Chapter 177: Joining Forces

Lu Ayao crushed the cigarette in his hand. I knew he must have come to his senses. I told myself that no matter what, reaching that realization was the first step. After all, he had just witnessed the corpse of a loved one; no matter how strong his mental state, there had to be an adjustment period. I would have to help him work through the rest once we got out of here.

I nodded and began packing my things, ready to shoulder my bag again. Just then, I heard a rustling sound coming from the tomb passage at the end of the darkness. Since entering this place, I had been inexplicably chased by the White Corpse Turtle Immortal^[1] twice already. Hearing that sound now, I was all too familiar with it.

I instinctively scrambled up from the ground and retreated two steps into the corner. Within three seconds, Lu Ayao was standing in front of me. His eyes were fixed on the darkness behind us as he slung his cloth bag over one shoulder and drew that long, snow-white whip from inside it.

“Listen. Roughly how many are there?” With a slight flick of his wrist, Lu Ayao gathered the entire length of the whip into his palm.

I let out an instinctive “Huh?”, finding it hard to believe. Lu Ayao was actually asking me to listen for the count, as if my ears had some incredible analytical power. But since he had asked, I could only knit my brows and try to listen.

The sounds were numerous and chaotic. After listening for a moment, I said, “I can hear at least four. They aren’t close yet. Should we go find He Yu and the others now?”

Lu Ayao shook his head. “Too many people leads to chaos. The two of us can handle this just fine.”

I almost thought I had misheard him. I poked my head out and asked, “The two of us? Don’t you mean you handle all four while I focus on running away?”

I asked in all seriousness. He gave me a faint, unreadable look, then turned back to face the pitch-black tomb passage. “Then start running now.”

“Fine!” I answered quite decisively. Clutching my jacket and backpack, I turned around, switched on my flashlight, and prepared to retreat into the forward passage.

After a few steps, I suddenly remembered something. I hurried back to Lu Ayao’s side and poked him with my finger. “Where… where am I running to? Tell me the route. Also, I need to seal the deal with you, otherwise you might trick me and skip the rendezvous. I’d be at a huge loss then.”

Lu Ayao had already settled into a fighting stance, but my return caused his momentum to deflate. He turned around and spoke rapidly. “Follow the passage ahead. Count to the third junction and turn in. Then keep following that passage. It leads to a Side Chamber door on the flank of the Thirteen Palaces. We’ll meet there.”

I visualized the route in my mind. Once I was sure I had it, I extended my pinky finger toward him. “Quick, quick, quick. Once we seal the deal, I’m gone.”

He tilted his head, looking at my gesture, clearly not understanding what I meant. I simply grabbed his hand and hooked our pinkies together. After pressing our thumbs together to finish the seal, I said with satisfaction, “There, the deal is sealed. It’s a promise. I’ll wait for you at the Side Chamber door. Once you’re done, you have to come meet up. No looking to die.”

With that, I gave him a smile and an “OK” sign, then turned and bolted into the tomb passage with my flashlight and gear, never looking back.

As I ran, I realized that the Yin-Yang Thirteen Palaces were essentially a massive labyrinth, layered ring upon ring. Without Lu Ayao’s directions, I might have wandered in circles for a lifetime. He made it sound simple, but actually running through this maze was easily two kilometers. By the time I reached the third junction, I was panting like a dog.

I kept moving forward with one hand against the wall, silently cursing the designer of this plague-ridden place and these damn Thirteen Palaces. I thought to myself that if I ran into a White Corpse Turtle Immortal now, even an underage one could swat me to death with one slap. Once I got back, I absolutely had to start exercising. If I couldn’t beat people in a fight, I at least had to make running away my main strength.

Halfway there, I saw the flickering beam of a flashlight not far ahead. I practically leaped with joy, waving my light frantically as I ran toward He Yu. “I’m over here! He Yu!”

He Yu and Tian Xiaoqi were stopped up ahead. Hearing my voice, they immediately turned around to meet me.

