One day later, in the capital of Cameroon, Yaoundé.
A taxi left the city and drove westwards along the Sanaga River, leaving behind the prosperous city that gradually went out of sight. Shentu Tianyin turned around and watched the city of Yaoundé disappear from the horizon. She looked a little reluctant to leave. “Are we… leaving just like that?”
Xia Lei grabbed her palm. “I know you want to go stroll around the city but our journey has been planned. Unannounced changes might bring detrimental consequences.”
Shentu Tianyin parted her lips. “So where are we…”
Xia Lei squeezed her hand slightly, hinting for her to watch her words.
Though Shentu Tianyin had never once received clandestine training, she was sharp. The woman quickly went silent after the squeeze. She studied the driver from the corner of her eye, mustering up a trace of vigilance.
The taxi driver asked in fluent French, “Sir, where are you from?”
Cameroon used to be a French colony, hence its official and universal language was French.
Xia Lei replied in French, “We’re from Korea. We like Cameroon a lot so we decided to travel here.”
“Why are you not living in Yaoundé but away from the city?”
“I’m not exactly a fan of city life, I’m a fan of nature. I’ve already set up my own journey before coming here and I’m adamant to see it through.”
“I’d recommend a visit to the Pygmy Cave and the National Botanical Garden. I think you’ll like it there.”
“Hehe, thank you.”
Xia Lei engaged the driver in small talk while Shentu Tianyin rested her head on top of his shoulder and watched the exchange. The fact that Xia Lei was a true polyglot was something that she knew since before they confirmed their relationship. Xia Lei’s eloquence with the French language really fueled her respect towards him, she felt proud of him.
The taxi continued its journey as a round pristine moon was plastered high up in the sky. It provided some illumination to the newly arrived darkness. The moonlight had made it possible to view the gushing Sanaga River and the village lining its side.
The village was named Riverside, evidently from its position along the Sanaga river bank.
Riverside Village would be Xia Lei’s first stop in Africa.
He had never visited this place. It was a village so small that it was not marked on the map. Despite that, this minuscule village was a secret base to the Relief Society in Cameroon. This time, he was here as an observer from the Relief Society headquarters. Giovanna had already informed them that she’d send someone here to check on the situation and brought more money to aid the poor. Therefore, even the members of the society were not aware of Xia Lei’s true identity. They all had believed that he was a mere observer.
A few minutes later, the taxi came to a halt at the village’s entrance.
Xia Lei paid the driver and brought out a large suitcase from its boot. This luggage had not only carried his clothes but also most of his gear. Its contents consisted of an XL2500 sniper rifle, a Gust assault rifle, a Viper pistol and a substantial supply of ammunition along with his hacking laptop and cosmetic toolbox.
A few villagers appeared right after the taxi’s departure. They were a diverse range of people; a youngster, a seemingly older villager and a young girl. Their bodies were clad with cheap clothing and their shoes were unsightly. The plastic slippers dressing the bottom of their feet were worn and raggedy.
It was no lie that the brothers and sisters of the Relief Society were from the world’s lower society. But it was precisely this community that suffered the most from poverty, famine and disease. At the same time, they too were the most grateful people in the world.
When they came close enough, the villagers were heard conversing in their aboriginal language. This was something Xia Lei wasn’t exposed to at all and could not understand well even if he tried. Despite his unfamiliarity with the language, his brain was actively interpreting their intentions through their speech pattern, expressions, body languages and gazes inexplicably.
Sadly, the interpretation was a failure. Xia Lei had only managed to guess that the villagers were discussing the new stranger (him) and perhaps about Shentu Tianyin as well. However, he had no means to confirm it.
Xia Lei thought to himself, “Zhu Xuanyue mentioned that she was well-versed with all the languages on this planet. But there are more than a thousand languages out there! How is it possible for her to study and learn so many languages? Some aboriginal languages are not much use for universal communication too. If she hadn’t learned it through regular learning, how was she able to master it?”
Just as he pondered about the question, a keyword popped into his mind- ‘Mind control’.
Zhu Xuanyue had once controlled Ning Jing and supplied the latter with scenes she had never seen. It made Ning Jing escape the sanatorium in China and travel to India on her behalf. The same goes for Hornick, who worked for Wall Street. The man had remained a puppet till this very day after he slipped into a deep trance. The machine gunners in Area 51 too were manipulated to fire at his comrades and then off himself. All of these were achieved through mind control and the prerequisite of that was to infiltrate their mind!
The current advancement of technology and medicine had yet to reach total mind control. However, this seemed like a piece of cake to Zhu Xuanyue and the black-robed man. Both of them were able to tamper with their target’s mind with ease and from there, they’d achieve manipulation or destruction!
How did Zhu Xuanyue and the prehistoric chosen one achieve that?
