Chapter 265: My Fourth Brother

Mind you, this person had tumbled in, not crawled in. The first thing I noticed wasn’t actually the man himself, but the black rope attached to him. This type of rope has a steel core, giving it incredible resilience. The only people I could think of who would use such professional gear were Chen Si and his crew.

“Fourth Brother!” I cried out instinctively the moment I recognized the figure on the ground. I rushed over to help Chen Si up, while He Yu, hearing my shout, silently pushed himself off the floor and leaned against the stone wall.

As I went to help Chen Si, I realized his clothes were soaked through. Soon, an ominous feeling began to rise in my chest as I caught the thick scent of blood. I had smelled this exact same odor right before Tian Xiaoqi died, to the point where I could now clearly distinguish the smell of blood from the scent of rust.

“Fourth Brother, what happened?!” I unbuckled the harness clips on his body and helped him sit back against the inside of the crevice.

I clicked on my flashlight. Chen Si’s face and arms were covered in blood. His hair was matted with layers of dirt and gore, and his jacket was drenched. I frantically checked his pulse and looked for wounds, but I couldn’t find any. I didn’t know if all this blood was his or someone else’s.

“Fourth Brother!” I called out again.

Chen Si’s eyelids finally fluttered open. The moment he saw me, he reached out and grabbed my wrist. The sudden movement startled me. He Yu shuffled over from the back, handing me a wet towel to wipe Fourth Brother’s face and help him wake up.

I did as he suggested, wiping the dirt off Fourth Brother’s face until he could finally see clearly. His voice was hoarse and filled with anger. “You… why are you two still here? Didn’t I give you the map? Why… why haven’t you left yet?”

He Yu and I were both stunned by his fierce tone. The situation was far too complicated. We had obediently followed the route on the map to head back, but our pace had been slowed down before we knew it, leaving us trapped inside this cliffside crevice. We really didn’t know where to start.

Seeing our shared silence, Chen Si propped himself up and scanned our surroundings, searching for something. Finally, his gaze locked onto the large sleeping bag on my back. Whatever he had suspected, he let out a heavy sigh. “It seems… the game is lost.”

I pressed him immediately. “What game? And who are those masked people who have been hunting us?”

Fourth Brother gave me a deep, lingering look. “You’re smart. You realized long ago that all of this was a setup. It’s a death trap orchestrated by your grandfather, Master Sanshui, and Master Xiao. This game was arranged before you were even born. Every one of us is nothing more than a pawn on this chessboard.”

I had imagined that once this was all over, Fourth Brother would explain everything to me. But I never imagined he would tell me like this, under these circumstances. I wasn’t mentally prepared at all; I could only listen mechanically as he continued.

As the temperature in the crevice dropped, Fourth Brother sat on the ground and said, “The ones hunting us are the Lingshanmi. Remember the shadow pillars and the Lotus Bodhisattva you saw in Shennongjia? All Lingshanmi worship the Lotus Bodhisattva. Years ago, Ye Yuzhu and the Five Masters joined forces to wipe them out, but remnants fled to Japan. I don’t know much more about them. The Lingshanmi are an ancient clan, and judging by the depth of their hatred for us, the truth likely goes far deeper than that.”

I asked softly, “So my grandfather set this all up to fight them?”

Fourth Brother shook his head and gave a faint smile. “No. You’ve seen what they’re capable of. They haunt like ghosts, experts at striking from the shadows. They aren’t easily destroyed. Our goal was to find all the legendary Houtu Blood, and then destroy it.”

My right eyelid gave a slight twitch when he said those words.

“But because the Lingshanmi were constantly hounding us, we had to create smoke screens to mislead them. Master said that the existence of Houtu Blood was always a hidden danger. A thousand years ago, after Master Jiyun experienced its medicinal properties, he felt its presence in the world would only lead to chaos. Despite many obstacles, he managed to divide the Houtu Blood and hide it within various decoy tombs. But now, the Houtu Blood no longer exists.” Fourth Brother looked at me, his expression showing a rare hint of relief.

I found the whole thing increasingly absurd. I stood up, thought for a moment, and suddenly burst out laughing. “Everyone fighting to the death, endless suspicion, distrust, and slaughter, all for some lousy ingredient?! So many people died… their lives thrown away for a drug that brings back the dead!”

Fourth Brother looked at me calmly. “Gan Ji, that is human nature. But you will soon see true human nature with your own eyes. It is far more terrifying than you can imagine.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

Just then, a gunshot rang out outside. A red signal flare was fired from the top of the cliff. The three of us watched from the crevice as a burst of red light suddenly flared outside. Following the light came the piercing screech of the centipede. The creature leapt into the air, catching the flare in its mouth.

