Chapter 58: Sudden Upheaval

I hadn’t even finished speaking when Hou Jinshan burst out laughing. “Kid, trying to trick me again? This time, I’m not falling for it.”

My thoughts had become much clearer now. Earlier, I’d been influenced by He Yu, but ever since we entered the cave this time, I’d been paying close attention to the passage of time. From the moment we started diving until now, exactly two hours had passed. I figured it was time to stop and sort out my thoughts.

Li Wanchou had originally been the one leading this expedition. Now that he’d unexpectedly died at the bottom of the lake, it meant that the dynamic among the six of us who remained needed a serious reshuffling.

According to Hou Jinshan, it was Li Wanchou who had approached him at the beginning of the year—inviting him to put this team together. Lai Qi had originally been working under Hou Jinshan, but when Li Wanchou offered to double the pay to hire both him and Chou Zai, Lai Qi immediately switched sides.

Though there was some tension, Lai Qi getting this job was still thanks to Hou Jinshan. Besides Lai Qi, Hou Jinshan had also brought along a guy named Xiao Zhao, who seemed to be in the antiques and jade business. But he’d always kept a low profile, usually hanging at the back of the group, so I hadn’t paid him much attention.

As I thought about this, I instinctively glanced around—and then something happened that made my skin crawl.

I shouted, “Hou Jinshan! Where’s that guy Zhao you brought?!”

Hou Jinshan looked around, clearly just realizing something was off. He spun in circles like I had, then slapped his thigh. “What the hell—this is freaky! Where’d he go? Things got chaotic just now, and we sealed the door so fast—did he not make it inside?!”

Chou Zai was sprawled on the ground without a care in the world. He calmly pulled a cigarette from a waterproof pouch in his pocket, lit it, and took a drag before saying, “No way. Lai Qi and I aren’t blind. When we surfaced, he was already gone. Either he got swept away by the current and eaten by fish, or he pissed himself and ran off.”

“You sure you didn’t just miss him?” Lai Qi snapped.

Chou Zai sneered, “He was right behind me, damn it. You think I wouldn’t know if someone was on my tail?”

That’s when I realized something was seriously wrong. I clearly remembered that when we regrouped after surfacing, there were six heads coming out of the water. But if, as Chou Zai said, Xiao Zhao had already gone missing during the dive—just like I had—then how could I have seen six people?

I thought back. The lighting had been dim, so I’d instinctively counted the beams from their flashlights. There had indeed been six. But now that I recalled more carefully, I vaguely remembered that one of them hadn’t been holding a flashlight at all.

Could it be that the person I saw wasn’t Xiao Zhao… but something else entirely? Something that had blended in with us the whole way—and none of us had noticed?

But how was that even possible?

After searching the area twice and confirming that Xiao Zhao had indeed fallen behind, Hou Jinshan said, “Fate’s fate. We can’t do anything for him now. Everyone, check your gear. We lost a bunch of supplies when those butterflies swarmed us earlier—no idea how much food we’ve got left. Let’s regroup and move on.”

I’d tied all the zippers on my backpack shut with string—something I’d learned from He Yu. He said that in tombs, anything could happen, so it was best to seal your pack tight. That way, if you had to run, you wouldn’t have to worry about losing anything.

While the others were checking their gear, I widened the beam of my flashlight and scanned our surroundings. We were currently standing on a half-suspended stone platform. The entire ruin was massive—my flashlight couldn’t even reach the ceiling. Water dripped from above now and then, and the stone beneath our feet was roughly hewn.

I could still hear the roar of rushing water. I took a few steps forward and realized that the two stone walls ahead were completely hollowed out. The platform itself hung in midair, flanked by carved murals of court ladies on either side. Beneath us, a torrent of water surged noisily.

This current was clearly different from the lake water earlier. I suspected it was an underground stream flowing beneath the pool. The water here was fast and loud, and the riverbed was wider. If anyone fell in, there was no telling where they’d be swept off to.

Xiao Wu came up beside me, also staring at the bridge-like stone platform ahead. He looked curious, as if he wanted to go take a closer look.

