Chapter 259: Yellow Sands

Tian Xiaoqi and I were both people of action. It was mostly a case of newborn calves not fearing the tiger^[1]; once we set a goal, we moved immediately. This group was more extravagant than us, using several flashlights at once as they threaded through the stone crevices. These lights served an important purpose: even if we didn’t follow closely, we could still determine their position and numbers.

Since we were hidden in the dark and they were unaware of our presence, this was the only advantage we had against them.

Tian Xiaoqi and I stayed low, following them through three turns among the rocks. Halfway through, we both skidded to a halt at the same time. Tian Xiaoqi pulled on me. “Any more turns and we’ll lose our heads. We can’t keep following them like this.”

At the same time, I heard the group ahead stop as well. Terrified, Tian Xiaoqi and I frantically gestured for each other to stay quiet while squeezing deeper into a nearby crevice. We were keeping a considerable distance; were these people all blessed with superhuman hearing to catch such a faint noise?

Soon, someone ahead spoke up. “Boss, there seems to be a problem with this map. We’ve been circling here for so long, why haven’t we made it out yet?”

Squeezed inside the stone crack, Tian Xiaoqi and I exchanged a look.

Someone else responded, “This was traced from the Burial Bone Testament. The map isn’t wrong. Eighty percent of this ancient battlefield is a stone labyrinth like this. The paths are short and full of turns; horses and ox carts can’t even get in. A lot of people died here back then, so who knows if new paths have appeared out of thin air?”

Then the leader spoke up, barking a reprimand. “Shut up. Follow the map, it won’t be wrong.”

Only after the group moved on did Tian Xiaoqi and I emerge from the crack. Watching them disappear around the next bend, I said, “It looks like it’s their first time here too, so they aren’t familiar with the terrain either. Didn’t you draw a map on the way? Let me see it.”

Tian Xiaoqi looked surprised. “How did you know I drew a map?”

She pulled a crude paper napkin from her bag and handed it to me. It had a route sketched in black ink, using the spot where we fell as the starting point. I took the napkin and studied it, noticing that many of the stone bases here were circular. Such round bases likely weren’t a coincidence, and we had already passed two of them.

Tian Xiaoqi’s drawing skills were truly abysmal. Toward the end, the route dwindled into nothing more than a faint, pathetic trace without any color. I looked up at her.

Tian Xiaoqi gave a sheepish grin. “The pen was old and ran out of ink. Nothing I could do about it.”

I sighed inwardly, telling myself it was fine. Harsh environments naturally called for harsh solutions. I reoriented the napkin to align with the path ahead of us and said, “We can’t take them head-on. We have to set a trap along the route they’re bound to take. We go this way.”

I handed the napkin back to Tian Xiaoqi and took off down a path in the exact opposite direction of the group. We had to set the trap before they arrived, so our walk quickly turned into a full sprint.

After running several hundred meters along the path, I stopped at a crossroads. I thought quickly, selected a relatively deep stone crevice, and checked its height before taking off my pack. “Right here. We have to hurry; they’ll be here soon.”

Tian Xiaoqi crouched down beside me, looking dubious. “How do you know they’ll come from this direction?”

My hands paused for a moment. “I don’t. The sketch you drew just looked a bit familiar, so I’m taking a gamble. I hope I guessed right.”

Our equipment was limited; we only had what we were carrying when we fell. We detached the grappling hook from our rope and wedged it into the upper part of the crevice to act as a hanger. Then we tied the rope into a series of knots to form a net, hooked the top, and filled the net with a large quantity of stones. However, for this to work, someone had to get inside to swing this “giant stone hammer” with full force.

The deepest part of the crevice was too narrow for my frame. Tian Xiaoqi volunteered, but I was reluctant to let her go in. I said, “We have to split up. If you stay in the crevice, it means you’ll have to face whoever I don’t manage to lure away. There will be fewer of them, but they’ll definitely be the hardest ones to deal with. It’s too risky for you alone.”

There was actually another reason. Ever since seeing Lu Xiaosu’s corpse wedged in a crack, I had a lingering trauma regarding these narrow spaces. If something went wrong during an ambush, the crevice meant for hiding could easily become a tomb.

Tian Xiaoqi was already squeezing into the gap. “It’s just you and me here. To save anyone, we have to act separately to lure them away. You can’t fit in this crack anyway. You’re a grown man, why are you being so indecisive? Keep hesitating and they’ll be here.”

Seeing she was already inside and had even settled into a comfortable position, I grabbed my bag. “Then be careful. If things go sideways, don’t worry about saving anyone—just save yourself first.”

“Of course!” Tian Xiaoqi waved me off.

I slung my pack on and ran toward a distant bend. I found a suitably high rock and used both hands to scramble up its wavy ridges, settling onto a protruding ledge to prepare.

My prediction of their direction was right. I hadn’t been sitting on the rock for long before the swaying beams of their flashlights began moving toward me. I leaned back immediately, doing my best to stay out of sight.

Lying on my side atop the stone, I peered down at them. They suddenly stopped just as they were about to pass the intersection. The leader said, “The area ahead is opening up. Everyone stay alert and report any situation immediately.”

“Yes, Boss!”

Propped on my stomach atop the rock, I slowly drew the Horse-Head Blade from my belt. In this level of darkness, I couldn’t see the things hanging in the air very clearly, but there was no time to worry about seeing clearly now. I simply flicked the blade forward. The curved knife flew dozens of meters, striking the rock first with a crisp clang that instantly drew everyone’s attention.

Their flashlights swiveled toward me in unison. I stood up from the rock just as the Horse-Head Blade whirled back. It sliced through something in the air, though I couldn’t tell what, and things came clattering down all over the ground. I caught the blade in an instant, leaped down from the rock, and the second I hit the ground, I sprinted at full speed in the opposite direction.

“It’s Gan Ji! After him!”

Chaos instantly erupted beneath the rocks. As I ran, it finally dawned on me that every single thing hanging from those rocks was a damn body bag. I had thrown the blade too far; as soon as it cut them loose, all the body bags crashed down, kicking up massive clouds of yellow dust from the ground.

I gripped my flashlight and sprinted through the stones, dust choking the air everywhere I turned. Behind me, over twenty assassins were hot on my heels. These guys had insane stamina, chasing me through the stone forest like mad dogs until I completely lost my bearings. Cornered with no way to escape, I finally just covered my nose and mouth with my sleeve and plunged into that sea of yellow sand.

You never truly know until you’re in it, but the moment I stepped inside, my vision blurred into a total haze.