The story should have come to an end by now; I am quite clear about the puzzles that can be understood, and I have let go of those that cannot. However, some matters are still worth mentioning for the sake of organizing and enhancing the completeness of the entire story.
By now, I can basically confirm that the Zhang family indeed comes from the Northeast (Guandong) and lived in areas inhabited by ethnic minorities outside the Great Wall. Of course, at that time, they were not considered a minority, as we can also deduce. After the Mongols entered the Central Plains during the Yuan Dynasty, it was the period when the Zhang family was least active. They almost completely concealed themselves, and it was not until the Ming Dynasty that they began to re-emerge.
The Zhang family has extremely strict clan rules; the name Zhang Qiling is not one that everyone can use. Only the designated successor of the clan leader can bear this name. This is why there was a plan involving Zhang Qiling; they wanted to use this method to find the current clan leader of the Zhang family.
Moreover, I suspect that the peculiar blood of the Zhang family is not possessed by all members; it should be a form of recessive inheritance, or even a type of illness. Among the Zhang family members, only a few possess this strange blood, and among those with this blood, only the most potent can become the clan leader. Additionally, the wife of the clan leader must also be a woman from the same clan with the same blood, ensuring that this ability can be passed down. This is what is referred to as intra-clan marriage; however, it has also led to the long-term inheritance of another genetic disease—amnesia.
Since the mid-Republican period, no one has entered the ancient building, indicating that the Zhang family began to decline rapidly at that time. The reason is that they encountered the end of China’s feudal society; several revolutions were entirely ideological revolutions. No matter how much wealth and power the Zhang family had, under the impact of such new ideas, they started to fall apart from within.
It was during this time that the small family, where Zhang Dafuye belonged, became one of the factions that left the control of the Zhang family. It was probably during the time of Zhang Dafuye’s ancestors that they left without taking any information about the family with them. They continued to operate in the Northeast but abandoned all the previous ancestral teachings of the Zhang family, beginning widespread trade and gradually becoming merchants. Later, when the Japanese invaded the Northeast, Zhang Dafuye’s previous generation nearly perished while resisting the Japanese. Therefore, Zhang Dafuye led his clan to escape to Changsha. It was also likely because the major base for tomb raiding in the Central Plains was in Changsha that Zhang Dafuye went there.
After arriving in Changsha, Zhang Dafuye quickly expanded his influence, actively resisting the Japanese while also developing relationships with local heroes. This was the most tumultuous and legendary period in China, with many heroes emerging, gradually leading to the formation of the “Old Nine Gates.” Among them, the San Shang Men (Three Upper Gates) gradually aligned themselves with the military due to Zhang Dafuye’s anti-Japanese efforts. After the victory in the War of Resistance, Zhang Dafuye entered the political arena, and his background allowed him to become the head of a special department. At the same time, he had to uncover the secret to the longevity of the Zhang family.
Zhang Dafuye, although he completely did not understand his main clan, the Zhang family, still had some impressions from the memories of his ancestors. Moreover, there were more or less records in the books of the Zhang family. Therefore, he learned that all the secrets of his ancestors were hidden in the ancient Zhang family building—specifically, in the collective burial site of the Zhang family.
He needed to find the ancient Zhang family building. First, he initiated the Zhang Qiling Plan, aiming to locate the Zhang family patriarch who had completely disappeared during the war. Many people with the same name as Zhang Qiling were brought in, but the real person was never found. At that time, the Old Nine Gates were all under Zhang Dafuye’s surveillance. On one hand, it was for protection, and on the other, it was for monitoring. Finally, in the 1960s, they found Zhang Qiling. Under his leadership, the Old Nine Gates conducted the largest joint tomb raiding operation in history, but it ended in severe losses.
