Chapter 42: Reunion; Jade's Demise

  My mind buzzed, and suddenly I was empty, plummeting downwards at an alarming rate. The feeling of weightlessness made my heart feel like it was stuck in my throat. My limbs were limp and soft, and my body continued to fall. In the last moment, all I could see clearly was a pair of cold wolf eyes on the edge of the cliff.

  At that moment, I had only one thought in my mind, this time, it's really over.

  But the next second, my body heavily crashed into a group of icy cold water, and the chilly liquid suddenly poured in, feeling like my lungs were going to explode. I didn't expect that there would be water at the bottom of this cliff, it's really hard to say whether I was lucky or had a big life.

  I fell so fast that I was knocked into the deep water, with white bubbles all over my eyes. The icy water rushed into my lungs, bringing a feeling of suffocation. In the chaos, I flailed my arms and legs trying to swim up, but my whole body continued to sink to the bottom.

  What's going on? I came to my senses, and that heavy equipment pack was still on my back, loaded with a large amount of heavy firepower and food. It was so heavy, the air in my lungs had long been depleted. At this moment, due to lack of oxygen, my entire brain was throbbing, like drumming. I hurriedly tried to remove the equipment pack, but somehow it got stuck somewhere, and I couldn't open it for half a day.

  This equipment pack, in addition to the two shoulder straps, also had two protective buckles that crossed over my belly and chest, securing the backpack tightly to my body. This design was meant to prevent the backpack from slipping off while running, but now it's almost taking my life. I kicked my legs wildly trying to get out, my hands constantly tugging at the backpack straps, but those stubborn four straps seemed to be stuck to me like they were a part of my body. Finally, my hands lost their strength and I couldn't hold on any longer, countless amounts of water poured in, and in an instant, my brain felt a sharp pain, followed by darkness, and I sank down.

  In my subconscious mind, I thought I was done for this time. My chaotic brain sank deeper and deeper, and after a while, I heard the sound of people talking around me.

  The voice sounds familiar, scolding and nagging. I thought for a while, and suddenly my brain had an epiphany - isn't this the voice of Fatso? Am I really dead? Now I've met Fatso in the underworld, how else could I hear his voice?

  I was lost in thought, wanting to call out to Fatty, but my mouth seemed to be sealed shut, unable to move at all. I also wanted to open my eyes, but my eyelids felt like they had a thousand-pound weight on them. What the heck is going on!

  Sometimes, I feel myself being picked up and held in someone's arms, with a lump of fat on my back. The fatty is muttering something in my ear, but I don't know what he's saying specifically. Then, a stream of hot liquid pours into my mouth.

  Sore, scalded.

  This dead fat guy, doesn't he know to test the water temperature? I was scalded awake all of a sudden, as soon as I opened my eyes, the first thing I did was stick out my tongue, damn it, I'm scalded to death.

  At this time, I heard a loud and exaggerated voice behind me: "Hey, you're awake."

  I listened to this voice, and my tears almost came out. Finally, we met again after such a long journey, which can be compared to the Long March of 10,000 miles. I turned around and saw that the person behind me was indeed Fatso, but his outfit was quite strange, with a layer of animal hide wrapped around him, black and shiny, I don't know what kind of animal it was. As I stuck out my tongue, ready to speak, Fatso suddenly shouted: "Ah, my heavenly true self, you've lost so much weight, it's killing me! Come here, let Fat Master hug you."

  I had a lot to say, but he suddenly shut me up. I couldn't help but kick him and said: "Stop pissing me off, you fat bastard! You left me with just this rag, sent me a text message, what's the meaning of that? You came running here without saying a word, even if you wanted to lose weight because you're too fat, there was no need to torture me like this. Look at how thin I've become!"

  Fatty let out a snort, withdrew his outstretched hands and said: "You're saying you're thin, but you really are slender. Do you think I, Fatty, wanted to? If it weren't for your Aunt Wen Jin, could I be playing the savage here?"

  I spat and rushed up to punch him in the chest, scolding: "Do you still have any face? I'll beat you to death!" The fatty covered his face and shouted: "Damn it, even if we're brothers, I won't let you get away with this. You're so unreasonable, always causing trouble... Don't hit my face!" I was out of breath from the water, my strength hadn't recovered yet, after punching him a few times I was panting, the fatty rubbed his shoulder and asked: "Had enough?"

