The old man gave us a plan to take a tourist route, starting from Changsha to Shanhaiguan, and then transferring to Dunhua, all by train. The entire journey would take about two days and cover nearly 3,000 kilometers. During this time, we had nothing to do but pass the time with a phone and a few magazines.

I brought the fish-eye check to the Fat Man. He was quite happy to see me. Seeing him in a good mood, I secretly asked him how he ended up here.

The Fat Man told me that in this line of work, some things must be done in groups. For instance, in the deep mountains and forests, you can’t handle big fights alone. First, there are too many necessary supplies that you can’t carry in by yourself; second, there are too many good things that you can’t bring out alone. Environments like ancient tombs are extremely dangerous; if you’re lucky enough to survive one round trip, that’s already good. If you want to take the risk to go in two or three more times, I doubt anyone would be willing. So, whenever such a situation arises, someone will step up to lead the effort. In ancient times, this was called “catching a fight,” and in the Republic of China, it was referred to as “夹喇嘛” (jialama).

This is similar to the current construction foreman who has a project and finds electricians and plumbers to do the work. Archaeological teams in the early days of the liberation also used similar tactics to find talented individuals.

This time, the “夹喇嘛” was a bald man. He had a wide network and knew a local friend of the Fat Man from Beijing, and many of the Fat Man’s connections came through this friend. As a result, the Fat Man got on this ride. As for the specifics, under normal circumstances, those who are “夹喇嘛” won’t reveal details until they reach their destination; otherwise, if others find out in advance, it could lead to internal conflicts. So when I asked the Fat Man about my third uncle, he shook his head and said, “Damn it, why are you asking me? If I knew this had anything to do with your damn third uncle, no amount of money would make me come.”

I sighed inwardly, thinking that the Silent Oil Bottle must have been contacted by the bald man as well, and I probably wouldn’t be able to get anything out of him. The ones who knew the most about the situation here, apart from me and Panzi, were probably just Chen Pi Ah Si.

The Silent Oil Bottle was as quiet as ever, not greeting me and just dozing off there. I tried to feign politeness and reminisce with him, but after a few sentences, I realized he wasn’t even listening. The Fat Man told me not to waste my effort, saying that the Silent Oil Bottle had been sleeping since he got on the bus.

Once the bus started, the Fat Man, Panzi, and I played a game of “Chop Big D” to kill time. As I played, I pondered over Chen Pi Ah Si. The old man hadn’t spoken a word since getting on the bus. When Panzi tried to get close to him, he merely responded with a grunt, and as soon as the bus started, he walked off on his own and hadn’t returned yet. The Fat Man quietly asked me, “Who is this skinny old man, acting all high and mighty?”

Panzi quietly explained a bit about Chen Pi Ah Si to the Fat Man. When the Fat Man heard he was over ninety years old, his face turned pale, and he said, “Don’t tell me this old guy is coming up the mountain with us. If that’s the case, in a deserted place, I’ll take him out myself—no one stop me; anyway, if he goes in, it’s a sure death.”

Panzi quickly covered his mouth and whispered, “Shut up, you idiot. That old man is very cunning. If he hears you, he might get you into trouble before we even reach our destination.”

I recalled Chen Pi A Si; in the teahouse, he gave me the impression of a profound and inscrutable master of traditional Chinese studies, surrounded by a group of people. With his influence and accomplishments, plus his age, how could someone like him come to be a “lama” for someone? Aren’t we afraid he might bring us trouble?

When I mentioned it to Panzi, he laughed and said, “You don’t understand. We are all lamas brought in by San Ye now, whether it’s a young monk or the abbot, they are all under San Ye’s influence. This is the rule of the jianghu (martial arts world). If he wants a share of the pie, he has to follow the rules; no matter how big his background is, he can’t change that.” He thought for a moment and added, “But damn it, we have to be careful of this old man. On the surface, he seems like one person, but someone like him must have his own people arranged around him.”

The fat man cursed, “I just don’t understand. What is San Ye bringing this person out for? Isn’t that just asking for trouble? If this guy is really that sinister, I think we should strike first—either tie him up or deal with him.”

Panzi glanced at the door and said, “I warn you not to act recklessly. San Ye must have some purpose in bringing this person here. We should just give him face; anyway, he’s so old now, no matter how powerful he was in his youth, it doesn’t matter anymore. If it really comes to… oh!”

Before he could finish his sentence, the hand of the mute oil bottle suddenly dropped down from the upper bunk. He grabbed Panzi’s shoulder with immense strength, almost making him cry out.

Panzi grinned in pain, and he didn’t finish his sentence. We were all stunned for a moment; Panzi didn’t have a good impression of the mute oil bottle and was just about to speak when the door creaked open, and Chen Pi A Si walked in.

We exchanged glances and hurriedly lowered our heads to continue playing cards, just like when students try to cheat during an exam and get caught by the teacher.

The old man looked at us but didn’t say anything; he returned to his bed, and we couldn’t tell if he had fallen asleep.

