7. Return the Pearl
(Figure 3-7-1) After its round-the-world voyage, the "China Pearl" returned to Shanghai and saw the newly completed Sassoon House on the Bund.
As we flew over the Bund, I felt something was different there, but Annie noticed it first: "Look! That's the newly completed Sassoon House! It had just started construction when we left Shanghai last year!" Annie pointed excitedly out the window. Indeed! A new, striking building with a pointed roof has appeared on the first row of buildings along the Bund, right next to the Palace Hotel. (Editor's note: The Sassoon House is now the Peace Hotel.) The plane slowly landed on the river. I taxied to the dock of Kiangnan Shipyard and handed the plane over to the shipyard manager. After a year of long-distance flights around the world, the "China Pearl" needed to go into the shipyard for maintenance. When we broke up, I asked Kim Bihui for the luminous pearl, but she refused: "If you want to go to Loulan, the three of us should go together! Don't forget I helped you find the luminous pearl."Kim Bihui shouted, "Trying to dump me? No way!" "My dear princess, we stole the Japanese's sacred objects. Do you think they will let us off the hook? I think it's safer to put them in the safe at our consulate, where the British flag protects them." "The British flag? What can a rag protect?" Kim Bihui said, "Don't worry! The Japanese won't dare to cause me any trouble!" After saying that, she got into a car that came to pick her up and drove off. I noticed that the man in the back seat looked like the Japanese man with thick eyebrows and a wide face that I kept running into in France Club. Could he be that Japanese spy Kenji Doihara? How did Kim Bihui get involved with him? Later I found out that she wasn't just saying that the Japanese wouldn't dare to cause her any trouble. Annie got into the car sent by her godfather, Huang Jinrong, and returned to the hotel, while I unloaded my motorcycle and rode back to my lodgings. Now that we had the luminous pearl, we had to wait for an opportunity to return to Loulan. According to my father's diary, the last time the Archmage Nalan stole the pearl was during a total solar eclipse. So, did we also have to wait for a total solar eclipse to put it back? No one could answer that question. I went to the Shanghai Astronomical Observatory to check the data and found that the next total solar eclipse was still several years away. In any case, I telegraphed my father to report the latest development. I can't just think about the luminous pearl, nor can I spend all my time fooling around with two women. I've been away from the naval intelligence group for a year, and I have to go back to report as soon as possible. When I got back to the office, I found that everything was still the same, except that Lieutenant Willie, who was acting as my deputy, was gone. "Willie's been transferred to the ship!" his colleagues exclaimed. "You've only been gone a short while and Willie's already made a huge mistake!" It turns out that while I was away from China, the Nanking government's Navy ordered two light cruisers from the Harima Shipyard in Japan for 4.32 million dollars. Willie was completely unaware of this. When his superiors investigated, Willie was transferred from the intelligence group to work on a British gunboat patrolling the Yangtze River. "Purchasing warships from Japan? Aren't the Japanese their biggest threat? How could they let this happen?"
(Figure 3-7-2) The "Ninghai" light cruiser and the "Ninghai-1" shipborne reconnaissance aircraft purchased by the Chinese government from Japan.
I once went to see him on the gunboat HMS Peterel, which was serving on the Whampoo River. He was serving as a lieutenant acting as deputy Executive Officer and seemed a bit depressed. "I'm going crazy from being cooped up on the ship every day!" The vice-commander was the ship's housekeeper and couldn't leave for a moment. Thinking back to his carefree days in the intelligence group, it's no wonder Willie sighed. "Let me think of a way. If I can get the Chinese government to buy more warships from Britain, maybe you can..." At this moment, the captain came over, and I couldn't continue. I saluted, greeted him, and hurriedly disembarked.
Ouyang Ge was a vice admiral in the Chinese Navy, but strangely, the Navy Ministry did not recognize his rank, so he could only serve in the General Staff Headquarters. During our meeting, we learned from our conversation that he had served as the captain of the warship "Yuchang" in Kuangchow. In 1922, he attracted attention for leading his ship to protect Sun Yat-sen when his subordinate Chen Jiongming rebelled on the warship "Yungfeng". Later, he helped Chiang Kai-shek purge the Communists in the Navy and became the vice principal of the Naval Academy. Like Commander Shen Honglie, because he was not from the Mawei faction, he was suppressed by the Foochow faction in the Navy Ministry.
"So you're the guy who was flying in the sky that day?" When I mentioned taking off with Soong Ching-ling on the "Rosamond" in 1923, Ouyang Ge laughed and said, "I was piloting the ship right below at the time!"
"I was originally going to sink you!" I said.
"Speaking of which, I've been put in charge of establishing a new naval academy and procuring new ships..."
"Purchase new ships? I just came back from the Navy Department, and they said there's simply no budget left." I looked doubtful.
