《My Life as a Tomb Robber》 Chapter 1 - Zhuge Demonic Shrine Proofreader: Zhu Yuan The ancients said that tomb robbers would damage their own morality and eventually made their descendants face bad luck. Looking around, we found a huge dragon range, a favorable location for a tomb according to geomantic omen, stretching down from the Gaomiaozi Mountain to the flat ground, in the middle of which rose 12 mountains known as The Twelve Connected Mountains Range. The rolling mountains swept down for more than ten kilometers from the Dangkousi Isolated Mountain located at the east of The Twelve Connected Mountains Range to the west, which was very imposing like a dragon playing with a pearl. A stele carved ¡°Dingjun Mountain¡± (T/N: Dingjun in Chinese means to stabilize the morale of the troops) stood in a solemn form at the top of the highest mountain of the Twelve Connected Mountains Range with the clouds and mist drifting through. This place was of vital military importance in the Chinese Three Kingdoms Period. It was said that Xiahou Yuan, the general of the Kingdom Wei in the Three Kingdoms Period, was slain here. Over the centuries, no one knew how many wronged souls were lost and how many ghosts were haunting there. Four sneaky people clustered around a naturally-formed low land lying at the foot of Dingjun Mountain. Their voice sunk to a conspiratorial whisper about something. Zhang Shaohong fixed his eyes on a map held tightly in his hand. After quite a while, he said softly, with his knit brows relaxed, ¡°Based on our master¡¯s map, the tomb chamber is buried underground three hundred meters ahead. But with seasons changing fast, the crust has already moved. Old Four (the fourth eldest one among all the brothers), you test the water and find out what kind of tomb it is, a fire tomb or a water tomb. (Fire tomb is a jargon of tomb robbery which means that the tomb has not been robbed yet. Its name is derived from the fact that the well-preserved tomb will spout flames. The water-tomb means a tomb that has already been robbed.) ¡°Ok!¡± Old Four quickly took out an extremely sharp Luoyang Shovel, an iron tool used to search underground accumulations. His Luoyang Shovel, with its tampered and narrower end, was specially designed to dig the soil. Soon, a small robbery hole was completed. This robbery hole was nearly 10 meters deep. Old Four licked the soil and sniffed at it. Suddenly, his eyes burst with gleams and acclaimed, ¡°Big Brother! It is a fire tomb in the Three Kingdoms Period! We wouldn¡¯t make a fruitless trip this time!¡± This was called the Judging Skill in our school and apart from that we also have Sniffing Skill. Those tomb robbers of the North School excelled in these skills. They could judge the basic condition of a tomb only through the sound and feel when the Luoyang shovel touched the tomb. In most cases, they shoveled the topsoil of the tomb before robbing it, and then took a bit of the soil as a sample. After sniffing the sample for several times, they could recognize whether there was metal in the soil, whether the tomb had been robbed or not and even which dynasty this tomb belonged to. Old Four had already attained perfection in these two skills. His judgment about a tomb in most occasions was quite near to the truth. ¡°Fine. Go on digging and see whether this hole can lead to the tomb directly!¡± The excitement was written on the face of Zhang Shaohong, because those four brothers paid too much effort and price to finding that ancient tomb. When success was just around the corner, he felt nervous instead. Old Four had always been an expert in digging the robbery hole. With extremely fast speed, he industriously engaged in digging the hole except for the occasional rest. Sometimes, Old Four would let others give him a hand when he felt tired. Soon, a bottomless robbery hole was presented before them. ¡°Be careful! It would be a layer of combustible gas. We shall release the gas first. Old Three, bring me the sulphuric acid!¡± Zhang Shaohong shouted. He immediately took out a glass bottle, and dripped the liquid inside onto the soil with a dense column of smock curling out. The yellow smoke emitted for ten minutes or so and showed no sign of stopping, which seemed to know no bounds. The sky above the low land was dyed yellow accordingly. Fortunately, it was windy here. The wind cleared much of the smoke. When the smoke drifted away completely, Zhang Shaohong returned to the robbery hole. He lighted up a miner¡¯s lamp, and crawled into the hole easily with the other three following close at his heels. The size of the small robbery hole was only half meter in diameter, where arms cannot be fully stretched out. But it was not a problem for Zhang Shaohong. He crawled down to the bottom of the robbery hole in a very fast speed. Then a dark place came into view. Zhang Shaohong took several light sticks from his pocket, and threw them down into the tomb. Suddenly, these light sticks flared, momentarily illuminating almost half of the tomb chamber. With the flickering of a light stick, he saw a flash of something like horrible eyes on a pale face staring at him. But when he looked carefully at it, nothing was there. ¡°Damn it! Things get weird!¡± ¡°Old Two and Old Three, take out your knives! Old Four, black donkey¡¯s hoof! (It is said that the black donkey¡¯s hoof can subdue ghost and demons.) There would be ghosts here!