Xiao Heshang never treated Sun Fatty like an outsider. Without waiting until evening, he spent the entire afternoon wandering around the office. Hao Wenming, who rarely returned to the office in the afternoon, was surprised to see Consultant Xiao sitting at his desk. Hesitating for a moment, Director Hao didn't dare disturb him and quietly slipped back out.
Under Xiao Heshang's torment, it finally came time to get off work. Sun Fatty had already called Chef Old Jin ahead of time. When the three of us arrived at the private room, Old Jin had nearly finished serving the dishes. Perhaps because Consultant Xiao and Director Gao had been seen eating together in the cafeteria recently, Old Jin treated Xiao Heshang quite respectfully—compared to his attitude toward Sun Fatty and me at lunch, he even generously offered two bottles of Wuliangye liquor at a 20% discount.
Xiao Heshang should have eaten and seen such dishes before, but he had been living reclusively in my hometown all these years—only dropping by my grandfather's place for a few meals during New Year or festivals. With the recent rise in the price of gold, Consultant Xiao's net worth had grown substantially, but I had never seen him eat lavishly. For lunch, he usually mooched off Gao Liang; before the wolf plague incident, he mostly joined Sun Fatty and me for dinner. After returning from Tianshan, he disappeared for a while. When he reappeared a few days ago, he spent his days soaking in Gao Liang's office and no longer came to see Sun Fatty or me. Gao Liang took care of his meals all day.
Once the dishes were all served, before Sun Fatty could say anything, Xiao Heshang picked up a large spoon and started poking at the pot of fire fin shark's fin. He didn't rush to eat but frowned as he looked at the shark fin's appearance and said to Old Jin, "Xiao Jin, your cooking is a bit off. The shark fin is overcooked and can't absorb the broth's flavor. You've ruined the fine fin; if this is the case, you might as well make Ants Climbing a Tree." Then he took a piece of steamed fish and shook his head while criticizing it, "The fish isn't right either. It's oversteamed. If the fish meat is separating from the bone, you shouldn't steam it—just stew it. This isn't steamed fish; it's basically steamed wood..." As he spoke, Old Jin blushed and nodded hurriedly, trying to explain. Eventually, Xiao Heshang criticized every dish on the table.
Sun Fatty grew a little impatient at last. With a smirk, he looked at Xiao Heshang and said, "Old Xiao Master, enough. With all these criticisms, how are we supposed to eat? Last time we went to the clay pot place to eat stewed 'diaozi,' you enjoyed it thoroughly and never complained about the taste." Seizing the opportunity, Old Jin quickly left the private room.
One thing suppresses another — Xiao Heshang was never short-tempered with Sun Fatty. He smiled slightly, picked up a piece of shark fin, and ate it while saying, "As soon as I see good food, I remember what Confucius said about 'refining one's taste in food.' Back then, I did eat some good things—when I was with Xiao..." He suddenly sighed and stopped talking. I knew he was thinking about Xiao Sanda. I poured him a cup of wine and said, "Old Xiao, it's rare to get together lately. I don't know what you've been busy with. Drink this cup and tell us."
After drinking that cup, some of the tension in Xiao Heshang's expression eased. He didn't need to be persuaded to drink, and he poured himself another glass. With the dishes on the table, he began drinking cup after cup. Sun Fatty smiled as he kept refilling Xiao Heshang's glass and serving the dishes.
After three rounds of drinking, one and a half bottles of Wuliangye had gone down, but not much food was eaten. Sun Fatty and I were okay, but Xiao Heshang's eyes started to glaze over, and his drinking slowed. At that moment, Sun Fatty began casually chatting with him, shifting the topic to Huang Ran: "Old Xiao Master, how long do you think Huang Ran will be locked up?"
Xiao Heshang looked at Sun Fatty with bleary eyes and said, "He's probably spending the New Year inside the Bureau?" Then he hesitated, took a light sip of wine, and continued, "It's not easy to get Huang Ran in here. Gao Fatty has already declared that whatever Huang Ran stole back then, it must be recovered with interest. Looks like Huang Ran borrowed from a loan shark back then. If he wants out now, he might have to cash in on the Religious Affairs Commission's reserves." After saying that, he burst into loud laughter fueled by the alcohol.
