Chapter 107: Poisoning and Murder

He Yu was still jumping around, complaining about how we had ruined him. He grumbled that he was already having a run of bad luck, and now that we had used the explosives he provided to blow the Buddha statue to smithereens, he would probably choke on a sip of cold water from now on.

I retorted, telling him that since he knew he had been down on his luck for so many years, praying to Buddha clearly hadn’t done him any good. I suggested we try a different approach, maybe fighting fire with fire would actually turn his luck around.

Tian Xiaoqi was a rare non-superstitious member of this profession. She wiped the dust from her nose, handed me a bottle of water, and asked, “Blowing up the Pagoda is one thing, but what was the point of destroying the Buddha statue?”

I took a drink and passed the water to He Yu. Then, I shook my head at her innocently, indicating I didn’t know either. She looked at me with a skeptical expression, as if I was the one who was actually in charge.

Lu A’yao sat on the ground for only a few minutes before standing up. He didn’t offer an explanation. Without a word, he took the lead and began walking into the stone passage. I assumed he intended to tell us everything once we reached a relatively safe spot further inside.

I called out to He Yu to pack his things. I was carrying Tian Xiaoqi’s bag, which still contained some dry rations, though I had no idea where we were currently located.

Lu A’yao had previously mentioned that this was an Underground Palace. We certainly hadn’t reached the core of the palace yet. Therefore, we had to ration our food, as it would likely take a long time to find a way out.

I used my flashlight to scan the area as we walked. Above the platform of the stone passage, a blooming lotus was carved with exquisite detail. On either side, the gate-guarding Xuanwu statues had their heads facing the entrance, with giant snakes coiled around their bodies, their flickering tongues extending toward the lotus.

The designs were incredibly exaggerated and their postures massive. They shared a striking similarity to the Yellow River river-taming beasts I had seen in ancient texts.

A cold wind blew as we entered the stone passage. I hunched my shoulders and looked at the oxidized, damp murals and shrines on both sides. Finally, in this godforsaken place, I felt a trace of human presence.

This stone passage was built relatively wide, and the stone floor had been completely smoothed out. The craftsmen had been very meticulous. I felt that from this point on, we were entering the true heart of the Underground Palace.

Lu A’yao was walking very fast, leaving us quite a distance behind. Several times I wanted to call out and tell him to slow down and walk with us, but the words died in my throat. I figured there was no point in saying anything, he wouldn’t listen to me anyway.

After walking dozens of meters, He Yu said, “This is where we received your message earlier. If you hadn’t turned on the walkie-talkie then, Old Lu and I would have headed in the opposite direction. Also, we found a large shrine here that was probably used for a divine statue. It’s relatively safe.”

He finished and then looked at Tian Xiaoqi. “Hey, little girl, the issues surrounding you haven’t been resolved yet. I suggest you stop hiding things. I don’t want to point a gun at you, so once we find a safe spot, you’d better spill everything you know.”

“Are you out of your mind? I’ve told you everything I know and everything I should say. What else do you want me to say?” Tian Xiaoqi stopped and put her hands on her hips.

Seeing this, I quickly stepped forward to pull them apart. I whispered to He Yu, “Do you know something? Why do you and the others keep thinking Tian Xiaoqi is a problem?”

He Yu threw up his hands. “I don’t know. I don’t know exactly what’s wrong with her. Old Lu hinted at it when we were on the boat. Between this woman’s words and Old Lu’s, I’m obviously going to trust Lu A’yao unconditionally. What, he didn’t tell you?”

I was stunned for a moment. He Yu noticed immediately and gave me a mischievous grin, teasing me. “Oh, it seems that whether a relationship is good or not can’t just be judged by the surface.”

“Little Gan, you should reflect on yourself. Why did he tell me and not you? You must have offended him before.” He patted me on the shoulder.

His words sparked a sudden flare of anger in my chest. I slapped his hand away. “What kind of nonsense is this? Are you two teaming up to mess with me? Just wait, I’m going to ask him right now!”

With that, I turned and ran forward with my flashlight. This stone passage was very long, and based on its structure, it seemed to cut right through the mountain. Lu A’yao was walking incredibly fast on his own. I hadn’t realized how fast until I started running, discovering that there was already a gap of nearly fifty meters between us.

I ran for a while and slowed down once I saw his back. I asked him, “What is it that you can tell He Yu but not me? What’s wrong with Tian Xiaoqi? They’re way in the back, she won’t hear us. Can you tell me now?”