¡± Zhang said, laying his hand on the handle of his knife. Then he threw some light sticks again into the tomb in order to make sure that there was no trap. After that, he swung down to the tomb and curled himself up like a kitty the moment he landed on the ground with an imperceptible snap. The other three followed suit. They kept alert for a while and nothing strange happened. Then they gazed round the tomb nervously. The tomb chamber which seemed dim and gloomy brightened suddenly when Zhang Shaohong lighted candles in the corner. It was a hundred-meter-diameter tomb chamber with polished stony floor. The chamber was empty with an isolated huge shrine displayed in the center. ¡°Rustle¡­¡± Suddenly, a scuffling noise came into their ears. The noise was an excellent likeness of the sound of hundreds of ghosts whispering and thousands of venomous snakes sticking out their tongues. Strangely, the sound was so harsh and noisy as if it did not travel through the air. The sound seemed to be stuffed into their ears by an invisible hand. However hard they tried to avoid it, nothing seemed to work! The sound went up and down. After a while, it died away abruptly. The four brothers in the tomb chamber got soaked to the skin. To tell the truth, Zhang Shaohong was very worried and frightened at that moment for this bizarre situation, which was new for an experienced person like him. In this dim world, he always had the feeling that something followed him with a disturbing rustle noise coming out of nowhere. Many wired relief sculptures of supernatural beings etched into the wall of the tomb chamber were so vivid as if you were glared at by those demons and monsters wherever you stood. ¡°Old Two, come here. Can you figure out what these relief sculptures want to express?¡± asked Zhang Shaohong. Old Two was a fellow of the green woods and travelled through everywhere, which gave him tremendous breadth of experience. ¡°I¡¯ve got some ideas about that, but¡­the facial close-ups of supernatural beings became popular after the Warring States Period. Supernatural beings at that time were widely accepted as messagers from the Heaven. Their images could only be carved on the most precious bronze tripods. That is to say, ordinarily, their images couldn¡¯t be depicted so horrible! ¡± ¡°Could it be the truth that the tomb owner once lived in the dynasty that we don¡¯t know?¡± Old Two said thoughtfully. ¡°Wait¡­ Wait!¡± All of a sudden, his pupils contracted sharply and his eyes opened wider and wider. His finger pointed to the wall and shouted, ¡°Big brother! These relief sculptures¡­ are alive!¡± Old Two saw clearly that the relief sculpture right in front of him turned from a fierce King Kong with glaring eyes, for a split second, to a gloating one. ¡°What?¡± Zhang Shaohong lit a light stick immediately to check what happened, but nothing strange was found there. ¡°Clatter!¡± Suddenly, a burst of rapid footsteps broke the silence from the back of the four brothers. A pale face flashed by and disappeared in the darkness soon. ¡°Big Brother!¡± ¡°Calm down!¡± He forced himself to be calm and said, ¡°Zhuge Liang is well-known for his tricks. ¡®Cut the facial skin when the person is still alive, preserve the skin into the rough salt of western Sichuan and fix it onto the relief sculpture.¡¯ Keep calm, don¡¯t panic, or we will be trapped here!¡± Then, he sent up several flares to give more light to the tomb chamber. Everyone felt a little bit relieved. Old Two was still pale, because he was the nearest to the relief sculptures and he saw it clearly that the sculpture made a human-like expression, which meant that it could think like us! However, he couldn¡¯t breathe a word to anyone. Otherwise, everyone would be frightened to death. Old Three unwrapped the package in an unhurried way, and freed a goose from it. The four brothers followed the goose step by step, approaching the shrine in the center. Under the light of flares, Zhang Shaohong found that the shrine, about two meters high, was copper casting, and it had long since been covered with dark-green copper rust, which blurred the duration of the shrine. Like the wall, the shrine was carved with many gloomy faces of various expressions, like crying face, smiling face, angry face and sad face. Every face carved on the shrine was extremely lifelike and even the hair on the face was discernible. It seemed that these faces were brought to life. They were depicted so vividly that a casual observer might believe that many faces grew from the bronze shrine! ¡°Shall we lift it up? I guess funeral objects are right there!¡± Old Four said haltingly. The Temple of Marquis Wu was said to be the tomb of Zhuge Liang officially, however, his bones were likely to be buried right here in this tomb. If there wasn¡¯t the Master¡¯s map, it was impossible for them to find this tomb. Although nobody believed that Zhuge Liang, a symbol of resourcefulness and wisdom in Chinese folklore, did not set the deadliest trap in his own tomb, Old Four was still unwilling to give up. ¡°Wait¡­Let me tell the fortune.¡± Old Two squinted at the shrine, and then he tossed six Chinese ancient copper coins and all the coins came down tails, a rare ill omen. ¡°Big Brother, we¡¯d better give up! We can¡¯t afford to offend the evil thing in the tomb!¡± ¡°Come on, Old Two. Are you done with this fortune-telling bullshit? I don¡¯t believe there¡¯s anything intimidating in the shrine!¡± cursed Old Three. ¡°We must do that! Old Two, you stand there and cover for us, if you¡¯re afraid. As for the dead thing or ghost, shoot them to the nether world!¡± Zhang muttered softly, thinking how they could return empty-handed. After saying that, these three brothers rolled up their sleeves and lifted one side of the shrine with the hope of overturning it. ¡°Bang!¡± A sudden loud noise made them jump out of their skin. The shrine which had been slightly lifted returned to its original condition. Zhang Shaohong looked back and saw Old Two holding a smoking gun with his body shivering and face turning pale. Obviously, he even didn¡¯t know when the gun went off. ¡°You idiot! Just stand there and keep watch! Why you shot?¡± zhang Shaohong kicked Old Two angrily. ¡°I¡­I¡­I saw a shadow creeping from the crack of the shrine¡­It must be a ghost! ¡­ It¡¯s a demonic shrine!¡± His teeth were chattering with fear, and sweat stood in beads on his forehead. ¡°Was it the skin relief sculpture?