Chapter 59: Man Eats Man

My limbs were pinned down, leaving me unable to move. Deep down, I had already sensed something like this might happen, but my reaction was far too slow. If it had been Tian Yuqing in my place, he would have had a strategy prepared and a way to handle it ahead of time. At the very least, he wouldn’t have ended up at such a severe disadvantage.

To say I was a rare clever person among the juniors of the Five Masters was giving me way too much credit. Calling me the most outstanding idiot among them would be more accurate.

I looked at Hou Jinshan in front of me, swallowed the string of curses I wanted to hurl, and nodded silently. I stopped resisting and said, “Whatever you say goes. I’ll agree to anything. Just have your men lower their guns.”

Hou Jinshan made a gesture to Chou Zai and Lai Qi. Lai Qi grabbed me by the collar and yanked me off the ground, then deftly pulled a length of rope from behind him. He waved it in front of my face before roughly tying my hands together.

After Hou Jinshan rummaged through my bag and took the Jade Casket, I couldn’t help but roll my eyes and say, “Master Hou, isn’t this a bit much? You’ve already taken everything, so do you really need to tie us up too? We haven’t even found the treasure yet. Tying us up halfway through, are you trying to get us killed?”

No sooner had I finished speaking than Lai Qi slapped me across the face. I hadn’t seen it coming at all. He used his full strength, and with no time to brace myself, I was knocked straight back to the ground. My ears buzzed loudly.

Xiao Wu was furious. Chou Zai could barely hold him back with his gun. He was shouting something, his face flushed red with rage, but I couldn’t hear a word. I was dazed for a good while before the ringing in my ears finally faded, just in time to hear Hou Jinshan speak:

“Seventh, don’t waste your energy. Finding the item is what matters. We’ve already lost too much time.”

After that, Hou Jinshan ignored me entirely. Chou Zai shoved Xiao Wu forward to scout ahead. As for me, I had to scramble up off the ground on all fours in humiliation, feeling a hot, burning pain on my legs that was both painful and itchy.

But I no longer had the energy to worry about these minor surface wounds. Lai Qi shoved me forcefully onto the openwork bridge. Judging from Hou Jinshan’s tone earlier, I deduced that his original plan must have had a very limited amount of time.

If he had time to spare, he could have moved forward through cooperation. But instead, he chose to threaten and coerce us, which meant he no longer wanted to waste time negotiating.

Now that the Jade Casket was gone, Xiao Wu and I were nothing more than bait to lure in fish. Hou Jinshan had Xiao Wu scout ahead. If something happened to him, I’d be next. We had to come up with a plan; at the very least, we needed to escape their control before another trap was triggered.

Just as that thought crossed my mind, Lai Qi pressed the muzzle of his musket against my side and growled, “I suggest you keep your little tricks to yourself. Try anything funny, and I’ll blow a hole in you.”

I hated being threatened, or rather, I hated being so easily held at gunpoint by a coward like him. I held a bitter grudge, thinking to myself that once I figured out a way out of this, they would get what was coming to them.

Ahead of us were three covered bridges in a row. The stone walls on either side were carved with figures of court ladies or religious depictions of all living beings, all kneeling and facing the same direction.

These carvings couldn’t have been designed without reason; there had to be something clever hidden within them. I tried to follow their gaze, but Lai Qi kicked me hard, sending me stumbling against the carved stone wall. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of where the final covered bridge connected.

Without thinking, I shouted, “Stop! Don’t go up there!”

My shout stopped Xiao Wu in his tracks, and he pulled his foot back. Hou Jinshan and Chou Zai stopped as well, turning back to look at me, probably having never seen me react so strongly before.

“What are you up to now, kid?” Hou Jinshan asked impatiently.

I pushed through the pain and stepped forward, quickly gathering my thoughts before speaking. “Every covered bridge we’ve crossed so far has been carved with beast motifs, and the raised areas are small. But the last bridge has a lotus motif, and the raised sections are different. Didn’t you notice?”

