Tomb Raiders Notes: If Innocence Had a Brother

After Wu Xie heard my story, he was out of breath laughing.

"So, brother, if you have something strange to do, talk to your brother. You are enjoying the hot food outside, but your brother is still suffering here." My resentful voice reached Wu Xie's ears through the microphone. .

This kind of routine makes life proceed in an orderly manner. Sometimes Uncle Zhang looks at me doing morning exercises, holds the water cup and sighs, "I really miss you running in pajamas and slippers."

Until one day Wu Xie mentioned Laoitch on the phone.

"Do you remember Old Itch? He came out."

Xie Ziyang, Wu Xie's childhood friend, is one of the few people who achieved immortality in "Tomb Robbers Notes".

Lao Itch was sentenced to three years for fighting upside down three years ago. Wu Xie and I went to see him several times, but Lao Itch felt shameless and didn't want to meet him. Later, the matter dropped.

A few days later, Wu Xie told me that he and Lao Chu planned to go there. I mentioned in passing that Lao Itch had a pair of bronze hexagonal wind chimes that he brought back from the Qinling Mountains.

A month later, Wu Xie said that he had found some information about hexagonal wind chimes and sent it to me.

The pattern on the bell is called the double-body snake pattern, which may come from the ancient country "Kuguo" that lived between Shanxi and Hubei in ancient times. The Kingdom of Ku flourished for a while in the early Western Zhou Dynasty, but then quickly disappeared. Some scholars believe that the "Ku State" is the descendant of the ancient "Huaxu" state. There is a legend about Fuxi in Huaxu who has a human face and a snake body.

There are several pages of murals at the back, which show a large number of people kneeling in front of a tree to pray. The annotation next to it is to worship the "Snake God Tree" and to sacrifice blood to achieve their wishes. I took these pages and turned them over. This tree was recorded by the Iron-faced Scholar thousands of years ago as the "Tree of Immortality."

When they finally talked to Wu Xie on the phone, they had already entered the Qinling Mountains and the signal was intermittent. Wu Xie said that it was very difficult to find a signal now, and he would wait until he came out of the tomb to contact him again.

On the fifth day after Wu Xie lost contact, I received a call from the Red Cross Hospital in Beilin District, Xi'an City. They found that Wu Xie only had one number on his mobile phone, so they called.

Before entering the mountain, in view of the fact that Lao Itch had been arrested before and had a criminal record, and the Qinling Mountains were surrounded by tourist areas with dense crowds, the two of them always used anonymous phone cards and fake ID cards when they arrived. I have been in constant contact with Wu Xie these past few days.

I left a message for my second uncle, saying that I was going to spend two days wandering around.

When he arrived at the hospital, Wu Xie was still in a coma. Wu Xie was on the hospital bed with plaster on his chest and left hand, and about twenty bones were broken in his body. Doctors speculated that it was caused by falling from a height.

After waiting for two days, Wu Xie still didn't wake up. The doctor said that there was nothing serious about his head and his vital signs were normal. It might be the body's self-protection, so he asked him to wait patiently and observe closely.

Wu Xie was in a coma for three days, so I guarded him for three days.

I only remember that Wu Xie’s trip to Qinling Mountains was extremely thrilling, but he finally returned to Hangzhou smoothly. But now he is lying in front of me with a bloodless face. On the first day, a drainage tube was inserted into the chest wall. The doctor said that the rib was broken and inserted into the lung, causing atelectasis and a small amount of fluid accumulation on the left side of the lung.

The first night I stayed with him, I didn't dare to close my eyes because I was afraid that something might happen to him.

The next morning, the hospital called me over and showed me various documents and information. Because Wu Xie's family members were not present during the rescue, the hospital adhered to the principle of putting life first and gave priority to rescuing lives. I understand and am willing to cooperate with the hospital for follow-up treatment. Sign your name on a pile of paper.

In the afternoon, the armed police brigade learned that the patient's family had arrived, and sent the armed police comrade who was handling the matter to show me the information on the medical delivery process and the treatment process.

Mainly police records and a few photos.

**Year **month**, *hour*minute: An alarm was received from Lantian villagers and an injured person was found by the stream...

The first photo shows Wu Xie lying on a bamboo raft while armed police are carrying him ashore.

The armed police comrade pointed to the row of wooden sticks fixed on both sides of Wu Xie's chest in the photo and said: "When the villagers found him, the wounds on his body had been simply treated. The doctor said that if it were not for these treatments, he would have died long ago."

