At that time, during the rise of archaeological and tomb-raiding trends, numerous foreign expedition teams arrived in Asia, hoping to share in the spoils of this second great archaeological discovery. China’s marine archaeology was virtually non-existent, and as a large number of national treasures were being looted, the Chinese archaeological community was understandably anxious. Several senior professors jointly wrote to the central government, requesting measures to be taken. Eventually, under pressure and in a situation where there was no money and no personnel, they managed to assemble a few “investigation teams,” one of which was sent to the Xisha Islands, led by Wen Jin.

An unexpected event occurred about a month before the archaeological team was set to depart. At that time, my uncle was helping Wen Jin prepare some ground equipment, such as pumps and diving gear. He was solely responsible for these preparations. One afternoon, while he was busy testing the equipment, a student suddenly came in and said that someone was outside looking for him.

My uncle was puzzled; not many people knew he had been staying there recently. Who could it be? When he stepped outside and saw the person, he was taken aback. The visitor’s surname was Xie, and his name was Xie Lianhuan, likely derived from the phrase “the grievances have no place to rest; alas, the feelings of parting are far and wide; even if skilled hands can untie the links.” He was my uncle’s distant cousin, equivalent to my distant uncle, and since they both lived in Changsha, they had some contact, though not much.

In those days, such relatives could still maintain some connections, but the older generation typically only visited each other during festivals, emphasizing a relationship as light as water. So, my uncle was somewhat surprised by this sudden visit. However, since it was a relative, he couldn’t treat him casually and didn’t want to immediately ask about the purpose of his visit. He paused his work, exchanged pleasantries, and took him to a restaurant for a meal. It was only halfway through their drinks that he asked what brought him there.

The Xie family was also well-off, with six brothers, even more than my grandfather’s family. Generally speaking, they wouldn’t be short on money. If Xie Lianhuan came to seek my uncle, it must be for a specific reason that required assistance, and it was likely something unusual; otherwise, they wouldn’t be unable to handle it themselves.

After much hesitation, Xie Lianhuan finally told my uncle that it wasn’t a big deal. He just wanted to leverage my uncle’s connections to secure a position in Wen Jin’s investigation team, as he wanted to go out to sea and see for himself. Upon hearing this, my uncle felt something was off. Wen Jin was charming and likable, and while the Xie family had met her due to their relation, she had always maintained good boundaries. They had met but had not formed a close relationship, and there had been no contact in daily life. So, why would Xie Lianhuan suddenly make such an outlandish request? There must be some ulterior motive. He immediately shook his head and asked, “What do you want to go out to sea for? Can’t you just go to Hangzhou instead?”

Xie Lianhuan scratched his head awkwardly and said he couldn’t disclose that. If he had to explain, he would say it was something more significant than just a business deal over there. He was also acting on someone else’s behalf.

Uncle San asked him why he didn’t come up with a solution himself; hiring a fishing boat wasn’t that expensive. He explained that China was currently in military confrontation with Vietnam, and the area around the Xisha Islands was very sensitive. Without permission from the coastal defense, ordinary vessels couldn’t enter, which was why he asked Uncle San for help—to blend in with the research team for convenience. Moreover, this matter would absolutely not affect Wenjin.

The more Uncle San listened, the stranger it sounded. This country bumpkin getting involved with Xisha felt off to him. He claimed there was business to be done, but what kind of business could there be in Xisha? Honestly, all that was there was water and sand, and the only other thing was shipwrecks. If he was aiming for shipwrecks, why bother going to Xisha? There were plenty of places like Ningbo and the Bohai Sea. Besides, the Jie family was considered prominent at that time, a family with a history of several hundred years. It was impossible for them to suddenly fall to the point of scavenging for sea goods.

Seeing Uncle San’s puzzled expression, Jie Lianhuan felt a bit awkward and said that if it wasn’t feasible, he would think of other ways. If it were me, I would have sighed in relief and smoothly declined. But Uncle San didn’t think that way. He sensed something was off; if he refused, this kid would really start looking for other methods. People in this line of work weren’t trustworthy, and who knew what outrageous things they might do? Since Jie Lianhuan was already involved with Wenjin, he couldn’t let him run amok and needed to find out what he was really up to.

