky, and then countless bolts of lightning shone in the thick wet rain clouds......

A terrible sound pierced through the entire fuselage from all directions, rushing to the human eardrum: click-crackle-crackle-

Crackling - this sound that we have never heard on earth before, is terrible and terrible, like the wrath of God and the end of the world.

The plane suddenly thumped, and a somersault was flipped vertically in the clouds, throwing a white arc, as if it had been overturned by the rapid air wave, and then the plane was slightly calmer, as if the pilot had regained control of the plane. The plane continued to pull upward, jumped over one rain cloud after another, went straight to 10,000 meters into the sky, and suddenly it was like an engine failure, lost all power, and suddenly made a harrier and turned over, and planted sideways to the thick floating sea of clouds below, like a huge bird suddenly lost its wings.

The plane passes through the clouds, the nose of the plane sticks straight to the ground, winding rivers, highways, speeding trains, blue lakes, bridges, trees, houses...... It's getting clearer and clearer.

Finished...... Crashed...... Dead here...... Teacher Li, I can't go back-Shen's mother--.

The thoughts flashed through my head, and then I felt like my throat was crushed, I couldn't breathe, my eyes bulged out like frogs, and my eyes were wide and bloodshot as if they were about to burst. The lights went out, and the cabin became pitch black.

All of them screamed helplessly, like they were on a roller coaster for the first time, as if this was the only way to dispel the fear in their hearts.

My head started to ache. I grabbed the floor with ten toes, pressed my forehead against my knees along with my entire face, and held my head with both hands as if it were a bomb ready to explode.

Like most people in danger, my nerves desperately tried to control my body, and my adrenaline naturally added to help, fighting to the death against danger, so that my face was flushed, my eyes were protruding, and my muscles were exposed.

Everything is tumbling. I felt Xiao Wan wrap her arms around me, her cold lips pressed tightly against my face, and a stretchy rope wrapped my upper body with the back of the chair without leaving a gap.

What is this for?

I resisted as hard as I could, trying to push her away.

The distinctive body fragrance emanated from her mouth, nose, cheeks, and hair, burrowing into the lobes of my lungs, rather than the terrible wolfdog fangs biting into my flesh.

"Don't move. You have to live for the organization. Her voice was unusually calm and firm.

What organization? I didn't have time to think about it.

The air of the atmosphere of convection hissed in the ears.

I had a scorching stench and a little blood in my nostrils.

The plane seemed to have stabilized, and although it was still falling fast, it still made a terrible noise against the air, but it no longer rolled.

I opened my eyes and tried to see what was in front of me, but the dense dark clouds enveloped the fuselage, and the cabin was so black that I couldn't see anything, but I could hear heavy gasps, crying, and cursing. The flight attendants don't know where to go.

After passing through a cloud of ink, the plane began to tilt to the right again, spinning in circles. A dazzling light flashed from the porthole, and through this light, I saw Xiao Wan's neck with an extremely strong arm, just like we saw in the world Hercules arena, thick as your thighs, hard as a pile of stones, and with body hair as hard as steel wire.

Xiao Wan's body was stretched and stretched like an eraser, and her bones could almost be heard creaking.

I twisted to see the face hidden behind that arm when I heard a thud of gunfire and the smell of burning gunpowder in my nose.

The giant arm disappeared from Xiao Wan's neck. I caught a glimpse of Xiao Wan's jade palm holding a delicate pistol, the muzzle of which was emitting green smoke.

The plane accelerates and rolls.

I can't see anything clearly.

My body and seat were tossed into the air, thumping against the cabin panels, other people's seat backs, plastic suitcases, travel bags, cans, mineral water bottles, magazines torn apart by the wind, splashes of blood, saliva, cold tears, or parts of someone else's body.

……

All the pain and fear were gone, and my nerves became numb and ignorant.

All the sounds were gone, and the world fell into endless darkness. I'm not dead. That was the last thought that crossed my mind.