Chapter 261: Miss Xiaoqi

He Yu clearly thought this explanation was a bit far-fetched, but as the saying goes, “one does not believe in ghosts and gods until one has suffered.” I was in a pathetic state—limbs weak, face pale, without a shred of strength left. The fissure was exceptionally narrow, forcing He Yu to drag me along as he crawled forward. Even with all that jostling, my eyelids kept drooping as I drifted in and out of consciousness.

Eventually, I began to lose all sensation of my surroundings. The uneven ground scraped against my head; it hurt at first, but eventually, I felt nothing at all. Tian Xiaoqi said something to He Yu as they crawled, and then we turned a corner in the fissure and kept going.

I can’t recall exactly how long that journey lasted. At some point, Tian Xiaoqi must have used acupuncture to stop my bleeding, which woke me up for a brief ten minutes before I passed out again. Based on my later calculations, we must have spent a full sixteen hours inside that crevice.

He Yu and Tian Xiaoqi took turns dragging me through the gap. How long they crawled or who they encountered, I had no idea. In short, by the time I regained consciousness, we had somehow reunited with Liu Wan and the others. I was leaning against a freezing stone wall, my arms covered in needles, with nothing in sight but the glow of a campfire not far off in the cave.

The surrounding rocks were all yellow. We seemed to be in a cave on some cliffside. The men standing at the cave entrance already had ropes secured around them; they appeared to be planning to use a zip line to cross to the other side of the precipice.

I tried to tilt my head but found I couldn’t even manage that simple movement. A moment later, He Yu came over to wipe my face with a wet towel and fed me some water through a straw. I saw his mouth moving, but I couldn’t hear a word he was saying. Regardless, once he finished talking, he hoisted me onto his back.

My waist was secured to He Yu’s back by one of the men. Perhaps fearing something might go wrong mid-air, they even tied a rope between our wrists. I slumped against He Yu’s back, watching as he secured the line and carried me across the void in a rapid descent. His movements were remarkably steady; I didn’t feel a single jolt during the crossing.

When we reached the opposite cliff, many men were already there. A magnificent ten-meter-high glazed glass door had been pushed open. Wu Yili and his students were clearing dust from the edges of the frame. From a distance, I saw Fourth Brother emerge from the glazed door and beckon to He Yu.

Carried by He Yu, I followed Fourth Brother to a secluded spot. With a cigarette dangling from his lips, he unzipped his jacket to reveal a shimmering glazed box hidden inside. He said a few words, and He Yu immediately understood, tucking the box into his own shirt.

Just then, Tian Xiaoqi finished shedding her gear and ran over in a hurry. Fourth Brother gave her a glance and then departed.

This time, I finally heard what He Yu said. Tucking the box into his chest, he told Tian Xiaoqi, “Chen Si prepared a tent and food for us. He said we should take this thing and head back the way they came. Once we reach a safe enough spot, we’re to feed it to Xiao Yao.”

Tian Xiaoqi didn’t ask why. She quickly took the map from He Yu’s hand. The swaying of He Yu’s stride sent me back into unconsciousness.

This time, I woke up choking on water. I swallowed whatever was in my mouth along with the liquid. When He Yu tried to keep pouring water into my mouth, I pushed his hand away and rasped, “Are you trying to fucking choke me to death?”

He Yu laughed happily, tears shimmering in his eyes. He looked at Tian Xiaoqi beside him. “He’s awake! He’s awake! You were right, this lousy little thing actually works!”

“Thank God. As long as it works, as long as it works,” Tian Xiaoqi said, also letting out a sigh of relief.

I was helped up, and He Yu patted my back a few times to ease my breathing. He immediately asked, “How is it? How do you feel now? Do you feel any changes in your body?”

After being choked awake this time, my vision had indeed cleared, and I could hear sounds again. Hearing He Yu ask this, I deliberately tried to sense different parts of my body. There wasn’t much feeling, but at the very least, my strength seemed to have returned somewhat.

I looked around. The area was empty and we were still underground, though this place lodged at the very bottom of a cliff face. Two tents were pitched side by side next to a campfire, looking as though they had just been set up.

