He approached Liu Dashao and said, “If my guess is correct, the Mountain Spirit Egg should try to escape tonight. We can set a trap to prevent it from leaving. What do you think? Then we can finally see what this Mountain Spirit Egg really is!”
Liu Dashao looked at the house-sized cylindrical stone and asked, “Such a huge stone—how exactly do you plan to stop it from leaving? Surely something this big must be incredibly strong. I doubt we even have the strength to deal with it.”
Fan Debiao, however, grinned mysteriously and said, “No matter how strong it is, can it possibly move this entire mountain? Let’s use the thick cables from the cable cars and tie it to the mountain peak. I refuse to believe this stone will still be able to break free.” As he spoke, Fan Debiao pointed toward the thick, sturdy cables on the cable cars.
“Hmm, well, I guess we have no choice but to give it a shot. I hope this stone doesn’t have the strength to move the mountain, or we’re in serious trouble.”
Fan Debiao gathered everyone together and declared, “Brothers, this is the moment to show your loyalty! Follow me, and you’ll enjoy good food and drink, and no longer suffer like slaves here.”
No one responded, as they all realized this was clearly an act of betrayal.
“Fine, very good. It seems you’re all truly loyal. Now listen up—I want you to remove the cables from the cable cars. One end will be tied to the Mountain Spirit Egg, and the other to the mountain peak. Whoever does the best and fastest job today will receive six work points, and everyone else who helps will get five.”
Damn it, even if it costs us our lives, we must earn those five work points! Everyone immediately got to work.
The power of collective effort is immense, and the task was completed in less than half a day.
Fan Debiao stroked his nearly castrated mustache and chuckled, “Good, very good, excellent indeed! It seems I’ve never underestimated you all. Alright, go rest now. Tonight, we have a major task ahead.”
Who was Fan Debiao? He was a man of reputation, someone who had come here just to lay low for a while. A day or two delay in the project was no big deal.
That night, Fan Debiao woke everyone up early and kept a close watch on the Mountain Spirit Egg. No one knew whether it would awaken tonight or hatch something new.
Sure enough, just past midnight, the Mountain Spirit Egg began to stir. At first, its movements were slight, but as time passed, they grew stronger and stronger, until the entire cave began to tremble, as if the stone was trying to break free.
Damn, this thing really is powerful, Fan Debiao couldn’t help but gasp in awe. He had seen strongmen before, but nothing like this. It was hard to believe.
The stone grew more violent. After an unknown length of time, with a deafening roar, the stone finally rolled out of the cave.
But just as it was about to climb the mountain, something unexpected happened—the cables caught it. Despite the stone’s furious attempts to roll up the slope, the cables held firm.
Remember, these cables were originally used to pull slides, capable of supporting the weight of dozens of people. Their strength was evident.
Clearly, the stone refused to give up, continuing to pull against the cables, trying to drag them from one side to the other.
As time passed, the tremors intensified. Everyone could feel the ground shaking beneath their feet.
What should they do next?
Fan Debiao grew anxious. If the stone kept pulling like this, it might even drag the entire mountain down, causing serious trouble.
But just as he voiced his concern, a loud cracking sound came from the mountain peak.
Everyone looked up in alarm. My God, the mountain peak that had been holding the cable had actually cracked open.
The Mountain Spirit Egg was now pouring all its strength into pulling the cable, which began to hum ominously, as if it might snap at any moment.
“Hurry, hurry! Wake everyone up in the dormitory—get them out of there!” Fan Debiao roared, realizing that if the mountain collapsed, it would fall directly onto the dormitory. If anyone got hurt, it would bring serious trouble, especially since he was hiding from the law.
Huang Shitou and Su Yougui rushed into the dormitory, shouting, “Get out! Earthquake! Earthquake!” A few people stumbled out of the dormitory, and upon seeing the massive crack in the mountain, they trembled in fear, nearly wetting their pants.
“Damn it, hurry up! The mountain is about to collapse!” Fan Debiao bellowed.
The few remaining scrambled to their feet and fled in panic.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
The cables finally snapped with a deafening sound. With a final, thunderous roar, like the sound of a bowstring snapping, the Mountain Spirit Egg broke free from the cables and shot into the sky, before crashing heavily back to the ground.
The earth trembled.
At that moment, the already cracked mountain peak split completely and began to collapse downward.
