Chapter 258: The Bait

I switched on my flashlight. The surroundings were composed of the same wavy rock layers as the area above, but these were clearly much older. The terrain had completely changed, forming a massive cluster of rock formations. Layers of stone from different eras were stacked atop one another, leaving only a narrow passage just wide enough for one person to pass through.

I took a deep breath and turned to Tian Xiaoqi. “He Yu and those other guys fell down here too. No telling where they ended up. Let’s head forward and look for them. It’s best if we regroup before trying to find a way out.”

Tian Xiaoqi swept her flashlight over the ceiling. “The rocks are packed so tightly here. I doubt your Fourth Brother would rashly send people down to rescue us. That lingzhi mushroom drawn on the stone earlier… do you think it really was the legendary Houtu Blood?”

I wasn’t particularly concerned about that. Rubbing my aching lower back, I started walking along the natural rock passage. “Fourth Brother and the others might be here for the Houtu Blood, but don’t worry. He’s more meticulous than I am. He’ll find whatever we found without us having to point it out.”

I called out He Yu’s name as I searched with the light, hoping he hadn’t been knocked unconscious. I prayed that when he fell, he hadn’t cracked his head against any of these protruding rocks; otherwise, not even a living Buddha could save him.

As we approached a massive boulder blocking our path, I realized we would have to crouch low to get past. Just as I was about to bend down, I spotted a section of a human leg bone protruding from beneath the rock. I froze instantly.

Tian Xiaoqi poked her head out from behind me. “What is it?”

“There’s a dead body under the rock,” I said. “If we want to get through, we’ll have to drag him out.”

Tian Xiaoqi hesitated for a moment before I pulled her back. Even though I knew she had studied medicine since childhood and wasn’t afraid of dead bodies, this kind of dirty, grueling work shouldn’t be left to a lady.

I squatted down and shone the light under the stone. The corpse had almost completely skeletonized. I muttered a quiet apology for the disrespect, then reached in, grabbed the skeleton by the shoulder, and slowly dragged it out.

Dragging the body out kicked up a thick cloud of dust. Choking on the grit, I quickly turned my head and covered my nose with my sleeve, coughing twice. Once I dragged the body all the way out and dropped it on the ground, Tian Xiaoqi grabbed my jacket and pulled me back a bit.

The clothes on the body had almost completely rotted away; it was an old corpse. As it hit the ground, a seal tumbled out from the remains. I picked it up and examined it under the flashlight. Carved into the seal were eight large characters: “Heavenly Officials Grant Blessings, A Hundred Taboos Avoided^[1].”

Could this person have been a Faqiu Heavenly Official^[2] back in the day?

The Fa Qiu held a high status within the Thieves’ Sect, and there were countless legends surrounding them. It was said that a true Faqiu Heavenly Official always carried a Fa Qiu Seal, and the seal in my hand matched descriptions of those legendary artifacts perfectly.

Once the dust settled, I knelt down to examine the corpse. Feeling behind the skull, I found the back of his head was completely shattered in a massive wound. Not only that, but there were distinct blade marks on the femur. It was definitely a murder.

“This body has been dead for quite a few years,” Tian Xiaoqi said after examining it.

I looked at the mounds of dirt piled on both sides and said to her, “Our top priority is finding He Yu and the others. If this man really was a Fa Qiu Heavenly Official when he was alive, he might have had some connection to our ancestors. There are plenty of rocks here. Once we find He Yu, we’ll come back to bury him and set up a marker. Consider it a tribute to our chance meeting.”

Tian Xiaoqi nodded slightly. The two of us stood before the dried corpse, pressed our hands together, and bowed three times. Once we finished, I swung the multi-purpose pouch on my waist to my back, bent down to crawl under the large stone first, turned on my flashlight to scan the area, and called out twice toward the empty space.

Taking two steps forward, I suddenly saw a flash of flashlight light up ahead. My legs reacted faster than my brain, and I instantly ducked, backed away, and pulled Tian Xiaoqi—who had just crawled out from under the rock—back under the boulder with me.

Tian Xiaoqi, bewildered, opened her mouth to ask what was wrong, but I clamped my hand over her mouth. Just then, the yellow beam of a flashlight swept past. At the next junction we were about to pass through, we clearly saw the leader of the group who had hunted me earlier standing by the rock, holding someone by the back of their collar.

I looked closely and immediately recognized the person in his grip—it was He Yu!

Damn it. These people moved way too fast!

Holding Tian Xiaoqi down with one hand, I drew the Horse-Head Blade from behind my waist and held it ready. Rationally, it was best not to confront these people head-on. Every single one of them was an expert, which meant that if we wanted to get the upper hand, we could only win by outsmarting them.

But now that He Yu was in their hands, I was starting to lose my nerve.

One of their men carrying a blade asked, “Boss, we can’t keep dragging him along the whole way. Should we just kill him?”

The leader replied, “No. He’s our bait. The word from above is to eliminate Chen Si at all costs, and the person Chen Si cares about most is that kid named Gan. As long as we use this guy to catch Gan Ji, we won’t have to worry about Chen Si hiding.”

“What about Gan Ji? We don’t need to dispose of him?”

“That kid is clueless. He doesn’t know a thing. Killing him would be a waste of time. Leave him alone. Once Chen Si is dead, we’ll just let him fend for himself.”

Crouching beneath the rock, Tian Xiaoqi and I were both stunned by what we heard. Once their flashlight beams moved further off, Tian Xiaoqi grabbed me. “Their target is your Fourth Brother?”

My mind was a complete jumble, and all I could do was shake my head. I finally understood why Fourth Brother had been hiding everything from me. Did that mean if I knew the real purpose behind what they were doing, those people would want to kill me too?

The best thing I could do right now was hurry and regroup with Fourth Brother. But He Yu was currently in their hands. Those men were right; I couldn’t just abandon He Yu and run off on my own. I had to save him. But trying to rescue him now was walking straight into a trap. If I got caught, there would be no turning things around.

“What do you want to do?” Tian Xiaoqi asked me.

I looked in the direction the group had gone. “If I said I wanted to go save him, would you come with me?”

I would never hand over He Yu. Regardless of the so-called greater good for either side, I would never abandon a brother just to save my own skin.

As soon as I finished speaking, Tian Xiaoqi drew her Mountain-Cleaving Machete, her intent clear. She looked at me and said, “Killing or saving, I’m good at both.”