Chapter Text
Zhang Ri Shan had thought that the Jiumen had been too docile lately. The growing tension between the families as they struggled for more power and more freedom under his leadership had subsided in the past weeks which could only indicate one thing: someone was planning something against him. The pettiness of the leaders was almost risible. Two months ago, they had tried to bend a few rules here and there, like children testing the limits of their parents, waiting to see if Zhang Ri Shan would react accordingly. Prior to that they had built a scheme of fake artifacts being smuggled all around Beijing to make him tick. As the ageless man drummed his fingers against a very thick book propped on his desk, he sighed, wondering when they would strike again and what they could come up with. And then that morning had come. He had received a complaint and a strong demand to investigate a matter that would take him away from Beijing for at least a few weeks. They had worked very carefully, this time, thought Zhang Ri Shan as he studied the file. He was now sitting at the semi-circular table after meeting with the family leaders and he could see no flaw in their ploy. As the leader of Jiumen, when something as big as what had been presented to him happened, he could not ignore it. It was a real problem. Convenient, yes. A trap? Absolutely. But he had no choice but to take the bait. It was within his range of duties and it was his responsibility to take care of the matter at hand no matter how dangerous it could be.
“Crafty sneaky little…” He cursed, but a smile made its way to his lips as his hand caressed his chin. Well, he couldn’t say he was bored now. His fingers flipped through the pages and the gruesome facts regarding this one tomb that had been rediscovered quite recently in one of the territories explored by the families. This one tomb which had taken so many lives and yet had not delivered its secrets. Zhang Ri Shan knew a general ban on that tomb would only create more casualties. Grave robbers were like this; flies burning themselves on a particularly bright flame. If he issued an order that forbid Jiumen to access the tomb, they would just stubbornly go against the rule and believe something even more valuable could be hidden inside. Zhang Ri Shan sighed. It wouldn’t be an easy fix: he had to see the tomb himself and render it harmless. Destroying its entrance would not deter anyone stubborn enough to keep digging it up. He had to go and uncover its mystery before taking it apart from the inside. Unless he did it, Jiumen would still send countless of people to the tomb and eventually the government could be alerted to their still very active status and sanction them harshly; if the government focus too much on them, it could very easily discover a lot of illegal activities and network created by Jiumen. Zhang Ri Shan was stuck between a rock and a hard place to say the least. He had to leave and during that time he would have no way to keep in check the nine families. If he stayed and did nothing, the Nine would question his judgment and title as leader of Jiumen; no doubt using their new card to put pressure on him and accusing him of not being able to protect them and their people.
“I need a team that will solve this matter in just a few weeks.” He muttered.
Slowly, he stood up, his eyes falling with disdain on the empty seats of the conference room. He hated being played in such a dishonest manner, but he had known all along something was being prepared to take him out of the way. If only he had reassurance that after dealing with the deadly tomb he could come back and rest. But no. He was certain another mess would be waiting for him the minute he stepped out of the tomb. He wanted to throw the file in a trashcan. There was so little information about it, he suspected the family leaders had omitted things in their report to stall him even longer once over there. Zhang Ri Shan ran a hand over his face and groaned. It definitely was a hard time to be chairman. He only wanted to relax in a warm bath and forget about everything, and he was hungry.
“Uuugh!” He groaned, taking the file and exiting the room, slamming the door behind him in frustration. And why did this tomb had to be located close to Changsha of all places? Zhang Ri Shan didn’t want to revisit places where he had been with Zhang Da Fo Ye. It was just taking another mental toll on him and one that he didn’t need on top of everything. The man locked himself in his office after having ordered his staff to not let anyone else visit him for the day.
“And please… Get me the best food you can find. Everything will do.” He had said.
The food had arrived very fast, and Zhang Ri Shan didn’t mind the drop of soup he had spilled on the documents regarding the dreaded tomb as he ate. They were basically useless. Most of the information was listing the number of people who had died and those who had been injured in the numerous expeditions. It was as if the nine families had just wanted to pile up a list of every member, they had lost to hammer guilt into Zhang Ri Shan’s heart for failing at preventing such a tragedy. Zhang Ri Shan resisted the urge to slap his own forehead, hoping he could knock himself out instead of having to go through the papers again. No information about the traps they had encountered, only accounts of the way they had died. Crushed, burnt, poisoned… It seemed nothing had been spared to the poor crew members, and yet all Zhang Ri Shan felt was contempt. If only these men’s deaths hadn’t been paraded in front of his nose as a mean to pressure him into investigating, he might have felt a little more compassionate. The closest to an emotion he felt was vaguely interested.
