When I saw Zhou Peng and the others pulling me and Monkey away, I immediately struggled: "I can't go with you! The money you took was to arrange for the three of us to cross the border, and now one person is missing. You have to give us an explanation!"
"Stop messing around. The border guards will be here in minutes. The military and police here aren't as reasonable as they are back home, especially people of Asian descent. They're prime targets for extortion. If you fall into their hands, things will be much more complicated than you think! Let's go first. We'll look for the other one!"
"I disagree! What if we leave and his bucket floats over? I can't abandon my friend in a foreign land!"
I was worried about Song Laosan's safety, so I struggled to stay: "Since you've taken the money, you have to come up with a solution that I can accept!"
When a white man saw me arguing with Zhou Peng, he pulled out a gun, pointed it at me, and started yelling. Although I couldn't understand what he was saying, I could roughly guess that he was trying to force me to leave with them.
Seeing this, Zhou Peng said something to the white man, then turned to me and said, “These people are just trying to make a living by smuggling themselves in. If they get caught red-handed by the border guards, they'll be in even more trouble than you. If you all stay here, you'll all get arrested together. These Russians won't stay with you. If you come with us, even if your friends get arrested, you can pay these people to help you get things sorted out. Otherwise, you'll all be wiped out. Do you understand what I mean?”
"Splash!"
Just as Zhou Peng and I were arguing, a ripple suddenly appeared on the water's surface, and then a person emerged from the water.
Upon seeing the man, the monkey was overjoyed: "Young Master Duan, it's Third Master!"
I glanced into the water and saw Song Laosan swimming towards the shore in the icy river. Without thinking about why he was doing this, I grabbed the rope next to me and threw it to him.
We had just dragged Song Laosan to the shore when we saw lights on the road in the distance.
When a Russian saw the lights, his voice changed. Zhou Peng also pulled us along, and we ran wildly behind those people.
Beside the river was a birch forest. After passing through the forest, an oil tanker was parked by the roadside. Zhou Peng began translating a Russian's words: "The lid on top of the oil tanker is not locked. Climb up immediately, and hurry!"
Just then, I saw flashes of light and heard the barking of military dogs in the woods beside me. Without thinking, I was the first to climb to the top of the tank, lifted the lid, and shouted down, "This is full of diesel fuel. Aren't we just asking for death if we go down here?"
Zhou Peng continued translating: "There are handrails on the top of the jar. Grab the handrails and climb to the innermost part, where there is a separate space!"
I reached out and touched it, and sure enough, I found a handrail inside. Then I hoisted myself up and crawled inside, quickly getting covered in oil stains.
When I got to the very back, I discovered that the oil tank was divided into two parts, and the middle was sealed with a slanted iron plate.
In this way, when you look down from the opening of the can, it appears to be filled with diesel fuel, but there is actually a separate space inside.
There was no light source in this space. Although I knew that diesel fuel was not easily flammable, I dared not use fire here. I could only endure the pungent smell of diesel fuel and squat in the corner.
Soon, Song Laosan and Monkey also crawled in, and then there was a burst of barking dogs, loud shouts, and a gunshot outside.
Soon after, we heard knocking and banging sounds coming from outside the jar, and the lid was lifted off. We also saw the light of a flashlight shining in from above.
The person who designed this space was very clever; they used the principle of visual deception to perfectly hide the iron plate inside the jar.
Even so, I was still extremely nervous.
After all, we must have left traces when we climbed onto the tank, and we don't know if the smell of diesel fuel will affect the military dogs' noses.
After waiting for about half an hour, our vehicle finally started smoothly and began to wobble as we set off.
Exhausted from the long journey and the low temperature, I unknowingly fell asleep in the carriage.
When I was woken up again by the sound of banging on the jar, I looked at my watch and realized that several hours had passed.
As I stepped out of the car, the sky was already beginning to lighten, and I had caught a cold and developed a high fever, so I was bedridden.
Our tanker truck stopped inside a factory. Zhou Peng took us to the workers' dormitory, gave me some medicine (I don't know what kind it was) to take, and said, "Those smugglers brought us here, and that's considered their mission accomplished. They allowed us to stay here for one day, but we must leave before dark."
Seeing me looking at him, Song Laosan nodded: "The people who will meet us have been arranged and will arrive this afternoon. My only concern is whether your body can handle it?"
"I'm fine, it's just a common cold."
I forced a smile and waved my hand: "The most urgent thing is to find Hu Shahu's tomb as soon as possible... Have you received any news from back home?"
Song Laosan lit a cigarette: "Wei Shengnan and Qu Ruilin have already boarded the plane and are expected to arrive in Moscow tonight. They have legal entry procedures, so it's easier for them to go anywhere than for us. Therefore, they have an advantage over us in terms of time."
I licked my lips, which were chapped from the fever: "Is there any way to find out their whereabouts, or their specific destination?"
"The chances are extremely slim. As far as I know, Changwei Group is also involved in import and export trade, one of which is imported food from Russia, which means they have connections here! Even if these connections are just legitimate business dealings, they are much more familiar with the situation here than we are. If we rashly investigate their whereabouts, we will only expose ourselves, and then the purpose of transiting through Mongolia will be lost."
Song Laosan paused for a moment: "What I'm more worried about now is whether they actually know the exact location of Hu Shahu's tomb. If that's the case, things will be even more complicated."
I was afraid that if we continued to delay, the Wei and Qu families would have already finished their business by the time we confirmed our destination. So I forced myself to sit up and said, "Try to urge your connections to get to Vladivostok as soon as possible."
...
Three hours later, I was helped into a Lada police car by Song Laosan and Monkey.
Seeing the emblem and Russian writing on the car, and the two uniformed policemen, I felt a little uneasy: "Third Master, isn't it too high-profile of us to drive a fake police car? If we get caught, it'll be an even bigger crime!"
"Who told you this car was fake?"
Old Song knocked on the roof of the car: "This car and the police are exactly the same, all genuine. Remember what I told you? Money makes the world go round, that saying applies everywhere!"
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