Chapter 206: Punishment

The nearest village was about a li ahead of the tracks. We had been on the train for less than three hours, so I estimated we hadn’t even left Guangdong yet. The evening sky was overcast and gloomy, looking as though it were about to rain. The four of us waded through the tall weeds and entered the village. Looking back, I saw that several people with bloodied heads had followed our lead and jumped from the train. They were now trailing us like a pack of rabid dogs.

I was just about to curse when He Yu beat me to it: “Damn it, you’re a real prize right now! How much money did they offer these people to make them chase us this hard?”

After the brawl we’d just endured, all four of us were running low on stamina. To make matters worse, our luggage was scattered and we hadn’t even had time to fix our clothes properly. We had no desire to fight that pack of mad dogs again in the biting winter cold, so we veered around a dilapidated factory building and ran toward the main road.

In the darkness, a white van sped toward us from the distance. It wasn’t moving slowly. Seeing us running toward it, the driver suddenly flashed the high beams and screeched to a halt at the intersection. He Yu, who was in the lead, gradually slowed his pace.

“Wait, what’s going on? Are those idiots actually smart enough to set up an ambush and cut us off here?” he asked.

Xiao Wu didn’t stop. He panted as he ran up and slid the van door open, gesturing for the three of us to get in. “I contacted them just now. Word will get out soon. Quick! Everyone get in!”

Seeing our ride, we quickened our pace and scrambled inside one after another. As soon as we were all in, Xiao Wu slammed the door shut. The driver didn’t hesitate, flooring the accelerator and roaring back onto the road, leaving behind a cloud of exhaust fumes while the mad dogs behind us gnashed their teeth and stomped their feet in frustration.

“Is this the expert you invited? Which expert is it? Let me see!” He Yu had noticed early on that Han Jian was the one driving. True to his annoying nature, he leaned forward to get a better look.

Han Jian threatened him: “We only have this one car right now. If it flips, I don’t care. You can walk to the airport yourselves!”

By then, I had caught my breath. Picking up on the key point in his words, I asked, “Are we switching to the airport now?”

“Yes. Before the ship even docked, word had already spread. Now those tomb raiders are certain the Nine-Ring Jade Casket is on you. The Eldest Miss anticipated you might be cornered on the train, so she told me to follow. If anything happened, I was to call this side,” Xiao Wu explained to me.

Lu Ayao rummaged through his bag, pulling out the medicine Bai Shenxian had given him and a water flask. He handed them to me, indicating I should take my dose. I didn’t take them, thinking to myself that I’d only run a short distance. It wasn’t like I was competing in a track meet. An occasional cough was normal; there was no need for medicine.

He Yu took the medicine for me and shoved it into my hand, commanding, “What are you doing? Resistance is futile. If you’re told to take it, then take it. Hurry up! Gulp it all down.”

Annoyed by his nagging, I simply unfolded the paper wrapping the pills and tossed them all into my mouth. Before the bitterness could spread, I quickly took several gulps of water to wash them down. Once finished, I opened my mouth and stuck my tongue out at He Yu.

“Stop nagging, Master. Is this good enough? I drank it all!”

He Yu capped the flask, returned it to Lu Ayao, and started grumbling again. “That’s more like it! Every time I make you take medicine, it’s as if I’m asking for your life.”

Describing everything that followed would be tedious. To put it simply, we slept the whole way as we drove along the national highway to the airport. Xiao Wu bought tickets for the four of us, and we flew directly to Zhengzhou. From Zhengzhou, we took a long-distance bus back to the county.

Fourth Brother’s shop was empty, so the three of us gave it a quick cleaning and settled in there.

During this time, I spent every night studying the notebook my grandfather had left behind. It was a work journal, containing very few personal accounts. The vast majority of it recorded the 434 Archaeological Team’s research on the undersea dual-dynasty tomb from years ago. It was filled with details, and reading through them completely shifted my initial perspective on this entire affair.

Because my ancestors once had dealings with the Fa Qiu^[1] lineage, my forebears had requested a silk pouch from them before that lineage went extinct. Inside the pouch was a complete set of secret Feng Shui techniques. It was only because of this that my family had been able to make a living for generations, managing to survive through times of displacement and hardship until today.

My grandfather, Gan Rukui, had extensively studied the secret arts of “Dragon Seeking^[2]” since childhood. On the surface, he was a rare intellectual from the countryside who had been selected for an archaeological team going to the South China Sea for an expedition. However, because cultural relic protection work was being carried out in many places at the time, they were all referred to by code names. The code name for the team Gan Rukui belonged to was “434.”

The members of this archaeological team were different from us. After determining the location of the mausoleum, they conducted a detailed data investigation on the ship and discovered it was an Overlapping Tomb. An Overlapping Tomb meant that two mausoleums from different dynasties had been designed to be nested together.

Gan Rukui, who was the first to discover this, had been ecstatic. Such a technique had never been seen in archaeological history. Furthermore, it was a Qin dynasty tomb overlapping a Shang-Zhou tomb, a rarity in the world.