  I gave him a white eye, and the suppressed thing in my heart suddenly relaxed. On this road, we were nine people in one line, although it was a team, but each had different intentions. I always missed San Shu and Pangzi in my heart. No one dared to believe that on the way, it could be said that every step was cautious, and many calculations were made. At this moment, seeing Pangzi, the feeling of fighting alone suddenly disappeared. After chatting with him for a while, the suppressed bitterness in my heart relaxed a lot.

  The fatty saw that I didn't make a sound, so he pointed at me and scolded: "I left that thing for you to remind you to be careful. You actually followed me obediently, I really want to slap you to death."

  As soon as I heard this, I got angry and immediately retorted: "You still have the nerve to talk back, I don't want to talk to you now." The fat guy let out a strange cry and cursed: "Damn it, I didn't know men had menopause too. You're really premature in your decline!"

  I was startled by Fatso's shout and knew I had lost my temper this time. After holding back for a while, I spoke up: "Speak, what's going on?" Fatso pursed his lips and said: "Fat Master has capsized in the gutter this time, and has been possessed by your beloved Aunt Wenjin."

  "I said irritably: 'Stop messing around and confess honestly, how did you end up here? And what's with your current ghostly appearance, are you planning on settling down here or what?'"

  We are now in an ice cave, the protruding ice cones inside have been cleaned up, and the marks of artificial polishing can be seen. On the ground is a black skin, which is unknown what animal it is from. The entrance is also covered with a black skin to block the wind. The light inside was originally dim, but Fatso has now lit a flashlight on the ground, so the light is very good.

  On his body, apart from those shoes that showed signs of humanity, the whole person was like a savage, wrapped in animal hide, with a rope tied around his belly that had lost its color.

  Fatso's expression changed to one of gritted teeth as soon as I mentioned this, and he said: "Just mentioning this makes me angry. First, let's talk about you - how did you end up in the water? If it wasn't for me, Fatso, feeling around for fish and finding you, you would have been done for this time."

  I found his words unbelievable, and it seemed that this fat guy was fishing in the water every day. He saw my skeptical expression and clicked his tongue, saying: "You don't believe me, but there's a river outside connected to here, and there are many things at the bottom of the river. If I didn't rely on the things inside, Fat Master would have starved to death long ago." Just thinking about the temperature of that water made my skin crawl.

  Fatso raised his chin, seeing through my thoughts, and waved his hand: "Now you know the power of Fat Master's protective divine armor, resistant to cold, shock, and knives." Although he said so, I could see that this fatso had lost at least over ten kilograms of flesh, it seemed like he had suffered a lot. I continued to tell him how I fell down, and when Fatso heard it, he shook his head and said: "No wonder they say you literary youths aren't suitable for fighting, if it were me back then, I would have given them a sweep shot, scared them off, see who dares to rush up. You're too weak, being played by a pack of wolves, from now on don't even mention that you're Fat Master's brother, we'll pretend not to know each other."

  "I cursed: 'Don't bully me, wait until you meet that wolf king again and I'll blow it for you, those things have all become spirits, very eerie. Don't mention these, what's going on with you? This time, I was thoroughly fooled by you."

  "Hey, Tianzhen comrade, what kind of relationship do we have? I'm just a trickster, but I wouldn't trick you. This time's matter makes me so angry that I'm about to lose my life. This journey has been so bitter for me, and now you really want me to speak, but I truly don't know where to start."

  "Comrade Wang Baozi, this is a new era, don't give me so much useless nonsense. We 21st-century people value speed and style, we get straight to the point when speaking. Moreover, didn't you encourage me last time? Think about it, wasn't the Long March 25,000 miles long? This Kunlun Mountain Range may be known as the ancestor of ten thousand dragons, but we've only just begun, what are you yelling about?"

  I saw Chubby being stunned by my one sentence, and I couldn't help but sneer in my heart. I raised an eyebrow at him and said, "Speak."

