Chapter 66: Raging Sea: Coral Tree

As soon as Poker-face spoke, I noticed that A Ning's expression was very wooden, even dull, completely different from her former lively and spirited self. Now, pinned to the ground by Poker-face, she neither struggled nor spoke, and didn't even look at us, as if this matter had nothing to do with her.

Fatty looked at her and found it strange, saying, "This is damned weird. I cursed her out so badly and she didn't react. Normally, if I ribbed her a bit, she'd have kicked me by now."

I know he's rough-handed, so I asked him, "Did you hit her hard just now? Look, she can't even speak. I'd say nine times out of ten you were too rough and knocked her silly."

Fatty was furious and said, "Don't you fucking talk nonsense! Would I treat a lady like that? I just held her feet, and gently too—didn't even leave a mark. If you don't believe me, ask Xiao Ge."

Poker-face told us to stop arguing and said, "Don't worry, she's not seriously hurt, just not fully conscious. She might have been shocked by something."

As he spoke, he waved his hand in front of her face and snapped his fingers, but A Ning didn't react at all.

Fatty scratched his head, puzzled, and said, "Could it be that this woman saw something and got scared stupid?"

I said, "This woman is ruthless and skilled. You saw how she treated me. How could someone like that be scared stupid? Don't let her fool you—maybe she's faking it."

Upon hearing this, Fatty became suspicious too and said, "What you say is true—the most venomous is a woman's heart. We'd better be careful. How about we each slap her a few times and see how she reacts? This woman is strong-willed, but a few slaps from us, no matter how chaste and virtuous, iron-headed and steel-armed, she would—"

I saw he was rambling off track and cursed, "Stop right there! Damn it, have you watched too many spy movies? Trying to act like a Kuomintang agent? Look at her like this—can you really bring yourself to do it?"

Fatty raised his big palm and made a symbolic swinging motion toward A Ning's small face twice, then found he really couldn't go through with it. He said dejectedly, "It's just a pity that your Uncle Fatty has never hit a woman. So what the hell do you suggest we do?"

I haven't spent much time with her, so judging whether she's faking from her actions is impossible. I said, "We can't figure this out anytime soon. I think we should tie her up and take her out first. Then we can call the police and let them handle it."

Fatty was furious: "Are you really fucking stupid or just pretending? We three are grave robbers—do you even know what grave robbing means? Hand her over to the police? Did you bump your head on a pig?"

I was really stunned. After Fatty's words, I wanted to slap myself. I thought, damn, I still haven't adjusted my mindset—still thinking of myself as the little boss of an antique stall. I quickly said to Fatty, "The last few times I went into tombs, I was forced into it. I still think of myself as a good citizen, used to asking the police for help when in trouble. I spoke too fast—just pretend I was farting. Let me start over."

Fatty waved his hand and said, "Forget it, I can see you don't have any good ideas. Let's just see what this Xiao Ge has to say. If we relied on you, the yellow flower vegetables would be cold by now."

Poker-face told us to stop arguing and said, "No need to argue. Her pupils are dull and her reactions are very slow—much worse than just being 'scared stupid.' There's no way she's faking it."

I saw he seemed quite certain, and had no reason to doubt him, so I asked, "Can you tell what caused it?"

Poker-face shook his head and said, "I only know a little about this—I picked it up during my own checkups. For a further diagnosis, I'm helpless. We'd need to go to a professional hospital."

I sighed, remembering how lively this woman used to be, and couldn't help feeling sorry. I said, "Alright then. We won't figure out what's wrong anytime soon. Let's not overthink things here. Let's take her out first."

They had no objections to this proposal—unanimously approved. Fatty said to Poker-face, "Then that's settled. Don't dawdle. This place is so ominous. Let's take a look around, and if there's nothing, we'll get out quickly."

I had already forgotten where I was, but when he mentioned it, I immediately felt a chill and just wanted to leave right away. However, seeing that the other two had their own objectives, I didn't dare say it out loud and could only steel myself and nod.

Fatty immediately turned around and shone his flashlight into the depths of the cave. Following his beam, I saw that the cave wasn't very long—a few dozen steps away, I could already see something at the bottom, but the flashlight's beam wasn't strong enough, only revealing an outline.

