Chapter 109: The Wrong Path

Fifteen minutes to memorize an entire map was no simple feat, especially since the structure was frustratingly complex. After Qiao Sangui finished speaking, I squeezed my eyes shut, forcing my brain to stay calm, then quickly looked down to start memorizing.

When a person focuses intently on a single task, time always seems to slip away with inexplicable speed.

After carefully examining every section of the map, I had essentially committed it to memory. As soon as the twenty minutes were up, Tian Xiaoqi snatched the paper from my lap.

Qiao Sangui glanced at me, and Guangtou helped him up from the ground. “Lead the way. Don’t try any little tricks under my nose, or I can’t guarantee your friend’s safety.”

He Yu had just woken up after being doused with three scoops of water, his mind clearly still struggling to clear. He was hauled up by the lackey carrying the Hanyang 88 and stumbled forward. Another lackey pulled me up from the ground as well.

I stood up with a gun pressed against the small of my back and stared at Qiao Sangui. “I can lead the way, but I need to know every route you took while I was unconscious so I can deduce our current position.”

Guangtou and Qiao Sangui exchanged a look. Receiving a nod of approval, Guangtou walked over to explain their path. He spoke in plain terms, mostly about turning left or right, turning back when things seemed wrong, and circling around four or five times.

After listening, I thought it over for a moment and had a general idea of our location.

Qiao Sangui and the others stopped, their eyes heavy with pressure as they waited for me to choose a direction. I took a deep breath and, without much hesitation, chose the right. The lackey behind me gave me a rough shove, pushing me to the very front of the group.

Less than four months later, I had once again become the cannon fodder leading the way, only this time, Xiao Wu had been replaced by He Yu behind me.

Someone held a fire-starter to light the way for me. I passed the shrines in silence, though my mind was busy calculating every step I took.

A place like this wasn’t a highway; no one was kind enough to put up signs every two or three kilometers. The scale on that map could only be converted using my footsteps.

As He Yu gradually regained his senses, I heard him shouting from behind, “Hey, Third Master Qiao, your company’s corporate culture is really lacking! Is this how you treat prisoners? You’ve got me tied up like a Zongzi. Do you think I can even move my legs like this?”

“Shut your mouth, or do you want me to knock your front teeth out?” Tian Xiaoqi threatened.

He Yu didn’t back down at all. “Hey! You little brat, go ahead and try it! You think I’m afraid of you? Believe it or not, I could kick you across the room without even using my hands!”

“You!”

Qiao Sangui coughed twice, warning them, “Both of you, shut up. This isn’t the outside world. The mechanisms inside the Underground Palace have already been activated. We need to stay alert. If anyone makes another sound, I’ll cut out their tongue and take it back to feed the dogs.”

At that moment, I stopped on my thirty-sixth step. According to my memory, turning right here should have been the fastest route to the core of the Underground Palace. But strangely, to my right was a solid, sealed wall.

This couldn’t be right.

I stood before the stone wall for a long time. The most likely explanation was that this wall had appeared after the mechanism was triggered, acting as a man-made barrier.

I kicked the base of the stone wall. The sound was dull. This wall was likely much thicker than I had imagined. I wasn’t sure of its operating mechanism—whether it was a revolving panel or a massive stone extended by gearwork.

Qiao Sangui walked up beside me and asked, “What’s the problem?”

I told him the truth. “There used to be a path here, but the mechanism shifted and this wall appeared out of nowhere. I don’t know how the wall operates yet, so we can’t go this way for now.”

Qiao Sangui glanced at me. I knew he was highly suspicious, but since I was the only one who could read the map, he had to force himself to trust me. He looked toward the dark corridor ahead and asked, “If this path is blocked, can’t we take another one?”

I let out a helpless laugh. “While I was unconscious, you must have tried many different paths yourselves. You followed the routes set by the tomb’s owner, and what happened? You were still trapped here and couldn’t find an exit.”

Qiao Sangui fell into deep thought and remained silent.

I didn’t want to be trapped here until I died. Seeing this stone wall, I realized the original layout of the stone passages had been completely scrambled by the mechanisms. However, one thing remained true: the passages themselves wouldn’t change position, no matter how superior the ancient craftsmanship was.

If the passages themselves were to shift up and down, it would require far more engineering work inside the mountain, plus something even more massive and absurd than a crane to lift these thousand-ton stones.

Therefore, I guessed the designer had chosen a simpler strategy: using identical walls to block off each passage. This would create a “ghost wall” illusion for any tomb raider, exploiting that confusion to create a labyrinth.

Fearing Qiao Sangui would continue to doubt me, I immediately explained further, “The reason you kept going in circles earlier is because you’ve been following the intended path all along. But those paths themselves are wrong—they’re hints and deliberate misdirections left by the builders. If we keep going forward, we’ll just keep spinning in circles forever.”

Qiao Sangui considered my words seriously and nodded to me. “Well said.”

Tian Xiaoqi sauntered over with her arms crossed, watching the show. “College students really are something else. You say there’s a path behind this wall, so tell us, how are we supposed to move a wall this thick? It’s not like we can use the Five Ghosts Moving Mountains, can we?”

She was mocking me. The so-called Five Ghosts Moving Mountains was a technique from Maoshan sorcery. Legend had it that a Taoist priest on Zhongnan Mountain could move fruit from the foot of the mountain straight into his small temple without ever stepping outside.

On a small scale, it could move fruit; on a large scale, moving mountains or boulders was no trouble at all. This was the simplest form of the legendary “Five Ghosts Moving Mountains” technique.

As soon as Tian Xiaoqi finished speaking, the men led by Guangtou burst out laughing. At that moment, I truly hadn’t thought of a way to move such a heavy stone wall, and with nothing to argue back, I could only let them laugh at my expense.

Seeing them laugh at me, He Yu quickly blew his top. He spat, “What the hell are you laughing at? At least my Xiao Yao here figured out the trick. You’ve been scurrying around this cave like rats for ages. Leave aside not being able to read the map properly, you haven’t come up with a single damn thing. What are you feeling so proud about?”

Having been thoroughly chewed out, Guangtou immediately reached for his knife. Seeing things were about to turn ugly, I quickly stepped in front of He Yu. But before Guangtou could draw his blade, Qiao Sangui clamped a hand down on his wrist.

Qiao Sangui’s face darkened instantly. This frightened the men around him into cutting their laughter short, not even daring to breathe too loudly.

“You’ve followed me for so many years, and you still won’t admit you’re useless? Gan Ji is right. There are gaps on both sides of this wall, which means it was dropped down later. Now it’s just a matter of figure out how to move it.” Qiao Sangui pulled the knife from his waist and walked over to me.

I had no idea what he intended with this sudden move, but then I saw his arm swing down. In an instant, the ropes binding my hands were sliced open and fell to the ground. Having been tied up for so long, I rubbed my wrists as I watched Qiao Sangui turn to untie He Yu as well.

Guangtou was completely bewildered. “Third Master! They’re full of crooked ideas, you can’t…”

Qiao Sangui raised a hand to cut him off. “I, Qiao San, might be missing an eye, but I trust my vision. Everyone listen up: until we reach the heart of the underground palace, you will show our partners at least a modicum of respect.”

Then he turned his head and fixed his single eye on me with a sinister grin. “Young Master Gan, use that head of yours and think carefully. How do we move this stone wall? I know for a fact your grandfather taught you everything.”

The way he looked at me made my skin crawl. I never realized a person’s smile could be so eerie and unsettling.