Chapter 250: Flight

I had Old Qian help me steady the two weak flashlights, then built a coordinate system in my mind based on the ring of projected starlight shadows. Using this system, I could pinpoint the horizontal and vertical positions of each star.

After a quick look, I knelt on the ground, opened my tool kit, and pulled out a bent Cloud-Probing Needle. This needle was unique, with a small spring at the tip that allowed it to expand and contract automatically once inside the keyhole. I used two small wrenches to pry open the Nine-Ring Jade Casket’s keyhole, widening it, and inserted the needle head.

According to the internal diagram, moving the expanded needle tip a few centimeters to the right would touch the first ball bearing. Following the ancient custom of working from right to left, I began manipulating the bearings one by one, matching them to the stars on the wall.

The ball bearings inside the Nine-Ring Jade Casket were extremely small, and the tracks were remarkably slick. Every so often along the track, there was a shallow notch. The casket would open only if the bearings dropped into the correct notches; a single mistake, and the lock would never open again.

I was extremely nervous. Even though my fingers were trained never to tremble, I was still terribly tense. Seeing me like this, Old Qian grew nervous too. The height where the focus was best and the light shadows clearest was awkward, forcing him to stay in a deep horse stance^[1] beside me, not daring to move a muscle.

Checking against the coordinate system in my mind, my heart dropped every time I moved a bearing. By the time the eighth bearing clicked into its notch, I was dripping with sweat.

I had no idea how many hours had passed. We had spent the whole time either being terrified or fleeing, and I hadn’t had a single drop of water. Kneeling on the ground for so long in such an awkward stance made waves of dizziness sweep over me.

“Young Master, do you want to rest a bit? You don’t look good,” Old Qian said, his legs trembling, though he could clearly still hold on.

I was just about to say let’s rest when two gunshots rang out from across the iron chain bridge, startling me half-awake. He Yu was the first to run toward us, the chain bridge rattling violently under his steps. He shouted as he ran:

“Gan Ji! They’re pushing through! Are you done yet? We have to get the hell out of here!”

I couldn’t afford to stop and recheck. This thousand-year-old casket might only give us one chance to open it, and I couldn’t let it pass. I quickly memorized the positions of the last two bearings and pushed the Cloud-Probing Needle deeper inside.

Right after that, a deafening boom shook the whole cavern. This time it definitely didn’t sound like a gunshot. Those bastards were ruthless, damn it—they were setting off explosives right inside the tomb!

Old Qian ducked to avoid stray bullets, the flashlights swaying wildly. He yelled at me, “Young Master! We have to go!”

“Give me one more minute!”

I was close to the stone coffin. Several bullets struck the outer sarcophagus, the slugs falling right at my feet. I pushed the final bearing into its notch. With a crisp click, the upper keyhole of the Nine-Ring mechanism snapped open, followed immediately by the lower keyhole. The entire Nine-Ring lock assembly fell away from the casket.

With trembling hands, I scrambled to remove the rings and opened the lid of the Nine-Ring Jade Casket. There were no priceless treasures inside, only a square, interlocking bronze block and the other half of the Burial Bone Testament diagram. However, the map felt slightly different to the touch.

When joined together, the two pieces formed the complete Burial Bone Testament diagram. Just as I was about to grab the items and stand up, I caught sight of a figure lunging at me from a distance out of the corner of my eye. He tackled me hard, pinning me beneath him on the ground.

I looked closely and saw it was Tian Xiao. His face was mottled with blood. He shielded me beneath his body and asked, “Is the casket open?”

“It’s open, it’s open! Elder, how do we get out of here now?” I asked frantically.

He gave me a faint smile. The tension that had kept his whole body taut seemed to snap in that moment, replaced by a deep sense of relief. “Good. As long as you got it. You must get that thing out of here. There’s a narrow path on the right cliff wall. Go that way.”

As he spoke, blood trickled uncontrollably from the corner of his mouth. I immediately reached up with my left hand to touch his back; my palm came away completely soaked. His back was riddled with bullet holes. My heart sank as I stared at my blood-stained hand, realizing he had lunged over me to block the bullets!

I quickly rolled over, swapping positions with Tian Xiao until we were both huddled beneath the Warding Mirror at the end of the stone coffin.

