Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Snow Crane

As we all drew closer, Peanut suddenly stood up from the ground.

“I’ll take a look around,” he said, picking up a miner’s lamp and turning away.

“Hey, Zixiang…” Professor Chen tried to call out to him, but Peanut ignored him completely, lifting the lamp and heading deeper into the tomb chamber.

I could sense that Peanut was somewhat angry. If this person weren’t his uncle, he probably wouldn’t have reacted so strongly. I had always thought Peanut was someone who remained calm no matter what happened, but now it seemed he was starting to act more like an ordinary person.

Professor Chen looked helpless, watching Peanut’s retreating figure with a hint of apology in his eyes.

I gave Fatty a glance, and he said, “Professor Chen, maybe we should talk about other things after we get out. What exactly are you here for this time?”

Professor Chen lit a cigarette and tilted his head upward. “To find a fan.”

“A fan?” I was surprised. “Is it some valuable antique?”

Professor Chen smiled. “Valuable, yes. In terms of money, only legendary artifacts like the He Shi Bi jade disk could surpass that fan.”

Hearing this, Fatty perked up. “Hey, Professor Chen, I’ve never heard of such a valuable fan before. What’s it made of? How can it be compared to the He Shi Bi?”

Professor Chen shook his head. “Nothing really compares to the He Shi Bi. I was just making an analogy. But if we really find that fan, the sensation it could cause might rival some historic archaeological discoveries.”

Hearing this, not only Fatty but even I began to eagerly wonder what exactly this fan was.

But Fatty then gave Professor Chen a skeptical look.

“Professor, don’t mess with me. I know all about the famous fans in history, but I’ve never heard of one that valuable.”

Professor Chen said, “That’s exactly the point—you haven’t heard of it.”

Fans are a relatively obscure category in antique collections for many reasons, chief among them being the difficulty of preservation, whether feather fans, paper fans, silk fans, or wooden fans.

Nowadays, it’s rare to find a fan from the early Qing dynasty on the market, and most are tattered. Of course, some are exquisite pieces, but the most important value of antique fans, besides their age, lies in the inscriptions or paintings on the fan surface. If done by a master, even a broken fan can be worth tens of thousands of yuan; if well-preserved, it can fetch hundreds of thousands.

Since Professor Chen mentioned the He Shi Bi, we assumed this fan must date back at least to the Tang dynasty.

“A worthless fan can be that valuable?” Fatty was incredulous.

Professor Chen said, “You’re thinking too narrowly. Whether a fan is famous or not doesn’t matter. As long as the owner was famous, that’s enough.”

“The owner of the fan…” I suddenly realized. Of course—it’s the tomb of Zhuge Ke. So the fan Professor Chen mentioned must be from before the Wei and Jin dynasties.

Professor Chen continued, “Since you already know this is Zhuge Ke’s tomb, guessing the fan’s owner isn’t difficult.”

I despise these older folks who never say things clearly. They leave words hanging, expecting others to guess—it’s maddening.

“Zhuge Ke…” Fatty shook his head, then suddenly I saw him shudder, his eyes wide and fixed on Professor Chen.

“Did you figure out what fan it is?” I asked Fatty.

He ignored me, staring at Professor Chen for a long moment before saying, “No way, it’s his fan?”

I didn’t know who “he” was, but Fatty’s pale face told me this person must be very famous.

Professor Chen nodded. “It’s a feather fan called ‘Snow Crane.’ The snow crane is a legendary bird—some say it’s just a white crane, others say it’s a descendant of the phoenix and egret. These are just rumors, though. The true value of the Snow Crane fan lies in its owner, who was no ordinary figure.”

He paused and looked around. “This is Zhuge Ke’s tomb, and the owner of the Snow Crane fan was his uncle… Zhuge Liang.”

“Zhuge Liang!?” Hearing the name, the image of Mr. Kongming portrayed by Tang Guoqiang immediately sprang to mind. “No way, is it the fan he waved around in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms?”

Professor Chen said, “Feather fans looked similar back then. But the Snow Crane was obtained by Zhuge Liang early in his life. After leaving Longzhong, for some reason, he hid the fan away. It’s said that the fan holds a great secret, but because Kongming’s own reputation is so dazzling, very few people know about the fan.”

My mind was spinning. Zhuge Liang’s feather fan—are we going to haul out Guan Yu’s giant blade next?

Fatty was silent for a long time, then asked, “Professor Chen, how do you know all this?”

Suddenly, Zhuge Xuan laughed. “Of course, it’s because of me.”