¡± Zhang Shaohong asked, holding back his anger. He just had a feeling that there was something wrong. Old Two was very prudent and he himself was a fortuneteller. How could a fortuneteller possibly be so scared of a skin relief sculpture? ¡°I¡­I saw Old Four¡­That shadow was just the same as Old Four¡­¡± With this said, they knew everything. All of the brothers looked pale and Old Four felt that his blood froze when other three brothers stared at him. ¡°Or¡­We give up right now?¡± ¡°No! This is the real tomb of Zhuge Liang! The shrine looks weird, and it certainly hides some deep dark secrets! And we have already lifted the shrine slightly. We can feel the danger if it really exists. Damned faces are everywhere! The thing that Old Three saw just now may be a little bit like Old Four. That¡¯s normal to make a mistake in the dim light.¡± Zhang Shaohong was lost in thought for a long time and decided to open that shrine finally. They would make fortune if rare treasure was really found there. The four brothers looked at each other and lifted the shrine again. Greedy and gluttonous, they didn¡¯t notice that the flame of candles had become dark green. Old Four began to wear a horrible expression. His face contorted with the mouth and eyes twisted, all of which made his face hideously diabolic. But no one noticed that. At that moment when the shrine was fully open, the thing that sat quietly in the shrine made everyone¡¯s hair stand on end. ¡°Hah-hah¡­¡± Old Four, under the flickering green candle light, broke into a ghastly smile, which scared the other three. Zhang Shaohong was about to pick up the shovel when he was suddenly caught and fell into the shrine! At that moment, Old Four staggered to Old Three, grabbed his neck and bit down¡­ Chapter 2 - Fifteen Years Later ¡°Ah!¡± Zhang Meng was roused from sleep by the screaming. The weight of irrational horror pressed on his chest like a huge stone. He could hardly breathe. It was that nightmare again, bizarre and horrible. This was the fifth time he had suffered from the same nightmare so far this month! Holding a quilt, Zhang Meng sat there still, staring blankly for half an hour. Later, he calmed down. With a wry smile, he got up, drew back the curtain, and gazed pensively at the great snowflakes falling from the sky. The scene in his nightmare was the favorite story that his father used to tell him for four or five years when Zhang Meng was a little boy. Actually, the story lasted until the four brothers found Zhuge Demonic Shrine. As for the rest of the story, no matter how Zhang Meng asked for it, his father refused to tell him. Thus, he had to resort to dreams to find the answer. He fancied various versions of the story in his dreams which were just like horror movies. When Zhang Meng was eight years old, his father, Zhang Shaoye, was no longer in his right mind. His father, sometimes, isolated himself in the study, muttering to himself, crying and laughing, and even breaking things frequently. It was hard to imagine that a gentle man like him would change dramatically into another person. Radical and unreasonable, he even punched his wife and children for no reason. Without telling anybody, Zhang Shaoye ran away from home, leaving behind his families to his three elder brothers. At that time, Zhang Meng was 12 years old. The only thing that Zhang Shaoye left for his son was the nightmare haunting him for ten years or so. Sometimes, Zhang Meng wondered whether he had been to the tomb in his dream. If not, how could all this feel so true and so real? ¡°Look, younger lord, did you have bad dreams? Or¡­ erotic dream?¡± Zhao San joked, sticking the opium pipe between his lips. He glanced at Zhang Meng¡¯s crotch and gave it a good sniff, with a hint of irony on his face. ¡°You junkie! Leave me alone! You can¡¯t even have an erotic dream, can you? Hah-hah!¡± Zhang Meng felt sick to his stomach and immediately talked back to the middle-aged man in front of him, who was one of the pioneers establishing Zhang¡¯s family business. Zhao San, nicknamed the Whit Horse Zhao San, who always fooled around and stooped himself to annoying vulgarity got along well with Zhang Meng. ¡°Little brat, in those old days, riding a white-mane horse, I fought against more than thirty gangsters all by myself with just two Mauser pistols. At that critical moment, I hid myself under the horse belly and fought my way out. Driven by a crazed blood-lust, I killed all of them within seven rounds. After that, I was said to be Zhao Yun (T/N: a great fighter who was spoken highly of his very superior bravery and combating skills in the Three Kingdom Period of China) reincarnated. Then, I got my nickname the Whit Horse Zhao San. If I were younger, I would have killed you for what you said!¡± Zhao San was fuming, his eyes glaring. ¡°Enough!¡± Zhang Meng ended the talk immediately before the old guy began his automatic patter about his past experience, which had already been carved in his memory. ¡°Fine. Forget it. Let your uncle dress you up. Tonight is Spring Festival¡¯s Eve. Come back and enjoy a reunion dinner together. I need to warn you. Many big names in the Zhang Family will come to the dinner tonight. If you do anything that shames your family, your third uncle will keep you grounded for days. Well, go help them make dumplings in Shui Yue Xuan. They are short of hands.¡± Zhao San said, waving his hands and walking out with a smile on his face. ¡°Lucky money! Lucky money (T/N: money given to children as a lunar New Year gift in Chinese tradition)!¡± ¡°No way.¡± ¡°What a cunning old fox!