Two months had already flown by since I started working in Investigation Section One. At first, I thought the work there would be thrilling and full of danger. But it turned out to be just sitting in the office, looking through files, sorting them, and then sending them off to the other five sections. I still had a question in my mind—this kind of work seemed more like what Section Four would do, so why were we in Section One doing it?
During these two months, Sun the Fatty and I had already made ourselves somewhat known around the Bureau of Paranormal Investigation. Except for Section Six Director Wu Rendi and Section Four Director Lin Feng, whom I hadn't seen since they weren't at the Bureau, I'd met pretty much everyone else.
Looking back now, if I had to keep this nine-to-five, risk-free routine, with the treatment of a section chief-level officer and a monthly salary of over four thousand but less than five thousand RMB, it wasn't a bad job at all. (Note: At that time in China, the average monthly income in cities was only about 1300 RMB, roughly 200 USD, so a 700 USD job was indeed quite good.)
During this time, those few people seconded to Section Two had all returned. They hadn't even had time to settle back in before the Section Two Director Qiu Bulao went into Hao Wenming's office the next day. I didn't know what they talked about inside, but judging by the voices and the occasional slamming on the desk, it was definitely not a pleasant meeting. (Note: The meaning of Qiu's name is "not aging", of course, this is not true; it's just a name.)
Back in the army, I'd seen sergeants and squad leaders argue before, but that was typical hooligan behavior among soldiers and made some sense in a military setting. But this was the first time I saw something like that in a civilian office, and somehow it felt like their styles weren't much different from the army.
The people in Section One seemed used to it, too. Directors fought with directors, and they did their own work without interference—it even had a strange kind of harmony.
In the end, it was a phone call from Boss Gao that summoned both of them to the director's office. I didn't know what they discussed, but when they came out, Qiu Bulao looked dejected, while Hao Wenming was quite relaxed—as if he had gotten some kind of bargain. The announcement that followed was surprising: all original Investigation Section One investigators (except for me, Sun Dasheng, Po Jun, and Director Hao Wenming) were transferred to Section Two.
On the surface, it looked like Qiu Bulao from Section Two had gained an advantage—but why did their expressions look exactly opposite? Sun the Fatty asked Po Jun, and that's when I understood. It turned out that the finances of all six investigation sections were calculated separately. Section One claimed to be a comprehensive section handling everything, but the real work was mostly done by the other five sections. Section Two's domestic affairs covered such a broad scope that they were always short-staffed. It became routine for Qiu Bulao to borrow people from Section One, and this had been going on for two or three years without interruption. At the start of each month, right after salaries were paid, they'd borrow people and return them before the end of the month, often leaving only Hao Wenming behind to hold down the fort. Using Section One's personnel without having to pay for them—who wouldn't want a deal like that?
For years, Hao Wenming had been itching with anger. He had seen bullies before, but never anyone who bullied relentlessly, year after year. This was like riding someone's neck while giving them dysentery! (Note: The meaning of this common saying is to have diarrhea while riding on someone else's neck, which can be understood as an extremely insulting act.)
Now that an opportunity finally came, after Sun the Fatty and I joined Section One, Boss Gao thought Section One was too bloated. In his words, "Why have so many people when there isn't enough work?" So, he started considering transferring some staff to the other sections. Then, as I witnessed, Qiu Bulao, used to having his way but not daring to offend Director Gao, simply went to Hao Wenming to argue his case.
Sun the Fatty was all ears, and Po Jun was spitting out his words energetically. Sun the Fatty was easygoing, but when I glanced at Po Jun, it was hard to believe someone over two meters tall could be so gossipy.
None of this really concerned me. Clocking in on time and getting paid on time—that was the way. Too bad those peaceful days didn't last long. What was meant to happen, eventually would.
A few days later, early one morning, Sun the Fatty and I had just arrived at the door of Section One when we saw Po Jun dialing a phone. Seeing us, he hung up and said, "I was just about to call you two. Hurry up and head to the meeting room on the second basement floor." When we asked what had happened, Po Jun couldn't say much.