“You?”

“Yes.” Zhuge Xuan looked at us. “Fatty, you doubted me earlier, right? Now you can’t remember?”

A flash went through my mind—I almost jumped. “Are you really a descendant of Zhuge Liang?”

“No way! I just said that casually, and it actually hit the mark?” Fatty exclaimed.

Seeing our startled expressions, Zhuge Xuan seemed very pleased. After a long laugh, she continued, “Just kidding. If I were really a descendant of Mr. Wolong, I’d be famous by now.”

“Hmph, not necessarily,” I said, recalling something. “Recently, a young model claimed to be Zhuge Liang’s 63rd-generation descendant. Models are celebrities, even if just for show. And you? Zhuge Xuan is just a name.”

“Nonsense. I have nothing to do with Mr. Wolong. Besides, am I not pretty?”

Heh, modern girls really do have boundless confidence. Honestly, Zhuge Xuan was indeed beautiful—and the type I liked: well-endowed, short, and pretty. Usually, I’d feel a bit lost around girls like that, but Zhuge Xuan’s one moment lively, next moment fierce personality wasn’t my favorite. Talking to her made me nervous.

She didn’t want to argue. “Our ancestors weren’t surnamed Zhuge originally, but in the late Eastern Han, one of my ancestors was very close to Zhuge Liang.”

“Who was your ancestor?” Fatty asked.

Zhuge Xuan said proudly, “One of my ancestors was a servant in Zhuge Liang’s thatched cottage.”

“A servant?” Fatty scoffed. “Just a gofer, yet dares to misuse Zhuge Liang’s name.”

“You don’t know anything,” Zhuge Xuan’s voice rose. “He was both a servant and Zhuge Liang’s disciple. When Zhuge Liang left Longzhong, he entrusted the Snow Crane fan to my ancestor’s care.”

“Then why is it now in Zhuge Ke’s tomb?” I asked.

“I don’t know,” she said. “But my ancestor’s book says: ‘In later years, the Snow Crane is hidden in the tomb of nephew Zhuge Ke; until the appointed time, it must not be taken.’”

“‘Until the appointed time, it must not be taken’?” I was puzzled. I know some classical Chinese, and this literally means the fan must not be removed from the tomb until a certain time. If so, Zhuge Xuan coming now means that time has arrived.

Fatty put the question bluntly. “Does your ancestor mean now? What’s so special about now?”

“Why do you care about my family’s affairs?” Zhuge Xuan said. “Anyway, our purpose this time is to find the Snow Crane fan before the official excavation.”

I thought for a while, then asked Professor Chen, “Zhang Yadong said he knows what those three people are about. Professor Chen, what exactly is the Underworld Lord?”

Professor Chen looked at me, eyes flickering. “Well, actually… I’ve kept something from you two. Last time we came in, it wasn’t just those three—there were also Yang Lang, the two brothers, and me.”

“Huh?” Fatty blurted. “So you all knew what was going on here?”

I was equally surprised. How could such a senior archaeologist do this behind the organization’s back? But what Chen said next left me speechless.

“No, no, no. We didn’t know the situation.”

Fatty was annoyed. “You’ve been down there, how could you not know?”

Professor Chen looked troubled. “We didn’t enter through the entrance last time. Instead, several people dug a tunnel from a nearby village, shoveling directly into the main chamber.”

“What? A looter’s tunnel?” Fatty jumped up. “Are you really the Professor Chen I know?”

Well, that settled it. Fatty and I no longer needed to worry about how to explain. Turns out Professor Chen was involved in the same shady dealings as my father and Fatty.

Professor Chen continued, “I had no choice. Anyway, if we don’t get the Snow Crane fan, things will be very troublesome.”

“Is that lady forcing you?” I thought of Zhang Yadong’s words. Peanut had called that woman “that female,” so there must be a powerful woman behind this.

Chen exchanged a glance with Zhuge Xuan, then said, “This matter doesn’t concern you two. I can’t tell you.”

I hate hearing that kind of talk. Fatty pressed on, “Then why did you suddenly want to bring me here? I’m just a rough guy, but you had a noble lady rushing all night. Don’t you feel bad about that?”

Fatty’s still teasing me. I kicked him.

For some reason, Chen’s expression became even more awkward. “Sigh, I’ve already let down the people at the institute. Last time we came, we lost three students, and I really can’t find them. But to get the Snow Crane, we need someone very strong, and after thinking it over, you, Mr. Cao, are the only one.”

(To be continued.)