Feng Shui Secrets of the Entertainment Industry

Chapter 140 Arrival at Linkou, First Encounter with Old Jiang

This time, we went to Linkou in three cars.

The three of us brothers, Long Nier, and Ma Shuai rode in one car.

After getting into the car, the old immortal, who was lying in Ma Shuai's hand, trembled a couple of times with his beard and brushed against Ma Shuai's fingers.

Coach Ma immediately adopted a listening posture.

After a long pause, Ma Shuai looked at us and asked, "Thirteen, did you also worship the immortals?"

"No!"

I was a little confused by the question.

"Immortals?"

Long Ni'er muttered something to herself, then suddenly realized what she meant. She smiled, reached into her pocket, and pulled out a small, white-spike-covered creature, as translucent as porcelain. She said, "Uncle Ma, the immortal you're talking about, it wouldn't be Xiao Ba, would it?"

"Chirp chirp!"

Once pulled out, Xiao Ba stretched out its four pink feet, seemed a little annoyed at having its sweet dream disturbed, let out two cries, and nuzzled against Long Nier's palm.

"White Fairy?"

Ma Shuai was a little surprised to see Xiao Ba.

Xiao Ba looked up at Ma Shuai and glanced at the sparsely furred rat in his hand. Its quills suddenly bristled.

"Our Xiao Ba can't be called a fairy!"

As she spoke, Long Nier tapped Xiao Ba to soothe its emotions.

Ma Shuai didn't speak, but instead pretended to listen.

"Is Xiao Ba a descendant of that Grandma Bai from Baicheng?"

After a while, Ma Shuai asked somewhat excitedly.

"yes!"

Long Nier nodded, and Xiao Ba shrank back, watching the old immortal in Ma Shuai's hand warily.

"Nier, I went to see Grandma Bai to try and heal my old man's injuries!"

Ma Shuai glanced at Xiao Ba and said, "Since Xiao Ba is Grandma Bai's junior, my chances of success on this trip to Linkou have increased even more!"

"Whoosh!"

Upon hearing this, Hachi let out a breath, and the thorns on its body returned to their smooth state.

Long Nier ran her fingers along the thorns and said, "Xiao Ba said it tried its best!"

The journey from Shenyang to Linkou is nearly 900 kilometers.

We rested for one night on the road, and at 10 a.m. the next day, we arrived in Linkou and picked up our guide.

The guide's surname is Jiang, and he is the old man from the forest farm that Ma Shuai mentioned.

Old Jiang is seventy-eight years old this year. He has worked in the forest farm all his life, so we call him Grandpa Jiang.

"Old Ma, let's be honest and straightforward. I'm acting as your guide this time to save up for my great-grandson's wedding. If you pay me the money, I'll give you my life!"

After getting in the car, Master Jiang first discussed the terms.

"Little Li!"

Ma Shuai called out to the middle-aged man in the passenger seat, who immediately handed him a cloth bag.

Ma Shuai took the bag, handed it to Master Jiang, and said, "Master Jiang, I've already prepared the money. Please check it!"

Old Jiang took the bag, opened it, glanced inside, and exclaimed with some emotion, "Two hundred thousand!"

After expressing his feelings, he said, "There's a bank up ahead. I'll go deposit the money there in a bit. Once I've deposited it, my life is yours!"

"Master Jiang, it's not that serious!" Ma Shuai said.

"It's not that serious?"

Grandpa Jiang patted the money in his bag and said, "I've worked at Tiger Mountain Forest Farm my whole life. Do you think I don't know how serious this is? Anyway, I didn't expect to come back alive!"

After saying that, Master Jiang slapped his seat, pointed ahead, and said, "Stop the car, stop the car, we've arrived at the bank!"

The driver stopped the car, and Mr. Jiang got out. He paused, then asked, "Old Ma, aren't you going to send someone with me to deposit the money?"

"No need!" Ma Shuai waved his hand.

"Alright, that's generous enough. If you trust me, I won't let you down!" Master Jiang chuckled and strode towards the bank.

"That old man is really generous!"

Fatty Lin said, looking at Master Jiang's retreating figure.

It didn't take ten minutes for Grandpa Jiang to come out.

After getting into the car, Grandpa Jiang chuckled and said, "Old Ma, have you prepared everything I asked you to?"

"Ready!" said Ma Shuai.

"It's good that you're ready!"

Old Jiang rubbed his rough, calloused hands together and said, "Let's go then, to Tiger Mountain Forest Farm!"

"To tell you the truth, I've wanted to go to that site left by the Japanese for a long time. Several of my old comrades died there!"

After the car started, Grandpa Jiang began to talk.

"I was born in 29 and lived under Japanese rule for over a decade. I know best what the Japanese did!"

"During the two years when the Japanese were about to collapse, I even helped them catch rats. Back then, we had no choice but to catch them; if we couldn't hand over the rats, we had to pay with grain, and if we didn't have grain, we'd pay with our lives!"

"Master Jiang, weren't you curious back then why the Japanese made you hand over rats?" Fatty Lin asked.

"There were many legends at the time. Some said that the Japanese captured a gray spirit and used it to train their rat army. Others said that the Japanese used the rats to dig for treasure. Anyway, there were all sorts of stories!" said Grandpa Jiang.

"Doesn't anyone suspect that the Japanese are researching the plague?" I asked.

"Yes, of course there was!" Old Jiang chuckled and said, "However, back then most people suspected the Japanese were training an army of rats!"

"Why?" I asked.

"Someone spotted a large rat in the mountains!"

Grandpa Jiang gestured with his hand, "It's this big, almost the size of a fully grown roe deer!"

"Later, after the Japanese army fell, they arrested many civilians and took them to the old forest. Those people never came out again!"

At this point, Grandpa Jiang sighed.

"Uncle Jiang, how were those Japanese ruins discovered?" I asked.

"After liberation, the country needed a lot of timber, so we set up many farms here. During logging, someone saw huge rats in the forest. After following them, they discovered the remains of the Japanese devils!"

As he finished speaking, Grandpa Jiang took out a cigarette, and just as he was about to light it, he glanced at us and asked, "May I smoke?"

"You can smoke it!"

Ma Shuai took out a cigarette and said, "Take mine!"

"Your is too weak, I'm not used to smoking it!"

Grandpa Jiang chuckled and lit a cigarette.

Grandpa Jiang rolls his own cigarettes.

The paper used was from used exercise books, and the cigarettes were from tobacco leaves that we grew ourselves.

In Northeast China, many elderly people roll their own cigarettes.

This type of cigarette is strong and has a pungent smell.

"Chirp chirp!"

With a puff of smoke, Xiao Ba burst out of Long Nier's arms and wrinkled its nose at Master Jiang in dissatisfaction.

"Hey, a hedgehog!"

Old Master Jiang's eyes lit up, and he said, "This must be a spirit! The White Immortal?"

"I'm stopping! I'm not smoking anymore!"

As he spoke, Grandpa Jiang stubbed out his cigarette and said, "Old Ma, you're a nationally renowned actor. May I ask, what is your purpose in wanting to visit the Japanese ruins?"

After asking the question, he added, "I know there are some things I shouldn't ask, I'm just a little curious!"

"There's nothing I can't say!"

Ma Shuai sighed and said, "I have a gray spirit worshipped at home. A while ago, the gray spirit was injured and appeared in my dream, saying that there was something at the Japanese ruins that could heal its wounds. That's why I started sending people to find the guide!"

This isn't exactly a lie; it's a mixture of truth and falsehood, and those who don't know the inside story would never be able to tell the difference.