Book 2: Chapter 5: The Strange Case of the Burning Corpse


    Xiao Hua asked me that, not because he thought I didn''t know, but because he wanted me to help with the story. We had all experienced these things, but the information each of us knew wasnt veryplete.


    The map was said to have been created by tranting the sound of thunder. It pointed to a strange ce called Thunder City, which was said to be the ce where immortals lived. Uncle Three was obsessed with finding this Thunder City, but we couldnt find the map in the end. Later, after a series of investigations, we discovered that the map wasnt a topographic map, but a map of the underground rivers.


    Xiao Hua paused again. We already knew all of this information, but I knew that his goal wasnt to talk about it, but to gives us time to think. I was used to his style of storytelling, so I let my thoughts roam for a while.


    I touched my chin as I thought it over. Then, I started to realize what Xiao Hua was saying and why it was best not to mention this matter in front of ck sses.


    ck sses fan was the girl who couldnt speak.


    As we all knew, ck sses actually wasnt that young. ording to him, all the young girls he used to know were now grandmas.


    Back when Granny Huo was alive, ck sses took on amission from the Huo family that involved a strange case of a burning corpse (1). An ident urred in a school, and there was a young girl who was trapped in the resulting fire. When ck sses finally managed to rescue her, her throat was damaged and she couldnt speak.


    In the end, the case went unsolved, but the scene was definitely very strange. I recorded part of the story in my other writings.


    Of all the strange things I had experienced or read about, this case was definitely the most frightening. I was a brave person, but the case file, the strange phenomenon ck sses discovered, and the reasons for not continuing the investigation were all extremely chilling.


    At that time, the girl was pretty young. After doing some calctions, I realized that the mute girl in Myanmar mustve been the girl from the fire. In order to keep the events of that year a secret, the girl may not have received any real information. As a result, she thought she was mute because of a childhood disability.


    When I first heard about that case, I just saw it as an anecdote. But when I thought about it now, I suddenly realized that it seemed to be rted to thunder. If that were true, then I figured ck sses didnt ept Uncle Two''s job just for the money. But whether the case at that time was rted to thunder or not, ck sses wasnt happy with theck of results and ended up in Mute Vige, where he met that girl from before.


    Was it a coincidence?


    I nodded to Xiao Hua, and he continued, "As you all know, that map is very old, but must have been drawn by someone. When I was discussing all the data you investigated with Uncle Two before, a question was raised. A group of craftsmen who heard the thunder in the South Sea Kings tomb drew a map and finally escaped from the tomb. After they disappeared, their whereabouts were unknown. I think these people are the ancestors of Mute Vige, and the underground river below Mute Vige is really a path leading to Thunder City.


    "After that, I made a bigger inference. I started to assume that if God had a chance to leak information to the world at that time, then he mustve had hundreds of other opportunities. But why didn''t anyone discover it again after all these years? Its not like it just stopped thundering. So, why did it only happen at that time?


    "Why?" Fatty asked.


    "No, thats actually not the right question. Based on my hypothesis, its reasonable to assume that countless people have discovered this matter. Its appeared in every era, but those people chose to keep it a secret without exception. Why is that?"


    When I thought of this, I suddenly looked at Xiao Hua, feeling cold all over.


    "Because they found that anything rted to this matter"


    "Will lead to death if its disclosed. And the deaths are all mysterious cases that cant be exined.


    In the whole listening-to-thunder incident, there were countless rough threads that I had been unable to connect so far. It was just like how I didn''t realize until now that ck sses may have gone to Mute Vige because of the corpse burning case.


    The underground well in the corpse burning case, the body discovered in the well, and the strange ritual of transporting the corpses to the northeast triggered a series of events afterwards. There were countless details, but they were too incredible and difficult to connect.


    There were only some small details that had something to do with listening to thunder. I had forgotten them long ago, but Xiao Hua mustve been able to see the association between them right away. He was just that kind of a person. He hardly forgot anything, like when someone owed him money.


    Then the girl who can''t speak appeared in Mute Vige


    Xiao Hua followed my line of thinking and said, "It''s no coincidence that she appeared there. It has something to do with the ceremony at that time."


    "This"


    "This is a case within a case. I didn''t tell you all the truth, because I was afraid it would interfere with your investigation of the main incident. But the ancient well that ck sses found, the female corpse inside, the strange fire in the school, his eye disease suddenly worsening, the girl identally appearing in Mute Vige, and listening to thunder are all rted."


    "So, you checked into this matter?"


    "It wasnt just checking," Xiao Hua said. "Ill tell you another thing. After listening, youll realize how scary it is."


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Chapters 112-115 of Sand Sea