Though we didn't know the details, it was clear something serious was going on. When we got into the elevator, there were already two Section Two investigators inside. Their faces were solemn—probably they had already gotten the news.
Sun the Fatty, who was known for being friendly with strangers, started chatting with the two investigators, "Hey guys, what's going on that's causing such a fuss? Did you Section Two folks get involved?"
One of them used to work in Section One and was usually easy to talk to. But he just shook his head and said, "Not sure about the specifics, but it seems something happened over in Gansu. You'll know everything once you get to the meeting room."
When we reached the meeting room, over thirty people were already seated—most of them were former Section One staff. At the main table sat four people, in order: Ouyang Pianzuo, Hao Wenming, Gao Liang, and Qiu Bulao.
We found a place to sit down, and after a few more minutes, most people had arrived. Gao Fatty stood up and started the meeting without any unnecessary talk, jumping straight to the point: "Half a month ago, an archaeological team in Gansu Province discovered the ruins of the Western Region ancient kingdom—the Greater Yuezhi—in the Badain Jaran Desert. Yesterday, during their first internal exploration, an accident happened. Five archaeology experts and eleven staff members lost contact with the surface. Later, two separate rescue teams were sent in, but both groups also lost contact after entering the site. It has now been over sixteen hours since the loss of contact.
"The Fourth Division has gathered information from all sides and determined this falls within the Bureau of Paranormal Investigation's jurisdiction. The Bureau has decided that the Second Investigation Division will take charge, with the First and Fifth Divisions assisting." Gao Liang glanced at his watch and continued, "No more time to waste. That's all for now. The remaining details will be explained by the three directors once you board the plane. Alright, get ready. We'll meet at the parking lot in fifteen minutes."
Like a receding tide, the Second Division team left the meeting room. Looking at our First Division group, including the director, there were only four of us "elites"—plenty enough to play mahjong. But then I glanced at Ouyang Pianzhuo, and I felt a bit more comfortable. This guy was the only one here on his own; Ouyang's team should have had a few others, but for some reason, none came along. Seeing him, I remembered—Ouyang Pianzhuo is in charge of equipment and training, right? What exactly could he do there?
After whispering a few words between themselves, Hao Wenming and Ouyang Pianzhuo came over and said, "Bring all your gear and use the Social Sciences Academy Archaeology Institute IDs. Get ready and follow Pojun. We'll meet at the parking lot later." Without another word, they left with Ouyang.
Forty minutes later, an Audi A4 and a bus carrying over thirty of us drove directly onto the capital airport's tarmac. A Boeing 747 was already waiting there.
"Damn, they're really going all out? Even got a plane ready. Tsk tsk..." Sun Fatty ran his hand along the plane's body.
I looked at him with envy on his face and couldn't help saying, "That's enough. If you keep rubbing it, the airline might charge you for damaging the plane."
"Can a few rubs really break it? You think the plane's made of paper?" Sun Fatty said, vigorously rubbing a few more times.
"Hey, you, take your hand off, you're rubbing the paint off the plane!" Qiu Bulao shouted from the boarding stairs.
"No way, Director Qiu," Sun Fatty smiled cheekily, clearly not convinced. "Even if it's damaged, it's the airline's plane. Why are you so nervous?"
"Sun Dasheng, shut your mouth," Hao Wenming came over. "Don't be disrespectful to Director Qiu."
Qiu Bulao glanced at him but ignored Sun Fatty and boarded the plane.
"Hao, don't you think that's a bit much? Just a few rubs. It's not his plane," Sun Fatty still protested.
"You know nothing!" Hao Wenming lowered his voice, "The plane belongs to the Bureau. The Second Division uses it often and is responsible for its maintenance."
Sun Fatty's mouth dropped open, "No way…"
I listened beside them, feeling a bit incredulous, and asked, "Hao, are you saying the Bureau of Paranormal Investigation actually has its own plane?"
"Why so loud? Haven't you seen much of the world?" Hao said disdainfully.
Sun Fatty suddenly got cheeky: "Hao, are the flight attendants from the Bureau too? Can you introduce us…"
The inside of the plane's cabin was unlike any I'd seen before. Calling it a cabin was misleading; it was more like a flying office. On each side by the windows were rows of long benches, and in the middle stood a projector. Qiu Bulao was already there reviewing materials.
