Chapter 126: Getting on the Bridge

Seeing the three of us just standing there, Han Jian quickly came out from behind us. I felt that regardless of whether our idea was feasible, we needed to loop Han Jian in so we could adjust the plan together. Lu Ayao clearly had the same thought, because as soon as Han Jian walked over, Lu Ayao laid out everything we had come up with so far.

The platform was large. While they were talking, I stepped to the side to find a better angle for my flashlight. Staring at the rock face, I pondered the problem: the stone here was brittle enough that a knife could cleave off a giant chunk. Even long-term water erosion shouldn’t have degraded it to this extent.

He Yu stood beside me and suddenly pulled his knife, hacking into the nearest rock wall. He split off half a chunk of stone, weighed it in his hand for a moment, and tossed it to me. “Here, take a look. Study it.”

It seemed he was thinking the same thing I was.

The two of us sat right down on the ground to inspect the stone together. Earlier, things had been too tense to pay attention to the rock, but now, the moment my flashlight beam lit it up, I saw the secret within.

Across the rock’s cross-section remained countless tiny holes. They were so small and densely packed that looking at them made my skin crawl. Such dense clusters of holes pointed to one possibility: insect eggs.

He Yu listened to my explanation and grunted in realization. “You mean this is the breeding ground for those stone horseshoe crab eggs? You—you—you mean almost all the stone here is infested with insects? Then doesn’t that make this place one giant bug nest?!”

Han Jian had been talking with Lu Ayao, but hearing He Yu yell, he leaned over to look at the rock in our hands. I was practically certain of my theory by then, so I laid it out for Han Jian and Lu Ayao.

Lu Ayao didn’t show much reaction after hearing it, only saying, “Then this place is even more dangerous.”

As soon as he spoke, I felt subtle tremors running through the rock wall, buffeted by the rushing river. At the same time, the ground beneath us began to shake. The structure had been so hollowed out by the insects that it was becoming increasingly unstable. A collapse was likely before long.

I looked up. “Collapse or not, we need to reach the pagoda first.”

Everyone clearly agreed. Han Jian called his men over, and they immediately set to work tying their spare ropes together as fast as they could. He Yu told me to drop the stone and pulled me over behind Lu Ayao.

“It’s safer back here,” He Yu grinned.

I eyed the distance from the platform to the pagoda. It was too far for a normal leap or climb. Han Jian and the others planned to lower ropes from the platform so we could cross the stone bridge to the shore without waking the dormant stone horseshoe crabs, and then climb up into the pagoda.

Chen Canghai finished tying off a section of rope and came over to my side. He pointed at my leg and asked, “We’ll be rappelling down in a moment. Is your leg feeling any better? Do we need to reset the splint?”

If he hadn’t brought it up, I almost would have forgotten I was injured. Running for my life had become routine lately, so once I got moving, I completely forgot about the pain in my leg.

So I gave my leg a shake to show him and patted his shoulder. “Thanks for asking, but I’m fine. The injury’s pretty much healed up. Still, put me toward the back later. I’m slow, and I don’t want to drag everyone down.”

“What are you talking about?” He Yu slapped a hand on my head and ruffled my hair. “What do you mean ‘drag us down’? I don’t like hearing that. We came together, so we leave together. Alright, your hand is hurt too. We’ll let the wounded take the lead later—I’ll talk to Han Jian and go right in front of you.”

Lu Ayao turned back to look at us, as if he wanted to say something.

Chen Canghai pulled the Mauser from his waist and gestured to me, meaning, “Then I’ll bring up the rear.”

Han Jian finished tying off the rope and walked over with a smile, resting a hand on Lu Ayao’s shoulder. “Not bad. Sounds like you guys have been getting along pretty well lately. I know you’re close, but you’ve got to leave me at least one person to take the lead. Don’t all crowd into the back.”

“I’ll go first and scout the way down.” Lu Ayao twitched his shoulder, brushing Han Jian’s hand off. Without looking back, he walked to the front to help the men lower the rope.

He Yu crossed his arms, leaned against me, and whispered, “Well, Xiao Yao, we won’t be able to take a stroll like before. Our general’s gone ahead.”

He said it so deadpan that I almost burst out laughing.

We had no spare rope left this time. The platform was about ten meters above the ground, but a misstep was enough to kill a man. To shed weight, we kept only the useful gear and threw away everything else.

