After taking another sip of water and resting for a while, Huang Ran continued: "After receiving the reward money from Long Kodo, Liu Mings situation improved a lot. After the New Year, when his injuries were almost healed, he actually started to divine fortunes and predict fates for the surrounding villagers. His predictions were accurate nine out of ten times, and slowly but surely, he became famous in the local area. It wasnt until the 29th year of Qianlongs reign that Liu Ming passed away without any illness.
His descendants were famous for fortune-telling in the Guanzhong area until the end of the Qing dynasty. Later, whether it was fortune-telling or dealing with evil affairs in the homes of officials and wealthy families, they would be asked for help. Things that famous yin-yang masters couldnt handle, Liu Mings descendants could easily settle after arriving on the scene. Of course, it wasnt easy to get them to move either, unless it was a rich and powerful family with money and influence; otherwise, they wouldnt budge.
By the early days of the Republic, our committee had someone who wanted to invite Lius family members to come out. Unfortunately, in the end, because the price couldnt be agreed upon, it could only be abandoned. There are many records left by this branch of the Liu family, and it is relatively easy to investigate them. However, if you want to follow the line that Liu Ming broke into the military camp at that time to investigate Luo Bens affairs, it would be a bit difficult.
"After a pause, Huang Ran continued: At that time, there were very few records of Luo Ben in historical documents. All we know is that he was the Imperial Astronomer of both the Ming and Qing dynasties. During the Chongzhen era of the Ming dynasty, he had a good relationship with the court painter, so he left behind a portrait, which I saw during my time on the committee. Apart from this portrait and the list of officials in charge of the Imperial Observatory during the Ming and Qing dynasties, there are almost no other records of him."
When Huang Ran paused here, Sun Baozi took out a cigarette and handed it to me and Huang Ran. After lighting our cigarettes, he lit one for himself. After taking a puff, he smiled at Huang Ran and said: "Old Huang, since you cant explain the matter of Luo Ben clearly, lets talk about Liu Cheng instead. It wasnt me who said that your committee used to have some connections with him."
Huang Ran smiled at Sun Baozi and said, "Now that its like this, I wont hide it from you either. More than 30 years ago, our committee had contact with Liu Cheng once. At that time, the power of your Civil Affairs Bureau was getting bigger and bigger, so our committee could only find some new blood to supplement, otherwise we would decline too quickly."
After drinking another cup of tea, Huang Ran continued to talk about the origin of their religious committee with Liu Cheng and Luo Ben...
At that time, a Taiwanese businessman who had a good relationship with the committee came back and mentioned that he had seen a strange person named Liu Cheng in a small county town in Gansu. At that time, a local official who was accompanying the inspection suddenly suffered a heart attack and died after being sent to the hospital for rescue.
What originally seemed like an unexpected tragedy, however, soon turned into a surprise as the officials family brought Liu Cheng over. Without burning incense or reciting spells, he simply walked over and looked at the deceased officials eyes, blew a mouthful of air, and the local official who had shown no signs of life immediately opened his eyes.
At first, the Taiwanese businessman thought it was a scam, but seeing that the people around him just stood far away and didnt show any intention of running away, he plucked up his courage to continue staying in the ward and observe the development of the situation.
The local official who had been dead for more than half an hour, under Liu Chengs guidance, said where he usually stored his private money in the bank, where the deposit slip was hidden, and who borrowed money from him but didnt return it, also mentioning the names. He wanted his family to help collect the debts later. The deceased official spoke for over ten minutes without showing any signs of stopping, until Liu Cheng urged him again, and only then did he bid farewell to his wife and children. After Liu Cheng patted him on the forehead, the official lay back on the hospital bed and took his last breath, at which point his family began wailing loudly.
After learning about the existence of a person with supernatural powers named Liu Cheng, the committee sent several people disguised as Taiwanese businessmen to invest in the mainland to inquire about Liu Chengs whereabouts in a small county town in Gansu. If possible, they would invite him to come to Taiwan and join the committee to lend their power. At that time, there was a senior member of the committee who was originally from Gansu, and he wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to go back and visit his hometown. As a result, it was this predecessor who discovered the problem.
Huang Ran was no match for Sun Baozi, and after speaking for a while, he became parched and thirsty. After drinking two cups of tea to moisten his throat, under the gaze of Sun Baozi and me, he continued: "At first, everything went smoothly. Our committee members, led by that senior commissioner, easily found Liu Cheng. They invited Liu Cheng to a local foreign-related hotel, and as soon as they saw him, the leading commissioner knew they had found the right person - this Liu Cheng was absolutely extraordinary. After stating their intentions, Liu Cheng showed great interest at first. At that time, mainland China had just started reforming and opening up, and living conditions were relatively poor. If he could develop in Taiwan, which was relatively wealthy, it would be a very good choice.
