Chapter 106: The Mysterious Disappearance (Part 2)

  "Sit down on that empty chair over there," said Old Chen, pointing to a nearby wooden chair. "You're late, so listen to us finish our conversation first. If you don't understand anything, ask me later."

  I nodded and walked over to sit down. Immediately, another plainclothes warrior brought me a notebook and pen, and poured me a glass of water. However, he didn't bring me a mask or headgear, probably because others had already seen me, so it wasn't necessary anymore.

  "Old Chen said at this time: 'Just now we talked about No. 3, and now we are talking about No. 4. No. 4 is our latest research achievement and also the most important one. Everyone here is an elite in various fields of our country and a loyal guardian of our nation. So I have a request for everyone: before No. 4 is fully developed, no one is allowed to leave this place for any reason. Has everyone understood?'"

  Everyone responded in unison: "Yes!"

  I also said a "yes", but I had no idea what this so-called No. 4 was all about. I wanted to ask, but Old Chen spoke first and I couldn't interrupt the proceedings of the meeting, so I held back and didn't speak up.

  "Alright, now all of you go and attend to your own matters. Jin Cang, stay behind, I have something to discuss with you privately."

  I watched those people wearing masks and hoods leave, they directly walked out of another door in this room, I don't know where they went. Only I was left alone in this room, staring blankly at the door through which those people had left.

  Mr. Chen walked over, patted me on the shoulder and said: "How come you just came? Didn't I have someone inform you ten days ago? How could you be delayed for so long?"

  I'm really surprised: "Ten days ago? No one informed me. What's going on? Ah, yes, previously we received an attack at our research base in Wuhan and had a battle, I was even injured because of it. This happened around ten days ago, when the enemy blocked our information, nothing could be transmitted."

  "Ten days ago? How come I don't know about it? Why didn't you contact me?"

  I was shocked: "We have been in contact with you, we contacted you from the very beginning, and it was Chen Jing who contacted you. You even helped us contact the air force and gave us support. Are you too busy to forget about this?"

  "Impossible!" Old Chen exclaimed loudly. "My memory is excellent, I wouldn't forget something so important... wait a minute, I understand now, maybe someone else did it for me. Alright, let's not talk about this anymore, you're here now, so I'll tell you about your next task..."

  I hastily interrupted Old Chen's words: "Wait a minute, I have something to say."

  Chen Lao was taken aback and then said: "What do you want to say?"

  I took a deep breath: "Have you been in touch with Chen Jing these past few days?"

  Chen Lao was taken aback again, then shook his head: "Has something happened to her? Tell me the truth, how is she now?"

  My face changed greatly: "She's gone missing..." I told Chen Lao everything I knew from the 362nd Regiment, and finally said: "If it wasn't for you recalling them, who else could have recalled them?"

  Chen Lao furrowed his brow and said: "Wait a minute, I'll contact a few old guys first to see if Chen Jing has been taken by them."

  I nodded, watching Chen Lao and the "old guys" he mentioned go to make contact. The old guys Chen Lao was talking about should be those military leaders, but why do they need to get in touch with them when looking for Chen Jing? I couldn't figure it out, feeling that this matter seemed a bit beyond my expectations.

  Ten minutes later, Old Chen came back, I saw his anxious face and knew he didn't have any leads.

  As expected, Old Chen said, "They didn't look for Chen Jing, nor did they look for the Hu Long Squad."

  I became anxious and said loudly, "Where did Chen Jing and the others go? I was unconscious in the hospital at that time. If it weren't for urgent military affairs, how could they all leave without a single person staying behind?"

  Mr. Chen looked at me and said slowly: "Don't worry, they will be fine..."

  I was too hasty, and hastily said: "Wuhan is now full of enemies, and there are also Japanese pirates' ninjas... wait a minute, I remembered that we captured many Japanese pirates' ninjas in our previous battle, could it be that they used their cunning to take Chen Jing and the others away?"

  Chen Lao furrowed his brow and said, "You've caught the ninja? That shouldn't lead to Chen Jing and the others being taken away, unless... Chen Jing and the others were hijacked by the enemy on their way back to the capital with those prisoners of war..."

