Brother Chu’s words made me feel that he knew quite a lot, which made me nervous. I couldn’t help but urge him, fearing he would be like Uncle San, starting to say something and then stopping halfway. This made me show some hesitation, and Brother Chu smiled at me and said, “Don’t rush. I’ll tell you everything I know, but you have to promise me a few things first.”

“What are they?” I asked, thinking to myself: Is he going to ask for an extra fee?

He glanced at the door and shivered as he said, “You can’t tell anyone else that I told you these things. After all, if I can tell you about the mute Zhang, I can also sell information about others for money. If someone hears this news and gets the wrong idea, they might come after me. I’m not in a position to be careless; I still need to get out of here, and it’s not as safe as I thought. If I weren’t desperate, I wouldn’t be selling this information.”

I nodded; I could understand that. That’s why he wanted me to meet him and had to send Panzi away. The fewer people who know about this, the better.

“I’ve been friends with your Uncle San for many years, so in the past, I was often the one who carried out many tasks, like investigating Chen Wenjin. So, I know a lot more than you might think,” he said, shivering. “You know how deep the waters are behind this. You might not know, but your Uncle San often mentions you, so I know about you. Since you’re not involved in this world, I dared to sell the information to you.”

Oh, I felt a churn in my heart; this could explain why he had that photo. I asked him, “What exactly is going on?”

I continued, “I don’t know if your Uncle San has ever mentioned those people to you?”

“Are you referring to that investigation team?” I thought, recalling Uncle San’s words: They are all abnormal. “He mentioned a bit, but not much.”

“Your Uncle San has been tracking that group of people his whole life. When I was hanging out with him, I often heard him ramble about it, but the more he investigated, the stranger those people seemed to become.” Brother Chu finished a cigarette and lit another one. “These people seem to be independent, detached from this world, with no connection to society at all. Where do they come from? Who are they? What are they investigating? No one knows.”

“I know some of this.”

“But I advised him to give up. He told me he absolutely did not believe that such people could exist in this world. For those years, we exhausted almost all methods without any progress. In the end, your Uncle San listened to me and gave up. I thought that was the end of it, but unexpectedly, a year ago, after your Uncle San, you, and the mute Zhang returned from Shandong, your Uncle San suddenly told me that the mute Zhang was one of that group and hadn’t aged at all. Surprised, we immediately began to investigate, with the target naturally being the mute Zhang.”

I sat up straight, seeing Brother Chu light another cigarette, which I had lost count of. He took a deep puff. “The mute Zhang was originally someone from the Fourth Master’s group, borrowed by your Uncle San from the Fourth Master. So I sent someone to inquire about his background, and I ended up hearing some unbelievable things.”

He paused for a moment and said, “It is said that the first encounter between Fourth Master and the mute Zhang was quite peculiar. This incident happened four years ago during a corpse retrieval operation in Guangxi. Have you heard of corpse retrieval?”

I nodded. Corpse retrieval was an old societal practice that typically occurred during disasters, especially in places where there were zombie legends; one such practice was to drive away drought spirits. During these times, graves were often dug up, and sometimes there were real occurrences of corpse transformations. Villagers would choose the bravest among them to use lassos to drag out ancient corpses from tombs, exposing them to the sun to eliminate any harm.

However, the corpse retrievals that Fourth Master Chen Pi and Brother Chu talked about were different. Brother Chu explained, “This story begins with Fourth Master Chen Pi’s business in Guangxi.”

Guangxi has always been a melting pot of various ethnic cultures, rich in historical relics. However, due to significant cultural differences, the ways of the Central Plains people did not work in Guangxi. The ones active in Guangxi were generally antique dealers or those who dealt in antiquities, going to villages to collect antiques. Because Guangxi borders Vietnam, over time, some Vietnamese people discovered this lucrative path. These individuals would cross the border into China to excavate ancient tombs. Guangxi has a rich Lingnan culture and many ancient tombs, most of which were buried in the Ming Dynasty. The Vietnamese didn’t understand tomb robbing and would dig haphazardly, but they still managed to find some items.

