Old Wu

Biodata

Background / History

Military Service and Tiger Waist Mountain

Old Wu served in the army alongside Tang Xiansheng and Guan Jun, who later took the name Liu Yunbo. According to the chief of Tiger Waist Mountain Village, the men arrived after leaving the army and were exceptionally close before a dispute over treasures turned them against one another 15 33.

Before becoming a driver, Old Wu leased farmland in Tiger Waist Mountain Village during the 1990s. He unearthed a tiger-patterned copper coin while plowing and, believing there might be a valuable tomb beneath the field, recruited old friends to dig there at night. They uncovered a tunnel leading to what he described as a nest of monsters. During their escape, a companion called Third Brother fell and was killed 14.

The village chief claimed that he saved the men in the cave and that Old Wu took an old book without paying him. The chief retained the tiger-patterned coin, while Liu Yunbo later purchased a bronze bell unearthed in the village 15.

The Fourth Route 13 Driver

Old Wu became Route 13’s fourth driver after the earlier drivers were dismissed. Wang Dazhong revealed that Old Wu had volunteered to take his place on the last Route 13 bus, despite Wang normally driving Route 6 30 31.

Old Wu later admitted that he drove the bus for several months. During one journey, a tire blew out and the bus charged toward the reservoir. A passenger surnamed He cut his finger and smeared blood on the steering wheel, stopping the bus and saving him 39.

Mr. He instructed Old Wu to burn joss paper and make offerings at the reservoir on the fourteenth day of every lunar month. He said this would protect Old Wu for ten years, after which someone would have to drive the bus again. Old Wu acknowledged reopening the route when that protection expired 39.

Appearance

• Heavily wrinkled face: Li Yao compares his bunched-up wrinkles to a dried cabbage 1.
• Narrowing eyes: His eyes nearly disappear when he grins; he also narrows them while questioning Li Yao 12 21.

Personality

Old Wu is introduced as a self-interested manager who will not act unless he stands to benefit. He cultivates a friendly “Brother Wu” image while wielding considerable authority over the drivers. When assigning the paper mill service, he advertises the short working hours and extra pay before revealing that it is a night shift 1.

He enjoys flattery, drinking, and the comforts of his position. His usual office routine consists of drinking tea and listening to the radio, and he readily agrees to a celebratory barbecue. While being extravagantly praised by employees, he jokes that he cannot compare with Jack Ma but is roughly on par with Liu Qiangdong 8 12.

His temper can become physically abusive: he slaps Li Yao during their confrontation about Old Tang and again when Li returns after missing work. Nevertheless, he also grants Li leave, arranges a relief driver, and comes with assistance after the bus nearly enters the reservoir 3 4 10 11 20.

Old Wu is secretive and resourceful. He gives misleading explanations for the abandoned company building, attempts to prevent a police search, and orders the destruction of his old book. His quick thinking also produces the staged fight used to distract officers guarding the bronze clock 13 21 25.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Assigning Li Yao to Route 13

Old Wu assigns Li Yao the late-night paper mill service after the other drivers refuse. He singles Li out as unmarried and childless, then offers to request another 200 yuan on top of the advertised 500-yuan monthly supplement 1.

When Li confronts him about the route’s fatal history, Old Wu reveals that Tang Xiansheng—the man Li has been drinking with and seeking advice from—was the first Route 13 driver and died ten years earlier. Old Wu subsequently admits fault, claiming that he chose Li because his youth and strong yang energy might keep the route under control. He offers leave and promises to seek an outside driver 3 4.

After Li survives the bus’s unexplained rush toward Tangwazi Reservoir, Old Wu brings people to retrieve him and tow the vehicle. With the inspection finding no mechanical fault, he questions whether Li had been drinking. Lu Yiheng, also called Little Six, subsequently begins sharing Li’s shifts 11.

The Abandoned Building and Bronze Clock

Li discovers that Old Wu regularly stays in the company’s abandoned two-story building, opposite an archive room containing records of the earlier Route 13 drivers. Old Wu later tells an investigating master that the building is merely used to store engines and other equipment, contradicting what Li saw inside 8 13.

Old Wu initially believes the antique bronze clock delivered to the depot is a gift from the city bus group’s leadership. After a man dies before it, he learns that the group did not send it. He and the drivers cannot lift, push, or pry it loose, and the master brought in to handle it also dies kneeling before it 12 13.

The deaths bring police scrutiny and repeated reprimands from senior officials. Despite the company’s nominal head losing his position, Old Wu retains his own 16 31.

The Hidden Book

During a police search of the abandoned building, Old Wu refuses to surrender the keys and warns that evil spirits are upstairs. Once officers force entry, he secretly instructs Li to burn a book in the room opposite the archives 21.

Li finds the black-covered book beside buckets of rotten fish but takes it instead of destroying it. After fracturing his leg while escaping through a window, he hides the book beneath his hospital mattress. Old Wu visits, repeatedly asks whether it was burned, and checks Li’s jacket pockets before leaving. Believing Li’s reassurance, he promises full wages and a 500-yuan bonus 21.

Helping Stop the Clock

Old Wu agrees to help Liu Qingzhu reach the guarded clock after Li reveals that the old man entered the Demon Cave and returned alive. His plan is to have the drivers pretend to fight at the gate, drawing police away from the hall 25.

The distraction allows Liu Qingzhu inside, but the staged fight becomes genuine. Old Wu tries to intervene, and an officer eventually fires a warning shot to stop the brawl 25.

Guan Jun’s Identity and Old Wu’s Departure

Li uses his discovery that Liu Yunbo is Guan Jun to bargain for Old Wu’s account of Route 13. Old Wu had not recognized his former comrade under the new name; the revelation explains why an apparently unfamiliar man sent him the deadly clock 33 39.

After receiving Guan Jun’s location in Tangwazi Village, Old Wu leaves to find him. A week later, he still has not returned, prompting Li to worry that he may be in danger 40 46.

Equipment / Items

• Old black-covered book — Taken from the Demon Cave, kept in Old Wu’s room, and later stolen by Li Yao instead of being burned. Its cover bears four unfamiliar characters, and its pages are extremely fragile 15 21.
• Conflicting identifications of the book: The supplied accounts do not establish which title is correct 24 40.

Relationships

• Li Yao / Little Li — Subordinate assigned to Route 13. Their relationship becomes hostile as Li uncovers Old Wu’s concealed involvement with the route, though they cooperate against the bronze clock 1 25 39.
• Tang Xiansheng / Old Tang — Former army comrade and the first Route 13 driver. Old Wu’s disclosure of his death overturns Li’s understanding of his supposed friend 3 15.
• Guan Jun / Liu Yunbo — Former comrade turned sworn enemy after the treasure dispute. Guan Jun sends the sinister clock under his new identity, which Old Wu initially does not recognize 15 31 33 39.
• Mr. He — Rescuer who stopped Old Wu’s runaway bus with his blood and prescribed the ritual offering ten years of protection 39.
• Lu Yiheng / Little Six — Outside driver recruited to alternate Route 13 shifts with Li Yao 10 11.
• Tiger Waist Mountain Village Chief — Claimed to have saved Old Wu in the Demon Cave; resented him for taking the book without payment 15.