“What do you mean? I don’t feel much of anything. Where are we?” I asked, bringing my gaze back to them.

Tian Xiaoqi said, “We can’t take our previous route anymore; it’s filled with yellow corpse-poison smoke. This is the path your Fourth Brother and the others took when they came in. Below us should be an underground river stretching for thousands of miles. If we follow this path forward, we should be able to get out safely. By the way, aren’t you curious about how we saved you?”

I looked at the two of them. Seeing their eager expressions, I asked, “How did you save me?”

He Yu gave a smirk and pulled a four-cornered glazed box carved with coiled dragons from behind his back. He said to me, “Can you imagine? Houtu Blood is actually a piece of white Chinese medicine. You were hit by corpse poison, and we just used half a piece of this Houtu Blood dissolved in water to save you. This is something even the old King of Gune couldn’t taste in his entire life, yet a brat like you got to eat it. You really are lucky. It’s a pity, though, that you didn’t get to see what Houtu Blood actually looks like.”

This legendary item had suddenly become a reality, and I was a bit skeptical. I took the box; the glazed container was incredibly heavy. I leaned in to sniff it, and there was indeed a bitter, medicinal odor inside.

I looked at them. “For real?”

“Of course it’s real!”

“Of course it’s real!”

They spoke in perfect unison.

I had never seen these two so synchronized. It seemed that crawling through that fissure had actually built some rapport between them.

I swallowed hard, still finding it difficult to believe that this box had held Houtu Blood. After all, it was a legend; no one had ever seen what real Houtu Blood looked like. It was entirely possible that what I’d swallowed was just a very ordinary medicinal herb capable of neutralizing poison.

Tian Xiaoqi and He Yu were still chatting away animatedly. Looking for something to say to change the subject, I chimed in, “So, when do we leave?”

“Xiao Yao, you’ve slept your fill, but your buddy here has been carrying you the whole way! We only just stopped. We’re already very close to the outside, and once we reach the downstream area, it’s only another kilometer to get out. Now that we finally have a moment to catch our breath, can’t you let the two of us rest for a bit?” He Yu gave me an annoyed glare.

I quickly apologized, explaining that I hadn’t realized we’d only just stopped. I thanked them both for saving my life and offered to take the night watch, telling them to go change and get some rest, and that yours truly, Gan, would shoulder the heavy burden of the watch for the rest of the day.

He Yu seemed satisfied with my attitude. Tian Xiaoqi patted my shoulder and said, “I’m going into the tent to change. Could you and He Yu step into the other tent and sit for a bit?”

I was puzzled. “If you’re changing, just change. Why do we have to go over to the other side…”

Before I could finish, He Yu grabbed me and hauled me off the ground. The two of us went into the other tent together, which was piled high with our gear. I sat on the ground, looking up at He Yu with an innocent expression.

He Yu took a sip of water from his thermos. “This tent is disposable and horribly made. I only brought it because it was lightweight, but who knew it’d be so translucent once set up? We’ve got a fire lit, so it’s brightly illuminated in here. With the light behind you, looking in from the outside is basically like seeing someone streak out in the open. It’s awkward as hell. A lady’s changing, so let’s just sit here quietly for a bit.”

Having learned the reason, I lay back on the ground, crossed my legs, and teased him, “A detail like that doesn’t sound like something you’d catch. What happened? Did you go streaking?”

He Yu immediately kicked me. “Piss off! What nonsense are you talking? How could I possibly go streaking? It takes someone meticulous like me to spot these things. Your granddaddy here has eyes like a hawk.”

“Who’s your granddaddy? I’m fully recovered now. You want to spar a bit?” I kicked him right back.

We bantered back and forth for a bit before settling back into our own business. After such a jarring journey, Tian Xiaoqi would probably want to wipe herself down with a wet towel while changing, so there was no need to rush her. I sat on the ground, idly fiddling with the map Fourth Brother had given me, while He Yu wrapped himself in his sleeping bag and tried to drift off to sleep.

I wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but I was starting to feel sleepy myself, yet there was still no sound from the neighboring tent. I thought to myself, could she have been so exhausted that she fell asleep mid-change? At these freezing underground temperatures, sleeping outside a sleeping bag was out of the question; she’d freeze herself sick.

I didn’t dare step outside, so I pulled open the tent flap a crack, lay low, and called toward the outside, “Xiaoqi, are you done changing?”

Outside, there was total silence.

Thinking she hadn’t heard me, I cleared my throat with a couple of coughs and called out a bit louder, “Xiaoqi! Are you finished? You can’t sleep outside your sleeping bag, you’ll freeze! Did you hear me?”

“Oh, stop shouting! Why don’t you two just share a tent tonight? You’re carrying on like you’re summoning a ghost. Let a man sleep!” He Yu grumbled, pulling his sleeping bag over his head and rolling over.

I found it a little strange. Could she really have fallen fast asleep?

I poked my head out a bit further, and what I saw gave me a jolt. I caught a glimpse of Tian Xiaoqi’s tent flap shaking violently. A person bolted out of the tent, a tall figure with a flash of a tattoo on their wrist. They ran with incredible speed, vanishing into the distance as soon as they cleared the firelight.

My heart sank. I threw open the flap and rushed out, shouting to He Yu, “He Yu, get up! Something’s happened!”

It all happened too fast. I had rushed out in such a hurry that I realized halfway through the chase that I didn’t have a flashlight. The figure had vanished into the darkness, and the open area was so vast that I couldn’t see anything with the naked eye. My chest heaved with fury. I stomped my foot in frustration, then remembered Tian Xiaoqi and raced back.

The flap of Tian Xiaoqi’s tent was wide open. I sprinted back and yanked it aside. Heavily out of breath, I froze for a moment as my heart missed a beat. My foot had stepped into a pool of blood inside the tent.

In all my years, I had never felt that a sight full of red could be so piercing. That crimson was like countless sharp needles thrusting into my heart. The scene before me snapped the final thread holding me together. For a moment, the pain suffocated me, choking off my breath.

He Yu wept repeatedly, “What do we do, what do we do, Gan Ji, Gan Ji, what do we do?”

He was using a towel to press down on a knife wound on Tian Xiaoqi’s carotid artery. I threw myself down beside her in the pool of blood. I don’t know if I had been crying since the moment I entered the tent, but for the first time, I truly understood the meaning of the word “helpless.”

I shoved He Yu, talking incoherently. “Hurry, go get another towel! Quick! Is there any Houtu Blood left? Did you have any left over from earlier? Can that still save her?”

He Yu stared at me, dazed with shock for a second, before I pushed him aside. I grabbed the towel from his hands and knelt on the ground, cradling Tian Xiaoqi’s shoulders to lift her upper body slightly. She was still conscious. She blinked as she looked at me, her hand still clutching the embroidered pouch she had made for me. I looked down at her fresh clothes, her neck, and even my own hands. Everywhere I looked, there was only blood.

“Tell me, what should I do? What can I do right now to save you? Please, tell me… we still have to go back together… go back and ride horses…”

My voice broke completely into sobs. I pressed my hands desperately against her neck, trying to slow the flow of blood, but it did almost nothing.

Tian Xiaoqi couldn’t make a sound. She kept her eyes fixed on me, then, with tears streaming down her face, she reached out and placed a hand on my neck. She forced out a few faint sounds. I leaned down to hold her, and she rested her head on my shoulder. Leaning close to my ear, she whispered, “Live well.”

Before I could respond, I felt her body suddenly go limp. Her hand slid slowly from my back. I held her, turning my head to look at her. The blood-soaked pouch slipped from her hand, falling into the pool of blood. My mind went instantly numb.

He Yu froze beside us.

Suddenly, memories of our time on the grasslands flashed before my eyes like a revolving lantern, vivid and clear. Feeling the lingering warmth of her body, I reached out and picked up the pouch from the blood, clutching it in my palm. The pain in my chest was so heavy I couldn’t speak. At that moment, I realized that in this life, I would never again have the chance to call her “Miss Xiaoqi.”

Not in this lifetime.