I had initially thought Wang Yang had some brilliant plan, but who would have guessed his so-called plan was just a night-vision device?
He’d somehow procured one, an older model, and there was only one. It was about as big as a hard hat.
When I put it on, everything in front of me glowed green.
According to Wang Yang, this thing was foreign-made, and he’d gone to great lengths to find this one, which he’d rented.
I asked him how much the rent was, and he gestured with two fingers. I was taken aback, "Two hundred?"
Wang Yang rolled his eyes at me, "Two thousand!"
"This thing is that expensive?"
"What do you think? This is a rare item. If I didn't have a good relationship with the owner, I couldn't have rented it."
After fiddling with this novel gadget for a while, my interest waned. Hong Yunpeng, however, was quite fascinated and kept playing with it.
I thought to myself, rather than wearing this contraption, it would be more practical to pray for a big moon tonight.
We grabbed our tools, parked the car on the dirt road by the national highway, and then circled around to approach the mountain from the other side.
Upon returning to Wu Jinyuan's grave, we saw two long birthday candles lit beside the tombstone.
Seeing those two candles, I chuckled.
Were they afraid they wouldn't be able to see?
Hong Yunpeng and Wang Yang seemed to be thinking along the same lines. The three of us exchanged glances, went behind the grave, and began to divide our tasks.
Hong Yunpeng and I were responsible for digging, while Wang Yang kept watch.
After all, this guy was injured and couldn't do physical labor.
It was fine at first, but after digging for over an hour, my hands started to ache.
Seeing this, Hong Yunpeng told me to rest and then buried his head in the work himself.
After digging for more than three hours, we finally saw the coffin.
This was my first time digging up a grave in the middle of the night. When I saw the coffin lid, goosebumps prickled all over me.
A cold wind blew, and the tree shadows swayed, making one feel uneasy.
Hong Yunpeng, quite brave, wiped the sweat from his forehead, took off the night-vision device on his head, and said, "This thing isn't as good as my own eyes."
I laughed, "I told you not to bring it earlier, but you didn't listen."
Hong Yunpeng said helplessly, "It made my head sweat."
"What do we do now?" I asked.
Hong Yunpeng replied, "Open the coffin, of course."
I licked my lips and said, "Should I call Wang Yang over?"
"That works too."
I put down my shovel and went around to the front of the grave. I didn't know if it was psychological or not, but seeing the two candles in front of the tombstone flicker, I had a feeling something was about to happen.
I followed the stone steps to find Wang Yang but couldn't find him anywhere. I didn't know where that guy had gone.
It was pitch black all around, so I could only lower my voice and softly call out, "Wang Yang... Wang Yang..."
After calling out several times, there was no response.
Where did this guy run off to?
After thinking about it, I decided to go back first. If that didn't work, Hong Yunpeng and I would open the coffin, retrieve the contents, and then make further plans.
Creeping back to the grave, the birthday candles had gone out, I didn't know if it was the wind or something else.
With the faint moonlight, I could barely make out some things. When I circled around to the back of the grave, it was empty, and Hong Yunpeng was nowhere to be seen.
This time I was a bit bewildered. Where had the person gone?
"Brother Hong? Brother Hong?"
After calling twice, there was no response. What were these two up to?
Could they be trying to play a prank and scare me?
Probably not, they weren't that childish.
I took a deep breath and was about to search around again when suddenly my nose and mouth were covered by something. I instinctively took a sharp breath, and instantly my body lost all strength, my vision went black, and I lost consciousness completely.
...
I don't know how much time had passed before I gradually regained some awareness. Before I opened my eyes, I felt myself sitting on something very soft. Touching it with my hand, I realized it was probably a sofa.
My hands and feet weren't bound. I sniffed and detected a familiar scent, a faint smell of chocolate tobacco.
I was surprised, thinking, could Sister Ying be back?
I suddenly opened my eyes and found myself in a place resembling a lounge. In front of me was a glass coffee table, and sitting opposite it was a woman. It was Wu Tingxiu, and she was slowly smoking a cigarette.
Looking around, Hong Yunpeng was sitting to my left, Wang Yang to my right, and several men in black suits stood nearby.
Now I understood everything. It turns out we were caught red-handed while digging up the grave!
Now, here we were, caught with the goods. I wouldn't be surprised if we were buried on Fenghuang Mountain later...
Seeing that I had woken up, Hong Yunpeng winked at me, but I had no idea what he wanted me to do. Wang Yang, on the other hand, looked calm and unperturbed.
"Speak, who sent you?" Wu Tingxiu's voice was soft and pleasant.
Before I could answer, Wang Yang spoke up, "No one. We did this on our own."
Wu Tingxiu exhaled her last puff of smoke, dropped the cigarette butt into the ashtray, and then looked up, scanning us, "Why were you digging up my grandfather's grave?"
Wang Yang smiled and said, "You should know the answer to that question, shouldn't you?"
Wu Tingxiu crossed her arms and leaned back on the sofa, looking at ease. "For money?"
Wang Yang remained silent.
Wu Tingxiu turned her gaze to me, scrutinizing me from head to toe, then continued to look at Hong Yunpeng.
After a moment, she straightened up, snapped her fingers, and said to one of the men in black, "Alright, send them all to the police station."
"Wait!" Wang Yang's voice rang out, "Don't you really want to know why we were digging up your grandfather's grave?"
Wu Tingxiu smiled faintly, "I gave you a chance earlier, and you didn't seize it."
With that, she stood up, ready to leave.
I glanced at Wang Yang. His brows were furrowed. He spoke, "Sui Hou Zhu!"
At these words, Wu Tingxiu, who was about to leave, stopped in her tracks. After a long pause, she slowly turned back, a hint of complexity appearing in her expression.
She sat back down in her original position and waved her hand gently, "You all leave first."
The men in black heard her and left the room without a word.
Once it was just the four of us in the room, Wu Tingxiu lit another cigarette and said slowly, "Tell me everything you know, and I'll pretend this never happened. Otherwise, whether it's settled publicly or privately, you won't get away with it."
Wang Yang nodded, then turned to look at me, "Xiao Fei, you tell her."
I was stunned, blinking at him.
Me? Tell her?
What was I supposed to tell her?
I hadn't even processed it yet. Wang Yang gave me a look, and I had no idea what he wanted me to say.
I took a deep breath and couldn't help but think to myself, damn it, if you want me to say something, at least give me a heads-up!