A tremendous roar echoed as the rocks crashed down, sending up a massive cloud of dust that covered an area within a two-kilometer radius, reducing visibility to just a few meters. In the darkness of night, everyone ran aimlessly like headless flies.
Liu Dashao shouted, “Don’t run! We’re in a safe zone from the falling mountain. Don’t panic!”
But no one listened.
Fan Debiao roared, “Damn it, stand still! Anyone who runs, I’ll shoot first!” And with that, a gunshot rang out, instantly silencing everyone.
The mountain finally settled, with only the occasional small rock tumbling down with a clatter.
Everyone was shocked—Fan Debiao actually had a gun! They had always known he was a gangster, but now they realized he really carried a firearm.
Back then, how could a mere construction supervisor be armed?
But when Liu Dashao saw Fan Debiao hastily stuffing a firecracker into his pocket, he couldn’t help but laugh out loud.
“Damn it, you’re in no danger. Why run? Now go clean up the dormitory and report any damage. What happened here was a minor earthquake, understand? Nothing to do with the Mountain Spirit Egg—it doesn’t even exist!” Fan Debiao declared proudly after firing his “shot.”
“We understand! We understand!” the workers replied in unison.
“Good, now go clean up. Su Yougui, Hu Beikang, Huang Shitou, Liu Master, come with me to check on the Mountain Spirit Egg.” Fan Debiao grabbed a shovel from the ground and had the others take whatever makeshift weapons they could find, then they approached the Mountain Spirit Egg.
The stone had apparently exhausted all its strength in its earlier struggle, so now that it was free, it no longer resisted and simply stood still.
Finally emboldened, Fan Debiao approached with his group.
But before they could get close, the stone suddenly emitted a hoarse cry, and then—BOOM!—it exploded. A crack opened, and a blinding beam of light burst forth, forcing everyone to shield their eyes.
They were temporarily blinded.
When their vision returned, the scene before them was chaos.
Two massive halves of the stone, still steaming, lay in the middle of the road. Between them was a spherical gap.
Clearly, something had just flown out from the center.
This structure resembled an egg—only this Mountain Spirit Egg had an unusually thick shell.
“Liu Master, what do you make of this? What was that round object that flew out?”
Liu Dashao looked at Fan Debiao hesitantly and replied, “Actually… I don’t know.”
In fact, from the very beginning, every time Fan Debiao had asked a question, Liu Dashao had answered “I don’t know.” Yet for some reason, Fan Debiao still trusted him deeply, continuing to ask question after question, which made Liu Dashao increasingly embarrassed to answer “why.”
“You there, come a few people over here!” Fan Debiao pointed to several strong men below.
Soon, several burly men climbed up the mountain.
“Carry these stones into the dormitory and see if there’s anything strange about them,” Fan Debiao ordered.
The men were stunned. These were stones weighing hundreds of pounds—how could they possibly carry them?
“What are you waiting for? Hurry up! Three work points for each of you if you carry them back!”
Three work points! Damn it, even if it cost their lives, they had to bring the stones back. Immediately, the men began lifting the stones with all their might.
These three work points were worth it. If Liu Dashao hadn’t felt he lacked the strength, he would have rushed to earn them himself.
Fan Debiao turned to Liu Dashao and the others and said, “Liu Master, what do you think? Should we go check out Bodhisattva Mountain? With all these strange occurrences, we must take action.”
Fan Debiao gazed at the distant Bodhisattva Mountain, his curiosity nearly consuming him.
“Hmm, alright then. If you insist, we’ll definitely go there when we have time. I feel Bodhisattva Mountain still hides secrets we don’t know about—like the ‘Taiping Jing’ Ge Shuanwa took last time. I wonder where he got it.”
As Liu Dashao spoke, he glanced at his dormitory. It was now flattened, buried under the rubble from the collapsed mountain. Thanks to Fan Debiao’s brilliant idea, he had lost his home. Where would he sleep now?
Fan Debiao, looking at the destroyed thatched hut below, felt somewhat guilty. He followed Liu Dashao and the others down and asked, “Is everyone okay?”
“Yes, I’ve checked. No one is missing or injured,” Su Yougui replied.
“Good, as long as no one is hurt. We must carry forward the spirit of Chairman Mao—when faced with difficult tasks, we must persevere. So the thatched hut was destroyed? We workers have strength. We will rebuild it!” Fan Debiao encouraged everyone. It was true—although Fan Debiao was a shady character, a gangster, he still spoke in the style of Chairman Mao’s quotations. In those days, quoting Chairman Mao could get you anywhere.
