Chapter 364: Yin Mountain Ancient Tower: Second Uncle

When I woke up, I found myself back in Agui's room, with Yuncai taking care of me. It was very noisy outside; I was woken up by the noise.

I wasn't injured, just exhausted, so after that sleep I was mostly fine. I sat up. Yuncai saw me, immediately handed me water, and then went outside to call for someone. Soon, Panzi came in and asked how I was feeling. I didn't see Second Uncle, nor did I answer his question. I immediately asked how Fatty and the others were.

Panzi told me they had been sent to the hospital immediately, and there was no news yet. He told me not to worry—if they were fated to live, they'd live; if they unfortunately died, there was nothing to be done.

Hearing this, I was a little relieved. Sent to the hospital—at least there was hope.

Then I asked what was going on. He was mysterious and wouldn't say anything, only that my Second Uncle didn't allow him to discuss these matters with me, that Second Uncle was still by the lake and would tell me in person when he returned, and then told me to rest more. After saying that, he went out, as if he was very busy outside.

Several stilt houses near Agui's home had all been booked by Second Uncle. I saw many of Second Uncle's and Third Uncle's former men, at least twenty of them. Recalling what I had seen earlier by the lake, I estimated that several hundred people had come this time. Agui had long since come out of his breakdown, busy coordinating things, but when asked about the situation, he knew nothing.

I had no choice but to comply. I rested at Agui's for two days, and after I had mostly recovered, Second Uncle returned from the lake.

Appearing together with Second Uncle were quite a few people, surprisingly some of my cousins from Changsha. A few of them had been following Third Uncle; they were all prominent figures in our family.

I thought to myself, what's going on? Why have all the Wu family people come here? I didn't dare ask, because Second Uncle and those relatives didn't look happy. After exchanging pleasantries, I noticed they were all looking at me strangely.

Second Uncle looked terrible. After a bit of a fuss, the relatives dispersed. Second Uncle looked at me, put his arm around my shoulder, and asked if I was okay. I nodded and said I was fine, then asked him in a low voice what was going on. He looked at me, sighed, patted my shoulder, and gestured for me to go for a walk with him.

We arrived at the stream by the village. He didn't say a word the whole way, until we reached the burnt-down old house. Then he said, "Your email, I've already seen it."

I already had a feeling that this might be related to that email, so I looked at him and waited for him to continue.

He paused, then said, "Do you believe what you wrote in the letter?"

"How should I put it? I want to disbelieve it, but I don't dare to, because I can't think of any other possibility," I said. "You've been with Third Uncle for so long; did you notice anything unusual?"

Second Uncle lit a cigarette, looked at me, and frowned without speaking.

I said, "This is what someone else said. Third Uncle didn't deny it himself, so it's not that I don't have doubts."

Second Uncle was still looking at me. He finished the cigarette in a few puffs, paused, then suddenly said, "You don't need to doubt anymore. I'm telling you, it's really true."

"Really?" I said. "How can you be sure?"

He said slowly, "We've known about this for a long time." I stood there dumbfounded, not believing my ears.

Second Uncle continued, "Xiao Xie, some things are not as simple as you think, but many things are also not as complicated as you think."

"If you knew, how could you let this happen?" I asked.

He stood silent, then made a gesture for me to keep walking, and casually handed me something.

I took it and looked—it was a photograph. "What's this?"

"Before the house was burned down, I kept one. I think it's more appropriate to show it to you now than then," he said.

I was stunned, suddenly bewildered. House? Burned down? Holy shit! No way! I immediately said, "Second Uncle, you did that?"

I wanted to say more, but he waved his hand and told me to look at the photo. "Let's not talk about those things anymore."

It was a very ordinary black-and-white photo, a group photo. Looking more closely, there was a strange middle-aged man, talking to Wenjin, with the rest of the archaeological team behind them. The middle-aged man wasn't someone I'd seen in any previous photos. He was very pale, very thin. But he looked somewhat familiar.

"This is the photo that Baldhead Chu wanted you to see," Second Uncle said. "I kept the one that best illustrates the issue. I figured that if in the end there was no other way and I still had to let you know, physical evidence would speak louder than my words."

"This is it?" I couldn't understand. "What's wrong with this photo?"

"Don't you know this person?" he said, pointing at the stranger.

I looked at that pale, thin man and suddenly remembered who he was. I couldn't help but exclaim, "Ah! How could it be him? Isn't he…?"

This person had no connection to our story, but he wasn't an insignificant person. If he appeared in a photo with Wenjin's team, then the scale of this archaeological team was far beyond what I had imagined.

We continued walking. Second Uncle said, "I can't tell you the details, but I can tell you a story. Xiao Xie, sometimes, some things are just a story, merely a story. Do you want to hear it?"