My eyesight isn't as good as Fatty's, and I didn't know what was inside. I just hoped he wouldn't see anything and give up the idea quickly—I couldn't stand this place for another minute. Fatty looked carefully, then suddenly frowned as if he saw something. I followed his gaze but couldn't see anything. I heard him ask softly, "You two, look at the very back—isn't that a tree?"

I let out an "ah" and said, "How could there be a tree in an ancient tomb? There's no sunlight, no one waters it. If there really were a tree, it would have rotted away long ago."

Fatty stared for a long time, probably not certain either, so he insisted on pointing it out to me. I had no choice but to go along. But I really couldn't see clearly. My eyes were straining so hard they were about to pop out, yet I only vaguely made out something like a branch. Its outline looked familiar, but I couldn't recall what it was. I said to him, "I can't see clearly, but that definitely isn't a tree."

Fatty shone the light again and stubbornly said, "I think it looks like a tree. See, it's even shimmering with golden light. If you don't believe me, let's go over and have a look."

I saw that his interest was elsewhere, and said angrily, "Don't think I don't know what you're up to. Even if it is a golden tree inside, can you carry it out?"

Seeing that I had seen through him, Fatty was unperturbed and said, "Whether I can carry it or not, we'll only

I was frustrated but had no choice. I knew Fatty's logic well: sightseeing means take whatever you see. That guy was practically a demon reincarnated—anyone who ran into him was out of luck.

I was about to make a sarcastic remark when I saw Poker-face make a "quiet" gesture and say softly, "All of you follow me. Don't fall behind." Then without even looking back, he walked straight into the darkness.

Fatty was overjoyed. He heaved A Ning onto his back and followed. I found it strange, but Poker-face was moving fast, and I had no time to think it through. I could only hobble along after them.

Poker-face strode ahead. The brick tunnel was the same width all the way through. From where we were to the far end wasn't far at all, and we quickly reached the so-called tree. This was the very back of the brick tunnel. Poker-face raised his flashlight, and we saw what it really was.

It was a huge white coral, taller than a person, divided into twelve branches that spread out. The shape really did look like a tree. The coral was finely carved, but the material was very ordinary—nothing precious.

The coral was planted in a huge porcelain basin, held down by pebbles. Hanging from its branches were many small golden bells. The golden light Fatty had seen must have come from these bells reflecting the light. But these bells definitely weren't made of gold, because in the crevices there was already green patina. The base material was probably brass, with a gold plating on the outside to keep its current luster.

Fatty was greatly disappointed not to find a golden tree, but he still wasn't giving up. He shone his light all over the place and asked me, "Xiao Wu, tell me, is this coral worth anything?"

I actually knew a bit about this. Remembering how smug he'd been earlier, I decided to tease him. "I'm not trying to discourage you, but with this quality, sixteen bucks a jin is already a pretty good price."

Fatty was half convinced and went to ask Poker-face. Poker-face nodded, and Fatty got depressed. He cursed, "Damn, I thought I'd hit the jackpot this time, but it turns out to be nothing after all."

I chuckled and said, "Fatty, don't lose heart. Let me tell you, even though the coral isn't worth much, look at these bells on it. These are good stuff."

Fatty didn't trust me. "I can see that sly grin on your face. Don't you BS me. I've dealt with a lot of these crappy bells—they're only worth a few thousand at most. What makes you think they're valuable?"

I said, "With your business sense, of course you can't tell. To be honest, I can't estimate the exact value, but I'm sure they're worth more than the same volume of gold. Look at the patterns on these bells. They're older than the Ming Dynasty. Even back then they were considered antiques. You get what I mean?"

Fatty was dumbfounded by my rambling, not knowing if what I said was true. I felt pleased but didn't let on. Actually, I couldn't tell the origin of these bells either. Bells are a niche category among antiques; most commonly traded items are porcelain and pottery. Metal objects rust and require special preservation methods, techniques only available in large museums. Ordinary households, no matter how wealthy, can't afford such maintenance. Moreover, bells are complex metal objects with many small parts, so those preserved intact are extremely precious.

Fatty thought for a while but still didn't believe me. He wanted to take one down to look at it, but Poker-face grabbed him and said, "Don't move."

Fatty had already stepped onto the basin filled with pebbles, but was forcibly pulled down by him. Feeling puzzled, he asked what was going on. Poker-face ignored him and instead asked me, "Do you still remember seeing this kind of bell somewhere before?"