Chapter 31: Qin Shi Huang Fanatic Follower
Lin Yan met Wu Er Bai in the teahouse.
Just as he had imagined, Wu Er Bai looked like a middle-aged man with an elegant appearance and a stern expression, but if one met his gaze, they would discover that his eyes seemed to pierce straight into the heart. In front of him, anyone seemed to have no secrets.
Seeing Wu Xie arrive, his tense face suddenly softened, and he even curled the corners of his mouth into a slight smile: “How come you have time to come here?”
Wu Xie pulled Lin Yan over and grinned as he walked to sit opposite Wu Er Bai: “Isn’t this because I have something to ask of you, Second Uncle? Of course I had to come in person.”
Wu Er Bai nodded slightly upon hearing this, turned his head to look at Lin Yan, and the smile at the corner of his mouth faded: “It seems related to this young friend?”
His cold and stern gaze made Lin Yan feel uneasy with cold sweat breaking out; mustering his remaining courage, he spoke up: “Hello, you must be Wu Xie’s Second Uncle, right? I’m Lin Yan, Wu Xie’s friend. I’m here this time because I have something to ask of you.”
“Lin Yan.” Wu Er Bai chewed on the name meaningfully, scanning Lin Yan up and down, as if he saw something interesting in his expression. Seeing Wu Xie subtly move Lin Yan behind him, he tugged at the corner of his mouth again: “As expected, no visits without a reason. Speak, what is it?”
Seeing Lin Yan tense up all over, Wu Xie, who knew well Wu Er Bai’s attitude toward outsiders, immediately took over the conversation: “Second Uncle, don’t scare him. We really are here for his matter this time. Lin Yan came from an orphanage before, but later the orphanage was gone, and his identity documents disappeared with it, so he never got an ID card. Second Uncle, see if there’s any way to help him get a replacement ID card? We have something to do in Beijing these few days, and it’s quite urgent.”
Wu Er Bai’s mouth corner lifted slightly, pulling out a very faint smile as he leaned back, tapping the table meaningfully with one hand.
“Replacement ID card? Not a big deal. What really piques my curiosity is—” He looked at Lin Yan, “Did this young friend go to the Qinling Mountains a while ago? I heard he brought back some interesting little thing?”
If Wu Xie weren’t watching beside him, Lin Yan swore he would have bolted out the door the moment the words fell. Damn it, he really had been targeted by this man; he even knew about him and Zhang Qiling going to the Qinling Mountains! As for the interesting little thing… you call a coffin a little thing?
“Yes, yes, I was in the Qinling Mountains a little over a week ago.” He was careful not to specify the exact place or what he took. Sure enough, he saw a “just as I thought” look flash in Wu Er Bai’s eyes. He had never been so grateful for that thing in his head! Being able to read expressions with that super sixth sense was incredibly useful! It seemed Wu Er Bai didn’t know much either, at most that he had been to the Qinling Mountains; otherwise, he wouldn’t be bluffing him about what else besides the coffin he brought back!
“Interesting little thing…” He gave a wry smile: “Isn’t a coffin hardly a little thing?” He tried to look open and frank as he faced Wu Er Bai: “I don’t find it very interesting.”
“Is that so?” Wu Er Bai turned his expressionless face back to his nephew, who was utterly confused by their direct exchange, and amazingly put on a smile again, leaving Lin Yan stunned: “The identity issue isn’t a big problem; really no need for me to check into it as well?”
Wu Xie was stunned; having help to check Lin Yan’s background would be ideal: “It’d be best if Second Uncle can help check it. He wants to know too. But with so much time passed, how to check?”
Wu Er Bai nodded, picked up his teacup for a sip: “Ten years ago, maybe not possible, but now just a few strands of hair and a few drops of blood will do.”
University student Wu Xie was still puzzled, but Lin Yan got it: “DNA?” He suddenly understood; thinking about it, DNA testing had been introduced into law enforcement in the 1980s and become quite widespread in the 1990s; now in the early 2000s, it was indeed very common.
It was normal for someone like Wu Xie, who didn’t pay much attention, not to have heard much about it, but for someone like Lin Yan who often read novels, especially detective novels where nearly every case involved DNA testing—he could even recite it. How to handle a corpse with no identity info? Extract DNA! Find matching missing persons’ families! Test DNA! Problem solved?
He hadn’t thought of it before, that knowing his identity in this world could be done this way! But what if he doesn’t match any relatives here? No, matching relatives would be the disaster! No match means body travel, at least it’s his own body; a match would mean soul travel—not even his own body!
