SFS Chapter 275 Old Photos from the Republican Era
Chapter 275 Old Photos from the Republican Era
Wasim crossed his arms, his brow furrowing slightly: "So, that zookeeper named Qu Cheng—"
"Nine times out of ten, it's that black bear." Lin Feng looked up to meet his gaze, his tone certain. "At least, this is the closest clue to the truth so far."
"When calling out names, we must do so discreetly," Vassim said in a low voice, his tone full of caution.
"If a black bear suddenly turned back into a human in public, and tourists witnessed it, panic would erupt instantly, and that would be a huge problem!"
Lin Feng's gaze swept across the corner of the lounge and landed on the iron rack against the wall—
There were several sets of zookeeper uniforms stacked there, a calm, dark green color, looking clean and tidy.
A knowing glint flashed in his eyes, and he pointed:
"Let's change into zookeeper uniforms, go straight into the bear enclosure, and call the black bear into its den, away from everyone's sight."
Wasim immediately nodded: "Okay."
The two walked quickly to the iron rack, each took out a set of uniforms, quickly changed into them, smoothed out the wrinkles on the hems of their clothes, and then put on their baseball caps steadily, deliberately pulling the brims down very low.
"That way, even if tourists catch a glimpse of us, they'll just think we're the zookeepers on rotation and won't suspect anything."
Lin Feng adjusted his hat brim in front of the small mirror on the wall, then turned to Vassim: "Let's go to the bear enclosure."
........................
The two walked briskly along the secluded logistics passage, bypassing several piles of feed bins, and soon arrived at the side gate of the bear enclosure.
Pushing open the inconspicuous tin door, I slipped silently into the bear enclosure.
Wasim's body tensed instantly, his hands clenched into fists involuntarily, and his eyes swept warily over the bears lying lazily in the enclosure, clearly worried that these big guys might suddenly attack.
Seeing this, Lin Feng patted his arm lightly and gestured for him to relax.
At the same time, he quietly released a gentle aura of "Call of the Wild," silently soothing the bears in the park and keeping them calm and undisturbed.
Not far away, the unusual black bear had also noticed them.
As the two approached, it neither adopted an aggressive stance nor turned to retreat; instead, a barely perceptible hint of surprise flashed in its cloudy eyes.
Lin Feng stopped a few steps away from the black bear and used [Call of the Wild] to send a message to it:
"Go back into the cave. We've found your name. Once we're inside, we'll call out your name again."
The black bear paused for a moment, as if processing these thoughts, then its eyes lit up with even greater joy. Without further hesitation, it turned and strode quickly toward the bear den in the corner.
The entrance to the bear cave wasn't very spacious, and it was partially hidden by dense bushes. The cave was pitch black inside, and you could vaguely smell the damp, earthy odor.
The black bear ran to the cave entrance, glanced back at Lin Feng and Vassim, and then disappeared into the cave.
Lin Feng and Vassim quickly followed.
Upon entering the bear cave, the light suddenly dimmed.
The noise from the outside world was completely blocked by the thick rock walls, leaving only the black bear's deep and steady breathing echoing in the darkness.
Lin Feng took a deep breath, turned around, and said to Vassim, "You guard the cave entrance and keep an eye on any movements outside."
"Okay." Vassim nodded, retreated to the cave entrance, turned his back to them, and stared warily outside.
Lin Feng looked into the black bear's eyes and slowly said, "Qu Cheng."
The cave was quiet, and his voice was reflected back by the rock walls, carrying a slight echo.
The black bear didn't react, it just blinked, its eyes filled with confusion.
Lin Feng frowned and repeated, "Qu Cheng."
Still no response.
His heart skipped a beat, and he raised his voice, calling out several more times, "Qu Cheng! Qu Cheng!"
The black bear merely shifted its body uneasily and let out a low whimper, showing no sign of changing its behavior whatsoever.
"What's going on?" Vassim heard the commotion inside and couldn't help but turn around to look. "Did we get the wrong name?"
Lin Feng was also a little puzzled. He looked at the black bear and carefully recalled the information in the file.
The name is right, the time matches, the event matches... So where exactly did things go wrong?
Just then, a line of bright red text suddenly appeared before Lin Feng's eyes; it was a hint from the Strange Tales Strategy Team:
The character "区" is a polyphonic character. When used as a surname, it is pronounced ōu (first tone).
Lin Feng paused for a moment, then raised his hand and patted his forehead, muttering under his breath, "Damn, this is a total rip-off."
He composed himself, then looked at the black bear again and adjusted his pronunciation.
This time, his voice was no longer the previous "qū chéng," but he clearly pronounced it:
"ōu—— chéng".
The moment the words left his mouth, the black bear's body jolted violently, as if it had been struck hard by something.
Its previously cloudy eyes suddenly widened, and it let out a low roar, its body beginning to tremble uncontrollably.
The black hair faded at a visible rate, revealing the pale skin underneath.
The enormous body was contracting and deforming violently, and the bones made a "crackling" sound.
A few seconds later, the enormous black bear had completely disappeared.
Instead, there was a naked man, curled up on the cold ground.
He looked to be about thirty years old, thin, with skin so pale it was almost transparent, and still had some black downy hair left on his body, making him look somewhat eerie.
His hair was wet and stuck to his forehead, his eyes were closed, and his brows were furrowed, as if he was still enduring great pain.
Lin Feng quickly took off his zookeeper's coat, stepped forward, and draped it over him:
"Are you alright?" he asked softly.
The man slowly opened his eyes, his gaze still somewhat unfocused.
He stared blankly at Lin Feng, his lips moved as if he wanted to say something, but no sound came out.
After a long while, he finally found his voice, hoarse as if sandpaper was rubbing against wood: "I...you..."
Lin Feng looked at him, his gaze complex: "We're here to help you. Do you even remember who you are?"
The man's eyes flickered, as if he were trying hard to remember. After a long while, he managed to utter two words with difficulty:
"District...process..."
He looked up at Lin Feng and Wasim, his eyes filled with gratitude.
"Thank you... thank you all..."
"Don't talk about that now," Lin Feng interrupted him. "We'll take you back to the Bear Park management office."
The two men helped the weak Qu Cheng walk quickly along the path they had come from toward the management office.
The crowds in the tourist area remained noisy, and those who occasionally caught a glimpse of them only gave them a casual glance.
I thought it was a zookeeper finishing his cleaning work in the cave.
The journey was smooth and unimpeded, and the three of them soon arrived at the Bear Park Management Office.
Lin Feng pushed open the door and, together with Vassim, helped Qu Cheng into the lounge, carefully placing him on the single bed.
After confirming that he was sitting and lying down properly, the two prepared to leave to handle the follow-up matters. Just as they turned to leave, Lin Feng's wrist was suddenly grabbed by Qu Cheng.
"Wait, wait a minute..." His voice was hoarse as he pulled a faded old photograph from between the bed and the wall. "This...this might be useful to you."
Lin Feng took the photo and walked to the window to examine it carefully.
The photo is old and somewhat blurry, but the content is still clearly discernible.
During the Republican era, several men dressed in long gowns stood in front of an artificial hill, posing for a photo with a white ape with restrained smiles.
The large white ape nestled docilely beside the group, while in the background, a stone entrance half-hidden by vines could be vaguely seen, its ancient outline leading to an unknown destination.
Lin Feng flipped the photo over and saw small, faded characters written in pen on the back:
[In the year of Bingchen, we offered sacrifices at the mountain, presented offerings to the spirits to atone for our sins, and to bring peace to the afterlife.]