Log Lines
Plot Outlines
&
Fantabulous nanomorphique adventure of
m hardoon rotman
Part Five
Sanxingdui, Sichuan, China
Chapter 6
6.1
Time: 2 Days before the Tikal Ball Game
Locale: In Sichuan, China - Sanxingdui
Dr. Hennessy Law and the Laboratory
Dr. Hennessy Law （羅軒轅）, the most celebrated scholar of Geology and Mineralogy in China, about one and a half years ago, launched an ambitious project -- to re-chart the entire high plateau of the north-western territory.
But one year through the vast project, Dr. Law dropped out of the public eyes.
According to Tokyo Sensei's information, Dr. Law was secretly building a underground palace to house some treasure he had found through the actual field exploration, and the location of the underground palace was very close to Sanxingdui -- the ancient Chinese civilization site in Sichuan, China.
When Cassandra was taken away from her mother Dr. Catherine Denver at the Paris museum, Catherine send several e-mails to the father Hennessy Law too, unfortunately the message sent to his old address in Beijing University.
By chance he had accessed the e-mail, he contacted his estranged wife, but she was on her way to meet Mayee Tang and Melanie de Baux in Guatemala City. Nevertheless, he flew over to Paris and enquired about the incident with the museum.
Believing he had done all he could to help his daughter and wife, now he could only wait for them to contact him. So, he returned to Sichuan China and took up again the responsibility of setting up a high-tech laboratory.
Contrary to Tokyo Sensei's information, Dr. Law was not building any underground palace. The fact was that he obtained some ancient Chinese record and was at the brink of discover a forgotten Sung dynasty Taoist Temple （宋朝道觀） buried underground. The new Laboratory was set up right at a small mountain top which was the entrance to the hidden temple. He was just about to announce this archaeological excavation to the public.
Alfonse De Baux was in fact with him on this project, Alfonse was in charge of the funding for all high-tech equipment needed for the excavation. Earlier, He was urgently requested to return to the Laboratory, and that was the reason for his sudden disappearance.
In the laboratory, when they were together, the first thing Alfonse reported to Dr. Law was that a medium stone slab was found by their assistant Alice Mak （麥麗詩） the day before. The survey probe showed an object along a small cracked passage near the entrance. Alice was able to craw in and carried that object out.
They examined this stone slab, Dr. Law further discovered that it was actually a stone 'container' and it contained a large piece of white jade, which he suspected it was the famous He Shi Bi （和氏璧）. They put it in a strongbox in a closed room.
A while later, they wanted to further study it, but He Shi Bi had disappeared.
6.2
Time: 1 Day after the Tikal Ball Game
Locale: Tengai Raikyaku Izakaya, Tokyo, Japan
Haruhana Wakako and the Crystal Crocodile
Upon arrival in Tokyo airport, Haruhana Wakako checked her email message and found an invitation to a party from an old friend, Dr. Hennessey Law, celebrating the establishment of his archaeological company and laboratory.
As pre-arranged, she brought Tokyo Sensei's Golden-Dragon Walking Stick, which was locked in a rectangular box, back to the Tengai Raikyaku Izakaya （天外來客居酒屋） by the Edo River（江戶川）, where Tokyo Sensei stored all the collection of Alien Artifacts.
Tengai Raikyaku Izakaya was not a traditional Japanese eatery, it was a 'Fun House' managed by Tokyo Sensei's real estate agency as a tourist spot.
But a hidden vault of storage for his prized collection of Alien Artifacts was built underneath the premises. For the security consideration, the Tengai Raikyaku Izakaya was closed now. The name 'Tengai Raikyaku' indicated that only the travellers from the outer space was welcomed here.
Tokyo Sensei was a vehement collector of artifacts that was left on earth by the aliens. So far, there were 9 items in his possession, that was the reason for him to pursue Jerrona's Amethyst, to make it the 10th item, to complete his collection.
Even Tokyo Sensei lost the Tikal Ball Game bet, but Gerald Crabbe let him and Jerrona to have the Purple Crystal Skull. Of course, the Crystal Skull, compared with the Amethyst, was a much powerful 10th item for his collection.
Haruhana Wakako kept the crocodile for herself and hid it inside the Gold-Dragon Walking Stick box and brought it back to Tokyo. From the airport, she directly went to the underground treasure vault.
Ten Treasured Collection of Alien Artifacts
There she surveyed the inventory, the list included: a book-like folding piece with only one blank page in between; a chalice of unknown material; a key chain-like piece; a pocket-watch-like piece; a large plain tube ring; a shield shaped piece; a chess-board-like piece; and a mirror-like puddle of mercury; of course, the function of all these pieces was anyone’s guess.