  I immediately thought of this possibility, so I hastily said: "Then let's quickly contact Wuhan to see if there have been any recent plane or train crashes, or major car accidents. With over 30 people and dozens of prisoners of war being hijacked by the enemy, they can't leave no trace at all."

  Chen nodded and immediately ordered the plainclothes soldier who had poured water for me: "Contact Wuhan, investigate all traffic accidents in the past ten days, including planes, trains, and cars. Also, check Henan to see if there were any major traffic accidents there. In addition, contact the police in Wuhan and Henan, I want to know about all cases, big or small, from the past ten days."

  The warrior answered "yes" and turned around and left.

  "Let's talk about the purpose of my visit first. This time I came to ask you to do something for me. It's a very difficult task, and after thinking it over, I think only you have a chance of completing it."

  I wondered: "What makes you think so?"

  Chen Lao said, "This matter is very difficult to discuss because for a long time, our country has not valued it, causing us to lose many precious things. What I want you to do is to find one of the most precious things we've lost - ancient martial arts. Like Wudang Heart Method and Shaolin's Xi Sui Jing, those ancient, passed-down martial arts."

  I was taken aback and couldn't help but ask, "Is there any special use for these kung fu skills? Or do we want to train a group of people who understand kung fu to protect our country?"

  "My question, Old Chen thought for a moment before directly saying: 'Did you hear what I said earlier about No. 4? We are trying to train a batch of warriors with special abilities. Previously, we used the skills of Wudang and Shaolin and other martial arts schools, but they all failed, and we lost experimental bodies No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3. Some high-ranking martial artists think this is because our current skills are incomplete, so we want to find even older skills, that is, the most primitive skills. To avoid failure due to incompleteness and lose more experimental bodies.'"

  I still don't quite get it: "A warrior with special abilities, what's the concept?"

  Chen Lao said: "It's like this, the warriors we are training can use their cultivated true energy to control modernized weapons, making modernized weapons more powerful, with greater lethality, and easier to fight."

  I roughly understood what Old Chen meant: "In other words, using Neijia's true energy to control bullets, shells and so on, making their range and power both increase, thereby increasing the lethality. Is that right?"

  Chen Lao nodded slightly, but immediately shook his head: "It's basically this meaning, but what they want to control with their true energy is not ordinary bullets or shells. What they want to control is the high-energy beams shot out by our laser guns."

  I was shocked: "How is this possible? The energy beam shot out by the laser gun can melt thick steel plates in an instant, how can human-cultivated true energy possibly control it?"

  Chen sighed and said, "At first, when someone proposed this idea, I was like you, thinking it was impossible. But after our research and experiments over the past few days, I now think it's possible. Think about it, the true energy isn't meant to block the strong energy beam from the laser gun, but rather control its direction. In other words, we need to give the energy beam something that can freely control its direction. Theoretically, it's feasible, and our scientists have already proven it. And once we can control the direction of the energy beam, we can increase or decrease its intensity, achieving unimaginable effects. Just imagine, an energy beam is shot from here, and we control it as it crosses the vast ocean, directly attacking the pirates' homeland... What a shocking breakthrough that would be! At that time, we will have won without fighting, and no country in the world will dare to attack our China again..."

  I still insist on my point of view: "The true energy of human beings is actually a kind of energy. Using one kind of energy to control another kind of energy, this seems feasible. But don't forget, even the most powerful martial arts master's internal energy can't be compared with the energy beam emitted by a laser gun. Not to mention trying to control such an energy beam. I think this experiment is impossible, I..."

  "Chen Lao frowned and said: 'It's too early to make a conclusion now, just do what I say. Whether the experiment can succeed or not, we will see the results ourselves. Now, you immediately go to the locations of those ancient sects, find their successors, and bring back their skills.'"

  I felt that the Chen Lao in front of me seemed to be very different from the Chen Lao I knew before, but when I tried to say what specifically was different, I couldn't quite put my finger on it. All I could do was nod and reply: "I'll go find the ancient method right away."

  "Then go..."

  Suddenly I had an impulse and said: "I have another request, I hope you can agree to it."