Hou Jinshan swept his flashlight over the bridge ahead. Sure enough, just as I said, the motifs had all changed to lotus patterns. Then he flashed the beam into my eyes and asked, “I see it. So what? What’s your point?”

I steadied my nerves and continued, “You’ve explored more Yin Dwellings than I have, so you should know that whether it’s a royal tomb or ancient ruins, the designer always sticks to a single style from start to finish. No tomb, no matter how bizarre, would feature two different motifs across its bridges. Cutting off the beast motif halfway ruins both its continuity and the symbolism of the lotus. It makes no sense.”

Hou Jinshan lowered his head in thought, then asked, “So?”

Seeing that he was considering my words, I pressed on with a firmer tone. “So there must have been a specific reason they switched the motif to lotus carvings when building that final bridge.”

“I suspect there’s a complete counterbalance mechanism hidden beneath that covered bridge. I’ve read about many similar cases; it’s likely anchored with iron chains, and the raised lotus carvings mark where those chains are attached. Earlier, in the water outside the gate, Li Wanchou was dragged under and drowned by iron chains embedded in stone statues.”

In truth, the shift in motif and raised patterns was hardly proof that a counterbalance mechanism was hidden beneath the bridge. The real reason I said all this was because Xiao Wu, who was walking out front, had turned slightly and shot me a glance. I had no idea what he was planning, but I needed to draw everyone’s focus onto me and buy him as much time as possible.

Hou Jinshan swept his flashlight across the final covered bridge, seemingly weighing whether to believe me.

He was a deeply suspicious man, and fearing he might order Xiao Wu straight onto the bridge to scout ahead, I quickly added, “This sort of balance mechanism usually isn’t that complicated. As long as people cross one at a time so the weight doesn’t disturb the balance, it should be fine.”

The moment those words left my mouth, cold sweat broke out down my back. I was terrified Hou Jinshan would catch on to my true intentions. At three against two, and with guns in their hands, Xiao Wu and I stood no chance at all. But if we forced them into single combat, it might be a different story. I had to use this bridge to split them up.

I looked straight at Hou Jinshan after I finished speaking. He hesitated.

The moment I saw his expression, I knew he believed me. What was more, he didn’t have the guts to cross the bridge.

Seeing this, Lai Qi stormed over, grabbed me, and shoved his gun against my neck. “You son of a bitch! What the hell are you babbling about! It’s just a damn broken bridge up ahead. You want us to split up, huh? You really aren’t afraid to die, are you?!”

I ignored the gun barrel pressed against my neck. I kept my eyes on the hesitating Hou Jinshan, flicked a glance at the vicious Lai Qi, and sneered:

“I’ve said what I needed to say. If you don’t do as I say, whoever steps on that bridge dies. There might even be a forest of stone figurines under the water for all we know. If you don’t believe me, go ahead and try. At worst, we’ll all meet that bastard Li in the underworld!”

When it came down to it, they were just a bunch of cowards afraid to die.

Lai Qi punched me in the face. I didn’t dodge. Instantly, blood filled my mouth, and fluid began trickling from my nose. Refusing to show weakness, I spat out the blood. Seeing that I was still acting tough, he raised his fist for a second hit, but Hou Jinshan stepped in to stop him, then turned to me:

“We’ll do it your way. We cross one by one!”

Lai Qi cursed, “Master Hou, you actually believe this kid’s bullshit?!”

“What else?” Hou Jinshan snapped back. “You and Chou Zai want to go take a stroll across and back right now?”

Lai Qi fell silent. He was even more afraid of dying than Hou Jinshan was.

Hou Jinshan pulled out the handmade gun at his waist, tapped my shoulder with the butt of it, and said in a low voice, “You’d better be telling the truth, kid. If I find out you’re tricking us, I’ll send you and your man straight to the afterlife right now.”

Blood was still dripping from my nose. I lowered my eyes and didn’t answer him.

Hou Jinshan stood before me, then suddenly smiled. “We’re crossing the bridge now. You’re first.”

He stepped aside to clear a path. “Young Master Gan, after you.”