Chapter 114: A Basketful of Guesses

He Yu still hadn’t processed it: “But other than half of it being torn away, there doesn’t seem to be anything special about this page. Isn’t it just another blank sheet of paper?”

“No, only the top half of this page remains. The bottom half was torn off,” I explained to him.

“Normally, if you wanted to destroy paper evidence, you would tear out the entire page like the previous ones. But this page only had the bottom half removed, and the edge is very straight. That kind of habit is more like how we usually leave notes for people.”

Chen Canghai’s finger brushed the edge of that page as he asked me, “You think this torn half-page is a note Uncle Chen left for me?”

I nodded. “But I don’t know if he hid the note. If it was taken by the people who searched his body later, that’s not entirely impossible either.”

He Yu had a sudden flash of inspiration and said, “Hey, I’ve got an idea! Did your uncle have any special habits for where he put things? Or maybe there’s a place only the two of you know about? He might have hidden the note there.”

Chen Canghai fell silent. He Yu and I exchanged a glance and simultaneously stopped talking. I wasn’t in a hurry to figure out how to get out, because based on the dry rations the three of us had, eating for three or four days wouldn’t be a problem at all.

What I desperately wanted to clarify was the ultimate goal of Chen Jianguo and Han Jian coming here. Therefore, I had to do everything possible to find this missing note that Chen Jianguo had hidden. Only by finding the note could everything possibly start to make sense.

I thought this would be a difficult place to figure out and that Chen Canghai would sit there for at least half an hour. Unexpectedly, he only thought for five minutes before reaching for the fountain pen in his pocket. This pen had clearly been used for a long time, as the gold color on the cap had mostly faded to a silvery white.

Without a second thought, Chen Canghai reached out and pulled the cap. As soon as the cap was removed, a small, rolled-up slip of paper fell out.

“Holy crap!” He Yu hurriedly reached out to catch it, and the slip of paper landed right in his palm. He shook off the dust on it. “Impressive! No one would ever imagine someone would hide a note inside a pen cap!”

Initially, we were sitting quite far apart. On one hand, this enclosed stone room was nowhere near as cool as the ventilated stone passages outside. On the other hand, the three of us grown men hadn’t bathed in days, and between blowing up a Buddhist Pagoda, trekking through caves, and falling into puddles, we were all more or less permeated with an unpleasant odor. No one was particularly willing to be too close to anyone else.

However, as soon as that note fell out, the three of us huddled together in an instant. Ignoring the smell of sweat on our bodies, we were all eager to see what words Chen Jianguo had left behind.

He Yu was a very sensible person. He didn’t unroll the paper himself but handed it to Chen Canghai first. Since it was a message left by his uncle, it was only appropriate for him to open it.

The two of us watched him. Chen Canghai didn’t hide it from us; he opened it, took a look, and read it aloud. The content of the letter was beyond my expectations. The original text was quite long, so I only transcribed the most important parts from memory, as follows.

To Canghai: This is a parting letter. I know you will definitely come after me. As long as you come and find my body, you will be able to find this letter smoothly. I will describe everything I have experienced to you, but please remember, this letter should not remain in this world. Be sure to destroy it after reading.

During the Nine-Ring Project of 1951, I was one of them. I know I can’t keep this from you. If you have checked the records, you should understand that the reason this project was abolished back then was not the funding issue stated in the archives. In recent years, my comrades-in-arms have passed away one after another. I know it is my turn now. So, I am going to find the pagoda on the rubbing manuscript and attempt to find a Nine-Ring Jade Casket.

I thought my reactions were fast enough, but after entering, I discovered that “they” were one step ahead of me after all. Our organization has collapsed over these decades. The only thing you can do now is seek help from the descendants of the Five Masters and pray that they can win the final round.

A final piece of advice from your uncle.

“What does this mean? Your uncle was also involved in the Nine-Ring Project of 1951? What kind of broken project is this that it involves your grandfather, his uncle, and so many other people?” He Yu was completely lost in confusion after listening.

I took the letter from Chen Canghai’s hand and read it over three or four times. The hidden content in this letter was much more than I had imagined. First of all, Chen Jianguo mentioned his purpose for this trip without any concealment: to find a Nine-Ring Jade Casket.

Or rather, to be precise, it was “to find a Nine-Ring Jade Casket.”

I couldn’t quite figure out what this “a” accurately represented. The overall narrative of the letter was quite concise, and the handwriting was very light. Considering the situation at the time, Chen Jianguo had lost too much blood to write normally, yet he still used the specific term “a.”

This couldn’t help but make me feel a bit strange. But if understood from another perspective, saying that Chen Jianguo’s head was groggy from blood loss and some sentences were structurally messy seemed plausible as well.

Furthermore, Chen Jianguo was actually one of the original personnel of the 1951 Nine-Ring Project, which was completely outside my expectations. Initially, we thought everything seemed to revolve around the Nine-Ring Jade Casket. My Fourth Brother was, the Five Masters were, but now it seemed our judgment had a major flaw. Everyone was revolving around the Nine-Ring Project of that year, including that Nine-Ring Jade Casket.

