Republic of China: Ace Pilot

Chapter 167, 166 Mysterious Mountain, American Dragon Vein, Los Angeles Chinatown

A mysterious energy signal suddenly appeared, though it was very weak.

Having already gained experience in detecting such mysterious energy signals, Fang Wen judged that this was due to the considerable distance.

He calmly piloted the plane toward the target area.

Fortunately, it did not deviate from the existing flight path.

Time passed slowly, and the plane flew for another 3 hours. Including the previous 2 hours of flight, it had already flown 1500 kilometers.

Based on the flight path and the sextant's map position, Fang Wen could basically determine that the target was located within Missouri.

Twenty minutes later, the plane arrived at the area where the mysterious energy signal was being transmitted.

Fang Wen integrated his mechanical senses with the aircraft, observing what lay below.

Below is a mound with clearly defined edges.

Not far away is a city, and two large rivers converge around it.

Fang Wen had a peculiar feeling that this mountain was not naturally formed, but rather artificially created, or perhaps it was formed by humans filling in soil to create the mountain.

The mysterious energy signal came from here. Could the treasure be hidden inside the mountain?

Fang Wen feigned surprise, circled the plane, and said, "The mountains below are a bit strange. Lin Shuiwang, Zhao Jiu, take a picture of them."

Lin Shuiwang and Zhao Jiu, who had just calmed down, immediately became interested in filming again.

The two were looking for an angle to take pictures through the window, shouting to themselves.

Where? Let me see.

"Here."

"This mountain is so strange, it's like a lid."

"No, I think it looks like a grave."

What was said in jest was taken seriously by the listener, and Fang Wen immediately made the connection.

If this mountain is like the massive earthen mounds of ancient Chinese tombs, could the treasure be inside this enormous tomb?!
He turned around: "Indiana, come here."

When Indiana arrived, Fang Wen pointed to the strange mountain below and asked, "Do you know what this is?"

Indiana stared blankly, "Where am I?"

"It should be Missouri, which is right next to your hometown, Indiana."

"The Strange Mountain of Missouri?" Indiana recalled.

“Look at the surrounding terrain; there are two rivers converging there, making it easy to spot,” Fang Wen added.

"I remember."

Indiana took out a map, marked it, and then pointed to the mark on the map and said, "It should be here, about ten kilometers north of St. Louis. There's a mountain like this, but it doesn't have a name. I came here with friends when I was young. It's a great place for camping."

"You're camping up here?" Fang Wen asked in surprise, then looked at the map.

Fang Wen found it increasingly strange.

As seen on the map, this strange mountain is located at the confluence of the two largest rivers in the United States.

Although he didn't understand feng shui, Fang Wen still had a strange idea.

Like a place where all directions converge, could it be the dragon vein of America?

Thinking about it this way, Fang Wen became even more interested in this place. He asked Lin Shuiwang and Zhao Jiu to take a few more photos, planning to come back and explore it after finishing other things.

The plane then continued its flight towards Los Angeles along its original route.

The route we've already passed is Pennsylvania – Ohio – Indiana – Illinois – Missouri.

The flight took more than 5 hours.

Next up are Kansas, Colorado, Arizona, and California.

The flight took more than 8 hours.

After a total of 14 hours, we finally completed this journey across the United States.

It was already 8 p.m.

Fang Wen turned on his radio to contact the ground airport.

"The Taishan aircraft from New York has arrived in Los Angeles and is calling the ground control tower to request landing."

"Taishan" was a temporary name Fang Wen gave to this d.332 aircraft, to serve as a code name when calling out.

After three consecutive calls, the ground responded.

"You're here so early, thank goodness I can leave work early. Please wait a moment, I'll contact you again after I turn on the runway marker lights."

The plane then continued to circle over Los Angeles, waiting.

Ten minutes later, in the southwest of Los Angeles, near the beach, two rows of runway marker lights lit up.

Transmitted from a radio device.

"Taishan, you may land."

Fang Wen controlled the plane to fly southwest, adjusted the fuselage over the airport, and landed on the runway.

Airport staff guided the plane into the hangar and spoke with Indiana, who had disembarked earlier.

After receiving a sum of cash, the airport staff gave Indiana the hangar door key.

Afterwards, Fang Wen and his three companions drove the Chevrolet sedan out of the plane's cargo hold, closed the hangar door, and left the airport.

As the car drove out of the airport, Fang Wen said, "Let's find a place to stay first. There are many Chinese people here, let's go to Chinatown."

