Chapter 149: The Locksmith

I went over and kicked He Yu a couple of times. He just rolled over, mumbled something in his sleep, and kept on sleeping. Unable to wake him, I could only turn around and signal Lu A’yao to help me carry him into the cabin. But when I turned, what met my eyes was Fourth Brother’s extremely grim face.

Fourth Brother’s expression startled me. I quickly set the beer He Yu had given me down on the ship’s railing. It took me a moment to remember that I’m an adult now; having a drink isn’t a problem. This was just muscle memory from my high school days, a habit I still can’t shake.

Back in high school, during the peak of the smoking craze, both Fourth Brother and my mom kept a very close eye on me. Back then, almost every guy in our class would sneak off to the bathroom during long breaks to smoke a few. That’s when I picked up the habit too, though I never found it particularly enjoyable, so I rarely smoked outside.

Fourth Brother held a cigarette between two fingers. He tilted his head to signal his crew, who promptly came up to help carry He Yu into the cabin. Then, Fourth Brother’s gaze shifted to Lu A’yao standing beside me. The two of them just stared at each other, locked in a silent standoff for quite a while, before Lu A’yao finally picked up his jacket, turned, and went down into the cabin.

Fourth Brother’s look made me a bit uneasy. I said, “Fourth Brother, don’t be like that. They’re both very good friends of mine. They were the ones who kept me company when you weren’t around before.”

“How old are you? How long have you been in this line of work? What do you really know? We’re diving tomorrow for surveying and mapping. You stay put on the boat, with Xiao Wu. If I find out you snuck into the water, I won’t punish you. I’ll punish Xiao Wu. Understood?” Fourth Brother said sternly.

Hearing I wasn’t allowed to dive filled me with disappointment. “Huh? You can’t do that! I’m already here, why won’t you let me dive? This is just dictatorship!”

Fourth Brother chuckled. “This time, I’ll be a dictator for once. You can stay with the team if you want, but not only will I dock Xiao Wu’s pay, he’ll also have to write a self-criticism. You think about it tonight.”

Fourth Brother knew my psychology all too well. He knew exactly how to make me toe the line. Hearing him say that, I opened my mouth but ultimately said nothing. This method was downright despicable, utterly despicable!

What had started as an intriguing trip to the South China Sea now felt utterly boring. I didn’t want to deal with Fourth Brother anymore and turned to head for the cabin, only to be called back by his shout. I didn’t dare defy him, so I walked back with a forced smile.

“Boss Chen, is there something else you need?”

Fourth Brother handed me the bag he was holding. The moment he placed it in my arms, its all-too-familiar weight sent a jolt through my entire body. I looked up in surprise. “This…”

Fourth Brother gave me a slight nod, taking a drag from his cigarette. “I had the crew pack up the tools from your rented room. They should be by your bedside now. If you’re bored, try to crack it as soon as possible. This thing has dragged too many people into it. The longer the matter of that box drags on, the more complicated things will get.”

I immediately thought of the Xinchang Bank Vault incident. Lu A’yao had hinted to me before that Fourth Brother was almost certainly fully aware of the Xinchang Bank affair. But it had been so long, and he’d never brought it up with me. Just how deep did these waters run?

So, I moved a bit closer to Fourth Brother and probed, “Fourth Brother, what exactly was the Xinchang Bank Vault for? I saw Grandfather’s name in the records there. What did he store inside?”

Fourth Brother took another drag. Hearing my question, he showed no strange emotional reaction; instead, he spoke very calmly. “Since you’ve already seen it, there’s no point hiding it from you. To be honest, I’m investigating this matter too. Before returning from Shennongjia, I got a call from an unknown number. The person said the Xinchang Bank Vault had something I wanted, so I went.”

“I found a ledger there with Master’s name on it. But as far as I know, Master didn’t store anything in that vault during his lifetime. Later, I tried to trace that number and found it had already been deactivated. The only lead was that the number was registered in Inner Mongolia.”

I hadn’t expected Fourth Brother to be so forthright this time. If he had said, like he used to, “That’s not something you should ask about,” I would have definitely lumped him in with those involved. But he just straightforwardly told me what happened, leaving me momentarily unsure how to proceed.

On an impulse, I leaned in closer and whispered to Fourth Brother, “I have a thought. Do you think… Liu Sanshui might still be alive?”

Fourth Brother’s smoking motion froze instantly, as if hearing that name from my lips was something terrifying. He frowned at me. “Explain your reasoning. Why would you think that?”

I quickly sorted through the clues in my head and gave him a brief rundown: the secret script we saw in the unclaimed tomb underground in Gansu, the results of He Yu’s later investigation when he returned home, and finally, the tomb robber’s tunnel I discovered in Yunnan, where the chisel marks on the tunnel walls were identical in technique to the crisscrossing tunnels in Gansu.

“These things… they all know about them too?” Fourth Brother asked.

I instinctively glanced toward the cabin, then nodded.

Fourth Brother sighed. “You really can’t keep anything to yourself. We’ve also found different secret scripts in a few other dangerous tombs we’ve been to. But the scripts were short, only a few characters. The translated meanings were ambiguous and confusing. Your guess isn’t wrong. Liu Sanshui might indeed still be alive. But why hasn’t he shown himself? Why hasn’t he returned to the Liu Family? That’s the most important question.”

I turned my head. Liu Wan was standing on the deck, hands in her pockets, lost in thought. The wind tousled her hair; she tucked a strand behind her ear and gazed out at the pitch-black sea.

“Alright, get some good sleep and don’t overthink things. I’ll keep investigating these matters.”

With that, Fourth Brother gave me a push toward the cabin. I got the feeling he actually wanted to shoo me away quickly so he could enjoy some alone time with Liu Wan. I let out a soft snort, lifted the curtain, and went back into the cabin.

The cabin bunks were almost completely occupied. The air inside was stagnant, so much so that the moment I stepped in, I wanted to go back out and gulp some fresh air. But not sleeping wasn’t an option. The wind at sea at night was strong; going out without proper warmth would surely lead to a chill. Though the cabin was crowded, it at least provided temporary shelter from the wind and a place to rest.

He Yu’s bunk was right next to mine. On the headboard, Fourth Brother had someone place my tool bag. I flipped open the leather roll, and not only was everything still there, they had even brought me a few “Complete Guides to Lockpicking” for reference. It seemed Fourth Brother had really gone to great lengths to get this box open.

I set my bundle on the bedside, did a quick wash-up, then sat on the bed. Putting on my glasses, I flipped through a couple of those lockpicking manuals and was at a loss for words.

Fourth Brother really did think I was a locksmith.

If this box had even the slightest bit in common with the mechanisms of an ordinary lock, I wouldn’t have been fumbling around with it for so long without a clue.