That operation led to two consequences. The first was that Zhang Qiling’s authority was greatly questioned, and the entire organization split into two factions. One faction, saved by Zhang Qiling, supported him vigorously. The most intelligent among the Old Nine Gates, like Old Lady Huo, worshipped Zhang Qiling like a deity, making the control of the Zhang Dafuye family quite awkward. The other faction blamed Zhang Qiling entirely for the failure of the operation. Meanwhile, within the Zhang Dafuye family, the entire faction also split into two. Zhang Qiling’s faction faced the risk of being purged, while the second faction, due to its close ties with the higher-ups, grew increasingly powerful, leading to intense infighting between the two sides.
My grandfather developed a strong desire to withdraw; he did not want to see anyone die for meaningless reasons, nor did he want to see former heroes perish in vain while following Zhang Dafuye. Thus, he consistently sided with Zhang Qiling. Zhang Qiling was severely injured during that operation, and when he woke up, he had completely lost his memory.
My grandfather made arrangements for his three sons. He knew that the next generation could not escape this fate, but the wise grandfather saw an opportunity for change. He hoped that in my generation, the Wu family could completely break free from this vicious cycle. Thus, he designed the lives of my father, second uncle, and third uncle according to their different personalities.
Grandfather’s design was very clever; everything was based entirely on the distinct traits of the three brothers. He chose the most cunning second uncle as his successor, hoping that my father and the most uncontrollable third uncle could completely detach from the organization’s control. However, what he did not expect was that the third uncle’s rebelliousness was beyond his control. The third uncle not only became the most skilled in tomb raiding among the three brothers but also one of the most favored talents by the higher-ups.
As a result, the second uncle became a dispensable character. The representative figure of the second generation of the Old Nine Gates, from the Wu family, became Wu Sanxing. At that time, the third uncle did not realize that this was not an honorable matter. Of course, the higher-ups also did not know that the third uncle was not an easy character to deal with.
Meanwhile, each family had its own plans. The Huo family, due to their marital ties with the higher-ups, was always maneuvering around Zhang Qiling. Like all women, Huo Xiangu did her utmost during that time to protect Zhang Qiling’s life.
In the entire scheme, Master Jie, or Jie Jiuye, is the one who sees through everything the most clearly. He knows that evasion like my grandfather’s or the maneuvering like that of Zhai Xiangu cannot solve the problem at all; in the end, the Old Nine Gates will be completely destroyed. He has seen too many such examples throughout history.
Once Jie Jiuye understood this, he began to play a very, very ruthless game. He found his son and made the first move.
The counterattack of the Old Nine Gates began with Jie Jiuye’s clever scheme.
The subsequent archaeological work regarding the Zhang family’s ancient building marked the first gathering of the second generation of the Old Nine Gates. They were unaware of how dangerous this exploratory activity was. Apart from a few core members, the others did not know that the event at that time was not actually an archaeological dig but a funeral activity. The archaeological research on the Zhang family’s ancient building had already been completed in 1970, thanks to the massive historical data obtained from what was the largest archaeological activity of its time (most of this data was the result of the efforts of Da Jinya Jin Wantang).
This was a force that had never been seen before, led by the powerful Zhang Dafuye family at that time, which completed all the archaeological exploration activities. However, after entering the Zhang family’s ancient building, this team was completely wiped out.
As a result, the higher-ups activated the already clearly defined second generation. This team was destroyed in the process, and only a few people who were conducting underground explorations survived. However, when they returned to the surface, Jie Jiuye’s team had already taken over everything.
This team did not carry out any tasks; they burned the coffins meant for burial, sealed the bodies with molten iron, destroyed all the data, and began to flee with the bodies. They were pursued by a strange organization that had discovered their anomalies.
When they fled to Hangzhou, they faced the largest-scale manhunt. In desperation, they could only seek help from my grandfather. At that time, my third uncle was exploring a hidden royal tomb from the Southern Song Dynasty under the guise of opening a shop. My grandfather used a trick akin to “the cicada shedding its shell” to hide the body inside the royal tomb of the Southern Song Dynasty.
