Something Happened

Morning car horns, crowded buses, office workers hurrying along, students jogging with schoolbags on their backs—these scenes intertwined as the tense, busy life of a new day officially began.

There was still time. Wang Xuan found a small roadside restaurant and ordered a pancake, a cup of sweet soy milk, and a bowl of savory tofu pudding. He felt that the north-south dispute over sweet versus savory could finally rest.

"Here early?" He discovered that he was the first to arrive at work. More than ten minutes later, Liu Xue, youthful and fond of dressing up, arrived. Half an hour later, the others gradually showed up as well.

There was not much to do that morning. Wang Xuan sent and received several emails, briefly handled two sets of drawings, then quietly resumed studying the Daoist Canon.

Naturally, he was also keeping an eye on that senior colleague, Chen Yongjie, who loved calling people up to go fishing whenever he had nothing to do.

Sure enough, there had been problems. Wang Xuan's heart thudded violently.

Throughout the morning, his senior colleague made several calls in succession, talking about fishing, last night's raging storm, and this morning's clear skies after the wind.

In Wang Xuan's eyes, his senior colleague's every word was coded language!

Never mind the fishing—he had experienced that firsthand in the Greater Khingan Range. Last night's raging storm definitely referred to wiping out the Gray Blood organization. As for the clear skies beginning today, it probably meant that all parties would be keeping a low profile.

Then... Wang Xuan started feeling that everyone had problems!

For example, that guy in black-rimmed glasses was on the phone, saying he had slaughtered enemies all night and was still sleepy now.

Those two older sisters who loved playing mahjong were also talking in low voices, saying that fortune took turns at the table, luck was not decided by a moment's gain or loss, and they would fight a decisive battle the next time one of them became the dealer.

Then there was that somewhat sentimental colleague who loved composing poetry whenever he had nothing to do. First thing in the morning, he recited: "I take the heavens as my curtain and hang a string of fireworks. With a bang, they burst in such splendor, stunning the mortal world."

Wang Xuan's heart pounded in alarm. What kind of people were these?!

Could it be that they had all taken part in the operation last night, piloting warships to destroy a batch of hostile spacecraft?

In the end, Wang Xuan even felt that Liu Xue, the young woman beside him applying lipstick while looking into a small mirror, was suspicious. She said the shade of this lipstick was not right. She liked a bleakly gorgeous red, a blood-red carrying an air of mournful sorrow. Only that had a tranquil beauty beyond this world.

Just listen to them—everyone in the room was speaking in code. Wang Xuan's head immediately began to ache. He sat there without revealing anything, forcing himself to calm his mind and focus on studying the Daoist Canon.

At last, it was time for lunch. His colleagues, chatting and laughing, took Wang Xuan, the newcomer, to try the newly opened restaurant outside the design institute.

Wang Xuan ate without tasting anything, his mind elsewhere. He wanted to ask them about it, but feared being too abrupt and direct.

After lunch, it was still his senior colleague who seemed more steady. He privately approached Wang Xuan, but one sentence nearly made Wang Xuan turn and leave, because his senior colleague asked whether he wanted to go fishing.

After his dangerous experience in the Greater Khingan Range, where he had nearly been locked onto by the Gray Blood organization's space warship, Wang Xuan never wanted to wade into such muddy waters again.

"Young man, you are still young. You still have hot blood, still have a youth that can brim with tears. You must cherish it."

With a wooden expression, Wang Xuan asked whether he wanted him to serve as fish bait again.

"What are you thinking? I'm just inviting you to fish at that machinery factory behind the design institute that has been abandoned for years. There's a lake there, neither too large nor too small. The reeds are flourishing now, and the wild fish are nice and fat."

Wang Xuan looked at him suspiciously. Was his senior colleague vaguely admitting that he was that high-ranking figure in the Exploration Organization?

"It was me." As if knowing what he was thinking, his senior colleague admitted it directly. "Come on. We just finished lunch. We can talk while we walk and fish for a while." He had prepared everything. The trunk of his old Red Sun car contained every kind of fishing gear.

On the way, Wang Xuan could not help asking what identities those colleagues in the office had.