After takeoff, the three directors began outlining the mission details. The main speaker was Qiu Bulao, who opened a slideshow. On the screen appeared a photo of rubble emerging in the desert.
Qiu Bulao pointed at the picture: "This is a satellite image of the incident site. Half a month ago, due to a sandstorm, the ruins of the Greater Yuezhi kingdom emerged from the desert. Most of what was exposed is confirmed to be the main palace, and part of it is the kingdom's central city area, which, based on the analysis, appears to be the residence of a high-ranking official.
"The Greater Yuezhi's state religion was Buddhism. Legend says they introduced Buddhism to central China. There is no evidence of any powerful cults circulating in the kingdom's territory. We can basically rule out the possibility of an ancient cult still active. The most likely cause of the personnel disappearance is that when the palace was buried by the desert, many people inside couldn't escape. Their posthumous resentment was sealed within the palace, and anyone entering is overwhelmed by this malevolent energy.
"The archaeologists disappeared after entering the palace, so I believe the investigation focus should be inside the palace. This falls under the Second Division's responsibility. The First Division and Director Ouyang are assigned to assist. Any objections?"
"I have a question," Sun Fatty raised his hand, "What kind of assistance is our First Division supposed to provide?"
"Prepare tea and things like that. Don't run around; just stay put—that counts as assistance to the Second Division," the Second Division deputy director said slowly. I had heard before that he and Hao Wenming didn't get along, but I didn't expect it to be this bad—he even dared to hassle the First Division in front of Hao.
Not just me, even Hao Wenming looked embarrassed. Unexpectedly, Sun Fatty added, "What kind of tea do you drink, Pu'er OK?"
This wasn't the Sun Dasheng I knew—he never took things lying down.
Two and a half hours later, the plane landed at Lanzhou Airport. We transferred directly to two military helicopters. Sun Dasheng muttered, "Tsk tsk... helicopters too? This is a bit over the top."
I gave him a side glance, pointing at the characters on the helicopter: "Are you blind? Didn't you see 'Ba Yi' (August 1st)? These are the People's Liberation Army's!"
After flying for over another hour, the two helicopters landed at the incident site—the Badain Jaran Desert. The area was already cordoned off by police and armed police, with a police line around the ruins. It seemed the news of the archaeologists' disappearance had leaked, as reporters were gathering outside the police perimeter.
As the helicopters landed, a man in his fifties ran up and asked, "Who's Captain Qiu?"
Qiu Bulao walked over and said, "That's me. Are you Captain Wang? We spoke by phone this morning."
The man was the leader of the archaeological team, surnamed Wang. He panted heavily and said, "There's been a new development…"
"Hm?" Qiu frowned. "What development? Be clear!" Captain Wang wiped his sweat with a handkerchief, hesitated, then said, "Two hours ago, we sent a fourth rescue team down. They also lost contact."
"Say that again!"
Qiu Bulao's eyes bulged. "How many times have I told you on the phone? We're not going down there. You don't have the authority to take any action without permission!"
"I just wanted to rescue them sooner… I thought the last team were armed police and could bring everyone back…" Captain Wang spoke meekly, his voice getting quieter.
"Armed police? How many? Were they armed?" Qiu lowered his voice, but his brows twisted in concern.
Captain Wang avoided Qiu's gaze, looking around nervously. "Five people… they were worried it was dangerous, so they carried guns. We had contact when they first went down, then there was gunfire… after that, no contact."
Hao Wenming, Ouyang Pianzhuo, and others gathered around. The three top leaders looked grim. After whispering, they led their teams to the nearby incident site—the ruins of the Greater Yuezhi palace.
Calling it a palace site was generous—it was just a pile of rubble sticking out of the desert, connected to a deep pit over two meters wide. It was a bit past 1 PM. The slanting sunlight shone into the pit, illuminating only about three or four meters down; below that was pitch black. Captain Wang followed behind Qiu Bulao, explaining the course of events.