Chapter Seven: Impressions
Wei Hua came quietly to the bedside of the man with the goatee, observing him closely as he slept deeply. Seeing that the man showed no reaction, Wei Hua grinned in satisfaction, then reached out and tapped the back of the man's neck. He began whispering a long string of words into the sleeping man's ear. After some time, Wei Hua gently patted the man's forehead. The goateed man awoke, but his gaze was vacant. Softly, Wei Hua asked, “What’s your name? How many years have you been in this line of work? How much money do you have, and where is it hidden?”
“My name is Jia Gui. On the streets, they call me Old Ghost Jia. I’ve been doing this for over forty years. I have six hundred yuan, and I buried it under an old tree at the end of these two alleys, in a clay jar,” Jia Gui replied in a dazed monotone. Wei Hua leaned in and continued, “Jia Gui, when I tap your forehead in a moment, you’ll wake up. After you wake, you’ll remember nothing and go right back to sleep.” With that, Wei Hua tapped his forehead again. Jia Gui awoke, but simply rolled over and continued his nap.
As Jia Gui slept on, Wei Hua slipped out of the small courtyard in the dead of night. He found the old tree, dug up the clay jar, and discovered not only the six hundred yuan but also a stack of ration coupons. Wei Hua took only the national coupons, leaving the rest for Jia Gui. With cash and coupons in hand, Wei Hua headed to the train station, bought a ticket, and continued his journey south.
The method Wei Hua used on Jia Gui came from information provided by his biological computer—a hybrid of the Soul Capturing Technique of Immortal Xuan Yi and modern hypnotism. Wei Hua was unable to wield his spiritual power skillfully yet, so he relied on this combination. With money and rations secured, his southward journey became more leisurely. In every major city along the way, he would stay a few days, and before leaving, he would brazenly conduct a large-scale absorption of electrical energy—be it Tianjin, Jinan, Xuzhou, or Shanghai. These sudden, widespread blackouts left local authorities at a loss. Though they couldn’t find the cause, everyone believed there had to be one, since the outages followed a clear pattern, moving from north to south in both time and geography. With no explanation, the authorities finally blamed enemy sabotage, unwittingly giving Wei Hua the perfect cover.
After leaving Shanghai, Wei Hua no longer stopped along the way but headed straight for his destination: Guangzhou. Passing through several large cities left him with a single, overwhelming impression—an atmosphere of oppression, all-encompassing and stifling. Each city seemed cut from the same mold: people moving mechanically between work and home, giant wall posters everywhere, cautious conversations between neighbors, class struggle on everyone’s lips, and the Quotations of the Chairman the most read and discussed book. The material deprivation of the era astonished Wei Hua; he witnessed firsthand the long queues for meat, eggs, oil, and cloth. Everyone wore a kind of mask, their faces etched with exhaustion, and Wei Hua simply couldn’t bear the suffocating atmosphere—it was impossible to imagine living in such lifeless cities. Sometimes, he couldn’t help but wonder: if he hadn’t crossed into this era but been born to it, how would he survive? What kind of person would he become?
In September of 1971, Wei Hua finally arrived in Guangzhou. In his previous life, he had lived in the south for several years, so Cantonese posed no problem—he could speak and understand it fluently. Yet the Guangzhou of 1971 was utterly different from the city in his memory. Following his plan, Wei Hua spent many days in Guangzhou, using the time to gather information about Bao’an County. In the sixties and seventies, Hong Kong was the main destination for mainlanders attempting to flee the country, with most relying on smugglers—often triad members—to cross the border. Wei Hua, however, had no intention of getting involved with those people, nor did he have the money to pay them.
Within a few days, he had learned all he needed about Bao’an County. It was still three hundred li from Guangzhou—the distance along the Guangzhou-Shenzhen highway—and, as a hotbed for smuggling, the border troops patrolled it heavily. Entering Bao’an County was no simple matter; without a letter of introduction from the local public security office, outsiders stood no chance of getting in. But Wei Hua had his own ideas. Having considered all possible contingencies, he sneaked onto a military truck heading toward Bao’an County. The truck carried supplies for the troops. Wei Hua climbed aboard while the driver was eating, careful to avoid all prying eyes—after all, who would suspect a boy like him?
The journey was rough, the truck bouncing along mountain roads for over ten hours, but Wei Hua passed the border checkpoint without a hitch. The guards never imagined anyone would be bold enough to hide among military supplies destined for the border, so Wei Hua slipped easily into Bao’an County. In his previous life, he had lived on this very land right up until his transmigration—eight years from now, this place would blossom into a city famous throughout the nation. Thus, Wei Hua was already well acquainted with many aspects of Bao’an County.