The Grave Robber Notes: The First Notebook 生

The Beginning of an Adventure

Zhen Wei sat there a few minutes longer still taken in by what just happened but after finally snapping out of it he got up returning to the hotel. Kris was awake sitting on the bed with his phone playing games when Zhen Wei came back. "Where did you go?" He asked not even looking up since it was more out of manner than interest. Still, Zhen Wei gave him a proper answer. "The park across the street I needed some air after being in the car all day." Kris nodded his attention still on his game. "Then take a rest now. I wake you at six so we can go get dinner."

The table was filled with food, maps and other things as they were eating dinner while talking about the next steps. The restaurant they had chosen offered smaller private rooms giving them the chance to go through everything without having to worry about anyone listening in or feeling troubled by their conversation. Wang Yong and old man Lao were leaning over the maps comparing the silk sheet with the modern maps of the place to make sure they got the right place. Everyone was talking about different aspects of the adventure laying ahead of them.

Kris was filled with excitement thinking that this would be just like those books he had read as a child while Li Jun went over the silk writing again to see if there were any hints as to what kind of grave it was and what traps were to expect. Zhen Wei stayed quiet for the most parts only interrupting when his help was needed or he had information that could be helpful. Right now, he was helping with translating the text they had found on the back of the silk map. Li Jun was hoping it would give any hints but it just turned out to be a record of the map maker and the people sealing it in the box.

"They found the grave and drew the map. After that, they sealed it. But I can't see anywhere written as to why they sealed it in that puzzle box." Zhen Wei shook his head looking over to Li Jun. "I got about the same it's only a few lines anyways. I really was hoping for some information." Wang Yong looked up from the map. "We will find out more when we get there tomorrow." Li Jun nodded with a smile. "Well, that's the charm of the job I think. You never know what you are walking into." His statement got him the agreement of the two leaning over the map. With the path figured out and no more information to find on the piece of silk, they called it a night sometime after.

The next morning again they gathered early. This time the car ride was only short until they reached a less touristic part of the Zhangjiajie forest. This part of the area was still covered in wilderness. "From here on we will have to walk, cars won't get us much further." Wang Yong explained as he got out the tarpaulin to cover the car with it. Zhen Wei turned to Kris his expression mocking. "Did you bring a tarpaulin to cover the car? It will stay here until we come back and with the wilderness around it without cover, it will get scratched or break down." Kris just looked at Zhen Wei with big eyes. "Why would I even have something like that?" Li Jun laughed. "No worries I got you. We brought two."

After covering both cars and securing the cover making sure they would stay mostly safe until they got back the six of them turned to enter the forest.

Tracking their path with different devices they slowly made their way through the thick woods and underbrush. The path was difficult and other than a few game trails left by the animals living in the woods there wasn't much to help them walk through the forest. "This part of the forest is a natural habitat for different endangered species. That's probably why it wasn't explored or turned into a tourism attraction." Wang Yong explained. Zhen Wei nodded, this explained why a grave in such a touristic forest wasn't discovered yet.

The walk through the woods was rather uneventful as there wasn't much to do but trying not to stumble and stay with the group. They took a few rests but other than that they only stopped as the sky was coloured yellow, red and orange indicating the ending of a day. "We will rest here and by tomorrow we should reach the area indicated on the map." Old man Lao decided. Surprisingly he was probably the one that looked the least exhausted other than Wang Yong. Both Li Jun and Zhen Wei were out of breath from the long walk but other than that fine. The one struggling the most was Kris.