Thinking back to the present, I have been completely attracted by his story. I feel like I am in an ancient tomb, with Wen Jin in my arms. Uncle San coughed, and I was startled. Suddenly I found myself hugging a pillow. I was embarrassed. How could I have fantasies about Uncle San's woman? I asked with a red face: "Why don't you say anything? What happened in the end?"
Uncle San smiled bitterly, "There's nothing more to say. The story ends here. I still can't figure out what happened in the ancient tomb while I was asleep." His lips trembled, "I don't know how long I slept. When I woke up, I found that I was the only one left in the side chamber. I didn't know where the others had gone. I thought they ran to the main tomb while I was away. I was very angry because Wen Jin always listened to me, but this time he made trouble with them, so I wanted to chase after them."
He took out a cigarette and put it in his mouth, his face looking a little grim: "At this time, I saw that the door on the wall was gone! I turned around and immediately realized that this was not the ear chamber where I fell asleep, but another strange place. Behind me, there was a golden nanmu coffin."
I smiled and said, "With your courage, Third Uncle, you will definitely not hesitate to lift the coffin lid and pour out all the good things inside."
Uncle San cursed, "Bullshit, I tell you, I was so scared at that time. I have seen many coffins, but water kept coming out of that coffin, in waves, as if something was taking a bath in it. I remembered what Li Sidi said about the sea ghost tomb. You know I am not afraid of zongzi, but sea ghosts are still a headache. I was so scared that I almost peed my pants. I was also worried about Wen Jin, so I shouted a few times, but no one answered me. At this time, the coffin lid suddenly flipped over."
Uncle San had a strange expression when he said this. He continued, "I didn't even think about it at that time. I saw the helmet was still in my hand, so I put it on and jumped into the spring. Then I escaped."
When I heard this, I said quickly, "That's not right. Didn't the room change? How come the spring is still there?"
Uncle San's face turned green, and he stammered, "Yes, of course it is, right there at the spring. Don't interrupt me! I haven't finished yet," he calmed down and continued, "I didn't care about the tsunami or not. I found the tomb and swam out. I saw the sun was hanging in the sky. I didn't know what time it was. I got out of the water and saw several large ships not far away. They seemed to be here to rescue us. I swam back to the ship and asked the time. It was already noon the next day. I just took a nap in this tomb, how come a whole day has passed?"
I stared at Uncle San. It was so fake. He must have encountered something decisive in the end. I don't know why he refused to tell me. What on earth did this old guy do in that tomb? Damn it, I couldn't force him. He was hesitant to speak, which made me feel itchy again.
I saw that he was silent, and I was worried about Wen Jin, so I asked him, "What about the others? Have they not come out yet?"
Uncle San slapped his thigh in annoyance. "I got on the boat, and for some reason I fainted after just a few words. I was later sent to a hospital in Hainan and was in a coma for a whole week. When I wanted to go back to look for them, I could no longer find the captain who took us to that place. On the sea, if you don't know the exact coordinates of a place, you can't find it at all. Everything on the sea looks the same." He paused, "Later I went to ask the Maritime Administration and their research institute, and found out that these young people were missing, and Wen Jin was with them. It's been almost 20 years, and there's still no news. I really don't understand what happened to that tomb. How could someone just disappear for no reason?" He slammed the table hard, his eyes red, "I fucking regret it. Why did I show off at that time? If I hadn't gone to overthrow that Hai Dou, this group of people might all have grandchildren now! And Wen Jin, I'm really sorry for her."
I saw Uncle San crying and snotting. I had never seen him like this before and didn't know what to do. He picked up the snake-browed bronze fish and said, "I thought about it for a long time and wondered why only I could get out and the others couldn't. The only difference between me and them is that I have this thing on me."
I looked at the fish and thought, "If King Lu Shang also turned over the sea bucket, he would have a snake-browed bronze fish in his hand. Can it be said that the Lu Palace is related to the shipwreck tomb in the sea?" But then I thought, that's not right. The two tombs are so far apart in time, one is from the Warring States Period and the other is from the early Ming Dynasty. There is no connection between them. I have no clue no matter how hard I try.
After Uncle San finished speaking, his mind was a little confused. He lay down for a while. I thought he had just experienced another painful memory and should be allowed to calm down. Unexpectedly, he suddenly sat up, turned his head, and said to me: "Nephew, I suddenly remembered something just now."
I saw his face turn pale, and thought to myself that he must have remembered something terrible again. He scratched his head and said, "Among the guys who went into the sea with me, there was one who looked a lot like the silent boy!"
When I heard that, my scalp went numb and I said, "You must be remembering it wrongly. He must have been only a tiny kid at that time!"
Uncle San recalled carefully, his brows furrowed more and more, and finally said: "It's been such a long time, I can't be 100% sure, but I still have the group photo from that time, which was taken before we went to sea. I can just ask my family to scan it for me."
Actions speak louder than words. My uncle made a phone call to give the order, and 5 minutes later, an email arrived. As soon as my uncle opened it, I felt a chill all over my body. The photo was in black and white. There were 10 people in them. The ones in the front row were squatting, and the ones in the second row were standing. I saw that the one squatting in the middle of the first row was my uncle when he was young, and the one standing behind him was that Monk!
I was sweating all over and thought I had seen it wrong. I looked again and it was indeed him. The eyes and expression were exactly the same. My hands were shaking. Uncle San looked at me, very confused. He had a question stuck in his throat for a long time before he finally asked, "Why...why...why hasn't he aged at all in the past 20 years?" As soon as he finished saying this, he suddenly seemed to wake up and shouted, "I understand! I understand!"
I thought he seemed like he was crazy and didn't know what to do for a moment. He picked up his luggage and walked out. I wanted to pull him, but he pushed me away and said, "You stay here to look after Pan Zi. I'm going to Xisha again soon!" Then he ran out without looking back.