The Lost Tomb : The Southern Archives Mysteries

Chapter 15: Flies

Zhang Haiyan wasn't sure if this story was related to what he wanted to investigate. But compared to not knowing where to start, this thread at least gave him a direction to go in.

Flies also had something to do with the plague.

The timing of the sailor catching flies in the middle of the night coincided with the time the plague started to spread as the ship arrived in Malacca.

Could Song Chai be the one who spread the plague? Instead of jumping into the sea, did he get off the ship with flies that carried the virus and spread it everywhere?

No, it couldn't be that coincidental. In all the places where the plague had occurred, the first people who started to show symptoms all happened to be passengers on the Nan'an. If the flies had been the ones to spread the plague, then the results wouldn't be so precise and the plague would probably be everywhere.

The plague must have been spread by people.

With the help of Steven's forcible privilege, Zhang Haiyan entered Song Chai's cabin and lay on his bed, hoping to get some inspiration from his perspective.

But it was fruitless. The bed was very clean. There weren't any flies, bloodstains, or any signs of graffiti. He had no way to interpret whether Song Chai's last moments were full of pain, depression, or worry.

While he was lying on Song Chai's bed and staring into space, Steven was sitting on the other bed looking at him. Zhang Haiyan focused all of his attention on the case.

I can't be distracted. It's all a waste of time if I start to worry about Zhang Haixia, or what I stand to gain or lose.

Not even a single minute can be wasted.

He got up and realized that it was wrong to look into Song Chai, because he could see two faint letters engraved on the plank in front of him while he was lying on the bed. (They were bunkbeds so that four people could sleep in a room.)

The two letters were: NP.

There were a lot of possible meanings behind these two letters, but there was only one if they were related to flies.

Nepenthes pharmakon.

It was a potion that the Queen of Egypt gave to Helen. "Ne" meant forgetting and "penthes" meant sorrow. This potion could make people forget their sorrows.

In Malaysia, these two letters represented a plant called Nepenthes.

Song Chai was smuggling Nepenthes, and the flies were food for it. This plant was abundant in Penang, so Song Chai must have encountered the plague when he got off the ship and went there. As a result, he had probably died there.

If he was smuggling plants, then he probably couldn't remember the Latin spellings based on his academic qualifications. The letters NP may have been written on the bedboard when he packed it at night so as not to forget it.

Zhang Haiyan looked at his watch. He had wasted four hours. The other stories had happened too long ago, so he didn't think those were worth looking into.

He lit his sixth cigarette and glanced at Steven, who was looking at him patiently.

"Brother, during these three days, you'll help me with anything, right?"

Steven sat up straight, and seemed to press the pistol at his waist. Zhang Haiyan didn't know what he was going to do.

***

Meanwhile, He Jianxi had just gotten on a boat called the Baoen, which was anchored at the outermost part of the port. The Baoen was a small barge heading to San Francisco.