Chapter 144: A Part of the Truth?

I grew interested, but from a different perspective, so I continued to press him. “Your Lu family has an ancestral hall? Is it in Nanjing too? A hall should have a family tree, right? I’ve never seen one of those in my life. Why haven’t you ever mentioned this before?”

Lu A’yao didn’t answer, so Fourth Brother spoke up sternly. “No matter how close you are to him, you’ve only known him for six months. Why are you always prying into these random things? We aren’t interested in the Lu family’s private business, but why would your ancestral hall have records concerning the people of the Ancient Ne Kingdom?”

Fourth Brother saw that Lu A’yao had finally volunteered some useful information, yet I was asking about trivial matters, so he immediately shot me a warning look. I shrunk back under his gaze, not daring to ask any more questions.

Lu A’yao looked up at Fourth Brother and said candidly, “Those records existed before I was even born. They used to just be kept in the ancestral hall, but because the He family lost a large number of ancient books and records during the Republican era, these items can now only be accessed by specific people.”

This answer clearly didn’t meet Fourth Brother’s expectations. He frowned as he listened from the front seat. I could also tell that Lu A’yao was being seriously evasive. Perhaps because we had spent so much time together recently, I suddenly had a premonition that the Lu family ancestors might have some connection to this person called Master Jiyun.

But with Fourth Brother right there, I couldn’t ask. I could only quickly steer the conversation back. “So Fourth Brother, where are we driving now?”

Fourth Brother coughed twice, regaining his composure. “I’ve looked into everything that happened to you in Yunnan. A few years ago, a tomb raider sold a Republican-era waterway map at one of Han Cheng’s branch operations in Yunnan. By following a certain pattern, that map can be used to trace a Pagoda. When the Nine-Ring Jade Casket first appeared, I wasn’t an expert on that kind of antique, so I immediately went to him to take a look.

“Han Cheng didn’t reveal much to me at the time, but he must have thought of that strange Rubbing Manuscript later. He sent his younger brother, Han Jian, with a team deep into Yunnan to investigate. They didn’t expect to run into you by chance. Since they couldn’t figure out your true background, they had to lie to you for the time being.”

Fourth Brother said a lot, and I roughly understood the sequence of events.

Fourth Brother and his team had spent over a month at the archaeology institute, establishing that the Ancient Ne Kingdom had indeed existed in history. Then, they spent another two months visiting three or four ancient tombs of various sizes, attempting to find the true location of the Ancient Ne Kingdom within other Royal Tombs. Finally, combining that with the descriptions in the Nieyao Ghost Market Map, they identified three areas where the Royal Tombs of the Ancient Ne Kingdom were most likely to be located.

And now, they needed to investigate these areas one by one until they found the legendary Royal Tombs of the Ancient Ne Kingdom, using them to crack the secret of the Nine-Ring Jade Casket.

“If the situation weren’t so exceptional, I would never take you to such a dangerous place. Folk records say the Ancient Ne Kingdom used gold bricks for roads and gems for walls. This mission had to be kept secret, but news of the Nine-Ring Jade Casket has already leaked. I expect various factions will soon converge, all wanting a piece of the pie.”

As Fourth Brother spoke, I finally had a moment to observe him. Having not seen him for some time, he had become much more haggard, though his eyes remained sharp. There was an undetectable weariness around his brow. He wasn’t actually much older than me, but I could feel that the burden he carried was hundreds of times heavier than I could imagine.

The drivers of the various cars needed to rest, so the convoy stopped at a service area. Fourth Brother lit a cigarette and got out. Under the pretext of using the restroom, He Yu and I dragged Lu A’yao out of the car so the three of us could relieve ourselves.

He Yu insisted on dragging me to eat grilled sausages, so we each ordered one. I looked at Lu A’yao standing beside us and, without asking, ordered another one from the vendor. The three of us stood side by side in front of the grilled sausage stall, watching the woman cook.

“Old Lu, this isn’t right. We’ve been through life and death together for so long, yet you never even mentioned your family has an ancestral hall. When are you going to take us there to broaden our horizons?” He Yu teased, quickly snatching the first flowering sausage.

I poked him with my elbow. “Stop being a nuisance. If you say one more word, I’ll hit you. Stop pretending. It’s not like your family doesn’t have an ancestral hall. What horizons do you need to broaden? You say he’s not being right, but when I asked you to teach me the He family Secret Script, did you?”

The vendor’s daughter watched us messing around in front of the counter. She was a girl in her early teens, sitting with her parents at the register. Our antics made her laugh happily.

The vendor finished grilling the sausages and handed them to us, saying cheerfully to me, “Young man, my daughter says she really likes you! I’ll give you the last one for free!”

I was stunned, and He Yu slapped my shoulder. “Not bad. That face of yours is actually useful for something.”

I pushed his hand away and thanked the vendor. Lu A’yao and I each took a sausage from her. Mine was paid for, but his was the free one. I had never seen Lu A’yao show any affection for food other than meat buns, but today, this cheap sausage managed to do it.

Lu A’yao ate with great relish. Back in Gansu, even the lavish feasts Tian Yuqing ordered hadn’t made him eat this heartily. I thought about it and realized it might be because cheap things just taste good. Cheap sausages have their own charm.

“The ancestral hall isn’t in Nanjing, it’s near Suzhou. But only designated family members can enter. You two can’t go in.” Lu A’yao was clearly happy from the food and began spilling the beans to us.

He Yu snorted. “I don’t believe it. If you took us, could we get in?”

Lu A’yao shook his head at him, finished the last bite of his sausage, and tossed the skewer accurately into the trash can. “I can’t even go in myself until the time is right, let alone you two. That place is very hidden and hard to find. There are only some spirit tablets there, and the Lu family never cares about seniority. Those tablets are only tended to by the hall keeper who adds oil and makes offerings. I haven’t been there much since I was a child.”

I grumbled inwardly about how the Lu family had so many rules. In the end, He Yu and I could only exchange a silent look and return to the car with a sigh.

He Yu opened the rear door and climbed in, telling me, “Go sit in the front. I’m dead tired, let me enjoy the back for a bit.”

I looked at the iron sign of the service area and realized we were heading toward Guangzhou. The wind was gradually growing cooler. Lu A’yao found a jacket from somewhere and tossed it to me. I didn’t feel like getting inside the car, so I draped the jacket over my shoulders and leaned against the door, scanning our surroundings.

Fourth Brother stood in the distance, where a sleek black SUV was parked. The graceful Liu Wan, dressed in a windbreaker and jeans, rested one hand on the vehicle’s side mirror. I didn’t recognize the man standing across from them. He was dark-skinned and very thin, with a gold watch gleaming on his wrist.

Lu A’yao leaned against the open trunk, drinking water. I shuffled over and asked him, “Do you know where we’re headed?”

“The South Sea. That central black dot on the Nine-Ring Jade Casket is located there. They’ve been measuring it repeatedly on the map to pinpoint the location as accurately as possible, but the search area is still too broad. We need to get there to narrow it down further.”

Lu A’yao gestured with his chin toward the lead car in the convoy. “I’m not skilled at locating points on the open sea,” he explained. “It might take me a week to find the exact spot, so we need the help of the Liu Family Members. That car is filled with them.”

He looked at me. “Just as you fainted, your Fourth Brother arrived with his people. The timing was perfect, with three cars waiting right outside. I was brought along in the car with him, while He Yu was a step ahead of us. Do you think your Fourth Brother knows that you obtained information regarding the site of the Xinchang Bank Vault?”