I grabbed his arm and pulled him back. “I’ve got a bad feeling about this. This bridge is way too out of place. Let’s not act rashly.”

After what happened earlier—getting dragged into the water by that stone statue—I couldn’t help but overthink things. Technically, this wasn’t a tomb, so there shouldn’t be too many traps. But the iron chains connected to that statue underwater were just too bizarre to explain.

Lai Qi slung his backpack over his shoulder, shot me a scornful look, and walked straight past me onto the bridge. He even turned back to raise an eyebrow at me as if mocking my hesitation.

He was the first person to show me open hostility, even though, as far as I could remember, I’d never crossed him. That air of superiority seemed to come out of nowhere. Maybe I just hadn’t noticed it before. Or maybe, back when Li Wanchou was still alive, Lai Qi had felt overshadowed.

I heard him say, “Kid, you’re new to this, huh? This is just a ruined shell, not a real tomb. What are you so scared of? Though I guess I should thank you—if it weren’t for you, that bastard Li wouldn’t have gone down.”

This guy used to run with a Tomb-Raiding Faction, and his speech was full of their jargon. I’d picked up a lot of their lingo just to communicate with people like him. When he said “ruined shell,” he meant something like a cenotaph, a symbolic grave, or a ruin. “Tomb” was self-explanatory.

I didn’t quite get what he meant, but I still shot back, “Why did you want him dead? Just for the money?”

Lai Qi had already turned around, but when he heard what I said, he turned back with a grin. He jumped down from the bridge again and walked a few steps closer. “Exactly. Now you’re finally making sense. We’re all in this for the money—simple as that. This was supposed to be a straightforward deal. Li was paying, and we were just his hired muscle. But then he decided to threaten us.”

As he spoke, he lifted his coat to reveal a dagger and a cold steel blade tucked at his waist. Then he spat on the ground. “Li Wanchou’s got one foot in the grave with that terminal illness of his. But us? We’re still young and full of fire. And he thinks he can drag us down with him? Screw that!”

Lai Qi drew the cold steel from his waist. Xiao Wu immediately stepped in, yanking me behind him. His tone softened noticeably as he said, “Easy there, brother. We’re not even close to that point yet. If we’re gonna double-cross anyone, at least wait till we’ve seen the goods.”

Only then did I snap out of it. I turned to look—at some point, Chou Zai had silently moved to a spot just two steps behind me. And Hou Jinshan was leaning casually against a rock, puffing on his tobacco pipe like a mountain unmoved by the wind.

“Hou Jinshan! What the hell are you doing?” I cursed him silently—damn old bastard, pulling tricks right under my nose. I should’ve kicked him out the moment I had the chance.

Hou Jinshan took a long drag and clicked his tongue. “Tsk. Gan Ji, I’d suggest you stop being difficult. We’ve come this far already. You’re not exactly the obedient type—and you’re a real pain in my ass. I was the one who let you two walk away, remember? But you just had to screw it up. Seven, strip everything off them.”

Chou Zai lunged forward like an arrow loosed from a bow. In just a few moves, he had Xiao Wu locked down. Lai Qi was even faster—he yanked the pack off my back with brute force. Xiao Wu struggled like mad, but Chou Zai slammed him to the ground without a second thought.

I’ve lived for decades, but I’d never seen anything like this. My legs went weak, but I still staggered toward Hou Jinshan.

I didn’t even make it two steps before Lai Qi came charging in from the side and slammed me to the ground. He didn’t hold back—not one bit. The back of my head cracked against the stone floor, and the impact sent stars bursting behind my eyes.

Dizzy and disoriented, I glared up as Hou Jinshan walked over. He crouched down and pulled a small, crude pistol from his sleeve, pointing it straight at me. I’d gone hunting in the mountains with my grandfather before—I recognized it instantly. A rabbit gun. At this range, it could blow me to pieces.

“You’re the precious one from the old Gan Family. I don’t know how you managed to cozy up to the Lu and He families again, but don’t worry—I won’t lay a finger on you.” He tapped my face with the barrel as he spoke.

“But your buddy? That’s another story. If you want him to walk out of here alive, then from now on, you’d better shut your mouth and do exactly as I say. Got it?”