My grandfather didn’t record the process of entering the burial chamber. However, by the time they actually stepped into the second layer, the Qin tomb, only five of them remained. One could imagine how perilous the situation had been. That time, they didn’t venture any deeper because their dry rations were exhausted. They had no choice but to return the way they came and make further plans once back on the ship.

However, the gains from that trip were substantial. They returned to the ship and, despite the pain of losing their teammates, reported to their superiors. Soon, the 434 Project was established to take root in the South China Sea. Whether this project was the “Corpse Driver” plan Tian Xiaoqi had mentioned, the notebook didn’t say, so it remained unknown.

In truth, by the second page, many questions had already surfaced before me. I couldn’t help but find it strange. The contents of this notebook were extremely detailed, ranging from major things like what items were purchased and in what season, down to minor details like what they ate for lunch and whether it tasted good.

But based on my knowledge of my grandfather, he wasn’t that diligent, especially when it came to a work journal meant to appease his superiors.

But what aroused my suspicion most was that while these notes appeared extremely detailed at a glance, a closer look revealed they were filled with absolute nonsense that lacked any real substance.

There was no description of how they entered the tomb, nor any account of what they found inside. It simply stated that they returned to seek instructions from superiors, after which the project was officially established, eventually leading to the construction of the underwater research facility. Anyone with a bit of common sense knows that a project of this scale requires significant results to be greenlit; it would be impossible to get approval based on mere speculation.

Could my grandfather have discovered something during his first foray into the outer layers of the Qin tomb that he was unable to record due to its classified nature?

I had been sitting for a long time and felt a chill, so I tucked the notebook back into the cabinet, locked it, and headed downstairs with my hands buried in my sleeves.

Large snowflakes were drifting past the windows. It was New Year’s Eve once again. Many shops had already closed for the holiday, and the workers had all headed home. On the entire street, only our Yinggan Tang and a nearby shop selling tobacco, liquor, and groceries remained open.

He Yu had managed to scavenge a hot pot stove from somewhere over the last couple of days. He’d bought mutton and spices, claiming we were going to set up the pot and crack open some beers for a mutton feast on New Year’s Eve. He kept insisting that hot pot was the best way to stay warm on a cold winter night. The workers staying behind at Fourth Brother’s shop had never seen anyone like him; their mouths were watering just listening to him.

Dressed in an eye-searing bright red outfit, he was already downstairs with a few of the remaining workers, busily setting up the stove.

“Get those stools out of here! Put the table in the middle, everyone lift together!” he called out, directing the men as they moved the table.

Seeing me leaning over the railing watching them from above, He Yu put his hands on his hips and started scolding me from below.

“Young Master, can’t you see I’m working myself to death down here? Why don’t you move those noble legs of yours and come down to help out? You and him,” he pointed toward the first-floor guest room, “both of you are such Young Masters. You won’t even dip your fingers in water, and he won’t even step foot out of his room. I’m the only maidservant running around doing everything. You’re both just plucking me clean; I’m going to be bald before long at this rate!”

Just as he finished speaking, Lu Ayao returned from outside, carrying two plastic bags stuffed to the brim with food.

He Yu froze for a second before rushing over with a flurry of dramatic groans to take the bags. “When did you go out? I didn’t even see you! And you bought so much! Your wallet must be bleeding after this.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at his expression. He Yu spun around and barked at me, “You! You’re the one who hasn’t done a lick of work! Move it, get down here and grab the bowls and chopsticks!”

I was just about to head down when I saw Xiao Wu walking in from the street with several workers. My mood soured instantly. Xiao Wu took in the scene in the shop and smiled. “Everyone looks busy.”

Still clutching the plastic bags, He Yu turned and asked with a grin, “Oh, look who’s here. Have you eaten? Join us in a bit.”

Xiao Wu declined with a smile. “I’m here to take the Young Master to the ancestral residence. I’m afraid he won’t be able to have dinner at the shop tonight. I have to take him back for punishment.”

“Punishment? It’s New Year’s Eve! What are you talking about?” He Yu’s face darkened several shades.

I stepped forward immediately to stop him, patting his shoulder with my back turned to Xiao Wu. “Don’t blow up,” I whispered. “We’ve been back all this time without any trouble, so it turns out this is what they were waiting for. Coming here with such fanfare, every Pankou must have gotten the news by now.”

“No, this is going too far! It’s New Year’s Eve! They won’t even let you have a full meal with us? It’s freezing outside. Whatever punishment it is, why pick today of all days?” He Yu said to Xiao Wu.

Xiao Wu waited outside the inner foyer and said, “Young Master, the Eldest Miss ordered me to take you to the ancestral residence to kneel before Old Master Gan’s memorial tablet. On my way over, I’m sure all the Pankou, big and small, have caught wind of it. Please don’t make things difficult for me.”

“Hey! Isn’t that just a threat? In weather this cold, you…”

I cut He Yu off and told him to drop it. If I didn’t go today, they’d only come back to bother me tomorrow. Besides, I was the one who had said I’d take whatever punishment they handed out. If it was kneeling, so be it.

So I turned to Xiao Wu and said, “I’ll go with you. Give me a moment to put on a coat.”