On a breezy and sunny afternoon, I was resting in my cool little room. Was I really resting? I suppose so, although I often thought about those experiences that gave me headaches. However, deep down, I understood that these were ultimately just memories. In other words, thinking about these things didn’t mean I was fighting against anyone, nor did it pose any danger to my future. So, I settled down to reflect.

Although the room was cool, it was still stuffy, and I felt weak all over, a bit drowsy. Just then, I heard someone knocking at the door.

The shop was closed during lunchtime, as there was hardly any business, and I didn’t want to open the door and waste the cool air. I called out a few times for Wang Meng, but he neither went to open the door nor responded to me. I wondered if he had suddenly collapsed from a heart attack. I forced myself to muster some energy and went outside to take a look.

As soon as I stepped outside, I saw a familiar figure appear in my shop. It was an old man, who grinned at me, revealing a mouthful of gold teeth. I almost gasped in shock when I saw Wang Meng slumped over his computer, sleeping like a dead pig. I immediately went over to wake him up.

The old man was about to say something when I shouted at the now-awakened Wang Meng, “Get someone to chase him away!” This bastard had walked into my shop years ago and changed the course of my life forever.

I would never allow this situation to happen again. Wang Meng, still groggy, crawled up from the computer, glanced at me, seemingly unaware of what I was saying. Seeing that I had stopped speaking, he lay back down to continue his deep slumber. I couldn’t wait to explain things to him; I climbed over the counter and yelled at that old man, “Get out of here, and leave my sight immediately!”

The old man chuckled and said, “Little brother, it’s been a long time since we last met. I hope you’ve been well? Your temper hasn’t changed a bit; it’s just like before.”

I replied, “Stop with the nonsense. You’ve basically ruined my life. Do you know that? My family has lost several generations of heroes because of you. Before I get any murderous thoughts, you’d better leave my sight right now.”

The old man said, “You’re exaggerating. The matter of your family’s heroes has nothing to do with me.” I didn’t know why I was so worked up; I was ready to charge at him. Seeing that I was serious, he quickly raised his hands and said, “Wait, wait! I have important information! I’m only here to bring it to you out of goodwill.”

I said, “I don’t want to know any of your information. I think your presence is extremely ominous.” With that, I pushed him.

The old man clung tightly to the counter and said, “Hold on! Hold on! I have proof! Once you see the proof, you’ll understand the importance of this matter.” Saying that, he took out a phone from his pocket with one hand and handed it to me.

I thought to myself: Last time you showed me a watch, and this time you’re showing me a phone. It’s really become high-tech. As soon as I looked, I realized it was the kind of phone Xiaohua often uses. I took it, flipped it open, and saw a pre-edited message inside that read: “Jin Wantang came because of the newspaper advertisement, and there seems to be an important clue. I’ve heard it once; it’s hard to tell if it’s true or false. You should listen to him for now. Once I finish dealing with things here, I’ll come to Hangzhou to discuss it with you in depth. Xie Yuchen.”

I closed the phone and thought: Damn, Xiaohua’s recommendation is even harder to refuse than Laoyang’s. I can’t let Xiaohua down, so I pondered what to do. It looks like I still need to listen. This Da Jinya knows how to handle people and was well-prepared. But looking at his face, I really couldn’t help but want to hit him.

So I had Da Jinya sit down and went back to the inner room to drink some water and calm down. Once I entered the cooler room, perhaps because it was cooler inside, my anger and various frustrations dissipated significantly. I thought to myself that many things were my own choices; blaming him wouldn’t solve anything, as he was also one of the victims.

After convincing myself that I was calm, I hurried back to the outer room and stared at Da Jinya, asking, “Old guy, if you have clues, just get to the point. You’ve already seen the wealthy Huayé, so let’s skip all the other nonsense.”

Da Jinya said, “What are you talking about, little brother? I feel guilty and want to make amends. Didn’t you publish that scorpion in the newspaper for us to see? Oh my, that thing brings back some particularly unforgettable memories for me.”

Looking at Da Jinya’s face, I muttered to myself: Hurry up and say it, so I can hit you afterward.

Da Jinya continued, “The origin of this scorpion is particularly strange. I suspect that if you want to investigate its origins, it must be related to a child with the surname Zhang, right?”

