Chapter 62: A Counterfeit Relic

As soon as she finished speaking, I realized something was off. A logical person always has a focus when they speak, and Yu Jingzi was undoubtedly that type. She had said a lot, but every point she made stuck clearly in my mind.

Also, this was the first time I’d ever heard of something called the “Wood-Returning Stone.” Her emphasis leaned heavily toward that, unlike Hou Jinshan, who had clearly focused more on the Ghost Market Map itself.

Why the difference? I was deeply puzzled. Logically, Hou Jinshan had been investigating this matter for over a year. He shouldn’t have known only about the Ghost Market Map and said nothing about the Wood-Returning Stone. Li Wanchou had also shown interest only in the Ghost Market Map.

Then a possibility struck me. The only way this all made sense was if all the information Li Wanchou and I had about these ruins came from the same source—Hou Jinshan.

Li Wanchou was already dead. At least from my perspective, that was the only possibility. Everything I knew about the Ghost Market Map and Li Wanchou’s situation had come from Hou Jinshan. He had carefully woven a lie about the Nieyao Ghost Market Map to cover up his true goal: finding the legendary Wood-Returning Stone.

“You mentioned the Nine-Bend Corridor Ruins. So this is the Nine-Bend Corridor Ruins?” I asked.

“No idea.” Yu Jingzi disinfected her knife, then opened a can and used the blade to scoop out a chunk of ham and pop it into her mouth. The way she did it made my skin crawl—I was afraid she’d slice her own lips.

“We came here looking for the Nine-Bend Corridor Ruins, but the deeper we go, the more I feel like this isn’t it. According to the intel Chen Si gave me, the Nine-Bend Corridor Ruins are supposed to be a grand, opulent market that connects to the underworld. Sure, there are a lot of stone statues here, but overall, the place is too crude.”

I chimed in, “Maybe it’s just because of how old it is? And didn’t this area go through some tectonic shifts? That might’ve changed the terrain.”

Yu Jingzi swallowed a bite of ham and smiled. “Exactly. That proves my point. You said it yourself—this place might’ve experienced tectonic activity. So how could a legendary market meant for ten thousand ghosts to roam be built somewhere that could so easily be flooded? The water system here is extensive. I took a quick look around—”

She suddenly stopped mid-sentence, squinting toward the pool of water ahead as if she’d spotted something. I followed her gaze.

Before I could see anything, she had already drawn the steel blade from her waist, pushed off the ground, and strode toward the water’s edge. On the way, she gave a shove to one of her groggy subordinates dozing near the dying fire. “The fish are here. Get up and get to work!”

The man snapped awake, rubbed his eyes, and grabbed a small whistle hanging from his neck. He blew a few sharp notes I didn’t recognize, and the others resting around the fire immediately sprang into action, rolling to their feet.

In less than ten minutes, the ring of fires by the water’s edge had all been extinguished. Over twenty people gathered together, and Yu Jingzi stood at the front, holding two Damascus steel sabers. Every eye was locked on the rippling surface of the pool.

The Liu Family’s men were all brawny and well-disciplined. When they saw me inching over, they made space without needing to be asked. I slipped up beside Yu Jingzi and whispered, “What are you all looking at? Is there something in the water?”

Yu Jingzi nodded and reached behind one of her men to pull out a steel blade that was half a hand longer than my own palm. She flipped it around and handed it to me, blade-first.

But her eyes never left the water. Without turning, she said, “Stick close to the group. This pool connects to the core of the cave system. We’re hitching a ride.”

I took the blade, my mind struggling to keep up. “What? Hitching a ride on what?”

Yu Jingzi waved a hand at me to shut up. Just then, I noticed the bells tied to several large rocks nearby had begun ringing furiously. That’s when I realized the bells were tied to ropes, and the ropes trailed deep into the water. Something must have been hanging from the other end.

“Move!” Yu Jingzi shouted. In the next instant, she flipped her blade and dove straight into the water.

“What?!” I barely had time to react before everyone around me started diving in. The pool erupted into chaos, bubbling like boiling water. I stood frozen for several seconds as the light quickly faded around me.

Panic surged through me. I fumbled to switch on the small flashlight clipped to my belt, ignored the pain in my injured abdomen, took a deep breath, and leapt into the water.

The pool was absurdly deep. The moment I plunged in, a massive fish tail swept past my face. The thing was monstrous, like it had been pumped full of growth hormones—easily ten times the size of a normal fish, with a grotesque face and fangs that looked at least twenty centimeters long.

One hit from that tail could probably shatter bones.

I barely dodged it and then saw Yu Jingzi’s crew clinging to the ghost-head fish like they were born to swim. No matter how violently the fish thrashed, they didn’t fall off. They had used some kind of specialized net to trap the fish’s head. Meanwhile, Yu Jingzi was riding one of the fish, swimming toward me.

I still didn’t understand what the hell they were trying to do, but when I saw her waving at me underwater, I knew I couldn’t hesitate any longer.