So he said it wasn’t that it couldn’t be done, but it was difficult because this matter wasn’t solely up to him. He needed to check with Wenjin first; he couldn’t make a decision on his own. He then asked Jie Lianhuan if he could wait for a while.

Upon hearing this, Jie Lianhuan quickly expressed his gratitude and even took out a pile of scarce foreign goods at the time, asking Uncle San to give them to Wenjin.

The two had their own agendas and chatted for a while longer before Jie Lianhuan left. Uncle San immediately went to find a few local rascals he knew, gave them some money, and asked them to follow Jie Lianhuan to see what he had been up to lately.

At that time, local rascals were the most well-informed people, and soon there was news. They had been following Jie Lianhuan for several days and discovered that he was just a second-generation rich kid. He didn’t have any particular hobbies and only liked to listen to flower drum opera. His friends were a mixed bunch, very ordinary. The only strange thing was that recently he had been in close contact with a foreigner, frequently going to a teahouse to meet with him, but their meetings didn’t last long—only about ten minutes before he would leave.

Uncle San found this strange. It was common for people in their line of work to do business with foreigners, but Jie Lianhuan was different. He had basically stopped participating in the family business; his role at home was just to spend money. Why had he suddenly started dealing with a foreigner?

Uncle San felt there was something to investigate and immediately decided to check it out himself. He found out the general pattern of when Jie Lianhuan met the foreigner, chose a time, and on that day, he changed into inconspicuous clothes and waited at Jie Lianhuan’s door early in the morning. After waiting for about an hour, Jie Lianhuan finally came out. Uncle San stealthily followed him from a distance, trailing him through half of Changsha City until they arrived at Lao Mi Market. Sure enough, a teahouse appeared ahead. Jie Lianhuan looked back cautiously, not spotting Uncle San, and lifted the curtain to go inside.

Uncle San was overjoyed in his heart. He rushed to the window in two quick steps and saw that Jie Lianhuan had just taken a seat. Opposite him, there indeed sat a foreigner.

The foreigner had a head of white hair and a robust build, making it hard to tell which country he was from. However, he looked extremely healthy, sitting in the teahouse like a bear, sipping tea with a certain air of ease while wearing flip-flops. Clearly, he had been in China for a long time and had become accustomed to the everyday life of Changsha.

Uncle San sized up the foreigner and found him somewhat familiar, as if he had seen him somewhere before, which puzzled him. He could count on one hand the number of foreigners he had done business with, and this man was definitely not one of them. However, in that era, the chances of encountering a foreigner in Changsha were incredibly slim. He certainly wasn’t someone he usually saw, so who was he?

He tried hard to recall all the occasions he had seen foreigners over the years. Suddenly, he had a jolt of realization. He remembered that this foreigner was one of the group he had seen a year ago at Biaozi Ridge! That experience from a year ago was so shocking that Uncle San’s memory was still fresh. As soon as he tugged on that thread, everything came rushing back.

Uncle San felt a chill run down his spine as he looked at the two people in the teahouse. He suddenly felt he had realized something but couldn’t quite grasp it. An ominous premonition rose from his heart.

At this point, I raised my hand to interrupt Uncle San, asking him to pause so I could think before continuing.

After listening to Uncle San’s account so far, the situation was already quite clear. Without a doubt, Jie Lianhuan wanted to go to the Xisha Islands to help this mysterious foreigner with something, and it was likely something rather special. Generally, dealings with foreigners were straightforward, and there was no need for such secrecy.

This foreigner was indeed one of the group that had wanted to excavate the blood tomb at Biaozi Ridge a year ago. At that time, Uncle San found it very strange because Biaozi Ridge was a remote mountain in inland China, a place where foreigners shouldn’t appear. Now, this group clearly wanted to send someone to the Xisha Sea, which was also a place where foreigners should not be, especially since there was a war going on at that time.

Back then, Uncle San was unaware that there was an ancient tomb beneath the Xisha Sea, so many things were just puzzling to him without any way to speculate. However, I now knew what had happened later, and based on that, it could be inferred that the matter the foreigner entrusted to Jie Lianhuan was likely related to that underwater tomb from the Ming Dynasty.

This suggests that the first person to know about the existence of the underwater tomb could very well be that foreigner, who then informed Jie Lianhuan.