The second photo shows Wu Xie being taken to the hospital.

The third photo is a close-up of some trauma. The entire chest and back were covered in blood and flesh.

The armed police asked me if I had any clues. I said that my brother was traveling, but I didn’t know anything else.

After finishing everything, I sat in front of Wu Xie's bed and looked at him.

The family members of the patient next door couldn't stand it anymore and asked me if there was anyone else in my family who wanted to come over and help me. After thinking for a while, I called Wang Meng in Hangzhou.

On the third day, Wu Xie still didn't wake up.

After Wang Meng arrived, we took turns taking care of Wu Xie. But I always had trouble sleeping at night. Whenever I closed my eyes, I dreamed of Wu Xie lying in the cold stream. I ran over and tried to drag him ashore, but as soon as I hugged him, blood poured out of his body, turning the stream red.

On the fourth day, I sat in front of the bed and stared at Wu Xie's face in a daze. Suddenly I looked into a pair of eyes. It took me five seconds to realize that Wu Xie was awake.

After the doctor checked, he said there was nothing wrong and he could just continue the treatment.

Wang Meng came over to change my shift in the afternoon. After leaving the hospital gate, I did not go back to the hotel. Instead, I sat on a bench in the garden next to the hospital, covering my face and crying.

After crying enough, I wiped my face randomly, returned to the hotel and fell asleep. I woke up in the middle of the night, hugging the pillow and sobbing uncontrollably. I cried and fell asleep again.

After so many years, when I think of me crying like a fool again, I can only say that I was scared. Although "being frightened" does not sound manly at all, I was indeed frightened by Wu Xie.

I found that since Wu Xie was injured and lying unconscious on the hospital bed, my mentality has changed.

I used to think that when I entered "Tomb Raiders" and knew the plot, I brought my own cheating device and relived my life in a free and unrestrained way, just to make up for the dull life in my previous life. But now I feel that I can't afford it.

Two days before Wu Xie woke up, he always suffered from nausea and vomiting. The doctor said that the sequelae caused by the concussion will heal in a few days. But when the symptoms subsided, his speech ability was completely lost, and no matter what he said, he screamed strangely.

Wang Meng and I were worried that our brains were broken. After examination, the doctor still diagnosed us with sequelae of severe concussion and told us not to worry.

Wu Xie was half leaning on the hospital bed, making funny gestures randomly. Wang Meng and I can understand simple gestures such as eating, drinking, and going to the toilet, but we can't do anything more complex.

I thought about it and told him everything from when I got the call from the hospital. After living as a mute for four days, Wu Xie's speech function began to gradually recover. Later, comrades from the armed police came again, and Wu Xie made up a lie about climbing a mountain and falling off a cliff.

I didn't dare to tell Wu Xie about running away from my second uncle at first. After Wu Xie stabilized, I called my second uncle but no one answered.

When Wu Xie got better, he asked Wang Meng to buy a new mobile phone and laptop. I contacted a circle of people and reported that my family was safe. They said that the mountain village where I was traveling was remote and there was no signal. The waiter at the hall said that the third uncle still hadn't come back.

For the next few days, Wu Xie lay on the bed bored. I pestered him to talk about the Qinling Mountains and Laochi for an hour every day.

(I won’t go into details about the plot about the Qinling Sacred Tree here.)

Wu Xie said that in a trance, he saw his third uncle, Zhang Qiling and Chen Wenjin from twenty years ago. A name "Qi Yu" was also mentioned.

"I said you and Wang Meng should go out for a walk and relax, wouldn't you?" When he said this, Wu Xie had been hospitalized for fifteen days. The young man is in good health and recovering well. He can already get out of bed and walk.

I took the Classic of Mountains and Seas and gnawed on the apple and said, "That won't work. Brother, you are now a one-armed hero. If you leave me, I'm afraid you won't survive."

"If I can't live without you, then how did Yang Guo live for eighteen years?" After saying this, Wu Xie looked at his laptop again.

A month later, Wu Xie and I returned home to Hangzhou. Clean up your mood and return to normal life. While helping Wu Xie sort out his mailbox, an unsigned express caught my attention.

Wu Xie opened the express mail and found it was from Lao Itch. After reading Lao Chu's letter and looking at the resurrected Xie Ziyang and his mother, Wu Xie and I couldn't help but sigh.

In this way, as time goes by, life gets back on track. Wu Xie eats and sleeps in the shop every day. I travel between schools and shops, but no one mentions Xie Ziyang.

The end of the unvisited Qinling Mountains