I organized my thoughts, intending to solve the problems one by one, so I first asked Chen Canghai, “As far as I know, the Nine-Ring Project of 1951 does not have complete archives preserved.”

Chen Canghai didn’t deny my words and nodded. “If you are looking for official archives, they are bound to be blank, because the archives regarding the Nine-Ring Project were all destroyed when the project ended.”

He took a deep breath and continued, “My uncle was the youngest in the engineering team back then. After being recruited, he worked on cleaning cultural relics and verifying some archives in the team. Before the project was abolished, he refused to let it go and secretly kept some of the materials, which included the treasure rubbing manuscript he sold to Han Jian.”

“Then it’s one thing for your uncle to come himself, but why did he sell the rubbing manuscript to Han Jian? Han Jian isn’t a descendant of the Five Masters,” I said.

“He indeed isn’t a descendant of the Five Masters, but he is Han Cheng’s biological younger brother,” Chen Canghai interrupted me ruthlessly. “And Han Cheng is the boyfriend of Gan Rong, the only daughter of Gan Rukui from the Central Plains. That alone is enough.”

I was suddenly choked by his words. The way I looked at him began to become unfathomable. This kid had actually investigated our relationships thoroughly. He might have even memorized the passenger list on our boat before we even boarded.

I forced my thoughts back, trying not to let Chen Canghai lead my logic, and asked again, “Then did you find out the real reason the 1951 Nine-Ring Project was abolished, as mentioned in the letter?”

Chen Canghai was very calm. He said, “I don’t know. There is no reason. I read that part of the materials hundreds of times day and night before coming here. It only mentioned funding issues and listed some supernatural phenomena.”

“The Nine-Ring Jade Casket?” He Yu suddenly chimed in. “Did your uncle get it wrong? The Nine-Ring Jade Casket is still with Little Yao’s Fourth Brother. Why did Chen Jianguo come to this pagoda to look for it?”

I had been calculating the probability of a possibility that could satisfy both situations for a long time. In fact, I had been doubting the likelihood of this possibility since much earlier.

I said, “It’s very likely that there isn’t just one Nine-Ring Jade Casket.”

As soon as I voiced this thought, the two people in front of me fell silent. He Yu took a moment to process it before staring at me with wide eyes. “Are you crazy? Didn’t you personally take that casket out of your grandfather’s drawer?! Finding even one of these things is nearly impossible. It’s not like everyone can have one, right? That would be total chaos!”

“I’m just listing a possibility. What’s the rush?” I kicked him.

My idea was quite wild. After all, if there really were many Nine-Ring Jade Caskets, wouldn’t the thing the Five Masters were fighting tooth and nail for be easily within reach?

The end result would be like a kindergarten teacher handing out jellybeans – everyone gets a Nine-Ring Jade Casket. No fighting, no grabbing, just shared information. Mom would never have to worry about me having no tombs to raid for the rest of my life.

Besides, if there really were many Nine-Ring Jade Caskets, what would be the purpose of creating them?

“Also, who does this ‘they’ refer to?” He Yu raised another question.

Seeing that we were all sitting there in silence, He Yu checked his watch and changed the subject. “How about we take a break? My brain cells are practically fried, and we’re not going to figure out a damn thing by overthinking it now. Let’s find an exit first. Maybe we’ll have some fresh ideas later. What do you guys think?”

He Yu had a point. Following his suggestion, I switched on my flashlight and stood up. Chen Canghai took charge of using the fire starter to burn the letter completely. The two of us watched as the slip of paper was gradually swallowed by the flames, quickly turning into a pile of ash on the floor.

I stomped on the ground. The sound wasn’t muffled, suggesting there was likely space directly beneath the stone chamber. On the map I had memorized, there was a passage that almost spanned the entire Underground Palace, but the map only provided a schematic representation without indicating its length, width, or capacity.

According to my speculation, Lu A’yao might have fallen into this small passage or perhaps into a craftsman’s hiding spot connected to it. The only way for the three of us to escape now was to find the point where the stone chamber connected to this passage. Once inside, we could follow it to the core of the Underground Palace.

“These four walls are sealed tight. How the hell did Old Lu find the mechanism earlier? Did you see it? What did it look like? Was it round or square? Long or flat?” He Yu asked me.

I bent over and searched the wall inch by inch, turning back to snap at him, “You’re asking me? Who the hell am I supposed to ask? How much do I actually know about his business? Why do you keep asking me?”

A sudden surge of spite compelled me to tease He Yu. For once, I felt like messing with him, so I crossed my arms and walked up behind him. “Lu A’yao was with you for so long, and you two were so in sync. What? He didn’t tell you about this? Oh boy, it seems your relationship isn’t as rock-solid as I thought!”