This time, I moved with practiced ease. I quickly switched the blade to my other hand and used every ounce of strength to swim forward. The ghost-head fish were lightning fast. I had barely reached out when Yu Jingzi grabbed my wrist in a firm grip.

That sudden yank made my wrist crack with a sharp snap. I grabbed her tightly in return, and the next second, I saw the blade in her left hand wedged between the fish’s massive scales along its spine. These fish had unusually large scales, and mixed in among them were scattered bits of bronze. I couldn’t tell whether they had been embedded naturally or deliberately implanted.

The Ghosthead Fish was about to plunge into the raging River Channel ahead. I quickly braced myself, aimed at a scale, and drove my blade in. The knife Yu Jingzi had given me was already razor-sharp, yet it still couldn’t pierce all the way through. It lodged between a bronze shard and a scale instead.

Still, it was enough to hold us steady. I gave Yu Jingzi an OK gesture. She nodded and let go of me. I gripped the hilt with both hands as the current tore past us like blades slicing across my face.

It felt like we were being dragged through a tunnel beneath the pool, moving at breakneck speed. Soon, I noticed the water level dropping sharply. The fish’s back broke through the surface, and just before I passed out from lack of air, I managed to gasp in a breath. We had entered another hollow chamber, similar in structure to the one before.

“Get some air!” Yu Jingzi shouted back at me. She was speaking only to me, her focus laser-sharp.

I inhaled deeply. Just as I filled my lungs, the Ghosthead Fish dove again, plunging into another underwater tunnel. I noticed that each of these tunnels had stone statues placed at the bottom.

My initial guess was that they were part of some anti-theft mechanism, but I still didn’t understand how these statues could distinguish between fish and humans. Both were living creatures, yet the fish passed through unharmed while people got their legs yanked. Could it be a matter of body size?

After three rounds of surfacing for air, the environment around us finally began to change. During our last brief stop at a pool, Yu Jingzi lifted her upper body out of the water and whistled in all directions. At first, I worried she hadn’t had time to breathe and might drown, but it turned out I was overthinking it.

Her lung capacity was clearly far superior to mine.

Clinging to the fish was exhausting. My arms were sore and numb. This stretch of the River Channel was much steeper than before, and the current was even fiercer. Eventually, the fish was practically skimming the surface. By the light from the guy ahead, I saw that the River Channel wasn’t enclosed anymore.

We’d reached the end of the River Channel, but what lay ahead was unmistakably a small waterfall.

These fish were carnivorous. If we went over the edge with them, they’d all gather at the bottom for a buffet—and we’d be the main course.

Just then, I saw Yu Jingzi up ahead twist her body sideways, gripping the knife in the fish’s back with one hand. With the other, she pulled out an automatic grappling hook from who-knows-where. She reached out and grabbed me. I quickly latched onto her.

A split second before the fish plunged over the waterfall, she fired the grappling hook. I felt like I’d been launched from a catapult. Not just me—the knife stuck in the fish’s back came with us too.

Momentum slammed both of us into the stone walls flanking the River Channel. Yu Jingzi had found a foothold and used her legs to absorb the impact with practiced ease. She didn’t warn me though, so I hit the wall full force, completely unprepared. The impact nearly knocked the life out of me. I felt a sharp pain in my throat and tasted blood.

Old wounds reopened, and new ones piled on. Luckily, the stone wall had been smoothed by years of water flow. If there’d been even a single jutting edge, I might’ve died right then and there.

Yu Jingzi held onto me as we clung to the wall. I swallowed the blood and looked up just in time to see a length of rope tossed down from the stone steps above. I grabbed the carabiner at the end and clipped it to my belt.

Yu Jingzi was closer to the steps. She gave the rope a tug, stepped onto the grappling hook, and flipped herself up onto the stairs in one fluid motion. The move was so seamless it left me stunned. There was no way I could pull off something that advanced. I had to rely on her teammates to haul me up.

Then I heard a series of loud explosions from below the waterfall. The blasts shook the cave ceiling, dislodging chunks of rock that rained down around us.

Once I was up, the medic came over to check my wounds and change the bandages. Yu Jingzi stood beside me, took a swig from a water bottle, and smiled. “First time?”

I blinked at her, dazed, then nodded. My eyes drifted to the churning waters below, still trying to process everything.

Yu Jingzi laughed even harder. She pulled a cigarette from a waterproof pouch, lit it, and said, “I thought all you Gan Family Members were crazy. At least Chen Si acts like he doesn’t care if he lives or dies. You, on the other hand, are way too cautious. Looks like he won’t be able to count on you anymore.”

I thought to myself, what the hell do you know? There’s a saying: life is precious. I’ve still got my whole youth ahead of me. No way I’m dying here.

Once I’d caught my breath, I asked her, “You never finished earlier. Is this place really the Nine-Bend Corridor Ruins?”

She exhaled a puff of smoke, glanced around, and said, “I’ve taken a look. Doesn’t seem like it. If I had to say, it feels more like a beautifully crafted fake.”