Chapter 212: The Counterattack

Popular science was a strong suit for the dispatched personnel. Every one of them had a popular science project in their training course before being sent out. As for the popular science teaching materials, they were basically taken from popular science books of the old world, mostly written in the 1950s and 60s. The researchers at the Grand Library believed that the scientific level of the public in that era was not much higher than that of the people of the Ming Dynasty, so it should be the most applicable. As for books like “One Hundred Thousand Whys,” at least a reader at the primary school level could understand them.

He immediately began by explaining why it rained, talking about the evaporation of water, the formation of clouds, and the condensation of water. He then talked about the positive and negative charges in the clouds, and finally, the formation of lightning.

This set of explanations was easy to understand and captivated Zhuang Yongling and the others, who had never been exposed to natural science. Rain and thunder, the clouds in the sky—these were all the most common things in daily life. Few people would think about “why it is like this.” Young people were at the peak of their thirst for knowledge, and these principles could not be found in books. There were folk tales about the Thunder God and the Mother of Lightning, but scholars generally did not believe in such stories.

It was the first time they had heard Zhang Yingchen’s explanation, and they found it very novel, although there were many things they could not understand or even had doubts about.

As soon as he finished a section, Zhuang Yongling and the others quickly threw out many questions: Why does water evaporate? How can matter change its form? Where do the “charges” in the clouds come from?

Min Zhanlian thought to himself, “Good heavens, this is getting deep into the microscopic world.” He was indeed the foundation of a future Jinshi. Fortunately, the researchers had discussed how to answer similar questions and had decided to cite some ancient Chinese academic theories, especially those of the Mohists. Of course, whether Mozi’s so-called “duan” was atomism was a matter of debate in academic circles. The researchers at the Grand Library were just borrowing it for the sake of “localization.”

This theory was too profound for children who were only in their teens and had only been exposed to the “Thirteen Classics.”

But it was clear that this theory had opened their eyes. Zhuang Yongling’s face was full of excitement.

“The True Master is a great talent!” he said with an admiring expression. “It is truly a blessing that the True Master is in our village! This student wishes to ask for the True Master’s guidance day and night.”

“Why not?” Zhang Yingchen thought to himself, “It would be even better if I could ‘poison’ you.” It was difficult to poison your fathers and uncles, but this True Master was very confident in poisoning you. He immediately agreed with a smile.

Zhang Yingchen then took out a popular science booklet from his bosom. It had been recently sent from the Qiwei Escort Agency in Linqing. It was the newly compiled “A Small Glimpse of Natural Philosophy” by the Grand Library, which contained small pieces of knowledge about astronomy, physics, chemistry, biology, and geography. It was used for distribution as a popular science introductory book. A batch had just been printed in Hangzhou.

“This is a rare book from overseas. You must treasure it and read it well.”

“Thank you, True Master!” As soon as Zhuang Yongling took it, the three teenagers eagerly huddled together to read it.

In a farmhouse outside Yizhou city, all the main leaders of the Nanwuliang sect in the local area had gathered. Everyone’s face showed an expression of “a rabbit mourning the death of a fox,” or rather, “a great disaster is imminent.”

The Dharma protector emissary who had arrived in the Yizhou branch altar like a fairy descending from heaven had disappeared. It was said that she had been taken back to the main altar in Jinan for punishment because she had “missed the opportunity.” One could well imagine what would await her when she arrived in Jinan Prefecture.

The several direct-subordinate incense masters of the Yizhou branch altar who had cooperated with her were still in the crowd, their faces showing fear. The others were unwilling to get too close to them.

The middle-aged man who had received Min Zhanlian with an air of importance was still trying to maintain his composure. He sneered, “What’s his little bit of Taoist skill? Not to mention the sect leader, even one little finger of the four great Dharma protectors could crush him.”

The crowd was silent. What skills the sect leader and the Dharma protectors had was of little concern to them at the moment. The key was how to deal with the higher-ups’ investigation now that the matter had been bungled. This Daoist Priest Zhang was so powerful. What if he refused to let it go and came knocking on their door? They had already heard about Zhang Yingchen’s “thunder bath” magic. They thought to themselves, what if he knew something like the Five Thunder Art? With one thunderclap, they didn’t have semi-immortal bodies and would instantly be turned into charcoal.

“Don’t panic, everyone!” the middle-aged man kept encouraging the crowd. “He’s all alone. Even if he’s a semi-immortal, what can he do? Besides, he must be a heretic with some magic tricks to fool people.”

He pointed to an incense master. “Isn’t the incense master of Dadian Village your subordinate? Why isn’t he here? And what about the several incense attendants?”

The other party said with a worried face, “Reporting to the superior: the incense master and incense attendants of Dadian Village and the Zhuang family have turned against us! They have joined that heretic! They have sold out all our people inside. The Zhuang family has now purged Dadian Village and the residence. Except for a few who refused to turn and escaped, everyone else is now under Daoist Priest Zhang’s command…”

“Why didn’t you say so earlier?!” the middle-aged man was furious.