Except the Golden Dragon Walking Stick, which Tokyo Sensei utilized quite often. Haruhana began to examine each one by one, tried to guess what and how to release their power.
While she was checking out the tube ring, a tiny silver ball suddenly dropped onto the Tatami floor. It looked almost like a glass marble. She picked it up, it had a cover and a small amount of rouge was inside, and the rouge was her favorite color -- Fuchsia, so she put a little bit on her lips. Suddenly she felt she had an intuitive understanding of some item's function.
Then she turned her attention to the crystal crocodile and found the small toy-sized crocodile was wedged between the Golden Dragon's teeth.
But the Crocodile started talking to her in Japanese and requesting her help.
It revealed that its master wanted it to steal Gerald Crabbe’s Inner alchemy decoction -- an amber colored crystal. This crystal was currently stored inside Rohardoon’s Sport Jacket pocket.
Rohardoon, Catherine, Cassandra, Mayee Tang, and Melanie de Baux were on their way to China to find the exact location of Dr. Law.
It was obvious that the crocodile somehow knew Haruhana had received Dr. Law's invitation.
In exchange for her help, it would agree to participate in her theatrical activities and even willing to join her on stage, in an effort to help her seeking a career in the entertainment industry. It also asked Haruhana to carry it with her to China.
Haruhana agreed to go along with its request, but decided not to carry the crocodile with her, Haruhana activated the power of the mercury mirror by kissed the crocodile with her fuchsia colored rouge. The mercury mirror turned into a lamp-like container and securely imprisoned the crocodile.
By the end of the day, Haruhana left the underground vault, took the key chain, the pocket watch, and the imprisoned crocodile with her, to a secrete hideout.
6.3
Time: 5 Days after the Tikal Ball Game
Locale: In Sichuan, China - Sanxingdui
At Chengdu Shuangliu Airport （成都雙流機場 ）they rented a Škoda Yeti SUV （斯柯達 野帝）and headed for a Peach Garden Farm Lodge at the suburban Town of Pine Hill （松坡鎮）.
Rohardoon was the only gentleman in this group, so he was the chauffeur for all the ladies: Catherine, Melanie, Mayee, and Cassandra.
Tokyo Sensei gave them a simplified hand-drawn map of Dr. Law's location.
They studied and compared it with Google Map and pinpointed the location to a distinctive small mountain on the east side of the Pine Hill township.
They were right, a cousin of the owner of the lodge told them, the mountain was right behind the lodge.
Next day they ventured to the small mountain, they found the laboratory, but it was closed.
But there was a Taoism Priestess waiting for them by the door, she was from Marseille, same as Alfonse and Melanie. She introduced herself as Lilas de Blanche（李白煦 ） and gave them the invitation to the announcement ceremony for the new laboratory the next day, in a resort hotel near by.
They attended the ceremony, but toward the end of the party, Catherine discovered that Alice Mak was not only Hennessy's assistant, but also his lover.
Next day, the heart-broken Catherine still joined everyone visited the laboratory.
The wall of the main room was decorated with posters of Sanxingdui Museum, showing strange looking people with protruding eyes.
These pictures triggered the re-appearance of Jerrod, because these were exactly their own images when the Captain brought them out of the sea and onto the land.
Jerrod surveyed the premises and immediately took over the excavation project, because he sensed this is the exact place Jerome, the Old Man’s adversary, wanted them to be.
He redistributed the various crystal skulls among them, because that would be their only weapon in facing the unknown danger inside the belly of the mountain.
He restricted to only 4 people: Rohardoon, Cassandra, Catherine, and Hennessy to enter the mountain. He led this group in through a hidden path.
Waiting in the Laboratory’s main office, Haruhana Wakako managed to open the storage room and activated the He Shi Bi and opened a space portal; she, and Mayee Tang, Setonai Ginkai, Director Isshiki Risei were all lured to follow her into the unknown.
Alice Mak decided to try the entrance she had crawled in and retrieved the Road Slab a few days ago.
6.4
The group of 4 explorers descended into some kind of an opening yard outside of a Taoist Temple; immediately they were attacked by stone or bronze animal statures: a Bull, a Lion, a Goat, and a Tiger. They fought a fierce but loosing battle, only to be rescued by a giant Hermit Crab which chopped those animals into pieces.
