Chapter 175: Third Uncle's Awakening

About a month after the exploration of the Cloud Summit Palace, I stayed in Jilin to take care of Third Uncle. This time I kept my guard up—afraid that he might wake up and leave without telling me again—so I simply lived in the hospital, right next to his bed.

What happened later proved that I was very wise, but at the time, no one else thought so.

After his condition stabilized, there was still no sign of him waking up. His breathing was steady, his complexion ruddy, but there was no mental response. The doctor said it was normal; his wound infection had been very severe, and it was unknown whether the high fever had damaged his central nervous system. Whether he could wake up depended on luck.

I had no choice but to wait. During that time, family members came to see me a few times, but I refused to go out to eat, because I was afraid that if I left the hospital, Third Uncle would disappear again when I came back. My mother even called me foolish, but I was very insistent about my idea. So, to be honest, for that month or so before Third Uncle woke up, I hardly left his side for more than ten meters.

During the long wait, I also did a lot of things. I had mostly sorted out all the clues from the Cloud Summit Palace. Several consultants from A Ning's company, after returning to their country, had sent me their materials one after another, including more than a dozen metaphorical murals that A Ning had photographed in the main burial chamber of the underwater tomb, and the complete translations of the copper fish, etc.

Putting all this together, I had fully understood that part of the mystery concerning Wang Zanghai, and my mood gradually lightened. This man Wang Zanghai could be called a genius ahead of his time. Now he could rest in peace, because the secret he had painstakingly passed down had been received. Even though in my era I still could not explain the phenomena he saw back then, since the secret had been passed down, the day it would be solved was bound to come.

The other things I couldn't let go of were the goals of Poker-face and Third Uncle. According to my guesses, the people who entered the underwater tomb twenty years ago all seemed to be searching for that giant door beneath the Cloud Summit Palace, and all seemed to want to go inside. With my own eyes, I saw Poker-face enter in a jaw-dropping way, and among the corpses of Li Sidi and the others in the treasure room, the two missing bodies (I don't know whose) might also have gone in.

Why did they want to go in? Or what did they intend to do inside?

All the mysteries converged on what happened in the underwater tomb twenty years ago. Wang Zanghai must have left something or some information in his own tomb. That thing or information was the reason and key that made them all develop the idea of going to the Cloud Summit Palace. Unfortunately, I had to wait for Third Uncle to wake up to get the answers.

In addition, I helped Fatty auction off six gold artifacts he had brought out. This time, he made the biggest profit. The value of these gold artifacts was very high, and just a single Western-style gold goblet inlaid with agate on a high stem sold for four hundred thousand US dollars. Fatty was still very loyal and gave me some money as commission, saying it was equipment money for the next "carrying the lama." I swore a poisonous oath to him—there would absolutely be no next time.

Day after day passed, and I vaguely felt a bit bored. In the long wait, my patience gradually wore thin. In the first few months, there was still plenty to deal with, but later time was spent staring at the black-and-white photo on Third Uncle's computer. I often wondered, what was that damned Poker-face doing now?

Just when I thought it would be endless and this life would continue for several more months, suddenly Third Uncle's attending physician came to find me, saying he had important matters to discuss.

I thought Third Uncle's condition had changed, so I followed him to his office. Unexpectedly, when I got there, I saw an assistant from Third Uncle's shop. When I asked what he wanted to see me about, he hemmed and hawed and couldn't get it out.

I suddenly sensed something was wrong. I hurried back to the ward, and found myself grinding my teeth—Third Uncle was already gone. Just as I was exasperated and wanted to go punch that doctor, I saw Third Uncle being dragged back into the ward, looking dejected. The person dragging him was none other than my Second Uncle.

Since ancient times, the third brother fears the second; the second is always the toughest in the family, because the eldest needs to be detached, above the brothers, while the one who actually gets things done is the second. Third Uncle doesn't give face to anyone at home, but when my Second Uncle glares, he trembles three times. Fortunately, Second Uncle's ambition isn't for every brother to be successful, otherwise Third Uncle probably wouldn't be willing to stay in Hangzhou.

I kept calm and didn't expose Third Uncle. We chatted for a while, and I took the opportunity to outline to him everything that had happened since his coma and all my deductions. He didn't respond, but his expression changed slightly when he heard that Poker-face had gone in.

Later, Second Uncle went back, and before leaving told me to keep a good eye on this old rascal. As soon as Second Uncle left, I immediately launched a challenge, asking him when he actually woke up and how long he had been pretending to be in a coma. Third Uncle was very embarrassed, but since I had seen through him, he had no choice. He said he had just woken up and was only going out to use the bathroom. I decided not to bother with that—maybe it was true. I didn't believe he could pretend to be in a coma for a month, how could he stand it? When I pressed him about other things, he just let it all hang out and refused to say, claiming it had nothing to do with me.

I got so anxious I started cursing. I said, "You old man, do you know how much hardship I've gone through for your sake? And what about Da Kui, Panzi, and others who've followed you through life and death? Don't you think you should at least respect them, and at least let them know what they were risking their lives for?" This was pretty harsh. I was really getting angry, especially remembering the scene when Panzi sucked the pus for the old man. I couldn't even speak.

Third Uncle finally fell silent. He gave a few bitter laughs, sighed, shook his head, and said: "This matter has nothing to do with you. If you know, you'll probably only be more troubled. I don't say it for your own good. Why do you have to push?"

I shook my head, saying that even if it was trouble, it was trouble I brought on myself. I absolutely had to know the truth of the whole matter, otherwise I would never let it go.

I said it very firmly, and I said it looking straight at Third Uncle, to make him understand that he absolutely couldn't avoid it this time, and that he shouldn't have any illusions.

This was also one of the results of my studies over the past few days. I had anticipated this situation, so I had read a lot of psychology articles on how to make people lower their defenses in keeping secrets.

Third Uncle thought for a while, then let out another long sigh, as if he had finally made up his mind. He rubbed his eyes and said: "Alas, who would have thought, who would have thought. People say children are creditors from a past life. I thought if I didn't have any, there would be no trouble, but I didn't expect you'd still latch on. It seems today you must know no matter what?" I said angrily: "You still have the nerve to say that? Who knows who owes whom? Did you almost get buried alive in the sea? Did you almost get eaten by monkeys? Did you..." Third Uncle made a surrender gesture and said: "Alright, alright, since you're so eager to know, I'll make an exception this time and tell you. But you must swear an oath: after hearing it, you are not to tell anyone."

I swear oaths as a matter of habit—how could I take them seriously? I immediately swore a vicious oath that my whole family would die off.

Third Uncle was shocked by the viciousness of my oath. After a long pause, he shook his head and laughed, then said: "Let me warn you first, this story isn't something everyone can believe. If you don't believe me after I tell you, there's nothing I can do." I coughed anxiously and said: "What can I not believe now? Just say it." Third Uncle let out a long sigh, fumbled for a long time, and pulled half a cigarette from his pocket. I don't know how old it was. He looked outside the door, saw no nurse, lit it with a pained expression, took a drag, and then said: "That was a long time ago. If you calculate it, the whole thing started with what your grandfather wrote in his notebook, on that night fifty years ago. If you want to know all the details, I'll start from there."