Chapter 202: Snake Swamp Ghost City Chapter 28: The Eleventh Person

Third Uncle said this, but I had already noticed it as well; I just hadn't said it out loud. On one hand, the videotape wasn't clear, and I wasn't sure if I had seen correctly; on the other hand, I believed he would realize it soon.

Sure enough, Third Uncle paused the picture and leaned in to look. I also leaned in, wanting to see more clearly and confirm.

After a few glances, I concluded that, without a doubt, Huo Ling was no more than thirty when she filmed the tape. It wasn't that she looked young, but that girlish physique couldn't be faked by a woman trying to act young. Moreover, I had to admit that Huo Ling really was quite cute; no wonder she had the men in the archaeological team completely infatuated. The expressiveness of a black-and-white screen is far inferior to color, but her somewhat dazed eyes and delicate features still gave one a heart-thumping feeling. With such a face, she must have been very confident, having grown up surrounded by admirers. So when she met a silent type like Poker-face who ignored her, her reaction was logical. But now it seemed those reactions might also have been faked; if that was the case, this woman was probably a formidable character.

Third Uncle's face darkened. He slumped into the sofa and clicked his tongue. "One is like this, two are like this. Damn it, could all those missing people be the same? What exactly did they encounter afterward?"

I thought about it and shook my head, telling Third Uncle he couldn't be so hasty. Here we didn't know the exact time the video was shot; judging by the style of the phone, it might be around the 1990s. That wasn't long after she disappeared in the underwater tomb. We didn't know how old Huo Ling was then. If she was only seventeen or eighteen at the time, even after ten years she would only be twenty-seven or twenty-eight, so we couldn't conclude that she hadn't aged.

Third Uncle let out a thoughtful hum, clearly not paying much attention to my words. He continued playing the video, and we kept watching.

However, unexpectedly, just a few minutes into it, suddenly the screen turned to snow.

We thought it was a problem with the tape. We waited a while, but the snow continued. Third Uncle fast-forwarded to the end; it was all snow.

"What's going on?" Third Uncle was a bit annoyed. He wasn't good with electronics and thought the machine was broken, so he wanted to slap it.

I stopped him, took out the tape, pulled out the tape to look, and found no mold. I then knew what had happened: "It's been erased."

Judging by the continuity of the earlier footage, there should have been content afterward. Now it suddenly turned to snow, clearly erased.

The tape had never been touched since we got it, and the VCR was brand new. It couldn't have been an accidental operation. The tape must have been erased before it was sent. But if it was done on purpose, why not erase the earlier part as well, leaving only that baffling segment? Could it be that the content afterward wasn't meant for us? Third Uncle and I looked at each other, completely baffled. What did Poker-face mean? Was he messing with us? That didn't seem likely; the guy didn't seem like someone so frivolous.

Third Uncle thought for a moment, then had me put the tape back in and rewind to watch again, wanting to see if there was anything we had missed earlier. Since part of it had been fast-forwarded, he felt uneasy not checking carefully.

This time we watched it second by second, the room dead silent. If eyes had power, the TV would have exploded from our staring. Yet after watching through, our eyes bloodshot, we still didn't find any clue that could interest us.

After that, we played the other videotape. But this time it was even more absurd — it was completely blank, all snow. We watched the snow back and forth twice, and felt dizzy.

At first, we were very excited to watch the tapes, but after watching, we were immensely frustrated and confused. I had even thought I might see the inside of the bronze door, but unexpectedly, the footage was so inexplicable.

We turned off the machine, and Third Uncle and I pondered what was going on. But after thinking for a long time, we found there was nowhere to start.

I told Third Uncle the information I had found yesterday: the tapes came from Golmud in Qinghai. Therefore, it could be assumed that Poker-face sent the package from Qinghai, so he must be in the city of Golmud now. Could it be that he found these two tapes in Golmud and then sent them to us? That was also impossible to confirm. However, from these tapes, we could know one thing: those people who disappeared in the underwater tomb were clearly not dead; they were still alive in the 1990s, but their behavior was abnormal. Most of these people should have died in the Cloud Summit Palace. I didn't tell Third Uncle this, afraid he would break down, because Wenjin might be among them.

After that, I forced myself to watch a few more times but really couldn't find any issue. Third Uncle wanted to keep watching the tapes, so I went back to catch up on sleep. Later, Third Uncle made a copy of the tape and gave me back the original, saying he would study it himself. A few days later, Panzi heard that Third Uncle had woken up and came to Jilin to pick him up.

This time, Third Uncle's business suffered huge losses. His men were either caught or fled, and his status in Changsha plummeted. But Third Uncle himself didn't care; to him, money was just a symbol. Before leaving, Third Uncle told me that if there were more to this matter, I shouldn't get involved. I had been extremely lucky before, and there were noble people protecting me. But good things only come in threes; heaven wouldn't protect me forever. It was better to run my own shop well. In the future, maybe I would have to manage his businesses.

I nodded on the surface but thought to myself, forget it. I'm probably not destined to enjoy that kind of life. Better to stick to my old trade.

Enough idle talk. After Third Uncle left, I also prepared to return to Hangzhou. But since I hadn't really spent time in Jilin, I delayed a few days, contacted some friends nearby, partly to relax and partly to catch up.

I had a few college classmates in Changchun, so they came over. We walked around, talked about old times, and gradually my mood lifted. Later we visited some surrounding cities, browsed antique markets, and helped them pick out some antiques. Before I knew it, another two weeks had passed.

After experiencing so much, I became a bit less particular about details. Before, I used to bargain when spending money, but now I just felt the simplicity of cash-and-carry. However, because of this, my money gradually dwindled.

Several friends were surprised by my change. "A miser actually spends money?" they couldn't believe it. They all asked what had gotten into me.

During a meal, I picked out the highlights and told them about my experiences, partly to boast. After I finished, not a single one believed me. One of them laughed and said, "Are the people you said went down to the sea the same as those in the photo you asked me to look up?"

When he said that, I remembered. Before, I had found a photo online with the caption "The fish is with me." At the time, I had asked this person to look into it. The only thing we found was that it was posted online from Jilin, and then the trail went cold.

Now that I thought about it, it was strange. The internet had only really developed in recent years. Who could have posted it? Since I remembered, I asked that person if he had found anything more. He shook his head, clearly not taking my matter too seriously. He just said, "That kind of photo is too common. Plus it's from so long ago; data from that era generally isn't online. I could only use technical means, and that IP address was the only thing I could find. I think if you really want to know, you'd better go to the National Archives and find out which eleven-person archaeological team went missing twenty years ago. That might give you more information."

I thought about it; that did make sense. But someone nearby corrected him: "You're mistaken. I've also seen that photo; there were ten people."

The first shook his head and said, "No, I think it was eleven people."

My heart jumped. I asked him, "Why?"

He laughed and said, "There were ten people in the photo, but wasn't there also a person taking the picture? Didn't you think of that?"