Chapter Thirty-Eight: Old Tan

After half an hour of climbing, the slope became so steep that we couldn’t go any further. Peanut stopped, turned back to us, and said, “I’ll rush down first and see what’s going on. You two stay right here and don’t move.” He didn’t bother to ask for my or Old Tan’s opinion—he just dashed down, disappearing in a blink. I could only see the beam of his flashlight shrinking to a dot, then melting into darkness.

The world fell silent again. I crouched down on the slope, bracing myself, staring into the blackness below. Occasionally, I glanced at the cliff beside me, where a chilling wind rose from the depths. Even in the sweltering summer, the breeze felt oddly refreshing, though more than anything, it sent a shiver up my spine.

After a long while with no sign from below, I started to wonder if I should follow. Just then, a song drifted from behind me.

“The mountain peonies burst into bloom, crimson and bright...” The tune was low and haunting. The sudden melody in the silence startled me so much I shuddered. I turned to look; Old Tan was sitting on the slope, gazing into the darkness at his side, softly singing that familiar folk song.

“Old Yuan,” he suddenly stopped and smiled at me, “what do you think would happen if I kicked you down right now?”

That weirded me out completely. He looked so strange that I almost lost my temper—what kind of joke was this, and at a time like this? But as I was about to snap at him, a chill crept through my heart. At that moment, Old Tan’s usual smile twisted into something sinister. I stared hard at him, a thought flickering in my mind, but before I could grasp it, it was gone.

“Come on, I was just messing with you. Do you have to be like that?” He seemed annoyed at my silence.

“It’s not that... I just felt like I remembered something, but...” I trailed off, and suddenly Old Tan burst into laughter—a loud, wild laugh that shattered the stillness and almost made me tumble down the slope. I wanted to curse at him, but then he stopped laughing as abruptly as he’d started, fixing me with a sly, almost wicked look.

“Well, well, Young Master Yuan, you don’t need to...” In an instant, Old Tan’s accent shifted to an authentic northwestern dialect.

“What the hell are you doing?” His expression and voice gave me an uncanny feeling.

“Nothing at all. I just don’t want to keep faking a Beijing accent,” he replied, head tilted, his body language relaxed and easy.

At this point, I was completely baffled, with no idea how to respond to this sudden change in speech and demeanor.

He sauntered down the slope toward me, stopping right in front of me. “It's time, Young Master Yuan.”

“You—” I instantly realized something was wrong and backed up a few steps.

Old Tan’s dialect was too perfect. Unless you were from there, you couldn’t possibly speak like that. My first reaction was: this wasn’t Old Tan.

“Who are you?” I demanded.

“I’m Tan Wei,” he replied, smiling.

“Bullshit! Old Tan’s family has been in Beijing for ten generations. Who the hell are you?” As I said this, I remembered the story Old Tan told me back at the waterfall. I’d found it odd at the time, but now, thinking back, I realized—maybe this wasn’t Old Tan at all. But if not, how could he look exactly like him?

He laughed again and switched back to his Beijing accent. “Yuan Jie, there’s no need to be so shocked. I’m just taking the chance to bare the truth to you now.”

I stared at him, cold dread crawling over me.

“You don’t need to doubt it. I am Tan Wei. But I’m not just your university classmate for four years, your good friend—I’ve also been the one monitoring you for four whole years.”

“Monitoring... me?” My heart skipped a beat.

“I know it’s hard for you to accept right away, but that’s fine. We have plenty of time,” he said, his tone now utterly different from before. “Originally, I wouldn’t have had to reveal myself to you. Once we graduated, I could have quietly bowed out. Unfortunately, your father kept the truth about the ‘Blue-Blooded Dragon Mark’ hidden from us. So now, I have to take care of some loose ends.”

“You’re joking, right?” I simply couldn’t accept what he was saying. Monitored me, for four years—my classmate, my friend, the only brother I had in Beijing—was someone sent to spy on me? That was impossible. This only happened in movies; my mind instinctively refused to believe any of it.

Yet, suddenly, that fleeting thought from before surged back into my head. Grabbing hold of it, I started to back away.

Tan Wei lit a cigarette, his voice low. “Four years isn’t so long, but it’s not short either. Sometimes, I almost believed I really was the Tan Wei you knew, and I actually enjoyed that life. But you’re Yuan Long’s son, and I was born to be a tomb robber.”

“You’re a tomb robber...”

He nodded, then smiled again.

“No, wait—don’t you have a grandmother in Beijing? I’ve met her, we...” My mind grew fuzzy, the words tangled. I remembered Old Tan’s grandmother, so kind and gentle, always smiling at me. Old Tan once said she was mute; I’d even scolded him for not treating her with enough respect. But now, thinking back... was she just someone he’d found to play the role?

“Don’t dwell on the past, Yuan Jie. It was all fake. Still, we’ve known each other for four years. Rest assured, as long as you come with me, I won’t make things too hard for you.” He spoke with a calmness that showed he didn’t expect any resistance from me.

That was the final blow. I felt as if I were floating, my mood hitting rock bottom, utterly at a loss. The memory from earlier grew clearer as I stared at Tan Wei. I began to recall the night before we left my hometown. We’d dragged the Eight-Tone Rat out of the cellar; everyone was terrified, and Tan Wei had hit him in anger, even smacking him on the head—the exact spot where the fatal wound was found.

I remembered, too, how Er Lengzi said Peanut was poisoned, and after Peanut was injured, the only people who had contact with him were me and Tan Wei... As I pieced it together, a splitting headache seized me, and sweat poured down my face.

“Was it you who killed the Rat?” My voice was so small, I barely recognized it.

“Heh, that kid should’ve died long ago. Letting him live an extra day was my mercy,” Tan Wei replied, laughing maniacally. A human life seemed as insignificant as a strand of hair in his eyes. “I originally planned to deal with Peanut too, but who knows where he came from—he even survived the poison of Purpleheart Grass. Hmph, but since he went down that slope, there’s no way he’s coming back up.”

“What do you mean?” I glanced reflexively down the slope.

“There’s something down there that’ll surprise him,” Tan Wei said with a smirk.

His words sent a strange feeling through me. Could it be... “You’ve been here before?” I asked in shock.

“Ancient history,” Tan Wei answered, casting a nostalgic look around. “I never thought I’d return to this cursed place.”

“So what are you planning now?” I asked, my concern for Peanut growing. Looking ahead, I suddenly wanted to dash down the slope, knock Tan Wei aside, and find Peanut. I had no idea how Peanut was faring, but since Tan Wei had chosen this moment to reveal everything, he must have been thoroughly prepared. Thinking back, from the moment I heard about the ‘Blue-Blooded Dragon Mark,’ Peanut had been by my side.