  Chen Lao uttered an "oh" and said: "You speak."

  I had an idea and said: "One of my friends is also a skilled martial artist, I wonder if it's possible to bring him along to search for the ancient martial art?"

  Chen Lao uttered another "oh" sound: "Who is that friend of yours?"

  I suddenly said seriously: "My friend's name is Sun Heng..."

  Chen nodded: "It's Sun Heng, I haven't heard that he knows martial arts! Alright, you can take Sun Heng with you, I'll be waiting for your good news."

  I smiled and said: "Thank you, Old Chen. Oh, by the way, Chen Jing's birthday is coming up soon. Do you think I can find her before that? I was thinking of celebrating her birthday with her."

  Mr. Chen looked at me and nodded without saying a word.

  The smile on my face froze, and then I immediately took action, grabbing Chen Lao in front of me with one hand, and sternly shouted: "What kind of person are you?"

  Old Chen seemed puzzled and said: "What are you doing? I am Old Chen, how can you not recognize me? Are you...?"

  I raised my hand and slapped Chen Lao, knocking him out. Then I reached out and touched his face a few times. When I pulled my hand back, there was a flesh-colored mask in it. And this so-called Chen Lao turned out to be just an ordinary middle-aged man. But his build was about 70% similar to Chen Lao's, no wonder I didn't recognize him as fake at first.

  As expected, the old man Chen would not have come up with such a ridiculous idea, nor would he think of contacting others to search for her after hearing that Chen Jing had gone missing. The old man Chen I know would have personally gone searching if he knew Chen Jing was missing. This old man is completely fake.

  I wonder if Little Zhang, Chen Lao's new secretary whom I met earlier, and Yao Si Shan who brought me here are also fake?

  I carefully recalled some details from before and slowly confirmed that Little Zhang was definitely not fake. A fake secretary would not be able to sneak into Old Chen's office, as it is heavily guarded with various methods of identifying people's authenticity, making it impossible for any outsider to get in. That means the person who picked me up at Badaling Great Wall, Yao Si Shan, was the fake one.

  Having confirmed this, I didn't feel a bit of excitement, but instead felt a chill run down my spine, feeling that something was terribly wrong.

  Since Lian Yao's Shan is also fake, then Chen Lao's previous arrangement has been completely exposed. Moreover, even Chen Lao's safety may not be optimistic.

  Thinking of this, I didn't dare hesitate any longer and directly rushed into the door that those people who were having a meeting used when they left earlier.

  This is just a farmhouse, with only three rooms in total. I passed through that door and saw the four walls. Without any doors or gates to go out, where did those people from earlier go?

  They won't just disappear into thin air; there must be another hidden portal here somewhere. Thinking this, I didn't idle around even with my injuries and started tapping secretly.

  This is a method learned from TV dramas, it is said that wherever there is an empty space, when struck, will produce different sounds.

  I slowly searched and in less than a minute I really found a place that emitted an empty echo. This was the cement floor of this room, which was hollow underneath.

  I exerted a slight force and one foot broke through the empty space. Then I saw that there were stairs below, leading directly to the depths of the underground.

  I knew I had stumbled upon a secret passage, so I didn't hesitate and jumped down. I didn't walk down step by step, to save time, I directly jumped down, halfway through the walls of the passage gave me a boost, and I was already standing firmly at the end of the passage.

  Then I saw two people and a door. The two people were dressed in the same way as the ones I had seen earlier, wearing hoods and masks.

  Suddenly seeing me, those two people immediately took a step forward, and all four hands reached out together, about to grab me.

  I just dodged slightly and avoided their hands. While avoiding them, I also made my move, with both hands coming out at the same time, grabbing the necks of these two people. The strength in my hands was quite great, so as soon as I grabbed, one person immediately went limp and fell down.

  The remaining person was frightened and stared wide-eyed, wanting to speak, but because his neck was grasped by me, he couldn't say a word.

  I tore off this person's mask and said coldly: "Tell me, where is Old Chen?"

  His face turned red, he opened his mouth, but still couldn't speak. I slowly loosened some of the hands grasping his neck, waiting for him to answer my question.

