The Lost Tomb : Extras & Special Stories

(Extra Story: 2014 Chinese New Year Special) Chapter 1: Fantasy

I had been looking for an absolutely quiet place for a long time.

My shop wouldn't work. Although many people still weren't coming to the door, there were always a few disturbances during the day, whether it was Wang Meng coming in to ask questions, or guys coming in to get things approved. My house wouldn't work either, because the sounds of cars passing by downstairs would affect what I saw.

Later, I found an abandoned power station near Huanglong in Baoshi Mountain. There was a small dirt road that lead all the way to the top of the mountain, but it was full of weeds because it had been abandoned for a long time. If it weren't for a paranoid person like me, it would be hard to find.

The scenery on top of the mountain was quite good and overlooked the West Lake and Yuquan campus. In spring, when the appropriate wind was blowing, you would feel like everything was so beautiful. If the mist was lighter, and the sun was warmer and more transparent, then people's moods would be better in an instant.

I couldn't buy this abandoned little house, but I could borrow it. I moved an IKEA lounge chair over and put it in the sun by the window, along with a small blanket and a basket of carbonated drinks.

Drinking too much of this stuff made my bone density decrease, but it seemed to be the only thing that could alleviate my pain afterwards.

There was an iron gate at the entrance, which I would lock firmly with a big chain that was as thick as two fingers. I wasn't afraid anyone would dare climb in, because the walls here were covered in weeds, which were full of sharp pieces of glass. They also had rusty barbed wire wrapped around them.

I took those things with me. Black Glasses said that most of the information was an illusion. Just like some of those mushrooms in Yunnan, this biotoxin was a powerful hallucinogen. It couldn't be confirmed whether the information was real or had been spliced together from various fragments in my brain, but only those who were resistant to the toxin could prove its effect by constantly trying.

I usually came to this small house around one in the afternoon and smelled the mildew inside. As the sun warmed me, I would take out a tiny test tube full of liquid and drip it into my nostrils.

At first, there was the pain of my nasal mucosa burning, and my nose started to bleed. Then, numbness began to spread from the inside of my nose all along the rest of my face, before climbing into my brain. My neck became paralyzed, all the sensations in my body disappeared, and various scenes started appearing in my brain.

"Gentlemen, the village in front is where the Black Yi [1] live. Those Bimo live behind the cottages, surrounded by the Black Yi. It's a valley surrounded on all sides, so the only access point is blocked by the Black Yi's village. In order to see those Bimo, we must first get the trust of several Black Yi leaders." There was a person talking in front of me.

There was a group of people on a boat—no, it should be a bamboo raft—and I could see Poker-Face opposite me, leaning against a pile of luggage. There were about a dozen or so strange-looking people around me.

It must have just rained all around, for the air was filled with the unique scent of the southwestern Sichuan mountains, and a huge river was flowing under our feet. The water was yellow and full of silt.

This was the Jinsha River, where the mountains on both sides were like cliffs, but not quite. Trees were towering on the mountainside, but nothing was growing along the river.

The water was flowing fast, and the person who spoke just now smoked a cigarette and continued, "We'll pretend to be herbalists this time. Remember to be generous and never feel bad about spending a penny. The folk customs here aren't civilized yet, so pay attention to your own identity and don't show any disrespect. All the knives are buried at the village entrance, and the weapons are re-purchased in the village so as to avoid suspicion."