Old Jin couldn't stay in our house because the cold made his hips hurt, so we got him a place in the county town and went back to the village first.
Our house was now crowded with Wu guys. Uncle Two printed out the photos we took and spread them out on our desk while the three of us squeezed onto the sofa in the corner to watch them have a eting. The rest of the house was full of equipnt. Most of these guys were hired grave robbers who had regional accents, and each one was even uglier than the last.
Uncle Two was very efficient and soon ordered so of the guys to start working. Everyone was smoking, which ant the whole room was filled with smoke as if it was on fire. Everyone eventually left to start working, leaving only one of Uncle Two's guys to sweep all the cigarette butts off the floor and clean the table.
As I opened the door to let out the smoke, Fatty said quietly, "Little Brother and I will sleep first. You two can catch up." Fatty went into the room and gave Uncle Two a smile, "Uncle, you guys keep talking. I have to get up early tomorrow, so Im going to bed first."
Uncle Two grunted, looked at Poker-Face, and then said, "You stay." Poker-Face acted like he didn't hear him and continued to his room. Uncle Two slamd his fist on the table, "I told you to stay!"
I was completely shocked. I had no idea why Uncle Two suddenly got so riled up. I imdiately went over to Poker-Face, who paused and looked back at Uncle Two.
"Uncle Two, what's wrong?" I hurriedly asked.
"I have sothing to ask him, Uncle Two said coldly. He must know where your Uncle Three is."
Poker-Face shook his head, pushed the door to his room open, and went in. Uncle Two stood up, seemingly unwilling to drop it. I imdiately grabbed him. "Thats just how he is, Uncle Two. Dont mind it. If you ask him again, hell knock you out."
Uncle Two sat down and took a sip of tea. "Does he still refuse to talk?"
"Even if he doesnt say anything, I can still figure it out." I sighed. "In fact, the one who lied to the most was Uncle Three. I dont even know how many things he didnt tell . But the price I paid for knowing those things is too much. If others dont want to talk, I wont make them."
"Your Uncle Three owes a lot of debts. After things are over, hell have to pay them back one by one. I just dont know if hell be able to do it in this lifeti. We, the Wu family, will have to help him. Uncle Two suddenly sighed and held his forehead, "Ill have to make sure everythings balanced for when I reincarnate. Little Xie, let's talk business."
I nodded and sat down, my back ramrod straight. It was like I was suddenly a child again, unable to recite the Tang poetry Uncle Two was quizzing on because Uncle Three and I had snuck out the previous night to catch grasshoppers in the field. When I fell asleep, Uncle Three carried back and put into my bed.
That was why I hated Uncle Two as a child and absolutely adored Uncle Three. But now that I thought about it, this family probably would have collapsed without Uncle Two.
His hair was all white now, which was a stark contrast to my father's appearance. In fact, my father was basically the Wu Xiubo (1) of the neighborhood committee. Uncle Two had always been so strong and spirited, but we could see the hidden tiredness and age creeping up on him.
He pointed to the murals we had photographed and asked , "Tell , whats wrong with these murals?"
"They look like theyre from the Song Dynasty, but the South Sea countries existed during the Han Dynasty. Murals from the Song Dynasty are very complicated. The density of colors and lines far exceeds that of murals from the Han Dynasty. The drawings are smooth and the composition is rigorous, but theres nothing on the murals that could help us distinguish which dynasty theyre from. The content of the murals is relatively unknown, so its actually difficult to figure anything out without checking historical records first."
"Youre right. Theres about a seven-hundred-year gap between the Han and Song Dynasties. These murals can't be from the Han Dynasty, but the sarcophagus you photographed is. So, maybe these murals and this sarcophagus co from two different tombs. If you put the two things together and analyze them, youll see theres a problem, Uncle Two said. "The tomb you went to should be the place where Uncle Three hoarded grave goods. He hid everything he stole there."
"What do you an?"
"It's just a speculation for now. Your Uncle Three was very interested in listening to thunder and hid everything related to it in one place. Dont tell the others about this just yet and keep it between the two of us." He looked at , "Let's go to that South Sea country first. It was said to be in Wuping, which is now far away from the sea. Theres a saying: thunder suppresses the nine typhoons. As long as theres thunder, the typhoon wont make landfall. We need to look into the typhoons and thunderstorms along the coast here. The South Sea Kings tomb wont be found using our usual thods, so I found an expert in Beijing to help us."
I paused. An expert?"
Uncle Two nodded. "Hes soone who can listen to thunder to find tombs. Hell arrive tomorrow."
****
TN Notes:
(1) A Chinese actor, musician, and producer. Hes most widely known as Xinjie Liu, the protagonist in the television series Before the Dawn. Wu Xies dad is basically a silver fox hehehe
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