Fan Debiao said nothing further but looked at the gathered crowd and declared, “No one is injured, so tonight we’ll settle in temporarily. What happened tonight was a rockslide. The project team must compensate us. Also, Su Yougui, Hu Beikang, and Liu Dashao, you said several comrades were seriously injured and need nourishing food. Tomorrow I’ll send someone to the project office to claim compensation. Then, my brothers can enjoy a good meal, and everyone will receive five extra work points for their active participation in helping the injured comrades. This reflects the glorious tradition of mutual support in our socialist nation. You’ve done well, very well.”
His speech stirred deep emotions in everyone. Liu Dashao, watching Fan Debiao, felt as though he were a leader who truly cared for his men—unlike the previous leaders.
No wonder he’s a gangster. Gangsters are indeed loyal and righteous.
That’s what Liu Dashao thought. He was willing to sleep outside for ten or fifteen days just for those five work points.
“Come, Liangzi, go to the project office and tell them we had a rockslide that destroyed the workers’ dormitory, and three comrades were seriously injured. They need good food to recover. Hurry back!”
At that moment, a man stepped forward from the crowd. He was dark-skinned, muscular, and towering—clearly a man of immense strength.
Compared to Fan Debiao, he looked like a giant.
“Got it!” Liangzi’s deep voice boomed, and the ground trembled slightly as he sprinted away.
What a powerful man, Liu Dashao couldn’t help but admire.
The next day, Liangzi returned, his face glowing with satisfaction. It was obvious he had taken a detour. Huang Shitou was envious—damn it, that woman must have been waiting for me, but this big oaf stole the chance.
Huang Shitou’s expression was as if Liangzi had slept with his wife.
Liangzi, grinning foolishly, approached Fan Debiao and said, “Captain, I’m back.”
Fan Debiao, seeing Huang Shitou panting heavily, quickly stood up and asked, “Liangzi, did you get it? How much did they give?”
Liangzi replied, “They said it was a natural disaster and told us to use the spirit of unity and mutual aid to rebuild the dormitory and let the comrades rest well. Man can conquer nature—we must fight against nature.”
Fan Debiao looked at Liangzi impatiently, “But did they give you any money or anything else?”
Liangzi said, “I told them we can’t even get enough to eat while working every day. I asked for some money to help us recover, but they slapped me.”
“Damn bastards! Do they know who I am? Watch me teach them a lesson. You! You! You! Come with me—we’re going to the project office. They don’t know we’re gangsters!”
Fan Debiao picked up a shovel from the ground and gathered a few strong men to accompany him to the project office.
Watching Fan Debiao, indeed, he was a man of loyalty.
The next day, when they returned, each of the men carried a cloth bag, and Fan Debiao’s face was glowing with satisfaction. It was clear he had also taken a detour.
In those days, when the men were away, the village was left with only women and children, some newly married and barely having tasted the sweetness of marriage. Many must have suffered greatly. And near their village, there was a construction team—this became a paradise for those lonely women.
If Fan Debiao had known this, he would have rushed down the mountain three times a day.
“You all, distribute the food in your bags to the brothers. I managed to get some money. Liangzi, go to the village inn and bring back twenty jin of strong liquor. Listen—there’s only half an hour from here to the village. If you’re late, I’ll castrate you!” Fan Debiao warned Liangzi, afraid he’d take another detour.
“Understood, Boss!” Liangzi took off with his long strides, and the ground trembled slightly again.
A large group of men drank themselves into a stupor. With no place to sleep at night and only half the thatched hut rebuilt during the day, the men slept outside under the starry sky. The construction site was unusually quiet at night, so quiet that even a fart could be heard.
Just as dawn broke, suddenly someone screamed, “Oh no! Dead body! Someone’s dead! Come quick!”
Everyone was startled awake and rushed to the scene. Seeing the corpse, even some of the braver ones vomited.
The body was found in their designated latrine area. Since it was a men’s site, there was no toilet—just a large pit dug for waste. Over time, the pit had nearly overflowed.
The corpse was half-submerged in feces and urine, covered in filth, even spilling from his mouth.
If someone claimed he had drowned, no one would believe it—his intestines and internal organs were floating among the waste.
“Damn it… this… this dead guy…” Fan Debiao looked at the scene in disgust, nearly vomiting, unable to speak coherently.
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