Chapter 237: The Earth Trembles

Since Liu Wan had issued her guest expulsion order, I had no choice but to wander out of her tent. It was getting late, but I didn’t feel the slightest bit sleepy. Figuring that going back now would only disturb Old Qian and the others’ rest, I took a stroll over to Fourth Brother’s tent. He had already turned in, but he was clearly sleeping fitfully. I lingered outside for a moment, swiped a wind lantern hanging from some random tent, and slowly meandered away to find a quiet spot on the edge of the camp to sit and watch the stars.

The sky was carpeted with stars tonight. This place really was a perfect spot to clear one’s mind. According to Kuba and the others, the highest elevation here didn’t exceed two thousand meters, so it wasn’t high enough to cause oxygen deprivation. The grasslands were flat as a pancake and couldn’t really be called mountainous. The ancients once said, “So high that one’s hand may pluck the stars.” They might have been describing exactly what I was experiencing as I gazed at the sky.

I’d heard people say that growing up has nothing to do with age; it’s possible to understand everything in a single night, finding answers to things that had baffled you for years. I think I’m on the verge of growing up. Today, for the first time, the thought of taking over for Fourth Brother actually crossed my mind. I don’t want him to keep shouldering everything for me and the Gan Clan. This was supposed to be my responsibility. Just because he called my grandfather “Master,” he has had to bear so much for our family, even to the point where his life is at stake.

I hadn’t been sitting there long before He Yu came searching for me, lantern in hand. The quiet atmosphere was instantly shattered by his booming voice. Upon spotting me, he didn’t forget to start grumbling. “Why the hell didn’t you say you were here? You had me circling back to the Liu Family’s side. They said you’d left ages ago. I was worried sick! Look at all this sweat!”

He wiped a handful of sweat from his forehead to show me. Some of the patrolling workers nearby thought something had happened and poked their heads over to look. I quickly grabbed the hood of He Yu’s jacket and pulled him down to sit. “Alright, alright, why are you shouting so loud in the middle of the night? You’re disturbing people, you know? What’s the big rush? It’s not like I’m going to get lost. You’re just worrying over nothing!”

He Yu’s temper flared instantly. “What, I’m not allowed to care about you now? You were gone so long without coming back, who knew you’d run off here to gaze at the stars? I’m not a mind reader, kid. I can’t just look at you and know exactly where you’re headed!”

“Fine, fine, you’re the boss. I give up, I won’t argue with you,” I said, tugging at He Yu’s sleeve. I took a quick, furtive glance around to make sure no one was watching before lowering my voice. “Back to business. I managed to dig some information out of Liu Wan.”

“Hold on.” Hearing this, He Yu immediately clamped his hand over my mouth and looked around like a thief. “Okay, we’re clear. What did you find out?”

I said, “The Liu and Tan families probably didn’t come looking for the Tomb of King Gune of their own accord. They were likely coerced. That means our plan to pack up and head home is officially dead in the water.”

“Oh? Then isn’t that… who could possibly coerce two of the Five Masters?” He Yu glanced at me, his eyes darting as he let out a sharp click of his tongue. “Tch. This is way more complicated than we first thought. This means someone won’t rest until they’ve hauled something out of there. What do we do? We can’t fight that kind of power. How about we pick a dark, windy night and smuggle your Fourth Brother out of here?”

I sighed and waved him off, telling him not to interrupt. “I have a second piece of news. Tian Xiao… might be here too.”

After I spoke, He Yu suddenly went silent. A gust of chilly wind blew past, making him shiver. He gave a hollow laugh. “Xiao Yao, that’s not a very funny joke. Trying to scare me? We all saw it with our own eyes; Old Man Tian is still sitting in that box. We’re talking business here, why are you starting to act like me?”

I slapped his arm. “I’m not trying to scare you, I’m serious. Have you forgotten? What we saw in the box was a corpse. But if we assume Tian Xiaoqi’s theory is correct, there should be two Tian Xiaos. One died and was dismembered and frozen in a box. What about the other one? We didn’t see a box containing his body. Can’t we assume for now that he’s still alive? And if he’s alive, where is he?”

He Yu thought for a moment and asked, “Then how can you be sure this living Tian Xiao is here?”

“I asked Liu Wan. Her reaction was very strange; she wouldn’t give me a straight answer,” I said.

He Yu took a deep breath. “Just what kind of game are these people playing?”

I was about to continue when I felt a sudden wave of dizziness. I wondered what was happening. Was my body finally giving out from too many late nights?

“Wait, Xiao Yao, why do I feel a bit dizzy? You too? Looks like we better get back and sleep.” He Yu said, reaching out to pull me up from the ground.

It was only then that I realized something was wrong. I’d never heard of hypoglycemia being contagious. Within thirty seconds, the world was spinning even harder. Soon, a low, rumbling roar echoed from deep underground. He Yu and I both froze at the same time.

