Chapter 116: A Miraculous Antidote

To be honest, I was a bit anxious. The flashlight that had fallen into the water was completely smashed. It was the one Lu A’yao had clipped to his waist before falling into the groove. These flashlights were usually quite sturdy, so I guessed he must have suffered a heavy impact or a severe collision when he fell.

This wasn’t good.

Without waiting for He Yu and the other to catch up through the uneven water, I shut my mouth and lunged forward into the water. It was much faster than trudging through it on foot.

As I moved, I used my flashlight to scan the pitch-black passage ahead. We hadn’t paid much attention earlier, and I didn’t know where exactly that black flashlight had fallen into the water and drifted from.

I pushed forward quickly for dozens of meters. Realizing there was no one in the passage, I stopped to wait for He Yu and Chen Canghai to catch up.

“Where are they?” He Yu panted, leaning against the wall for support. “Could they still be further ahead?”

I didn’t think so and shook my head. “The echo of the flashlight hitting the water wasn’t that loud, so it shouldn’t be that far from our previous position. Besides, if it were too far, the draft in the passage is weak, and the flashlight wouldn’t have drifted to us so quickly.”

Just then, I heard a faint sound, seemingly coming from above our heads.

“Are you sure?” He Yu started to speak, but I immediately cut him off. I made a silencing gesture to the two of them, then twisted my flashlight to its maximum brightness to illuminate the low passage.

We had checked the ceiling when we first fell into the water. The stones were solid, with mountain rock and rammed earth above them. There were no cracks. Logically, even that white mycelium shouldn’t have been able to burrow through.

But as I looked up, I was startled to find a deep, dark, square tomb robber’s tunnel carved out not far above my head. Judging by the size of the opening, it looked large enough for a person to squeeze in sideways.

At the same time, I heard a rhythmic tapping of stone from inside the hole, three short and one long. He Yu immediately locked eyes with me. He began rolling up his sleeves and tightening his waistband, while Chen Canghai moved aside to give us enough room.

He Yu took a solid martial arts stance in the water and patted his back, beckoning me. “Quick, quick! Get up here. I’ll carry you on my back so you can go up and check! Kid Chen, come help! Be careful, though, don’t let this guy push me under the water when he exerts himself.”

We got to work immediately. Chen Canghai quickly moved in front of He Yu, using one hand to steady me as I stepped onto He Yu’s knee, and the other to press down on He Yu’s shoulder to prevent him from slipping into the foul water.

The soles of our shoes were covered in that black water from the bottom, making every step a potential slip. Fortunately, my height gave me an advantage, so I didn’t need to stand fully on He Yu. Instead, I braced my knee against his shoulder, allowing my upper body to probe entirely into the tomb robber’s tunnel.

As soon as I entered, I realized the vertical section of the tunnel was less than a meter deep. My head hit the top as soon as I poked it in. Beyond that was a horizontal section of unknown length. I shone my flashlight inside and saw a person lying deep within the hole.

I quickly patted He Yu and shouted, “I see him! I see him! Just a little higher, I can crawl in!”

Carrying me was easy for He Yu. He stood up a bit straighter and asked with equal urgency, “Dead or alive? Is he still breathing?”

“How the hell should I know? I’m not clairvoyant! This tunnel must be at least ten meters long. How can I see from this far?” I tried to use my dry clothes to rub against the stones in the tunnel to increase friction, then slowly wiggled my upper body inside.

He Yu and Chen Canghai helped shove me into the hole. Having spent hours crawling through tunnels before, I had plenty of experience. I didn’t mess up this time and managed to squeeze into the deepest part of the tunnel within ten minutes.

Lu A’yao lay motionless in the tunnel. I gave him a quick scan with the flashlight. He was covered in abrasions, and his right wrist was twisted at an unnatural angle.

I felt he was still conscious and hadn’t fallen into a true coma. Sure enough, as soon as I leaned in, his eyes snapped open. Even though I was prepared, I still flinched back in fright. I don’t know if I scared him too, but he suddenly reached out and pinned me down firmly.

