Daomu Biji
Book 7: 阴山古楼 (Yīn Shān Gǔ Lóu): Ancient Mansion Down Under
Alt: The Grave Robbers' Chronicles Book 7
Alt: The Grave Robbers' Chronicles Book 7
Chapter 1: The Beginning
Language: English
Language: English
Translator: Angélique
When I arrived in Hangzhou, I immediately began to execute my plan.
When Fats and I were coming up with a plan, I still had not thought about how I was going to acquire the documents, only afterwards did I think more carefully about it. Before anything else, I want to be able to understand more about Pokerface’s life¹ which is only possible if I start from the very beginning. Previous investigations have shown that those within the industry² know little about him. It’s possible that he joined the archaeological team during the eighties of the last century. Surely the team’s organization still has records on them. In those days, those involved in these types of jobs had to have clean records and clear backgrounds. I may be able to find some clues in some of the old records lying in Changsha. At the very least, I will most likely be able to find out about the relationship between him and the organization. Afterwards I’ll either track down one or two people who have known him or go after any given clues. With this, I am prepared to set out on my plan.
The only thing is that
the city’s archives, particularly personnel records, are kept strictly
confidential. Old records, especially those belonging to the government³, are
even harder to obtain. The archaeological team was formed in the early 1980s,
so it’s most likely the documents I need are still being kept confidential and
wanting to see them won’t be easy.
On the other hand,
when it comes to finding the records, the best way is to start the
investigation from the research facility that the archaeological team was sent
to. Since then, more than twenty years have passed. Not too much time has
passed since then, so this facility ought to still exist.
I do not know
specifically which research facility in Changsha, only that back then there
were not as many of them as there are now. This means that there can only be
one research facility that pertains to the archaeological team.
During this time, the
majority of the members were students so it’s very likely that the facility is
affiliated with a certain university which won’t be too difficult to confirm.
After searching for a while, it was indeed as I had thought. There is in fact an old research
facility like I had speculated. It’s currently being merged and its old address
is located on the campus of a major university.
That area of the
university had been set to be relocated. When Wang and I arrived there, the
outside was plastered⁵ with the enormous words “DEMOLISH”. The land probably had
been sold to a real estate company already. If I had been late by a few more
months⁴, there most likely would only be a vacant lot left.
Since the research
facility had been merged, the records must have been transferred to the new
research facility. They might also still remain inside the record room of the
old university. I understand these mass organizations very well, and I don’t
believe that these old records from over twenty years ago still pertain to
their interests.
When there are matters
that are impossible to inquire about, I rely on my connections⁶. I went through
Uncle Three’s old contacts⁶ several times before I eventually found someone
that was currently working in the research facility. Their last name is Du with a very
interesting first name, Quan Shan. I gave him two Chinese branded packs of
cigarettes, asked about the information I needed, and he immediately admitted that
the office had already been moved to a new address, but the records themselves
are still being stored inside the university. Because the research facility is
a part of the university, many of the employees there are professors employed by the university. If I want to see the records myself, he can take me to see
them. Even though the outer door is a
bit inconvenient, the interior is still very spacious. Because of how difficult it would be to find the old records, he advised me
not to get my hopes up too high.
Our conversation did
not last long. That night, we immediately got down to work.
It is quite apparent
that the old university building was originally an old hospital area that had
been renovated. The record room is located in the basement below the ground
floor. It is about a hundred square meters wide and truly resembles a
warehouse. Du Quan Shan and I followed along a small narrow corridor down to the basement. Below, there was not a
single source of light in sight, only pitch-black darkness. Flashlight in hand, I saw thereunder solely
wooden bookshelves arranged in rows upon rows. The shelves⁷ were stock full of
paper packages containing records, thick and thin, intact and tattered,
horizontal and upright. The majority are covered in a thick layer of dust and
exuded a damp moldy smell that filled the entire room.
Du Quan Shan told me
that all the records after the year 1995 that were commonly used had been
removed, the rest were documents that were never used. Presumably, even when
the time comes for it all to be demolished, there still would be no one who
would want to flip through these records.
I looked at the situation,
the atmosphere feeling very gloomy. The dullness of this situation is actually
useful because the month of August in Changsha is quite hot, but gets a bit
cooler in the evenings. Furthermore, this place is underground, and the
coolness is very comfortable. I bite my flashlight, fan my hand a few times,
and then begin to thoroughly search the bookshelf in front of me.
Now that I think about
it, I know that Tsinghua University offers library management as a major. At
the time, I felt that it was very strange. What were you supposed to learn from
library management? But when I look at the size of this record room, I finally
understand. Anyone who can manage all of this, I ought to call them a genius.
Looking at how many bookshelves there are, a normal person’s eyes most
certainly would’ve glazed⁸ over. That is to say, this is only a record room for
the research facility. If this were a national record room, filled with
millions of documents, how many people would need to be hired in order to
manage it all?