After a few words, our high-ranking committee member found out that this Liu Cheng was actually the descendant of Liu Ming from back then. Their entire family didnt know what evil they had committed, but after being stripped of their banner people status, their population became even less prosperous. From his ancestors five or six generations ago, it was a single line of descent. He himself was also in his 40s and 50s, married but still childless, and at the time he joked that after he died, this branch of the Zheng Huang Banners Ah Mu Lu clan would be completely extinguished.
That day they chatted very happily, but towards the end, Liu Cheng added a condition. In addition to bringing his wife to Taiwan, he also wanted to bring another person with him. As long as Liu Cheng could leave, everything else was easy to discuss. The senior member of the committee on the spot agreed to Liu Chengs condition.
He was given a substantial sum of money as a deposit and a weeks time to go home, pack his belongings and say goodbye to relatives and friends. Meanwhile, the committee began to arrange Liu Chengs route to Taiwan. At that time, it was almost impossible to go to Taiwan by normal routes, and Liu Chengs identity made it impossible for him to transit through Hong Kong. His only way to get to Taiwan was to sneak in.
The committee had been busy for several days, just as they were about to finalize Liu Chengs smuggling case and wait for him to return to Taiwan with his wife and another person. Liu Cheng suddenly arrived earlier than scheduled, accompanied by a man in his thirties. The high-ranking advisor leading the committee felt a sense of familiarity when he saw this person, but couldnt quite put his finger on where he had seen him before.
Liu Cheng and this man came this time to explain one thing. There is something at home that cant be left, Taiwan is not going. The deposit given before was used for other purposes by him and has not been returned yet. Anyway, you Taiwanese compatriots have a lot of money, so just forget about it.
The committee members were enraged by Liu Chengs few words, "You dont even return the deposit, and you dont follow us either. Is this how you bully people?" A few words didnt match, and it seemed like they were about to fight on the spot. The high-ranking advisor of the committee suddenly restrained his own men, his eyes fixed on the silent man who had followed Liu Cheng, and a name came out of his mouth - Luo Ben.
Luo Bens portrait had been collected by the committee, and that senior member had also seen it a few times. Just now, when they were about to take action, he suddenly remembered Liu Mings case from back then. Extending his thoughts, he recalled Luo Bens portrait - wasnt it this silent man in front of him?
After hearing someone mention his own name, Luo Ben was also somewhat surprised. However, he quickly recovered and looked at the senior committee member before finally speaking up after so long: "Its been so many years since Ive gone out and about, I didnt think anyone would still recognize me."
I dont know why. Ever since Luo Ben appeared, this high-ranking officials heart has been uneasy. When he found out that this person was actually the Luo Ben from several hundred years ago, the high-ranking officials discomfort reached its peak. At this point, he unconsciously changed his strategy and no longer insisted on Liu Cheng going to Taiwan to join the committee, even returning the deposit given earlier. Youre right, we Taiwanese have plenty of money, so its not a big deal.
Luoben didnt say anything either, he just glanced at a few people on the committee and then made a gesture towards Liu Cheng that only the two of them could understand. Afterwards, the two of them left together.
After the two figures completely disappeared from view, the high-ranking official immediately told his people that they couldnt stay here and had to leave quickly. After finishing speaking, he didnt even bother to pack up, leaving behind everything except for the clothes on their bodies, cash, and identification documents. Hurry up and leave, the faster the better.
His subordinates did not understand their bosss intentions, but looking at this senior commissioner, it was as if they had seen a living ghost in broad daylight. At that time, they didnt dare to say more and quickly followed the senior commissioner, leaving the small county town at the fastest speed. Unfortunately, the traffic conditions at that time were not so developed, even if they left the county town and arrived at the provincial airport, they found that only the flight they had booked could fly to Hong Kong and then transfer back to Taiwan.
They spent a few more days in the provincial city, and finally left on the originally scheduled day by plane. After a layover in Hong Kong, they returned to Taiwan.
As soon as they returned, the senior consultant and his entourage went back to the committee. Since it was still early, there were not many people in the committee yet, so they waited for a while in the rest room, preparing to report the sudden incident of this mainland trip to Chairman Min Tianyuan.
They waited for half an hour, until the secretary of the Min Conference pushed open the door of the rest room and called them to see Min Tianyuan. At that time, several people who were originally sitting here disappeared. Instead, they were replaced by human body tissues separated into several parts - skin, bones and internal organs.