Meanwhile, Jie Jiuye’s people scattered and infiltrated the organization. They began to systematically destroy relevant data, kill or replace key personnel, and it was during this time that Old Lady Huo noticed something was wrong with her daughter.
At the same time, another goal of Jie Jiuye was to rescue Zhang Qiling. At that time, only the sanatorium in Golmud was untouchable, with all the core data and personnel inside.
The research continued, and the fake archaeological team received orders to head to the Xisha Islands. While the archaeological team was assembling equipment in Xisha, the real Huo Ling and Wen Jin used fake orders to transfer the fake Zhai Ling and fake Wen Jin to Changbai Mountain while they infiltrated the fake archaeological team. To bring in reinforcements, Wen Jin found my third uncle, and Jie Jiuye’s insider finally succeeded in extracting Zhang Qiling from the sanatorium at that time.
In the meantime, Jie Lianhuan sought greater support and made contact with Qiu Dekao. Qiu Dekao’s internal connections provided assistance to Jie Lianhuan in obtaining firsthand information about the Xisha ancient tomb.
This was the first time that Third Uncle got involved in this matter. At that time, Old Master Xie had already passed away, and Xie Lianhuan discovered that there was a problem within the team. However, he could not immediately realize that it was due to the swapped person being swapped back. The situation was very confusing. Unlike Old Master Xie, Xie Lianhuan was not as ruthless; he could not sacrifice everything for the ultimate goal. He was quite puzzled by Wu Sanxing’s presence, so he also infiltrated the team.
At that time, Xie Lianhuan’s plan was likely to follow Old Master Xie’s line of thought and find someone to replace Wu Sanxing. Therefore, he had prepared a boat in advance. He followed the archaeological team’s boat from a distance, and there was someone on board whom he had prepared to replace Wu Sanxing—this person had surely been arranged by Old Master Xie a long time ago.
Wu Sanxing was completely uncontrollable, and what happened next was as Third Uncle had previously narrated. The events that took place between Xie Lianhuan and Third Uncle underwater were fabricated by Third Uncle because it was their first time alone in a situation where no one could possibly be monitoring them.
They had a fierce conflict in the ancient tomb. At that time, Third Uncle was in peak form; his skills, alertness, courage, and ferocity compensated for his shortcomings. The person in the darkness who attacked Third Uncle was killed in an instant.
Under Third Uncle’s questioning, or perhaps due to some opportunity, Xie Lianhuan revealed the entire plan. Thus, in the underwater tomb chamber, the two of them conspired together. Old Master Xie had already made the entire organization quite dysfunctional, and Third Uncle’s involvement changed the plan that Xie Lianhuan had inherited from Old Master Xie.
Third Uncle’s decisiveness and courage perfectly compensated for Xie Lianhuan’s flaws, and combined with his own caution, they began a faster and bolder plan to completely destroy the core of the organization, which was the descendants of Zhang Dafoye.
The most crucial point was that they had to find the sanatorium. Therefore, Xie Lianhuan put on Third Uncle’s mask and performed a double act. In the underwater tomb, Third Uncle used the Incense of the Forbidden Woman to incapacitate everyone. Then, they used the Xie family’s boat to transport the people back to shore and return them to the organization.
The Incense of the Forbidden Woman is a very special drug that causes a long-lasting state of confusion. Xie Lianhuan pretended to be the first to wake up and fabricated a story. They transported the people to the sanatorium. After that, Xie Lianhuan and Third Uncle coordinated with each other, using strategies to sever the connection between the sanatorium and the organization.
Meanwhile, another team that had been tricked to Changbai Mountain inevitably ran into trouble at the Yunding Tiangong. The mummified corpses we saw in the death loop were the bodies of this group. Based on the number of corpses combined with Shun Zi’s narrative, it seems that not everyone who entered back then was wiped out. I suspect that the individuals who impersonated Wen Jin and Huo Ling must have had some skills; I wonder if they were among the two who escaped.
