About a month after the adventure in the Heavenly Palace, I stayed in Jilin to take care of my uncle. This time, I was cautious; I was afraid that if he woke up, he might leave without saying a word. So, I simply stayed in the hospital, living by his bedside.

What happened later proved that my caution was wise, but at the time, others did not think so. After his condition stabilized, there were still no signs of him waking up. His breathing was steady and his complexion was healthy, but there was no mental response. The doctor said this was normal; his wound had become severely infected, and it was uncertain whether the fever had harmed his central nervous system. Whether he could wake up depended on luck.

I had no choice but to wait. During this time, some family members came to visit me a few times, but I refused to go out for meals because I was afraid that if I left the hospital, my uncle might disappear again when I returned. My mother said I was being foolish, but I was very persistent in my thoughts. To be honest, in the more than a month before my uncle woke up, I hardly left his side for more than ten meters.

During the long wait, I also did a lot of things. I had nearly organized all the clues from the Heavenly Palace. After the consultants from Aning Company returned to their home country, they gradually sent me the information they had, including several metaphorical murals taken in the main coffin chamber of the underwater tomb and all the translations of the copper fish, among other things.

Putting all this together, I had gained a complete understanding of the mysteries surrounding Wang Canghai, and my mood gradually lightened. Wang Zangmei could be described as a genius ahead of his time, and now he could rest in peace, for the secrets he painstakingly passed down had been received by someone. Even though I still couldn’t explain the sights he witnessed at that time, since the secret had been passed down, there would eventually be a day when it would be unraveled.

What troubled me the most was the purpose of the “Dumb Oil Bottle” and my uncle. Based on my speculation, the few people who entered the underwater tomb twenty years ago seemed to be searching for the huge door beneath the Heavenly Palace, and they all seemed eager to go inside. I personally witnessed the “Dumb Oil Bottle” entering in a jaw-dropping manner, and among the bodies of Li Si and others in the treasure room, two missing bodies (I don’t know who they were) could also have gone inside.

Why did they want to go in? Or what were they going in for?

All the mysteries converged on what happened in the underwater tomb twenty years ago. Wang Canghai must have left something or some information in his own tomb, which was the reason and key that made them all feel the urge to go to the Heavenly Palace. Unfortunately, I had to wait for my uncle to wake up to get answers.

Additionally, I helped the Fatty auction off six pieces of gold he had brought out. In this event, he made the most profit. The value of these gold items was very high, and one gold cup with a Western Region style and inlaid with agate was auctioned for forty thousand dollars. The Fatty was quite generous and gave me a portion of the money as commission, saying it would go towards the next purchase of gear for the Lama. I swore to him that there would definitely be no next time.

Time passed day by day, and I faintly felt a sense of boredom. In the long wait, my patience gradually wore thin. In the first few months, there were many things for me to deal with, but as time went on, I spent my days staring at the black-and-white photo on my uncle’s computer. I often wondered what that cursed oil bottle was doing now.

Just when I thought I would have to live like this for several more months, an unexpected turn of events suddenly occurred. Looking back, that scene was truly dramatic.

On that day, my uncle’s attending physician suddenly came to find me, saying he had something important to discuss. My uncle’s condition had been very stable for a while, and the doctor hadn’t come to check on him much lately. I was a bit surprised and thought to myself, could it be that my uncle’s condition could change while he lies there motionless?

Anxiously, I followed him to his office, but when I got there, I saw one of the workers from my uncle’s shop waiting for me. I asked him what he needed, but he stammered and couldn’t get the words out. After scratching his head for a while, his face turned beet red.

This worker was someone I was quite familiar with; he was a capable assistant of my uncle. I had never seen him like this before during sales, and immediately I sensed something was off. I thought to myself, this is bad, I’ve been tricked!

I hurried back to the ward and couldn’t help but grit my teeth; my uncle was indeed gone. The quilt on the bed was in disarray. I searched everywhere, under the bed, in the closet, but he was nowhere to be found. It was clear that while I was in the doctor’s office, that old rascal had slipped away!

