Chapter 281: Long Life and the Birth of a Son (End)

The scene was far too terrifying. Before Cui Fengji could squeeze the words out of his throat, Qu Zhang rolled up a sleeve and reached his hand directly into the pried-open corner of the coffin.

Cui Fengji was frightened senseless by the move, sitting frozen on the spot and unable to speak. Qu Zhang used his hand to peel back the layers of silk covering the female corpse’s face one by one. Her features were delicate, her lips painted with rouge, and her posture appeared peaceful.

Qu Zhang spoke to the corpse, “Pardon the intrusion. My apologies.”

He felt both sides of her cheeks, and seeing nothing unusual, moved his hand to her slender neck. Qu Zhang’s brow furrowed. He gripped the woman’s neck briefly, then quickly let go and withdrew his hand.

“How… how is it? What’s the situation?” Cui Fengji scrambled up from the ground to ask, not daring to look at the desiccated corpse that had suddenly appeared in the corner.

Qu Zhang said, “There should be a bead in her mouth meant to prevent decay. I felt for it just now and found that it has slid down into her throat. Her posture isn’t right. Come help me push the lid out further.”

Cui Fengji instinctively moved to help. Together, they pushed the lid halfway off, fully exposing the female corpse to the air. One look was enough for Cui Fengji to know Qu Zhang was right. The woman wasn’t lying flat in the coffin; she had been laid to rest with her arms partially bent.

Cradled in the palms of her hands, which rested over her abdomen, was an ebony lacquer box with a black base and a gold dragon design. Just as Cui Fengji reached out to touch the box, Qu Zhang pressed his hand down.

“Do you still want to get out?” Qu Zhang asked. “If we touch this box, we aren’t leaving.”

Terrified, Cui Fengji jerked his hand back. He was the type who valued his life over money; he could always earn more money, but once his life was gone, it was gone for good. Besides, he wasn’t a real grave robber. He had ended up here purely out of curiosity, and by now, that curiosity had been thoroughly exhausted.

“Then how do we get out now?” Cui Fengji blinked.

Qu Zhang glanced at him, then crouched down to look at the gold, silver, and jewels scattered across the floor. He picked up a gemstone necklace and asked again, “Don’t you want to take something before you leave? A single one of these gems is worth a fortune, let alone a whole string. It would be enough for you and your family to never want for anything for the rest of your lives.”

Cui Fengji froze, then said agitatedly, “If I take them, I’ll be a thief! These things are too valuable. My fate isn’t grand enough to enjoy such treasures. And I told you from the start, I only followed you in because I was curious.”

“Are you sure?” Qu Zhang crossed his arms and gave a short laugh. “If you walk out empty-handed now, you’ll lose the only chance you’ll ever have in this life to change your social standing.”

Cui Fengji was getting annoyed. He moved even further away from the jewels on the floor. “I’m sure! I’m absolutely sure. I don’t care about any of this. I just want to get out.”

Qu Zhang stared at Cui Fengji in silence for a long time. Then, without even a glance, he casually tossed the necklace back onto the ground. He moved toward the wall, with Cui Fengji following close behind. Qu Zhang felt along the stone inch by inch, tapping and knocking on certain spots from time to time.

Finally, he struck a specific position. Reversing his grip, he slammed the handle of his Mountain-Cleaving Machete against the stone. The rock shattered into two pieces and fell to the floor, revealing a small indentation behind it. Qu Zhang reached in and pulled hard on a lever, and a small door hidden within the stone wall swung open automatically.

“Holy crap! How did you know?” Cui Fengji cried out, staring at Qu Zhang in shock. “Who exactly are you?!”

Qu Zhang shone his flashlight down the passage behind the door. “Follow this path all the way to the end,” he told Cui Fengji. “It leads to a complete robber’s tunnel. You can crawl out through there. It’s quite long and will take at least a day to navigate, but your rations should last until you make it out.”

“What do you mean? Aren’t you coming with me?” Cui Fengji realized something was wrong and immediately grabbed Qu Zhang’s arm.

Qu Zhang didn’t answer the question. He continued, “Don’t linger once you’re out. Follow the mountain path down to the hotel. If you run into anyone, tell them you’re a hiker. Make up whatever excuse you want, but remember: once you’re back, don’t tell anyone you saw me, and don’t tell anyone you were here.”

“Why?” Cui Fengji was becoming frightened by his tone. He blurted out all his questions at once. “Mr. Qu, you’re so capable, why did you bring me down here for this trip?”