Before Xiao Heshang's laughter died down, Sun Fatty said suddenly, "That's odd. This morning, Lazi and I saw the current head of the Religious Affairs Commission, Min Tianyuan. He came to see Director Gao. Wasn't that about Huang Ran?"
Xiao Heshang glanced sideways at Sun Fatty and said, "Min Tianyuan? He came for something else. Gao Liang hasn't agreed to it yet."
I refilled Xiao Heshang's glass and said, "Old Xiao, Min Tianyuan came for something else? Since when has our Bureau gotten so close with the Religious Affairs Commission? It's almost like an affiliated unit now." Xiao Heshang looked at his glass but didn't touch it. He seemed to feel a surge of alcohol rising. He took a few deep breaths, fished out the ham from the fire fin pot, and swallowed it quickly to suppress the rising buzz.
After a brief pause, Xiao Heshang looked up at Sun Fatty and me, smiling faintly, and said, "If you have questions, just ask. No need to keep pushing me to drink. If I really get drunk, you won't get anything out of me. Just consider me drunk now; all I say is drunken talk. When I sober up, I won't admit to any of this."
I laughed at his words: "When did we push you to drink? You've been pouring it yourself the whole time." I poured him a cup of tea to sober him up. Sun Fatty picked up Xiao Heshang's glass and drank it all, then said, "Then I won't be polite. Old Xiao Master, can you first explain the matter of the Tomb of a Transcendent Beast?"
Since returning from Tianshan, I had asked Hao Wenming a few times about the Tomb of a Transcendent Beast. But each time, Hao Director said the incident had entered the Bureau's internal confidentiality protocol, and only directors could see the files personally reviewed by Director Gao. Later, Sun Fatty and I found Ouyang Pianzuo, who simply said, "If you want to know about the Tomb, go ask Gao Liang. He knows it best."
Now that the chance was here, we couldn't miss it. I glanced at Xiao Heshang and then said to Sun Fatty, "Great Sage, do you think this is still the Special Case Handling Office? Old Xiao is now a consultant, not a deputy director. Only director-level people can see the Tomb's files. Don't pressure Old Xiao."
After I finished, Xiao Heshang suddenly laughed and said, "Lazi, you've spent too much time with Fatty. You've learned his bad habits. You don't have to hide from me. With my relationship to your grandfather, there's little I can't tell you. The Tomb incident isn't much, but because it involves Wu Rendi and the Dragonborn Divination Shell, anything written down has to be handled carefully."
At this point, Xiao Heshang poured himself a cup of tea and drank it before continuing: "When Huang Ran was discovered in Tianshan, Gao Liang immediately suspected Huang Ran's true purpose. Later, when Huang Ran was caught by you, Gao Liang had Wu Rendi disguise himself as your guide and accompany you to the outpost. He also had Yang Xiao hide outside to monitor everything inside. Inside the outpost, Wu Rendi used some means to make you forget he was your guide. But Huang Ran still had some vague awareness of the missing Wu Rendi, though confused, thinking he had forgotten something.
"Because they had Wu Rendi as their trump card, Gao Liang dared to enter the fake Tomb of a Transcendent Beast with his men. It was Yang Xiao who exposed the fake Tomb and freed Gao Fatty and others. When you entered the real Tomb, Wu Rendi was following right behind you…"
Xiao Heshang was interrupted by Sun Fatty: "You mean ever since we entered the Tomb, Wu Rendi has been right behind us? I thought he went in later. So when Yingquan almost got thrown into the spring by Ruan Liulang, and Yin Bai came out trying to eat us, Wu Rendi was just standing there watching? What does he take us for? Lab rats for experiments?"
Seeing Sun Fatty complain, Xiao Heshang silenced him with one sentence: "Is this your first day knowing Wu Rendi?"
"Great Sage, don't interrupt. Let Old Xiao finish." I said. "Old Xiao, ignore him and keep going. What about Ruan Liulang?"
Xiao Heshang nodded slightly and continued: "Ruan Liulang is an anomaly. He has a technique of temporary rejuvenation with almost no flaws. Even Gao Liang and the directors didn't notice at first…"
Sun Fatty cut in again: "What about Wu Rendi? Did he find out?"