"You don't understand! The 'higher-ups' I'm talking about aren't the Navy Ministry, but the real higher-ups, like Commander-in-Chief Chiang!" Ouyang Ge said. "He's thoroughly fed up with those Foochow guys in the Navy Ministry and is now planning to set up a naval Whampoa Military Academy, starting with training young soldiers, so that he can eventually build a navy under his own control."
"Then you should go to Britain for an inspection, and I can arrange for you to visit Britain's latest warships," I said, seizing the opportunity.
"Chief Kui Yungching suggested I visit Germany, but I think I'll definitely go to England too," Ouyang Ge said.
In 1932, the Torpedo School, with Ouyang Ge as its director of education, began enrolling students. I finally secured an order from him to purchase over a dozen motorized torpedo boats (MBTs) from the British Thorncroft Company. However, the Germans also snatched orders for several large torpedo boats (Schnellboot), so it was even. But a few years later, when China wanted to purchase submarines, we were thwarted again because the British government refused to approve exports. In the end, the order for five submarines (U boot) went to Germany, but with the outbreak of World War II in 1939, none of these submarines were ever delivered.
Lieutenant General Ouyang bought this batch of torpedo boats through me. I helped him negotiate very favorable terms with the manufacturer, so he bought more than ten boats in total. However, this blocked the path to wealth for a certain important person, which later led to the tragic end of Ouyang Ge being executed by Chiang Kai-shek. But that's another story.
Having been away for a year, and being extremely busy upon returning to the intelligence team, I rarely had time to visit Annie. We only had time for dinner on weekends and spent the night at her hotel. Fortunately, she was also busy with her own affairs. Since her stay in China exceeded her permitted time, Annie's father appointed her as his oil company's representative in Shanghai. Annie was beautiful and had a sweet tongue, and many of her clients had watched her grow up, making business easy to manage. As for Kim Bihui, I lost contact with him after he got off the plane.
"Paul, when are we going to Loulan?" she whispered in my ear as she clung to me like a snake while we danced. "You've used all the beads as ornaments, what are we supposed to take?" "If you let me be queen tonight, I'll give it back to you!" Her tongue licked under my ear. "You? You know perfectly well about me and Annie..." I pushed her away. "Annie? What's the problem? We can just play together as a group!" Kim Bihui turned around and called to Annie, "What do you say, Annie?" Strangely, Annie walked over obediently, nestled beside Kim Bihui, and nodded, completely unlike her usual self.
(Figure 3-7-4) Annie and Kim Bihui are having sex in the bed of a luxury suite at the Palace Hotel.
I must admit that making love with Kim Bihui was an unforgettable experience. Unlike Annie, she knew all sorts of strange ways and tricks. While we were entangled, Annie quietly watched from the side, which excited Kim Bihui even more. She would growl in a low voice while scratching my back until it was covered in bruises. Finally, I couldn't bear it anymore and gave myself to her. I looked at Annie and felt pity for her, so I turned around and started making love to her. Kim Bihui caressed Annie's entire body while I was at the climax. But when I reached my climax, Kim Bihui pushed Annie away and came forward to meet her, so I gave in to her again. It wasn't until the third time that I truly made love to Annie; afterward, Kim Bihui asked for it again. In the end, the two of them hugged and caressed each other, while I was so tired that I fell fast asleep. The three of us slept until the afternoon of the next day before we got up. "Shouldn't you return the luminous pearl to me?" "Not yet! We must go to Loulan together!" "That's no problem! But the luminous pearl should be handed over to me first; that's our condition for the exchange!" "You're going to Peking on business in a few days, it'll be too much trouble for you to bring a bead. I'll keep it for you for a while, and we can go to Loulan together after the New Year, okay, Annie?" Annie just nodded vigorously, as if she had been hypnotized by Kim Bihui.
(Figure 3-7-5) The postal plane "Jinan" that caused Xu Zhimo's death was parked at Shanghai Longhua Airport.
I used to fly mail planes and know that pilots often use gaps in mail packages to smuggle passengers and earn extra money. China Airlines has institutionalized this practice, with the company printing invoices and managing them uniformly. The power has been transferred from the pilots to the financial manager. That's why Bao Junjian has a lot of these boarding passes for public relations purposes. Since I don't go to Peiping often, it would be a waste to not use all these free tickets. Just before I went to Peiping, I met Xu Zhimo. He mentioned that because his wife Lu Xiaoman's extravagant lifestyle and high expenses made it difficult for him to travel between Shanghai and Peiping to teach, which was quite tiring. When I heard this, I thought it was perfect, so I gave him all the extra free tickets. Xu Zhimo was overjoyed. This was the last time I saw him. Little did I know that these free tickets would become his death warrant. At the end of the following year, he died in an air crash in Shantung on the China National Aviation Corporation's mail plane, the "Jinan".