Lu A’yao didn’t answer. He was just a short distance ahead of me, continuing to walk along the wall of the stone passage. He ignored me when I spoke to him. Following behind him, I felt more and more uneasy. No matter how bad his attitude had been before, it had never been this extreme.

Thinking this, I reached out to stop him. The moment I touched him, my entire body went stiff. It is necessary to mention that Lu A’yao had long since taken off his diving suit and changed into a jacket and short sleeves. I patted him from behind, but even through two layers of clothing, I could feel a chill seeping out from his very marrow.

The sensation is hard to describe. It was roughly like touching a freezing cold stalactite inside a cave during the hottest days of summer.

I immediately realized something was wrong. I gripped him harder than intended, but I didn’t expect that one pull would cause him to fall straight backward. I didn’t have He Yu’s quick reflexes, and before I could realize what was happening, I was dragged down to the ground with him.

I rolled and scrambled up to check on Lu A’yao. He was already in a deep coma. His face was pale with a bluish tint, and his body was ice-cold. I panicked instantly, having no idea where this poison had come from. No wonder he had been hugging the wall as he walked, he probably couldn’t stay steady as the poison took effect.

“Something happened! He Yu!” I shouted toward the darkness behind me.

It was almost certainly poisoning.

I shifted from a crouch to a kneel and began unzipping Lu A’yao’s jacket to look for a wound. The red talismans of the Porcelain Shards on his face were becoming increasingly vivid, just as they had back in Hubei. I pulled back his sleeve and found a blackened wound. It looked like it had been left by that Infant Corpse earlier.

Just as I was about to move him, my head suddenly began to spin in waves. This dizziness came without any warning.

However, my thoughts actually became clearer. At least three minutes had passed since I shouted, yet He Yu hadn’t arrived, and no one had answered me.

He Yu wouldn’t ignore me for no reason. Something must have happened!

“He Yu, can you hear me? Something happened…”

I forced myself to stand up, leaning against the wall and using the flashlight to shine down the stone passage behind me.

A person walked into the beam of the flashlight. I stopped and shook my dizzy head hard, which made my vision relatively clearer. To my shock, I saw that the person was Tian Xiaoqi. She was dragging He Yu by the back of his collar.

He Yu was already unconscious. Tian Xiaoqi smiled and tossed him onto the ground in front of me.

Tian Xiaoqi looked at me with some surprise. “I didn’t expect your reaction to be so fast.”

Lu A’yao was right. Tian Xiaoqi had been a problem from the very beginning, and He Yu and I had just drunk the water she gave us!

The water was spiked!

She had given us some kind of drug. My legs suddenly went weak, and I collapsed uncontrollably toward the ground. Before my arms lost all strength, I instinctively used every ounce of my remaining power to crawl backward.

“What do you want?” I struggled to stay conscious.

Tian Xiaoqi walked toward me, or rather, her gaze was actually fixed on Lu A’yao, who was behind me.

She stepped in front of me in two strides, pinched my chin with two fingers, pulled up her pant leg, and pulled out a small dagger from her leg wrap. She patted my face with the blade and smiled. “Don’t worry, you’re good-looking. I never intended to poison you to death from the start. But for now, you’d better not interfere with my business.”

She was going to kill Lu A’yao?!

I couldn’t fathom what could drive a girl studying traditional Chinese medicine to resolve to kill someone. To achieve this, she had even resorted to drugging us. The shock coursing through me almost eclipsed the paralyzing weakness in my limbs.

Having finished her piece, Tian Xiaoqi hauled me up from the floor with one hand and delivered a sharp kick to my chest. Weak and caught completely off guard, I felt a metallic sweetness rise in my throat as I slammed hard against the wall. My flashlight clattered to the ground, and I immediately spat out a mouthful of blood.

Blood was streaming from my head, coating my hand and face, but I didn’t have the luxury of time to worry about it. I strained with my arms, dragging myself a small step closer to Lu A’yao until I was finally within reach, desperate to wake him.

Tian Xiaoqi clearly couldn’t be bothered with me anymore. I watched helplessly as she walked past me, dagger in hand. I hurriedly used my right hand, the only part of me that could still move, to shove Lu A’yao’s arm, smearing his sleeve with my blood.

“Wake up, Lu A’yao! Someone’s trying to kill you! Wake up!”

Tian Xiaoqi gripped the knife in a reverse hold and lunged, driving the blade toward Lu A’yao’s heart.