Chapter 40: Raging Sea, Hidden Sand: Fatty

Although I was somewhat surprised, I had already guessed this possibility. Of those who came out of the Lu King's Palace, Da Kui was dead, Third Uncle was missing, Panzi was unconscious, Poker-face's fate was unknown, and only that Fatty and I were left. This organization must have had a backup plan—I figured their first choice was probably Fatty, and I was just a substitute.

The boat reached the dock without slowing down. That Fatty had gotten a whole lot fatter in just a few days, but he was still as agile as ever. He leaped onto the boat with the others, and because he had the most momentum, he stumbled forward a few steps before steadying himself. When he saw me, he laughed heartily and said, "Little comrade, you're here too! Looks like our Miss A Ning has quite a lot of pull."

That woman forced a smile at him. They seemed to know each other pretty well. My opinion of this Fatty had always been mixed—half praise, half criticism. His arrival now left me unsure whether to be happy or sad. But when I thought back to his behavior in the Lu King's Palace, how he'd nearly gotten me killed several times, I couldn't help but get a headache.

He tossed his luggage onto the deck, sat down across from us, and thumped his back as he said, "You people rushed me all the way here—couldn't you have given me a little more time? By the way, did you find the place?"

The woman named A Ning shook her head. "There's one last spot left. If nothing unexpected happens, that should be the place."

That Fatty said, "I told you already, Fat Master here doesn't know a thing about finding dragons, locating points, or anything like that. You find the place first, then let me know when it's time to go down. If you can't find it, don't blame me. I'm still taking the money, though—that's the rule of the underworld. You southern barbarians have to follow the local customs when you come in."

A Ning sighed in exasperation and said, "I know you don't know how. It's already been arranged. As for the specific positioning, Mr. Wu will be in charge."

I had been pretty relaxed, but when I heard that, I was dumbfounded. In charge? In charge of what? I'd never even sunk a shovel before. I quickly said, "In charge? Don't you already know where the underwater tomb is?"

She said, "We can only estimate a general location. If we can find a grave robber's tunnel, great. If not, we'll need you to do the actual positioning and figure out the shape of the underground palace. All we have are some old documents—they can't replace the experience of a true earth master. Your Third Uncle was very shrewd; he didn't leave us any of that information."

Cold sweat broke out all over my back. It looked like I wouldn't be getting any sleep tonight. I'd have to think hard about the things Grandpa taught me back in the day, or else once we got there, I'd make a complete fool of myself.

Actually sinking a shovel was no problem for me. If anything went wrong or I made a mistake underwater, I could blame it on the sea. After all, I'm an earth master, not a sea master—this shouldn't really be considered my specialty. But planning the layout of an underground palace? That was way too difficult. Luckily, even though I had no practical experience, I still had the theoretical knowledge.

I thought it over, and the nervousness I'd felt earlier had mostly calmed down. I figured I'd cross that bridge when I came to it. If I really couldn't manage it, I'd just make something up and say the underground palace was strange.

That Fatty looked at me and said, "Good, then everything's set. But since we rarely get to come to Xisha, we should have a good meal tonight and build up our strength. Grave robbing is hard work." With that, he went off to find the boat captain, grabbed him, and asked what seafood they had on board.

A Ning didn't seem to have much of an appetite. She leaned to one side and said nothing. But I was feeling hungry myself, and the mention of seafood got my mouth watering, so I went over to look too.

There were plenty of Spanish mackerel, goatfish, and grouper in Xisha. Some people said that half the sea in Xisha was water and half was fish, so when fishing boats went out, they rarely came back empty-handed. During the tourist season, fishing in Xisha was a lot of fun. Fatty bullied and shouted until the boat captain, very reluctantly, pulled a big Spanish mackerel out of the fish tank and handed it to a crew member, saying, "Get a fish head pot ready."