Du Quan Shan was
afraid that I would cause some sort of trouble that would harm him, so he stood
alongside me the entire time, helping me search, and asked me for a few details
in order for him to help me sort out the records.
Because of special
reasons, Chinese recordkeeping rules are very detailed. Just by following one
certain rule, it can be found, as long as it stills exists. Unfortunately, I am
currently like a snake⁹ without its head. I only know the general timeframe, and
do not even know the archaeological team’s number. In the end, the only way was
to flip through each record one by one.
Searched for half a
day and still yielded nothing. My plan¹⁰ is to search by year. All the documents
here are arranged according to chronological order, so I should be able to find
the archaeological team’s records between the years 1980 to 1985 and be able to
look up the information inside. In Changsha, although the archaeological team
was relatively very active, it certainly did not amount to much. Just about one
bookshelf was enough. Unexpectedly, after flipping through all five years worth
of records, I still did not find any records concerning the Xisha
archaeological team.
Astounded, I ask Du
Quan Shan, has it been placed somewhere else?
He shakes his head,
basically saying no. Unless it’s being kept inside a secret record room, it
would not be here. If not that, it must have already been destroyed.
I silently said it’s
impossible, even if the archaeological team was classified, there would be no
reason for something like that to happen.
He comforted me,
saying that matters like this often happened. Perhaps, like he said, after the
archaeological team went missing, the incident was considered a serious matter.
In order to keep it a secret, people had to dispose of the records.
We tidied and returned
the records back to their original locations, feeling very crestfallen, but I also
already predicted that this wasn’t going to be an easy job.
I was a little
irritated as I walked out of the record room, having lost two packs of
cigarettes, I thought about what to do next. If this road cannot be used, then
what Pokerface had said was true, he is someone who has never belonged to this
world.
At that moment, I
suddenly spotted a path next to the stairs that led further down. It seems that
the record room didn’t only have one floor. The way down was blocked by an iron
door, locked by very large rusted iron chains. On the door was a paper seal
of an unknown date.
"What is down
there?" I asked.
"That is the
record room from the years before 1950. At the time of the Cultural Revolution,
fear of the reactionary sect’s violence caused it to be locked up. It’s already
been several decades since then and nobody has opened this door.”
"Is that
so?" I held the flashlight and shone it inside. I could clearly see that
someone had cut the chains with some pliers. They were left hanging loosely above
the door. If I had not looked carefully, I would not have discovered it.
Translation Notes:
**I translated using two different Vietnamese fan translations to compare differences of what was left in and out of both.
** I had to translate the Chinese names that were translated into Vietnamese back into Chinese, so I am unaware of the accuracy
**If I used a different, but similar word/phrase instead of the direct translation, it's because I thought it fit better with the context that it was used in. In the future I will try to stick closer with direct translation and simply explain it's meaning, I apologize as I am still a novice at translating. If one is very wrong, please correct me.
**If you are familiar with the original language (Chinese) or even the source language (Vietnamese), I apologize ahead of time for any lost nuances caused by translation.
¹Pokerface's life (family history)
²Industry = same profession, coworkers
³Government = the Viet translation roughly translates to "political party records, don't obtain" whilst the other translated to "old red sealed records are even more difficult to see" so I came to this conclusion
⁴Nếu tới trễ vài ngày = If I had been late a few more days, Nếu tôi đến trễ mấy tháng nữa = If I had been late by a few more months. Different translations.
⁵One translated "the words had fallen to the ground", the other said words had been plastered outside
⁶Quan hệ = relationships
⁷One translation says the floor, other says the shelves
⁸mắt đã tối đen đi rồi = eyes gone dark
⁹Other translation says fly
¹⁰Ý = idea
Translation Notes:
**I translated using two different Vietnamese fan translations to compare differences of what was left in and out of both.
** I had to translate the Chinese names that were translated into Vietnamese back into Chinese, so I am unaware of the accuracy
**If I used a different, but similar word/phrase instead of the direct translation, it's because I thought it fit better with the context that it was used in. In the future I will try to stick closer with direct translation and simply explain it's meaning, I apologize as I am still a novice at translating. If one is very wrong, please correct me.
**If you are familiar with the original language (Chinese) or even the source language (Vietnamese), I apologize ahead of time for any lost nuances caused by translation.
¹Pokerface's life (family history)
²Industry = same profession, coworkers
³Government = the Viet translation roughly translates to "political party records, don't obtain" whilst the other translated to "old red sealed records are even more difficult to see" so I came to this conclusion
⁴Nếu tới trễ vài ngày = If I had been late a few more days, Nếu tôi đến trễ mấy tháng nữa = If I had been late by a few more months. Different translations.
⁵One translated "the words had fallen to the ground", the other said words had been plastered outside
⁶Quan hệ = relationships
⁷One translation says the floor, other says the shelves
⁸mắt đã tối đen đi rồi = eyes gone dark
⁹Other translation says fly
¹⁰Ý = idea
No comments:
Post a Comment