The Lost Tomb Vol. 8

Chapter 26: Nothing Can be Considered Strange

Fatty then got up and headed back, muttering something as he walked, appearing like he had an unpleasant talk with me so I had to make a helpless expression in cooperation. On my way back, I saw everyone chatting, and when I sat down, Xiuxiu softly asked me what Fatty and I were talking about. I told her I'd talk to her later, and that now wasn't a good time, so I sent her away.

After sitting down, I felt confident and relaxed a lot. I still felt a little strange thinking about some of Fatty's problems just now, but I didn't think he was lying.

It's not that he wasn't good at deceiving people, but I was very sensitive to lies since Uncle Three often lied to me. I could actually feel it in my gut when he was lying, but every time I would chalk it up to paranoia. But this time, I had a sixth sense that Fatty wasn't lying.

I thought of his previous performance and decided not to think about it so much. Fatty was right, if he wanted to hurt me, he would have already done it.

Only, the look Leather Bag gave me was a little strange and he asked me, "Where have you been?"

"Looking at the situation ahead." I said.

"You look so mysterious, Master Three. Don't hide anything from us." He complained. As soon as I saw the situation, I immediately winked at Xiuxiu to get her to change the subject and asked her, "What are you talking about?"

Knowing my intention, Xiuxiu immediately said, "We were talking about The Mystic Nine. I heard that when the army was in Changsha, there were all kinds of people in the troops, as well as refugees from all over the country.

"In those times, many high officials in the capital were able to sing a few lines of Beijing opera, so the army entered Beijing after the founding of the People's Republic, but they didn't sing the flower drum during the entire journey. The old affair was mentioned in gossip, but fortunately Er Ye's family had declined since then; otherwise, in this era, they wouldn't know what to dress up as. Now people's hearts are alienated and there are fewer defenses against outsiders. In contrast, our own people have become a major worry."

Leather Bag seemed to like Xiuxiu a little, and as soon as she spoke, his attention turned to her. She was talking about her two brothers, and according to her, the two men were Beijing celebrities, but not particularly outstanding ones. The two had long been dissatisfied with Granny Huo's appreciation of Xiao Hua, and the feud between them may have been accumulating since childhood. I couldn't get a word in, so I wanted her to keep talking.

Fatty sat down and threw a few bundles of branches into the fire, saying: "I'm not interested in this episode of 'The Story of a Noble Family' and 'Fate in Tears and Laughter' [1]. Do you have any love affairs in The Mystic Nine that we don't know about? Tell me about them. It's said that Er Ye was quite a player after he was widowed, and hung around prostitutes. One of them was as white as snow, and had a blue and white pattern you would normally see on porcelain on her hand. She was called "Little Qing Hua" [2]. Is that true?"

"Little Qing Hua is still around, do you want to go and have a look? She's at the nursing home." Xiuxiu said, "The blue and white porcelain pattern painted on her is the same as the ones on porcelain dolls. It's the kind that has cracked."

I took a sip of tea and said, "You're talking about old friends of the deceased, be careful with your words. Most of the women in the old society had poor backgrounds, and this Little Qing Hua may not have had any other choice."

Leather Bag disagreed, but wasn't willing to accept the change in topic and said to Fatty, "If you want to listen to something juicy, how can people like us talk? Why don't you say something?"