Years later, standing in front of migrating geese returning home, Étienne would remember that distant afternoon when Bi Fang took him flying in a plane, escaping their pursuers.
Look at this opening line, how magically real it is.
Étienne felt this would be the most magical journey of his life, having already encountered wild beasts, eaten raw food, and survived thunderstorms, he was about to face a plane crash!
The sensation of weightlessness attacked once more, his buttocks had lost all feeling, for they had completely left the seat, and his sweat-soaked underwear, hit by the wind, felt not only empty but chillingly cold.
No one could have imagined Bi Fang's daring; he actually pulled the control stick fully at the moment the plane cleared a low mountain and planted it into the forest like a rice transplanter!