On New Year's Day, I boarded a China National Aviation Corporation mail plane to Peiping. Since I was also a fellow traveler, I received a warm welcome from the airport staff and pilots. The journey was not lonely, but the route had to accommodate their work and could not go directly there.
We first flew to Nanking, then to Xuzhou, and finally landed at Peiping Airport just before sunset. It was already deep winter in the north, and the biting wind carrying snowflakes blew across the empty airport, making me shrink back inside as soon as I stepped off the plane.
At that moment, the headlights of the runway flashed, and two cars sped toward us. As they approached, we discovered that one was a postal vehicle and the other was a car sent by the Peiping Liaison Station to pick me up. When the car door opened, I found that annoying Mr. M sitting inside.
"Ah! Welcome Lieutenant Draken to Peiping!" Mr. M said. "You probably don't know that you're going to be promoted to lieutenant after the New Year! According to Chinese custom, you'll give me a reward for bringing this good news."
"Weren't you in the Soviet Union? Why are you back?" I asked suspiciously. "Is my mission this time related to you again? I always run into bad luck whenever I run into you."
To this day, I still do not know what the mission of this trip is.
"Why are you talking like that? Get in the car! It's cold outside!"
The car wound its way through the old city of Peiping, finally stopping in front of a house that looked deserted. Mr. M led me to the second floor, where a group of people were already waiting, using high-powered binoculars to monitor the activity in a building across the street that looked like an abandoned prince's mansion.
Mr. M gestured for me to look through the binoculars. I was a little puzzled by his intention, but I still leaned forward to see what was going on. Through the high-powered binoculars, I could clearly see many candles lit in the nearly ruined main hall of the Prince's Mansion. A person dressed in the official robes of the late Ch'ing Dynasty was holding several strings of wooden puppets and swirling around, creating a rather eerie atmosphere. I turned around and chuckled, saying to Mr. M, "You really are a voyeur. What's so interesting about a Taoist priest performing a ritual?" Mr. M just smiled and gestured for me to continue watching. The person I called the Taoist priest, who had been facing away from the telescope, suddenly turned around and stared at me through the lens. I jumped back from the telescope as if I had been electrocuted. "Who...who is that person? Why do they look so much like me?"
Only then did Mr. M step forward and say, "That man is your own brother, Captain Ma!"
Captain Ma? Isn't that the guy who snatched the luminous pearl from Colonel Lawrence on the night of the tomb raiding?
On the way back to the hotel, Mr. M said, "Captain Ma was someone I recruited when I was at the North China Station. He betrayed us shortly after we looted the imperial tombs two years ago! This caused heavy losses to our organization, so the higher-ups had to temporarily transfer me back from Moscow to help resolve the issue. At first, we thought he had been bought off by the Japanese, but later we realized that was unlikely. Recently, he has been in contact with some people from the former Ch'ing Dynasty imperial family."
"So, what is the purpose of your summons?" I asked.
"Many of the people we sent to deal with him have disappeared, and it is presumed they are in grave danger. But I don't believe he has any extraordinary martial arts skills; the captain we know is definitely not a martial arts master."
"Sanctions? You summoned me here so I could carry out a sanction mission and personally kill my own brother?"
"Of course not, uh... We hope you can talk to him," Mr. M said after a moment's hesitation.
Silence followed. The car had arrived at the hotel entrance. I got out of the car without saying a word and turned to Mr. M, saying, "I didn't promise you anything. Let me sort out my thoughts first."
As I entered the hotel lobby, I saw a group of Western tourists surrounding an elderly Chinese man. I looked closer and thought, "Great! My savior has arrived!"
What I saw was none other than Master Chiu Taochi!
He also saw me and said with a smile, "How have you been, Your Highness?"
"I've never felt so good!" I smiled and stepped forward, whispering in his ear, "Master Chiu, I need your help!"
"Wait for me at the teahouse across the street. I'll come over after I've dealt with these foreigners!" Master Chiu said.
Chiu Taochi arrived at the teahouse about fifteen minutes later. I quickly told him everything about my twin brother, Captain Ma, and what I had just witnessed about the puppet performing a ritual. He frowned deeply, pondered for a long time, and then said, "Your brother is possessed!"
"Possession? Possessed by whom?"
"If I'm not mistaken, it's Nalan Changshu!"
"Nalan Changshu? That evil sorcerer who was buried alive in Empress Dowager Cixi's mausoleum?"
I often heard my father mention this person's name because when I was a child, whenever I cried and made a fuss, my father would threaten me by saying, "Master Nalan is coming!" I would immediately fall silent, and it never failed me!
"Nalan Changshu? Wasn't he dead? How could he possess my brother's body again?" I asked suspiciously.