However, the situation changed here. At this point, all the teams were divided into three groups: one group consisted of the escaped Chen Wenjin and the others, another group was Third Uncle and Xie Lianhuan, and the last group was the “Dumb Oil Bottle.”
The real Third Uncle has been searching for Xie Lianhuan and Chen Wenjin’s group. During their escape from the sanatorium, Chen Wenjin and her companions realized they could no longer trust anyone. Clearly, both Xie Lianhuan and Wu Sanxing are untrustworthy; they would sacrifice others to achieve their goals. The organization is even less trustworthy. In order to evade pursuit and seek the truth, they embarked on an adventure in Golmud and established a video recording mechanism to start warning the third generation.
As I thought about this, I felt a warm sensation. In the midst of the entire situation, everyone was utilitarian and bloody, except for the team led by these two women, who, when faced with such great adversity, still thought of protection and exploration.
Meanwhile, Third Uncle and Xie Lianhuan were hiding in Hangzhou, searching for traces of others. I believe Third Uncle’s persistence is indeed due to his feelings for Chen Wenjin. However, it cannot be denied that Xie Lianhuan may also want to eliminate them to prevent future troubles. When I met Wenjin, she reminded me that Third Uncle was a fake, which is also part of the reason.
At this point, the secret pursuit of Xie Lianhuan had reached an unprecedented level of tension. Xie Lianhuan eventually arrived in Hangzhou, hiding beneath Third Uncle’s shop, guarding the coffin and waiting for the date to arrive. From then on, the Third Uncle I encountered was actually two people. At the time, I simply couldn’t fathom that there were such advanced human skin mask technologies in the world. These two individuals were indeed very similar in many aspects, making it difficult to distinguish between them.
During this period, I felt that Third Uncle’s appearances and disappearances were actually due to the existence of two Third Uncles. These two were very familiar with everything, although their personalities differed slightly. They were simultaneously engaged in various activities, each with their own methods and clues, which intertwined to create a complex and bizarre situation.
I couldn’t tell when I was facing Wu Sanxing and when I was facing Xie Lianhuan, but I clearly remembered feeling more than once that Third Uncle’s personality had changed. However, it didn’t matter; they were like twins, continuously striving for the same goal.
Meanwhile, Wenjin and Huo Ling, along with their group, had concluded their investigation in Golmud, and their bodies had undergone many changes due to accidentally ingesting elixirs. Huo Ling’s changes were particularly rapid; she was starting to lose her sanity and her memory was declining. They used the abandoned sanatorium as a resting place to monitor Huo Ling.
As for the “Dumb Oil Bottle,” he had his own agenda and returned to the Zhang family’s ancient tower. Unfortunately, he fell victim to the amnesia that had plagued the Zhang family since birth, subsequently being used as bait to lure corpses into ancient tombs. He was rescued by Chen Pi Ah Si and re-entered the public eye. However, the organization at that time could not be compared to what it had become; it had become almost intangible, losing much of its control.
At that time, Third Uncle and Xie Lianhuan felt that things were quite clear. They retrieved a black gold ancient knife, a trophy from the Zhang family’s ancient tower, from the tomb beneath Third Uncle’s shop to test the “Dumb Oil Bottle.” Meanwhile, Qiu Dekao began to fully involve himself in the situation, unwilling to remain just an investor and a victim of deception. This led to Jin Wantang, who had acquired various materials from Qiu Dekao, coming to my shop to find me.
“After seeing the Warring States silk manuscripts at that time, Third Uncle realized that Qiu Dekao had now become a serious threat and must be controlled. Therefore, he organized the first expedition to the Seven Star Lu Wang Palace. Little did he expect that from that moment on, things would spiral out of control.”
(“The Grand Finale, Part Two” ends)
(“Tomb Raiding Notes” Season Two ends)
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