H38 Song of the Magic Flute

Book Cover

**Song of the Magic Flute**, the 38th book of The Golden Age of Adventures series, was published in December 2021. It is the English language edition of the original Chinese comic, **回魂笛音**, which was published in October 2021.

## Synopsis

BECOMING THE BEST! RECOVERING THE UNION'S STOLEN ASSETS!

Alex is in Mongolia to recover the World Adventure Union's stolen assets, and joining him is Midnight Belle. Their main task is to retrieve a treasure left behind by Ling's ancestors - a flute that can bring the dead back to life. But they soon find themselves in danger when the enemy uses the very thing they're after against them!

## Cast

* Alex
* Lulu
* Susie
* Ling
* Smith

## Plot

***Spoiler warning!** Plot and/or ending details follow.*

### Chapter 1: Heirloom of Horror

In the Mongolian Steppes, Alex and Lulu have a meal with "Meteor Shower" Batu, a retired Adventurer. Batu retired because there are too many obstacles in adventuring, but he believes the age of Adventurers will come again, so he has been teaching his adopted son Michio. Alex helps Michio with the puzzle he was struggling in doing.

Ling and Susie arrive. The mission is related to Ling because one of the artifacts stolen from the World Adventure Union, a flute, belongs to her people and is dangerous, for it can resurrect the dead. Ling will explain about it on the way.

### Chapter 2: Corpse Herders

Corpse herding is a profession that appeared in the Qing dynasty. Those who died in foreign lands were reanimated and lead back to their homes to be buried. A clan had already mastered this in the Song dynasty. They are Ling's ancestors, the Necrowalkers. They inserted silver articles in limbs. When a certain sound frequency reached them, they would vibrate, moving the corpse.

In the Yuan dynasty's final years, there was a battle at a walled city. Soldiers that attacked the wall came far from home. They started moving when a flautist played his tune. The flautist lead them back to their village. Yang Qu He was the 17th generation Necrowakers leader. He created his flute and its music score. No one knows how it worked, but Yang took the secret to his grave. Evildoers have desired to possess the flute, but fifteen years ago, Robert took it into Union custody. In current times, it was stolen, then ended up on the black market.

The Dark Adventurer hiding in Mongolia is Dark Momma, who escaped the Adventurer Prison when the Neo-Nazis attacked. She and an unidentified person fled here with Yang's flute and music score with other stolen Union files. The two of them are hiding in Wild Horse Pit. They picked a good spot because the Mongolians believe this place is cursed, foreign Adventurers can't enter freely and local ones stay away from it. This place is rumoured to be Genghis Khan's tomb. He might be resurrected.

Even though his corpse might be his skeleton, the flute can also animate skeletons. Since this place is a maze, Alex tries to draw it from above with his jet pack. Someone sees him and shoots his jet pack.

### Chapter 3: Sniper

After Alex falls, Susie gives him a bullet proof vest. Ling has a coffin that holds an undead warrior. Alex, Lulu, her cat mummies and Ling enter the maze. They find a 'Phags-pa script. After Alex solves the puzzle, a pole with teeth shoot out. One of the cat mummies found a skull. Alex puts a tooth into the empty space on its jaw. Flat rocks shoot out. One rock triggers a signal. Everybody drops to the ground. Only a part of Ling's coffin was shot. Alex concludes the shooter is a blind sniper who uses sound to detect his targets.

### Chapter 4: Heartbeat

The team finds a way to get Ling within the sniper's 500 meter radius of his location. Alex finds another skull, so he inserts a tooth. A singal was triggered, then they all hide. A rain starts. This should conceal the team's sound of movements. In the sniper's 600 meter radius, the sniper shoots Alex after he stepped on a rock. Luckily, the bullet hit Alex's bullet proof vest. Ling awakens her partner Nüba. With her bell's jingle, the sniper shoots. The bullet hits Nüba's golden vest. The team use her as a shield to get to the sniper. They get closer and closer until finally defeating him.

### Chapter 5: King of Horses

The sniper is tied up and watch over by the cat mummies. The team descend into the cave. They find a door where they have to pick with circle fits the hole. After that, they enter a room of horse skeletons. Lulu senses Dark Momma riding on the King of Horses. Ling unleashes Nüba, but Dark Momma uses Yang's flute to stop her. She then awakens the horse skeletons. The reason why the horse she rides is called the King of Horses because its master was Genghis Khan. It will lead Dark momma to his tomb.

### Chapter 6: Into the Spider's Web

The team, Dark Momma and her undead army fight in Wild Horse Pit. She awakens human skeletons and set the cat mummies against Lulu. Nüba strangles Ling, preventing her from attacking Dark Momma. Lulu cuts Nüba's arms. Alex, Lulu and Ling hide in the tall grass. Dark Momma commands the undead to cover her. Alex flies around her surroundings. As a human and a horse skeleton move forward, they are cut by steel wires. Dark Momma has fallen into the spider's web!

### Chapter 7: Primordial Lightning

The undead easily snap the steel wires. Alex then uses Tempesta's lightning to electrocute Dark Momma, defeating her. Ling uses the flute to command the dead to return and rest. The King of Horses thanked her.

After all that, a crate of artifacts have been recovered. Ling plans on burning the flute and music score to not let it be in wrong hands again. Alex asks her if she can give them to him so that he can copy the score down with his code. He wondered why Yang didn't burn them if they were dangerous. It could be they could be used to do more good than harm. Ling changes her mind. She entrusts them to Alex, not the Necrowalkers. Batu tells him Robert and Steel Fang agreed for Alex to be the Union's new president!

### Chapter 8: A New Age

Actually, Batu has given Alex the wrong idea. Ling explains things properly. The Akhator War and World War III caused the Union to lose its credibility. The other reason for Alex's ID card is so that the younger generation can establish themselves a new age and a new organisation that's different from the Union. Robert believes Alex can lead this organisation in the future.

Lulu calls Alex to see a slab relating to her curse in the Union secret files crate. It is written in ancient Greek. Alex can only read "The blood of the true soldier / will dissolve the vanquished / half". A ball drops, bursting out tear gas. A man in a chicken costume takes the crate. He has punctured Smith and Susie's car's tyres and tied Batu's friends' horses' legs. Batu unties the horses. He sees the rope has white chicken feathers, thinking the man is Silver Wing.

Silver Wing finds a spot to put the crate down. Among the artifacts, he looks at a Greek vase depicting a woman holding a scroll and a plate of food. This vase is what Silver Wing has been looking for. An owl sees him, then flies to another owl. The other howl flies to Hong Kong to Miss Crowbone. She has found the man Nacho is looking for.

## X-Venture continuity

### In other series

* An adult Michio appears in Ultimate Showdown. At elderly age, he appears in Dinosaur Kingdom II and Exobot Academy.

## Trivia

* Silver Wing looks like Colonel Sanders, the founder of Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC). He also mentions a "stinkin' clown", which could mean Ronald McDonald, McDonald's mascot.