Suddenly, I was covered in goosebumps and nearly shrank back in my seat, completely taken aback that my uncle would mention this person’s name. It took me a long time to react, stammering, “How is that possible?”

“How is it not possible? We’re damn cousins. There were many similarities back then, especially in that era; everyone dressed and styled their hair almost the same. If this situation could hold, he would be the only one who fits the criteria.”

“But wasn’t he already dead at that time?” I stammered.

My uncle took a deep breath, leaned back slightly, and frowned, saying, “Indeed, he was definitely dead at that time. When the body was discovered, it was already stiff and swollen; there was absolutely no way to bring him back to life. However, aside from this explanation, I can’t think of any other way to prove that both that guy and I are innocent. Speaking of which, the ship that transported the bodies later didn’t return to the dock, and along with those fishermen, this group just vanished into the sea. He can be considered missing.” He paused and continued, “Actually, sometimes I wonder if I’ve underestimated Jie Lianhuan.”

“What do you mean?” I felt a chill run down my spine. “Are you saying he faked his death?”

My uncle nodded. “I’ve investigated everyone’s background, and there was nothing suspicious. I thought about this possibility: what if Jie Lianhuan wasn’t dead at that time, but instead faked his death and returned to partner with Huo Ling to carry out this conspiracy? That would explain everything. However, I was the one who examined his body, and I remember clearly that the corpse could not possibly have been faked. So I later ruled out this possibility. But now that you mention it, if he wasn’t dead, it could indeed explain everything.”

I shook my head. “Since you’re certain he died, let’s not entertain this possibility. Jie Lianhuan is definitely not a zombie; there must be another reason.”

My uncle sighed and told me to put this matter aside for now. We currently had too little information, and that guy wasn’t around. Discussing this wouldn’t yield any results, so we should wait until later to analyze it from the beginning. Perhaps we would gain some insights after finishing our discussion.

I felt the same way. On one hand, there were my uncle’s arguments, and on the other, there were the words of the “Dull Oil Bottle,” all of which were just statements without any third-party evidence. There was nothing to ponder but mere speculation. So I let my uncle continue speaking.

After that, my uncle spoke briefly. After emerging from the underwater tomb, he began investigating the entire matter. Because he learned about Jude Cow’s plan from Jie Lianhuan, he focused on investigating this person while also searching for the whereabouts of the missing individuals. Subsequently, he had several encounters with Jude Cow; however, Jude Cow never revealed any information to him until the incident at the Seven Star Lu Wang Palace, when Jude Cow failed again.

At that time, Jude Cow realized that his entire army had been wiped out, yet my uncle’s group managed to escape unscathed, suffering minimal losses. He began to realize that perhaps his methods were fundamentally flawed. Thus, he met with my uncle, and the two had a long conversation, which was what my uncle had just shared with me.

However, Uncle San is indeed Jude Kao’s nemesis. He and Jude Kao agreed to collaborate and re-enter the underwater tomb, this time with the purpose of filming the murals. Yet, similar to the time when Jude Kao betrayed Grandpa in Changsha, Uncle San was merely using Jude Kao’s resources; he was already aware of Jude Kao’s intentions. He entered the ancient tomb and forced the accompanying people to reveal many secrets. Using this information, he learned that their next target was the Cloud Top Heavenly Palace, and thus began to compete with them.

During this period, there were quite a few adventures, but writing them all out would be cumbersome, so I will just mention them briefly.

Later, An Ning and the others came to find me, but it was not arranged by Uncle San. He said that if I thought about it, I would realize it was impossible for him to have sent them to me. With my skills, if I were to be his backup, it would surely be a dead end; why would he want to harm me? I was deceived by An Ning. At that time, they believed I could come out of the King Lu Palace, thinking I was a master, so they used this method to trick me.

Uncle San said that the reason he didn’t want to tell me so much at that time was because he was afraid I would get involved in this matter. Unfortunately, regarding the incident in the King Lu Palace, Jude Kao must have known it very well. Therefore, later on, they contacted several other capable people in the King Lu Palace; I was tricked into it, the Fatty was bought, and that young man probably decided to infiltrate your team after learning about this matter.

As for what happened afterward, I was quite clear. After he obtained the murals, in order to reach the Cloud Top Heavenly Palace earlier than An Ning and the others, he set off directly. However, it is always nerve-wracking to steal something so significant alone, so he left a message for Panzi. He had no intention of letting me go, but evidently, that Chu Ge leaked the news and informed Chen Pi Ah Si. This old man forced his way in and even had Chu Ge pull me in, planning to use me to threaten Uncle San later. At that time, that group of people was quite formidable; they specifically sought me out, this soft-footed shrimp, to be a backup.

When Uncle San reached this point, he shook his head and said, “After so many years of cooperation, the moment he sees his business failing, he immediately turns to Chen Pi Ah Si. Damn, he’s really not a good person. Now that he’s in jail, it’s karma.”

Jude Kao betrayed Grandpa, Uncle San betrayed Jude Kao, Chu Ge betrayed Uncle San, and then An Ning betrayed us. People are truly terrifying creatures.

His experiences in the Cloud Top Heavenly Palace were also quite horrific. After all, he was just a person, and he followed the clues provided by those murals all the way through. However, in the end, he fell into a trap and was rescued by us. The details are also very exciting, but there’s no need to elaborate here; Uncle San just briefly mentioned it. At that time, because I was already drenched in cold sweat from the previous narratives, I didn’t think much of it. It was only much later that I felt perhaps Uncle San was still hiding something here, but that was a long time afterward.