Chapter 57: Late at Night

Just as I was lost in thought, Ai Hongjun rushed over from the back and said loudly, “What’s wrong Company Commander? Who did you see? Make and lost soul like, this time you can not just say go away, wait for me to get off work let’s go drinking.”

I was afraid that Ai Hongjun’s voice was too loud to affect other people, so I dragged him to the door of the Museum of Nature, and casually chatted for a few words, I said: “Ai捣蛋你怎么当上公安了？ You have a voice like a cannon barrel, two miles away from the thieves are scared away.”

Ai Hongjun laughed: “Our branch leadership also on my voice bright, shocked ah, last time I heard other comrades said you are going abroad? It seems that we can not recruit you at home, really plan to go out to speculate ah?”

I said, “There’s no such thing as speculation abroad. I’m not going out to be a second-hand dealer, we’re just trying to survive flexibly and do whatever we see fit. What are you doing wandering around the museum in your uniform? You’re not on duty now?”

So ask to know, the original Ai Hongjun’s hometown is Hunan, from the army out of the Tianjin was assigned to work, due to busy work, has not had time to go home to visit their families, a number of cultural relics in Hunan Province to Tianjin exhibition, accompanied by the staff, there is a girl Ai Hongjun’s own sister Ai Xiaohong, so the Ai Hongjun deliberately take the time to come over to look at her.

I thought to myself: “Lao Ai this is not a ready-made back door to go?” Then hurriedly said to Ai Hongjun: “Drinking things have to be put aside, now I have an urgent matter, you have to find a way to help me go through the back door.”

Ai Hongjun said: “We mention what help, what is it you just say, in addition to borrowing a gun, borrow my head are no problem.”

I said, “Who said I was looking for you to borrow a gun? Your sister-in-law is an American, you know? Don’t look like us Chinese people look the same, is an old friend of our Chinese people, but in fact is chewing on foreign buns grew up, to put it bluntly is a foreigner, they are those foreigners, like to look at our Chinese antiques, it is said that we are on display here in the Han Dynasty copper furnace, in several generations ago is her family’s ancestral collection of things, so especially emotional, a see on the tearful.”

Ai Hongjun interjected: “Company commander you are married? I can not even drink a cup of wedding wine ……”

I said: “Don’t interrupt, not married yet, when you get married, I’m sure I’ll have to invite you to drink, do you want to drink the wedding wine? If you really want to drink wedding wine you have to help, because your sister-in-law said, she wants to take a close look at this antique, if I can’t satisfy her little wish, she broke with me, you said I’m not too old to find a daughter-in-law more than easy.”

Ai Hongjun face: “These Hunan provincial cultural relics are locked in the display cabinet, I’m not the unit’s security section of the people, the hand does not have the key, not to mention that these are national treasures, ah, we can not ordinary people who want to see, want to touch touch, foreign guests did not have this treatment ah, but the company commander you do not worry, I look for my sister to ask, maybe she can find an opportunity to take you to look at. ”

Ai Hongjun finished his sister Ai Xiaohong called over, introduced us to each other, I look at this Ai Xiaohong did before the interpreter, speak in a fine voice, Mandarin is very standard, how to see can not believe with his brother is a biological sibling, I first set a few words of proximity, then asked her to ask if she can go through the back door, open the window of the display cabinet, so that we look at the artifacts to the near side, and then shoot a few photographs to study the research?

I did not expect Ai Xiaohong is not difficult, a promise: “No problem, but this transported to Tianjin are not the real thing, but by the experts according to the ratio of one to one imitation of the fake, specifically for the exhibition, according to the relevant provisions of the first level of cultural relics are preserved in special warehouses will not be easily moved, look at the fakes and is not a big deal, but during the day is inconvenient, the night I and the night shift to say hello. The night shift to say hello, from the back door to bring you in to visit.”

I heard is a fake, can not help but be disappointed, those real things may be tightly sealed in the underground treasure house, if no special chance, I’m afraid this life will not be able to see, then cut off this idea.

But Ai Xiaohong said: “Although it is imitation, but are from the hands of experts, the details are not bad, and the real almost no difference, even the cracks on it are exactly the same.”

