In the sealed room surrounded by iron walls, there was a continuous buzzing sound from the exhaust pipe, and the yellowed ancient paintings reflected a faint light in the light.
In the quiet room, the middle-aged man held the printed photo, which hung by his side and could not help shaking it. Looking at the scroll, the scholar playing chess seemed to suddenly raise his face and smile at him.
"What?!"
The man quickly took off his glasses, rubbed his eyes, and put them on again. Everything in the picture seemed normal in his sight. He breathed a sigh of relief and felt much more at ease.
He remembered that many, many years ago, he was an ordinary researcher, and later he worked as a recorder in the sealed room. On the first day he came in, he saw this painting. Many things here have unknown stories, some are evil, some are sad, and without exception, they are not suitable to exist in the ordinary world.
Only this ancient painting in the sealed room has no record of any case, and it has a number different from other sealed items: zero.
After checking it out, I became even more curious about it. I would ponder its origins in front of the painting every day. Until one day, I learned that the former sealed record keeper was seriously ill. I took the opportunity to visit him and asked him about the origins of the painting. Later, I learned that this painting was older than the other person, and the other person had also explored its past and learned that the painting could be traced back to the day when Z6 was established, or even earlier.
In other words, it appeared even older than the Z6 laboratory.
Not long after, his inquiries about the ancient painting seemed to have alarmed the higher-ups, and he was ordered to stop inquiring, transferred from the position of recorder, and returned to the role of researcher. In the following ten years, he never entered the sealed room again, as if the ancient painting had gradually faded from his memory.
In fact, he had never forgotten it. He had suppressed this curiosity deep in his heart. Every time he passed by, he would secretly glance at the door of the sealed room, hoping to step into there again one day. Perhaps one day in the future, he would be able to find out the story behind the ancient painting that had no records.
Another ten years passed, he was twenty-seven, thirty-seven, and now forty-seven. He was promoted to the position of project leader of the laboratory and was also in charge of the sealed room. On the first day after getting the authority, he stepped into the sealed room again, but this time, he saw an old man standing in front of the ancient painting whom he had never seen before.
He was so old that he looked unrecognizable, with sparse white hair falling out and his back bent so that he could hardly lift it. He just craned his neck to look at the ancient paintings on the wall. He seemed not to hear the questions he asked. He just stood there for a while, then walked away step by step with his back hunched and his hands behind his back. The man chased him out, but found that the slow-moving old man had disappeared outside the door.
The next morning, he suddenly received a notice from above and came to the mountain research room. Led by the guard, he came to a cave. The moment he opened the heavy stone door, what caught his eye was a painting of a yin-yang fish on the cave wall. He knew that this was the origin of Z6 and Z9.
There were no modern furnishings in the cave, only uneven ground, uneven rock walls dripping with water stains, and stalactites hanging overhead. From time to time, there was the subtle sound of "pop" of water dripping to the ground. Going further in, the ground sloped downward, with stone tables and stone benches, a simple stone bed, and a huge yin-yang stone sculpture on the opposite wall. On the high stone platform below, in the formation of the Eight Diagrams, an old man in a gray Taoist robe was sitting cross-legged there.
Soon, the old man opened his eyes, and his cloudy eyes seemed to contain all the truth in the world.
On this day, the man also learned from the old man that the origin of the paintings, and even the origin of Z6 and Z9, can be traced back to the Sui and Tang Dynasties. The predecessor of this organization was called Jingyaosi, which was established by the Sui Dynasty's national teacher who collected orphans from all over the world to teach them knowledge and the means of exorcising demons and monsters. After the fall of the Sui Dynasty, the people of Jingyaosi scattered across Kyushu had already branched out and gradually formed many factions. During the prosperous Tang Dynasty, they began to integrate one by one to serve various dynasties. As the spiritual energy became thinner, the use of magic spells gradually decreased, and a gap appeared.
In modern times, foreign countries knocked on the country's door with artillery, and the means of magic and exorcism of demons and monsters declined even more thoroughly, and were gradually replaced by various machines and science.
That’s how the two special departments Z6 and Z9 were established. As for the painting, in the past twenty years, the man only knew that the scholar in the painting was from Mount Qixia, the imperial teacher of the Sui Dynasty, the ancestor of the Demon Suppression Department, Z6 and Z9.
As for whether he was a god or not, the old man did not tell the story that followed. However, on this day two years later, he received something from Z9 and saw the mural on it. His heart almost jumped out of his chest. Until he saw the blurry figure in the picture clearly, he felt as if he had been electrocuted and stood still with numb limbs.
"The Imperial Master of the Sui Dynasty..."
The moment he saw the figure's face under the tree clearly, the name flashed through the man's mind like lightning. Comparing it with the painting in the sealed room, he became more convinced that the man really existed.
Unconsciously, the man who was looking at the ancient painting had beads of sweat on his face. He took off his glasses, took out a handkerchief to wipe his forehead and neck, then quickly walked out of the sealed room holding the photo. He walked along the long path that required a pass to enter, and came to the ancient and dark stone door. He pressed it with one hand, and the stone door slowly opened with a heavy rumbling sound to let him in.
"He may be back."
The man walked up the stone steps and handed the photo in his hand to the old man who was sitting cross-legged in the middle of the Bagua. Opposite him, his tightly closed eyes slowly opened and he quietly looked at the painting, which showed a young scholar standing under a tree with his hands behind his back, and an old donkey next to him chewing grass.
His sparse white beard trembled slightly, and the old man forced his lips apart, his voice difficult and weak.
"It's him... It's definitely him... Hehe... Hehe..."
The old man looked like he hadn't smiled in many years. His smile was stiff and his voice was hoarse and unpleasant. He raised his sleeves, took the photo with his skinny hands like tree bark, and looked at the man in front of him.
"I can't leave... I can't leave here... Go tell him that my old friend Sun Yingxian is still alive..."
"Where is he?"
The old man did not answer, but closed his eyes again. The man instantly felt the air around him become oppressive, as if something invisible flashed by his side. Before he could be surprised, the old man who was sitting cross-legged pursed his lips, raised his sleeves, and pointed to the south.
"In the northwest of Qixia Mountain, in a city close to Qixia... Remember... He has a gentle temperament... You must be polite... Don't... provoke him... You can't beat him..."
"Can't beat him?"
"... I'm afraid no one in this world can defeat him... He... is a god..."
The man stood there in shock, then shook his head. As for science, everything has its source, and even gods have things that can restrain them.
The old man closed his eyes, perhaps sensing the man's disbelief, and just smiled.
"The mural you studied... was painted by me back then... probably... during the Tang Dynasty... I can't remember which year it was..."
These words immediately shocked the man. He didn't even know how he left the cave. It was difficult for him to digest what he had just heard.
However, he later picked up the phone and called Z9, and then took a plane with his men overnight to the direction the old man pointed out - Nanguan City.
…
At the same time, the speeding off-road vehicle drove out of the urban area of Nanguan and entered the urban village area on the edge of the city. Following the instructions of the navigation, the vehicle stopped in a nearby alley.
"Click~~"
Afeng pushed the energy containment magazine into the gun and nodded to the female companion beside him. The two of them and the burly man who was driving opened the door and got out of the car. They took out the energy containment device from the trunk and walked towards a row of rental buildings where the lights were still on.
At night, there was a lot of noise, including the sound of television, children crying, and women's miserable wails. Occasionally, a few dogs barked in the dim alley.
In the noisy rental building, in the lighted window frames, a rather 'real' story was being played out. Lu Liangsheng sat on the sofa, watching the 'movie' he had drawn with great interest.