¡± Zhang Meng muttered. He turned around and looked at himself in the mirror, a handsome young man with fair skin. But¡­ he looked just a bit spiritless somehow. Zhang Meng, wearing mink fur coat, walked out leisurely and arrived at Shui Yue Xuan. The staff all clamored to greet him. Shui Yue Xuan was the leading shop in Ming Tang, the most popular antique market in Hong Kong. In Ming Tang, over half of the antiques were traded in Shui Yue Xuan. Back when Zhang Meng took over the shop, many subordinates didn¡¯t believe a child like him would run the shop well and waited to see his failure. However, to their great surprise, the profits doubled in the first month. After a year, everyone was convinced by his expertise in antique evaluations, and all got along with him since they found him easygoing and kind. Many firecrackers hanging on the gate were ready to be lit for the celebration at seven o¡¯clock sharp. All the people in Shui Yue Xuan were busy preparing for the Spring Festival, which made the atmosphere more auspicious. Having a reunion dinner together at the eve of the Spring Festival was a tradition for the staff in Shui Yue Xuan, most of whom were single or living nearby. The accountant Cripple Chen and the executive nicknamed Sick Ghost were making dumplings with other staff members. When Zhang Meng entered the room, they all greeted him with a smile except Zhao San who kept a poker face and totally unresponsive to everything. Maybe he was still mad at Zhang Meng because of the joke. Zhang Meng smiled. He knew that his uncle, Zhao San, was an absolute chatterbox and soon the itching of talking would be more than he could stand. Cripple Chen had excellent skills of tomb robbery, though his leg was broken; while, the Sick Ghost was a powerful man, though he often coughed violently. They all liked Zhang Meng very much. When Zhang Meng was mulling and hesitating at some critical moment, those three people would always help him take care of the matter in secret; therefore, Zhang Meng had great relationships with all of them. ¡°Uncle Sick Ghost, why did you buy so many cabbages?¡± Zhang Meng asked. ¡°Cutie Meng, about this question, you¡¯d better ask me. The cabbage dumpling is your father¡¯s favorite. Though your father has been away from home for many years, each year we still prepare many cabbage dumplings for him at the eve of Spring Festival, hoping he returns and has reunion dinner with us.¡± Sure enough, Zhao San cut in before Zhang Meng finished. ¡°What? Not back home for dinner again? Well, I haven¡¯t seen him for so many years. I can¡¯t even remember exactly what he looks like¡­¡± Zhang Meng felt a bit sad. ¡°Zip your mouth!¡± The Sick Ghost cast a stern glance at Zhao San, who ducked his head to hide his embarrassment and went on making dumplings. At that moment, with the noise from outside, a middle-aged man was seized by several staff members and brought to the room. He was shivering and huddling up, as if a sense of impending doom overwhelmed him. ¡°What¡¯s all this about?¡± Zhao San placed his dumpling wrapper aside and said, his eyebrows knitted, ¡°Today is a big day! Don¡¯t let the idiot screw up everything!¡± ¡°This asshole sold a counterfeit in our market this morning and was found out. That buyer insisted on money compensation. How to deal with him?¡±, one staff said, pointing at that middle-aged man. His face turned dark with rage, which looked scary. Zhao San was, by nature, and a witty man with a sense of humor; however, he was perfectly strict and impartial and never sided with anyone who broke the business rule. You know, the Ming Tang of Zhang family controlled over 70% the total antique transactions in Hong Kong. They had stressed the rules over and over again that no counterfeit was allowed to be traded in the market, and every antique should be reasonably priced. Anyone who dared to violate the rule would take the consequence! Different from some picky antique collectors, some collectors were just curious about the antique collection. Many collectors chose to buy antiques in Ming Tang, largely due to the high credibility of Zhang¡¯ family, which in many years attracted a large number of overseas collectors. But today, to their surprise, that guy even dared to break the rule knowingly! If someone made use of this scandal and spread it, the reputation of Zhang family would be ruined! Zhao San kept a straight face and remained in silence for a long while. His eyes were fixed on that middle-aged man, who was scared in cold sweat and couldn¡¯t help trembling. He must have heard about Zhao San. Once an infamous pirate had sold a fake porcelain vase made in the late Qing Dynasty at the price of a million yuan, Zhao San had even chased him to Malaysia and returned with the pirate¡¯s hands cut off. At that moment, after seeing the fierce look of Zhao San, the middle-aged man¡¯s face turned ashen because he knew he was doomed. Zhang Meng dared not to say a word; he was so in awe of him. Zhao San seldom took things seriously, but when he was serious, even Zhang Meng felt scared to talk to him. Cripple Chan and Sick Ghost gave a sigh softly, and went on making dumplings, with the thought that Zhao San would let that guy pay for his debt with blood. ¡°You know the rule?¡± Zhao San said softly when the atmosphere was getting more and more tense. ¡°My lord, the first offender should cut off¡­¡± ¡°Shut up!¡± A staff answered quickly but was dazed by a hard slap in his face. He fell on the ground suddenly with panic, spit out two teeth, and buried his swollen face into his hands. ¡°Did I ask you? He should answer me himself!¡± Zhao San sneered. The middle-aged man kneeled on the floor and said gingerly, ¡°The first offender will¡­ have his hand cut off; the second¡­ legs off¡­ the third¡­ head off.¡± ¡°How many times have you done this?¡± Zhao San asked with his face expressionless. Through his teeth came the answer, ¡°The first time. It¡¯s really my first time¡±. Droplets of sweat were welling up on his forehead. ¡°Do you prefer doing it yourself or let me help you?