I sat with Panzi in my uncle’s shop for an entire afternoon, sharing some of our situations. It turned out that Panzi had started to regain some consciousness before I went to Hainan, but I had left in such a hurry that I only left my phone number with the hospital, and naturally, he couldn’t find me after I went out to sea.

Panzi is in great physical shape and recovered quickly, but even so, he lay in bed for nearly a month. When he was finally able to get up and look for us, he couldn’t contact any of us. At that time, I should have been in Shaanxi, and as for my uncle, it goes without saying that the whole world was looking for him.

I noticed Panzi wearing a black armband and asked him what it was for. He said it was for Daqi, a brother who had passed away; he missed the memorial on the seventh day, so wearing it made him feel a bit better. This reminded me of the time I spent in Shandong, and I couldn’t help but feel a sense of melancholy. Ultimately, that incident stemmed from me; if I hadn’t gone to show the silk book to my uncle, our current situations would undoubtedly be very different.

Seeing my expression change, Panzi guessed what I was thinking and patted me on the shoulder, saying, “Young Master San, in our line of work, what’s meant to happen will happen; you can’t blame others.”

I sighed, thinking to myself that it’s easy for him to say, but he wasn’t the one who killed Daqi.

After a moment of reflection, I shared some recent developments on my side with Panzi, which made him frown deeply. As we continued discussing our speculations, his expression changed, and he shook his head, saying that after all these years with my uncle, he was sure that my uncle was definitely not that kind of person and told me not to listen to what others said.

Having followed my uncle for many years, Panzi had a deep bond with him, and some things he just wouldn’t accept. I decided not to press the matter further and changed the topic, asking him what his plans were.

Panzi thought for a moment and said that he originally intended to return to Changsha to continue making a living there since my uncle’s business was still ongoing, and he knew everyone there. He wasn’t worried about not having anything to do. However, after hearing what I said, he felt that the situation was complicated and that it might require further investigation to feel at ease.

I nodded. Although I had basically checked everything here, Panzi’s relationship with my uncle was special, and there were many connections I didn’t know about. It would be best if he could look into it.

Panzi made several phone calls, and the other party told him to wait for news. I thought we would have to wait for ten days or so, but to my surprise, he received all the calls back in just five minutes. After listening, Panzi frowned and said to me, “Young Master San, I’m afraid you need to come with me.”

I was taken aback, thinking to myself, what’s going on? Could something have happened?

Panzi continued, “Uncle San is looking for someone in Changsha and left a message for you. But it has to be told to you in person; the people over there asked me to bring you.”

“Uncle San left a message for me?” I almost jumped up. I had contacted people in Changsha before; how come no one had ever mentioned this to me?

Panzi’s expression was very serious, and he didn’t seem inclined to explain. He said to me, “It’s urgent over there. What do you think? When can we set off?”

Panzi was very anxious. I had a vague feeling that things were not simple, but I didn’t expect him to be this urgent. As a result, that night, I boarded a green train to Changsha without telling anyone anything.

Once on the train, I asked Panzi why we were taking the train if it was so urgent; wouldn’t it be better to take a plane? Wasn’t that a joke?

Pan Zi was so nervous that he just patted me and said I’d know soon enough. I noticed he was sweating, which made me even more curious; I thought to myself, what on earth is he so anxious about?

The train left Hangzhou and first arrived at another train station in Hangzhou. After three hours, we reached Jinhua Station. By this point, I could hardly contain my curiosity and was about to ask what was going on when the train suddenly made an unscheduled stop.

It’s common for the green train to make unexpected stops. When I bought the ticket, I thought, given the distance, you should at least take a fast train instead of a hard seat on a green train. But Pan Zi’s mind was clearly elsewhere. Now that the train had stopped, I was secretly gloating—oh, you’re in a hurry, huh? Well, too bad, the train stopped!

To my surprise, as soon as the train stopped, Pan Zi gestured for me to follow him. I stood up, wanting to ask where he was going, but suddenly he rolled and jumped out of the train window.

I was taken aback—what the hell was he doing? The other passengers were startled too and stood up to look. Pan Zi shouted outside, “Xiao San Ye, what are you waiting for? Hurry down!”

I looked around; everyone was staring at me, and I thought to myself that I was going to make the front page of the Urban Express tomorrow. Gritting my teeth, I rolled out too.

The green train was quite high. When I jumped down, I ended up tumbling onto the side of the railway bed. Pan Zi helped me up and pulled me to run.

We ran into the nearby fields, climbed onto a ridge, and then crossed onto the main road, where a pickup truck was already waiting for us. Pan Zi pulled me into the truck, and it started moving immediately.

I was out of breath, and once we got onto the provincial road, I finally caught my breath and cursed, “What the hell are you doing?”

Pan Zi was also panting and, seeing my expression, laughed, “Don’t be mad; it’s my first time being this flustered. Damn it, I don’t even know when I got into this mess. I don’t know if we can shake them off.”

As he spoke, he glanced back at the truck. It was pitch black behind us, and it seemed like no one was chasing us.

I didn’t understand fully, but it seemed like he had planned all this. I hurriedly asked him what was going on. He lit a cigarette and said in Changsha dialect, “There are police on the train. My third uncle isn’t in Changsha, and the situation there is a mess. There might be police among the workers helping out.”