  Fatso swallowed his saliva, stunned for a while, then patted my shoulder heavily, with a face full of excitement, saying: "Great, it's been a year since we last met, you've made progress, this nonsense can even be linked to the Red Army, your revolutionary awareness has increased a lot, worthy of being Brother Pang's brother." I was almost knocked down by his big palm, and hurriedly waved my hand, saying: "Okay, okay, let's continue our old friendship, talk about serious matters."

  The two of us are bound by a deep friendship, and since the incident at Zhang's old house last year, we can say that our connection was severed. Although I've been worried about Fatso and have called him several times, after all, he was far away, and his mental state was extremely poor at the time, leaving me anxious. Now that the two of us have met again, we chatted and laughed together, and instantly regained the feeling of years past. We put aside our words, looked into each other's eyes, and I almost shed tears.

  The fat man didn't feel good either, he patted my shoulder again and asked: "Do you have any news, little brother?"

  I shook my head and said, "Same old, no idea if he's dead or alive." The matter of Little Brother going to the Bronze Gate, as well as that ten-year promise, I had only told Fatty about it. Even with people like Xiao Hua, I had never mentioned it before.

  As soon as he mentioned this matter, I felt uncomfortable in my heart. These ten years should have been mine to guard, but in the end, it was Muffled Oil Bottle who went. That damned Bronze Gate, what kind of secret is hidden inside? As soon as I think of Muffled Oil Bottle, my heart feels suffocated.

  Fatso looked at me with a face of disgust and said, "Alright alright, stop crying and looking so gloomy. You don't even know if your brother is dead or not, why are you in such a hurry to mourn his death? Smile for once." I was so annoyed by him that all my sad emotions disappeared, and I immediately kicked him and said, "You're the one who's going to die, my brother is living well in Changbai Mountain. Don't be a jinx!"

  Fatso nodded repeatedly and said, "That's right, little brother is what kind of person, Wan Nu Wang was cut down by him with one knife, who knows if he's now inside the Bronze Gate, drinking and chatting with the yin soldiers, casually cutting down two human-faced birds to drink, we'd better not worry about it. If you're still worried, tomorrow after leaving Kunlun, Fat Brother will accompany you on a trip to Changbai Mountain, let's bring some more clothes for little brother, do you want to bring a computer? Install a game or something, Plants vs Zombies, how about that? Little brother likes cutting down zongzi."

  After the fatty finished speaking, I felt a bit more at ease. Actually, we were just comforting each other. If the oil bottle was really alive, ten years later, I would go as promised without saying another word. But what I feared most was that he had already died in some place on Changbai Mountain, buried under the vast snow, or eaten by those monkeys...I really didn't dare to imagine such a situation.

  After Fatso finished speaking, I let out a sigh and said: "Let's put Little Brother's matter aside for now, tell me about your business." As soon as Fatso heard me say this, his face suddenly turned into a scowling expression, saying: "This thing is a long story to tell, it's a case of 'the child has no mother'."

  He said, "Then I'll just hit the high points and skip all the in-between stuff about my thoughts and feelings." Fatso slapped his thigh and said, "Alright, I'll just give you the highlights. Anyway, after being stuck in Paris for half a year, I finally started to see things clearly - this life is all about death in the end, and I realized that I didn't have any fate with Cloudy, so when she left, I couldn't just sit around waiting to die, could I? After I came to my senses, I was thinking about heading back to Beijing, and also thinking it had been a long time since we last contacted each other, so I was planning on giving you a call. But then that night, just as I picked up the phone and sat down on the bed to have a heart-to-heart with you, guess what? Before I even finished dialing your number, I looked up and saw a pale ghostly face stuck to the window, which scared me so much that my phone went flying!"

  That fatty has a heroic ambition, it's rare to see him scared like this. I said: "Ghost face? Is ghost face sticking to your window in the middle of the night to watch you undress and air dry your clothes, or is it watching you cosplay as Sleeping Beauty?"

  Fatty flew into a rage, saying: "I'm telling you, kid, your mouth has gotten sharper in just one year. Even if it's really a ghost, daring to peep at Fatty's divine skin, I'll slap it to death with one swat. But can you guess what that ghost looks like?"

