Chapter 23: Sworn Brotherhood

Yao Yumen was followed by three men with steady gazes. They were all dressed in suits and wore sunglasses, their hair meticulously combed. They stood there in silence.

"Yunfeng, you came here... Is this your classmate?" Yao Yumen looked at me with a meaningful glint in her eyes.

I winked at her frantically.

She chuckled and said, "Since we ran into each other today, Yunfeng, come have a meal with us. I have some things I’d like to discuss with you privately."

After speaking, she took out her flip phone and made a call: "Yes, it’s me, Big Brother. We’ll be there in about half an hour."

The moment the phone appeared, many people in the restaurant looked over, including the young man with dyed yellow hair. In those days, anyone who could afford such a device was considered wealthy. Coupled with the three men in suits who looked like they belonged to the underworld, the yellow-haired youth gulped and stopped pestering me.

"Your friend is calling you, go ahead, Yunfeng. We can meet up later," Li Jing said, sensing my predicament. She was generous enough to let me go.

Inside a luxurious private room on the second floor of the Star Hotel, dishes were served one after another—fish, shrimp, and other substantial courses.

Yao Yumen poured herself a glass of wine, took a sip, and looked at me. "Yunfeng, what does your team plan to do next?"

My chopsticks paused in mid-air. I glanced warily at the three men in suits beside me.

"It’s fine, they’re our own people," Yao Yumen said, setting down her glass.

"Sister Yu, the boss has already gone to work. The head of our group intends to withdraw as soon as possible and leave this place," I said with a serious expression.

Yao Yumen swirled her wine glass. "Hmm, that’s for the best. Wang the Head knows the gravity of the situation. Remember, once you leave Shunde, do not come back."

I didn't understand and asked her why.

After taking a bite of food, she set down her chopsticks and said, "Our line of work is like the pugilistic world in martial arts novels—strategists, assassins, warriors, overt schemes, and covert plots. You entered this trade young; as long as you follow Wang Xiansheng faithfully, you have a bright future."

"By the way, do you believe in mountain spirits and ghosts?" she suddenly changed the subject.

I shook my head. "I don't. When a person dies, that's it. If there’s no afterlife, there are no ghosts or gods."

My youthful appearance paired with such world-weary words made Yao Yumen smile. She took out her Bagua compass and held it in her palm before my eyes. For some reason, the three needles on the compass suddenly pointed in unison toward the space behind me.

Seeing me stunned, Yao Yumen teased, "Yunfeng, there’s an old woman who starved to death with no teeth standing right behind you."

Whether it was psychological suggestion or not, as soon as she said it, I felt a chill run down my spine.

One of the men in suits took off his sunglasses. She shook her head. "Alright, Yumen. This kid isn't an ordinary person, don't tease him anymore."

Yao Yumen retracted the compass.

"Here, take this. Consider it an amulet," she said, giving me a necklace.

The necklace was strung on a red cord with a tiny Gahu box hanging from the end, inside of which was a small, yellowish-red paper ball.

"Thank you, Sister Yu." I put it on to test the fit. It was just right, and when hidden under my clothes, only a bit of the red cord was visible.

We chatted for a while longer. Yao Yumen told me a few stories about Wang the Head that filled me with admiration, and I wondered when I would become that formidable and respected in the trade.

After a full meal, I bid farewell to Yao Yumen and packed some food to go. By then, the table where Li Jing had been sitting was empty; I assumed she had left. On the way back, I pulled out the amulet every so often to look at it, liking it more each time.

"Third Brother, I’m back. I brought you some food," I said, pushing open the hotel room door.

"Third Brother? Third Brother?"

Before me, the floor was covered in crumpled balls of white paper. Sun Laosan was lying on the concrete, surrounded by more paper. I picked up a ball and opened it; the paper was covered in angles drawn with a compass and repeated sketches of a rope.

"Third Brother, what is all this?" I asked, looking at the mess.

Sun Laosan’s face was pale, but he looked at the ceiling and suddenly laughed.

"I found it! I found it... I’ve found it!"

He sat up, grabbed my shoulders, and said excitedly, "Yunfeng, I’ve found a way to open the self-locking stone!"

His face was sallow, his eyes bloodshot. Before I could speak, he explained impatiently, "A crook-pin! We can pull it open if we use a reinforced crook-pin!"

I shook my head. "It won't work, Third Brother. Even if the pin is reinforced, it’s just a tool, and tools need people to operate them. We don't have enough men."

I wasn't just talking nonsense. To open the palace gate of the tomb under Feie Mountain, we could try three ways: first, get forty or fifty people to pull together; second, use hundreds of pounds of explosives, though that might not work and would likely bury us alive; third, report it to the national archaeological team and let the authorities handle it.

Under the current circumstances, we couldn't do any of those, and since the Head had already decided to quit, I thought Sun Laosan’s tinkering was useless.

"No, no," Sun Laosan picked up a piece of paper and pointed at it excitedly.

I looked in confusion. The paper showed a large basket and three calves. Recalling the thick rope he had drawn earlier, a thunderbolt went off in my mind.

"Third Brother... you don't mean..."

"Haha!" He laughed loudly. "Exactly! If we add the manpower and three calves, and use a thicker pin and rope, we can definitely shift the self-locking stone!"

Stunned by his wild idea, I asked, "Three calves? Can they pull it?"

"We’ll feed them!"

"Yunfeng, think about it. The entrance hole is only so big—nothing large can fit through it. We can lower the calves in a basket and let them grow up by eating fodder down there!" Sun Laosan’s eyes were glowing as he said this.

I touched his forehead. "Third Brother, are you alright? Do you have a fever?"

He grabbed my hand. "Are you in, Yunfeng? Join me and the boss!"

Seeing his serious expression, I frowned. "What about the Head? He’s already decided to quit, Third Brother."

"Don't worry about the Head. It’ll just be the three of us."

"This... keeping it from the Head? Is that right?"

He stood up and grabbed my shoulders. "Yunfeng, the Boss hasn't been back for a few days. Do you think he’s still away? Actually, he’s been back for a while, right here in Shunde..."

...

After one o'clock that night, Sun Laosan took me to a secret location, keeping it from Wang the Head. As soon as I entered, I saw Sun Laoda, who I hadn't seen for days. To my surprise, the woman with the mole was there too.

Three sticks of incense were lit. Witnessed by the woman with the mole, the Boss, the Third Brother, and I knelt on the ground.

Sun Laosan pressed his palms together toward the incense burner and said, "The future of this plan is treacherous. If we end up buried in the palace, we have no regrets. If we get out and the police from all over the world come to arrest us, we hold no grudges."

"The Sun family values being buried in one's home soil. Even if our Second Brother has turned to bone, we will ensure he returns to his roots."

"I, Sun Liantian."

"I, Sun Lianxing."

"I, Xiang Yunfeng."

The three of us spoke in unison: "From this day on, we are brothers. We share the blessings and face the hardships together."

We bowed our heads to the floor. A strange glint appeared in the eyes of the woman with the mole.

This was truly daring to think what others dared not, and doing what others dared not. Knowing there were tigers in the mountains, we chose to head toward the mountain of tigers.