In the meantime, Mayee Tang was attacked by a swarm of shooting iron stars; she eventually was protected by a shield emitted from the mini crystal skull that was given to her at the last minute by Melanie. She started to search for Setonai Ginkai and Isshiki Risei with the guidance of the crystal skull. They were almost dead outside the kitchen of the temple, poisoned by the smoke form the stove.
Alice did not craw in too far, this crack path led to a dead end, and as she disturbed the surrounding, the entrance was blocked by falling rocks. She realized if not being rescued soon, this was the end of her life.
Suddenly Jerrod detected some Infrasound attack, Mayee Tang and others were in danger, he went directly to their rescue.
Catherine found out that Hennessy had gone missing, but Cassandra detected that Alice was crying and in danger -- sealed in a narrow cave. Using the crystal Hermit Crab as a guide, they went on their way to rescue Alice.
6.5
Rohardoon alone went inside of the main Temple to look for Hennessy Law.
Hennessy was lying on the ground next to the Taoist Deity’s Statue, Rohardoon believe Dr. Law’s life was in danger, because he saw a thin misty line was emitted from Dr. Law’s nose and flew into an incent burner in front of the Statue, as if the statue was gradually sucking the life out of Dr. Law.
Instinctively Rohardoon performed an emergency procedure of energetic revival through skull penetration（貫頂大法）. He inserted the Old Man's inner decoction crystal into Hennessy’s skull. Thus, the Old Man took over Hennessy’s body and fended off the control of the Statue over Dr. Law.
Temporarily borrowed Dr. Law’s body, the Old Man began to explain everything to Rohardoon. He admitted that they are facing an evil opponent -- Jerome, the one who was sent back to the crashed spacecraft, at bottom of the Antarctic sea by him as a punishment to a mutiny attempt.
Now several thousand years later, somehow, Jerome became more powerful than him; and lured them here to this underground temple for a direct confrontation with him.
But what did Jerome want? The Sarcophagus, which was hidden by the Old Man so deeply that no one knew the location.
Obviously, Jerome was not in person here to confront him, but instead set up a sequence of booby traps forcing them to comply.
Suddenly, some sparks appeared in a corner that drew their attention. They approached it to investigate and found a small pool at the bottom of a slop. Magically the water in the pool began to flow upwards in a ditch alongside the slop. They started to follow the ascending spring.
Among beams and wooden structures associated with the area directly underneath the roof of Chinese temples, they saw a stasis brightly lit from inside.
Rohardoon immediately recalled what Cassandra told him to do, he should put the Old Man's crystal inner decoction into the stasis; but at the moment, it was inside Dr. Law's head, so Rohardoon put his own small crystal skull into the stasis, his entire body fell into it, but was pulled out by Dr. Law (the Old Man) at the last minute.
Unfortunately, half of his head was now fused with half of the crystal skull.
As Dr. Law (the Old Man) was pulling the crystal skull out of Rohardoon’s head, Haruhana Wakako suddenly appeared. She put some fuchsia rouge on her lips, then kissed Dr. Law.
With her mouth on his mouth, she slowly sucked the Old Man's crystal inner decoction out of Dr. Law’s mouth.
As her mission accomplished, Haruhana Wakako used the white jade, He Shi Bi（和氏璧） opened a space portal, and went back to Tokyo, but before she disappeared, she sent them an invitation to attend the premiere of her musical show 'Legend of the Golden Ripple Fairy’ （金波仙子）.
Dr. Law shouted at Rohardoon to save the jade, not to let the jade piece fallen into Haruhana Wakako’s hand. With an instinctive reflex, Rohadoon shoot out a sticky chameleon's extended tongue and grabbed the jade.
Rohardoon seemed to be able to change into different things, according to whatever the situation required him to do so. The possible source of his shape-shifting power? The stasis he briefly fell into and his own head was halfway fused with the crystal skull.
Furthermore, the little pool from which water flew upward along a ditch on the slope, had now flooded almost the entire mountain cavity. Hennessy Law was now himself again and began to search for a way to get out of here. But he suddenly found himself was engulfed in a bubble, and the bubble was pushed and mounted onto Rohardoon’s back; but Rohardoon now had changed into a toad.
The toad carried the bubble and sank into the flood water. Gradually, the toad found its way through the under current, swam out of the mountain, to the nearby river; where they were greeted by Jerrod who was waiting for them.
Jerrod told them; this was the spot the Captain first brought them on land.
All saved and united, the group, Rohardoon, Catherine, Cassandra, and Jerrod, went on Haruhana’s heels, pursued her to Tokyo.