Chapter 238: The Hexagram

I never imagined that encountering people in such a cramped environment could be so terrifying. I pressed my back against the stone wall and held my breath, silently chanting prayers to every deity I could think of, begging them to keep that group from taking an interest in my direction. I stood there for an unknown length of time until the light source behind me gradually faded. Only then did I cautiously peek out. The shadows of the group were gone; they had likely headed deeper into the rift. I finally let out a long, genuine sigh of relief.

I was leaning against my knees, trying to catch my breath, when a series of goose-like squawks echoed from above. I looked up just as a massive dark shape came crashing down. I scrambled to the side with surprising agility, but someone still managed to snag my neck. My back hit the ground hard, and I was pinned down as we both slammed into the dirt.

“Ow! Ow! My poor old bones… I really can’t take this kind of abuse!” Old Qian was half-sprawled on top of me. I kicked him off, and he blinked in confusion. “Hey! Young Master Gan? Is that really you? Don’t tell me I’ve started hallucinating from the fall?”

I felt like I was about to cough up blood from the impact. “You’re the damn hallucination!” I snapped. “You used me as a landing pad! Get off me already! Ow, my back!”

Old Qian scrambled to help me up. Rubbing my aching spine and grimacing, I asked him, “Where’s Old He?”

Before the words had fully left my mouth, another series of squawks erupted from the same spot above. We looked up to see another dark shape plummeting toward us. Old Qian and I stepped back in unison. He Yu landed with a heavy thud right in front of us. He had a flashlight strapped to his arm, and the beam flickered, nearly blinding me. I quickly shielded my eyes.

“Seriously, Old He, what kind of entrance is this? Are you two dropping like dumplings?” I asked, turning to Old Qian while still blocking the light.

He Yu was still on the ground, rubbing his sore spots, but he looked ecstatic when he saw me. “I told you we were destined! The ground split open so fast back there, we just kept rolling until we fell. And guess what? We landed right on a giant boulder. Come on, give me a hand!”

Old Qian and I reached out to pull him up. Among the three of us, not one was unscathed. I was holding my waist, Old Qian was limping, and He Yu was rubbing his shoulder. We hobbled over to the stone wall and sat down, leaning on each other for support.

He Yu caught his breath. “We figured staying on that damn rock wasn’t an option—stuck between heaven and earth forever. It didn’t look too far from the ground, so we decided to jump and see if there was a way out down here. Talk about luck! Heaven sent us right to your doorstep.”

I swatted his hands away and scanned our surroundings. Seeing no light sources other than our own, I was about to tell them about the group I’d seen when a loud crash echoed nearby. It sounded like someone else had just fallen.

“Whoa, another dumpling,” He Yu said, bracing himself against the wall to stand up. He gestured to me. “Sounded like a rough landing. Want to go take a look?”

I grabbed his arm. “Are you carrying?”

He Yu immediately pulled two rifles from his pack. He paused and looked at me. “What’s gotten into you? There aren’t any wild animals down here.”

Recalling the behavior of those strange people earlier, I firmly snatched one of the rifles from his hands. I chambered a round, flipped off the safety, and took one of the lights from his shoulder. “Just in case,” I said.

He Yu had no choice but to shoulder his own gun. He turned and muttered to Old Qian, “He’s getting older, likes to worry. Haha, such a worrier.”

I ignored his chatter and led the way with my rifle raised toward where the person had fallen. In the dim light, I saw a figure lying on the ground, unconscious. One wrist was twisted at a sickening angle. As the light hit his face, I recognized him instantly.

“That guy took a hell of a fall. Wait, Xiao Yao, why does he look so familiar? Have we met him before?” He Yu asked.

“Han Zhuo.”

He Yu slapped his forehead. “Oh! Right! That brat who tried to intimidate us on the research ship. I remember now. He’s supposed to be more ‘precious’ than us, so how’d he end up down here?”

Old Qian gave a dry chuckle. “Master He, that’s uncalled for. No matter how precious he is, can he really compare to our Young Master Gan?”