I was stunned. Then I heard He Yu shouting from outside, “How is it? What’s the situation in there? Is he still alive?”

At that moment, I noticed Lu A’yao’s expression suddenly change. “He Yu is here too? Did you guys come up from below?”

I nodded immediately.

Lu A’yao suddenly began to cough, looking seriously injured. Before I could move to support him, he spoke urgently in a raspy voice, “We can’t stay outside. It’s extremely dangerous out there. Hurry, pull them into the tunnel.”

As soon as he finished speaking, blood began to drip from the corner of his mouth.

Lu A’yao never liked explaining his reasons. Usually, in moments of extreme crisis, the reasons didn’t matter, you just did as he said. If you wanted to know why, you usually had to ask him afterward. But if you wanted to stay alive, it was best to leave those questions for later.

On this point, He Yu and I had reached a silent consensus that required no explanation. As for Chen Canghai, he basically never asked questions. Consequently, our movements were much faster than those of ordinary people.

I quickly hauled up my backpack and dug out some hemostatic medicine before reaching out to pull He Yu. The tunnel was narrow, so I couldn’t help much from behind. I backed up quite a bit to leave space for He Yu. Once He Yu was lying steady, he finally pulled Chen Canghai up.

Lu A’yao had many superficial wounds, so I rummaged through the backpack for medical supplies. Most of our gear had been confiscated by Qiao Sangui, this single bag was one He Yu had managed to snatch back. I just hoped I could find something useful.

“How are you feeling? How do we treat the corpse poison? Is there an antidote for this stuff?” I asked hurriedly while crouching on the ground and unwrapping gauze.

Just then, I felt Lu A’yao, who was leaning against the tunnel wall, stretch out his leg to nudge me. I turned to look at him, and a few words escaped his raspy throat.

“What?” I didn’t hear him clearly.

Hearing me speak, He Yu leaned over to help me treat Lu A’yao’s superficial wounds. “Look, disinfectant is useless against corpse poison. You need a Black Donkey Hoof, then you have to smoke the wound with it. Or use some miracle medicine from the Tomb-Raiding Faction. I heard real Mojin Xiaowei all carry that stuff.”

I could tell Lu A’yao wanted to say something, so I ordered He Yu, “You, shut up. Stop blabbering.”

Then I leaned my ear close to Lu A’yao. This time I heard him clearly. He said, “I need some blood.”

This put me in a difficult spot. I thought to myself that Lu A’yao might know a bit about first aid and figured that severe blood loss obviously required a transfusion. But in this place, there were no doctors, no needles, and no blood bags. Even if we had blood bags, if the blood types didn’t match, it would be useless. Asking for blood now, wasn’t he just messing around?

I scratched my head, thinking that maybe Lu A’yao had fallen too hard and his mind wasn’t clear. He was probably talking nonsense.

So, I tried to soothe him first. “Let’s not rush. Let’s take care of these external wounds first, okay? We can’t do a transfusion ourselves. Don’t be difficult. We’ll get you one once we’re out and at a hospital.”

He Yu was stunned. He cautiously pointed at Lu A’yao, then at his own head, gesturing, “What’s the deal? Did he fall and get dementia?”

With a solemn expression, I nodded firmly at him, meaning, “Most likely.”

He Yu looked up at the ceiling and muttered, “This is just great. If he’s turned into an idiot from the fall, the Lu family will skin us alive once we get out.”

At that moment, Lu A’yao leaned against the stone and took a deep breath, his legs bracing against the wall. I felt he had heard us, so I glared at He Yu, thinking he should have kept those thoughts to himself instead of saying them out loud and causing trouble.

Lu A’yao struggled to sit up. While blood continued to seep from the corner of his mouth, he said to me, “I need some of your blood. Your blood can neutralize the corpse poison in my wounds.”