  I was taken aback and said, "Is that Aunt Wen Jin?" The fat man snorted and said, "You're just a bit clever, aren't you? Isn't she your beloved Aunt Wen Jin? I was stunned at the time, almost jumping out of my skin, and couldn't decide if she was human or ghost. I thought to myself, 'She's not going to turn into a vengeful spirit and come after me for revenge, is she?' But then she really did appear like a vengeful spirit, crawling directly through the window into my room, staring at me with her two eyes, without saying a word. At that moment, I grabbed the stool in the house, ready to fight. But your Aunt Wen Jin actually smiled at me and said, 'Little Fat Comrade, long time no see.' I thought to myself, this isn't 'long time no see', it's more like we're separated by life and death! I saw that she didn't seem to have any intention of seeking revenge from me, so I tried to move her with emotions and reason. I said, "Aunt Chen, how did you come back? You went to the afterlife, are you getting used to it there? Do you want me to take Tian Zhen to burn some paper money for you tomorrow? Is there anything lacking in the underworld that you need to take care of yourself?"

  I heard this and couldn't help but feel a headache coming on, so I quickly interrupted Fatso, saying: "Get to the point, get to the point."

  Fatso gave me a sidelong glance, his face full of disdain, and shouted: "Naive, I've educated you multiple times - walk one step at a time on the road, eat one mouthful at a time when eating, speak one sentence at a time. The words that come out of Fat Master's mouth are the essence of half a lifetime of accumulation, every word and every sentence has profound revolutionary logic inside. If it were someone else, I wouldn't even bother with him, but you still dare to complain that I'm long-winded? Do you want to listen or not? If not, then blow out the lamp and go to sleep, I'll continue dreaming, meeting with the clouds."

  I was educated by him in a daze, my brain didn't turn around for a moment, and I subconsciously asked: "What does it mean?"

  Fatso had an expression of hating iron for not becoming steel, filled with grief and indignation, looking at me and saying: "Naive comrade, you're really beyond salvation. Don't worry, the day you die from stupidity, Fat Grandpa will definitely seal your coffin with molten iron, so you won't have any worries about coming back to life."

  "I said, 'Stop messing around, you're the only one who's iron-clad, can't you just say it all in one breath? You're making me uncomfortable with your slow and awkward speech.' The fatty looked at me disdainfully and said, 'Comrade, please pay attention to improving your demeanor, don't be so full of crap, after all, you're the only college graduate among our iron triangle, can't you have some self-awareness?'"

  I've had enough of this guy, he's probably been stuck in the snowy mountains for too long and now that he's finally met up with the organization, his mouth is running like a machine gun. I sense that something is off about him, usually he can tell when to speed up or slow down, but now he just won't stop rambling on.

  I thought for a moment and decided to look into his psychological issues first. This organization being good is one thing, but if internal problems arise, it's very bad. So I said: "Fatty, stop messing with me too. Two years ago at Louwai Lou, you told me that the victory of the revolution lies in having a clear goal and unity within the group. How come I feel like your current state is somewhat divisive? Be honest with me, what's stimulating you, kid?"

  Fatso stared at me for a while, then patted his own cheek as if he had thought of something. After a long time, he said: "How about I tell you a sentence to wake up the dreamer? Comrade, honestly, I've been holding it in for too long. You don't know, I've been alone on this snowy mountain for over ten days now. Damn it, as the saying goes, even farts have an echo, but this place... there's not even a ghostly shadow to be seen. I almost turned into a Snowfield Wild Man."

  I listened to the fat man say this, and patted his shoulder saying: "No matter what, at the most difficult time, we finally met up, the Red Army is not afraid of the difficulties of the long march, thousands of waters and mountains are just trivial, past hardships are a test, the future is bright."

  Fatso suddenly wiped his face, grasped my hand and said: "Tianzhen, you've grown up. It seems that in the year I wasn't here, you deeply studied the revolutionary spirit of anti-Japanese heroes, I'm so delighted! Now even if I were to die, I could close my eyes in peace." I almost choked on my own saliva, what revolutionary spirit? Which sentence didn't come out of Wang Fatso's mouth? Now it just happened that I gave them back to him at the right time, how did this become a deep study?

