Chapter 194: On the Beam

These pillars were not easy to climb. The bottom two or three meters had been polished smooth, and even with me propping up He Yu’s backside as he clung to one, he struggled for ages only to get about two meters off the ground. Eventually, drenched in sweat and exhausted, he had to have me let him down to rethink our plan.

I looked up. The nearest decorative floral pendant was at least three meters higher, and you’d need a hell of reach to grab it. I couldn’t help but feel a bit discouraged. He Yu’s upper body strength was formidable and he was far more agile than me; if he couldn’t scale this pillar, my chances were practically non-existent.

“I can try,” Tian Xiaoqi said, walking over to my side. She pulled two curved daggers from her waist. The arc of these blades was much deeper than a standard scimitar.

I glanced at her, already guessing what she intended to do, and stepped back to give her space.

He Yu rolled up his sleeves and stepped forward. “Come on, let your brother give you a boost!”

Seeing his “ready for action” posture, Tian Xiaoqi immediately retreated a few steps in wary rejection. “I don’t want you lifting me. You look unreliable. If your hands slip and you drop me, I don’t know how to set my own bones!”

He Yu immediately shot a look at me. I had been standing off to the side with my arms crossed, enjoying the show, but his gaze made me shudder. Then Tian Xiaoqi turned around and pulled on my sleeve. She sheathed one of the daggers at her waist and smiled at me. “Gan Ji, you lift me up. I’ll give it a shot.”

He Yu started snickering beside us, sounding like an old hen about to lay an egg. I gave him a fierce glare before moving over to Tian Xiaoqi. She had already braced herself before the slippery pillar, gripping one dagger and rubbing her hands together, seemingly looking for the best spot to start her ascent.

I looked up at the pillar and cautioned her, “It’s okay if you can’t make it. Just do your best. The most important thing is safety. If you can’t get up, come back down. Don’t force it; we can find another way.”

Tian Xiaoqi looked back at me with a grin, her eyes curving into crescent moons. “Are you worrying about me?”

What nonsense! I’d said the exact same thing to He Yu before he went up.

Thinking this, I placed my hands on Tian Xiaoqi’s waist and hoisted her up. Girls are much lighter and easier to lift than men, so I easily raised her above my head. Once my arms were fully extended, I signaled for her to step onto my shoulders, as the lower section of the pillar was far too slick for a normal person to maintain a grip.

Tian Xiaoqi stepped onto my shoulders. Holding her dagger in one hand, she suddenly exerted herself and leaped half a meter upward, her limbs locking tightly around the pillar. She hadn’t warned me she was going to jump, and for a terrifying second, I thought she was falling. Only after I saw she had a stable grip did I step away.

She was already significantly higher than He Yu had managed.

Adjusting her legs, Tian Xiaoqi released one hand and reached out with her curved dagger. With great skill, she hooked the blade into the center of one of the openwork floral pendants. He Yu leaned in, curious to see what the girl was planning.

Tugging on the dagger with one hand, she released one leg from the pillar and braced her foot against its surface. Eyeing a large beam above the floral pendant, she performed a high-difficulty twist. Watching her maneuvers from below, I felt my own legs start to go weak.

Finally, she gripped the dagger and made a sudden leap toward the beam about a meter away. With a dull thud, she landed with her upper body draped over the beam, though her aim was slightly off and one leg dangled in the air.

He Yu and I instinctively rushed underneath to catch her, but Tian Xiaoqi’s core strength was impressive. She managed to wiggle her half-fallen body back onto the solid surface. Wiping sweat from her forehead, she pulled out her dagger and sat astride the beam, looking down at us.

“Come on, I’ll pull you up!” Tian Xiaoqi leaned down and reached out a hand.

He Yu and I both waved our hands frantically at her.

“My dear lady, you just stay sitting up there,” He Yu said. “I get scared just watching you move. You being up there is enough; you can’t pull us up anyway. Gan Ji and I will think of something else. We’ll get up there eventually.”