What he meant was that there were police on the train, his third uncle wasn’t in Changsha, and things were chaotic there, with the possibility of police among the workers.

As he spoke, he stole a glance at the driver. I realized that this driver might have been hired on the spot and shouldn’t be told too much. I stopped asking questions, but my mind was a jumble of thoughts. I wondered what I had become; was I now a fugitive?

What on earth was going on with my grandfather this year? Just a few months ago, I was a small vendor, and suddenly I turned into a tomb raider and started dealing with zongzi diplomacy, and now I was a fugitive. Life was really too thrilling.

The truck drove to a small county near Jinhua, and we got out and paid the fare. Pan Zi took me to buy a few old-style suits that were a size smaller to change into. When I looked in the mirror, I felt quite shabby, and then we hurried to the train station to buy tickets for the train we had just jumped off, which had only just arrived at this station after making an unscheduled stop.

We got back on the train, this time buying sleeper tickets. Panzi looked around the carriage and visibly relaxed, saying, “The police should have gotten off at Jinhua Station. There are checkpoints on both ends of the highway and provincial roads; they definitely wouldn’t expect us to get back on the train.”

This was my first time as a fugitive, and I didn’t know what to do with my hands and feet; I was so nervous I was almost shaking. I whispered, “What exactly is going on? How did the police get on to us? I haven’t done anything—oh, wait, I should say that the things I did shouldn’t be easily discovered by ordinary people, right?”

“I don’t know either,” Panzi replied. “This afternoon, I called our underground bank in Changsha. As soon as the boss heard my voice, he said two things: one, to take you to Changsha immediately because Third Uncle has something to say; two, there’s been a situation in Changsha, and we need to be careful of the police, and then he hung up. This boss has been Third Uncle’s partner for thirty years, so he’s definitely reliable. I thought about it, and since I’m not familiar with Hangzhou, staying here too long could lead to trouble; we have to go back to Changsha first.”

Seeing my concern, he added, “Once I got on the train, I immediately noticed a few plainclothes officers, so I contacted a friend and had him call a car to follow the train tracks as closely as possible. When we made the unexpected stop, I saw the driver signaling us, so I knew the opportunity had come, which is why I pulled you down. You see, the driver didn’t say a word the whole way; he’s also involved in our line of work, and you can’t say too much in front of people like that.

However, the fact that those officers didn’t catch us indicates that our connection to the situation in Changsha isn’t significant. It’s likely that someone big there has been arrested. We’re just small fry caught up in the mess, so you don’t need to be too scared; it’s unrelated to what you’ve done—at most, it’s just about disposing of stolen goods.”

I felt a bit more at ease after hearing this. Just as I was about to express my relief, he continued, “If something happens in Changsha, it’s all interconnected, and Third Uncle will definitely be implicated. That boss didn’t clarify things, and damn it, he doesn’t even know what’s going on. To be honest, we’ve been pretty low-key these past few years; we hardly ever went down to the ground directly, and it’s impossible for past events to resurface to this extent. I really can’t understand it.”

“What’s your plan now?” I asked cautiously, as I didn’t want to be on the run indefinitely.

Panzi said, “We can’t go directly to Changsha. Once we leave Zhejiang, we’ll get off the train and then take a long-distance bus to the mountains near Changsha. Third Uncle has a few antique collection spots outside, where someone will meet us. The bank boss will come by later.”

I nodded. Just then, the train arrived at another station and started boarding new passengers. A new person entered our sleeper compartment. Panzi gave me a look, and I quickly changed the subject.

As we chatted, I unknowingly brought up the topic of Chen Pi Ah Si. This person was quite famous in Changsha, and Panzi had heard of him. He said to me, “This guy has his own business where we are. I heard that after he went blind, he stopped doing work himself. After the Cultural Revolution ended, he took on a few apprentices to sell antiques to foreigners. He’s quite shady; almost all of his first apprentices have been executed, yet he’s still out there living freely. There are many rumors about him, so it’s best to keep your distance.”

I recalled Chen Pi Ah Si’s appearance; he didn’t seem blind, which made me even more curious.

We followed Panzi’s plan and, after several twists and turns, arrived near Fushou Mountain in Changsha. It truly was a beautiful place, with charming scenery along the way. Panzi had been active in this area for many years and was quite accustomed to it. We arrived at a grocery market in town, which felt reminiscent of the underground party meetings from the old days—turning left and right, we ended up in a shop that clearly wouldn’t have any business. The shop sold old computers outside, and pushing open the back wall revealed a small room. Further inside, it opened up into a narrow space left between two shops, wide enough for two people to walk side by side. A rain tarp had been set up above, and on both sides of the interior, there were shelves filled with freshly unearthed Ming dynasty artifacts.

A few people were there sorting through the goods. The person in charge recognized Panzi, and upon seeing him approach, he set down what he was holding and said, “Why did you arrive so late? We’ve prepared the basic supplies; when are you leaving?”

“Supplies? What supplies?” Panzi was taken aback, looking puzzled.

The man was also momentarily stunned: “You don’t know?”

Panzi turned to look at me, and I shot him a glare, thinking, “This is your territory, why are you looking at me?” He then turned back and asked, “Preparing for what?”

The man replied, “It was ordered by Third Master—five people equipped, for the job, right? You didn’t know?”