Xiao Heshang rolled his eyes at him and said, "Go ask him yourself."
Xiao Heshang then continued: "Though there's no conclusive evidence, Gao Liang suspects Huang Ran's findings in Liu Chuxuan's tomb were a setup by Ruan Liulang. Ruan Liulang had entered the Tomb before, using special methods to avoid Yin Bai's notice, but didn't dare get close. Unable to get what he wanted, he retreated and set a trap, using scapegoats to distract Yin Bai while he stole what he wanted. Before Huang Ran, several unlucky ones died in the Tomb, and their remains were found inside. Although Huang Ran succeeded, Ruan Liulang ultimately died in Yin Bai's mouth."
At this point, Xiao Heshang drank another cup of tea, cleared his throat, and said, "That's all I know about the Tomb. If you don't have more questions, it's late—let's wrap this up."
Just as he finished, Sun Fatty suddenly asked, "The Dragonborn Divination Shell — what is it? Why is Huang Ran willing to risk half his life for it?"
Xiao Heshang fell silent. After a moment, he said, "Forget it. Let's say I'm drunk and just babbling. Whatever I say today, I won't admit to it when I sober up." Despite his flushed face, his words were clear and his mind sharp—he didn't look drunk at all.
"The Dragonborn Divination Shell is the progenitor of divination. Legend says at the end of the Shang Dynasty, the young Zhou King Wen (Ji Chang) received a divine omen while fishing at the Yi River. He pulled up the corpse of a strange creature—the shell was the size of a palm, with a turtle's body and dragon's head. Ji Chang separated the shell from the body and used the shell to cast coins for divination, replacing the previous practice of burning animal bones and reading cracks. His divinations were infallible, whether for great national matters or trivial affairs. Later, for unknown reasons, he abandoned the shell and studied the calculation methods of Fuxi (the ancestral emperor), which eventually became the Book of Changes (I Ching)."
Hearing this, Sun Fatty laughed and said, "I thought it was just a turtle shell for fortune-telling. That's the treasure Huang Ran risked half his life for? Not worth it."
"Fortune-telling turtle shell..." Xiao Heshang sneered, "Here's a lesson: all divination techniques in the world can only predict fate, not change it. But the Dragonborn Divination Shell can change fate. Before Ji Chang obtained it, he could only live to forty-nine years; after using it to alter his fate, he lived to ninety-six, allowing the eventual fall of the Shang by the Western Zhou. We are all indirectly the result of Ji Chang's fate alteration over three thousand years ago."
After Xiao Heshang finished, Sun Fatty and I exchanged glances. After a long pause, Sun Fatty said, "Old Xiao Master, you mean that sitting here drinking now is thanks to Ji Chang changing fate more than three thousand years ago?"
Xiao Heshang glanced at him and said, "At least theoretically, yes. But later, when the Western Zhou fell, the Dragonborn Divination Shell was taken by the Quanrong. It reappeared twice after, the last recorded time being in the nineteenth year of the Tang Dynasty during Emperor Taizong's Zhenguan era, in the hands of a candidate named Wu."
I finally understood why Huang Ran was willing to risk half his life to obtain the Dragonborn Divination Shell. With it, one could change their own fate at will—ignoring the great sin of destroying Buddhas. If all else failed, you could even rewrite your next life as the only son of the richest man in the world. After joining the Bureau, I had seen some of the world, but today I truly understood what a divine artifact was.
"All right, that's enough about the Dragonborn Divination Shell. Don't go gossiping about it. I've said all I need to, so I owe you this meal," Xiao Heshang said as he stood up to leave.
He hadn't stood when Sun Fatty grabbed him back down and said, "Old Xiao Master, don't rush off. It's rare to have a meal with you these days—how can you just leave so soon?"
Hearing Sun Fatty, Xiao Heshang frowned: "What else do you want? I've told you everything I should and shouldn't say. Fatty, what you heard is worth this whole meal. You should at least treat me to a little something."
Sun Fatty grinned and said, "Since you've told us about the Dragonborn Divination Shell, a little more won't hurt."
Xiao Heshang glared, "More? About what?"