"Nalan was a man of extraordinary magical powers, even skilled in the art of divination and escape. How could a mere tomb subdue him? When Nalan Changshu was to be buried alive, it took several high-ranking monks to cover his head with a yellow cloth bag covered in Buddhist seals, strangle him with a rope, and cover his entire body with talismans to subdue him. But Sun Dianying, the tomb raider, didn't know these things. He just used explosives to bombard the tomb, blowing away all the talisman bags. Nalan then possessed the person closest to him and walked out of the tomb. That person was your brother!"
Master Qiu sighed and said, "Alas! If it weren't for tomb raiding, this wouldn't have happened!"
Chiu Taochi continued, "Because Nalan was imprisoned in the underground palace for too long, the yin energy was too heavy, so he could only move around at night and could not possess people during the day. Therefore, during the day he was still the original captain, and only at night did he become the monk Nalan."
"Mr. M said my brother betrayed us and killed many people who came to punish him. Could it have been Nalan who did it last night?" Day or night? I'm getting more and more confused.
"Captain Ma is an opportunist; he may not actually be siding with the Japanese. The Nalan who possessed him wanted to use Japanese power to restore the Ch'ing Dynasty. So, from your British perspective, Captain Ma has betrayed us," Master Chiu said. "Your boss sent people to punish him at night, and they just happened to run into the highly skilled Nalan, so of course they never returned! I know Nalan is very good at manipulating puppets to harm people; I suspect those unfortunate assassins were probably disemboweled and turned into puppets!"
"What?" A chill ran down my spine. "Then...what should we do?"
"You have a better chance if you go during the day. If you kill the captain, Nalan Changshu will disappear at night because he can't find a body to possess."
"But how can I kill my own brother?" I said.
"This is your destiny, brothers! Don't forget, according to the tradition of your Loulan royal family, only one of twin brothers can live. Unless you never meet again, one of you will surely die!"
"Then I'd rather stay far away from him and never see him again in this lifetime," I said.
"But the luminous pearl will connect you all, making it difficult to avoid meeting!" Chiu Taochi said. "And the time should be very soon."
"Only one of you and your twin brother can sit on the throne, and only one of the two luminous pearls can truly be set on the forehead of Guanyin Bodhisattva..." Chiu Taochi muttered to himself with his eyes closed.
"Two luminous pearls?" I thought to myself, "Master Chiu is amazing. He even knew that Sun Dianying gave Chiang Kai-shek a fake luminous pearl." At that moment, Chiu Taochi suddenly opened his eyes and stared at me, saying, "Remember! Using the wrong pearl will surely cause a great disaster!"
"Oh? No problem! That fake one is with Chiang Kai-shek's wife; we can't possibly get it."
I then asked Chiu Taochi, "When I read my father's biography, I discovered that when the Grand Master Nalan stole the luminous pearl, it was during a total solar eclipse. So, do we also need to wait for a total solar eclipse to reinstall it?"
"Of course, a total solar eclipse is the best time, but if a solar eclipse is not possible, the conditions of the five elements of heaven and earth are similar on the same day every twelve years, which is also acceptable."
I did the math: "The same day every twelve years? It's almost here!"
"That's right! That's why I said you'd meet soon!"
It turns out that the luminous pearl was stolen on January 17, 1907, which was December 4 in the lunar calendar. I met Master Chiu in Peiping in early January 1931, which was January 22 of that year, exactly the 24th anniversary according to the lunar calendar. If we want to seize this opportunity, we must immediately set off for Loulan.
"With the luminous pearl, you might be able to see your mother's phantom, but you won't be able to bring her back to the present world," Chiu Taochi said.
"I'm content as long as I can see my mother."
"Based on Nalan's recent actions, he will soon be able to possess people during the day. So when your brother appears before you, you must think of him as Nalan, not your brother, or you may be the one who dies," Chiu Taochi solemnly warned me.
"Absolutely not! We can only do it during the day!" I said. "What if it's during the day? This isn't the concession. If we try to assassinate someone in broad daylight, we'll be in big trouble if the Chinese police catch us." At that moment, the person monitoring them said, "The target has left!" I peered through the binoculars and saw the captain, dressed in a crisp military uniform and wearing a cloak, walking out the door. He looked completely different from last night. I also noticed that he had hired several bodyguards. "Maybe..." I thought of a solution. "Is there any way to get a set of military uniform and cloak just like the one he's wearing?" I turned around and asked Mr. M. "That's easy!" Mr. M's assistant replied readily. "Should I go and get it done right now?" "Okay!" I continued, "Is there any way to prevent him from coming back before noon?" "Well..." the assistant said, "He usually comes back in the evening, but if he comes back early, we'll create chaos and obstacles!" "Okay! Let's do it this way. I'll go in and check it out tomorrow," I said. "Buddy..." Mr. M said with a suspicious look, "Are you sure you know what you're doing?" "What? Want to come in and take a look?" I teased him deliberately, but Mr. M quickly waved his hand in polite refusals: "No, no, you go ahead!" The next day, shortly after Captain Ma left, I put on the same uniform and cloak, pulled my hat brim low, and strode into the alley. The gatekeeper hurriedly came up to me and said, "Master Ma, have you forgotten something? Should I go in and get it?" I waved my hand and said, "No! I'll go get it myself!"