Once the rope was lowered, Lu Ayao took the lead, stepping against the stone wall as he rappelled down. His form was smooth and fluid, giving him great agility in midair. He landed quickly with hardly a sound, then tugged on the rope to signal for the next person to come down.

Han Jian and two or three of his men went down next. Before He Yu descended, he slapped a cloth pouch into my chest. It felt rock-hard to the touch. He insisted it was a protective talisman he’d obtained from a Bodhisattva and forced me to carry it. Unable to argue with him, I shoved it into my pocket.

Once He Yu was down, it was my turn. My rappelling had improved quite a bit since before, going relatively smoothly, but because of the cut on my palm, I had to switch hands in midair, leaving me a bit slower than the rest.

He Yu was waiting for me below. After unhooking my safety harness, he gestured toward the dormant Stone Horseshoe Crab Insects covering the rocks. I took one look and quickly pressed a finger to my lips, signaling for him to be quiet.

Ahead of us was the stone bridge Han Jian had mentioned. It sat directly across from us, spanning the entire pool of stagnant water filled with floating corpses. I shone my flashlight over and could see that Lu Ayao and the others had already crossed the bridge and reached the area directly beneath the Buddhist Pagoda.

Chen Canghai landed, and He Yu and I rushed over to help him unhook his safety buckle. Then, as the last group to cross, the three of us began moving toward the middle of the stone bridge. One thing needs to be made clear: running was far too loud. Fearing we would disturb the Stone Horseshoe Crab Insects floating in the water, the three of us could only inch slowly across.

After we had walked about ten meters, my eyes stung as if pricked by a sudden glare. Almost simultaneously, He Yu, who was right ahead of me, instinctively froze in his tracks.

Before I could figure out what was going on, some idiot suddenly fired a signal flare up toward the top of the Buddhist Pagoda. The flare shot into the air with a flash of red light and a piercing screech. Immediately after, I felt every corner of the cave begin to vibrate slightly.

The Stone Horseshoe Crab Insects were awakened by the noise, and the entire stagnant pool seemed to come to life!

“Damn it! Who was that!” He Yu cursed.

We didn’t even have time to figure out who had fired the flare before He Yu bellowed, “Damn it, run!!”

I instinctively took off after him, running as fast as my legs could carry me.

For the first time, I realized just how long this bridge was. We had only reached the middle when several deafening gunshots exploded from diagonally above. One of the bullets grazed the tip of He Yu’s shoe.

“Damn it!” He Yu cursed, quickly ducking low.

I looked up, cursing fiercely under my breath. Motherfucker! How were these bastards like unkillable cockroaches? Even that many damn ants hadn’t managed to bite them to death!

That bastard Qiao Sangui was standing on a ledge on the cliff face to the side, with Tian Xiaoqi behind him. They were pretty beaten up, with only a few men left, but they were loaded with plenty of guns and ammo. Now, they were all raising their weapons, preparing to spray us with bullets!

Our situation was dire. We were halfway across the bridge with zero cover, completely helpless under their fire.

Chen Canghai shoved me forward and decisively drew his Mauser C96. “I’ll cover you! They’re after you! Run!”

I didn’t have time to hesitate. At a moment like this, standing on ceremony would be my own fault. I bolted after He Yu like a mad dog, dodging bullets as we ran, wondering what kind of deep hatred they held. Was it really worth all this?! How could that bastard hold such a grudge!

Han Jian’s group also stopped, and the two sides immediately opened fire. Suddenly, my ears were filled with nothing but the sound of bullets whistling through the air and the splashing of stone horseshoe crab insects churning out of the water.

The three of us still on the bridge felt particularly helpless.

“Xiao Yao, run! Don’t stop! Just a little further, we’ll be fine once we reach the pagoda!”

He Yu was so busy talking to me that he didn’t notice. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a flash of fire in front of us as a bullet came flying straight at him. In such an emergency, he wouldn’t be able to dodge it on his own.

“He Yu!” I shouted. On pure impulse, I leaped up and shoved him hard from behind with my shoulder. He stumbled forward from the force, dodging the bullet’s path and falling flat on the ground.

A sharp pain shot through me as my arm scraped against the stone bridge, the surface tearing a layer of skin right off, and I tumbled headfirst into the water.