¡± Zhao San said firmly, with an indifferent expression on his face, not leaving any room for the man to bargain. Zhao San drew out the short-hilted broadsword hanging on the wall. With a clear clang, the broadsword fell down at the feet of the middle-aged man. That middle-aged man almost passed out with fright. Although he had expected it, he was ghastly pale when the moment came. He immediately groveled on the ground, kowtowed and cried, ¡°Please spare my life, Mr. Zhao! If I had any other choice, I would not dare to break the rule! Six months ago, my family stole into Hong Kong. We live in the slums, because we can¡¯t afford the high rent. My daughter is having a fever and lying in the hospital. Spring festival is coming, so I want to get some money to buy some food and pay the hospital expenses. That¡¯s why I decided to try my luck on the antique market. If I lose my hand, how can I raise my wife and children? I swear, I will give back the money and do whatever I can to repay you. Please forgive me!¡± That middle-aged man cried loudly. Zhang Meng sighed, feeling sorry for him, Just as the old Chinese saying said, ¡®The portals of the rich reek of flesh and wine while frozen bodies lie by the roadside¡¯. Zhang Meng thought that the middle-aged man was really from a poverty-stricken family. He wore worn-out clothes with many patches made of six or seven different cloth. The pitiful look of this middle-aged man aroused sympathy in Zhang Meng¡¯s heart. ¡°Uncle, let him go this time.¡± He patted Zhao San on his shoulder. Zhang Meng was brought up in Ming Tang, where he met people from all walks of life. No one knew better than him that losing a hand meant disaster to the poor family of that middle-aged man. Besides, there was still room for discussion on that matter. The tragedy was entirely avoidable! ¡°Meng, don¡¯t make it hard for me. I can agree with you for thousands of times except this one. No rules, no justice. Rule breakers must be punished. What makes Zhang family prosperous in Hong Kong? Doing business according to the rule!¡± ¡°Uncle, it¡¯s the Spring Festival. Blood will bring bad luck. I will appease the buyer. I promise it won¡¯t discredit Ming Tang¡­¡± Zhang Meng grabbed the handle of the knife and forcibly inserted the knife back into the scabbard. Because Ming Tang had an unwritten rule that words of the Zhao San were just like a knife drawn out of its scabbard. Therefore, the only way to let him take his words back was to put the knife back to its scabbard. After that, Zhang Meng looked at Zhao San gratefully, because if he insisted on punish the man, no one can force Zhao San to put the knife back into the scabbard. ¡°For the sake of Meng, this time, I forgive you. But, rules of Ming Tang cannot be broken. After the Spring Festival, you come to Ming Tang to receive your punishment! If you dare to escape, I will catch you wherever you are! You have to know that you cannot escape from the palm of Zhang family! At that time, a hand will be not enough to atone your crime.¡± With these cold words, Zhao San pretended to cut his neck with his hand. In his eyes, the reputation of Ming Tang was above all else. Therefore, Zhao San, the chief executive of Ming Tang, cannot stop his anger to punish that middle-aged man who dared to break the most important rule. With his face turning pale, the middle-aged man kowtowed and mumbled that it was no different for him to cut his hand immediately and after the Spring Festival. Zhang Meng was very angry. He shouted at Zhao San, hands on his hips. ¡°Old fart! You never change your mind, right?! Speaking of the rules, I I¡¯m manager of Shui Yue Xuan! I know the rules better than you! In Shui Yue Xuan, even if you were a dragon, you have to lie down in front of me!¡± Zhang Meng looked at the staff and asked, ¡°what did he sell?¡± ¡°He sold a small tripod for 10,000 yuan, which according to him is from Shang or Zhou Dynasty (T/N: about 3600 years ago) . But later it proved to be a counterfeit forged by a small workshop.¡± ¡°I will buy the tripod. Get in touch with the buyer and pay him 10,000 yuan from my account. By the way, if the buyer wants more, you can say that the swindler is my distant relative.¡± ¡°Yes, Mr. Zhang!¡± Feelings a sense of relief, those two staff escaped from Shui Yue Xuan quickly. They saw Zhao San burning with anger and he was likely to take it out on them, if they stay any longer. Looking rather pleased, Zhang Meng glanced at Zhao San. He had nothing to say because Zhang Meng seemed willing to buy the fake tripod. Zhang Meng continued to make dumplings, humming the song ¡°I love buying fake products¡±. ¡°Emmm, the bronze tripod is not easy to copy. Fewer people can make the sham as authentic as the genuine. I suppose you really have some skills on that. After the Spring Festival, go to Shui Yue Xuan, you can get a cushy job of antique restoration. It is easy to earn 3,000 to 4,000 yuan a month, if you work hard and do well.¡± ¡°Thank you very much, Mr. Zhang! Thank you!¡± The middle-aged man was speechless with excitement. That young lord dragged him from the hell to the heaven with only a few words. He stared at the young man with tears. He wanted to carve the man¡¯s face in his mind and repay him in the future even at the cost of his life! ¡°Don¡¯t mention it! I¡¯ll pay you a month¡¯s salary in advance, so you can buy some meat and a hot pot. Have a good time with your families! Come along with me. I¡¯ll take you to the accounting room for the money.¡± Zhang Meng smiled, took the middle-aged man to the accounting room and gave an order to an accountant. After that he turned around and went back to the lobby. ¡°Wastrel!¡± With his face turning pale in anger, Zhao San took a deep draw on his pipe, which was so strong that he could hardly breathe. There really existed such a rule that Ming Tang took no responsibilities for the trade, if the buyer voluntarily bought the goods that were labeled as fake. It was this rule that gave Zhang Meng the courage to act against Zhao San¡¯s will. ¡°Come on, you two have too much to deal with! Zhao San, don¡¯t blame Zhang Meng. The profit has increased by several percent after Zhang Meng took-over the business. He knows better than you about the rule-thing.