Chapter 92: A Possibility Too Hard To Bear
After he successfully came out alive from below Lu King’s Palace last time, his entanglements with Wu Sansheng should have ended there. However… since Wu Sansheng and Zhang Qiling were collaborators, was his coming to Wu Xie also part of Wu Sansheng’s scheme?
Lin Yan thought of Zhang Qiling and his trip to the Qinling Mountains, suddenly discovering a fact: Zhang Qiling had always been guiding him toward Wu Xie both openly and covertly, subtly making him believe that if he wanted to solve the thing in his head, he could only follow Wu Xie!
And those so-called “truths” he had previously determined were all analyzed by himself! So these… were they Wu Sansheng’s idea or Xie Lianhuan’s? Or Zhang Qiling’s? Or all three? What position did he hold in their plan? What did they want to get from him, or was it simply exploitation?
Lin Yan’s head was about to explode from thinking, how was he supposed to know what those scheming old foxes were thinking one by one! It wasn’t enough to pit Wu Xie, why pit him too? If he hadn’t gotten involved in this matter, wouldn’t everything be fine?
After thinking for a long time, Lin Yan really had no clues. He shook his head, planning to stand up and get some fresh air to clear his mind a bit, but he found Wu Xie staring blankly at him.
“What’s wrong?”
Wu Xie looked at him with some worry: “What was wrong with you just now? Did you think of something important? I saw your expression was very serious?” Lin Yan’s expression just now was more than serious? His brows could almost squash a fly! Although he didn’t know what Lin Yan had thought of, he could be sure it was related to the topic they had just discussed!
Lin Yan hesitated for a moment, unsure if he should tell Wu Xie what he had thought of. Although Wu Xie knew that his third uncle and Zhang Qiling knew each other, the person they had seen before, Xie Lianhuan, was it Wu Sansheng or Xie Lianhuan? He couldn’t figure it out himself, and throwing it to Wu Xie wouldn’t make it clear either. Not to mention that Zhang Qiling was still present now, whether it would let him tell Wu Xie was another matter… forget it.
He shook his head: “It’s nothing, I was just thinking about what the third possibility you mentioned is…”
Wu Xie could tell he wasn’t telling the truth, but since Lin Yan didn’t want to say, he wouldn’t press further. Thinking of the third possibility, he gave a bitter smile: “The third possibility is that group of mysterious people who impersonated my third uncle twenty years ago. I suspect the mysterious people aren’t just one person, more likely an organization. I don’t believe one person could be so omnipotent as to drug my third uncle and the others, transport them out, and erase their memories. So far, aside from my third uncle’s body being fine, just his memory erased, the others all have something off to varying degrees. Xiaoge he—”
He glanced at Zhang Qiling, and after seeing no objection, continued: “His body seems to have delayed aging, and his memory was erased; Xie Lianhuan is said to have died at sea, but if the analysis inside the tomb is correct, there’s something wrong with his death too. And then there’s the remaining Huo Ling and Chen Wenjin. If I remember correctly, Wenjin Aunt was third uncle’s lover back then? Third uncle forgetting even Wenjin Aunt, that’s something to leave to third uncle. If when we go back, third uncle has already arrived first. Huo Ling Aunt… is probably the only one with no news yet.”
Wu Xie scratched his head; he did know there was a Huo family among the Nine Gates, but whether this “Huo” was Huo Ling’s “Huo” he didn’t know. If they went back, he should be able to ask Wu Er Bai to check? Since it concerned his third uncle, second uncle probably wouldn’t mind.
After Wu Xie’s analysis, the deck fell silent, and even Lin Yan didn’t know what to say. This organization hidden since twenty years ago was too mysterious; what exactly were they doing? If Lin Yan had some guesses related to “it”—he just couldn’t be sure where the problem was in Zhang Qiling’s recounted experiences, but whether it was related to “it” was beyond his expectation. Could the underwater tomb be more than just Zhang Qiling and Wu Sansheng’s scheme?
If that mysterious organization wanted to prevent others from discovering this tomb, why did they drug the expedition team twenty years ago, but when it was their turn, no one stopped them from entering, and even after they destroyed the tomb and came out, they specially left them a boat? If they didn’t want to hurt people, then why after twenty years, Chen Wenjin and Huo Ling were still missing without trace, and this time’s crew and expedition team member were also gone?
Zhang Qiling turned his head, and under Wu Xie’s shocked gaze, pointed to the lifebuoy floating in the sea. There, wrapped by the Forbidden Woman’s hair, only a bit of orange-red remained, barely discernible in the dim light before dawn as something drifting with the waves on the sea level.
“What is that?” Wu Xie looked for a long time, and could only make out a bit of orange-red from the pitch-black shadow.
“Forbidden Woman.” Zhang Qiling answered him, hesitated a moment, and spoke again: “Huo Ling.”
“Huo Ling… turned into a Forbidden Woman?” Wu Xie almost jumped up, took a deep breath, ignored the pain in his ribs and the numbness from sitting too long, and hurriedly stood up.
“Are you sure she is Huo Ling? How did you confirm it? She’s been soaked into… turned into that state, how could you still recognize her?”
Zhang Qiling shook his head, showing no emotional fluctuation because Huo Ling was someone who had once liked him: “I didn’t recognize her, I just recognized her bracelet.”
With him saying that, Wu Xie also remembered; in the few confrontations with the Forbidden Woman, he seemed to have indeed seen a bracelet on the Forbidden Woman’s hand, tightly embedded in the swollen flesh soaked by seawater. He didn’t expect that after twenty years, Zhang Qiling still remembered that bracelet.
Now it seemed that among the original expedition team, only Chen Wenjin had no news.
Wu Xie looked at the lifebuoy bobbing up and down in the water, turned his head to ask Zhang Qiling: “Should we… pull her up? Her family must have been looking for her for a long time. How about we cremate her and let her ashes return to her roots?”
Zhang Qiling didn’t answer, but turned and walked back to the cabin, seemingly heading through the cabin to the cockpit.
This… it’s not even light yet, and they’re leaving? Just as Lin Yan and Wu Xie were puzzled why he suddenly left, a sound came from behind them: “You guys… why are you standing here? Did you all wake up earlier than me, or did you not sleep at all?”
They turned around and saw Fatty had woken up, sitting on the ground with a bewildered face, looking at them, then at Zhang Qiling’s back: “What were you guys just talking about? Why did this Xiaoge run off as soon as I woke up? Is there something you have to hide from Fatty Ye?”
Wu Xie then remembered that Zhang Qiling had previously explained why he stopped the boat here, suddenly realizing: “He’s going to drive the boat; Yongxing Island is just ahead, let’s go to the island and see if there’s any supplies. If not… we might have to go all the way back to Xisha with empty stomachs.”
Fatty looked at the distant black shadow in the faintly emerging light, slapped his forehead: “This Xiaoge is reliable, knows Fatty Ye gets hungry when he wakes up! Eh, but what were you talking about before? I just heard buzzing in my ears, like sleep paralysis, couldn’t wake up.”
Wu Xie smiled: “Still that question from yesterday, where did the people on this boat go. But… we didn’t discuss anything conclusive.”
The boat gradually started moving; he stretched lazily, hands on the railing, enjoying the morning sea breeze amid Lin Yan and Fatty’s banter.
Actually, there was another possibility he hadn’t voiced; if that possibility came true… not to mention Lin Yan and the others, he himself couldn’t bear it.
PS: If no accidents, on shelves this Friday!