Chen Yongjie first stared blankly, then truly could not hold it in any longer and burst out laughing. "Where did your mind go? Do you really think this retirement office of ours is a crouching tiger, hidden dragon den, filled with abnormal humans? They're just a group of normal men and women who love gaming, playing mahjong, reciting melancholy poetry, dressing up, and watching horror films. The only abnormal ones are you and me."

Wang Xuan was speechless. It took him a long while to recover before he finally said, "You're the abnormal one. I'm perfectly normal!"

Chen Yongjie gave him a surprised look. "Perfectly normal? I heard that with one slap, you wiped a beauty's face away, then killed five people in several days."

"That is rumor and slander. I have never killed anyone!" Wang Xuan hurriedly corrected him. He obeyed the law; he had merely injured five people in self-defense.

"More or less the same." His senior colleague nodded.

Wang Xuan could not be bothered explaining to him. He only wanted to ask what exactly his identity was and why he was holed up working in such an inconspicuous place.

His senior colleague brought him to the lakeside within the abandoned machinery factory, set out the fishing rods, and said, "I'm Qing Mu's master. I run between New Star and Old Earth. Wherever I am, I need some leisurely job as cover. Don't you like it here too?"

The moment Wang Xuan heard that, he understood. Qing Mu had long made preparations and taken precautions. Right after Wang Xuan graduated, Qing Mu had maneuvered him over to his master's side.

Even if Wang Xuan had not chosen to join the Exploration Organization back then, with such a senior colleague beside him, he would probably have been talked into joining sooner or later.

"You planned this all along!" Wang Xuan sighed. But what else could he say? His senior colleague had already revealed his identity, displaying utter sincerity.

"Don't let it become a knot in your heart. Last time, after meticulous calculations and arrangements, the Gray Blood organization's spacecraft could not possibly have threatened you. The moment they showed themselves, they would have been shot down. Forget it, let's not talk about that. I heard you practice the Golden Body Art, so I'm giving you a gift."

His senior colleague handed him a book. It looked rather old, carrying the weathered traces of passing years.

Wang Xuan accepted it and opened it. After examining it carefully again and again, he revealed a surprised expression. The book recorded all kinds of plants, minerals, strange creatures, and more.

"Is this reliable?" After flipping through a few pages, he immediately felt as though a new world had opened before him.

For example, the book recorded Moonlight Silver, an exceptionally rare and special mineral. If that ore was cracked open, Silver Liquid would flow out. It had to be consumed immediately, or it would quickly evaporate and scatter like brilliant moonlight.

If ordinary people drank some of it, it could revitalize their flesh and blood. For those who practiced the Golden Body Art or Iron Cloth Shirt, it was especially effective. It counted as a great tonic and could speed up improvements in physique.

There was also a certain Golden Mushroom. Ground into powder and simmered into soup, it could increase bone density, especially nourish the marrow, and make newly produced blood more active, thereby gradually improving one's entire constitution.

The more Wang Xuan read, the more absurd it seemed. He had never heard of these things before. He felt that even if he checked an encyclopedia of illustrations, he would not find the real objects.

For example, it later mentioned a certain Mountain Snail, born among mountain rocks and considered a rare mountain treasure. If one was caught, dried, and ground into powder, then consumed in a daily dose of one qian for half a month, it could extend one's life by five years.

The more Wang Xuan read, the less he believed it. In his spare time, he had read works such as the Compendium of Materia Medica, yet he had never seen any of these bizarre things.

Chen Yongjie spoke. "Don't disbelieve it. These things are recorded in Daoist Ancestral Courts and Buddhist Ancient Temples. This book merely compiled them, while also adding some strange objects mentioned in Pre-Qin Bamboo Slips."

Wang Xuan froze. "But after so many years, who has ever seen them? They went extinct—I don't know how many years ago."

"You cannot see them on Old Earth now, but that does not mean they do not exist in deep space." His senior colleague smiled.

Wang Xuan keenly noticed that he had said deep space, rather than New Star. He sensed a subtle distinction.

His senior colleague suddenly jerked up the fishing rod, then shook his head regretfully. The fish had gotten away; he had failed to catch it. He continued, "Over the past decade or so, people have gradually obtained some of these strange objects. Though the quantities were small, they caused no small stir. Some people even discovered Earth Immortal Grass, but unfortunately, they could not pick it."