The theory was simple. Simply put, Zhu Xuanyue and the prehistoric chosen one were pure energy bodies that had completed the ultimate evolution. Through their energies, they were able to resonate with the human mind and its intervention had brought along the advantage of absolute suppression. The ordinary human brain’s willpower could not compete against it! Seeing that they could control human minds so easily, it was completely possible for them to pry into someone’s memories and understand their intentions.
Xia Lei came to a conclusion. If Zhu Xuanyue and the prehistoric chosen one wished to learn any particular language, they’d be able to master it by obtaining the knowledge from their target’s brain. Xia Lei, on the other hand, would be able to do the same as long as he used the right approach. A few more practices would allow him to do the same things that Zhu Xuanyue and the prehistoric chosen one were capable of.
While the thought felt lengthy and complicated, this had only taken place for a few seconds in Xia Lei’s brain.
Before long, the villagers were in their proximity. The middle-aged villager greeted him in French. “Hello, sir. You are?”
His French was lacklustre.
Xia Lei extended a hand. “I’m Song Jiang. The headquarters sent me here.” He gestured to the side to introduce Shentu Tianyin. “This is my colleague, Zhang Yun.”
“Oh, it really is you. I’m so glad that you can come. Thank you so much. Thank you so much.” The middle-aged villager shook Xia Lei’s hand and then extended the gesture to Shentu Tianyin. He introduced himself, “My name is Said. Welcome to our village.”
Xia Lei spoke, “This isn’t a place suitable for chats. Can you bring us to our lodge?”
“Please follow me.” Said led them into the village.
Xia Lei and Shentu Tianyin followed them deeper into the village. Riverside Village was a place stricken by poverty. The houses were low earthen huts and its roofs were made of silver grass and Cogon grass. There was not a single glass window and their privacies were protected by either tattered cloth or weaved bags. It made the whole village appear shabby without any colour relevant to modernity and trend.
The villagers continued their trek, caught up in their little chat.
Xia Lei still couldn’t understand a word. Without prior exposure to aboriginal languages, he had nothing to base his lip-reading on. However, the man attempted to focus his will and awaken the mysterious energy within him. The energy was successfully triggered and an energy field soon enveloped his being. The field was invisible to the eye and scientific equipment, yet he could sense it prominently.
Xia Lei tried to move the energy closer to the young girl. She was the most lively out of the villagers with plenty to say.
Sadly, his efforts were futile. His force field could not close in onto the young girl.
It was with no doubt that Zhu Xuanyue and the prehistoric chosen one could do that easily. If he were to describe the mysterious energy field as a car, then he would have yet to even locate its key. The other concern was that he was not too sure if he had enough petrol to fuel this car.
Bark! Bark! Bark!
Suddenly, a big black dog jumped out from behind a wall. Shentu Tianyin was shocked by its appearance. She let out a scream and hid behind Xia Lei’s back.
Xia Lei was caught in the middle of trying to interpret the human mind. Too focused on the task, the man had failed to predict the situation. The moment when Shentu Tianyin hid behind him and grabbed on his sleeves, his energy field had covered the woman right away.
In that split second, a heap of foreign information appeared in his mind.
There were snippets of Shentu Tianyin’s childhood. She was skipping rope with a few friends. Then, she was going to school with a red scarf around her neck. Following that, he was shown a memory of when she was receiving her education overseas. She stood on a stage bravely and gave a speech, earning countless applauses from the audience. Soon, he saw memories of a blond boy trying to court her. He had gifted her roses but Shentu Tianyin had gently rejected him and did not spare him another glance. Then, she was at the bedside watching an ill Shentu Ren as she cried…
Then he saw himself in those memories. The first time they met, the first kiss they shared and the first night they spent. And of course, the divorce…
After that came memories tied to the Vientiane Group. A few important accounts and core industries along with people worthy of trust and those who she needed to be careful of…
Those memories and information crashed Xia Lei’s mind in all of a sudden, rendering him vulnerable against the onslaught of emotions. He was particularly overwhelmed by the memories of their divorce. His heart felt like it was about to shatter. When they separated, Xia Lei was greatly pained. He had taken a long time to move on from the torment but the resurfacing of those feelings felt more intense than ever!
Overwhemled by sadness, his tears began to pour.
Bark bark bark! The dog dashed towards Xia Lei and opened its jaw. Was it going to bite his calf?!
And right at that moment, a relatively simple memory and information appeared in Xia Lei’s mind. It had belonged to this big black dog. Its memories were monochrome without any colour. There were lots of bones and a list of people it wished to gnaw on. Oh, its favourite dog was included too…
The sudden invasion of its memories into Xia Lei’s mind had birthed an illusion. An illusion that made Xia Lei feel like he was a dog too!
The black dog did not bite Xia Lei in the end. When it came to his front, its deposition had took a great turn. It wagged its tail at the man enthusiastically. “Bark bark bark bark bark…”
Abruptly, a voice was fed to his mind. “Where do you live? How about we become friends? I’m the only dog in this village and I’m SO bored.”