The Lost Tomb Vol. 7

Chapter 1: Circle Around

Because we had been away for quite a long time and had to go back to our respective homes, we made a plan when we got back to the village— Fatty was responsible for preparing the equipment, and I would continue collecting data.

After returning to Hangzhou, I began implementing my plan.

When we originally decided our plan of action, I didn't know how to collect this information. After careful consideration, however, I decided to start with the formal channels in order to understand Poker-Face's origins. My previous investigation proved that people in our line of work didn't know him very well, so there had to be a record of him joining the archaeological team in the 1980s. Back in those days, everyone involved in such projects had to be clean. I wondered if I could find clues in Changsha's old archives, like his relationship to that organization, or maybe find one or two people who knew him, or some kind of clue. So that's where I decided to start.

But personnel files kept in the city archives were kept confidential, and the old files couldn't be taken out without a red-letterhead document [1]. This archaeological team had been set up in the early 1980s, and something had happened that was now a classified secret, so it wouldn't be so easy to see it. The best way to find the archives was to start with the research institute that had sent the archaeological team at that time. More than twenty years had passed since then, but that really wasn't that long ago, so the archives should still be there.

I didn't know which institute in Changsha it was, but there weren't that many back then. It was also possible that there may have only been one institute related to archaeology. At that time, most of the team members were students, so it was very likely that they were from the same university department, which shouldn't be difficult to verify.

As expected, after several searches, I found an old research institute that matched my search criteria. It had been merged into another research institute, and the former site was now on the campus of a famous university that was about to move. When I looked it up, the outside was full of large characters that read "demolition". I figured the land had been sold to a real estate company, so I would probably only see a piece of flat land here in a few months' time.

If there were clues and the research institute had actually been merged, then the files might have also been merged into the new one. That meant there was also a greater chance that they had remained in the university archives. I knew the organization very well, and I didn't believe there would be people who would pay attention to archives from more than twenty years ago.

But it wasn't easy to obtain information about this matter. I asked my connections, made several inquiries among Uncle Three's circles, and finally found a person working in the research institute. The young man's surname was Du and his full name was Du Juan Shan, which I found very interesting [2]. I sent him two cartons of Chinese cigarettes, and when I asked about the situation, he said that the office location had changed, but the files were all in the school. The research institute was part of the university, so many of the researchers were lecturers. He said he could take me in; although the door was inconvenient, the security was relatively lax inside. But he told me not to get my hopes up, since it would be difficult to check the old files.

I didn't delay and headed there that evening. The university's old building had been renovated from a hospital and the archive room was located on the first floor of the auditorium. With a floor area of over a hundred square meters, it was as big as a warehouse. It didn't take much effort for Du Juan Shan and I to walk down the low, narrow corridor. There were no lights below and it was extremely dark. I used a flashlight to take a look, and saw that there were rows of wooden shelves inside that were full of portfolios wrapped in kraft paper. They were all in varying states: thick, thin, intact, broken, and lying both vertically and horizontally. Most of them were covered with a layer of dust and smelled like damp paper.

Du Juan Shan told me that the files frequently used after 1995 had all been removed and the rest wouldn't be moved for years. I figured no one would bother going through them whenever it was time for them to be destroyed.

I looked at the situation and felt a bit depressed.

The temperature in Changsha in August was quite high, but it felt cooler at night. In addition to the shade, the coolness was very comfortable. I bit my flashlight, fanned my hands a few times, and started rummaging through the old wooden shelves.

I knew there was a library management department in Qinghua University, but it was strange to think that there was anything to learn about managing a library. After seeing the size of this archive room, however, I realized that people who could manage these things could also be considered geniuses. Any ordinary person's eyes would probably glaze over whenever they looked at these bookshelves, and this was just a small archive room in the research institute. If the national archive had a trillion files, how many people would have to deal with it?

Fearing that I might cause him trouble, Du Juan Shan had been watching from the side and helping me look, asking about some of the details in order to help me filter.

Because of special reasons, China's archival system was perfectly detailed, so as long as the documents were in place, they could definitely be found according to certain rules. It was a pity I was like a headless fly right now. I only knew the approximate year, and didn't even know how many members of the archaeological team there were. I had no other choice but to flip through every copy.

I still didn't find anything even after searching for a long time. My idea was to search by year, because all the files here were sorted like that. As long as I found similar investigation files between 1980 and 1985, then I could also obtain the participants' information from them. Changsha was located in Chu, so although there were a relatively large number of archaeological activities, the overall number wasn't much, and only a shelf was full of their files. But after going through the archives for that five-year period, I still didn't see any files related to the Xisha archaeology team.

I found it strange, so I asked Du Juan Shan if there were any other places it could be.

He shook his head and said that this was the only place, unless the file was in the confidential archives. If it wasn't there, then it could have been specially destroyed.

I thought such a thing was unlikely. Even if the archaeology team's information was classified, it wouldn't have been kept secret to such an extent.

He comforted me and said, "It's a common occurrence. Maybe it's like you said. The fact that the archaeological team disappeared after that would be a major event, so maybe the archives were disposed of for the sake of confidentiality."

My heart was a little depressed as we put the portfolios in order, but I had anticipated that things wouldn't be so easy.

I bitterly walked out of the archive room, knowing that I had wasted two cartons of cigarettes for nothing. Unfortunately, I had no idea what to do next. If this way didn't work either, then it was just as Poker-Face had said— he was a person who had no connections with the world.

At that moment, I suddenly noticed a staircase in front of me, which continued downwards. It appeared there was another floor under the archives, but there was an iron gate at the top of the stairs that was locked with a thick rusty iron chain. I could see that a seal of unknown age had been pasted on the edge of the door.

"What's that place down there?" I asked.

"It's the archives before the 1950s. During the Cultural Revolution, they were locked up for fear of the rebels making trouble. No one has opened it for more than thirty years."

"Really?" I took a look with my flashlight and saw that the rusty chain had clearly been cut off and was left there for show. If I hadn't looked carefully, I wouldn't have noticed.

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Notes:

[1] An official document with the name of the issuing government agency printed in red at the top, circulated to relevant bodies.

[2] It's either Azalea Mountain or Cuckoo Mountain, take your pick.