(Figure 3-7-10) Paul Draken impersonates a captain to enter his secret hall. The bodyguard opened the door for me, and a gust of snowflakes was blown in by the wind. I walked into the inner hall, which even the bodyguards were not allowed to enter, and closed the door. I looked around the room. In the center, a coffin was placed in a Bagua formation. On both sides, a row of puppets, as tall as real people, were suspended from the roof beams. They looked like people who had hanged themselves. Each one was lifelike, with dozens of dead fish eyes staring down. It made me feel uneasy. In particular, the airflow from the newly opened door made all the ghostly structures shake, just like living people. I checked them one by one... "Huh?" I was so terrified that I couldn’t even make a sound, because I realized that several of the puppets were my colleagues from the Peiping group who were in charge of the operation! My gaze then turned towards the altar, and to my surprise, it held a luminous pearl identical to the one we had just stolen from Taiwan! I remembered Master Chiu's warning: "Remember! Placing a fake pearl will surely bring great disaster!" Could there be a second fake luminous pearl? Or is this one the real one, and Kim Bihui's one a fake? I didn't have time to think about it. I immediately took off the luminous pearl and put it in my pocket. Only then did I realize that there was a small bottle in my pocket. I almost forgot about the secret weapon I brought. It was the incendiary agent used by the Sino-Russian special forces to blow up the "Mikasa" battleship during the Russo-Japanese War. I quickly devised a plan: to burn the house down with arson to cover my tracks and prevent the captain or Master Nalan from knowing the pearl had been stolen. I also calculated that the house would catch fire within six or seven hours, by which time my brother wouldn't be back and wouldn't be harmed. So, I poured the arson agent on the puppet's clothes and swaggered out the door the way I came. "Take care, Mr. Ma!" The bodyguard bowed respectfully as I left the alley and returned to the watchtower. I waited from morning until noon, from noon until afternoon, and from afternoon until evening. It was already dark by five o'clock when the sentry returned with the message: "The captain Ma has returned!" Good heavens! Everyone's back but the fire still hasn't been lit. What went wrong? Through my binoculars, I saw that the captain's face was ashen, his eyes sunken, and his complexion bloodless—a stark contrast to how he looked when he left that morning. He entered the main gate and went straight to the inner hall. With a wave of his hand, layers of candles lit themselves. A moment later, a terrifying scream suddenly came from inside the room. Several bodyguards rushed into the inner hall, only to be instantly thrown out, coughing up blood and dying. Just then, the fire was lit.
(Figure 3-7-11) The Grand Master perished in the fire along with many puppets. Once the flames started, they spread rapidly, and within seconds the entire hall was engulfed in flames. Through the binoculars, I saw many figures screaming and struggling in the inferno. It turned out that all the puppets would briefly revert to their original human forms before being burned. I tried hard to find the figure of Captain Ma, or perhaps at this point it should be called Master Nalan, but there were too many figures mixed in and I couldn't make out who he was. Later, even our sentries had to temporarily evacuate because the temperature was too high. The fire burned until almost dawn the next day before it gradually died down, and the entire old palace was razed to the ground. Later, I researched why the fire ignited so slowly. It was probably because it was winter in Peiping at the time, and the temperature was many degrees below zero, which was far below the minimum ignition point of the medicine. Even if it was completely dried out, it wouldn't burn. Later, it was because Master Nalan lit a candle and the indoor temperature rose that it spontaneously combusted, which just happened to cause him and all the puppets to perish in the fire. The mission in Peiping ended in this unexpected way. I immediately sent a telegram to Annie, preparing to go to Loulan. Annie replied, suggesting that I stay in Peiping. She and Kim Bihui would fly to Peiping soon to pick me up and go with them. Because of the tight schedule, I agreed without much thought. On the day of the appointment, I realized on my way to the airport that this was wrong. How could I let Annie fly the plane alone for such a long distance? This violated the promise I made to her father! I was relieved when I saw the "China Pearl" gracefully land on the runway in a perfect manner. But to my surprise, it was Kim Bihui who leaned out of the cockpit. "My skills are pretty good, right, Paul?" I almost fainted at the end of the track.
