Di Zhen asked, "Didn't he try to defend his rights?"
"Alas, it's easier said than done to defend one's rights," Auntie Liu sighed. "At first, he was very indignant and wrote letters to the newspaper. But the report was completely distorted when it was published. Maybe that superior was pulling the strings behind the scenes to manipulate the situation, or maybe the newspaper itself distorted the facts to pander to public opinion.
"That's when he realized the darkness of the world. People with money and power can reverse right and wrong. Even though you, a young man, are hearing the truth from this old lady now, do you still believe me or the overwhelming reports?"
"I believe you!" Di Zhen said seriously.
"Thank you, thank you, young man." Auntie Liu wiped away her tears.
There was a noise in the kitchen indicating that the water had boiled. Auntie Liu got up to refill the thermos. Taking this opportunity, Di Zhen signaled Big Guy and Geng Hao to leave quickly.
Originally, he planned to perform implanting a symbol on Auntie Liu, but now it seemed unnecessary.
When Auntie Liu came back, Di Zhen asked, "Who is that superior?"
"It's Mao Renjie, who was very famous a few years ago."
"Ah, I've heard of him!" Actually, Di Zhen had just seen his name in that book. The old man holding the [Life] journal with Uncle Xu must be this superior who stole others' achievements.
Di Zhen was about to say goodbye. When he got up, his sleeve was caught by the corner of the table, and a button fell off.
Auntie Liu said, "Don't move. I'll sew it on for you!"
"It's okay. I'll do it myself."
"Come on, don't stand on ceremony!"
After that, Auntie Liu fetched a needle and thread and helped Di Zhen sew the button on. Di Zhen thought to himself that she was really a very kind - hearted aunt.
In his life, he had never encountered an older woman who was gentle to him.
"It's sewn up," Auntie Liu said, biting off the thread with her teeth and smiling at him.
"Thanks!" Di Zhen felt the button. It was sewn very firmly, and the thread was the same color as the clothes.
When Di Zhen was about to leave, Auntie Liu said, "Young man, if my husband does something stupid, you must stop him, okay? I really can't live a single day without him!"
The affection between Auntie Liu and her husband touched Di Zhen a little. He nodded and said, "I promise you."
"Thanks!"
After going downstairs, Big Guy and Geng Hao were squatting beside smoking. Big Guy even whistled at a girl, scaring the girl into running away as fast as a sprinter.
Big Guy stood up and laughed, "Done chatting! You got on well with the auntie. I think she likes you!"
Di Zhen raised his fist as a warning. Big Guy said, "I didn't mean it like that. If it were me, the auntie wouldn't talk to me so much!"
"I think what Uncle Xu is doing may be more serious than we thought. Let's check out that basement!"
They drove to Shuangrong Community. Geng Hao easily pried open the basement door and pushed it. They heard a cracking sound, and all the voice - activated lights in the basement came on, scaring Geng Hao into darting behind Di Zhen.
It turned out that Uncle Xu had placed a bottle upside - down behind the door. Anyone who broke in without permission would trigger this alarm.
Geng Hao looked at the fragments on the ground, scratched his head and said, "I'll go buy an identical one!"
"Let's talk about it later!"
"Damn it! This uncle is really cautious!" Big Guy noticed that apart from the bottle, there was also a thin layer of powder scattered on the ground. They had left footprints when they went in.
Di Zhen turned on the light. There was a simple shelf against the wall, filled with jars and bottles. Inside were things that looked like animal viscera soaked in liquid. Big Guy and Geng Hao picked them up one by one and stared at them in surprise. Geng Hao said, "Does this stuff boost virility?"
"Come on! This uncle must be conducting some evil experiments!"
"Maybe he's just extracting something," Di Zhen said, looking at the chemical utensils on the console. Finally, he picked up a syringe. It was the smallest model, easy to hide in a sleeve.
There was also a notebook beside. Unexpectedly, Uncle Xu had written it in Russian with many chemical formulas between the letters to prevent others from seeing through it at a glance.
Was he refining poison and injecting it into passers - by?
"Hey, I checked online yesterday!" Big Guy said proudly. "There's a rumor going around that The Needle - Stabbing Maniac has been seen around the pedestrian street. He has stabbed several people. It seems that he is the one! He must be testing drugs!"
Geng Hao suggested, "Let's open all these and taste them one by one to see if we can get high."
Big Guy said contemptuously, "You do it. I'll arrange a decent burial for you with six African - American guys later."
"Why does he make drugs?" Di Zhen mused.
"Money, what else could it be!"
Let me put it straight. If he's making drugs, I'll definitely call the cops. I fucking hate drugs! Those who make, sell, or use drugs all deserve to die!" Big Guy said seriously.
"As far as I know, drugs that can be synthesized in a lab emit a large amount of waste gas. It's airtight here, so it's obviously unlikely. Moreover, those are all biological raw materials!" Di Zhen said.
"Maybe it's a new type of drug. He's a scientist, and his brain works differently from ours!"
The "squeaking" sound caught the three men's attention. Di Zhen opened a cabinet and found a nest of hamsters.
The container for the hamsters was quite special. It was just a multi - row spice jar used in ordinary households, with holes poked in it for ventilation. Di Zhen examined them closely. Several of the hamsters were in poor health, apparently used for experiments.
"Haizi, I need you to get me a live fish," Di Zhen said.
"For eating?" Geng Hao asked blankly.
"I'm going to see Uncle Xu tonight and I won't let him do this no matter what!"
Di Zhen cleaned up the fragments on the ground. Big Guy asked if they should buy a bottle and restore it to its original state. Di Zhen said it was unnecessary; he had his own way.
Geng Hao left first. Di Zhen told Big Guy to sit down. The two were in this dim and eerie basement. Big Guy was a bit nervous. Hugging his shoulders, he said, "Wh - what are you going to do?"
Di Zhen sneered, "I'm going to conduct an experiment. It's very important!"
"Oh shit. Don't use me for the experiment. I'll go call Haizi back!"
"Relax!"
Big Guy knew that Di Zhen had special skills, so he didn't dare to play along. He stood up and was about to run away. "No no no, find someone else!"
"Okay, forget it. Will you help me then?"
"What kind of help?" Big Guy asked, looking suspicious.
"I've noticed something strange about these bottles. Help me count them!"
Big Guy counted them with his finger. After counting, he got the number 53. Di Zhen then said, "Divide it by 13 and see what the remainder is."
"This is so weird..." Big Guy started calculating with his fingers. This guy who is good at martial arts wasn't good at arithmetic. He gradually frowned, concentrating fully on the numbers.
Taking this opportunity, Di Zhen slapped him on the neck, stared into his eyes, and shouted, "Sleep!"
Big Guy said blankly, "A - again!" Then he passed out.
Di Zhen placed him on the chair and started implanting a symbol (a kind of spell - casting method in traditional Chinese culture). "When I say 'Big Guy', you'll wake up, but you won't be able to see me or hear my voice. When I say 'Big Guy' again, everything will return to normal!"
Back then, Di Gong used the method of implanting a symbol to make Di Zhen blind for three years. That was sensory shielding.
Now what Di Zhen was going to test was Perception Shielding.
Sensation is one - sided and independent, whereas perception is a whole. For instance, when our eyes see a table, our brain processes the visual signals and then judges the table's distance, size, and material. That's perception.
The brain automatically processes the signals sent by the senses.
For example, everyone can see their own nose, but the brain automatically removes it from the field of vision. Another example is that according to the principle of pinhole imaging, the images humans see are actually upside down, but the brain turns them right side up again.
Di Zhen only knew this technique theoretically, so he had to test it out now...