It's been two weeks since Alex was kidnapped, and there's already been a lot of uproar in the outside world. Neither the police nor the FBI were able to find useful clues, but instead were distracted by some useless information.

The Carpenter couple were so anxious about this situation that they raised the bounty again and again. In the end, they were told that many people were providing information in response to this huge reward. This caused the Carpenter to stop raising the bounty and turn around and hire a lot of private investigators to find Alex.

There are also people who pretend to be kidnappers and try to cheat them out of ransom, only to be discovered.

During this time, the police found several unidentified teenage deceased, each time making the media mistakenly believe that it was Alex. Fortunately, the most dear ones were found out, and those bodies were not him.

However, this shocked the Carpenter family for a day, and in the end, in order to isolate themselves from the outside world, they completely refused all interviews with reporters and police inquiries.

Gradually, there is a rumor that Alex has been brutally murdered and his bones are gone.

"Otherwise, the kidnappers would have called for a ransom."

No matter how much trouble the outside world makes, Alex's sparring with the crazy old eight continues.

Never since that punch had been struck by the Crazy Eight had he shown such a powerful punch in front of Alex. Usually when they practice, that is, you come and go, sometimes Alex can still have a slight upper hand and suppress the offensive of the crazy eight.

"That's what makes it interesting! Come on, come on! We keep fighting. ”

Whenever Alex unexpectedly hits the crazy eight, he always looks happy, and he never sees him lose his temper again.

A few days passed like this. Kane is back, and he's not alone. He was accompanied by a mysterious fellow.

A man in a suit wearing a top hat and a white cloth hood. On the hood. It has a strange pattern, and this pattern looks like a huge eye. He wore white gloves on both hands, and almost all of his body were tightly wrapped so that no gaps were exposed.

When they came to the basement, Alex was resting on the bed, and the crazy old man didn't practice boxing with him today.

Seeing someone coming down, Alex quickly stood up, and he heard it, this is not a crazy old man. Rather, there was the footsteps of three people. Kane, Crazy Eight, and Mysterio come down together, and they seem to be intent on completing the last part of the mission.

"That's it! The goods have been safely delivered to you. Kane said, pointing at Alex.

The mysterious man walked up to Alex and got so close that he was almost face to face. Alex stared at the mysterious man's hood and saw that there were no openings in it, and he didn't even feel the sound of the other person's breathing.

"How does he see the others? Maybe the white cloth has good light transmission, but what about breathing, why doesn't it look like breathing? ”

The mystery man spoke, his voice sounding hoarse: "It is indeed our goal. You've done a good job. ”

Kane couldn't deny it, he touched his chin: "Then your price should be higher, according to the plan, you have already come to receive the goods." ”

The mystery man nodded and said in agreement, "That's true!" We'll give you double the price. What do you think? ”

Crazy Eight and Kane glanced at each other, they didn't expect the other party to be so generous, and they doubled the price at once. Oh, my God. Wouldn't that be a few million dollars more? These people are really rich.

"Of course, no problem, then please take your goods! If what happens next. We don't care! ”

Kane reached out and motioned for the mystery man to take Alex. As long as the other party walks out of this house. Their mission is accomplished.

"Don't be in a hurry!" The mysterious man pulled a needle out of his pocket, and he said to Alex, "Please cooperate, don't resist!" ”

Seeing the needle, Alex's heart suddenly lifted, and he looked at the three of them nervously. He knew that he would never be able to resist, and with Kane and the crazy old eight present, even if one of them made a move, he could bear it.

But looking at the needle, he was worried, for fear that the other party would inject him with some unknown medicine.

The huge patterned eyes on the mysterious man's face looked at Alex coldly, as if waiting for him to accept the injection willingly. The mystery man continued to say in his hoarse voice, "Don't be afraid, this needle is just to put you to sleep, not poison." We didn't go to such lengths to invite you because we didn't want a corpse, you know? ”

This didn't make Alex relax at all, but he became more nervous, listening to the other party's tone, as if he wanted to pull him to do an experiment or do something.

Could it be that the secret of superpowers has been discovered? Could it be that some mad scientist wants to conduct experiments on his own? Or is it what the mysterious organization is trying to achieve?

Where exactly went wrong, is it an IQ test? Or transistors, computers, movies, or music books?

All of a sudden, Alex was distraught and distracted, not knowing what to do.

The mystery man didn't wait any longer, he walked over, grabbed Alex's right arm, rolled up his sleeve, and inserted the needle into the vein.

Alex came to his senses after being pricked with a needle, and he watched in horror as the potion was injected into his veins.

What to do! What to do! What to do!

