The Lost Tomb Vol. 6

Chapter 1: Discussion

Two weeks later, Poker-Face was discharged from the hospital. I went to Beijing to meet him and Fatty, and discuss what happened next.

The most difficult thing for me after I came back was how to deal with the mess left by my uncle. The events of the past year, although intense, were all done in secret. My family had no idea of the drastic changes that took place on my side, and my uncle was really missing and might never appear. It was one thing to try to explain the events from this side, but on the other side was Poker-face.

He had now become a dead weight, and as his memory recovered, I had to face the problem of getting to know him again.

He had no relatives, left no trace in this world, and didn't know where he lived. He asked a lot of people, but hadn't heard anything back. As he had said before, he had almost no connections with this world. All his equipment was left in the basin, he had no money or documents, and at this time, he was left alone. I was afraid he had no other choice but to go to the side of the road to be a tramp.

Fatty had done quite well and opened a shop in Liulichang. We decided to meet there since we hadn't seen each other for several months. Poker-Face had regained his former complexion, and apart from the furrow between his eyebrows, the other things gave me a familiar feeling that made me feel relieved.

When I saw him, he was leaning against the window and didn't look at me. His eyes were like a mirror, paler than before, as if his mind had already ceased to exist in this world.

I said some conventional remarks at first, but he didn't respond, so I asked Fatty how he was and what the doctor had said.

Fatty shook his head: "Don't worry about it. They said he recalled some fragments. The doctor said he had been under a lot of stress, so he needs to be mentally stimulated to get better, otherwise it would be useless to stew pig's brain every day."

I sighed, not knowing what had happened in the meteorite at the last minute to make him like this.

"Do you have any plans?" Fatty asked me after discussing the boring stuff. "I only have little more than forty square meters here, so it's really cramped. If you want him to live here, I won't even be able to find a lover. When people see me hiding such a pretty face, they'll think I'm a pimp."

"You really have no conscience. He's saved our lives on more than one occasion. What are you worried about?" I retorted angrily.

"He's not living at your place, so of course it doesn't hurt for you to stand there and talk. You want me to pay to find a house for Little Brother [1] ? Say the word. He wants to live in a courtyard? I'll take him down. But he can't live with me; it has nothing to do with whether he saved my life or not." Fatty said. "How about this, I'll pay the rent and you pay for a babysitter. Let's settle him in the neighborhood and give him some good food and drink. We'll visit him on the weekends."

"You son of a bitch. You're acting like a sugar daddy." I said, "He's not a fool. You have to ask him what he thinks."

So Fatty looked at the Poker-Face and said, "Little Brother, what do you say? What are your plans for the future?"

Poker-Face closed its eyes and seemed to be thinking. It took a long time before he finally said, "I want to go somewhere."

I asked, "Go for a walk? Where to? Do you have a destination?"

"I don't know," he said calmly," I'll go to the places you're talking about– Changsha, Hangzhou, Shandong– and see if I can remember anything."

My heart thumped, as this was the last thing I wanted to hear–he originally wanted to remember something, but now his mind was blank and his past was a huge mystery.