The Tale Never Ends Chapter 171 A New Year

The sudden question caught every one of us unawares that even Professor Zhang awoke from his torpid stupor. He slowly plucked off the glasses, as if to speak something, but upon finding that he could not see the ghost without the glasses, he put them back on.

He peered at the ghost hesitantly and said, "Er... I have to ask... Are you human or...?" The ghost tossed a funny look at him. "Of course I'm a ghost. You think I'd like to be one?!" And that almost made us all cackled. "It's all right," I cut in, saying, "This old man does not believe in ghosts. So I'm only trying to demonstrate to him the existence of ghosts. It's all right now. You may go." Despite showing its annoyance, the ghost would never dare to do anything; not when I'm here. But when it was about to leave, Chongxi took out a stack of joss papers and went to the balcony of the room and burned them. "Here's for your trouble." That seemed to have swayed the ghost's mood somehow and it left jovially in the end.

Professor Zhang had been watching everything in silence, his gaze still trained upon the empty balcony even after the ghost had left. I walked up to him and offered him a cigarette. "So, old man, it's time you believe what I said then?" Professor Zhang opened his mouth, trying to speak, but the words seemed to have stuck in his throat.

"Well, it's not only ghosts. Even demons, demigods, and other supernatural beings exist too, although much of the tales you've heard about them are mostly exaggerated. But what happened at Yellow Soil Ridge was, in point of fact, a paranormal incident. I'd not dare to say that you cannot explain it by using science, but not today. I'm afraid the present comprehension of science that Human now wields has not yet reached that depth."

"Paranormal events are not fake science; like the dark side of the moon, they belong to the other face of science which Human has not yet to discover and pry into. Science is defined as the intellectual and practical activity encompassing the systematic study of the structure and behavior of the physical and natural world through observation and experiment, and paranormal events are definitely part of our natural world as well!"

The old professor did not know how he should react. Here he was, a young lad who was not even half his age, trying to convince him that the world was not what he had always believed it to be! It took moments before he finally moved again, his expression curdling into a frown. "Boy. You came to see me, and you showed me all this. What do you want?" I almost belched my cigarette. "Does he still not get what I said earlier?!" Still, I answered as politely as I could. "We are here to request that you act upon your authority as an expert to come up with a pretense to keep this matter under wraps. The paranormal world must remain hidden, at least for now. The public is still not able to understand all this lest panic and anarchy erupt. Take this from us, for this is what we do. This is what we deal in." I proceeded by giving the old professor an account of what happened during the Battle of Yellow Soil Ridge, and he listened closely, although I wondered how much could he take in. Nevertheless, it was enough for him to reluctantly agree in the end.

His response was only understandable; the psychological toll now felt by the old professor was too much for him and following today, he might never have any difficulty in believing anything anymore from now on. That said, his still-clinging existence desperation drove him to agree to our request for his help.

A few days later, Professor Zhang appeared in a television science program aired by Central Television. It was a special centered upon Zunhua City, featuring the incidents at Yellow Soil Ridge. The professor first began by explaining the geology of the Ridge, revealing that the phenomenon of the dark haze and the sudden growth of green in winter were caused due to the unusual ground conditions and the weather there. Then, true to his word, the professor began saying, "This is nothing short of a miracle in terms of both geology and meteorology, that such a place on each fulfills the conditions for the phenomenon to take place. One can easily dismiss this as ludicrous, but it is veritably logical at the same time. But it's a random event and there is no way for us to predict if such phenomenon might take place again, here or anywhere else in the country." The hairs of my arm immediately stood when I heard his final sentence. "Was he hinting that I might be causing the same incident again one day in some other place?"

But the host of the program was reluctant to let it go. "But Professor Zhang, how would you explain the sudden large-scale exodus of the weasels?" And the professor went on, "Animals have the sense more acute than us humans. They are able to sense the change in weather even before we humans can. In truth, it's not only the weasels who were immigrating. It's just that weasels are the prime predators atop the food chain here in the Ridge, hence when they move in such great numbers..." The professor's scientific prevarication went on until the television host was finally convinced. "I see!" The host exclaimed at the end of the show, "So, thank you, Professor Zhang, for your time today. Your explanations on this mystery have restored hope and confidence to us. So, ladies and gentlemen..." By then, I could not help but feel guilty; the professor had piled layers of lies on another to help us to keep the public placated while putting his own standing and honor at stake.

