Zhu Junyao said, "It is true. I can't believe it at first, but I played a few games of chess with Dong'er and she all won. I gave her a chess endgame and she got it cracked effortlessly."

Long Xi said, "I once watched an old foreign movie called 'Rain Man', in which there was a character who suffered from autism. But he had such an amazingly tenacious memory that he would not forget anything and was particularly quick at figures. Maybe Dong'er is sensitive to chess, too? But I remember that she likes to play with the big yellow dog of Uncle Zhao Si. She is not a child who is completely unwilling to communicate with the outside world."

Xiaolu said, "Really? Then she is mildly or moderately rather than severely autistic. The situation might be improved gradually through systematic training and it is even possible for her to realize her potential in playing chess. There is a specialized charity with some dedicated volunteer counselors in X City that can provide such training. My mother called upon people to set it up and she donated money in it herself. I also volunteered there before and met many children of the stars."

Long Xi said, "It will be great if Dong'er can receive systematic training there."

"Brother Kun, is your head still hurting?" She asked, turning to Mo Kun.

Mo Kun said with a smile, "I've taken medicine and then taken a bath in the hot spring. I am okay now. It seems that a bath in the hot spring can be quite effective."

They each had something on their minds and soon walked to a large waterfall.

The large waterfall was very magnificent. The waterdrops that looked like jade beads splashed around and then plunged into the deep pool in front of the waterfall.

Water Curtain Cave was about 40 meters above the deep pool, hidden behind the waterfall.

The sh.o.r.e they stood on was also 40 meters away from the pool.

Feng Zihao fluttered his mechanical wings, flying directly towards the cave.

He wobbled a little when he dashed through the waterfall because of the strong power of the current. But he still made it safely and disappeared behind the waterfall.

Mo Kun asked, "How can we get there with no bridge?"

Niu Xi put Granpa Shu down and got as close as possible to the waterfall, fis.h.i.+ng out two iron chains each with a steel hook on either side from his backpack.

He hurled the two chains towards and the hooks were hooked accurately to the two iron pillars near the Water Curtain Cave.

Then he hooked the other end of each chain to the two pillars on the sh.o.r.e.

When he cast the chains just now, his image reminded both Long Xi and Xiaolu a song. They couldn't help but sing it out together, laughing. "The man la.s.soes a horse is so robust…"

Niu Xi said with a smile, "Horse-la.s.soing is a kind of traditional sports of the Ewenki people. We also have a similar activity in Inner Mongolia."

Mo Kun asked, "What is horse-la.s.soing?"

Long Xi said, "Darling, no wonder you have no idea of it since you grew up in a foreign country. In short terms, there are two types of horse-la.s.soing. One is culm-wielding. The horseman will hold a three-meter-long culm with a loop of rope on its top. The loop of rope is right in the size to harness the horse. The other is rope-wielding. The horseman uses a rope with a slipknot instead. When the game begins, the fiery horses run first and the hors.e.m.e.n galloped their horses in hot pursuit. Once they get nearly enough, they will try to harness the fiery horses immediately. Who harnesses the fiery horse first wins."

Mo Kun gave a grunt and said, "It sounds quite funny!"

When they talked with each other, "princess" gave them each a thin plastic raincoat, and everyone put it on.

Niu Xi said with enthusiasm, "If you visit Inner Mongolia together with me, I will invite you to live in the yurts, drink more milk, try wrestling and horse-la.s.soing. We Inner Mongolians are the most hospitable!"

Long Xi clapped, Mo Kun nodded with a smile and Xiaolu cheered happily.

Niu Xi carried Granpa Shu on his back and then "princess" tied them two tightly together with ropes.

Niu Xi said, "Let me set an example for you!"

His strong arms each caught hold of an iron chain and thus he pulled himself nimbly and steadily towards the cave.

After a while, he made his way back alone and carried Dong'er to the cave in the same way.

"Princess" said, "I don't have the strength he has, but I have my art. Xiaolongnv, let's see it."

Long Xi looked at her intently.

She sat directly on the two chains in balance, putting her hands behind her on the chains and pulling back hard, and, with her leaning forward, she used the counterforce to move forward.

She made it much more slowly than Niu Xi, but it could spare her lots of energy.

Mo Kun said to Long Xi, "You go first. In case you fall, we, Xiaolu and I, both are able to save you. Don't be afraid."

Long Xi breathed and imitated what "princess" did just now. With the help of Mo Kun, she sat slowly onto the chains and pulled herself forward by inches.

After moving two steps, the sound of the water smas.h.i.+ng into the deep pool dashed into her ears. She looked down and dizziness struck her. Now she was about 40 meters above the pool. Once she fell...

She could not help trembling a little since she once suffered from drowning and thus never dared to learn how to swim.

She was facing a dilemma, not bold enough to move forward but not willing enough to retreat back.

Xiaolu asked Mo Kun, "How about doing what Niu Xi has done? I can carry her to the cave."

Mo Kun said, "It is me who should do that. You s.h.i.+eld us."

He reached out his hands and caught Long Xi by the arm, slowly pulling her back.

