Chapter 52: Gan Ji’s Risky Move

Hou Jinshan made it pretty clear—he had no intention of letting me go any further. But I’ve always had a rebellious streak. I hate following rules, especially when they’re shoved in my face. The more he tried to shut me out, the more determined I became to stick with the team and keep moving forward.

We got back in the car. The rain had stopped, and the sun broke through quickly, causing the temperature to spike. One by one, we started peeling off our jackets. The mood in the car lightened considerably.

I sat in the back seat, eyes locked on Hou Jinshan. The moment he so much as looked like he was about to speak, I’d cut in and interrupt him. I kept it up until he forgot whatever it was he’d wanted to say, and all he could do was glare daggers at me.

We drove another half hour down a dirt road until there wasn’t even a trace of a path left. Then we got out and started hiking. The rain had left the ground a sticky mess, threatening to swallow our boots whole. I tried to step where there was grass—it made things a bit easier.

I didn’t bother looking at the path. The seven of us just followed Hou Jinshan and Li Wanchou. I had no idea how they were navigating. In a forest like this, there were few distinguishing features. To me, every tree looked exactly the same.

After another three hours of trekking, I started to notice a change in the scenery. The trees were denser, their canopies massive, blocking out the sun entirely. The ground was overgrown with wild grass. If we were here at night, I doubted even moonlight could reach us.

I was close to despair, hacking at waist-high grass with a branch for what felt like the hundredth time, when I heard the sound of running water. Hou Jinshan suddenly let out a surprised “Hey!” and bolted in one direction like a madman. I froze for a second, then took off after him.

I saw him slashing at hanging branches with his knife, clearing a path. In that moment, it felt like a crack had opened in my dull, gray world.

I scrambled up the exposed rock behind him and watched as he pushed aside layers of leaves. Sunlight poured through the gap, and the sound of rushing water grew louder. I rubbed my eyes and peered through the foliage—then the view opened up before us.

We were standing on the edge of a cliff. A hundred meters across, a waterfall cascaded down like a silver ribbon. Below us, a deep pool shimmered blue-green. Birds burst from the treetops, their cries piercing through the roar of the falls.

I was stunned. It hit me that I might never see a view like this again in my life.

“Damn, finally found water. Just for this view alone, all that effort was worth it,” Hou Jinshan said, pulling a map from behind his back. Then he called to me, “Get the box out. The spot we’re looking for should be nearby.”

Li Wanchou crouched beside him, helping to spread the map on the grass and mark it with a pencil. I took off my backpack, knelt beside them, and handed Hou Jinshan the box wrapped in cloth.

He held it carefully, then pulled out a small flashlight to shine on the surface, comparing the map with the Water System Map engraved on the box. After two minutes, he handed it back.

“This has to be it. If there’s a fissure beneath that waterfall, then my theory’s confirmed.”

I packed the box away and asked, “There must be more than one waterfall around here. How do you know this is the one?”

He shot me a glance, then stomped the ground with his foot. I heard the crisp clatter of stone. Looking down, I realized we were standing on a path paved entirely with stone slabs. The trail continued down along the cliff, though most of it was crumbling to pieces. Still, it was enough to leave me speechless.

“Looks like you’ve got a lot to learn,” Hou Jinshan said, clapping me on the shoulder before leading the way down the slope.

What’s he so smug about? I already admitted I couldn’t see it.

We followed the broken stone path downhill. At first, it wasn’t too bad—we could use both hands and feet to climb down. But the farther we went, the narrower the path became. With every step, slabs would fall away in chunks. Eventually, we were walking along a ledge barely half a meter wide, with a sheer drop just inches away.

The roar of the waterfall was deafening. We were slipping and sliding, yelling just to hear each other.

“No good! We can’t go any farther!” Hou Jinshan clung to a rock, looking like a wreck. “This path must’ve been connected to the other side originally! But something split the mountain, and now the trail ends here!”

I’d been in a tomb once before, so I knew how critical safety ropes were for jungle expeditions. Last time, we ran into all kinds of trouble because we didn’t bring enough. So this time, I came prepared—half our packs were stuffed with rope, heavy as hell.

We were now just a few dozen meters from the waterfall. A massive chasm, like a crack in the sky, separated our cliff from the opposite mountain. The gap was deep and sheer, completely severing the two sides.

I wiped the water from my face and shouted, “If we go back and try to circle around, it’ll take us days! We don’t have enough food for that! Given the situation, rappelling down is our only option!”

“You little brat! You got no sense of self-preservation! Look at that drop! If you fall, there won’t even be a body left to find! Rappelling, my ass!” Hou Jinshan cursed.