I had the luminous pearl I stole from Captain Ma hidden on me, but Kim Bihui didn't know; she, on the other hand, always carried the luminous pearl we stole from a Taiwanese shrine. Judging from Kim Bihui's careful manner, she at least believed hers was real, right? So what about mine? Actually, I had absolutely no idea. On the afternoon of January 21, just before reaching our destination, I noticed a cloud of dust rising from the ground ahead. Upon closer inspection, I realized it was a large troop of cavalry galloping across the desert. Seeing the plane approaching, many of them fired shots into the air. When I discovered several holes in the wing skin, I quickly pulled up and flew away. "Where did all these cavalry come from in a place like this? It's quite a scene!" We landed in Lop Nur, kicking up a cloud of dust. After the plane came to a stop, Annie set up a canvas tent next to the aircraft and brought down some tables and chairs, saying, "We're having dinner outdoors tonight! We also need a campfire, Paul, could you go get some firewood?" "Young lady, this is a desert. Do you want me to go there to chop firewood?" I said. The desert, scorching hot during the day, turned bitterly cold at night, forcing us to eat dinner inside the cabin. The desert night sky was breathtaking; the stars were more like a silver sea than a galaxy. But it was so cold outside that no one was interested in stargazing. In the end, the three of us huddled together in our leather coats for the night. Even so, Kim Bihui remained true to her lecherous nature, reaching out to grope me around midnight. Not wanting to catch pneumonia, I pulled her hand away, turned over, and drifted off to sleep. The next morning, I dismounted my motorcycle and went to scout ahead, with Kim Bihui insisting on following. Along the way, we spotted a troop of cavalry following closely along the distant ridgeline. Was it the same troop we had seen from the sky the day before? A bad feeling rose in my heart; there might be more than just the three of us on this journey.
(Figure 3-7-12) Pal Draken rode his motorcycle to search for the location of the cave and discovered a troop of cavalry following in the distance. We drove around the desert for ages, the monotonous scenery offering no indication of any underground caves. Finally, we had to rely on our intuition to choose a spot. I pulled out my little golden flute and blew it, and a massive shockwave, accompanied by a sandstorm, crashed down on us, knocking us to the ground. When the dust settled, most of the desert ahead had collapsed, revealing the entrance to the cave right before our eyes. Kim Bihui wanted me to ride motorcycle back to pick up Annie, saying she would stay on site and wait. How could I do that? She had the luminous pearl, and now that she had discovered the cave, there was no guarantee she wouldn't act rashly on her own. I grabbed her and threw her into the sidecar, drove back to the location of the "China Pearl," and then one vehicle carrying three people, ropes, tools, etc., returned to the cave site. We carefully descended the collapsed rubble and entered the vast hall. I lit a torch, and in its light, we saw that the cave walls were covered with paintings of flying celestial maidens. I remember reading my father's biography, which mentioned that the murals of Dunhuang were like village women compared to princesses, hence his name "Princess Murals." At the time, I hadn't had the chance to see the Dunhuang murals in person, but the "Princess Murals" before me remain vividly in my memory. They use a special pigment to create the fantastical feeling of fairies floating and flying from the wall, a sight I haven't seen in any other work of art to this day. I felt a particular connection to one of the high priest's fairies; her gaze seemed to follow me. Was this my mother? I reached out to touch her, but my hand passed right through the image. Deep inside the main hall, we discovered a colossal Thousand-Hand Guanyin statue, which marked the end of our mission. I planned to immediately climb the statue and reposition the luminous pearl back to its original location. "Shouldn't you take out the luminous pearl now?" I said to Kim Bihui. Kim Bihui then reluctantly took out the luminous pearl from his leather bag and handed it to me. I finally managed to climb to the head of the Thousand-Hand Guanyin statue, using both hands and feet. Looking down at Kim Bihui and Annie on the ground, I realized how high I was. I figured they couldn't see what I was doing here. The problem was, I had two luminous pearls, Kim's in my left pocket and Captain Ma's in my right. Which one should I put in? The voice of Master Chiu kept echoing in my ears: "If you place the wrong object, a great disaster will occur." I feel like I'm in a bomb disposal class at intelligence school, learning how to defuse a bomb: "Should I cut the red wire or the blue wire?"