Time seemed to freeze for a split second.

Then came a massive boom. The dynamite inside the centipede’s body detonated. Blood poured down like a torrential rainstorm. The Giant Centipede that had been so formidable moments ago was blown into segments, falling into the abyss. I was horrified by the sheer brutality of it.

After the explosion, another shot was fired into the air from the cliff top. A voice shouted, “Chen Si! I know you’re hiding in some crack in the rock like a coward! I have your people. As long as you come out and cooperate by handing over the Houtu Blood, I’ll let you live. I’m counting to three!”

“Three!”

Fourth Brother crawled to the edge of the crevice to listen. I followed him, looking at him with urgency as I whispered, “What are they going to do?”

Fourth Brother didn’t answer. He gripped a stone, his brow furrowed deeply, no telling what was running through his mind.

“Two!”

Fourth Brother suddenly reached out to grab the rope I had untied for him. Quick on my feet, I yanked him back with force and snapped, “What do you think you’re doing? You want to go up there? It’s crawling with their people! Are you insane?”

“One!”

At that moment, the countdown from above stopped abruptly.

Fourth Brother began to struggle with me, still trying to snatch the hanging rope. “Those are all my brothers!” he cried. “Don’t you know how cruel their methods are? How can I just hide down here like a coward?”

I gripped him tight and said, “Where there’s life, there’s hope!”

“Bang!”

Before I could even finish speaking, a terrifying gunshot echoed from above. Right after the blast, a corpse plummeted from the cliff, hitting the ground with a dull thud. Both Fourth Brother and I froze in place at the sight of the fallen body.

Then, another gunshot.

Another body plunged from above, covered in blood, crashing onto the canyon floor.

Then came shot after shot. With every gunshot, a body passed the mouth of the crevice and slammed into the ground.

The gunfire rang out thirty times in succession. There was no need to count carefully; it was proof that thirty people had been killed and tossed down. Among those thirty were many I had brushed past before, those who worked in the shops, wiped down the tables, and warmly opened the windows to air out the place for me every year when I returned. There were those who had called me Young Master on the research vessel, and those who had followed Xiao Wu to give me courage when I had no backup.

I stood before the mouth of the crevice, watching those falling faces scene by scene. Before this, I could never remember their individual faces, but this time, I only looked once and remembered them with absolute clarity. I knew that the sight of their deaths would be etched into my memory forever.

Fourth Brother and I both fell silent. He brushed my hand aside, turned to look at me with a steady gaze, and said, “These men are my brothers. It was too chaotic when we ran; Tan Qiu and Liu Wan must have been captured too. I have to go up.”

Those words instantly jolted my numb nerves, and fear swept over me in a sudden wave. I grabbed Fourth Brother’s arm almost immediately, and under the shocked gazes of both him and He Yu, I dropped to my knees.

Stifling the sob rising in my throat, I said, “Hand on my heart, I’ve never been selfish, not when I was a kid, and not as an adult. But can’t I be selfish just this once? Fourth Brother, I’ve listened to you every single time. Can’t you listen to me just once? If you go up there, you really will die. I don’t want you to go. Let’s just hide here until the people up there give up, and then we’ll go home, okay?”

Fourth Brother looked at me without a word. He Yu leaned against the wall and tried to pull me up from the ground, but I yanked my arm away, shuffled forward half a meter on my knees, and grabbed Fourth Brother’s sleeves, desperately pleading with him.

“I swear I won’t run off anymore! I’ll go back to school, study hard, look after the shops, and manage the pankou. I’ll learn the trade from you properly! I’m begging you, let’s just hide for a bit and then go home, can’t we?”

Fourth Brother turned his head away. I had a dread that if he stepped out of this crevice today, there would be only one outcome. I knew the nature of the people up there all too well—they would never leave a rival alive. But Fourth Brother had always yielded to me. Even though doing this was deeply dishonorable, I thought if I kept begging him, maybe he really would change his mind.

Just then, Chen Si turned back, his eyes bloodshot as he suddenly grabbed my shoulders. “Don’t you understand? They don’t know you’re here, and they don’t know you took the Houtu Blood! If I don’t go out, they’ll definitely search down here. When that happens, I won’t be able to protect either of us! If you die, how am I supposed to answer to our late Master?”

I sat frozen by his words, unable to pull myself together for a long time.

Then I heard Chen Si suddenly bark an order at He Yu: “If you don’t want him to die, get the rope! Drag him away! Tie him up!”

