That night...
"You three sure know how to show up at just the right time. You even bought all this stuff. Looks like you've made a pretty penny out there!"
The dishes were served. As Yanzi's Father poured wine for the three of them, he said with a smile.
Hu Bayi glanced at Fatty, then at Hu Ming, before replying with a smile, "Not really. We just feel that life's gotten a lot better, but we can't keep all the good things to ourselves. We want to come back and help the villagers get rich, too!"
"Good! Good!" The old village secretary beamed at those words.
Fatty Wang was impatient by nature. He'd already started chuckling, and eagerly asked, "Old Secretary, I remember you've got quite a few jars in your backyard!"
Hu Bayi shot Fatty a look of disdain. Why couldn't the guy just wait a little?
The old village secretary looked suspicious. "Why are you asking about that?!"
Fatty Wang was about to speak, but Hu Bayi, worried he'd say the wrong thing, cut in first. "Didn't I just tell you? There are all kinds of people in the capital these days. We happen to know an old friend who's willing to buy these old things, these antiques!"
The old village secretary sounded puzzled. "What use could my pickle jars be?!"
Hu Ming spoke up. "Old Secretary, you only use those jars to pickle vegetables, but to that person, they're works of art."
The old village secretary opened his mouth, at a loss. "Really?"
Hu Ming smiled. "Don't forget, Old Secretary, I studied this stuff. And these things are worth a lot of money."
Fatty Wang chimed in. "Exactly. That's why the two of us came back. Each jar could be worth several hundred."
"I was thinking we could take all the jars, bowls, and things like that from around here and sell them. Then we'd split the money with the villagers!"
"You mean it?!"
"Of course! We've known each other forever. We know each other inside and out!" Fatty said with a grin.
At that, Yanzi's Father and the old village secretary exchanged a glance and sighed helplessly.
"...You two came too late!"
The old village secretary wore a complicated expression. "The archaeological team came last month. They gave every household ration coupons and said all these things had to be handed over to the state. Every village for miles around turned theirs in." If what Fatty said was true, each jar could be worth several hundred.
There wasn't a household that didn't have a few jars and bowls like that. Every family on Niuxin Mountain could have become a ten-thousand-yuan household.
In those days, a ten-thousand-yuan household could throw its weight around wherever it went! Helping the villagers on Niuxin Mountain get rich wouldn't have been hard at all.
But unfortunately... the old village secretary had a strong sense of duty. As soon as he heard the state was collecting them, he'd had every bowl, jar, and other item in the area turned over.
Even the old village secretary wore a complicated expression as he spoke. He'd missed a chance to help the villagers get rich, and he didn't quite know how to feel about it.
Hu Bayi and Fatty Wang were even more stunned. The smile vanished from Fatty's face in an instant.
The tomb was gone. All the pottery jars were gone!
Hu Bayi had it even worse. He'd pawned his watch to buy gifts for the villagers. Now not only was their chance to make money gone, but the money he'd spent was gone too. His pockets were empty, and he didn't even have enough to buy train tickets back to the city.
Old Hu swallowed hard, his eyes full of longing.
Fatty looked as if he'd eaten a dead fly.
Only Hu Ming remained calm. He knew how the story went, and this suited him just fine. With no pottery jars for the villagers to sell, the three of them would have no choice but to head to the tomb in Wilderness Gully on Niuxin Mountain!
"Come on! Let's drink!" Hu Ming poured a cup for Fatty Wang and Hu Bayi. "Let's stop worrying about these things. Since we're here, let's eat and drink our fill. There'll be plenty of time to make money later! Come on, drink!"
Fatty's features twisted into a grimace. Their hopes of making money were gone, and Hu Bayi and Fatty Wang felt utterly dejected. They picked up their cups and drank as though the wine were free.
The next morning...
Hu Ming hadn't drunk much the night before. When he woke up the next morning, Hu Bayi and Fatty Wang were still fast asleep.
So Hu Ming went for a walk on his own. When he returned, he found the other two awake and deep in an animated discussion.
"Mingzi, you're back! We've got something to tell you!" Fatty Wang saw Hu Ming come in and immediately took him by the arm and pulled him down to sit.
"Are you trying to convince me to go to Wilderness Gully on Niuxin Mountain?" Hu Ming asked with a smile.
"How'd you know?!" Fatty was taken aback.
Hu Ming continued with a smile. "I heard from the villagers that there was an earthquake on Niuxin Mountain the year before last. A huge crack opened up by the valley, revealing a large tomb inside. That's what brought the archaeological team here, and they collected all the treasures in the area.
"But I've heard since I was a kid that Wilderness Gully on Niuxin Mountain is a remote, uninhabited place. The archaeological team hasn't even finished excavating that big tomb, so they obviously won't have noticed Wilderness Gully. Besides, that place was a strategic stronghold in Guandong back in the day. There's bound to be treasure!"
Fatty was astonished. "Well, I'll be! I was just about to try to convince you, but it turns out you and Old Hu were thinking the same thing! Let's pack up and get going!"
Hu Ming agreed. "All right!"
The three of them discussed their plans with the old village secretary and the others, and the old village secretary didn't object.
As they packed, Hu Ming went to find the old village secretary. "Old Secretary, could we get some gasoline for the car in our village?"
The old village secretary looked puzzled but didn't ask any questions. He simply said, "There's half a barrel in my backyard. Take it."
Hu Ming thanked him. "Thanks so much, Old Secretary."
Hu Ming remembered clearly that the Jin Dynasty General's Red-haired Zombie in Wilderness Gully had immense strength and was impervious to blades and bullets. Even grenades couldn't kill him.
Hu Ming considered himself a skilled fighter, but he still couldn't beat a Zombie with skin that tough.
He also remembered that in the end, the Zombie had only been burned to death in a great fire fueled by the Heavenly Treasure Dragon Fire Glazed Tile.
If Hu Ming wanted to make it out of the tomb alive, he had to kill the Red-haired Zombie. The only way to do that was to set him on fire!
After gathering the tools they'd need for the tomb, the three of them set off!
Just as they were leaving the village, a lively young woman with short hair came galloping toward them on horseback. Four hunting dogs followed behind her, along with an unattended horse.
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