This cliff wasn’t much different from the Side Chamber we’d seen before, the one lined with iron chains and hanging corpses. It wasn’t terribly high, but the spray from the waterfall would make the descent tricky. The longest rope I brought was only forty meters, so we’d need to find a foothold partway down.

“If it’s too risky, we should go around. No point wasting time here!” Li Wanchou said. He seemed to have a fear of heights—he’d been clinging to the inner wall the whole time.

I squinted up at the nearest tree. Its roots were thick and sturdy, and the canopy slanted out over the cliffside—perfect for anchoring the rope for our first descent. Then I looked down and noticed the ground below was dotted with massive protruding rocks.

“I’ve got a plan! Trust me, we don’t need to take the long way around!” I shouted, stopping Lai Qi just as she was about to climb back.

First, I tore off a short length of rope from the side of my pack and attached a makeshift grappling hook to secure myself on the steep slope. With both hands free, I pulled out the main rope from my bag. Xiao Wu saw what I was doing and came over to help me lift it.

I raised one end of the rope and looped it around the thick tree root, tying a knot the way I remembered Tian Tinghan doing it last time.

“Young Master, where’d you learn all this? They teach this stuff in college now?” Xiao Wu joked.

“Nope. Just a hobby,” I replied.

Once everything was ready, I said, “Don’t worry. There are plenty of rocks to land on below. Just descend to the rope’s limit, then we’ll set a new anchor point and keep going.”

“Anyone want to try first? We’ve got the safety rope.”

No one answered. Li Wanchou was shivering from the water and didn’t say a word. I knew how this worked—when something could go horribly wrong, they always sent a guinea pig first. Only after confirming it was foolproof would big shots like them be willing to follow.

And clearly, that guinea pig was going to be me.

I stepped forward and tugged on the rope, but Xiao Wu suddenly snatched it from my hands. He grinned and said, “Young Master, I get what you’re trying to do. Let me go first. You’ve got more tricks up your sleeve—if something goes wrong, you’ll still be up here to figure out a solution.”

As I watched him loop the rope around himself, a sudden doubt crept in—was I being reckless? I hadn’t tested this plan in any real situation. It was based on a sliver of experience that barely even counted. Compared to this risky shortcut, taking the long way around would’ve been much safer.

Still, I handed Xiao Wu the walkie-talkie and tightened the rope. Without hesitation, he stepped off the edge, using the cliff face to guide his descent.

I lay flat on the ground above, eyes glued to the rope anchored around the tree root. After a tense ten minutes, the rope stretched taut. I quickly grabbed the walkie-talkie and called out, “Almost there, almost there—Xiao Wu, can you reach the rocks?”

After a moment, his voice crackled back, “Young Master, I’ve got a foothold. Send down the rest of the rope.”

At his words, I immediately unfastened the rope from the tree root, crawled to the edge, and shouted into the walkie-talkie, “Catch it! I’m tossing it down!”

I threw the rope over the edge, heart pounding so hard it felt like it might burst. Half a minute later, Xiao Wu’s voice came through again: “Got it. I’m continuing the descent.”

I finally let out a breath of relief and replied, “Be careful. Make sure that knot is locked tight!”

Li Wanchou scooted closer and clapped a hand on my shoulder. He was all smiles now, though he hadn’t lifted a finger earlier. “Didn’t expect you to be this sharp, kid. If this works, we’ll save three or four days of travel.”

I shoved his arm off without hesitation, not bothering to hide my disdain. I shot him a sideways glance and asked, “If you’re so afraid of dying, what the hell are you doing in a place like this? If something happens inside, I’ve got every reason to believe you’ll throw me under the bus to save your own skin.”

Li Wanchou’s face darkened instantly. The next second, he pointed at me and exploded, lunging forward. “What the fuck did you just say?! Say that again, I dare you!”

“You’re a coward! Yeah, I said it again—what of it? Just now you were mute as a corpse, pretending nothing was happening. Don’t think having a bit of money makes you better than the rest of us!” That was probably the first time in my life I’d ever cursed someone out like that.

I dodged back, and Li Wanchou missed. But he didn’t back off—instead, he got even more aggressive, reaching for the safety rope strapped to my body.

Hou Jinshan quickly stepped in and held him back. “Boss Li, Boss Li, calm down, calm down. He’s just a kid. Probably got scared earlier. Come on, what’s the point of arguing with a kid?”

I rolled my eyes at him. Li Wanchou pointed at me again and shouted, “Say one more word, and I swear I’ll kill you!”

I didn’t have time for him—Xiao Wu’s voice came through the walkie-talkie again. He’d reached the bottom.