Chapter 49: Songjiachang Reservoir

After six months of digging through data, Hou Jinshan finally concluded that the Nieyao Divine Mountain was actually Shennongjia in Hubei. But up to this point, it was still just an educated guess based on basic information—he had no way to confirm it for certain. So he began searching for the whereabouts of the Nine-Ring Jade Casket, hoping to see it again.

As we talked, Xiao Wu caught my look and went to lock the door. I pulled the Jade Casket out of my bag and placed it on the table.

Hou Jinshan’s eyes lit up the moment he saw the layers of soft cloth wrapping it. He reached out immediately, but I slapped his hand away.

“What’s the rush? We haven’t finished negotiating terms.”

Hou Jinshan clicked his tongue, clearly impatient. He sped up his speech. “What else do you want to ask? Hurry up!”

I thought for a moment and said, “You can look at the Jade Casket, but I’m not handing it over. I’ll be the one to keep it. And your plan—I’m joining in.”

Anyone who tried to steal this casket had mysteriously vanished from the face of the earth. So far, I was the only one who’d carried it and lived to tell the tale. I figured that whoever had sent it to me had made one thing clear: they wanted me to investigate the secret project from 1951 with the casket in hand.

That person was watching me from the shadows, tracking my every move. I was starting to believe that the “accidental” fall I witnessed wasn’t an accident at all. He wanted me to see it—wanted to show me just how easy it was to fake someone’s death.

If possible, I wanted to use something to lure him out.

“What the hell is wrong with you now? Chen Si and Tian Yuqing are already up to God-knows-what over there, and now you want to barge in halfway? This isn’t some game—people die in the no-man’s land! Is everyone in the Gan Family out of their minds?” Hou Jinshan burst out, coughing violently.

It wasn’t that I was eager to throw myself into danger again. But when things reached a dead end, I preferred to trust my gut. And right now, I had no one else to turn to. My instincts told me Hou Jinshan was the only breakthrough I had.

Besides, this was something only I could do. At the very least, I had to make sure no one else died because of this casket.

So I started bluffing. “I know exactly how dangerous your plan is, you don’t need to scare me. Of course, you’re free to refuse me—but then forget about seeing the Water System Map inside the Jade Casket. And I guarantee, without me, you’re not getting out of there alive.”

Hou Jinshan was a sly old fox, but compared to Tian Yuqing, he was still a level below. He mulled it over for a long time before finally saying, “Too many people will only complicate things. My team’s already full. At most, I can let you and one of your guys join.”

“Old bastard, don’t try to play games with me,” Xiao Wu snapped, pointing at him. “So you’re saying the Gan Family only gets two people, while you bring in a whole damn crew? What, planning to off us in the mountains and take the casket for yourselves? You think we’re idiots?”

Hou Jinshan waved his hands frantically. “No, no! Look, since we’ve already laid everything out, I might as well come clean. I’ve actually been out of the game for a long time. All that stuff I said earlier, just talk to scare you.”

I cracked my knuckles, suppressing the anger bubbling inside me. “Then what about those guys you brought to trash my shop?”

Hou Jinshan chuckled sheepishly. “All hired extras. Twenty bucks a head. Just had them walk around with me a bit, then sent them home.”

Unbelievable. The old bastard had been bluffing the whole time.

I grabbed him by the collar. “You looking for a beating?”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! Ancestor, please! Don’t hit me! That’s not the point, really!” Hou Jinshan clutched my hand, begging like his life depended on it, his words tumbling out at triple speed.

“I really did have some pull back in the day, people would answer my call. I wasn’t lying about that! But I’ve been out of the business for years. It’s hard to find anyone willing to work with me now—they don’t trust me. When I heard Chen Si was out of the picture, I thought I’d scare you a bit and maybe rope in a few people. How was I supposed to know you were tight with that Lu guy? So I had to look elsewhere.”

“What elsewhere?”

“A rich guy from Hubei. He knows about the map too—probably even more obsessed than I am. He’s got some clout in the field and supposedly gathered a bunch of capable people. I had no choice but to work with him. Most of the team now is his. He’s got his own ideas, and I don’t get a say.”

I let go of him and quickly ran through everything he’d just said, trying to spot any logical holes.

Hou Jinshan caught on immediately. “Hey, little master, I swear I’m telling the truth this time. I’m not that capable—I couldn’t even get the permits to explore the restricted zone. I barely know anyone on the team. If you’re coming, we can at least watch each other’s backs.”

I thought it over. Nothing seemed off, so I was about to agree when Xiao Wu tugged at my sleeve from behind. I changed my words at the last second.

“Fine, we’ll go together. But everything you just said better be true. The moment I sense anything shady or catch you lying, my partner and I are out. You can go play with your new friends all you want.”

With that verbal agreement, the deal was struck—albeit a bit rocky. But the meal that followed tasted like ash in my mouth. I agreed to send Hou Jinshan part of the Water System Map as a down payment for joining the team. If we were going to work together, I had to give him a little something.

I knew how this game worked.

In the end, Hou Jinshan took my number and slinked out of the restaurant with his troupe of hired extras, looking like a rat scurrying back into the shadows.

There was still some time before the agreed date, but my vacation was nearly over. When I finished packing and got ready to return to school, there was still no word from Fourth Brother. I dragged my suitcase back to campus, and as I stood before the all-too-familiar gates, I felt like I’d just woken from a long, strange dream.

I didn’t dare leave the Jade Casket at the shop, so I kept it with me at all times. But the dorm was noisy, and the chaos made it nearly impossible to crack the thing. Sometimes, after just an hour of listening, my head would start to spin. Eventually, I gave up trying for the moment.

In early April, Hou Jinshan called. The phone rang twice, then cut off. A text followed immediately:

“7 a.m., the 15th. Songjiachang Reservoir. Don’t be late.”

I understood right away. Xiao Wu had told me before that in this line of work, the bosses always met face-to-face before a job—just to recognize each other. That way, even if someone bailed last minute, they’d still know who to look for.

Time was tight. I faked a concussion from a bike accident, claimed I needed bed rest, and after four or five days of wrangling, finally got a week off. Then I called up Xiao Wu to come pick me up. Before dawn on the 15th, we were already on the road to Biyang.