This tomb didn’t look like it was ordinary. The way these people had died told him that it was a very unpredictable structure. Tombs usually had some sort of overarched theme, inspired by the building engineers and the wishes of the commissioner. Some used snakes, some specialized in poison, others in sharp projectiles; this one looked fairly creative. Whoever had built it had had a lot of time to do so and to find so many different ways to prevent people from entering. It was either this or the people who had been sent there had not been prepared at all. Zhang Ri Shan frowned. The family leaders were crafty, but would they purposely send hundreds of people down a single tomb to be slaughtered just to gain his attention? Very unlikely. Thus, he had to believe the tomb was the problem and not the teams. He would have to be extra careful if he wanted to deal with it properly and not join the long list of deceased. Zhang Ri Shan put the papers away to focus on his lunch. As he munched on a particularly tasteful dumpling filled with marinated ginger flavored pork, he came up with a list of his own. The other families had offered to send him men, but he couldn’t trust them. He would have to accept nonetheless; the leaders had argued that the matter concerned all of jiumen and thus needed to be taken care of with everyone’s contribution.
“Tsk… What contribution!” Zhang Ri Shan mumbled as he gulped down the broth of his soup. The leaders had provided him with spies to check his every move and possibly thwart the expedition. They wanted him to fail. His team would be a balance of allies and enemies. It definitely wouldn’t be a relaxing field trip. His fingers tapped the note he had taken down while eating. He had scribbled a few names. They were trusted people and experienced tomb raiders. He needed them on board. Drying his mouth with a napkin, he finished his last bite and grabbed the phone.
“Would it be possible to speak with your boss? I know she must be busy, but this is urgent.” He said and waited until he could speak with the person he had called. Once he was done explaining the situation, he made sure that she would pass on the word to her colleagues who also had a special contract with Zhang Ri Shan.
“Chairman Zhang.” She said. “Seems like you’re in a tight spot. May I suggest a few more people that are loyal and won’t let you down?”
“Zhi Zhu… I appreciate the help, but I have to warn you. This expedition will be dangerous. Not just because of the nature of the tomb… But because this is a political move against me. It will be a very unstable situation… I would regret if these people you trust, and whom you have worked hard to find and build connection with, were to suffer a terrible fate under my lead.”
“Do you always worry so much, boy? If you keep overthinking this, you’ll get wrinkles on your pretty face. It’s not good for you. Let us do the worrying. We’re grave robbers, our job is risking our lives. Today or tomorrow won’t make a difference. Let me call my people.” She cut off his rambling. Zhang Ri Shan smiled. He had always liked the woman’s personality. She was not messing around and had no time for pleasantries.
“Alright, thank you. As I’ve told you, this matter is very urgent. We are leaving in three days, no less.”
“Oh? Well no matter. We’d be able to leave today if you’d have asked. See you in three days.” She said before hanging up.
Zhang Ri Shan looked down on his notes. It would be a real trial to go on this expedition. Some of the nine families had respected his wishes and did not gave him men to supervise; among them the Xie family under Xiao Hua’s leadership. Zhang Ri Shan suspected Xiao Hua couldn’t afford to lose more family members to a hazardous trip. The young man was smart and he could spot a suicidal enterprise when he saw one. The families Zhang Ri Shan did not trust had insisted to get some of their members signed up, amounting to four people he would have to keep an eye on. The Huo family would send him two more people and yet he couldn’t tell what Mrs Huo’s game plan was. She had never been openly at war with him and was mostly passive whenever she interacted with him, but Zhang Ri Shan knew that in the last few years, the disappearance of her daughter had put her on edge. The remaining families had provided resources instead of people apart from one who had decided to send someone, but Zhang Ri Shan had no doubt the person would not cause problem.
The leader of Jiumen wanted more people on his side to take part in the expedition, but if too many came, it would be even more difficult to avoid casualties from happening. Only one bad apple could make the operation tank and now he had four and two wild cards. It definitely wasn’t a game he was eager to play. Zhang Ri Shan had a few men he could trust, but some of them were unavailable on such a short notice. The only thing he could do was cast a net to get professionals involved. If the members he hired were talented enough to survive down such an unpredictable tomb, he would only need to worry about the others trying to play a political game with him. He had to play his cards well to assemble a team that would work despite the fact that some of its members would be working behind the scenes against him. Zhang Ri Shan glanced at his dessert, scratching his neck with his left hand. It would take him the whole day to come up with a solid plan.
“I need at least three of these…” He mused out loud, his right hand grabbing the cherry and vanilla pudding. “And a pot of good tea.”