Chapter Thirty-Three: What’s Going On?
A curious bystander asked, “What kind of show are we filming here, brother? Your camera looks pretty professional.”
Deng didn’t bother with anything else. He took out the loudspeaker, didn’t even use the resonance capsule, and simply turned it on. The music from the Information Department played aloud.
White Dragon Horse, hey hey, hooves facing west, hey hey, head facing east, hey hey, where are you headed...
The sound reached everyone’s ears, traveled through their nerves, and altered their memories. As the music played, everyone stood still, as if frozen by an invisible force. When the music stopped, they went about their business as usual. No one paid attention to that slice of memory. But as with everything, there are always exceptions, and just then an incongruous voice broke the spell.
The doctor said, “Your show really has quite an effect. Which channel will it air on, and at what time?”
Wang Zixuan grabbed the doctor by the collar and asked, “You remember me?”
The doctor looked at Deng, then at Wang Zixuan, and patted Wang Zixuan’s hand.
The doctor said, “I don’t watch much TV normally, but seeing your roles in this show—you must be big shots!”
Wang Zixuan asked Deng through gritted teeth, “What’s going on? It’s always such a hassle when I ask you to do something. Is the broadcast broken?”
Deng checked for a long time and replied gloomily, “There’s nothing wrong.”
Wang Zixuan said, “Then explain this person to me. Where’s the memory wipe we agreed on?”
Deng quickly shook his head, “No, I’ve never encountered this situation before.”
The doctor, excited, patted the two of them and said, “Hey, how about this? You don’t need to compensate me for the phone. At the end of the show, just give me an ad spot, all right? And the cat—I still need to take it back, because—”
Wang Zixuan had no patience to listen and dialed the Investigation Center.
Wang Zixuan: “Investigation Center, unexpected malfunction, request to re-execute targeted memory removal. Beijing time eighteen fifteen to Beijing time eighteen twenty-seven.”
This time, Deng took out the resonance capsule and tossed it to the ground. Music and resonance frequencies spread together. The people in the market were frozen again until the music stopped. Wang Zixuan and his group barely had time to breathe a sigh of relief.
The doctor clasped his hands and exclaimed excitedly, “Actually, my time is very precious, but I believe there’s no need to fuss about anything. Chance encounters are fate. Forget the ad, forget the phone—I’ll accept my loss. The cat, I don’t want it anymore, alright? So I’ll take my leave.”
Wang Zixuan pushed him back and slapped his face twice, then inspected him seriously—teeth, eyes, hair. He found nothing unusual.
Wang Zixuan said, “How can there be no reaction? Could he be some sort of demon or monster?”
The doctor replied, “Demon or monster, my foot! Have you ever seen such a handsome demon or ghost?”
Wang Zixuan ran another scan with his instruments, but still found no flaws.
Wang Zixuan said, “Let’s try two more times. I don’t believe this.”
Deng said, “Sis, we can’t keep playing the song. If they hear the brainwashing tune too much, they’ll turn into idiots.”
Wang Zixuan put her hands on her hips. “Then what do we do?”
Just then, the doctor saw an opening, pushed past Wang Zixuan and Deng, and tried to run. Wang Zixuan reacted and chased after him.
Deng shouted, “Deng!”
The doctor turned a corner and suddenly seemed to slam into something invisible, knocking him senseless. He lay on the ground, counting stars. Wang Zixuan and Deng arrived just in time.