In its early years, the United States seized the land of Los Angeles from Mexico and built a railroad. They hired veterans of the Civil War and Irish people as construction workers, but they were not easy to manage and the construction was slow. Later, it was a large number of Chinese laborers from the Qing Dynasty who finally completed the railroad.

Those laborers from Guangdong settled down in Los Angeles, but they never forgot their ties with China. They donated money and supplies to the anti-Qing cause in the Republic of China and were a very patriotic group.

Kuang Mingzhu was quite familiar with those people, and she had arranged for Fang Wen to visit them before they arrived.

The question is, where is Chinatown?

After asking around, I finally found out where it was.

On the U.S. national highway, Highway 5, heading south, there's a place called Santa Ana.

That is, the future Santa Ana area south of Los Angeles.

The car then drove onto Highway 5, heading south away from the city center, until it arrived in Santa Ana.

There are indeed many Chinese people living there, and the signs of all the shops along the street are in Chinese characters.

Even though it was 8 p.m., they were still open for business.

It comes from all walks of life, and the goods are dazzling.

It seems much better than the war-torn country at this time.

Fang Wen slowed down the car, took out the address slip that Kuang Mingzhu had given him, looked at it, and said, "You should also keep an eye on Baoyuan Pharmacy, don't miss it."

A few minutes later, Lin Shuiwang shouted, "This is it, Baoyuan!"

Fang Wen glanced at it, parked the car in front of the door, and asked the three people to wait outside before going inside.

It is indeed a pharmacy.

Some workers are processing medicinal herbs.

The shop assistant looked up at Fang Wen: "Sir, are you buying medicine or seeing a doctor?"

Fang Wen smiled and shook his head: "I've come to see your manager about something else."

"The shopkeeper is talking to my master, please wait a moment."

One of the men got up and went into the inner room.

After a while, a man dressed in a long robe came out.

He clasped his hands in a respectful greeting and asked, "What brings you here, sir?" Fang Wen returned the greeting and presented an envelope: "Mr. Yu, I am Fang Wen, son-in-law of the Kuang family in Guangzhou. This is a letter from my father-in-law, Kuang Shanming, to you."

The other party took the envelope, opened it, and read it. His face immediately lit up with a smile.

"Kuang Shanming found a good son-in-law; he raved about you in his letter. The person outside is your friend, right? My little shop is too small; why don't we sit down and talk at the tavern next door?"

Fang Wen nodded: "Alright."

Then, the group went to the tavern next to Baoyuanhao Pharmacy, ordered dishes and a pot of wine, and ate and chatted.

After a glass of wine, Mr. Yu began to talk about his feelings.

“Old Kuang and I grew up together when we were young. Later, his family returned to China to develop their careers, but we never lost touch. Four years ago, I went back to my hometown, and Old Kuang made time to accompany me. Now that his son-in-law is here, I will definitely help him out. Xiao Fang, what are you coming here for?”

Fang Wen hesitated for a moment.

Gambling is not considered a good thing by Chinese people.

Even if the outcome of such a thing is good, it's still not acceptable.

He wasn't going to tell his father-in-law's friend about the Las Vegas casino company.

Therefore, a vague response was given.

"It's about taking advantage of your youth to travel and see the world. By the way, Uncle Yu, I'm somewhat interested in ancient American culture. Do you know where to find experts in that area?"

"What ancient culture does America have? You mean Native Americans, right? There aren't many people studying them these days, but there are some. I know where to look."

Boss Yu stood up, shouted, and called over the waiter next door, instructing him to go find someone.

After a while, the waiter brought people over.

Mr. Yu invited him to sit down and introduced him, saying, "This is Mr. Zhao, who runs an antique shop. He knows some professors majoring in archaeology at universities, including those who study Native Americans."

Mr. Zhao nodded: "Indeed. There's someone in the history department at the University of Southern California who specializes in this. He often comes to my shop, so I know him."

Fang Wen poured him a drink and then asked, "Mr. Zhao, do you understand feng shui?"

“I know. When it comes to feng shui on this street, nobody knows more than me,” Boss Zhao said proudly.

"Then I'd like to ask, what are the feng shui considerations for the confluence of two rivers?" Fang Wen asked.

"A place where two rivers meet, how wonderful!" Mr. Zhao said eloquently.

He's really good at talking.