(Figure 3-7-13) Paul Draken climbed to the forehead of the Thousand-Hand Guanyin statue, hesitating about which luminous pearl to put in. I reached into my left pocket, and a sudden thought flashed through my mind: Kim's luminous pearl was given to the Japanese by Captain Ma, who kept one for himself. Logically, how could he give the real one to someone else and keep the fake one for himself? My mind raced, and I reached into my right pocket with my right hand to take out another luminous pearl. As the pearl approached the indentation on the forehead of the Thousand-Hand Guanyin, I suddenly felt a magnetic field pull the pearl into the indentation. Then, the pearl began to emit a faint blue light. I knew I had made the right choice. I slowly crawled back to the ground. According to my father's Loulan Diary, the next step was to perform the flying dance for the gods. But where could I find a princess? At this moment, Kim Bihui stepped forward and volunteered. "Don't joke around!" I thought to myself, no matter how good your dancing skills are, you can't possibly be able to do a flying dance. Kim Bihui pouted and said, "Have you forgotten that I am a genuine princess of the Ch'ing Dynasty?" Yes! How could I have forgotten that? So I played the golden flute, and the sound resonated through the stone corridor, producing music like a cathedral organ. Everything was just like the Loulan princess danced for my father back then. Kim Bihui imitated the flying apsaras' dance posture on the mural, raising her arms and slowly rotating her body. After a few circles, she indeed gradually floated into the air. At this moment, the flying apsaras on the wall floated out and surrounded her. At the same time, the luminous pearl on the Buddha statue emitted a deep blue light that reflected on the grotto wall. Just when everything seemed to be going smoothly, Kim Bihui burst into wild laughter in the air: "Hahaha! Thank you for bringing me here, Paul, otherwise I really wouldn't know how to use this luminous pearl! Now I have mastered its divine power!"
(Figure 3-7-14) Amidst the shimmering light and shadows on the water, Kim Bihui floats in the air, dancing with the flying fairies, and suddenly bursts into wild laughter. However, the fairies spun faster and faster, turning into a whirlwind that sent sand and stones flying through the cave and hurled Kim Bihui out of the circle. While everyone was puzzled, I quickly flipped through my father's Loulan Diary in the raging wind, and I noticed a passage that I read aloud to everyone. "...The priestess not only had to be a princess, but also a virgin..." "Virgin? You bastard!" Kim Bihui cursed as she scrambled to her feet, shouting, "Captain Ma!" When I looked back, I saw my brother, Captain Ma, leading a group of Mongol cavalrymen who had surrounded us with guns high up around the cave. "Take the luminous pearl down for me!" Kim Bihui ordered. "Yes, Madame!" The captain rushed toward the Buddha statue as ordered. "Brother?" I blurted out as the captain passed by me. He turned around and saw me, and we froze in place. "Captain Ma, heed my command!" Kim Bihui shouted, but the man did not move. At that moment, I felt Nalan's soul begin to emerge within my brother's body, gradually changing in appearance, expression, and voice. I also sensed that my brother was trying to stop Nalan from controlling his body, but the resistance was gradually weakening. Just then, the High Priestess Fairy floated before him and gazed at him. "Mother? Is it really you?" The brother pointed a trembling hand at the fairy, but immediately switched to Nalan's voice: "Give me back the Great Ch'ing's luminous pearl !" "Mother, is that really my brother?" The older brother's voice was barely audible, immediately drowned out by Nalan's: "You British dog bastard, go to hell!" "Go to hell?" The older brother struggled to pull out his pistol and pressed it against his temple, saying, "Let's go together!" "Oh! No!" Before my shout was finished, a gunshot rang out and my brother fell into a pool of blood. Nalan also lost his soul scattered.
(Figure 3-7-15) In the vortex of phantoms, Captain Ma raised his pistol and committed suicide, and the Grand Master Nalan's soul scattered also. "You have blasphemed the gods. The temple will be destroyed forever because of you. Lop Nur will be barren from now on, and in the future, it will be destroyed by a giant fire from the sky!" Then the image of the fairy faded more and more, and finally dispersed and disappeared into the air. At this moment, the cave began to shake violently. The stone pillars of the temple broke and collapsed, the roof stones shattered, the Thousand-Hand Guanyin statue began to collapse, and all the Mongol cavalrymen fell from the height into the pile of rocks and were crushed to death. We escaped the cave at the last minute. When we climbed the sand dune and looked back, we saw that the desert had returned to its flat state. The luminous pearl had been buried with the Thousand-Hand Guanyin, as well as my mother and brother.
I hadn't expected her to do that, so I quickly chased after her, shouting, "Dongzhen, what are you doing? Come back quickly, you'll die of thirst in the desert!" Just then, she fired a signal flare into the air, and a plane painted with Japanese military markings immediately flew in from afar and landed in the desert. Kim Bihui abandoned the motorcycle, boarded the plane, and drove away. Annie caught up and asked, "Who is that?" "I don't know either!" However, through the connection and combination of various events, I actually already have a clue in my mind. "Dongzhen, Dongzhen, are you even going to use me?"
(Figure 3-7-17) Kim Bihui abandoned his motorcycle and boarded the Japanese plane that came to pick her up.