This led to an inexplicable dilemma and an unfathomable question: how did this foreigner learn about the existence of both the ancient tomb at Biaozi Ridge and the underwater tomb in the Xisha Sea? Such rare tombs could only be vaguely known even to someone like my grandfather, so how could this foreigner have such extensive knowledge?

I also recalled that when Jie Lianhuan died, he was clutching a snake-eyed copper fish in his hand, the first of its kind to appear in the present world. Clearly, this item should have been brought out from the underwater ancient tomb. Could it be said that this mysterious foreigner wanted Jie Lianhuan to retrieve this copper fish from the tomb?

In other words, that foreigner not only knew in advance that there was an ancient tomb underwater, but he even knew what was inside the tomb? This is too in line with the principle of intelligence supremacy that the Americans uphold. But why! Why the hell? How did they know?

Even my uncle had to rely on local mountain dwellers to find the location of the Biaozi Ridge, as recorded in my grandfather’s notes, after much hardship. As for the ancient tomb at the bottom of the Xisha Sea, it’s even less likely anyone would know about it. I think apart from Wang Canghai, no one else would know of its existence.

Thinking of this, I suddenly felt a chill run down my spine and thought, could it be? People say that when there’s no answer, the least likely answer is often the correct one. If these things don’t exist, then the only answer is: could it be that what my uncle just said was all nonsense?

This person has a criminal record, and I immediately felt uneasy. I quickly looked at him to see if his expression was off. My uncle noticed my fluctuating expression and, not knowing what I was thinking, asked me what was wrong when he saw me looking at him.

I tentatively said, “Uncle, you can’t keep lying to me. Now that we’ve gotten to this point, it wouldn’t be fair if you lied to me again.”

My uncle looked at my expression in confusion and asked why I thought that way. After I voiced my concerns, he suddenly frowned and looked at me.

Seeing this reaction, it seemed like I had uncovered something, and I couldn’t help but feel a bit downcast. To my surprise, after looking at me for a few moments, he suddenly said, “You’re thinking too absolutely; it’s not like that. In fact, those foreigners didn’t know what exactly was under the Xisha Sea at that time; they just knew that there must be something down there.”

I asked, “How do you know this?”

My uncle replied, “They told me this in person later. Actually, those foreigners are the owners of the company where An Ning is currently working, and do you know who the founder of that company is?”

I shook my head, and my uncle said, “It’s the American who tricked your grandfather out of the Warring States silk book.”

I was taken aback and exclaimed, “Is it him?”

My uncle nodded and said, “Before this trip to Xisha, I saw him in person once. He’s almost at the end of his life now and is relying on machines to stay alive. At that time, he told me in person about his purpose of investing in activities in China for decades.”

“What is it?” I asked.

My uncle said, “The whole incident originated from the Warring States silk book he tricked away back then. At that time, he was just a middle school teacher in a church, occasionally involved in some antique smuggling. That year, under the guise of charity, he tricked the genuine Warring States silk book from your grandfather. By then, this person was already very knowledgeable about Chinese culture, and in order to increase the value of this silk book, he decided to decode the information on it.” My uncle paused: “But what he managed to decode after two years surprised him greatly.”

I was intrigued and said, “This American actually managed to decode the Warring States silk book that we have been unable to decipher for so many years?”

My uncle nodded: “It’s precisely because he is American that he was able to decode it. The arrangement of the hidden characters in this silk book uses a mathematical principle that people like us, no matter how knowledgeable, cannot crack from a mathematical perspective.”

“What is written on that silk book?” I asked curiously.
My uncle replied, “The information recorded on that silk book is something you wouldn’t be able to guess if I didn’t tell you—”
Just as he was halfway through his sentence, someone suddenly knocked at the door. I was puzzled, wondering if someone had come to see a doctor. Who the hell would interrupt my story? When I turned to look, it turned out to be a delivery person.
He walked in and asked, “Who is Mr. Wu Xie?”
I nodded, “That’s me.”
He took a large package out of his bag and said, “This is your delivery.”
My uncle was also curious about how a package had suddenly arrived and asked me who it was from.
I flipped the envelope over and saw the name: Zhang Qiling. My heart sank; I thought, why would he send me a package? Looking at the date, it was from not long ago. Could it be that he had come out from the gaps in the ground? I hurriedly opened it and found two black objects inside the envelope—two video tapes.