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墨書 Inktalez
As I got a little closer, I heard someone singing, and it was a very familiar song—one that Fat Ma and I often sang together.
Listening more closely, the voice sounded somewhat familiar.
I thought to myself, oh no, and hurried over.
Sure enough, Fat Ma was taking a hot shower, singing a little tune while completely undressed.
My sudden appearance startled Fat Ma. After realizing it was me, he cursed at me and continued to wash himself without a care.
I didn’t bother saying anything; it was too late for that. "Getting caught means there will be consequences," I said to the hefty guy.
With confidence, he replied, "This matter is known by heaven, earth, you, and me. If you don’t say anything and I don’t say anything, who would know?"
I had grown accustomed to Fat Ma's shameless personality. I asked him, "Where did you get this water?"
Fat Ma replied, "You don’t need to worry about that. It’s neither stolen nor robbed."
Seeing Fat Ma being stubborn, I finally gave him a good talking-to, reminding him not to lose the spirit of **. I emphasized the word Communist.
Eventually, Fat Ma finally confessed.
"There’s a spring about four or five miles from here," he said.
I nearly shouted in surprise; there was actually a spring in such harsh conditions as the Northwest.
Fat Ma quickly covered my mouth to keep me quiet.
I blinked my eyes to show that I understood, and he let go. "You little rascal, trying to suffocate me!" I scolded.
Fat Ma chuckled innocently, "Who would dare!"
I didn’t feel like arguing with him any further.
At this time, the sky was almost dark. Fat Ma and I returned to our dwelling, and Li Jie was back as well.
We didn't show any signs of what had happened.
After a simple meal, we began to rest.
I was exhausted from a day of farming and quickly fell asleep. In a daze, I thought I heard someone calling my name. When I opened my eyes, Fat Ma's large face appeared in my line of sight.
Fat Ma made a gesture for silence. I immediately understood and refrained from speaking. He signaled for me to follow him.
I glanced at Li Jie, who was sleeping beside me, snoring softly.
I carefully got dressed and followed Fat Ma out of the cave.
After walking about one hundred meters away from the cave, I asked him, "What on earth are we doing in the middle of the night?"
Fat Ma cautiously looked around to ensure no one was watching before whispering, "Don't say anything for now. Just follow me, and I promise you'll benefit."
Seeing Fat Ma's mysterious demeanor made me curious, but I decided to follow him anyway. We circled around to the back of the cave.
In the northwest, the temperature fluctuated greatly between day and night; it was quite cold at night, and frost had formed on the leaves.
I wrapped my arms around myself for warmth and asked Fat Ma, "Where are we going?"
Fat Ma replied cryptically, "To a good place."
After walking for a while longer without reaching our destination, I began to feel quite cold. We had both brought flashlights when we left, but the light flickered with every tremor of my hand.
"Fat Ma" spoke up, "We're almost there."
I calculated in my mind that we had already walked about three or four miles. Damn, what's another step or two at this point?
After walking for a while longer, "Fat Ma" finally stopped.
A cool breeze swept through, feeling colder than in other places.
"Fat Ma" said to me, "We've arrived." I stepped forward and saw an opening that looked like a cave, filled with spring water. The light reflected off the surface like a smooth mirror. I recognized it immediately; this must be the mountain spring water "Fat Ma" had mentioned.
I felt a bit frustrated. Damn, it was so cold at night, and he brought me here just to see this spring. I was ready to give the fat guy a piece of my mind.
Seeing my expression, "Fat Ma" knew I was about to lose my temper. After spending several months together, we understood each other somewhat. He quickly broke into a grin and pulled out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, offering me one.
At that moment, I didn’t want to refuse him, so I took the cigarette, lit it up, and suppressed my irritation.
I took a puff and watched "Fat Ma" to see what he was up to. He shone the flashlight into the spring and plunged his hand into the water, instantly freezing his teeth from the cold. With a splash, "Fat Ma" quickly pulled his hand back.
I kept my eyes fixed on his movements and saw him bring something out of the water.
"Fat Ma" stood up, and I directed the light onto his hand. He was holding an object that I recognized immediately; it was a piece of bronze because I had a few similar items at home.
Seeing me staring intently, "Fat Ma" shook the bronze object in his hand and laughed, "See? I wasn't lying! I told you it was something good."
I snapped out of my daze and took the bronze item from "Fat Ma." It was a vessel covered in a layer of green patina. It felt somewhat fuzzy to the touch.
I wasn't an expert in this area; I could only make a rough assessment.
Noticing how seriously I was examining it, "Fat Ma" asked, "Did you figure out anything interesting?"
I shook my head and said, "No, but this thing must be valuable."
Fat Ma, after hearing my words, bent down again and pulled out something else from the cold water. He shivered and asked, "What about this one?"
I directed the light onto what he was holding and saw that it looked like a bone.
I took it from him and noticed that it was covered in dense inscriptions. This should be Oracle Bone script, I thought as I examined it.
Fat Ma suddenly said to me, "Old Sun, I didn't realize you knew quite a bit!"
He then asked me, "Do you recognize the characters on it?" I didn’t rush to answer Fat Ma; instead, I focused intently on the inscriptions on the Oracle Bone. A sense of familiarity washed over me. Suddenly, I remembered that I had seen something similar at my grandfather's house. A friend of my grandfather's had come over, and my grandfather had asked me to learn to read with him. Those were various strange characters, and this seemed to be one of them.
Seeing that I was studying it closely, Fat Ma remained silent and didn’t interrupt me. After a while, I said, "It seems to record an ancient tribe called the Ghost Tribe. They once came here."
Fat Ma stared at me with wide eyes, waiting for more.
Then I added, "That's all; that's what it means." Fat Ma's round eyes suddenly dimmed.
I glanced at Fat Ma thoughtfully. A cold breeze swept through, and I could still hear the sound of the water rippling.
Fat Ma seemed to be lost in thought.
I fixed my gaze on him and shone the flashlight on his face as I said, "You know the policy: honesty brings leniency, while resistance leads to harsh consequences."
Fat Ma's words came out a bit tight and unclear.
I thought that if I didn’t press him hard enough, he wouldn’t confess. So I adopted a more serious tone and said, "Fat Ma, don’t harbor any illusions thinking you can escape the organization’s scrutiny like this." Then I softened my tone and added, "We're brothers; what’s there that we can’t talk about?"
Fat Ma seemed to pull his large belly inward; I knew he had taken a deep breath.
He looked around again and whispered to me, "First, you need to swear an oath, a very serious and harsh one, to the great **, promising not to leak any information."
Seeing Fat Ma so serious, I couldn't joke around, so I swore the oath to **.
Fat Ma glanced at me with satisfaction, looking as if he believed I was teachable. It was quite infuriating.
I said to Fat Ma, "Can you tell me now?"
Fat Ma still appeared cautious and whispered to me, "This is something that shouldn't see the light of day, so you must keep it a secret." He reiterated the importance of confidentiality.
I nodded and assured him with my life that I would never disclose it.
Seeing my serious commitment, Fat Ma seemed to realize that his previous claims about ** were false; only matters concerning his own interests were true.
He leaned closer and whispered in my ear, "There might be a large burial mound nearby."
I looked at Fat Ma in surprise. He grinned at me, then straightened his expression and said, "Old Sun, at this point, I won't hide it from you anymore. Actually, I'm a grave robber."
"A grave robber?" I repeated.
Fat Ma decided to be open and said, "It's about digging up graves and robbing the rich to help the poor."
I understood now. Although my heart stirred with mixed feelings, understanding was paramount! I patted Fat Ma on the shoulder to show that I got it.
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