The Lost Tomb : The Southern Archives Mysteries

(Extra Story: Southern Xinjiang Volume) Chapter 1: Introduction

Extra: 2018 Chinese New Year Special (aka Southern Xinjiang Volume: Potluck Case). A sequel of The Southern Archives Mysteries.

Menglembu [1], the pearl of Perak.

At that time, Zhang Haiyan didn't have the nickname "Little Brother Zhang". He was called Ahmad Zapuwan Ismail Bin Puasa in Perak, and everyone called him Bin. He was the only one who knew that the pronunciation of the word "bin" sounded like "illness" [2] in Chinese.

Zhang Haiyan came to Perak twenty years ago. At that time, Zhang Hailou's childhood bib was written with the words, "Zhang Hailou. The moon casts on the waters a reflection of a heavenly mirage; In the sky at dawn, clouds gather to build a castle in the air." [3]

It was said that there was a Malay who couldn't tell the difference between the words "yan" and "lou", so he called him Zhang Haiyan.

Later in southern China, someone called him Perak Zhang, probably because they knew he had been to Perak. At that time, Zhang Haiyan—who was called A Bin—had a partner with him who went by the name A Kun. These were probably the names they used when doing business with the Vietnamese.

Zhang Haiyan didn't have much of an opinion no matter what name it was.

This is the story of how A Bin and A Kun met each other.

But before the story begins, there is one person that needs to be introduced first.

This person's name was Ali Kan. He was a Manchu whose Chinese name was He Jianxi. He got on a ship in Menglembu, Malacca that was bound for Xiamen. He bore witness to the incident that occurred on that ship. He was one of Zhang Haiyan's short-term best friends before Zhang Haiyan went to the mountainous areas of southern China.

He Jianxi was a Manchu whose household was placed under the Plain White Banner [4]. He wore glasses and was a handsome accountant. He and Zhang Haiyan lived in a galvanized steel cabin on the ship at that time, which was a very expensive cabin.

He Jianxi's first opinion of Zhang Haiyan was that he was a dirty man.

They encountered big waves after the ship departed from Malacca, so it took them thirty days to arrive in Xiamen.

Zhang Haiyan didn't take a bath at all during those first twenty days, and that wasn't even mentioning the fact that the ship environment was already very dirty. On the twentieth day, Zhang Haiyan's hair was greasy and knotted in clumps.

Zhang Haiyan hardly got out of bed during those twenty days, and slept under the quilt amidst the wind and the waves. It was as if he hadn't slept for a long time.

Twenty days later, he sat up like a zombie and the first thing out of his mouth was to ask He Jianxi, "Did you hear that?"

They were in the midst of a big storm at that time. Although He Jianxi was mostly used to the wind and waves by that point and was no longer dizzy and vomiting, his mind was muddled and things weren't looking good.

People who had ridden a ship through westerlies [5] would understand this feeling very well. When the waves hit the ship, the entire structure would make a distorted sound that was very noisy for those in the cabin.

As a result, He Jianxi obviously didn't hear a thing.

Zhang Haiyan didn't relax, but listened carefully to the sounds coming from various places on the ship. Then, he suddenly took out the shaving equipment and started to shave his beard off. As the ship jolted violently, he shaved his beard off and washed his hair very carefully.

He Jianxi recalled that Zhang Haiyan's hair was so greasy that it had taken four basins of water before it was washed completely clean. After that, Zhang Haiyan put one of his bags on his back and went to the deck.

Although He Jianxi was dissatisfied with his traveling companion, he still started to worry about this strange behavior. He Jianxi was a kind person. His mother believed in Buddhism and he had been influenced by her. He began to worry that Zhang Haiyan was counting his days and wanted to commit suicide, so he also followed him onto the deck.

The wind was strong and the waves were huge. Zhang Haiyan grabbed the deck railing and looked at the gap between the huge waves.

He Jianxi saw that there was a larger passenger ship in that place. Its lights flickered in and out of sight as it passed between the gaps in the waves. That ship was also trapped here like them, and it looked to be about three miles away from them.

It was later confirmed that it was a passenger ship called the "Jinzhou", which was heading from India to San Francisco. It passed through Malacca on the way back and would stop in Xiamen.

He Jianxi saw Zhang Haiyan look back at him, shout something, and then jump into the sea. He was shocked and immediately rushed to the side of the ship, but he couldn't see Zhang Haiyan because of the big waves.

He Jianxi immediately explained the situation to the shipowner. That thrilling jump scared him so much that he stared at the greasy quilt all night, unable to stop trembling.

He Jianxi stayed up for a day and a half, but he eventually became so tired that he fell asleep some time during the night. He was suddenly awakened by strange movements before dawn, and when he opened his eyes, he saw a naked man standing at the head of his bed. The man was completely naked and drenched in sea water, as if he had just come out of the sea. 

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Notes:

[1] Menglembu is a small township located in the Ipoh City Area, Perak Darul Ridzuan, Malaysia. 

[2] The Chinese character "病" is pronounced as "bing" in pinyin.

[3] Zhang Hailou's name comes from a Tang Dynasty poem. His name is in the sentence 'Clouds gather to build a castle in the air.' The "castle in the air" in the poem is pronounced as "Hailou" in Chinese. It also means "mirage" in the poem.

[4] Plain White Banner was one of the Eight Banners of Manchu military and society during the Later Jin and Qing Dynasties of China. It was one of the three "upper" banners (Plain Yellow Banner, Bordered Yellow Banner, and Plain White Banner) directly controlled by the emperor. 

[5] Prevailing winds that blow from the west toward the east.