After Kane and Crazy Eight saw Alex being injected with the potion, the stone in their hearts finally fell to the ground. They knew that this strange task had finally been accomplished.

The effects of the potion work quickly! Alex immediately felt that the world was spinning, and he couldn't stand still.

The mysterious man on the side reached out and gently supported him who was about to fall, and then nodded to the other two people, and just like that, Alex picked up the whole person and walked out.

The crazy old eight shrugged his shoulders and said, "It's a pity that there is one less opponent to practice boxing." ”

Kane glared at him and said nothing. They watched the mystery man leave the house, walk to a car, put Alex in the trunk, and drove off.

Alex was injected with the drug, and his brain was running at high speed. There is even a way to resist the stun of the potion through the ability to "trace".

Many of the methods are prepared before the injection, and these are not used. The only way to do that is to be mentioned in a novel. Some masters are able to control their muscles to pinch blood vessels. Do not allow the agent to enter the heart, and then find an opportunity to apply pressure down the blood vessels to expel the agent.

When the mysterious man injected him with the potion, he feigned pain, tensed the muscles in his arm, and then took the opportunity to press the blood vessels in his arm with his other hand. At this time, it did not attract the attention of others, because the vision of Kane and the crazy old eight was blocked by the mystery man, and the mystery man himself did not look like he had practiced.

But the difficult part is that when you pretend to faint, your body must naturally relax. Once relaxed, the muscles do not pinch the blood vessels. In this way, the medicine immediately flows into the heart and from there into the blood circulation.

At that time, it was said that it was too late and that it was too fast, and while he pretended to be down, the hand that was holding down the blood vessels took the opportunity to slash down. He could feel some of the potion squeezing out along the pinholes in his veins, and no one could see it because it was blocked by his clothes.

As for how much of the potion remained in the blood vessels, then he had no way to confirm. At this time, the potion also began to work, and he really fainted.

Wait until he comes to his senses. I don't know how many hours have passed, and it is pitch black all around. He tried to get up, but immediately found himself locked in a small space. Soon, he was able to perceive that it was the trunk. After all, I had experienced it once before.

"Hands and feet are not tied, which is good!" Alex thought to himself.

He was lying in the trunk and could feel the car moving forward. I don't know where Lu Dao is now. When he woke up, he felt weak. You can only act when the strength of your hands and feet has recovered.

The trunk is locked, if replaced with Alex a week ago. I guess this question alone will be able to stump him. It's different now, Alex has not only practiced with Crazy Eight for so long, but also copied all of Crazy Eight's skills.

If these skills were to be used by Alex in battle, there might be some problems, but with so much time to prepare for them here, they will definitely be able to exert their effects. He didn't even use the fierce fist technique of the crazy old eight, just shrunk his body, used the strength of his legs, and kicked the lid of the entire rear trunk away with a hard kick.

This trick is also famous, called "Rabbit Kick Eagle"! This is a strange move, a dangerous move, and a trick in the national arts. It can play the role of breaking thousands of catties in four or two, and can use the strength of the human arm, waist and leg at the same time to kick out a huge lethality.

As soon as the lid of the car flew out, Alex threw himself directly into the grass on the side of the road, and rolled twice to unload the momentum.

The mysterious man who was driving was already unaware of the kick in the lid of the trunk, and when he turned around, he saw Alex pounce on the side of the road. He let out a loud shout, quickly braked the car, and then came down to find someone.

At this time, it happened to be night, there was no light on the road, and the lights were blind. Whether it's the mysterious man or Alex, everyone can't look far.

Alex was afraid that the other party had a gun or something inexplicable, so he didn't dare to stand up and run away, but lay on the ground and moved slowly. He found a very dense pile of grass to hide, and he didn't dare to come out.

It was a long time before he heard the mysterious man curse viciously, and then drove away. But he still didn't dare to move, so he stayed where he was and waited.

Sure enough, it didn't take long for him to notice that the mysterious man passed by the grass where he was hiding, and after the other party drove the car away for some distance, he secretly killed him again.

This time, the mysterious man still didn't find Alex, and he sighed and finally left. Alex, who escaped his life, didn't have time to celebrate, so he walked into the bushes overnight, walked a long way, and only collapsed after feeling safe.

Chapter 163: Heart of the Wilderness

The sunlight shone through the trees on a man who had fallen to the ground, and that man was Alex. The blinding light woke him up from his slumber, and he opened his eyes to look at the leaves gently rippling in the breeze, and then sat up with his hands on his body.

Alex looked at his surroundings and saw that it seemed to be a wilderness, and that the sun in the sky was about the same as usual.