Fatty didn't know what had just happened, and seeing the captain's grim face, he was annoyed. "What the hell—it's not like I'm not paying! I'm not robbing you, am I?"

But annoyed as he was, when the fish pot was brought up, the aroma was just indescribable. All my desires instantly turned into appetite. Back in the city, I'd never thought I could crave food so much. That Fatty's eyes went wide with greed. Before the pot was even set down properly, he stabbed his chopsticks in and grabbed a piece of fish skin. It was so hot it made tears stream down his face.

The pot had an incredible effect. Whether because everyone was hungry or what, all the new people gathered around. Even Zhang the Baldy, who had been sleeping in the hold, came running up. He leaned in and sniffed, saying, "Xisha is great—just a simple fish stew like this, and we'd never get to eat it in a lifetime back home."

Fatty shoved him away. "Sucking up is one thing, but keep your damn spit out of the pot! That's disgusting!" Zhang the Baldy saw he didn't know Fatty, so he quickly reached out to shake his hand and asked, "Hey, I haven't seen you before. What's your name?"

Fatty was straightforward. He looked at him and asked A Ning, "Who's this baldy?"

Zhang the Baldy's face darkened when he heard that. He said emphatically, "Please address me as Mr. Zhang, or Professor Zhang, if you don't mind?"

Fatty ignored him. A Ning saw the tension and stepped in, saying, "I forgot to introduce you. This is Professor Zhang, one of our consultants for this trip."

Hearing that he really was a professor, Fatty didn't dare get too out of line. He quickly shook Zhang the Baldy's hand and said, "Oh, my apologies—I really didn't peg you for an intellectual. I'm just a straightforward sort. My surname's Wang, a rough guy. Don't take it to heart."

That Zhang the Baldy finally forced a smile and said, "Intellectuals and roughnecks—we're all human. Intellectuals were once roughnecks themselves. Different roles, different roles."

Fatty couldn't quite follow what he was saying, so he just smiled back. But Zhang the Baldy didn't know when to quit and asked, "And what line of work are you in, Mr. Wang?"

Fatty was taken aback and felt awkward, but he couldn't come across as too crude in front of an intellectual, so he said, "Well, to put it simply, I'm actually an underground worker."

Zhang the Baldy heard that and immediately looked at him with respect. "So you're a public security comrade! My apologies—I didn't recognize you."

I heard that and had to hold back my laughter. This Zhang the Baldy sure was long-winded. Fatty noticed me laughing and shot me a fierce glare. He said to Zhang the Baldy, "Let's not just talk. Come on, take a taste first!" With that, he urged everyone else to grab their chopsticks.

I ignored them, picked up a piece of fish, and ate it. The texture was absolutely incredible. Before I'd even swallowed the first bite, I was already reaching for a second.

That Fatty ate a few mouthfuls, cried out in satisfaction, and then started demanding wine. A Ning said, "Who brings wine out on a fishing trip?" Fatty didn't believe her. He ran into the hold, rummaged around, and came out laughing, clutching a jar of wine. When the boat captain saw it, he was horrified and said the wine was meant for the Dragon King. He tried to grab it back.

Fatty was furious. "What's with all the nonsense? With this cheap booze of yours, the Dragon King's likely to sink your boat for sure!" He pulled a bottle of Erguotou from his own bag, shoved it into the captain's hands, and said, "Here—give the Dragon King a change of taste! This is a cultural exchange between northern and southern liquors, see? Hongxing Erguotou—good stuff. Don't you know a good thing when you see it?"

The boat captain stood there dumbfounded, not knowing what to do. Fatty took that as acceptance, tore open the seal, and poured for us. The liquor was indeed good—it was the famous coconut wine from the Li and Miao villages. We ate and drank heartily, wolfing everything down like a storm, not stopping until the moon was directly overhead.

That Fatty downed his last mouthful of wine, belched, slapped his thigh, sat up straight, and said, "Alright, everyone, we've eaten our fill. Now it's time to talk serious business."