I was stunned, thinking about how he woke up, when he informed the outside world, and how I hadn’t noticed at all. Then I exploded with anger. I can’t even describe the rage I felt at that moment. Looking at the empty bed and recalling the dullness of the past few months, during which I had dared not leave for a moment, and the hope that he would wake up to answer all my questions, I suddenly felt as if something was blocking my chest, a strong sense of frustration enveloped my entire body!

I slammed my fist down on his hospital bed, making a loud noise. What I couldn’t understand was why he had to hide from me. What was the reason? After everything that had happened, what could he possibly have left unsaid? Was that secret in his heart really so important?

Just as I was filled with frustration, thinking about beating up that doctor or maybe even just ending it all, I suddenly heard a struggle outside the door. I turned around to see my uncle being dragged back into the ward, looking dejected. The person dragging him was none other than my second uncle.

It turned out that when he sneaked out, he happened to run into my second uncle in the corridor. Naturally, he couldn’t admit he was trying to escape from me, so he had to come back looking defeated.

I kept my composure and didn’t expose my uncle. After a bit of casual chatting, I took the opportunity to tell him everything that had happened since he fell into a coma and all my deductions. He didn’t respond much, but his face changed slightly when he heard about the cursed oil bottle going in.

Later, my second uncle left, reminding me to keep an eye on this old rascal. As soon as my second uncle was gone, I immediately pressed him, asking when he had woken up and how long he had been pretending to be unconscious.

Uncle San felt very awkward, but since I had seen through him, he had no choice but to say that he had just woken up and was only getting ready to go to the bathroom. I decided not to hold it against him, as it might actually be true; I couldn’t believe someone could pretend to be unconscious for an entire month—who could endure that? But when I tried to ask him about other matters, he simply gave up and refused to speak, saying it was none of my business.

I got angry and started to scold him, saying, “You old man, do you have any idea how much I’ve suffered because of you? And what about people like Da Kui and Pan Zi, who have risked their lives for you? Shouldn’t you show them some respect? At the very least, let them know why they are putting their lives on the line for you!”

What I said was quite serious, and I was genuinely a bit angry, especially when I thought of how deeply Pan Zi cared for this old man; it left me almost speechless.

Only then did Uncle San fall silent, bitterly laughing several times before sighing and shaking his head, saying, “This matter has nothing to do with you. Knowing it might only cause you more distress. I’m not telling you for your own good, so why bother?”

I shook my head, indicating that if I was distressed, it was my own doing. I had to know the truth about the whole situation; otherwise, I would not rest.

I spoke very firmly, looking directly at Uncle San, making it clear that he could not escape this time and should not entertain any delusions. This was one of the outcomes of my studies over the past few days. I had anticipated such a situation, so I had read many psychological articles on how to get someone to drop their defenses about keeping a secret.

After thinking for a while, Uncle San sighed deeply, as if he had finally made up his mind. Rubbing his eyes, he said, “Ah, I never expected this. They say children are the creditors of their past lives. I thought that if I didn’t have children, I would be fine, but I didn’t expect to involve you in this. It seems today you are determined to know the truth, no matter what.”

I retorted angrily, “How can you still have the face to say that? Do you not know who owes whom? Did you not almost get buried at the bottom of the sea? Did you not almost get eaten by monkeys? Did you…?”

Uncle San made a gesture of surrender and said, “Alright, alright. Since you want to know so badly, I’ll make an exception and tell you this time. However, you must swear an oath that after hearing it, you won’t tell anyone.”

Swearing is something I take lightly, so I immediately swore a terrible oath that my entire family would perish. Uncle San was surprised by the severity of my oath and after a moment, he shook his head and laughed, saying, “Let me make this clear: not everyone can believe what I’m about to tell you. After I say it, if you don’t believe me, there’s nothing I can do.”

I was anxious and coughed, saying, “What is there that I can’t believe now? Just tell me.”

Uncle San sighed deeply, rummaged around in his pocket for a while, and pulled out half a cigarette, not knowing how long it had been there. He looked outside to see if any nurses were around, and after a moment of hesitation, he lit it up and took a puff before saying, “This was a long time ago. To put it simply, the whole thing started with something your grandfather wrote in his notebook, beginning on that night fifty years ago. If you want to know the entire story, I’ll start from there.”