I thought, we specially come to see this furnace, mainly want to see the furnace wall of a few alchemy map, perhaps there will be clues to the ancient tomb jindan, if the imitation product is enough to fake the real, the pattern on the drawing of the skeleton since it is exactly the same as the physical photographs, it should be worth looking at, and so Ai Hong agreed to eleven o’clock this evening, in the back door of the Museum of Nature to meet.

Ai Hongjun still have work to do, told Ai Xiaohong a few words, and I said goodbye in a hurry, riding a bicycle to go, I waited until Shirley Yang back at the museum gate, to meet the former comrades, you can take the back door at night to visit the matter of her briefly, she was very happy, but heard that look at the forgeries, can not help but have a few points of disappointment.

That night we agreed to come to the back door of the Museum of Nature, which is in a narrow and cold street, late at night in the cold wind is strong, blowing the branches of the dead tree Ga creaking, the whole street without a pedestrian.

I knocked on the door, Ai Xiaohong wrapped in a military coat, carrying a very long a big flashlight will be me and Shirley Yang received in, the whole nature museum is quiet, the main building lights all black, outside the concierge, there is a night watchman old man, beforehand has been greeted, asked him to take a bunch of keys, and came directly to the door.

Unlocked into the hall, inside the black light specimen exhibition room, the hall is very spacious, every step, there is an empty echo out, Ai Xiaohong opened the flashlight, shine around, those were made into a specimen of various insects and beasts, are forever maintained a frozen posture, daytime look is not much, but in the darkness of the night does seem to have a few horrors.

Ai Xiaohong seemed to be a little scared, turning her head to me and saying, “The nature museum at night and during the day are really two very different places, maybe it’s just too quiet, I’m a little less adapted to it.”

This congregation of silent and eerie atmosphere I am more than familiar with, and I know that Ai Xiaohong is not a staff member of this museum, inside the environment and architectural structure she is not familiar with, then took over the torch in her hand to walk in front, while walking on her and Shirley Yang said: “In this building, the first floor is the dumplings, the second floor is the Mingqi, is not quiet to be strange. ”

Ai Xiaohong do not know what I mean by that, while Shirley Yang naturally clear, whispered: “Do not talk nonsense, here the exhibition are animal and plant model specimens, and there is no human ancient corpses, where there will be what dumplings.”

I said casually, I think the animal specimens, should also be a “zombie”, in the early process of specimen production, certainly absorbed a lot of manufacturing “mummy” experience, and biological specimens also include “human body specimen” this one, only the dumplings specimen will not be first corpse will not mold, listen to my grandfather said, in the Qing Dynasty, there is a female insurgent leader called “Wang Guanyin”, she was unfortunately arrested and killed, the body was foreigners stole to buy, made a specimen, transferred from the sea to the United Kingdom to exhibit, labeled as the Virgin Mary! The remains of a demon, through the curiosity of foreigners to the mysterious East to cheat money, this human specimen is very inhumane, has nothing to do with science.

Ai Xiaohong listen to me talk about “human specimens”, face are a little scared white, hurriedly said: “Hu big brother you must not mention these things again, I heard today, there are two specimens in the museum is very …… evil, you are not my brother’s comrade in arms, I’m not in the museum, I’m not in the museum. my brother’s comrade in arms, I really don’t dare to bring you in at night.”

Shirley Yang and I feel strange, what specimens to use the word “evil” to describe? Ai Xiaohong stopped and pointed to a glass cabinet at the end of the hall, “In that cabinet, there is a white bat specimen.” I wondered, “White bat?

I wondered, “It’s true that white bats are relatively rare, but they are not absent from the world, so how is it worth making a fuss about? Why don’t you tell me about it, so that I can analyze whether it’s true or not.”

Shirley Yang said to Ai Xiaohong: “There are many collections in the museum, and naturally there are many related stories and legends, and some things that have been rumored for a long time will inevitably be distorted and distorted, so they don’t have to be taken seriously.”

Ai Xiaohong said, “probably I’m too timid, I also listen to the guest house next to an old lady today, she said that there is a white bat specimen in the Museum of Nature, is in the pre-liberation period by a hillbilly captured and killed …….”

She said this thing, I also had heard, legend has it that there were often children missing, the people thought it was a “shoot flower child” abduction of children, do not dare to easily let the children go out to play, who knows that the neighborhood children are still missing one after another, so that the family closed their homes, terrified and anxious.