The dew in the grass evaporated and dispersed soon after the sun rose, although the sun shone warmly on the body. But he could tell by the color of the jungle leaves that the temperature would not always be at such a pleasant level at this time.

"I was definitely too tired last night. Otherwise, I would have been awakened by the cold. Alex thought to himself.

Alex feared that by nightfall, the temperature would drop to a scale he couldn't stand. Pressing matter. He had to find a place to eat and to live. In an unfamiliar environment, the need to survive is the most urgent, although he knows that he is not out of danger.

Maybe the mysterious man hasn't gone far, maybe the other party is sending other people to find him. Everything is possible, but now we can only be cautious and wait until we are sure that it is safe to contact the family.

He didn't know where to find people, so he could only walk in the direction of the rising sun, using the sun as a directional sign, and he didn't want to circle in place.

Walked for two hours straight. He was so tired that he was sweating, and when the cold wind blew, he only felt cold all over his body, and he shivered even harder. If he can't find anyone else and arrange a place to stay, I'm afraid he will have a hard time tonight.

Alex didn't know how far he had walked, only to see a black line moving in the distance, and then he heard a loud whistle and took a closer look. It turned out to be a train.

He hurried towards the railway, and when he got closer, he realized that the train was old, and it was not as fast as he had imagined. Look down the railroad. Alex finally spotted signs of human habitation. It was a small site, so small that it was only a row of houses, with rows of trees behind it. If you don't look for it, you may be ignored by the human eye.

After finding the railway. Alex followed the railroad and walked towards the small train station. The station was empty. There was not a single passenger and no staff were seen.

"Anyone?" Alex shouted a few times at first, and suddenly remembered that his identity might be revealed. It would be dangerous to be preempted by the kidnappers or mystery groups who got their hands on him.

"Keep a low profile, and don't be recognized."

He had no choice but to find a chair and sit down, and after waiting for a while, he felt that it was not the way to continue like this. It may be that this station is just a place for the crew or railway staff to rest and stay.

The doors are locked, and the panels are not very thick, so they can be kicked with just one kick, but Alex knows that breaking into a house can be shot by the owner without asking the reason. There are probably more civilians with guns in the United States than bandits with knives.

He doesn't want to be shot off yet, and the more cautious he is when he arrives in an unfamiliar environment.

In the midst of his thoughts, another train slowly pulled into the station and stopped in the small station.

Several police officers got off the train, and they seemed to be going to fill up water and fuel at the station, and one of them looked strangely at Alex who was sitting in his chair, and shouted a few words at Alex. It's just that Alex felt that it was too unsafe to be in such a place, so he turned around and left, ignoring the people.

"What did he just mean? Seems to be asking where someone has gone? What else? ”

Alex was sure that the officers didn't recognize him, after two weeks of detention in that place, he barely recognized his current appearance.

Messy hair, pale face, clothes that already look a little tattered. Luckily, there was enough water in that basement, otherwise he would have been killed by the stench of his body by now, but the clothes were still the same ones he wore at the beginning, and he couldn't change them into new ones.

"Where the hell is this? It looks quite remote, I should have asked those people just now. ”

Alex saw a man sneaking onto the train, which was a train transporting goods, with no other occupants except for a limited number of drivers.

"By the way, pickpocketing, the most important thing now is to get out of this desolate land. As long as you go to a crowded place, you are not afraid that you will not be able to survive. Now Alex feels that survival is the primary goal, and other things can only be studied slowly later.

Avoiding the view of the others, Alex climbed onto the train, which happened to be the same one that the man had climbed on. He was a little surprised when he saw Alex, but he quickly ignored Alex's presence, resting his head on his duffel bag and staring at the clouds rolling in the sky with his legs crossed.

The car drove slowly, much slower than the train.

Alex found a corner and sat down, silently looking at the scenery by the railway, the sun getting lower and lower. The sky was getting darker.

When it was almost nightfall, the train stopped again. This time they were parked on a sideline waiting for the car, and a thin, old homeless man climbed onto the body of the truck they were in. When I saw them. The homeless man was a little surprised, as if he wanted to change to another body, he hesitated for a moment, and finally walked to the other side of the body, lay on his side, his head resting on a small bag, facing Alex and the other person, without saying a word.

Neither of them was able to recognize Alex and fail to realize that he was the protagonist of the kidnapping. This reassured Alex a bit. As long as he is not recognized by others, he can rely on his own strength and quietly return to New York.

By the time the train left again, it was already completely dark, the temperature was starting to get colder, and the fog was blowing in from afar. The three of them were all half cold to death, and what was worse was that Alex had no long body and relatively thin clothes. They huddled tightly on the edge of the body to keep out the cold, but to no avail. So they all stood up, paced around, jumped up and down, and slapped their arms to ward off the cold.