He took two black plastic belts with hooks out of his backpack, picked Long Xi up and let Xiaolu tie them together. And then he imitated Niu Xi, carrying Long Xi on his back and climbed forward bare-handed.

Long Xi held him tightly with her eyes close, not even daring to move a little.

Mo Kun could feel her plump breast glued onto his back. It was a pleasant feeling and it suddenly tickled.

At this moment, he should hope that the way could be longer and it would be even better than it could extend to forever, hahaha!

However, his wish was not granted. The waterfall was already in sight.

The two got across the waterfall and felt the strong power of the current. Fortunately, they wore the raincoats so they only wetted a bit of hair.

Soon they came to the opening of the cave.

Mo Kun unbuckled the belts and put Long Xi down.

After Xiaolu arrived safely, Niu Xi took the iron chains back.

Long Xi realized that it was a stone cave. There were various shapes of stones on the wall, some like Chang'e flying to the moon, some like a wolf and some like a flower.

And it was quite s.p.a.cious with a high ceiling. Moreover, there were caves in the cave, one connected to another. It seemed that there was no end.

Within each hole, there was stone-made furniture and a wooden door was fixed, making the hole look like a room.

"Princess" said proudly, "This is what we called 'a sly bunny has three hideouts'! We have made ourselves a hideout. Once the log cabin is discovered, we can hide here."

She waited for Xiaolu to come and join them and then said with a smile, "Let me introduce myself first. I am Zhu Junyao, a royal descendant of the Ming Dynasty. Although I look pretty young, I am already 40 years old."

Long Xi said in amazement, "My dear sister, you bear your age incredibly well. You are a really beautiful witch."

"Princess" smiled and asked, "What is a beautiful witch?"

Long Xi beamed and said, "It is used to describe ladies who are already around 40 years old but still look beautiful with youthful vigor!"

"Princess" felt impressed and said, "I have never heard about the phrase. We spent most of the time living seclusively in the mountains and forests. Apart from it, we are always on the way of escape. So we even don't know how the outside world has changed."

Niu Xi motioned to Granpa Shu and said, "This is Grandpa Lai Shu, whose ancestor was Lai Chuan, the first disciple of the geomancy scientist, Qing Wuzi. There was a celebrity among the descendants of Lai Chuan— I guess you all heard about him— Lai Buyi in Song Dynasty. My ancestor was a military officer of the King of Dian. He immigrated to Inner Mongolia later on and became a local warrior afterwards. My Han name is Niu Xi and my Mongolian name is Bartel, which means 'hero'. 'Princess' is my wife. As for Feng Zihao, he is the descendant of both the Chicken family and the Monkey family. His father is the descendant of Feng Jiutian, the foster son of the ancient King of Dian. Feng Jiutian was recruited by the emperor of Han Dynasty, later on, crowned as Lord of Yulin."

"Lord of Yulin? I do not expect that he has some relations.h.i.+p with Lord of Yulin! We graduated from Yulin High School. It is said that the grave of Lord of Yulin was right on the back hill in our school. Word has it that Lord of Yulin was the adopted son of the ancient King of Dian and local high priest. After the ancient Dian Kingdom was broken down, he was recruited by Han and became a resourceful warrior. Afterwards, he was crowned as Lord of Yulin because of his extraordinary establishment in war and the honored rescue of the emperor. I heard that X City was one of his fiefs." said Xiaolu.

Niu Xi said, "My father said Lord of Yulin was afraid that someone would rob the grave so he left 12 suspected graves. You mean the one on the Yulin Hill in X City? That is one of the suspected."

"Ah? Then Cao Cao of the Three Kingdoms period is not the first one who left 72 fake graves!" Long Xi said.

"Princess" said, "In fact, we did some research on it. Many archaeologists have confirmed that Cao Cao's suspected graves are actually large-scale ancient tombs of the Northern Dynasties. And the exact number is 134 rather than 72. In the ancient perspective, 72 is merely an approximate number, not an exact one. However, Cao Cao's grave is not included in those. I personally doubt that the grave of Lord of Yulin is not among these twelve."

Niu Xi said, "You wander off the point again! Does the grave of Lord of Yulin have something to do with us? Hao is the one who keeps the secrets of the Chicken family. Hao's mother is the descendant of Hou Yuzhang, the descendant of the disciple's disciple's disciple's disciple of Lu Ban. Oh, it sounds like a tongue twister, my tongue is tied!"

Long Xi suddenly understood and said, "I get it. I'd like to introduce myself officially, too. My name is Long Xi. This is Mo Kun. And this is Fan Xiaolu."

Granpa Shu said, "Let's talk about the history of the ancient Dian Kingdom. 2,000 years ago, it stood alongside the Dian Lake with its fantastically splendid culture. It existed on the Earth for above 500 years."

Granpa Shu said, "The ancient King of Dian had twelve most trustworthy ranis, royal brothers and his fellow courtiers. When the kingdom came to an end, they all chose to be the martyrs to their own country. On his deathbed, the king gave the 12 valuable items which each had a clue of treasure to these 12 most trustworthy people."