Chapter 195: The Rescue

I watched him prying at the coffin, but my reaction wasn’t particularly strong. I tugged at Lu Ayao, who was beside me, and said, “Ignore him. If there’s something in that decoy coffin, let him dig for it. It’s not the owner’s actual casket anyway, so there might not even be any burial goods. Let’s focus on getting up first.”

Just then, another commotion erupted below. I looked down to see that Qiao Sangui had already pried open the second layer of the coffin lid. From my vantage point, it was difficult to see what was inside. He Yu suddenly crouched down next to me, leaning over the crossbeam to peer inside. Whatever he saw made him gasp sharply, and he immediately grabbed onto me to pull himself back up, his face deathly pale.

“It’s over, it’s over, it’s over! Old Lu, stop looking! Get up, move, move!” He Yu pushed me forward urgently, his expression suggesting he wanted nothing more than to crawl straight through the vaulted ceiling right this second.

As he shoved me along, I asked, “What’s wrong? What did you see?”

“Black serpents! Dammit, they’re all coiled together, thick as a carpet. I couldn’t tell if it was one massive one or dozens of them. That old fossil hasn’t realized it yet. Thank god we’re under the sea; the low temperature must have them in hibernation. We need to be quiet.”

His description sent a wave of nausea and a shiver down my spine. I moved forward another half-meter and saw that old bastard Qiao Sangui was tiptoeing toward the pillar beneath us. I hadn’t noticed when he’d started moving, but by the time I looked down again, he was clinging to the pillar like a maggot, about two meters off the ground.

His limb strength was clearly failing him. After climbing those two meters, he didn’t dare let go. He was stuck in mid-air, neither up nor down. There was still a significant gap between him and the overhanging floral carvings, and his arms were too short to reach. He didn’t dare drop the two meters back down either. Seeing me look at him, he quickly offered a fawning smile.

“That… that, Young Master Gan, I was in the wrong before. Could you, could you…”

Before he could finish, Tian Xiaoqi stepped up and held me back. “Don’t bother with him! He’s this old and still values money over his life; he deserves to hang there forever. Look at him playing the victim now, after how vicious he was to us just a moment ago. Now that he needs saving, he remembers we exist? How shameless!”

“You… you… you brat! When you were fighting with the rest of the Tian Family, I didn’t treat you poorly! I never offended you! I really couldn’t interfere in your family’s business, but you can’t want me dead just because of that! This is a human life at stake! Why are you meddling? How happy would it really make you if I died!”

Seeing another argument brewing, I quickly held Tian Xiaoqi back. Looking down at the pathetic sight of Qiao Sangui clinging to the pillar, I thought for a moment before saying to Lu Ayao, “Could you please pull him up?”

He Yu stepped up and whispered in my ear, “Are you serious, Gan Ji? This old geezer is rotten to the core. Did you forget he sent men to ambush Han Jian? He nearly put a bullet in you back then. This is karma. I say to hell with saving him, just leave him down there.”

I turned and whispered back, “How could I forget? But don’t you think letting him die like this is too easy on him? The Liu Family followed us this time. They’ve been tracking him for so long, but they couldn’t make a move because of the power he wielded in Yunnan. If we bring him up and hand him over to Liu Wan, how do you think she’ll feel about us afterward?”

“You mean…” He Yu’s expression shifted to one of sudden realization. “Impressive. Thinking that far ahead. If we look at it that way, we’re basically removing a major thorn from the Liu Family’s side. No matter what happens later, Yujingzi will owe us a favor. Xiao Yao, your cunning is starting to rival your grandfather’s.”

“Shut up, stop talking nonsense.” I pushed him aside and prepared to help Lu Ayao.

Lu Ayao had already jumped down while I was mid-sentence. He reached out and hauled Qiao Sangui onto the first crossbeam. Even as he was being dangled by his collar, Qiao Sangui didn’t forget to bow to me with his hands clasped. “Thank you, Young Master, for letting bygones be bygones. Such magnanimity… you truly are a worthy Eight-Foot Dragon of this generation!”

“Keep your damn voice down! If you wake up that coffin full of serpents, we’re all dead!” He Yu hissed at him.

Just as he spoke, a massive boom echoed from the stone doors of the tomb. Guangtou and his subordinate, A Dong, came charging in aggressively, each clutching a rock. As soon as they burst through the door, they roared, “Gan Ji!! You Gan bastard! Release our Third Master right now!!”