“I just found out myself,” the incense master trembled with fear.

The middle-aged man waved his hand. “Forget it! Quickly send my orders to the few who escaped: have them find out the heretic’s movements!”

“Yes, yes, I’ll do it right away!”

“Where are that Min Zhanlian and his men now?”

“Reporting to the superior, they packed their bags and left for Linqing this morning…” The shopkeeper of the Wang Family Old Inn was also an “incense attendant.” “I tried to persuade them not to go, but they wouldn’t listen—”

“So you let them go?” The altar master’s face immediately became very gloomy.

“Yes, yes, I couldn’t stop them,” Shopkeeper Wang said with trepidation. “But I drugged their horses… If they don’t get the antidote by noon, the horses will collapse in the afternoon…”

“Hehe, good!” The altar master’s eyebrows immediately relaxed. “Well done!” He turned his head and ordered, “Immediately send a message to all the branch altars along the way. Find a way to cut off their food supply. Send people to ‘persuade’ them. They want to leave without taking the money? No way!” The altar master sneered. “Let’s see if they can escape!”

The meeting was over. The altar master paced back to the back room.

On the heated brick bed against the wall in the back room sat the Dharma protector emissary, whom everyone thought had returned to the main altar.

The red-clad girl was no longer wearing red, but a blue cloth dress, like an ordinary farm girl. Her face was pale, and she looked distraught.

“The Soul-Searching Sword has fled. He’s really fast,” the altar master sighed. “I’m afraid we’re in big trouble.”

The Dharma protector emissary frowned. “You’re the one in big trouble. Wasn’t it your idea to get rid of that Daoist priest?”

“Hmph, don’t act like you have nothing to do with it. The Soul-Searching Sword has fled, so there’s nothing for you to do here. Why don’t you go back to Jinan Prefecture?” the altar master sneered. “We’re all in the same boat. Let’s not distinguish between you and me!”

The emissary’s face turned green and then white. As the altar master had said, she dared not return to the main altar just like this. Now she had lost. She had to find a way to win back some ground before she could face the sect leader and the Dharma protectors at the main altar.

“What do you suggest we do?” Her tone had softened.

“We have to kill Daoist Priest Zhang…”

“Kill him?” the girl cried out. “He wasn’t killed even after being struck by dozens of lightning bolts. How can we kill him?”

“Since he’s not willing to be dissolved by lightning, we’ll dissolve him by force,” the altar master said fiercely. “I don’t believe he has the ability to be invulnerable to swords and spears.”

The art of being invulnerable to swords and spears was very popular at that time, but those within their sect knew that it was just a “trick” and could not be taken seriously.

The emissary pondered for a moment. Although she had no confidence, she still wanted to take a gamble.

If they could kill or seriously injure this Daoist Priest Zhang, at least they would have something to report to the higher-ups.

“Alright! He’s just got some heretical tricks. We’ll prepare some filth to break his magic!” She nodded.

“Hmm, I’ll have to trouble you with this, Dharma protector. The Soul-Searching Sword is unreliable. In terms of martial arts, you are the most skilled here,” the middle-aged man said. “Of course, I will send all the local experts to be at your disposal.” He said fiercely, “At worst, we’ll just swarm him. Let’s see how many Five Thunder Arts he can cast!”

“We have to force the Soul-Searching Sword to come back and help,” the girl said. “His group is very strong. We have to let them take the lead! Otherwise, if we have too many casualties, it will be difficult to explain.” She stood up abruptly. “Get my horse ready. I’ll go after them immediately!”

“They left less than two shichen ago. The weather is too hot, so the horses won’t be running very fast. They should still be within the borders of Yizhou!”

By the time Min Zhanlian realized his horse had been drugged, it was already too late. When the last horse also collapsed and died on the official road, and was then surrounded by a group of starving people and turned into a bloody horse skeleton, he finally realized that he had been too careless this time.

Although he had been careful everywhere, he had not expected the other party to tamper with his horses. Even with Uncle He and others looking after things at the inn, it was still impossible to keep an eye on the stables at all times.

Now, his group was stranded on the main road from Yizhou to Linqing. Without horses, they had to trudge through the muddy official road, which was like a river after the heavy rain. The scorching sun and water vapor above and around them, even though they were all physically strong, quickly exhausted them. To make matters worse, they didn’t have much dry food.

This was a disaster area, and it was almost impossible to buy any food. And things had happened so suddenly that they hadn’t brought much dry food when they left the Wang Family Old Inn. They had originally thought that with fast horses, they could reach Linqing in a few days, but they hadn’t expected the horses to have problems.

Min Zhanlian cursed inwardly: these demons. He of course understood that the other party was not willing to let him go just like that, but he really had no intention of dealing with that strange Daoist Priest Zhang again.

Just the sight of him being unharmed after being struck by dozens of lightning bolts was enough to make Min Zhanlian lose the courage to face him.

Even so, he still held a grudge. This time, he had lost a lot of face. Not only had he failed to kill the target, but his hasty escape, if it got out, would make him lose face.