¡± Crippled Chen said with a smile on his face and continued to focus on making dumplings. ¡°Zhang Meng is a good man. Unfortunately, we don¡¯t know if he can survive at the age of 23. Have you seen the pale blue ghost vein in his middle finger? It appears more evident than last year¡­¡±, said the sick ghost softly. Zhao San didn¡¯t answer either. He just smoked sadly, and all the people fell into silence. Chapter 3 - Master Meng Chapter 3: Master Meng Translator: Xie Ziwei ¡°I¡¯m back, Uncle! Why such a long face? Look at your dumplings. They look so funny! They¡¯re just as ugly as you are!¡± Returning to the lobby, he glanced furtively at the cold faces of everyone. So he walked over anxiously and took a jab at Zhao San, trying to find out if he was still angry. ¡°If you can make dumplings, you do it! The dumpling that I make is called the General Dumpling. Your oldest uncle is always slavering to my General Dumpling every year. How dare you laugh at my General Dumplings! You need to be taught a lesson!¡± Zhang Meng took the bait. Immediately, he began to make one and said, ¡°I will make a General Dumpling much better than yours!¡± But he put too much filling in it and the dumpling leaked. In the end, Zhang Meng had to use three or four pieces of dumpling wrappings to stop the leak. His ¡°General Dumpling¡± was ¡°better¡± in a sense that it looked much clumsier than Zhao San¡¯s dumpling. ¡°Ha-ha! A¡¯Meng, you are clueless! You call that a dumpling?! It¡¯s a brick! Let you eldest uncle taste it and see if he dares to swallow ¡®the brick¡¯.¡± Zhao San laughed loudly which irritated Zhang Meng. He sneaked a handful of flour into Zhao San¡¯s pipe. After making several dumplings, Zhao San took his pipe and smoked out of habit. Of course, he was almost choked to death by the flour. ¡°I¡¯ll kill you little bastard!¡± The whole kitchen became a huge mess! The dumplings therefore had to wait for a couple more hours. Afterwards, Zhang Meng moved a stool to sit outside Shui Yue Xuan. He looked nervous. Every year, he would wait for his father in front of Shui Yue Xuan. Over the years, the only thing he ever got was disappointment. It was getting dark. Looking at the lonely Zhang Meng, Zhao San also fell into a sulky mood. ¡°You have to blame Master Ye. After so many years, is it so hard to come home?¡± sighed Cripple Chan, shaking his head. ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Well¡­ I¡¯ll stop. Anyway, I¡¯m used to it!¡± Zhang Meng said to himself. He moved the stool back to his room and cleaned up for a little bit. He was going to take the dumplings to his uncle¡¯s home under an umbrella. At that moment, a servant hurried in with a weird look and said to Zhang Meng, ¡°Boss! Thank heavens, you haven¡¯t left yet! Just now, someone was sneaking around Shui Yue Xuan, asking for you. I caught him red-handed. When I was about to ask him what he knew, he told me that he had news from your father.¡± ¡°What?! He has news from my father? Show him in quickly. And remember: be polite!¡± said Zhang Meng, anxiously. Cripple Chan, Sick Ghost, and Zhao San stopped working immediately with their eyes gleaming with excitement. After so many years, they¡¯re finally getting news from Master Ye! Is he coming home soon? The servant came back with a man from the Mainland. Travel-worn and weary, he looked like he had a long journey. ¡°Who is Zhang Meng?¡± ¡°I¡­ I am¡±, said Zhang Meng nervously. Wearing an odd expression, the mainlander looked at Zhang Meng with some uncertainty and took out a watch. ¡°That¡¯s my father¡¯s watch! Why is it here?¡± Zhang Meng was shocked, his eyes opened wide. He raised his wrist, revealing his watch which was almost the same as the watch held by the mainlander. Seeing the watch, the mainlander looked relieved and said softly, ¡°I have found you at last. Son, I¡¯m so sorry to inform you that your father had passed away. He entrusted me to bring you this watch.¡± ¡°What! My father¡­ died?¡± Zhang Meng was stunned. The plate full of dumplings slipped from his hand and splattered all over the ground. The words of the mainlander echoed in his mind, ¡°Your father died¡­¡± He was just waiting for his father at the reunion dinner. Everything was alright a moment ago, and now the death news of his father came. Zhao San and others were also dismayed, and their feet were rooted in the ground. With a sad expression, the mainlander took out a box and handed it to Zhang Meng. He apologized again and turned to leave. ¡°Stop! Tell me everything you know!¡± Zhao San turned his wrist and pulled out the knife on the wall. With a swish, he held the knife to the throat of the mainlander. His eyes are fixed on the mainlander like a policeman interrogating a criminal. If that mainlander was telling lies, Zhao San would cut off his head without any hesitation. The mainlander had no choice but to confess the whole thing, ¡°Five years ago, I met Mr. Zhang. At that time, I was beaten by a group of gangsters and Mr. Zhang rescued me. From then on, Mr. Zhang settled down in my house. Some time ago, Mr. Zhang gave me a letter and a small box, and told me in a vexed manner that if he didn¡¯t come back a week before the Eve of Spring Festival, he might well be dead, and that I need to send these things to the address on the envelop in person. At first, I thought he was just kidding. But two days later, when the police came to me and asked me to claim Mr. Zhang¡¯s body, I knew it was a big deal! Mr. Zhang told me that my responsibility was only to deliver the letter. I didn¡¯t have to mention anything else. But I have to tell you everything as you just have to push me so hard!¡± Finally, Zhang Meng came to himself. He realized that the death of his father wasn¡¯t a nightmare. His head spun and all his thoughts were ashen. The man who always carried me on his shoulders and laughed even when I peed on his head ¨Cis gone? Last year, he had given them his word, that he would come home and see me again. How things have changed all of a sudden! Zhang Meng, whose red eyes almost burst out of their sockets, snatched the mainlander by his collar and demanded him to reveal the murderer. He reached for a nearby fork and pointed it against the mainlander¡¯s neck. The fiendish look on Zhang Meng terrified the mainlander. Zhao San was startled, but he grabbed the fork and held Zhang Meng down immediately. All these years he had never seen Zhang Meng, ever so smooth, lost his temper. ¡°Meng, stop this right now! He is the best friend of your father. You¡¯re bringing disgrace to your father!