  I finally understand, this fatty has been abandoned for over ten days and now that he's met a revolutionary comrade, his mental state is in an abnormally excited period. The more you drag him on, the more energetic he becomes. Right then, I slapped his paw away, straightened my arm and lay down on the leather-covered ground, saying: "Blow out the lamp, go to sleep."

  Chubby heard this and hastily said: "Hey, Tianzhen, don't you care about your Aunt Wenjin?"

  I blandly said, "Concern is put in the heart, not hung on the mouth." The fatty was choked by me for a while, and he said with a bad tone, "When people grow up, they become unlovable. Where did my innocent comrade go? Give him back to me." As he spoke, he grabbed my collar and shook it.

  I kicked him away with one foot and said, "After the rain stopped, he had already drowned."

  Fatso looked at me with a deadpan expression, as if I had died. It made me want to punch him. What the...! I'm still alive and kicking, do you have to give me an early farewell?!

  The fat guy looked at me for a while, sighed and said: "Forget it, go on, where were we just now?" Being hit by me like this, the fat guy indeed straightened his posture, and his excitement hormone returned to normal.

  "I said, 'You said you'd take me to burn paper for Wen Jin.'" The fatty slapped his forehead and said, "Ah, right, let's continue... then..." Next, the fatty told me about what happened after that. It wasn't particularly exciting, but it made my brow furrow even more, making me feel that this matter was not simple.

  Fatso said that at the time, he saw Chen Wenjin and his initial reaction was to think he had seen a ghost. Not to mention Chen Wenjin's pale face, but just his thin body, like a skeleton in a skin bag, was terrifying to look at.

  Pangzi finished speaking, Chen Wenjin said: "Xiao Pang, I came specifically to find you."

  "Ah, what's the matter? You can just give me an order and I'll take care of it. Given my relationship with Tian Zhen and our friendship in Snake Marsh, as long as your request isn't too excessive, I'll get right on it for you. Now that we're separated by the world of the living and the dead, people will gossip if we don't meet often, and it won't be good for your reputation among ghosts."

  Wen Jin heard this and burst out laughing, saying: "Alright, you can stop being poor-mouthed, I'm still alive and kicking." The fat man glanced at the ground and saw a shadow, so it wasn't a ghost. He put his mind at ease, but in an instant he felt something was off again. He slapped his thigh and exclaimed: "Ah! You didn't enter the Jade Burial Mound, did you? And now you're out?" At that time, adding up our waiting time for the oil bottles, it had been ten days to half a month. Not to mention Chen Wenjin, even if she really came out of the Jade Burial Mound in the end, how could she have left the desert? Did she walk out on her own two legs? The fat man thought about this and felt something was off, looking at Chen Wenjin with an increasingly strange gaze.

  Wen Jin nodded and sat on the bed of the fat man, her smile still very gentle, giving people a feeling like spring breeze. But when the fat man thought of the death of Yu, he felt that the peaceful smiling face was somewhat eerie. Wen Jin said: "I came to find you this time, I have something to ask for."

  Fatso had his own thoughts, and if it was related to Chen Wenjin, it must be something bad. He gave a vague smile and said: "I'm now in hiding, I no longer do that Golden Armor Commander's job, but if there's anything I can help with, Auntie Chen, just let me know, but if I can't... then sorry." Who gets to decide what he can or cannot help with? Isn't it Fatso who has the final say?

  Chen Wenjin smiled and looked at the fatty with his thin face, saying in a low voice: "I know your concerns. Well, I won't hide it from you. This matter is a long story. Do you know what's inside Yuanyu?" As soon as Fatty heard this sentence, he felt a sudden chill in his heart and was stunned into silence.

  What's inside the Jade Burial is a knot in my and Pangzi's heart. When Muyu Bottle first went in, he didn't come out for over a week, without eating or drinking. The result was that when he came out, he completely collapsed. Just thinking about what could make Muyu Bottle collapse makes both of us feel chilled to the bone. From then on, Pangzi and I never mentioned the Jade Burial again, but the matter has been stuck in our hearts like a stone.

  Fatso's heart skipped a beat as soon as he heard Chen Wenjin's words and couldn't help but ask, "What's inside?"