Volume 2Chapter 5: Old Photos

My thoughts returned to the present. I was completely absorbed in his story, feeling as if I were in the ancient tomb, with Wen Jin’s warm fragrance in my arms. Uncle San coughed, and I was startled. I suddenly realized that I was holding a pillow, and I was embarrassed. I thought to myself, “How could I have such fantasies about Uncle San’s woman?” I asked, blushing, “Why didn’t you say anything? What happened in the end?”

Uncle San smiled wryly, “There’s nothing to say. The story is over here. I still can’t understand it. During the time I was asleep, what happened in the tomb?” His lips trembled, “I don’t know how long I slept for. When I woke up, I found that I was the only one left in the ear chamber. I thought they had gone to the main chamber while I was asleep. I was very angry because Wenjin had always listened to me, but this time he was messing around with them, so I wanted to chase after him.”

He took out a cigarette and put it in his mouth. His face was a bit ugly: “At this time, I saw the door on the wall, but it was gone! I turned around and immediately realized that I was not in the same ear chamber where I had been sleeping, but in a strange place. Behind me, there was a golden nanmu coffin.

I laughed and said, “With your energy, you must have immediately lifted the coffin lid and emptied out all the good things inside.”

Uncle San scolded: “Bullshit! I’ll tell you, I was so scared at the time that I was shitting and peeing. I’ve seen a lot of coffins, but water kept coming out of that coffin, one wave after another. It was like something was taking a bath inside. I thought of the sea ghost tomb that Li Sidi said the sea ghost tomb. You know I’m not afraid of zongzi, but the sea ghost was the first time I was scared, almost peeing my pants. I was worried about Wenjin and shouted a few times, but no one answered me. At this time, the coffin board suddenly flipped over.

Uncle San said this with a strange expression on his face. He continued, “I didn’t think about it at the time. I saw the helmet still in my hand, so I jumped straight into the spring. Then I escaped.”

I hurriedly said, “No, the room didn’t change? Why is the spring still there?”

Uncle San’s face turned green and he stammered, “Yes, of course it is. It’s just the spring. Don’t interrupt me, damn it! I haven’t finished yet,” he said, regaining his composure, ”I don’t care about the tsunami or not. I found the cave and swam out. I looked up and saw the sun hanging in the sky. I don’t know when it was. I surfaced and saw several large ships not far away. It looked like they were here to rescue us. I swam back to the ship and asked the time. It was already noon the next day. You said I took a nap in the tomb for a while, but how did a day pass?

I stared at Uncle San, it was too fake. In the end, he must have encountered something decisive. I don’t know why he wouldn’t tell me. What the hell did this old guy do in the tomb in the end? Damn it, I can’t force him. Seeing him speak evasively, it made me itch again.

I saw that he was silent, and I was very worried about Wenjin. I asked him, “What about the others? Didn’t they all come out?”

Uncle San slapped his thigh in annoyance. “I got on the boat, but I don’t know why I passed out after a few words. I was sent to a hospital in Hainan, and I was in a coma for a whole week. When I wanted to go back to find them, I couldn’t find the boat captain who took us there in the first place. On the sea, if you don’t know the exact coordinates of the place, you can’t find it at all. The sea looks the same.” He paused, “I later went to ask the Maritime Safety Administration and their research institute, and found that these young people had all disappeared. Wenjin was with them. It’s been almost twenty years, and there’s still no news. I really don’t understand what happened to that tomb. How could people just disappear for no reason?” He slammed his fist on the table, his eyes red. “I fucking regret it. What was I trying to prove at the time? If I hadn’t gone to pour that sea bucket, this group of people might even have grandchildren now! And Wen Jin, I really feel sorry for her.”

I saw Uncle San with tears in his eyes. I had never seen him like this before, and I didn’t know what to do. He picked up the snake-browed bronze fish and said, ”I finally thought about it for a long time, wondering why only I could come out and the others couldn’t. The only difference between me and them is that I have this thing on me.”

I looked at the fish and thought to myself, “If King Lu Shang had also crossed the sea, and had a snake-browed bronze fish like this one, could it be said that the Lu royal palace and the sunken tomb in the sea are related?” But then I thought, no, the two tombs are so far apart in time, one is from the Warring States period, and the other is from the early Ming dynasty, there is no way they could be related. I had no idea what the mystery between them was.

After saying all this, Uncle San was a little confused. He lay down for a while, and I thought he had just experienced another painful memory. I should let him calm down, but I didn’t expect him to suddenly sit up, turn his head, and say to me, “Big nephew, I just suddenly remembered something.”

I saw his face turn pale, and I thought to myself, “What terrible thing have you remembered?” He scratched his head and said, “One of the kids who went into the sea with me, it seems that he looks a lot like that silent little brother!”

I heard this and my scalp went numb. I said, “You can’t be mistaken. He must have been only a little bit big at that time!”

Uncle San carefully recalled, his brows furrowed tighter and tighter, and finally said, “It’s been so long, I can’t be 100% sure, but I still have a photo from that time. We took it before we went to sea. I’ll just have my family scan it over for me.”

He said, “I can’t be 100% sure, but I still have a photo of that time, taken before we went to sea. I’ll have my family scan it for me.” He made the call and five minutes later an email arrived. I was chilled to the bone when I opened it. The photo was in black and white. There were ten of them, crouching in the front row and standing in the second row. I saw my young uncle in the middle of the first row, and standing behind him was the very same stuffy oil bottle!

I was covered in sweat and thought I had made a mistake. I looked again and sure enough it was him. The look in his eyes, the expression, was exactly the same. My hands trembled a little. Uncle San looked at me and was very confused. He was stuck for a long time and finally asked, “Why… why hasn’t he aged at all in the past 20 years?” As soon as he finished saying this, he suddenly seemed to have an epiphany and shouted, “I understand! I understand!”

I saw him acting like a madman, at a loss for a moment. I saw him pick up his luggage and walk out. I tried to stop him, but he pushed me away and turned around and said, “You stay here and guard Pan Zi. I’m going to Xisha again right away!” Then he ran out without looking back.