I didn’t respond, fearing he would lead me astray. I thought: I’m interested in the surname Zhang, but I don’t know if it’s a child.

Jin Wantang went on, “Let me tell you something. I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this to you before, but in the past, I made quite a bit of money helping people appraise antiques and translate ancient texts in Liulichang. Once, I went to a wealthy man’s house. This wealthy man, supposedly surnamed Ma, came from a prominent family living in Jiangsu. He showed me a memoir written by his grandfather and wanted me to estimate its value. At that time, I thought his family was quite wealthy, but later I found out that they had already been drained of their wealth.”

His two sons were drug addicts, and one of them was almost at the end of his rope. He was using that stuff to exchange for money to save his son’s life.” Jin Wantang took a deep breath and continued, “When I appraised it later, I read through the memoirs of this person named Ma Pingchuan completely, and it contained this story.”

As he spoke, Da Jinya told me a story, which was the same story mentioned in “The First Strange Incident.”

After I listened, I felt neither joy nor sadness in my heart. I immediately thought that the child could very likely be the young version of the quiet oil bottle.

What era was it? Before the founding of New China! Indeed, this guy must be quite old, but he seems a bit younger than I expected.

The Zhang family has a long lifespan and a unique constitution, so I wasn’t particularly surprised.

“Are you saying that the place back then was called Ma’an? Is that place still there now?” I asked Jin Wantang. He nodded, “Yes, but if you want to go, I think it’s unnecessary because the memoirs say that after they dug up the ancestral grave there, they didn’t find any ancient tombs, only an iron scorpion. Moreover, there are no subsequent descriptions in the memoirs, and the later records are separated from this event by more than a year.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“After they dug up that iron scorpion, whether they continued to dig deeper into the underground palace, what was written on the iron scorpion, and whether there were any anomalies—none of this was recorded. But what is certain is that during that year, the Ma family went from prosperity to ruin; a lot must have happened, and these events must be related to that scorpion,” Jin Wantang said. “Later on, the entire Ma family moved to Nepal.”

“Nepal?”

“Yes, Nepal,” Jin Wantang replied. “I just returned from there recently. I have their address, and I even saw that iron scorpion at their place; they are currently looking to sell it.”

“You’re not trying to fool me, are you?” I said.

“No,” Jin Wantang assured me. “If you’re interested in what I said, why not take a trip abroad? I can help you; that iron scorpion will surely be easy to obtain.”

I thought about it and felt that this was the only clue related to the past of the mute oil bottle, so perhaps I should go. However, I couldn’t go with Jin Wantang. After doing business for so long, I knew that people like him are like flies attracted to a cracked egg; if he went with me, he would definitely be thinking of teaming up with the Ma family to take advantage of me. There might be all sorts of traps waiting for my wallet.

So I set a time with Jin Wantang, but I left before him, not even notifying Xiaohua, and went to Nepal.

However, this time I returned completely empty-handed. Ma Pingchuan’s house in Nepal was very large but completely empty; it was clear that it had been completely cleared out. I asked the people nearby, and they all said they didn’t know where the family had gone.

The Ma family, just like the Zhang family he had sent someone to visit back in the day, had also vanished without a trace before my visit.

I felt that this might be a big scam that I had uncovered. I left early, and they were completely unprepared. It’s also possible that something significant happened after Jin Wantang left.

I had seen through their plan.

In the end, this search turned into a tourism activity. After realizing I couldn’t find anything, I began to indulge in food and drink, and whimsically thought about developing some business there.

After my investigation, I found that the local system was entirely unsuitable for doing business and was only good as a transit station. However, I genuinely disliked the idea of national treasures being smuggled out, so I didn’t ponder it deeply. Of course, I discovered quite a few antiques locally; although I didn’t know whether they were real or not, I wondered how much they could sell for in the domestic collecting market. Nevertheless, amid all this commotion, I uncovered the whereabouts of the Ma family.

While I was inventorying at a local antique shop run by a Chinese owner, I chatted with the boss about my purpose for being here. The boss had done business with the Ma family and it was clear that the Ma family had sold him quite a few antiques. He told me that whenever he dealt with the Ma family, they would always mention a place called Motuo, either intentionally or unintentionally.

So, I decided to go to Motuo, and there I saw something that caused me to stay there for six months.