Chapter 144: A Part of the Truth?

I grew interested, but from a different perspective, so I continued to press him. “Your Lu Clan has an ancestral hall? Is it in Nanjing too? Ancestral halls 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 Ayao 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 Clan’s private business, but why would your Lu Clan’s ancestral hall have records concerning the people of the Gune Kingdom?”

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

Lu Ayao 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 Clan 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 Ayao was being earnestly evasive. Perhaps because we had spent so much time together recently, I suddenly had a hunch that the Lu Clan’s ancestors might have some connection to this person called Master Jiyun.

But with Fourth Brother right there, I couldn’t ask, so 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 Han Cheng’s Pankou in Yunnan. Using a certain pattern, that waterway map can trace out a pagoda. When the Nine-Ring Jade Casket appeared, I wasn’t much of an expert on that kind of antique, so I took it to him right away.

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

Fourth Brother said a lot, and I roughly understood the full picture.

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

Now they needed to investigate these areas one by one until they found the legendary royal tomb of the Gune Kingdom, using it to solve 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. Unofficial histories claim that the Gune Kingdom paved its roads with gold bricks and built its walls from precious stones. This had to be kept secret, but news of the Nine-Ring Jade Casket has already been leaked. I expect all sorts of factions will converge soon, everyone looking to grab a slice of the pie.”

As Fourth Brother spoke, I finally had the chance to look at him closely. Having not seen him for some time, he had grown much more haggard, though his eyes remained sharp. There was a subtle weariness around his brows. He was actually only a few years older than me, but I could feel that the burden he carried was hundreds of times heavier than I could imagine.

The drivers needed a rest, so the convoy stopped at a service area. Fourth Brother lit a cigarette and stepped out of the vehicle. Under the pretext of using the restroom, He Yu and I dragged Lu Ayao out of the car, and the three of us went to relieve ourselves.

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

“Old Lu, this isn’t cool. 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 sausage to cook through and open up.

I poked him with my elbow. “Stop joking around. Say one more word and I’ll hit you. What are you acting for? It’s not like your family doesn’t have an ancestral hall. Broaden your horizons, my ass. You say he’s not being cool, but when I asked you to teach me the He Clan 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 Ayao and I each took a sausage from her. Mine was paid for, while his was the free one. I had never seen Lu Ayao show any affection for food other than meat buns, but today, this cheap sausage managed to do it.

Lu Ayao 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 Ayao was clearly happy from the food and began pouring everything out like beans from a bamboo tube^[1].

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

Lu Ayao 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^[2] there, and the Lu Clan 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 Clan 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 Ayao 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 Ayao leaned against the open trunk, drinking water. I shuffled over and asked him, “Do you know where we’re headed?”

“The South China 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 Ayao gestured with his chin toward the lead car in the convoy. “I’m not skilled at locating points on open water^[3],” he explained. “Finding the exact spot on my own might take a week, so we need the Liu Family’s help. 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 got the information about the former site of the Xinchang Bank vault?”