Qiao Sangui looked at the idiotic sight of them holding nothing but rocks and covered his face with his hand, seemingly dying of embarrassment.

I glanced at He Yu. “How exactly did you tie them up? How did these two idiots get loose?”

He Yu shrugged helplessly. “Don’t blame me. The ropes were theirs. You can only blame Third Master Qiao for being too stingy to buy decent equipment for a tomb raid.”

The words had barely left his mouth when we watched in horror as the two fools sprinted toward the half-opened casket.

“Boss, the coffin’s already half-open! Let’s grab some of the good stuff for ourselves!” A Dong said cheerfully, reaching out to shove the lid aside.

Our hearts leaped into our throats. We screamed at him, “Don’t touch that coffin!”

Startled by our shouts, A Dong jerked back and slammed into the lid behind him. The heavy lid hit the floor with a thunderous thud, the Phoebe zhennan wood splitting in two. Inside, something as thick as a man’s thigh twitched. Then, a head slowly rose from the coffin, its snake-like eyes glowing with an eerie green light.

“That’s no serpent, that’s a python!” I was terrified by the creature’s size. I screamed at Guangtou and A Dong, “What are you two standing there for? Run!!”

I threw myself off the second crossbeam, landing beside Lu Ayao. He was supporting Qiao Sangui with his left hand and used his right to steady me as I landed.

Guangtou was relatively quick-witted; at my shout, he began scrambling toward us on all fours. On the other side, A Dong was so terrified by the black python emerging from the coffin that he tripped and fell headlong onto the stone steps. Blood poured from a gash on his head. He lay there paralyzed, unable to get up, his pants undoubtedly soiled.

The black python slithered up behind him and instantly unhinged its massive jaws. It clamped down on his head and tossed him into the air.

It was the first time I had ever seen a snake eat a person. Blood splattered across the ground like a waterfall. Paralyzed by the sound of those piercing, agonizing screams, I froze. Lu Ayao suddenly gripped my shoulder, snapping me back to reality. I immediately looked down at Guangtou, who was desperately scrambling up a pillar, weeping and covered in snot and tears.

The black python clearly wasn’t satisfied after its meal. It turned its head toward us, and I found myself staring straight into its eyes. Just then, another sound echoed from inside the coffin.

Soon, a white python twice the size of the black one reared its head from within. Following the white python were countless snakes as thick as bowls, swarming toward us at high speed.

Lu Ayao glanced back at the scene. Without a moment’s hesitation, he gave Qiao Sangui, whom he had been supporting, a violent shove. Qiao Sangui was sent flying onto another beam a meter away. Lu Ayao then stowed his whip at the small of his back, drew two machetes, and leaped down from the beam.

Qiao Sangui let out a pained cry as he landed, half his body dangling off the beam. Judging by the sound, the impact must have hurt.

“He Yu! Stop watching! Get down here and help!” I shouted behind me, then sat down and reached out for Guangtou below. “Xiaoqi, keep climbing!”

I wasn’t sure if Tian Xiaoqi heard me, but I heard the sound of her drawing her scimitar. Hearing my call, He Yu hurriedly jumped down and grabbed my clothes. With him anchoring me, I was able to reach down a bit further.

“Wait, why are we risking our lives to save them? We can barely save ourselves! Shouldn’t we be waiting for someone to save us?” He Yu cursed.

The hard beam was pressing into me so hard I felt like I was going to vomit. I gritted my teeth and snapped back, “Then fine, damn it, let’s just stop and leave! Can you really stand there and watch him get swallowed by a snake?”

“Fine, forget it! I can’t. We’ll do it your way! Just pull him up, quick!”

I strained forward as far as I could. Suddenly, a snake lunged from the ground, jaws open to bite me. Below, Lu Ayao sliced it in half with a single stroke, and it fell to the floor. Guangtou gave a desperate lunge upward, and I managed to grab his hand. He Yu pulled from behind, dragging me inch by inch back onto the beam. I scrambled backward with all my might, and we successfully hauled Guangtou up.

“Fuck!” He Yu coughed. “Xiao Yao, you need to lose some weight when we get back. You’re killing me.”

I didn’t have time to deal with him. I quickly helped Guangtou up and pointed at He Yu. “Get him up there, now!”

He Yu grabbed Guangtou and began leaping across the beams ahead. I looked back. The massive white snake had reared its head, its scales reflecting the firelight in an eerie, iridescent glow. I could clearly see my own reflection in its pupils as it stared me down from less than three meters away.