Luckily, it didn't take long for the train to pull into another sideline located in a small town. Waiting for another meeting car.

Alex stood on the body and looked out for a moment, wondering if he was going to jump out of the car if it went on like this. He's afraid he'll die cold on the train. But he was not sure that he would be able to find a kind person who was willing to take him in in the dark town, in such an unfamiliar environment. Placing your hopes in the humanity of others is a dangerous act.

At this time, the first pickpocketing accomplice said to the two of them, "I want to buy a bottle of wine." Can you keep an eye on my luggage? ”

"No problem." The skinny old homeless man replied.

Alex didn't react at first, but nodded immediately. The man jumped off the train and ran to the highway, and when he returned, he had a bottle of wine in his hand, as well as some bread and sweets.

At this time, the little old man sat cross-legged and took out a can of sardines from his bag. As soon as the man came up, he said to the two of them, "How about some wine to warm up?" I thought you might be interested in some bread and cheese, right? ”

"No problem." The homeless man's voice was soft and thin, as if it were coming from a small throat far away.

"Thank you!" Alex nodded and thanked him repeatedly. He quickly finished his food, and his body felt a little warmer.

In the second half of the night, the air was getting colder, which kept Alex awake at all. He wondered if the train was heading north, otherwise the temperature wouldn't have dropped so much as it did now. After stiffening for a while, he thought about it and simply stood up and punched.

Since he had been practicing with the crazy old eight for almost a week, he has also become a little interested in this kind of boxing exercise. During the period of escape, in order to ensure his physical strength and energy, he has never opened his mental space. Now boxing is also practiced according to his own memory, and he does not use his ability to assist.

The man who came back from shopping seemed to be very interested in Alex's boxing skills, and in between the fights, he handed over a piece of bread: "Are you karate or taekwondo?" ”

"No," Alex hurriedly swallowed the bread and said, "I'm playing Chinese kung fu, do you understand kung fu?" Kung fu! ”

"Aha, Chinese Kung Fu! I know it's amazing! I also know that there is a Chinese who is very powerful, and his name is ......" The man suddenly became excited, and said a certain person's name.

"Cold Mountain? Going to the cold mountain of Hanshan Temple at night? Alex felt a little inexplicable, what does Chinese kung fu have to do with Hanshan.

"Yes, yes, it's him, ah, Hanshanzi is a great monk, what do you say?" The man told a lot of legends about the cold mountains, deeds that even Alex, a Chinese did not know very well, in his mouth.

Hanshanzi?

Alex's understanding of this monk is limited to Han Shanzi being a famous monk in history, and Han Shanzi also has a very good partner, and these two people are most mythologized as the two immortals of harmony. He didn't know anything else, as for Han Shanzi's poems, as well as spiritual thoughts, he had never heard of them.

Maybe he had heard of it, but he didn't want to waste his energy to "trace" about Han Shanzi, so he listened to the other party undeniably.

The man ignored it and told a lot of things about Hanshanzi alone. Because the other party's Chinese is too poor, Alex didn't understand many words. But what was even more surprising was that the man actually recited a passage from the Diamond Sutra in Chinese: "All appearances are false; If you see things that are not like each other, you will see them as they are. ”

The pronunciation is not very standard though. But he was able to make Alex, the Chinese of his previous life, understand, which shows how hard the other party has worked in Chinese.

Through the communication between the two. Alex only found out that the man was called Jack? Kruac is a young American who calls himself a "Dharma Wanderer".

Jack was deeply influenced by Chinese Buddhist culture. Believing that generosity, compassion, wisdom and enlightenment are the most worthwhile values in life, he sees himself as an ancient dervishes dressed in modern clothes, traveling around the world in order to turn the Dharma and accumulate good results so that he can one day become a Buddha.

Astonishingly, the little old man, having drunk the wine, became in high spirits, and took out a small piece of paper from his bag and showed it to both of them. It was a prayer of St. Teresa. The content is that after her death, she will return to this world and rain roses from the sky, spreading all living things forever and ever.

St. Teresa was a sixteenth-century Christian female saint, Jack explained.

"Where did you get this?"

"I found a magazine in a reading room in Los Angeles a few years ago, and I cut it off, and I've always had it with me ever since."

"You take it out to see it when you take the train?"

"I take it out almost every day."

Alex looked at the radiant expressions of the two, and his scalp felt a little numb, he was not afraid of thieves and robbers these days. Fear fanatical religious elements. This is a group of people who can be equated with terrorists, who can do things that ordinary people cannot imagine for the sake of an illusory religious belief.