In the Central Plains, business in places like Changsha and Shaanxi had become quite difficult. You might say there aren’t any fights, but there are indeed many oil wells, and even after being robbed a dozen times, there are still items left inside; it’s not entirely empty-handed. However, genuine items, especially those with dragon back patterns, are exceedingly rare. To open a new well, several parties would be squatting around to snatch goods. In such a situation, change was definitely needed, so many opportunists began to set their sights on other provinces. For a period, there were quite a few people from Heilongjiang digging up Jin Dynasty tombs, and Guangxi was also a route.

Fourth Master Chen Pi had a large network, so he also had connections with the Vietnamese in Guangxi. The reason for sending someone to Guangxi this time was that they had heard there was a group of Vietnamese who had discovered a significant tomb, the origins of which were unknown but appeared to be quite large. They wanted someone from here to go and “guide” them, as they didn’t know which items were valuable and which were not.

Three people went at that time, and they followed the Vietnamese into the rainforest, where they saw for the first time how the Vietnamese operated. The Vietnamese were fully armed, and it seemed that this group was not just engaged in this business; they were also carrying a basket. When asked what was inside, they said it contained “A Kun.” Fourth Master Chen Pi’s people understood Vietnamese but didn’t know what it meant.

After three days of traversing through the forests along the China-Vietnam border, they finally reached the site. The ancient tomb was almost wide open. They covered the discovered entrance with banana leaves, which seemed to be a cellar. Just as they were about to enter, the Vietnamese stopped them and gestured for them to be cautious.

As they spoke, one Vietnamese man took out the contents of the basket, and at that moment, they realized that it contained a naked man. The man’s hands and feet were bound, his hair was disheveled, and he was covered in mud. The Vietnamese then carried him and hoisted him into the entrance.

Below the entrance is the tomb passage, which consists of a series of stone steps leading downward. The Vietnamese men have drawn their knives, and Chen Pi A Si’s crew is readying their black donkey hooves. As they walk, they realize the scale of this ancient tomb is immense; after walking for ten minutes, they finally arrive at the burial chamber. Once at the bottom, a foul odor hits them. Following the stench, they discover a square well in the center of the chamber, about the size of a washbasin, from which the smell emanates.

This is a two-tiered tomb, part of a collective burial site from the Lingnan Kingdom. With their flashlights, they see that the well leads to a rather low burial chamber, only about 1.5 meters high, where they can see wooden coffins arranged in stagnant water, exuding a strong, foul odor.

The Vietnamese men directly push the bound man down into the well, then lower a rope loop, shining their flashlights as if waiting for some prey. Chen Pi A Si’s crew immediately realizes that there must be something wrong in this ancient tomb; perhaps someone had already died the first time they entered. This time, they brought a person with them, likely as bait to lure whatever is inside out, then plan to use the rope loop to trap it. This is indeed a method of corpse hunting.

Listening to this, it seems exceedingly cruel. Stealing cultural relics is merely for profit, but when it involves taking lives, it becomes something else entirely. However, the situation on that side is historically complicated and hard to generalize. Chen Pi A Si’s crew knows that the Vietnamese are desperate men, and such matters cannot be interfered with; otherwise, they don’t know what kind of things they might do.

But after waiting for a long time, there was no movement at all. The Vietnamese were puzzled and began discussing in Vietnamese for a while, after which the leader forced one of the Vietnamese to go down and check.

Once that man went down and looked around, he waved his hand, indicating that everything was fine. The other Vietnamese then went down as well and began to haul things up. At that moment, Chen Pi A Si’s crew, feeling overconfident, did not follow them down. As a result, just as they were about to haul up two items, suddenly there was a commotion below, and they heard someone scream in agony, with blood splattering from the well.

These Vietnamese men were quite fierce; some immediately tried to escape, and indeed, two managed to climb up. Then, suddenly, a long-nailed corpse hand reached out from the well, almost pulling the leader down with it. They were terrified and had no choice but to seal the well with stones, piling up more than a dozen large rocks, and then they fled in a panic.

Later, this incident reached Chen Pi A Si. For someone experienced like him, it was impossible to give up on this ancient tomb just because there were a few corpses inside. So, Chen Pi A Si personally led a team back to Guangxi, and when they arrived at the ancient tomb, it was already a week later. After moving the stones, they discovered a scene of chaos below, filled with severed limbs and a stench overwhelming the senses.