¡± Zhang Meng struggled fiercely, growling like a beast. He was losing his mind. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry! I am just a teacher, so I can¡¯t ship the body to Hong Kong. I took some photos for you to help you remember him.¡± That middle-aged teacher left some photos in which the body of Zhang Shaoye lay peacefully on a white bed. As soon as Zhang Meng saw these pictures, he broke down and cried and crumbled to the ground. ¡°My friend, you did us a great favor. I have to say thank you on behalf of Master Ye. Take him to the accounting room and gift him 50,000 yuan as travelling expenses.¡± Cripple Chan bowed deeply to the teacher before he turned to Zhang Meng. With a bitter face the teacher looked at Zhang Meng who was crying heart-wrenchingly. He wiped the tears away from his eyes and sighed and went quietly out of Shui Yue Xuan. Zhang Meng didn¡¯t know how long he cried. He only knew that he lost his voice because of crying. Now he felt an empty spot in his heart where his father used to live. He was the most important person in Zhang Meng¡¯s life. His life is fading, and he became a walking dead. ¡°Don¡¯t be so sad, Meng. Master Ye is a master tomb robber. A common tomb can never trap your father. So I suspect that your father was stabbed in the back! Now, the most important thing is to investigate why and how your father died.¡± Zhao San said softly. He knew that only finding the murderer could bring Zhang Meng back to life. Sure enough, after hearing the word ¡°murderer¡±, Zhang Meng¡¯s eyes lit up again. He struggled to open that small box left by his father. He found a tiger talisman made of white jade and a letter. [A tiger talisman is issued to generals as an imperial authorization for troop movement in ancient China]. ¡°Meng, can you figure out the age of this talisman? Since it was left by your father before he died, it must have something to do with whatever he was involved in!¡± The three of them cast their eyes to Zhang Meng, hoping that he can tell them something about the talisman. Zhang Meng loved reading and studying history and had natural eyes for antiques and burial objects. He was, without a doubt, the best person to evaluate these objects. Chapter 4 - The Last Letter Chapter 4: The Last Letter Translator: Xie Ziwei Zhang Meng touched the tiger talisman in silence. Usually, the tiger talisman was made of bronze or gold in the shape of a crouching tiger. Used as Commander¡¯s Seal, it was split in two from the center, one for the general and the other for the emperor. In ancient China, the troops of a country would obey the order only if the two separate parts fit together correctly. Strangely enough, this tiger talisman was made of jade. The crouching white tiger was so vivid that the pattern on its forehead was carved clearly. If it was zoomed up a hundred times, the white tiger was just like the real one. Judging from exquisite sculpture skills, Zhang Meng guessed that this jade talisman must be made in the Chinese Western Han Dynasty. It was not until the Western Han Dynasty that the first gold and jade burial suit came to exist, which, in the shape of the real body, was used to wrap up corpse, covering every part of the body, even the fingers and the toes. This jade talisman was probably made in the same period of the jade burial suit, because the skill and technique of making this kind of jade suit was quite demanding in the same way of the jade talisman. Apart from that, the tomb that his father had robbed before he died was probably from the same period of time. However, he had never seen this kind of jade before. Listening to Zhang Meng¡¯s analysis, all the other three nodded in agreement. Although Zhang Meng did not say much about that, their eyes flashed with shock. He had a good eye on antiques, which was in no way inferior to that of several masters in Zhang Family. At that time, Zhang Meng couldn¡¯t wait to read that letter. ¡°Zhang Meng, probably I will have been dead when you read this letter. Don¡¯t be sad. Do you remember my words? Sadness is only for the coward. What you should do is to follow my clue and reveal the secret. You are a good son. But I am not a good father. I failed to take care of our family and you. I hope you don¡¯t blame me.¡± ¡°I¡¯m so tired after years of travelling and working. Death means a long holiday for me. Finally, I can close my eyes peacefully. Son, listen, you have to leave our family and find the answer. For me, this is redemption. Your uncles and I committed too many sins. It¡¯s not fair to ask Zhang¡¯s offspring to pay our debts. No! Never! I will never let Zhang¡¯s reputation die with me! You must remove the curse of Three Yin Ghost Pulse. ¡°I thought that the truth was rightly before my eyes. I almost get close to it¡­¡± ¡°Unfortunately, it¡¯s only my wishful thinking! The Demonic Shrine of Marquis Wu¡­ It is the Demonic Shrine of Marquis Wu¡­¡± This was the end of the letter. On the back of the letter was full of strange symbols or some codes through which the secret was hidden. Zhang Meng read his father¡¯s last letter for several times, shedding tears quietly. But he still didn¡¯t understand what on earth his father wanted to tell him by such an obscure letter. Other people like Zhao San listened and watched Zhang Meng in silence with mixed feelings, who had traveled through China doing antique business with four brothers of Zhang family as their favored partners in their early years. At that time, Zhang family business merged almost all the small antique retailers in bazaars located in old Beijing, which pushed Zhang family business at its zenith. For the death of Zhang Shaoye, the fourth brother of Zhang Family, they felt sad in the same way as Zhang Meng, because they had long treated each other like family. As soon as they heard the name of the Demonic Shrine of Marquis Wu, their face instantly wore the expression of terror. Zhao San couldn¡¯t help snapping his pipe in half when he heard the horrifying name of that demonic shrine. The splintering sound of the pipe brought Zhang Meng back to life. Seeing Zhao San¡¯s pale face and the unnatural facial expression of Cripple Chen and Sick Ghost, Zhang Meng guessed that there was something wrong with that. The thought that ¡°They must know something!