With him here, we didn’t dare discuss anything, so we had no choice but to focus on the card game. Time passed slowly, and by nearly midnight the next day, our vehicle arrived at Shanhaiguan.

Shanhaiguan is known as the First Pass Under Heaven, but it’s a man-made attraction, most of which was rebuilt in 1986. Our next bus wouldn’t arrive for another two hours, and the fat man suggested going to take a look. I said it was already midnight, and without a moon, what’s there to see? So, we followed a large group of people from all over the country who were also waiting for their transfers to the waiting room at the station.

It was just before the Spring Festival travel rush, and there were already a lot of people. The station smelled unpleasant, and there were all kinds of people spending the night there; some were even rolling out mats and sleeping on the ground. We carefully made our way through the crowd, trying not to step on anyone.

There were so many people, and it was chaotic. In a short while, we were separated. The mute oil bottle and Chen Pi A Si got pushed far away from us. The fat man got his foot stepped on by someone and started cursing. I wanted to signal them not to get lost, raising my hand to show my position, but Panzi grabbed my hand and pulled me down to crouch.

I was puzzled and heard him say, “There are police! Be quiet.”

As soon as I heard that, I quickly sat down on the ground to the side. There were people all around me. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a few uniformed police officers and some auxiliary police checking IDs at the entrance.

I lowered my head and whispered to Panzi in Hangzhou dialect, “Is everything alright? This kind of thing happens often in Hangzhou; they’re just checking IDs. We don’t have any gear on us, and we’re not wanted, so what’s there to be afraid of?”

Panzi pointed with his chin to a few inconspicuous men in the crowd and said, “The ones at the entrance are the security guards; the plainclothes officers are in the crowd looking for someone. Keep your head down so you don’t get recognized.”

I raised my head and took a quick glance; it seemed like one of those men was someone I recognized, and he was looking directly in our direction. Just as I wanted to take a closer look, that person suddenly sprang up, pointing at me and shouting, “There!”

I noticed that he had handcuffs on his wrists, and my heart sank. Upon a closer look, I realized, “Damn, isn’t that Chu Guangtou? How could he have gotten arrested in just two days?”

“Motherf***er!” Panzi cursed loudly, grabbed me, and we took off running. A group of plainclothes officers came rushing toward us, shouting, “Stop!”

We rolled and crawled over several rows of seats, pushing our way through the crowd. As Panzi made his way through, everyone moved aside for him. But when I followed, people started crowding around me. I thought to myself, what’s going on? Do I look that easy to bully?

Just as I saw a blockade ahead of me, the police arrived from behind. Suddenly, there was a loud crash as one of the fluorescent lights above shattered, startling everyone. Then another one shattered. Seizing the opportunity, I ducked and squeezed between two people, trying to make my way toward the exit.

Suddenly, someone grabbed me and pulled me aside. It was Panzi. He shook his head, indicating that we should escape through the railway tracks.

The fluorescent lights kept shattering one after another, and the waiting hall grew darker. Broken glass rained down, and the noise of chaos, children crying, and people screaming became a jumble. Many people pushed toward the entrance, and we followed the flow of the crowd to escape.

I saw Fatty gesturing to us from a distance, and we made our way over to him. Just as I was about to ask him where the mute oil bottle was, that guy suddenly appeared like a ghost. Fatty asked Panzi, “What are we going to do now that that ‘Jialama’ broke your chopsticks for Lei Zi?”

Panzi cursed again, “That bastard, how could he expose us so easily? People are really unreliable; if I get the chance, I’ll take him out!”

Fatty said, “What are you getting worked up about? You need to figure out what to do next.”

Panzi scratched his head, unsure of what to do. He looked at me, and just as I was about to scold him, the mute oil bottle patted our shoulders and said, “Follow the old man.”

We followed his gaze and saw Chen Pi A Si watching us from a short distance away, with a few middle-aged men standing beside him, who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere.

The mute oil bottle walked straight toward him. At this point, we had no choice but to follow him, so we steeled ourselves and walked over. When Chen Pi A Si saw us approaching, he signaled to the few men beside him, and they immediately dispersed into the crowd. He then turned and walked into the throng.

Under the cover of the crowd, we finally managed to escape from the Shanhaiguan train station into a nearby park. We stopped and exchanged glances; everyone looked grim. This was a bad start; we had originally thought that following Guangtou’s plan would allow us to get through without having to think too much.

Upon reaching our destination, we didn’t expect that just two days later, the bald guy would actually catch us and personally bring Leizi to apprehend us. With such loyalty and a thirty-year-old relationship, it seems that Third Uncle’s judgment isn’t that great after all.

We squatted in the grass and rested for a while. Chen Pi Ah Si glanced at us, suddenly let out a cold laugh, and said in a hoarse voice, “With you bunch of losers, do you really think you can dig up the Nine Dragon Coffin of the Eastern Xia Emperor? Has Wu Sanxing lost his mind?”