Qu Zhang lifted his wrist to check his watch, then shone his light on the copper plates above. His speaking pace suddenly quickened. “Time’s almost up. If you don’t want your family to suffer for this, learn to keep your mouth shut and play dumb. Understand? Now go.”

“But-“

Before Cui Fengji could react, Qu Zhang kicked him into the passage. Immediately after, Cui Fengji heard a series of mechanical clicks as the mechanisms engaged.

Qu Zhang had triggered the mechanism again!

By the time Cui Fengji scrambled up from the floor, the door had already sealed shut without a gap. He suddenly realized that Qu Zhang’s jade ward was still hanging around his neck. He pounded on the thick stone wall, shouting, “Hey! Your jade! Hey! Let’s talk about this, why can’t we leave together!”

But no one answered him.

On the other side, Qu Zhang watched the slightly vibrating copper plates above. He jammed his Mountain-Cleaving Machete into the wall mechanism he had just used, ruthlessly destroying the only device that could open the way to the outside world. He glanced at the motionless dried corpse in the corner but ignored it. Taking two steps, he climbed onto the outer coffin and hauled the female corpse up into a sitting position.

The body was soft. Qu Zhang supported the back of her neck with one hand and gripped her throat with the other. Her head lolled forward. With a sharp squeeze and a tilt, a blood-red bead immediately tumbled from her mouth.

In an instant, the woman’s skin began to wrinkle and wither. Her previously plump body collapsed, turning into a skeletal frame of dried skin and bone. The lacquer box she had been holding fell into the corner of the coffin, its colors turning dull and lifeless.

Qu Zhang straddled the edge of the coffin. Just as he leaned over to pinch the blood bead, black ropes suddenly whipped down from above. Eight figures descended rapidly from various points on the cavern ceiling, instantly surrounding him. Each was clad in black garments that made them nearly indistinguishable from the shadows.

Qu Zhang didn’t seem surprised by their arrival. He let out a cold laugh. “You’ve worked hard to follow me all this way. I haven’t stolen or robbed anyone, so what exactly do you want with me?”

The leader drew a dagger from behind his waist. “Don’t play dumb. You know everything. But this time, no one is coming to help you, and you aren’t walking out of here alive. Once you’re dead, we’ll be sure to mourn for you.”

A bullet whistled toward Qu Zhang’s heart. He flipped back off the coffin with lightning speed, but he wasn’t quite fast enough. The bullet grazed his chest, leaving a bloody furrow that instantly soaked his clothes.

Qu Zhang unsheathed his karambit and rolled his shoulders slightly. “I appreciate the sentiment, but I can’t afford to die just yet.”

Once Cui Fengji was certain the door was sealed shut and could not be reopened, he followed Qu Zhang’s instructions and headed down the corridor. At the very end, he indeed found a pre-dug tunnel. He leaned in and began to crawl forward. The tunnel had been dug haphazardly, the rough edges tearing at his windbreaker.

He ate three meals inside that tunnel. By the time he felt hunger for the fourth time, he finally caught a glimpse of sunlight from the exit. He had never craved the sun as much as he did in that moment. After emerging, he followed the mountain path down, only to realize he had come out on the opposite side of the mountain.

Back at the hotel, Cui Fengji initially wanted to collapse and sleep, but the thought of Qu Zhang still trapped in that tomb nagged at him, unless there was another exit he didn’t know about. Then there was the matter of the jade.

Only now did Cui Fengji have the chance to take the jade out of his clothes to examine it. He realized his eyes hadn’t deceived him before; it was a masterpiece of a jade bi. Blood-red veins drifted within the stone, and even without direct light, it remained translucent and crystalline in his palm.

Unable to find peace of mind, he followed his memory back up the mountain the next day. But when he crossed the rocky peak, he found no trace of the ruined house on the mountainside. There was no house, no well, just a barren stretch of land with nothing on it.

Cui Fengji stood there in a daze. It was as if everything he had experienced was a horrific dream, yet the solid weight of the jade in his hand served as a constant reminder that it had been real.

But if the house and the well were gone, where was the tunnel?

Cui Fengji had originally planned to stay for a week, but he ended up staying for over a month. Eventually, Qu Zhang began to turn into a personal demon for him. Every morning, he would call that Hunan phone number. At first, it simply went unanswered, but after two weeks, it became a disconnected number.

A month later, Cui Fengji decided to leave Anhui and put it all behind him. However, he kept the jade close to his body. He believed that one day, Qu Zhang would find him again, and when that day came, he would return the jade to him, whole and intact.

Short Story Collection “Long Life, Gift of Jade” – End