The Lost Tomb : Extras & Special Stories

Extra Story: What Are They Doing? (Part 1) -Black Glasses and Wang Meng

This takes place during Grave Robbers' Chronicles Vol. 8

After mopping the floor, Wang Meng lifted the bucket full of dirty water and dumped it outside of the shop.

It had been raining for a month, and the West Lake outside seemed like it would overflow soon. He sighed, turned around, and brought the bucket back inside the shop.

Just as he was about to lock the door, however, someone tapped him on the back. He looked behind him and saw a man with sunglasses pointing at the shop's number plate. "Is this Wu Xie's shop?"

*****

Outside the building, Wang Meng pushed aside the bottle that Black Glasses had given him and shook his head desperately. "I can't do it anymore. Even if I drink myself to death, I still don't know where they are."

Black Glasses filled Wang Mang' glass with a smile. "Take your time. Think again."

Wang Meng looked at the wine glass, and wanted to cry. "Sir, I beg you. I'll check my boss' credit card transaction history for you, and maybe we'll find something. How about that?"

*****

Wang Meng put a hand on the willow tree and vomited for a while before his eyes became clearer. When he looked back, he saw Black Glasses scoop up some water from the West Lake. The water level had already reached the shore.

Black Glasses poured the water into a bamboo tube that he carried with him. There seemed to be a living creature inside, since something jumped when the water hit it. "What's inside that tube?" Wang Meng asked.

Black Glasses looked at the bamboo tube and smiled. "It's a message someone wants to give Wu Xie. This person had a lot of things to say, but he was running out of time. He entrusted me to bring these words to your boss." Black Glasses lit a cigarette.

"There's a message in the bamboo tube?" Wang Meng found it a little odd, but Black Glasses stopped answering, and suddenly pointed to the Jinbei car parked on the side of the road, "Is this your boss' car?"

*****

"Why didn't you take a plane to Guangxi?" Wang Meng asked.

"I don't have an ID card." Black Glasses was reclining in the back seat and flipping through "Guangxi Atlas".

"Can't you go and get one? Who knows how long it will take to get there by car?" Wang Meng complained.

Black Glasses laughed. "Do you think it's possible for a wanted criminal to get an ID card?"

The Jinbei sped along the highway.

*****

"Where are we?" Wang Meng parked the car on the side of the road and looked around. It was dark out, and all he could see was farmland. After looking for a long time, he finally said, "Maybe we should've gotten off the highway at that last intersection. What should we do?"

Black Glasses rolled over, ignored Wang Meng, and continued sleeping.

*****

"Sir, how can we get to Nanning?" Wang Meng poked his head out of the car window and asked the old man selling watermelons. The old man offered him a watermelon.

"I don't want any watermelons. How can we get to Nanning?" Wang Meng asked again. The old man handed him the watermelon again, but Wang Meng blocked it with his hand. "I don't want a watermelon." It fell to the ground and shattered.

The old man and Wang Meng looked at each other, and all the watermelon sellers on the roadside stood up.

*****

A Jinbei drove by slowly, loaded down with watermelons.

Wang Meng was upset, and the bruises on his forehead made him feel like life was so unfair. "Aren't you a wanted criminal?" Wang Meng asked. "Aren't wanted criminals supposed to be good at fighting? Why did you just sit back and watch me get beaten? All my money has turned into watermelons."

Black Glasses smiled and put his arm around his shoulders, giving him a comforting shake.

Crazy. All of Boss' new friends are crazy.

*****

The national highway's toll booth was just up ahead. "I have no money." Wang Meng looked at Black Glasses, who faintly turned his head to the side and ignored him. Wang Meng cursed, stepped on the accelerator, and stopped next to the toll booth.

He turned around and took out a watermelon from the back seat and handed it over. "Sister, I really don't have any money. Can you take ten watermelons and let us through? They're red and sugary."

*****

High-Speed Traffic Police Headquarters.

Wang Meng squatted in the corner. A beautiful female traffic cop walked in, poured him a cup of tea, and placed it on the nearby coffee table. "Sit on the sofa. It's not like you were looking for prostitutes. You just passed the toll booth without paying."

Wang Meng saw two slender beautiful legs moving in front of him. When he stood up and kept his head lowered, the beauty thought he looked funny, and asked, "What's the matter with your friend? Why did he run away?"

*****

Black Glasses was carrying a watermelon as he walked alongside the national road. Every time a car drove past, he would stretch his hand out in hopes that they would stop, but no one paid him any attention.

He whistled as he leisurely walked along, suddenly feeling that he was back on the road in Qaidam. At that time, he only had a canteen of water, but now he had a watermelon. Life always seemed to repeat itself.

*****

"Sir, take me to Nanning." Black Glasses said to the driver who had parked his black car in front of a roadside restaurant.

The driver looked at him and said, "Forty yuan."

Black Glasses patted the watermelon. "Take this watermelon as insurance, and I'll give you the money when I get to the city."

The driver spat. "Watermelon? Are you insane?"

"This is a good watermelon." Black Glasses said.

"Go away." The driver slapped the watermelon to the ground.

*****

Black Glasses hummed as he casually drove the black car away. Five kilometers behind him, a man with a swollen nose squatted silently on the side of the road, holding the broken pieces of a watermelon. Black Glasses had a cell-phone in his hand, which was an unexpected gain. He recalled a number and tried to dial it, but all he heard was a robotic voice saying that the person on the other end had turned their phone off.

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