Chapter 198: The Man Who Came Back to Life

Instantly I got goosebumps all over, almost shrinking back there, truly never expecting Third Uncle to say that person's name.

It took a long time for me to react, and I stammered, "How is that possible?"

"How is it not possible? We were damn cousins, very similar in many ways back then, especially in that era—everyone dressed and styled their hair almost identically. If this could be true, only he fits the criteria."

"But, wasn't he already dead at that time?" I clicked my tongue in disbelief.

Third Uncle took a deep, meaningful breath, leaned back, and frowned, saying, "Indeed, he was definitely dead then. When the body was found, it was already stiff, bloated from soaking—there was absolutely no way to revive him. But aside from this explanation, I can't think of any other way to prove that both Poker-face and I are innocent. Come to think of it, the boat carrying Xie Lianhuan's corpse never returned to the dock. Together with those fishermen, that group simply vanished at sea, so he can be considered missing as well." He paused, then added, "Actually, sometimes I've wondered whether I underestimated Xie Lianhuan."

"What do you mean?" I felt a chill. "Are you saying he faked his death?"

Third Uncle nodded. "I investigated everyone's backgrounds, and none were suspicious. I then considered this: what if Xie Lianhuan didn't die back then, but sneaked back, teamed up with Huo Ling, and carried out this conspiracy? That would explain everything. However, the person who examined his corpse was me, and I remember clearly that the body absolutely could not have been a fake death. So I later ruled out that possibility. But now, hearing what you said, I feel that if he didn't die, it would explain everything."

I shook my head. "Since you're sure he's dead, let's not consider that possibility. Xie Lianhuan isn't a zombie, so there must be another reason."

Third Uncle sighed and told me to put this matter aside for now. We have too little information, and Poker-face isn't here. Discussing this won't lead to any conclusion. Let's talk later. After we finish, we can analyze from the beginning and maybe gain some insight.

I felt the same way. On one side was Third Uncle's account, on the other was Poker-face's account—both were just statements with no third-party evidence. To puzzle over it would only be speculation. So I asked Third Uncle to continue.

After that, Third Uncle's account became very brief. After emerging from the Underwater Tomb, he began investigating the whole affair. Since he had learned of Jude Kao's plan from Xie Lianhuan, he focused the key to solving the puzzle on investigating Jude Kao, while also searching for the missing people. Subsequently, he had several contacts with Jude Kao, but Jude Kao never revealed any information to him until after the failure at the Lu King's Palace. At that time, Jude Kao discovered that in the place where his entire team was wiped out, Third Uncle's group had managed to retreat unscathed without major losses. He began to realize that his methods might be fundamentally wrong, so he met with Third Uncle, and they had a long talk—the same content Third Uncle had just told me.

However, Third Uncle truly was Jude Kao's bane. He agreed to cooperate with Jude Kao and entered the Underwater Tomb again, this time with the goal of photographing the murals. But just like when Jude Kao betrayed Grandfather in Changsha back in the day, Third Uncle only used Jude Kao's resources, already knowing Jude Kao's purpose. He entered the ancient tomb, forced the accompanying people to reveal many secrets, and used that information to learn that their next target was the Cloud Summit Palace. Then he began racing against them.

During this period, there were quite a few adventures, but writing them out would be tedious; a brief mention is sufficient.

As for A Ning and the others coming to find me later, that wasn't arranged by Third Uncle. He said that if I just thought about it, I'd realize it couldn't have been him who sent them. Given my level, if I were his backup, I would be dead for sure—how could he harm me? I was fooled by A Ning; at that time, they thought that since I had made it out of the Lu King's Palace, I must be an expert, so they used this method to deceive me.

Third Uncle said that the reason he didn't want to tell me so many things back then was that he was afraid I'd get involved in this affair. Unfortunately, Jude Kao was surely very familiar with what happened at the Lu King's Palace, so afterward, they contacted the other able people from the Lu King's Palace. I was tricked into coming, Fatty was bought, and Poker-face probably decided to infiltrate your group after learning about this matter.

After that, things were very clear to me. After he obtained the murals, in order to reach the Cloud Summit Palace before A Ning and the others, he set off directly. But robbing such a large tomb alone always made him uneasy, so he left a message for Panzi. He didn't intend for me to go, but obviously that Brother Chu leaked the news and told Chenpi A'si. That old man forced his way in and had Brother Chu drag me in as well, planning to use me to threaten Third Uncle when the time came. Those people were all very formidable back then; they specifically sought out a weakling like me to be a spare tire.

Third Uncle shook his head at this point and said, "A person who had cooperated with me for so many years, as soon as he saw his own business failing, immediately defected to Chenpi A'si. Damn, he's no good at all. Now he's in prison—it's just retribution."

Jude Kao betrayed Grandfather, Third Uncle betrayed Jude Kao, Brother Chu betrayed Third Uncle, and then A Ning betrayed us. Humans are truly terrifying creatures.

His experience in the Cloud Summit Palace was also extremely terrifying. After all, he was alone, following the clues provided by those murals all the way, but in the end, he fell into a trap and was rescued by us. The details would be quite thrilling, but there's no need to go into them here. Third Uncle just glossed over it. At the time, I