I took a moment to catch my breath, intending to try again with He Yu since the remaining distance wasn’t that great. Suddenly, I felt someone run past me toward the pillar, bringing a gust of wind with them.

Turning around, I saw Lu Ayao had already nearly reached the top of the floral pendants. He wasn’t even using his legs; he used only his arms to hug the pillar and fix his upper body in place, then jammed his legs into the openwork of a pendant. Decisively releasing his grip, he swung himself up from a handstand position. Finally, crouching on the beam, he flicked his white whip from behind him. The whip uncoiled and dropped down, landing right in front of us.

He Yu and I looked at him, then at each other.

He Yu silently gave a thumbs up. “I like this,” he whispered to me, “but he’s making us look like total idiots.”

I gave him a shove, teasing him. “The man is kind enough to pull you up and you’re still talking. I don’t care about my pride. Once I’m up, I’ll tell him to pull the whip back and you can climb up yourself.”

“Hey, hey, I didn’t say that!” He Yu blocked me with his hand, then, before I could react, he bolted toward the whip to claim the first turn. He shouted up, “Old Lu, I’m going first! Gan Ji said we don’t need to worry about him, he’ll climb up on his own!”

“Damn it! I never said that! Old Lu, don’t listen to his lies!” Hearing this, I scrambled after him, terrified they might actually leave me down there to scale the pillar myself.

Lu Ayao and Tian Xiaoqi worked together to pull us onto the beam one by one. This beam was quite wide; even with all four of us sitting on it, there wasn’t a hint of a wobble. With decorative pendants designed beneath both sides, it was clearly one of the main structural beams.

Once up, I looked at Lu Ayao and asked with a bit of smugness, “What’s this? Changed your mind about opening the coffin?”

He lowered his head, coiling his whip section by section. “Mm,” he grunted. “Not opening it. Better to find a way up first.”

I nodded with satisfaction. “Good. You’ve seen the light.”

“Do you two remember?” He Yu stood up and rubbed his chin while looking at the vaulted ceiling. “When we first met, we were climbing pillars. Now we’re climbing pillars and beams again. What kind of rotten luck is this? You think we’ll end up splitting up once we get out of here?”

I slapped him on the back. “Pah! What are you talking about? This whole thing isn’t over yet. Why talk about splitting up? If anyone’s splitting, it’ll be you being forced back to guard the warehouse.”

Lu Ayao found another suitable beam and began walking slowly toward the center along the one beneath our feet. Tian Xiaoqi followed him. I kept up with them, inching toward the center of the structure while bickering with He Yu.

“Like you said, this isn’t over, so I’m not going back,” He Yu said, following behind me. “Being a warehouse clerk isn’t nearly as exciting as this, even if I can’t find any treasures. Seriously though, can’t you just ask your Fourth Brother what’s really going on? And what about those bodies by the water pump outside? Were they part of the archaeology team too?”

Lu Ayao stepped across to a higher crossbeam. Once steady, he turned to help Tian Xiaoqi over, then reached out for me. I grabbed his hand and jumped across, turning my head to answer He Yu.

“My Fourth Brother? You think he’d tell me anything? Usually, before I can even get a question out, he’s already annoyed with me and telling me to get lost.”

My eyes darted around as a plan formed. I thought it might not be a bad idea to have Lu Ayao act as a spy on Fourth Brother’s side. I tugged on Lu Ayao’s sleeve. “Old Lu, you’re on our side now, right?”

To my surprise, Lu Ayao just glanced at me. “Chen Si won’t tell me the truth either.”

I wanted to say more, but before the words could leave my mouth, a massive boom erupted from below. The impact was so violent that the crossbeam beneath our feet shook three times. I heard He Yu look down and let out a cry of shock.

“Damn it! You old fossil, what do you think you’re doing!”

I quickly looked toward the source of the noise. Below us, Qiao Sangui had somehow managed to quietly saw through his ropes. The outer lid of the sarcophagus had already been pried off and lay on the ground, and now the old man was busy using the two crowbars to force open the inner coffin lid!