Wang Xuan rapidly flipped through the book and found the page on Earth Immortal Grass. Its description was truly enough to make one yearn for it: consuming a single plant could extend one's life by two hundred years.

"That is why people on New Star are going mad. Extending life by two hundred years is equivalent to two rebirths for ordinary people. The old men in the financial conglomerates, the heads of the Life Science Research Institute, and the rest are all on the verge of madness. They are all taking action."

Wang Xuan's emotions truly surged, but he quickly became wary again. This old man loved "fishing" most of all. Surely he had not come up with another bad idea?

"It sounds rather lively over there. You gave me this book, then told me all this to whet my appetite. What are you after this time? Say it!"

"Young people these days think too much. Unlike our era, when we were all simple, good youths. You are thinking too much again." His senior colleague shook his head, then suddenly yanked the fishing rod and finally caught a... soft-shelled turtle.

"Get lost, why are you making trouble? I'm fishing here!" The old man removed the turtle and threw it away. In his words, it looked as though it had only been released not long ago, half-dead and barely alive—not some kind of tonic.

"Places to go to New Star are in high demand. Young man, you need to work hard." Before they returned, his senior colleague said this.

However, after hearing all that, Wang Xuan became somewhat guarded against him. He had his doubts and felt that even if he wanted to go to New Star, it would be better to avoid his senior colleague.

That evening, after returning home, he practiced the Old Arts, pondered the Ascension Stone, and also thought of the exotic flowers, rare herbs, and various minerals mentioned in that book.

"Studying the Daoist Canon by day and practicing the Old Arts by night—this life is not bad. I can consider going to New Star after some time. For now, I'll first see whether I can find an Ascension Stone."

There was a Thousand-Year Ancient Temple outside this city. Wang Xuan intended to Go take a look soon.

Tomorrow was Saturday. He planned to visit his parents early in the morning. They did not live very far away, and he went home roughly once every two weeks.

"There is a mountain near my home, and it seems to have some legends. It seems related to some Fairy Maiden." Wang Xuan's heart stirred. Though he could not visit that Thousand-Year Ancient Temple for the moment, he could take a walk in the mountains while returning home.

Plans could not keep up with changes. That night, Wang Xuan had a nightmare. He dreamed of a woman in white clothes and red shoes, her long hair hanging loose. Two trails of blood marked her beautiful face as she drew closer and closer to him, nearly touching his face. He woke with a start.

Ever since practicing the Old Arts, he had always slept peacefully and had never again experienced nightmares. But today was somewhat eerie.

Wang Xuan adjusted his breathing and calmed himself. Not long afterward, he fell asleep again. Yet an hour later, he woke with a start once more, feeling an icy wind blow across his face. Again, he dreamed of the Female Daoist practitioner with two streaks of bloody tears on her face.

He realized that something had happened. He had encountered major trouble. He had never believed in such things, but the reality was that once he fell deeply asleep, he would dream of that woman.

"Looks like I can't go home tomorrow." Even he could not figure out what was happening. He did not want to recklessly return home; it seemed that something bad had attached itself to him.

That night, Wang Xuan fell deeply asleep again and again, and woke again and again, until dawn arrived. He immediately contacted his senior colleague Chen Yongjie. He felt that even Qing Mu could not help him.

"Something like that happened?" His senior colleague was very serious and did not disbelieve him, because as a veteran explorer, he had personally experienced some abnormal events that remained unexplained to this day.

"Don't worry. A little later, I'll have someone bring you a talisman paper. It was personally drawn by an old Daoist priest who has lived for more than a hundred years. It is very useful."

His senior colleague did as he said and had someone deliver it that afternoon.

Yet deep into the night, that unsettling, eerie phenomenon appeared again. Moreover, that so-called Daoist talisman paper directly caught fire, nearly setting Wang Xuan's bedding and hair ablaze, leaving him staring helplessly with no way to deal with it.

The latter half of the night was even worse. After finally falling asleep, he woke in shock from a wave of icy coldness. He felt something in his arms. It was covered all over in long hair, and a pair of terrifying eyes had opened, staring right at him!