  "After taking several deep breaths, he finally said: 'Inside.'"

  I immediately pushed this person and coldly said: "Lead the way!"

  This person didn't dare hesitate and really took me with him to open the door in front of us and walk into another passageway.

  We walked less than twenty meters and saw two people with hoods and masks again. This time I didn't hesitate at all, and directly knocked them unconscious. The person I caught earlier didn't dare to take advantage of the situation to escape, but instead stared blankly at me with a ghost-like expression.

  I didn't say a word, I just gave him a look and he immediately came forward to lead the way.

  All the way, I knocked out no less than twenty people who were dressed in the same way, and finally saw the end of the passage. The end of the passage is a particularly large gate. This passage is at least one kilometer long. In the middle, it's winding and turning, if someone didn't lead the way, I really wouldn't have found my way here easily.

  The guide stopped here and trembled as he said to me, "I don't have the key to this door, nor do I know how to find the key..."

  I saw that the person was already scared to death, and what he said should be true, so I didn't bother him anymore and knocked him out directly. Then I looked at the stone gate in front of me, tapped it with my hand, and felt that it wasn't very thick either. I retreated a few steps, lifted my foot and kicked it hard.

  The first time, I used half of my strength, and the stone gate didn't budge, as if it had taken root. The second time, I used 80% of my strength, and the stone gate finally moved slightly. The third time, when I kicked with all my might, the stone gate let out a deafening sound, and was finally kicked open by me.

  A large group of people holding various weapons suddenly appeared before my eyes. They didn't wear hoods or masks, and I could see clearly that they were also Chinese.

  My first impression was that these people were all from the Wanlong Association. So I didn't think much, and rushed up to them with a flurry of punches and kicks. If they're enemies, there's no need for courtesy, just knock them down first.

  My tactics are simple and practical. The enemy soon can't withstand, retreating repeatedly. I strike mercilessly, with increasing strength, the enemies I hit either break their arms and legs or fall to the ground unconscious, immediately losing their combat effectiveness. Against ordinary people, my fighting power is unprecedentedly high, they are not even a match for me in one move.

  After dealing with those enemies, I started to observe the place where I was. This is an underground cave-like place, the cave is very large, it looks like it was artificially built, and there are artificial construction marks everywhere.

  There were many smaller caves around the big one. I didn't know if Old Chen was locked up in one of them, so I shouted loudly: "Old Chen! Old Chen!"

  The echo in the cave seemed to be shouting "Chen Lao", then I heard someone say: "Jin Cang? Is that you? I'm over here..."

  I followed the sound and looked over, the place where the voice came from was a small cave not far to my left. I rushed over and saw Old Chen standing at the entrance of the cave.

  I could tell at a glance that this man in military uniform was the Chen Lao I knew. So I exerted my strength to push open the iron gate in front of the cave, and then said: "Chen Lao, how did you end up being captured here?"

  "Ahahahaha! It's a long story, I'll tell you slowly later. First go and rescue the others, all the people in our base have been caught and locked up in these small caves."

  I hesitated for a moment, then saw several men in military uniforms walking out of the cave where Old Chen was. Among them were some of Chen Lao's subordinates I had seen before, so I said: "Find the key on these enemies and rescue our people."

  Those soldiers went to rescue others one after another. I accompanied Old Chen to find a place to sit down and asked anxiously, "Are you okay?"

  Chen Lao was clearly suffering, his face pale and haggard, with bloodstains on his body. Yet he still laughed loudly: "I'm not dead yet, what's the big deal?"

  I pointed at the bloodstain on his body and asked cautiously: "This..."

  Chen Lao looked at the bloodstains on his body and said loudly, "These Wanlonghui people want to know our military department's secrets from me... Hmph, they're dreaming, even if they kill me, they won't be able to find out any of our military department's secrets."

  "I understand," he said in a low voice, "I'll take you to the hospital for a check-up right now."

  Chen Lao shook his head: "No need, I'm fine. You'd better tell me about your battle in Wuhan first, what was the outcome?"

  I sighed silently and forced a smile: "We won..."