¡± came to his mind immediately. Suddenly, Zhang Meng realized something and questioned loudly, ¡°Uncle! Tell me the secret about the whole thing!¡± ¡°Zhang Meng, forget it. This is no trivial matter. Let¡¯s hurry to tell your elder uncle about that! If he wants to tell you, he will.¡± Holding an umbrella, Zhang Meng rushed out through the blowing snow. At that time, Zhang Meng was eager to know what all this was about. Then Zhao San and the other two looked at each other and exchanged wry smiles, following close at his heels with a few plates of dumplings. When Zhang Meng and others got to the house of Zhang Family, there had been forty or fifty people in the hall. Actually, all the upper-class people were on the list of invitation ¨C gentlemen, entrepreneurs, and even confidants of the governor of Hong Kong. The reunion dinner of the Spring Festival in Zhang Family was just like the party for the upper-class people in Hong Kong, which reflected a terribly amazing social relation. No wonder Zhang¡¯s Family could still be the dominant merchant force in Hong Kong, even though they had parted from a great leader of the communist party in mainland China. Seeing Zhang Meng, people in the hall stood up and held up their glasses to show their respect to him one after another. However anxious he might be at that time, Zhang Meng couldn¡¯t afford to offend those guests, for all of them were important friends of Zhang Family; therefore, he drank a toast to those guests one by one. Crispy red-faced and light-headed, Zhang Meng had already been drunk after almost half bottle of wine when he went up to Zhang Shaohong. ¡°You are late! Zhang Meng, Zhao San, take your seat quickly!¡± Zhang Shaohong said softly with a stern face. Actually, according to Zhang Meng¡¯s memory, his elder uncle, though very rigorous and serious, always pushed him to study and took care of him very carefully. He was also the clan chief of Zhang Family then. At the table, two gentlemen sitting on the left side and the right side of Zhang Shaohong bore some resemblance of him. They were Zhang Shaotu, the second uncle of Zhang Meng, and Zhang Shaoba, his third uncle. Zhang Meng couldn¡¯t stand any longer. With his eyes reddening out of weeping, he whispered to his elder uncle about his father¡¯s death. Hearing the news, Zhang Shaohong was so shocked that he felt his body frozen at that moment. With a glimmer of sadness in his eyes, he held back his emotion. Meanwhile, Zhang Shaotu and Zhang Shaoba also heard about the news from Zhang Meng, and their eyes turned red immediately because of sadness. If there were not so many celebrities, they would have jumped up. Although everyone was in silence, their slightly shaking shoulders revealed their great curiousness and enthusiasm towards things that happened in Zhang Family. Some sensitive people had already felt the change of the atmosphere. Even in such a short period of time, some guests had already gossiped about that. ¡°Something must have happened in Zhang Family. I guess Zhang Shaoye is in trouble in mainland China!¡± ¡°Those four brothers in Zhang Family are all tough guys! I¡¯m afraid that the death of Zhang Shaoye will bring a catastrophe!¡± ¡­ Suddenly, Zhang Shaohong walked on the stage, silencing the gossip of those guests, and no one dared to interrupt his speech. He said, ¡°Ladies and gentlemen, let¡¯s enjoy our dinner together or the dumpling will turn cold. I feel happy today¡­ because¡­ because my brother has come back home¡­I feel happy indeed.¡± Returning to his seat, Zhang Shaohong looked at Zhang Meng. ¡°Sit down¡­¡± he said in a peaceful but firm tone which was more likely to make his order irresistible and brought Zhang Meng a feeling of awe. These words made Zhang Meng calm down a lot, like a basket of ice water pouring down on his head. He knew clearly that he would never get an answer from a man like Zhang Shaohong. ¡°Stop crying! Be happy¡­Shaoye has come back home! We can have a reunion dinner together this year¡­ Zhang Meng, fill the bowl for your father!¡± Zhang Shaohong said with peace. His words revitalized the dinner, and everyone sitting at the table was no longer quiet. Picking up several dumplings, Zhao San intended to say something, but he didn¡¯t know where to start. Till then, this dinner was the hardest to bear for Zhang Meng, where he remembered nothing but the figure of his father. The man, who had taken care of him since he was a little boy, died for no reason. Within half an hour, those guests started to leave. They soon perceived that there must be some misfortune in Zhang Family. Besides, they were smart enough to know that it was disturbing to stay here any longer. When every guest had left, Zhang Shaohong said with a low voice, ¡°Zhang Meng, read the letter.¡± Zhang Meng handed over the letter to Zhang Shaotu and he read it softly. Hearing the name of the Demonic Shrine of Marquis Wu, Zhang Shaotu was so terrified that, with his hands shivering, he couldn¡¯t read it anymore. ¡°How come Shaoye investigated the Demonic Shrine again? Didn¡¯t we tell him not to do that anymore?! He must be mad!¡± ¡°Clap!¡± Zhang Shaohong thumped on the table furiously, which shocked Zhang Meng deeply. Taking care of Zhang Family for so many years, Zhang Shaohong always came over as unpredictable and enigmatic. It seemed that nothing could disturb him. Zhang Meng thought there must be something hidden behind that.