Chapter 15 Wu Erbai

“What do you think, should we stop?” Fatty asked.

I squinted at the license plate and found that it was a local one. It definitely wasn’t a big deal, since there was no reason for a jeep to rob a Jinbei.

“Slow down,” I said.

As we slowly passed by the jeep, I saw the passenger side window lower. My Uncle Two had a cigarette in his mouth and shouted at us, “Stop the car!”

Fatty sighed, and the Jinbei slowly came to a stop by the shoulder of the road. “Why is your Uncle Two here? Could it be a coincidence that he’s traveling here?” He asked me.

How is that possible? I said to myself. I would rather deal with ten Uncle Threes than one Uncle Two. If he wasn’t so indifferent, there would probably only be two of the Nine Gates left in the circle.

We got out of the car looking morose. I didn’t know what to do with my hands, so I asked Fatty for a cigarette while directing a question at Jin Wantang, “What the fuck did you tell him?”

“I didn’t say anything. I just asked your Wu family for money,” Jin Wantang said while refusing to look me in the eye. I immediately became angry. I knew this guy was bad news, but I didn’t expect him to be this bad.

Uncle Two didn’t get out of the jeep, so I leaned against his window. He gave me a complicated look, “Driving so fast, where are you going?”

“Uncle Two, what are you doing in Fujian? It’s such a coincidence that we met on this road. No wonder we’re relatives.” I forced myself to make awkward conversation.

“Your Jinbei has a 4.0 engine displacement (1), but my jeep could barely keep up with you the whole way. What’s the rush?” He looked at my shoes and then at my hand. I quickly hid it from view. I had been in a hurry to come back, so I couldn’t get rid of the earthy smell and there was still mud under my fingernails.

Uncle Two looked like a stork as he narrowed his eyes and shouted at Fatty, “Get in the car and drive!”

Fatty looked at me and I nodded. He quickly grabbed Jin Wantang and ran back to the Jinbei while saying, “I told you, it’s important to live independently. I don’t have so many relatives.”

When I got into the passenger seat of Uncle Two’s jeep, he coldly told me to put out my cigarette as we started following Fatty.

“What’s wrong?” I asked him.

“I’ve been waiting for you at the train station, but a kid like you went as far as to change your mode of transportation. If I didn’t have so many eyes and ears, you would’ve really gotten away. If you’re being so cautious, does that mean you’re working again?”

“It doesn’t count.” I knew it was useless to deny it. Uncle Two had always been very confident in his own assessments, so he was merely giving me face by asking me like this and letting me explain myself. “I’m looking for something that just happens to be buried. It’s not valuable.”

“Have you seen your Uncle Three?” He asked in a somber tone.

My heart thumped, but he didn’t wait for me to answer, “Tell the truth.”

“No, no, I really haven’t.” When I thought about it, I immediately knew what was going on. After Jin Wantang failed to sell the land, he definitely went to nag Uncle Two for money. But Uncle Two was the kind of guy who could figure things out just by giving you a once over. He could even pick up several clues just by listening. He definitely thought that Uncle Three had come to me and taken me to a tomb.

As my elder and someone who had seen me experience so many things, he certainly wouldn’t let what happened back then repeat itself.

The warmth in my heart suddenly turned sour.

Uncle Two immediately said, “Don’t think about it too much. Jin Wantang asked your father for money. Your father thought that Uncle Three had asked you to go grave robbing again and started crying. He called me up in a panic and asked me to persuade you. You’re not young anymore, so it doesn’t matter whether you live or not. If your Uncle Three wants to accompany your grandfather a little earlier, I’m fine with that. I want to live to ninety-nine, so I can’t do this kind of filial piety.”

I coughed to cover up my embarrassment and Uncle Two locked the doors, “Say it quickly or I’ll turn around right now and go back to Hangzhou. This jeep has enough horsepower. Your Jinbei won’t be able to catch up.”

I thought about it and decided that there was nothing to hide now, so I told him the whole story.

After listening, Uncle Two murmured, “Yang Daguang?”

“What, do you know him?”

“Of course I know him,” Uncle Two said. “You’re wrong. He wasn’t a grave robber. He was a student. It’s your Uncle Three who made him like this.”

I was stunned for a moment. “If he wasn’t a grave robber, then why did his father get shot for robbing a tomb? I went into his family’s ancestral grave and there were a lot of old things there. At first glance, their family looks like Luoyang Weizi.”

Uncle Two sighed. “It wasn’t his father who should’ve been shot at that time, it was your Uncle Three. Your Uncle Three encouraged Daguang to go grave robbing, but they were discovered by the militia. The tomb was really big, so your Uncle Three managed to escape, but Yang Daguang got caught while he was keeping watch. At that time, the militia in the village enforced the law. When Yang Daguang’s father took his place and said that he was the one who committed the crime, they shot him directly.”

I frowned as Uncle Two continued, “They were ordinary people. Your Uncle Three let you know about this because he wanted you to atone for his sins. Whatever is in the South Sea King’s tomb is definitely different from what you’re thinking.” He looked at me and then at the rearview mirror. I suddenly noticed that something was wrong and looked behind us. I didn’t know when they had appeared, but a convoy of black jeeps was suddenly behind us. I turned to Uncle Two, who said, “Let’s go and have a look.”

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Author’s note: Wu Xie was poor because of the Crescent Hotel incident. He was compensating for the ghost seal.

<Chapter 14><Table of Contents><Chapter 16>

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TN Notes:

(1) I know jack shit about cars but google-sensei said engine displacement is commonly used as an expression of an engine’s size, and by extension as a loose indicator of the power an engine might be capable of producing and the amount of fuel it should be expected to consume. Uncle Two is saying Wu Xie’s Jinbei sucks lol.

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I don’t normally include the author’s notes, but I thought this one might explain why Wu Xie was so poor in the drama despite being rich in “Sand Sea” lol. Also, Wu Xie’s dad is so precious. I can just imagine him bawling his eyes out as he calls Uncle Two to go save his son from the evil Uncle Three lol.