The Lost Tomb : Restart (The Sound Of Providence)

Chapter 120: Poker-Face is Gone

Uncle Two and the others set off again, and Poker-Face went with them. Fatty and I leaned against the car next to the toll booth and watched them leave. At this time, I was in a very good state of mind. When I read "Slam Dunk" [1] as a child and got to the last chapter, I thought that the author was cruel for stopping the protagonist there. But now I could understand it very well.

In order to play in the national league, I have to heal my spine first [2]. It was just my luck that I wasn't taught how to be a grave robber when I was little.

The following month could be divided into three parts. The first third was devoted to studying Uncle Three's phone. I followed Uncle Three's instructions and didn't tell anyone about it. I only took out the phone when I was standing under eaves and made sure to close the doors and windows if it was raining or thundering outside.

For the first time, I felt like someone was spying on me during a thunderstorm. I kept feeling like an eye was looking at me through the window every time the lightning flashed.

I printed out all the information and kept it in various places. The journal entries looked like they had a lot of text at first glance, but there weren't that many words when they were printed out. Uncle Three later went into hiding because of those things with the Nine Gates. For many years, he didn't contact Yang Daguang. When he was at his most desperate and facing danger on all sides, he secretly looked to me. Based on his description, he must've been in the snake marsh when he heard that familiar clap of thunder [3].

I couldn't say for sure if Uncle Three's judgement was correct, but looking at the records in his journal, he seemed to think that the thunder was familiar. And it was giving him a warning.

After that day, A Ning died and Uncle Three hid in the depths of the snake marsh. It was the thunder we heard that day that changed his plans and let him know that there were other teams in the snake marsh besides our two teams.

If Uncle Three heard the thunder and ran away, then it didn't matter whether there was information in the thunder or not. Just like that tiger in the movie "Life of Pi", the thunder was constantly alerting him to danger. In a sense, it could even be said that he had been saved more than once. And he had heard that thunder again more recently. It reminded him of the leader of that meteorological team in the village that year and what he had said about me.

Although it sounds very far-fetched, it almost seemed like Uncle Three was in love with thunder and there was a witch in the dark clouds who loved him very deeply.

These journal entries were all dark and mysterious fragments, but they were probably just Uncle Three's theories. It was still unclear what he was doing, but at least there was finally something to go off of.

Time flew by and the second portion of the month passed by in a daze. I became good friends with Bai Haotian and waited for the moment she would become disillusioned with me. It was only a matter of time before her adoration for me would disappear and she would see me clearly. The beauty produced by the sense of distance was boring and clean, but it was never the truth. Nowadays, artwork produced by civilization was whitewashed to hide nothingness. It was painting and photography that truly reached the heart. This just showed that people saw more beauty in their hearts than reality could ever offer.

The light in Bai Haotian's eyes started to disappear around the fifteenth day. I continued to play Minesweeper as the time slowly passed, and it wasn't until the third week that I realized I never received any news from Uncle Two.

I sent a message to Uncle Two and Poker-Face, praying that they would reply when they got a signal. But there was no news, so they had probably gone into the mountains.

How fast could the relationship between people wear away? I often thought about this question. Some people didn't contact each other for a long time and might not even say a word to each other when they met again, but they wouldn't feel awkward at all. Others would spend a long time together, but acted like strangers if they had been separated for a month or two.

Would seeing Uncle Three again—if there was a chance—be the same as meeting Poker-Face again? Or would we act like strangers and have to rely on Fatty to find topics to discuss while eating? Poker-Face and I had Fatty between us, while Pan Zi was the one who had been between me and Uncle Three. But Pan Zi was gone now. Could I even mention that?

I remained anxious as the last ten days passed, and then three more days passed after that. Uncle Two had always been punctual, so the fact that he was three days late made me feel a little uneasy.

I left Warehouse Eleven early and went to Uncle Two's place. When I arrived at the entrance, I saw that the eaves were filled with incense. This usually meant that people had died. It had been a long time since I saw so much incense like this. Every time Uncle Three came back before, our clothes looked ragged and we had made a narrow escape. The dangerous adventures Uncle Three and I had been on were rare, but with so many serious casualties this time, I was afraid I would die if I went where they had gone.

Luck was no longer on my side.

I took a deep breath, entered Uncle Two's courtyard, and found that it was full of worn-out equipment. But as soon as I walked into the courtyard, everyone looked at me and froze.

All those pitying stares were like evil spirits swirling the air. And at that moment, they all suddenly seemed to be directed at me.

I ignored them and turned my head to look around. I didn't see Poker-Face anywhere, so I casually asked, "Where's Little Brother?"

"Little Brother is gone." Kan Jian burst into tears.

I was stunned, but still managed to stay surprisingly calm, "What do you mean 'gone'?"

Uncle Two came out of the inner room and everyone looked at him. His face appeared gloomy as he looked at me and said, "Come in."

He had just finished speaking, when Baishe sat down heavily on the ground. I didn't move but grabbed Kan Jian instead, "What do you mean gone?"

"Little Brother and Master Black are gone. There was something in that tomb. That tomb... I've never seen anything like it before." Kan Jian was shaking all over. 

****************************************

Notes:

[1] Japanese sports manga/anime. It tells the story of a basketball team from Shōhoku High School in the Shōnan area of Japan.

[2] This is referencing Slam Dunk's ending where the protagonist, Hanamichi Sakuragi, suffers a spinal injury and has to go through physical therapy. He misses the national tournament.

[3] Chapter 28 (pg. 139) of Vol. 5 "Deadly Desert Winds".