Let me briefly outline the process here.

In fact, many things happened in Xiamen, involving Zhang Haiyan, Zhang Haiqi, He Jianxi, and others, but I will skip over those details. After they took some time to rest, they set off immediately.

Reuniting with Zhang Haiqi felt like a dream for Zhang Haiyan, igniting new hope in his heart.

The train to Changsha traveled through the drizzly southeastern mountainous region, shrouded in thick mist. The carriage was cold and damp, but Zhang Haiyan felt warm inside. Occasionally, as he looked out the window at the stormy clouds and frequent lightning, he would think of Zhang Haixia, imagining that he should have been part of the scene he had envisioned.

The mixed emotions rendered both of them speechless.

Zhang Haiyan carefully considered how to interact with Zhang Haiqi, trying to engage in normal communication. The simplest way was to talk about work. When they first met, their conversation flowed smoothly due to surprise and many questions, but once it fell silent, they realized that after so many years apart, mother and son had become somewhat estranged.

They hadn’t shared a common life for a long time, and Zhang Haiqi was someone who was unwilling to reminisce or chat about everyday matters, making it not so easy to get close.

In half of such situations, Zhang Haiyan would just go with the flow, but Zhang Haiqi couldn’t do that; he was somewhat worried that Zhang Haiqi would sense this estrangement.

When they were children, everyone was a sycophant in front of Zhang Haiqi; it was just that everyone had different ways of fawning. Zhang Haiyan was responsible for ensuring that the conversation never fell flat.

Zhang Haiqi was busy reviewing information. The person they were going to visit in Changsha was named Zhang Qishan.

Zhang Qishan was the leader of the “Nine Gates,” which referred to the nine tomb-raiding families in Changsha. The specific background was very complex, and there was no need to know too much about it here. Zhang Qishan was also the defense officer in Changsha, having just taken office not long ago. The Japanese were rampant in the southwest, and this assignment was likely related to curbing Japanese espionage activities.

Finding this person was not due to Zhang Haiqi’s connections; it was because Zhang Haiyan mentioned Zhang Qishan in his report on the Panhua Reef case, which led to an investigation into Zhang Qishan. This gave Zhang Haiqi some understanding of Zhang Qishan. By that time, the name “Zhang Dafa Ye” was already well-known, and for Zhang Haiqi, a name with the surname Zhang and the character for “mountain,” would certainly attract her attention in other ways.

However, Zhang Qishan had ears everywhere in Changsha, and all spies who entered the city to investigate were bound and sent outside the city the next day. After two such incidents, Zhang Haiqi received a special gift from Changsha at Dong’s Mansion: Ningxiang Weishan Maojian tea, with a note saying, “Three times is the limit.”

At this point, she decided to let it go. Zhang Haiqi didn’t know how Zhang Qishan became aware of her existence, but since he was the current defense officer and someone who was on guard against the criminals of the Panhua Reef case, investigating further might be seen as intrusive and could complicate matters. So she sent a return gift, which was Qingjin fruit from Xiamen.

Now, going to Changsha to pay a visit felt like a last resort. If her guess was correct, Zhang Qishan must also be related to the Zhang family.

But if he was indeed a member of the Zhang family, he would surely belong to the “mountain” generation.

Mountains and seas are separated by a thousand years, and they cannot meet. In the Zhang family’s proverb, mountains and seas represent two groups of people who can never meet in their lifetime. When mountains and seas do meet, the Zhang family will surely perish. This was a saying she had heard a long, long time ago.

I’m not sure what unpredictable consequences I might face when I meet Zhang Qishan. As one of the few remaining members of the Hai family, I am actually quite distant from the core and have long since lost my influence. I don’t know much about the Zhang family, and this time I’m feeling both nervous and a bit expectant.

At this moment, He Jianxi has been sleeping at a small hotel by the dock for three days. He watches people come and go every day, quietly meditating, and slowly, he has decided to stay in Xiamen. He no longer wants to drift around. However, Xiamen’s development has exceeded his expectations. It is not uncommon for people like him to rent out their accounting services, but finding work is not easy. Moreover, in Xiamen, foreign firms are not particularly trusting of Chinese accountants.

His money can still last for a while, but the prices in the concession are high. He knows that if he goes back home, he will only be able to do manual labor and won’t be able to utilize his skills, which makes him somewhat anxious. As he spends money, he starts habitually organizing his bills because he needs to keep track of the amount to calculate it clearly each day. He notices the doodles on the money.

At this moment, he suddenly realizes that the figure with a blade in its mouth drawn on the money is the plague god, Zhang Haiyan. He feels surprised; he has known about two things for a long time, but the situation on the ship was too brutal, and he is only now processing it. He finds it strange—why is this happening? Could it be that the person who helped him is acquainted with that plague god?

Afterwards, He Jianxi thinks carefully about it. He is grateful to Zhang Haiyan; if it weren’t for him, he might have died long ago. There wouldn’t have been so many things to blame him for later, but the first person to save him was still Zhang Haixia. The money provided by that gentleman might have been the key to him not being killed.

At this point, it can be inferred that He Jianxi may not have recognized Zhang Haixia’s corpse. The demeanor and details of a corpse are different from those of a living person. But it doesn’t matter. He Jianxi thinks of Zhang Haixia’s eyes at that time.

So what does this doodle mean? Is it just a casual scribble? Drawing a friend’s face? He Jianxi starts to examine all the money carefully, and soon he discovers that almost all the bills have doodles on them. The doodles are hasty and done very quickly, not as obvious as the one with the plague god. On one of the bills, a single word is scribbled in English: “pls, deliver letters.”

He Jianxi sits up, realizing this is a message from that gentleman in the wheelchair, wanting him to help convey something. To whom? Could it be that plague god? He looks at the money; the designs on the bills vary, some have English, some have patterns. He finds a bill with more English, which says: “Killers are not ordinary people.”

What does that mean? Referring to those killers? For He Jianxi, anyone who can kill is certainly not an ordinary person. On that bill, there is also a drawing of a child carrying an adult on their back, while the adult carries an even larger person. In the child’s hand, there is a strange human face drawn.

A child carrying an adult? An adult carrying a giant? Or is it a small person carrying an adult, while a smaller person carries the small person? What kind of symbolism is this? What is the face in the hand?

He Jianxi is puzzled. After thinking for a moment, he starts to trace all the scratches on the money. He is determined to find Zhang Haiyan. Since this money is not a donation but a fee for delivering a message, he must ensure the message gets delivered.

“Thus, He Jianxi opened the riddle box left by Zhang Haixia before his death. No one knows yet the richness of the information contained in this box. He Jianxi is just beginning to analyze and make random guesses, but after many days, the information he uncovers will change the course of this story.”