Later, the village came to a waist tie white tapes of the old man, he said the children were “medicine fork hungry ghosts” ate, that hungry ghosts ate many children, will be transformed into a human form to reincarnation, within a radius of a hundred miles of pregnant women with big tummies, may be pregnant with “ghosts”, there is no way out, only Take medicine to fall fetus, dead fetus are to be thrown into the mountains.

Before the liberation of the people are superstitious ideas serious, suddenly believe in the truth, fool the people fooled from countless, everywhere forced pregnant women to drink medicine aborted fetus, and threw the dead fetus into a ravine, the harm is not known how many innocent lives.

There is a hunter in the mountains, one day chasing a white rabbit, lost into a cave, see the white bones in the cave, is panicked at the time, to see the depths of the cave white shadows flickering, he immediately in the hands of the hunting fork to hit the stabbing, but also stabbed to death a gray-white old bat, and since then the neighborhood has not lost a child.

Some people say that this old bat is the beginning of the chaos, a evil gas between heaven and earth, specializing in cannibalism, but also turned into an old man in the city to confuse the public, tricking the people with medication to fall fetus, thrown into the mountains to provide for it, surely Guanyin bodhisattva manifestation of the spirit of the white rabbit to lead hunters into the cave for the people in addition to the harm, see the Buddha day is very close to the really save the suffering of the poor, otherwise, if there is no Buddha’s law, by virtue of his district a hunter, how can I kill the old demon in the cave? The old demon in the cave?

And that hunter got the white bat body, its deeds were widely spread, immediately there are a few foreigners to make money to buy back, made into a specimen in the museum in Tianjin, has been preserved to this day.

This kind of legend in ten percent can have eighty percent are false, may be hunters to catch white bats, resold to foreigners made specimens is true, the rest are not verifiable, most of them are passed around more and more unreliable wild talk.

I went to the near with a flashlight to shine a white bat specimen, can not see it alive when it was a man-eating demon king, I was about to greet Ai Xiaohong also come over to take a look, don’t be so skeptical, but suddenly heard footsteps coming from the top of the head, Ai Xiaohong heard the sound ate a shock, scared almost on the ground: “The old bat spirit really alive!”

I suddenly had a thought flash in my head, immediately remembered the daytime saw that back, greeted Shirley Yang and Ai Xiaohong said: “The second floor has a flying thief ……” The words did not fall, I have rushed upstairs, but the door lock of the second floor is locked, the key is still in the Ai Xiaohong hands, I had to hold up a flashlight from the glass window to the inside of the chaotic light.

In the darkness there is really a silhouette, is squatting near the furnace, he suddenly saw me outside the door, also surprised, turned his head and ran to the window, climbed out from the window sill, at this time, Ai Xiaohong and Shirley Yang also followed up, hastily take the key to open the door.

I can not wait to push the door into the inside, see the window open, the cold wind whistling into the house, and the man fled so fast, has long disappeared in the night, we see that there is no place to chase, had to close the window, looked around, so that there is no loss of anything, and are imitations of the real damage lost also does not matter, but when I first saw these exhibits, due to the distance is a little far away, are mistakenly thought to be the real thing, the museum and nothing strict security measures, the museum has no strict security measures. The museum has no strict security measures, no wonder someone will hit the idea of this batch of antiques.

I said to Ai Xiaohong: “Since there is nothing to lose, I don’t think we need to tell the police, those who are thieves are the most weak-minded, and after being alarmed this time, they surely won’t dare to come again.”

At this time Shirley Yang picked up a red plastic cover notebook on the ground, this notebook is very common, most of the units are issued down to use, printed with the words of the work record, may be that the flying thief left in a hurry, panicked and thrown on the ground.

I took this work record from her hands, opened and looked, only to see the first page written on the owner’s name “Sun Xuewu”, I read twice under my breath, asked Shirley Yang said: “Sun Xuewu who? This name seems to have been heard somewhere, do you have any impression?”

Shirley Yang said, “Old Hu, you forgot, this is Professor Sun’s name, that often traveled to villages and villages to collect dragon bone books, research ancient symbols and words of the expert Professor Sun, he came to the Nature Museum late at night to do what?”