I turned off the TV and saw Lin Feng and Chongxi struggling to hold back their laughter. It did not take long for the professor to reach us; my phone rang a few hours later and I heard his glowering voice, "I'm sure you've seen my appearance on TV, boy? At the risk of my reputation and integrity, I've done the unthinkable by lying on national TV! Let this be the first and the last time I see you!" "I'd hope not, Professor!" I quipped, "Who knows what might come up next time! We might need your help again!" I could hear that the Professor hardly begrudged us on his troubles; he merely scoffed before he ended the call.

Zheng Shuang's visits continued for the next few days as he scrambled back and forth to provide us with reports. The furor slowly subsided as the heat slowly ebbed away and everything was back to normal, all thanks to the prattling of Professor Zhang on TV. But the site of the battle would then become a sightseeing venue, creating a never-ending flow of tourists and hikers that frequented the hill resort nearby.

In a blink of an eye, the year reached its end and the Chinese New Year loomed near. Most of the shops in the streets were closed by now and all paranormal activities died down in this time, retreating into the fold like glowing embers. No demons or malignant entities would dare invite trouble with the Chinese New Year just in the corner, not when firecrackers, one of the most potent items to ward off evil, were readily available at all families and homes.

More accurately, demons and evil beings were not afraid of firecrackers per se; only the monster Nian was afraid of firecrackers. But the strongest form of power in the world, was none other than the power of faith. It was the strong faith of people in the ability of firecrackers to keep evil away that gave it strength. Similarly, deities and gods who were most worshipped possessed the strongest powers. The measure of their magic and their very existence hinged on the unbridled love and devout faith showered upon them by their worshippers. The widespread genuflection of the Wudaxians during the Qing Dynasty was what gave rise to their prime. As was the same with the firecrackers today; the utmost faith of the masses in firecrackers allowed them to be one of the best instruments in warding off evil, even until today.

Back to the present, the bangs and cracks of firecrackers and fireworks abounded the night of this New Year's Eve. We were all together in my new home, enjoying a pleasant meeting we had specially set up for Chongxi and his girlfriend.

Our preparations began a week ago, when I was discussing with my companions about closing for the festive season and Lin Feng brought up the subject of the New Year's Eve dinner, much to Chongxi's abashed surprise. But we came to a unanimous decision that we should close and prepare for the dinner.

We busied ourselves from buying decorative ornaments to the preparation of ingredients for the dinner, and that took us almost all week. Finally on the big day, Edelweiss and I, Lin Feng and Yuanyuan, with Chongxi and his girlfriend Xiao Yu, whom we finally met for the first time, all met at my new home. During which, I asked, "Xiao Yu, I heard your mother is really interested in Chongxi. But honestly, I fail to understand what is it in him that you find it so special? Moreover, most people would view us as nothing more than charlatans and swindlers." And that made everyone laughed; Chongxi even prodded me in the rib, knowing that I was merely joking. Chongxi immediately quipped to Edelweiss, "To tell you the truth, Edelweiss! I too do not know how you two have got together..."

A busybody Yuanyuan immediately propped a head from her end of the table, looking at us both. Edelweiss' cheeks blazed with pink patches, unable to say anything. But what happened between Edelweiss and me was hardly appropriate for table manners and I deftly sidestepped the question by saying, "Well... There has been an attraction between us both even before it began... But somehow it blossomed during the trip into the mountains!" "Wow! That's romantic! It's like a story from a novel! I'm envious of you both!" Yuanyuan exclaimed with clapping her hands.

"Envious?" Lin Feng retorted indignantly, "How about I jump off a cliff too? Would you jump with me?" Yuanyuan shot him a scathing look that made Chongxi roar, "You can too, if you have a Godmother who can save you!"

Another burst of guffaws followed the lively banter between them. And then out of the blue, something hit Chongxi's head hard with a loud thud and he yelped in pain!

Chapter end