"The confluence of two rivers is considered a wealth location, which can help residents achieve success in their careers and have abundant wealth. This place can absorb the energy of nature, giving residents better health and vitality. The area where the two rivers meet has a strong energy field and is popular, which can attract benefactors and ensure smooth sailing."

Fang Wen interrupted: "I mean, the place where two great rivers meet."

"That would be even better. Putting aside other things, many of the major cities in China are located where two or three rivers converge. Places where two rivers meet are rich in water resources, so they are usually very suitable for developing agriculture and for people to gather together. As the ancients said, 'Living by following the water and grass' means the same thing."

Listening to Boss Zhao's words, Fang Wen recalled his own flying experience.

He had seen too many cities like this during his many flights.

For example: Wuhan, Chongqing.

The more rivers converge, the more abundant the resources and the more convenient the transportation conditions.

What does that strange mountain, built there, really mean?

After exchanging pleasantries, he made an appointment with Boss Zhao to go to the university the next day to talk to that professor.

After dinner, Fang Wen asked Boss Yu to find him a place to stay, which was a Chinese-run hotel nearby.

After a night's rest, Fang Wen asked the others to wait at the hotel while he went out alone.

He didn't go to the antique shop owner, Mr. Zhao, right away. There was still one thing to do: to develop the film he had shot.

Developing film in those days was a very troublesome thing.

Specialized chemical reagents are required, as well as a dark room.

He wanted to learn how to develop film, so he needed to find a photo studio in the city to do it.

Driving towards downtown Los Angeles, I spotted a photo studio on the side of Highway 5.

Fang Wen parked the car, took his camera, and went into the photo studio.

There was only one man in a vest in the photo studio, waiting for customers out of boredom. As soon as someone came in, he immediately stood up with a smile on his face.

Before he could speak, Fang Wen first stated his purpose.

"I want to learn how to develop photos, can you teach me?"

"Teach me?" the man hesitated. "That would cost much more than developing photos."

"How many?"

"$10."

"make a deal."

Fang Wen handed the camera to the other party.

The man led Fang Wen into the darkroom and instructed him, "You must be careful not to let any light through. If it gets exposed, the whole roll of photos will be ruined."

He then began to teach Fang Wen how to develop film.

After removing the film from the camera, pre-wet the film with clean water or pre-wetting solution to remove dust and impurities from the film surface.

Place the pre-wetted film into the developing tank and pour in an appropriate amount of developing solution.

During the development process, the film and developer in the developing tank need to be stirred regularly to ensure uniform development.

After development is complete, remove the film from the developing tank and quickly place it in the stop solution.

The purpose of the stop solution is to quickly stop the developing reaction and prevent the film from being overdeveloped.

After a certain period of time, remove the film from the stop solution and place it in the fixer.

The function of the fixer is to convert the unexposed silver halide on the film into a soluble compound, thereby fixing the exposed image.

The fixing time also needs to be determined according to the type of film; 120 film has its own time specifications.

After fixing, thoroughly rinse the film with clean water to remove fixer and other chemical residues.

During the cleaning process, the film can be gently stirred to ensure even cleaning.

The final step is to hang the cleaned film or place it on a drying rack to air dry naturally.

It must be air-dried naturally; heating equipment should not be used to directly dry the film to prevent deformation or damage.

These steps may seem cumbersome, but they are not complicated in practice. The key is to be attentive and to follow the time, steps, dosage, and other factors in the process.

Fang Wen wrote it down on paper and bought some chemicals for photo printing.

After waiting for more than two hours, the photo dried completely. The man took it out, put it in a paper bag, and Fang Wen took the bag, paid $10, and returned to Chinatown.

It was already 10:30 a.m.

He picked up Mr. Zhao from the antique shop and then drove to the USC campus, which is located south of downtown Los Angeles.

The car drove into the beautiful campus and headed straight for the History Department.

There, Mr. Zhao introduced Fang Wen to a history professor.

History Department Office.

Mr. Zhao introduced, "Jonie Dane is a researcher of ancient Native American cultures and a member of the American Historical Association."

Fang Wen shook hands with him and directly explained his purpose.

"Hello, my name is Fang Wen, and I am a pilot. On my way to Los Angeles, I passed through a very interesting place and took some photos. Based on my understanding of American history, it was probably built by Native Americans."

"Really? Can I see the photos?" Joni Dane immediately became interested.

"Sure. I just got my prints developed this morning."

Fang Wen took out the brown paper envelope containing the photos, removed the photos, and placed them on his desk.

(End of this chapter)