Chen Pi A Si thought everyone must be dead, but upon descending, he saw a dozen corpses lying on one side of the chamber, all with their necks twisted. In the center, a naked man sat on a coffin, looking at him with a blank expression.

Chu Ge said, “This man is the one who was previously used as bait by the Vietnamese, ‘A Kun,’ who is now the mute Zhang. This was their first meeting.”

I gasped, “This is too dramatic.”

“There’s definitely some exaggeration in this story; it’s easy to get carried away in this line of work,” Brother Chu said, seeming to enjoy recounting the tale, perhaps reliving moments from before his imprisonment. “It’s said that those Vietnamese found a mute man named Zhang in a village in Guangxi. At the time, he was in a confused state, and they thought he was a fool, so they tied him up to use as bait. But that’s probably the gist of it; the exaggeration might just be about the number of rice dumplings or something. After that, he became a partner of the Fourth Master. This story has circulated widely among the capable people under the Fourth Master, but they don’t say anything to outsiders.”

“And what about the events before that?” I asked.

“No one knows. Mute Zhang is quite remarkable, and the Fourth Master values him a lot. However, I think the Fourth Master probably doesn’t know his background either. There are rules on the streets, and such matters aren’t usually questioned.”

I thought to myself that it wouldn’t matter if Chen Pi A Si knew; he didn’t even know where he was now, so how could I ask him?

“Although this is just a legend, at least it gave your third uncle a direction,” Brother Chu said. “However, things took a sudden turn. Your third uncle was eager to go to the Xisha Islands, so I went to Guangxi on his behalf, taking a photo of Mute Zhang to inquire about news in that area. But damn, it was no ordinary job; it took me two whole months before I got some clues in a small village called Ba Nai…”

That village was in the mountains, near the China-Vietnam border, where someone recognized Mute Zhang, known locally as A Kun, and took Brother Chu to where A Kun lived.

I gasped in surprise, “You mean he lived in a rural area of Guangxi?”

“Quite remote, but that place is a territory of Chen Pi A Si in Guangxi, and there are many Vietnamese people. He should have lived there, but I can’t say for sure. I contacted him through the Fourth Master to go to Changbai Mountain. He probably spends most of his time working in the fields, as it was clear the house wasn’t lived in much. Maybe he hasn’t returned since he left Guangxi back then.”

“What was his house like?” I asked, curious about what the home of the mute man would be like.

“Very ordinary. It was a stilt house, just like the earthen houses of the local ethnic minorities. Inside, there was just a bed and a table, and on that table, there was glass covering several photos. I sneaked in because that was the Fourth Master’s territory. I didn’t dare to be reckless and didn’t take anything out; I just rummaged around a bit and took one of the photos out—the one I showed you—planning to discuss it with your third uncle before deciding what to do. But I didn’t expect Chen Pi A Si had been watching me for a long time. I was caught red-handed before I even left Ba Nai, and you know what happened after that.” He paused and added, “I have a feeling that when I was in Changsha looking into Mute Zhang, the Fourth Master had already noticed me. He probably knew something, so as soon as I arrived in Ba Nai, I was under surveillance. I had no other choice but to team up with him to deal with your third uncle.”

I asked, “So what’s the big secret behind this?”

Brother Chu looked at me, trembling again, “I can’t say that…”

I really dislike it when people play coy with me, so I said, “What can’t you say? Are you short on money or something?”

Chu Ge trembled as he said, “Young Master San, to be honest, your third uncle was most averse to you digging into the past when he was around. Now that his life and death are uncertain, who can guarantee that one day he won’t suddenly appear? If you find out about these matters on your own, that’s one thing, but if he learns that I was the one who told you, I fear for my life. Your third uncle isn’t exactly a good-natured person; I’ve sold him out once before, but that was somewhat justifiable. However, if I betray him again over this matter, it wouldn’t be morally acceptable. You also mentioned that there are rules in our line of work. If you want to know more, go to that house and look at the other photos pressed under the glass on that table. You’ll naturally understand why I urged you to back off. I can only tell you this much; I absolutely cannot disclose any specific details.”

He wanted to light a cigarette, but he had run out. Coughing once, his gaze became vacant, oddly reminiscent of the look in the eyes of the “Dumb Oil Bottle.”