Daomu Biji: Restart

It’s not important whether this Xie Lianhuan was the real Xie Lianhuan or Schrodinger's Wu Sanxing, but since it was Xiao Hua's narrative, I’ll just refer to him as Xie Lianhuan.

There was no clear evidence of what happened to him before, but I still recognized him as a "person".

Of course, Xiao Hua used Shigou Diao many times before but we’ll be focusing on this time in particular. Initially, he simply felt that it was strange: if the incident had been resolved and Xie Lianhuan was still alive, then why didn't he show up? I was also very concerned about this problem. It was also the reason I had set up a memorial shrine for Uncle Three at home, because if there really wasn’t a reason for him to not show up, then there was a high probability that he was already dead. It was a consequence I was willing to face.

The way I saw it, it was better to light some incense first in case he really was dead. That way, he at least wouldn’t go hungry.

Xiao Hua was very clever, so he spent a long time thinking about how to write this letter in a way that would make the other party reply to him. I don't know what kind of mental journey he went through to get there, but his letter didn't mention anything about wanting to meet or wanting to know the truth. All he did was express his own doubts and talk about the changes that had taken place in the external environment. He was, however, very casual and made an offhand remark in the text: If you need me to do anything else, just let me know.

This was a very clever move. He was betting that the reason the other party didn't show themselves for a long time was because there were still events that needed to be resolved. If someone was under pressure, there was a chance that they’d encounter urgent difficulties. And if Xiao Hua’s letter was delivered at such a time, the other party might be willing to turn to just about anyone for help.

After all, humans were known for doing this kind of thing. In an emergency situation, the people around you who usually didn’t look promising now looked capable and the people you didn’t trust were now trusted.

About half a year later, he really did receive a reply. According to him, he took several Valium before opening the letter. But after opening it, he found that the particularly thick letter actually didn't contain a single word. Instead, there was a piece of dried flesh wrapped in the paper that had been sealed in the envelope.

The meaning was very clear: If you want to help, become one of us.

Xiao Hua was very cautious by nature while I was more impulsive about such things. If it were me, I’d just rinse it off, boil it in some water, dip it in soy sauce, and then eat it. I didn’t believe that it would taste that bad anyway.

Xiao Hua, on the other hand, thought about it for a long time. He looked up some information and then called Black Glasses to discuss it. I’m not exactly sure what happened, but in the end, Black Glasses ate it while Xiao Hua wasn't paying attention.

An image suddenly popped into my head of the two of them researching. Xiao Hua probably went to get some information, and when he looked back, he saw that there was nothing left. Black Glasses looked at him and hiccupped.

Xiao Hua quickly skipped over the ensuing events, but the matter came to an end when the Shigou Diao members who later joined up with him only recognized him as one of their own. Xiao Hua was very upset, but Black Glasses had his own considerations. Soon, Black Glasses disappeared.

He seemed to have disappeared for about four months, but when he appeared again, he said to Xiao Hua, “That thing your master told you about—that impossible thing—may have already happened.”

The plans those three families made back then needed to be put in action. There was no way for Xiao Hua to tell what exactly Shigou Diao was doing, but soon, those three families who had disappeared would appear again. You had to pay attention to anyone who made that gesture, as they could blend into the crowd to help you.

When I heard this, I suddenly made a strange association.

Qi Yu appeared and enticed Jin Wantang to start this expedition to the world’s second most valuable tomb and Xiao Hua went on this adventure without an ounce of hesitation because he knew what it meant.

But the Hong family had normally stayed far away from these dubious affairs, so were they actually participating?

Or, was Black Glasses actually a member of the Hong family? Then why did people call him Mr. Qi instead of Mr. Hong?

Maybe the character for Qi was different than the one I was thinking of? Maybe he came up with the pseudonym by thinking along the lines of “Hongqi”? ⁽¹⁾ Was he bullshitting us when he said he was a bannerman?⁽²⁾

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TN Notes:

(1) The “Qi” Wu Xie was originally thinking of was “齐” which can mean neat/even/level with/identical/simultaneous/all together. Now he’s wondering if it’s “旗” which can mean banner/flag. Hong (红) can mean red so Hongqi (红旗) means red banner.

(2) Per Tiffany: “旗人” means “Bannerman”. In China, this refers to a man who belonged to the Eight Banners of the Qing Dynasty. The Eight Banners were administrative and military divisions under the Later Jin and the Qing dynasty of China into which all Manchu households were placed. In war, the Eight Banners functioned as armies, but the banner system was also the basic organizational framework of all of Manchu society. Wiki Link here.