“Holy crap! How did you get here on your own? Look at you! We were just talking about how to go in and rescue you, and here you are, running out yourself!” He Yu opened a bottle of his mineral water and handed it to me.

I downed a gulp of water and waved my hand repeatedly. “I… I didn’t get out on my own. I found Old Lu. There’s that White Corpse Turtle Immortal or whatever behind us. He told me to run this way, and that he’ll come meet us after he finishes dealing with it.”

“What? Old Lu told you to come this way?!”

I took another sip of water, and once I’d caught my breath, I told He Yu everything that had just happened. For some reason, as I spoke, He Yu’s face shifted between red and pale, and Tian Xiaoqi didn’t look much better. Seeing that their reactions were off, I asked them what was wrong.

He Yu dithered for a long time before stepping aside to reveal the door behind him. One look, and I froze on the spot. Where was the door? Where was any door?!

Before us was a Stone Tortoise head, two or three stories high. Its long whiskers fell on either side of its head, and its eyes were tightly shut. The shell and body were nowhere to be seen, as if an ancient tortoise had been crushed under a collapsed pile of rocks. Even as we spoke, stone fragments were still trickling down from the pile atop it.

“We were planning to split up. I was going to save you, and Miss Xiaoqi was going to look for another door. You tell me, does this look stable? Tell me, where are we supposed to go?” He Yu pointed at the Stone Tortoise behind him.

I suddenly remembered the map I had scavenged from those eight corpses. I quickly pulled out the small notebook and flipped to the map. Upon opening it, a black line on the far edge caught my attention. However, that black line stopped abruptly after drawing forward less than five centimeters, and the person had drawn an ‘X’ in marker right in front of it.

He Yu stood with his hands on his hips. “See that? Our predecessors already scouted this path. It’s a dead end. You can’t go through. You must have remembered wrong; Old Lu probably wasn’t talking about this place at all.”

I looked up and snapped, “Impossible! If I’d heard him wrong, how could I have walked all this way and ended up right at the end of a tomb passage? Shouldn’t I still be wandering in circles inside the Thirteen Palaces?”

Seeing that we were about to start fighting again, Tian Xiaoqi hurried over to intervene, pulling us apart. Stepping between us, she said, “Alright, alright, stop arguing, both of you. Quiet down for a bit. You’re being so loud, you’re going to attract every other White Corpse Turtle Immortal in the Thirteen Palaces!”

At the mention of the White Corpse Turtle Immortals, all of us fell silent at the exact same moment.

He Yu found a large boulder near the stone tortoise and sat down. He said, “Let me tell you, we shouldn’t make any reckless moves. You said Old Lu would be here soon, so let’s wait until he joins us before deciding.”

After waiting a while, He Yu checked his watch and started snidely mocking me again. “You think that guy Lu isn’t coming to meet up with us? Did he stand us up again? With his speed, even if there were eight turtles instead of four, he should have taken care of them by now.”

I scolded him, “If you have nothing good to say, shut up. If he said he’s coming, he’s coming.”

He Yu gave me a cheeky grin.

Having stood for so long, I was about to go over and rest when two gunshots suddenly rang out from the tomb passage. I instantly identified the source of the sound; it was very close to us, perhaps only three or four hundred meters away.

“Miss Xiaoqi, watch the gear! Gan Ji, we’re saving him!” He Yu’s expression shifted instantly as he gave the brief command. He vaulted off the rock, drew two knives from his waist, and tossed one to me.

We dashed into the tomb passage in perfect sync. I led the way, blade in hand, while He Yu used a corner to gain momentum, scaling the wall in two or three strides. I sprinted along the passage floor while he clung to the wall, leaping forward in a series of high-difficulty maneuvers.

He Yu was faster than me. As I rounded a bend, I shouted up at him, “How is it? Do you see him?”

“I see him! No wonder he couldn’t handle it. Dammit, there aren’t four like you said; we’ve walked straight into a nest of turtles!” He Yu let out a loud shout, shoved off the wall, and dropped down.