I was the first to snap out of it, shouting at the top of my lungs, “Dammit, get back and wake Old Qian and the others! This isn’t low blood sugar, it’s a freaking earthquake!”

He Yu slapped his forehead, and we both bolted back toward the camp. We ran, pounding on every tent we passed and screaming. The entire camp was jolted awake by our shouts, but the people who had just been roused had no idea what we were yelling about. By the time they realized what was happening, the camp had descended into chaos and panic. Everyone was thinking only of escape, and people began running blindly. My ears were filled with the clatter of pots, pans, and supplies being knocked over. Meanwhile, the ground shook more violently with every passing second, and cracks began to appear. Running felt like trying to sprint across crashing waves. He Yu and I were gasping for breath, but we didn’t dare stop.

Reaching a fork in the path, I grabbed He Yu. “You go get Old Qian! I’ll get Fourth Brother!”

“Hey! Be careful!” He Yu shouted back.

Before I could say another word, the ground split open. I began sprinting toward where I remembered Fourth Brother’s tent to be. The fissures were spreading incredibly fast; in less than three minutes, the ground beneath our camp had been torn to shreds. The speed of the destruction left no room for thought. I could only run and leap. One wrong step would mean a permanent end. Finally, I spotted Fourth Brother standing on a piece of fractured earth. Without a second thought, I lunged forward and leaped across the gap.

Fourth Brother grabbed me firmly, cursing, “What the hell are you doing over here!”

Only then did I see that the ground all around us had completely fractured. A chasm like a natural moat had opened up, its fissures still spreading outward, creeping toward an endless horizon. The camp tents had all vanished into this void, and from every direction came the horrific screams of living people falling into the depths.

The spot where we stood was the very last piece of earth in the rift that hadn’t yet given way. I felt the ten-meter spare rope on my person that I hadn’t had time to take off since morning. I quickly and forcefully tied one end of the rope to Fourth Brother; he was injured and had almost no strength to shake me off.

“Gan Ji! What are you doing?!” he roared at me.

I released the iron grappling claw at the other end of the rope, sighted a small notch on the opposite side of the rift, and swung my arm in a wide arc, hurling the claw across the gap.

The very second the claw caught on the broken ground, the earth beneath our feet finally shattered. Fourth Brother was instantly jerked into the air, dangling by the rope. I only managed to grab his arm, but we were falling too fast. Neither of us was prepared. His hand was injured, and my grip on his arm slid from his shoulder to his forearm, then from his forearm to his palm.

“Gan Ji!” Fourth Brother reached out to snag me, but he missed. I slipped right past him.

I tumbled down the great rift. My right hand moved to my waist by sheer muscle memory, and my Horse-Head Blade instantly wedged into the side of the crevice. I thought to myself that if it were Ye Yuzhu, he probably could have stopped himself immediately. I couldn’t manage that. It only served as a buffer, slowing my descent without stopping it entirely. I pressed myself as hard as I could against the vertical rock walls to increase friction, hoping to slow down enough so that I wouldn’t hit the bottom and die instantly.

I don’t know exactly how I hit the ground. By the time I regained consciousness, I was already down. The earth was still trembling with aftershocks, and rocks were tumbling down from the sides one after another. I could only press myself tight against the stone wall, inching along in one direction.

I waited for a full ten minutes before the aftershocks finally subsided. I brushed the stone dust from my head, feeling a chill all over my body. Looking down, I realized the clothes on my upper body had been shredded by the sharp rocks. My right hand had been gripping the blade; the knife was still sharp, but my wrist had swollen into a massive lump for some unknown reason.

I crouched where I was to rest for a moment. I had fallen to the very bottom of the rift, where the moonlight couldn’t reach at all. I stayed still, hoping my eyes would adjust to the darkness as much as possible. After a while, a groan drifted from the darkness ahead. I shivered.

There was someone else down here who had survived the fall!

I stood up immediately, ready to call out, but at that same moment, I heard a series of footsteps approaching from the distance. It wasn’t the sound of just one person.

I instantly went silent and pressed myself against the stone wall again. A beam of light appeared far off, looking very much like the glow of a chemical light stick. Hiding behind the rock, I peered cautiously toward the source of the light.

There was a group of people, dressed in neat, uniform gear. They looked like an incredibly professional team. Not a single one of them spoke.

I had never seen such a strange group, and I had no idea when they had made their way down here. These people were dressed in black from head to toe, and without exception, they were all masked. Not far from them lay a man with a shattered leg. The skin and muscle had been scraped away, leaving the broken bone exposed to the air. His mouth opened and closed; he looked like he was still begging for help.

He was one of the men from our camp.

Then, I watched as the leader of the group walked silently over to the man. He drew a Mountain-Cleaving Machete and knelt down. With a flash of silver, he decisively slit the man’s throat.

I pulled my head back instantly. I knew exactly what I had just witnessed: a murder.

My chest heaved, my heart hammering so hard it felt like it was in my throat.

Who were they? Why were they killing our people?