As for my brother, Captain Ma, he was originally an intelligence agent recruited by the British. However, after being possessed by Nalan, he began to plan to use the power of the Japanese to revive the Ch'ing Empire. Therefore, he colluded with Kim Bihui and presented a fake luminous pearl to the Japanese military as bait. Kim Bihui never realized that Captain Ma during the day and Captain Ma at night were actually different people. Kim Bihui returned home unable to explain herself to her Japanese masters. She couldn't very well say that she had failed because she wasn't a virgin, so she had to lie and say that the pearl was fake. This news spread widely in intelligence circles through Kim Bihui's deliberate dissemination, and it even aroused the interest of my superior, the British Minister to China. He relayed through my team leader that, "If we could find that real luminous pearl and present it to His Majesty to be set in his crown, it would be comparable to the giant diamond presented by the Governor-General of India to Queen Victoria." What a sycophant! Getting a luminous pearl is easy enough, isn't it? I have one in my pocket, but of course I can't give it to him right away. However, this is an opportunity. So I made an excuse that it was a very difficult task and I needed some time. The team leader readily agreed, saying, "I'll give you a month. As long as you can complete the task, there's no limit to the fee." So I had a month-long vacation and money to spend however I wanted. Annie and I went on vacation to several scenic spots. It wasn't until the day before the month was almost over that I handed the luminous pearl to the minister. The minister was very surprised that I was able to complete the mission. He praised me highly and asked the team leader to arrange for a naval submarine to secretly send the luminous pearl back to Britain immediately. "I intend to surprise His Majesty, and spies from other countries are eyeing us covetously, so we'd better keep this quiet for now and immediately send a submarine to secretly escort him back home." The minister said, "Lieutenant, this matter is entrusted to you!"
On June 9th, I brought the luminous pearl from Shanghai to the British naval base in Weihaiwei, intending to hand it over to a special ship to be taken back to Britain. Weihaiwei is located in Shantung. During the Sino-Japanese War in 1895, it was an important base for the Beiyang Fleet. It was leased to Britain until October 1st of last year, when it was returned to China. The last governor of Weihaiwei was Reginald Johnston, my father's classmate and the English tutor of Emperor Puyi. Wang Jiazhen, the Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs who represented the Chinese government in receiving, was also an acquaintance. He had been Chang Hsueh-Liang's associate in handling affairs with Japan. I met him in 1928 through the introduction of Chu Taochi.
Although the Chief Executive had lowered the flag and closed the government office, the Royal Navy's Far East Fleet still came here every summer from Hong Kong and Singapore for relocation training and summer retreat. With the flagship's assistance, I quickly found the captain of the HMS Poseidon submarine and handed her the luminous pearl. The captain had already received secret orders from her superiors to immediately cast off and return to England after receiving the luminous pearl. Everything seemed to be going smoothly, and it seemed that I could extend my vacation a little longer.
I went to the base to meet my classmates. It's an important Royal Navy base in the Far East, and I know quite a few friends and classmates here. The weather in June was already getting a bit muggy, so we all decided to go to the base's bar for an ice-cold beer to cool off.
As everyone was chatting animatedly in the bar, an officer rushed in, shouting in a panic: "The Poseidon has been in trouble!"
I was shocked. How could something have happened so soon after we left port?
The cause of the HMS Poseidon's sinking remains a mystery. According to records, it collided with the Chinese cargo ship "SS Yutai" 19.8 nautical miles north of Liugong Island in Weihai, Shantung Province, and immediately sank to a depth of 39.6 meters. All 22 crew members died and 35 were rescued.
(Figure 3-7-19) The Chinese cargo ship "SS Yutai" collided with and sank the British submarine "HMS Poseidon" in the waters off Liugong Island, Weihai.
The luminous pearl sank with the submarine, and the minister never mentioned it again. London was also completely kept in the dark, as no written record of the incident was ever made. In the 1970s, China salvaged the submarine, dismantled it, and sold it as scrap metal, but there was no news of finding any items related to the luminous pearl. I suppose since no one knew about it, they wouldn't have bothered to look for it. Investigating the sinking of the Royal Navy submarine was, naturally, my job again. I stayed in Tsingtao and Weihaiwei until the end of September. During this time, while looking for materials at the Shantung University library, I unexpectedly ran into Li Yunhe again. She was working and studying there. She told me that after I left in 1927, she finally got her wish and entered the drama school, but after only a year or two, the school encountered financial difficulties and was ordered to be disbanded by the provincial governor, Han Fuchu. She then went to Peking with the principal to perform on stage to make a living, but she was not welcomed by the Peking audience and had to return to Tsingtao. During this time, she married and divorced, but she kept this a secret from me. We spent more than ten days together in Tsingtao, and it felt like we were back to the happy times we used to have. Not long after I left Tsingtao, she started living with a young man from a well-off family. This young man's uncle later became the Minister of National Defense of the Kuomintang government in Taiwan. We even kept in touch quite a bit in the 1950s because of our work with the CIA.
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