He Yu froze for a moment, then gritted his teeth and picked up the rope off the ground. Sitting there, panic took hold of me. Chen Si pinned me down, and He Yu joined in to restrain me with the rope. I glared at He Yu, cursing him furiously. “Let me go, you fucking bastard! He Yu, you piece of shit, turning on your own people!”

“Fourth Master! Rest assured, even if it costs me my life, I will make sure he gets out alive!”

He Yu shoved a towel into my mouth. As I struggled, he moved behind me, grabbed both ends of the rope, and dragged me deeper into the crevice. Even with the towel gagging me, filthy curses spilled past it in muffled shouts. I spewed every foul word I had ever learned in my life, but soon, the screams faded from my throat.

I watched Chen Si hook the hanging rope back into his belt. A second before he stepped out of the crevice, bathed in the flickering red glow of the flare outside, he turned to me and said, “Gan Ji, Fourth Brother won’t be able to protect you anymore. Live well on your own.”

Frenzy took hold of me. I struggled violently, snapping the rope He Yu held. Without even taking the time to pull the towel from my mouth, I scrambled toward the mouth of the crevice, crying and screaming through the gag. Seeing this, He Yu limped forward a few hasty steps and tackled me to the ground, pinning my shoulders and clamping his hand firmly over my mouth so I wouldn’t make a sound inside the crevice.

My vision had long since blurred into a smear of tears. A heart-wrenching scream tore through my throat, yet no sound could escape my mouth. I reached out blindly, as if reaching out could grasp Fourth Brother’s hand and bring him back with me.

I had no idea how much time passed. My body was completely drained of strength, and my eyes throbbed painfully from shedding so many tears. The weight He Yu pressed against me loosened slightly.

Just then, I heard two deafening gunshots echo together. My slowing heart began pounding wildly once more, missing a beat as two new bodies were thrown off the cliff.

My eyes widened as I watched Fourth Brother’s body plummet past me. In that moment, time seemed to slow to a crawl. The red light of the flare descended alongside the two tightly embracing bodies. Fourth Brother faced me, holding Liu Wan in his arms, his face spattered with blood, yet his expression was peaceful and calm.

My Fourth Brother was the most upright of gentlemen and my only remaining kin. I knew that he had always loved Liu Wan, the Gan Clan, the brothers who had helped him, and me. He was the most responsible person I had ever known. From beginning to end, I was the one who caused him worry and left him helpless. He wanted to save me; even in his final moments, he died protecting me. I regretted everything, but it was already too late.

As I watched the two of them plummet, my heart turned to ash. Unable to accept this reality, I rolled over and kicked He Yu off me. I yanked out the towel stuffed in my mouth and crawled toward the edge of the crevice, leaving a trail of blood on the stones from my hands. But I could no longer feel the pain of my torn flesh.

I stared blankly as the fiery red flare fell alongside the two bodies, igniting a scrap of clothing on a corpse at the base of the cliff.

In an instant, an explosion erupted. The shattering flare spat out a tongue of fire that immediately surged across the valley floor like a tide. All the corpses were reduced to ash. I felt the heat of the inferno as ash from the clothes drifted past my fingertips, scattering into the air.

“No!” I lay against the edge of the rock, but before the words could leave my throat, He Yu rushed forward and covered my mouth again. Crying, I bit down hard on his hand. He let out a muffled groan but endured the pain without making a sound.

He hissed a sharp rebuke into my ear, “Don’t scream! You can’t scream! If you make a sound, your Fourth Brother died for nothing! Do you understand?”

I squeezed my eyes shut and buried my face in his arm to stifle my grief-stricken sobs. I didn’t want Fourth Brother to have died in vain. I had sworn that I would listen to him from now on.

Everything before my eyes was dark, but Fourth Brother’s words still echoed in my ears.

You need to learn to grow up.

You can’t be as thoughtless as you were before.

Learn how to look after the shops. You’re the one who will have to manage Yinggan Tang^[1] in the future.

Visit the pankou more often. It will be good for you later on.

Come back and visit often during your breaks. We all miss you.

Once the fire at the bottom of the cliff burned a deeper shade of crimson, we heard the sound of footsteps and gear being packed as the people above began to leave one after another.

When the cliff top was finally clear, He Yu patted my back. “Pull yourself together. We need to move, too.”

He had barely finished speaking when a massive roar erupted from the base of the cliff in the distance. This explosion was different from the ones before; it was a rapid succession of blasts that made the surrounding rocks and fissures tremble. Trapped inside the fissure, we felt the stones grinding against one another, making it nearly impossible to stand.

He Yu cursed loudly, “Fuck! These people are trying to blow up the whole mountain! Get out! Climb up! The mountain’s coming down!”