Tian Xiao’s consciousness was already starting to fade. I shouted for help. “He Yu! Tian Xiao’s been hit! There’s a path on the right cliff wall, cover us while we retreat from there!”

I shook Old Man Tian vigorously to wake him, hauled him onto my back, and used the multi-purpose belt at my waist to lash us together. “Elder! Hang on! Tian Xiaoqi is still waiting for you back with the Tian Family! You have to hold on, I’m carrying you out!”

Tian Xiao slumped against my back, his breath weak. “Gan Ji… take good care of Little Seven for me. You all… must live on…”

I locked my eyes on the masked men on the bridge and shouted to He Yu, who was closest to the bridge chains, “Break the damn bridge!”

“Got it!”

He Yu fired several shots at the thin iron chains anchoring the bridge. Who knew how many years those old chains had been there; the thin ones shattered instantly. Half the bridge plunged sideways in an instant. I quickly pulled Old Qian and ran toward the narrow path along the cliff, catching sight out of the corner of my eye as their leader, the man who had pointed his gun at me earlier, grabbed a slanting chain, hooked his leg around it, and flipped himself up.

In an instant, the entire group of masked men vaulted onto the chains, running along them straight toward us.

“Holy shit!” He Yu yelled. “Those guys are pros! We’d better run!”

We only had He Yu’s single gun. Although the Underworld Hall wasn’t far from the cliff wall, reaching it unscathed was going to be incredibly difficult. I hadn’t run more than a few steps when a sharp pain flared in my right leg. With Tian Xiao’s weight pressing down on me, my leg nearly gave way, and I almost collapsed onto the narrow path, barely half a person wide.

Old Qian was ahead of me. He turned back to help, but a bullet struck him, staggering him backward so hard he nearly lost his footing and tumbled off the cliff.

I looked up. The leader’s gun was leveled directly at me. The three of us came to a dead halt.

I whispered to He Yu, “How many bullets do we have left?”

He Yu had even thrown his gun away by now. “None. Not even a suicide grenade.”

Blood had already begun to seep from my leg. I gritted my teeth and tried to press forward, but the moment I stepped out with my left leg, another bullet slammed into the rock wall in front of me.

“Stop right there, and I’ll leave your bodies intact,” the leader said, standing on the bridge while gripping the iron chain. As soon as he spoke, the guns across from us ceased fire in unison. Everyone seemed to be waiting for my decision.

Our situation was utterly desperate. Dozens of dark muzzles were aimed straight at our heads. I knew that with a single command from that leader, they could turn the three of us into sieves. We were pinned against the center of the rock wall, unable to advance or retreat, with the roaring glacial meltwater churning below. I knew I needed to buy more time.

“Let the two of them go,” I called out to the leader.

The leader chuckled. “You aren’t in a position to negotiate with me.”

I hoped for a chance to turn things around. “I don’t know anything about this. Killing us won’t do you any good.”

“I’m aware,” the leader replied. “But that’s just something you’re saying to save your life. I can’t be certain you know nothing. Based on the principle that it’s better to kill an innocent than let a threat escape, I cannot let you leave.”

I caught a hint of subtext in his words. If he truly wanted me dead, he wouldn’t have shot me in the leg earlier; killing me outright would have been far simpler. The fact that he was giving me a chance to speak proved there was still a slim hope for survival. Now, it all depended on whether I could guess his true meaning.

I asked him, my hand hidden behind my back as I signaled to He Yu, “What will it take to spare our lives?”

“Leave behind what you just unearthed,” the man said. “I see you have some talent. If you’re willing to turn from the dark to assist us, I can leave their corpses intact. You needn’t grieve for them; they were never truly your companions anyway.”

“I have a solution that works for both of us. Do you want to hear it?”

The leader lowered his gun slightly, seemingly interested in what I had to say.

He Yu leaped downward, the end of his rope wedged into a crevice in the rock. I swiftly drew the Horse-Head Blade from my waist and hurled it at the masked man across from us. He reacted quickly, dodging to the side as the blade tore through the black cloth covering his face. The subordinate beside him wasn’t so lucky; the blade sliced through the man’s carotid artery, sending blood spraying everywhere.

Old Qian’s continuous wails echoed in my ears. The Horse-Head Blade returned to its sheath just as the rope jerked taut, and I plummeted into the abyss along with He Yu and the others.