“True, true! You’re absolutely right!”

I knelt down and checked Han Zhuo’s pulse. It was still beating, and his breathing was shallow but steady. I did a quick check of his body; it seemed his backpack had acted as a cushion during the fall. Hearing He Yu and Old Qian still bantering, I interrupted them. “Don’t just stand there. Get over here and help.”

He Yu hesitated for a moment, then went over to pick up Han Zhuo’s backpack. He unzipped it and pulled out the Nine-Ring Jade Casket wrapped in red cloth. “Look at this. This kid was so smug on the ship, but because of this thing, if the rescue team doesn’t come for us, they’ll definitely come for him. He doesn’t seem to have any external injuries. If we mess up and something happens to this Young Master Han, we’re just asking for trouble. If you ask me, we should just leave him here. Why bother with the effort?”

I looked up and glared at him. “Stop talking nonsense and get over here.”

He Yu flinched under my gaze and reluctantly stuffed the casket back into the bag, slinging it over his own shoulder. He then coordinated with Old Qian to help me move Han Zhuo. I turned Han Zhuo onto his side and felt along his spine; there were no signs of fractures in his back.

“Looks like it’s just a dislocated arm for now. There might be aftershocks, so we need to find a safe place to hunker down.” I hoisted Han Zhuo onto my back.

Old Qian smiled apologetically. “You see, these old bones of mine aren’t much use. I can’t carry anyone, and I’ve never won a fight in my life. I’m really just a burden to you, Young Master.”

As I moved forward, scanning the area for a temporary shelter, I replied, “Don’t say that, Old Qian. In our line of work, everyone has their own specialty. Didn’t you teach me the basics of divination? He Yu and I can handle the heavy lifting.”

“Exactly, Old Qian! You’re the man with the knowledge,” He Yu chimed in from behind. “If you hadn’t told us about those Forty-Eight False Tombs in time, we would’ve been toast no matter how tough we are!” His tone suddenly shifted as he patted my shoulder. “Wait, was this really an earthquake? Are you sure it’s a natural disaster and not because of that dynamite you set off this morning?”

I rolled my eyes at him, stopping to flash my light in his face. “What are you talking about? What kind of dynamite could blow a hole this big in the ground?”

“Still,” Old Qian said, stroking his small goatee as he stood there shaking his head. “Strange, strange indeed. Truly bizarre.”

He Yu gave him a shove. “Can you speak like a normal person? What kind of sutra are you chanting over there?”

Old Qian clicked his tongue. “I’m saying this earthquake was incredibly strange. It’s giving me second thoughts.”

“What do you mean, Old Qian? Did you figure something out? What’s so strange about the earthquake?” I asked seriously.

“It just feels… unnatural. It reminds me of how my grandfather described the divination Manager Gan performed after reading the Burial Bone Testament. He said the Linhu region would be shaken to its core, and that descendants must not enter,” Old Qian explained. “Doesn’t that earthquake just now match the prophecy perfectly? And this fissure – Young Master, don’t you think the way it appeared is exceptionally strange?”

I did find the fissure odd, and now I had confirmation that my intuition wasn’t wrong. If things were truly as Old Qian described, weren’t we incredibly lucky? A tomb that even my great-grandfather couldn’t open, and we had stumbled upon the location so easily?

He Yu hadn’t spoken for a while. Finding his silence odd, I looked over and saw him craning his neck, staring at something high up on the cracked rock wall.

“What are you doing?” I walked over to him.

He patted my back and pointed. “Is it just my eyes playing tricks on me, or is there a door up there?”

I stepped forward a few paces, squinting in the direction he indicated. There, amidst the swirling layers of mist about fifty meters above us, a rotting stone door loomed. Half of its stone lintel had already collapsed.

The beams from our three flashlights converged on the door, making it unmistakably clear. The moment we saw it, the three of us turned to look at each other in stunned silence.

Only one thought flashed through my mind the moment I saw that stone door.

We’re in trouble. I think we actually found the real tomb.