For a moment, he didn’t know if he hoped the DNA test would find relatives for him or not.
Seeing Lin Yan frozen there, Wu Xie tugged his sleeve, plucked two hairs from him, and placed them on the table. Lin Yan winced in pain, clutched his head, and looked at him, only to see him blinking innocently: “You’ll have to draw your own blood?”
Lin Yan gave him a disdainful look; better if he did it—drawing his own blood, what’s that about! But looking at Wu Er Bai’s impassive face, he shrank back inwardly: “I don’t have a needle here; how to draw? Where?”
In his peripheral vision, Wu Er Bai tugged at his mouth corner, and Lin Yan saw the glaring three words in his eyes: “I have one!”
Lin Yan felt ten thousand grass mud horses stampeding through his heart: No, your nephew brings a friend to see you, and you’ve prepared what the hell? Were you ready long ago just waiting for me to walk into the trap?
Wu Er Bai set down his teacup and subtly gestured at the door; a Wu Family shop assistant came over holding a tray with a full set of blood collection tools, evidence bags, and even a small refrigeration box!
Absolutely incredible, Second Master!
Wu Xie’s eyes widened a full circle, finally sensing something off: “Second Uncle, when did you prepare this…?”
Wu Er Bai picked up his teacup again, lounging lazily in his chair, clearly in a great mood: “From the moment he came to your shop, I started investigating. Strangely, before going to the Lu King’s Palace, his history was a complete blank, as if he didn’t exist in the world. Thinking he’s your friend after all, having gone through life and death together, and not likely to harm you, I didn’t interfere much. You two were bound to come to me sooner or later for the identity issue, so I prepared a bit ahead. See, it’s being used now?”
Wu Xie was dumbfounded; so Lin Yan had always been in Wu Er Bai’s line of sight? And secretly vetted by him once? If he thought Lin Yan was a threat to him—he shuddered, couldn’t imagine it.
Lin Yan was also full of black lines. This is “a bit ahead”? A billion points ahead! Whatever, have to get through this hurdle anyway. At least the Wu Family are good people in the original story, not like that bastard Qiu Dekao; they won’t do anything to him. Since he’s tacitly allowed to stay by Wu Xie’s side, he’s inadvertently marked as close to the Wu Family, which ironically guarantees both his safety and identity.
As they, like two startled quails, obediently cooperated with the shop assistant and prepared to leave, Wu Er Bai casually asked Lin Yan a question: “I heard you had a new discovery in the Qinling Mountains?”
“Ah?” Lin Yan was baffled; what new discovery did he have in the Qinling Mountains? At most, following Zhang Qiling shouting cheers and bringing some things to suppress that thing in his head. As for archaeology, he wasn’t studying ancient script or mechanisms; even if he saw them, he couldn’t understand or remember! Even if Wu Er Bai asked, he couldn’t answer!
Seeing the faint expectation in Wu Er Bai’s eyes, he felt utterly done for… How was it that after all this buildup, this was what Wu Er Bai really wanted to ask? What could he say? Say he went to the Qinling Mountains to suppress the thing in his head? Wouldn’t that get him sliced up in minutes? No! There actually was something he could say!
He furrowed his brows, trying to make a sound. Watching Mute Bottle pronounce it so easily, why was it so hard for him!
Wu Er Bai’s expression grew even more serious upon hearing it: “This is what you discovered in the Qinling Mountains?”
Lin Yan nodded: “Yes, probably the only discovery I can identify. I can’t read the other characters or anything…”
“Alright then.” Wu Er Bai frowned, waved them off to leave.
On the way, Wu Xie asked him: “Mute Bottle took you to the Qinling Mountains? Which part of the Qinling Mountains did you go to?”
Lin Yan shook his head: “I don’t even know where. I fell asleep on the bus when we arrived at the station; he carried me to the place. After that, we ran through several tombs—I can’t even remember which, or the directions; just running around east, south, west, north. I don’t even know how we left…”
Wu Xie thought of the fright when he received him by mail and patted his shoulder, empathizing with his ordeal. It was just too damn scary! Packing a person in a coffin and mailing it—who thinks of that?
Lin Yan shrugged to show he was fine and turned to ask him: “Didn’t your Second Uncle know I went to the Qinling Mountains? Why is he so curious about my experiences there?”
Wu Xie smiled at him: “Who let you go to the Qinling Mountains! My Second Uncle loves Qin Shi Huang the most; he’s a fanatic follower of Qin Shi Huang. So…”
Lin Yan nodded: Got it! A total brain-dead fanatic follower, not missing even a tiny related thing!