Even after such a bizarre thing as crossing over, Alex didn't plan to believe in any gods, he thought that if people needed to believe in gods. Then this so-called God must not be the true God. At most, there are more advanced life forms than them, so from the cosmic level, they are all equal.

Just as all life on earth is equal. Both humans and monkeys belong to life, and I don't see that monkey will worship humans.

Fortunately, the old man did not have an in-depth exchange of faith with Jack. He kept a low profile about his religious beliefs and didn't talk much about personal matters. He was a thin, short, and quiet tramp. It's the kind of person who no one looks at on the street.

This gives Alex a chance to get close to Jack, and it soon becomes known that Jack is going to take a train called "Midnight Ghost" the next night, which of course is called by the homeless man, and the railroad officers call it "Big Zipper".

In order to be able to avoid the mystery man and the killer, Alex decides to ride the "Midnight Ghost" with Jack. Unsurprisingly, Jack was happy with Alex's decision, and he really liked having people to keep him company, not to mention that he knew a lot of people related to China.

Alex initially thought Jack was a crazy religious, but through conversation, he realized that Jack was only interested in the Buddhist view of the world, and that he didn't know how to follow the precepts of monks. For example, Chinese monks do not eat meat and are very taboo about women, and Jack does not refuse to come with both.

The train started again. The wind started to get colder, and it fogged again.

For the next hour and a half, several of them did everything in their power and willpower to keep themselves from freezing or chattering their teeth too much. At first, Jack curled up and meditated on the ground, trying to dispel the cold by meditating on warmth. When this trick didn't work, he jumped up, clapped his hands and feet and sang repeatedly.

Alex wanted to be like them at first, standing up and moving. Later, he saw Jack meditating, so he followed suit. Through the puppet, I learned that the crazy old eight had also encountered a similar situation, and at that time, he also used a meditation-like way to keep warm.

Alex sat on the ground, meditating on the fact that he was in the heat of the desert, and his whole body was burned by the sun. Amazingly, he soon felt that he was no longer cold, and it seemed that he had been able to control his body's perception of warmth and cold.

I don't know how long it took, but the sun finally rose and the temperature began to rise gradually, and even if the wind blew, it was just a chill.

Alex jumped with Jack into what they called the "Midnight Ghost", a fast train that was several times faster than the one they had been in before, and if they had met in that situation, they would have frozen into a lump of ice and would never have been able to get off the train again.

Jack had anticipated this situation, and he had somehow gotten a blanket and bought a few loaves of bread and a bottle of vodka. At night, the two of them wrapped themselves in blankets, eating bread and drinking wine, and chatting.

After the two of them got off the train, they walked along the road, eating and resting by the beach on the way. Alex learns the name of the place from Jack, who is now on the beach in Santa Barbara.

They talk about life, women, the meaning of life, and so on. There is also talk of the "Korean War", people who died in the war, and so on.

Jack didn't seem to care much about that war, he was more concerned about the spiritual world. He believes that everything in this world is an illusion, an existence called emptiness. Only the self is real, and only by looking for the depths of one's own spirit can we dig out the meaning of life.

Alex is also not easy to make up his mind about Jack's view, if it is before he crosses over, Alex is dismissive of this Buddhist view, he is an atheist. But what happened to him could not be explained by science.

However, Alex is so inspired by Jack's perspective that he begins to feel that his journey is not aimless and meaningless.

"This should be the role of the great will of the universe! I need to do something, I can't go on like this. Alex thought to himself.

The idea of making a difference flashed through me, and at first it was just a seed, and when it met the sun and rain, the seed would surely sprout and grow. As a bystander, Alex also gradually understands Jack's thinking: he is not a madman, nor is he a fool.

Jack is just emotionally delicate and sensitive to things in the outside world, and Americans born in this era will inevitably have a sense of confusion among some people. I don't know where I came from, and I don't know why I was born.

Alex is very similar to Jack in this respect. After he came to this world, he was also confused at first, drifting with the flow, and didn't know what to do. Everything he does seems to be very powerful, but in fact, he does it at will, without a strong purpose and plan, he thinks of what to do.

After going through the perilous situation, he spends some time with Jack, which makes Alex start to think about his future. If this continues, he may not be able to survive and collapse when he is under more pressure and danger in the future, and eventually, like Jack, only wandering around romantic and aimless travel can relieve the depression in his heart.

When he was separated from Jack, Alex stood in the middle of the wilderness, looked up at the sky, and shouted, "I won't fall, I must take revenge on those who hurt me!" Let this world become more beautiful and more in line with my heart! I am the king of the world! The king of the world! (To be continued......)