Chapter 66: An Unexpected Reunion

This time, I was unconscious for much longer than before. I had a long, drawn-out nightmare. In the dream, I didn’t even know when I had climbed down from the bronze pillar, but I suddenly saw Lai Qi emerging from the water in an eerie, unnatural posture. He was holding a knife and chasing me around the base of the pillar, shouting that I had to pay with my life.

We ran around the massive pillar three full times. In the end, I couldn’t run anymore, so I turned and fought him. I managed to drag him into waist-deep water. I was choking and coughing from the water that had gotten into my throat, but I didn’t dare loosen my grip.

Rage surged inside me. I forced him down into the water, holding him under with all my strength. Before long, he stopped struggling. Only then did I realize I had drowned him completely. His eyes were wide open in fury, staring at me even in death.

When I turned around, I saw the owl-faced, human-bodied statue standing silently behind me, its eyes lowered as if watching me commit murder.

The moment its eyes lifted and met mine, I woke up in fright. The very next second, my hand instinctively reached for the knife beside me—only to see Lu A’yao and Hou Jinshan sitting across from me.

Lu A’yao was using a knife to poke at a small pile of wood that had a few faint sparks. When he saw I was awake, he stopped. Hou Jinshan was curled up nearby, snoring like thunder.

I couldn’t make sense of the situation. Seeing Lu A’yao here was no different from seeing a ghost.

His presence here was completely unexpected. I didn’t say a word, my hand still gripping the knife on the ground. If this thing in front of me was some ghost in disguise, I had to strike first and take it out.

Lu A’yao gave me a once-over, then lowered his head and went back to coaxing the tiny sparks, trying to spread them to the rest of the wood.

“Your body’s been without sugar for too long. You passed out right after I pulled you up. We’re hiding in the ear of the Relief Sculpture right now. If you don’t believe me, you can go check for yourself, but try not to wander too far.”

He tossed me a flashlight. I caught it but didn’t move, just turned it on and shined it around. Judging by the shape of the stone around us, it really did look like the inside of an ear.

Still, I couldn’t understand how Lu A’yao had suddenly appeared here, and with Hou Jinshan of all people.

I remembered the maze-like illusions from before and felt a wave of anxiety. When I was a kid, my grandfather used to tell ghost stories. He said powerful spirits could create illusions to lure people in. Water ghosts, for example, used them to drag people down and find replacements. But illusions always had flaws. There’d be some telltale sign.

So I narrowed my eyes and scrutinized Lu A’yao sitting across from me. Then I looked at the fire in front of him and asked, “This place is all stone. Where’d you get the wood?”

Lu A’yao sighed and looked up. He pulled a piece of wood from the fire and showed it to me.

“It’s damp in here, and your wound is deep. There’s a risk of infection. There are a lot of hanging coffins on the high stone walls across from us. These are coffin boards.”

Fair enough. I touched the now-dry wound on my abdomen. The logic kind of held up. But this place was too strange. I needed more confirmation.

So I said, “Your hand. Let me see it.”

Lu A’yao gave me a confused look. After a moment’s hesitation, he tossed aside his knife and held out his hand.

I grabbed it and examined it carefully. It was warm. Solid. Not a ghost.

I let go and quietly breathed a sigh of relief. I immediately dropped my knife and sat cross-legged, waving him over.

“Alright, fine. You got any food in your bag? I’m starving.”

Lu A’yao tossed me a small pack from behind him and handed me a bottle of mineral water. I took them both and, without hesitation, pulled out a bagged bun, tore open the plastic, and started devouring it. Only then did my long-lost sense of safety begin to return.

As I ate, I looked up at Lu A’yao and asked, “Hey, what are you doing here? Weren’t you back in Nanjing?”

Lu A’yao’s gaze was fixed on the pitch-black cave outside as he replied, “I did go back to Nanjing for a while. But then I heard that Hou Jinshan had been making frequent trips to Henan. I figured he was looking for you. I was tied up with other matters at the time, and by the time I tried calling you, your phone was completely unreachable. So I asked around and finally tracked this place down. But by the time I got here, you had already gone into the cave with Hou Jinshan and the others. So I took a shortcut.”

He didn’t even glance at me while he spoke, which made me feel like he was hiding something. Not to mention, he didn’t explain any of the details. That kind of vague talk usually meant someone was covering something up. But my wound was aching too much for me to press him on it.

Anyway, it seemed like everyone involved—Yu Jingzi, Hou Jinshan, all of them—had something to hide. I was the only idiot with my thoughts written all over my face.

So I said, “You’re not doing a great job as a bodyguard, huh? I made it all the way here, and you’re telling me this trip doesn’t even count as one of your copper coins?”

Lu A’yao paused, then turned to look at me and said, “This trip doesn’t count.”

I knew it. I knew this guy didn’t come here just to follow me into the mess.

The Lu family is even more rigid and by-the-book than the Tian family. If Lu A’yao had really come to Shennongjia just to stick by me through thick and thin, he would’ve definitely counted this as one of the three copper coins. The fact that he didn’t meant he already knew about this place. He knew what was in here. Maybe he even came specifically for it.

So even though he just saved me, it might’ve just been a convenient detour. That really rubbed me the wrong way.

“So what now? What’s your plan?” I asked.

Lu A’yao turned on his flashlight and pointed toward a spot outside.

“All the mechanisms here have started moving again. They’ve changed the entire structure of the mountain. The way I came in is no longer accessible. But I found another path. It’s narrow, but it leads out. This place is extremely dangerous now. After we rest, I want to get you back to the surface first.”

I couldn’t help but roll my eyes and said bluntly, “I’m not going up. I haven’t finished what I’m doing down here.”

“Gan Ji, the Nine-Ring Jade Casket is in my hands now. Your part is over.” Lu A’yao looked at me calmly, the casket resting behind him.

I immediately reached out for it, but Lu A’yao easily dodged. Frustrated, I said urgently, “It’s not over. The Nine-Ring Jade Casket is only truly safe with me. Do you have any idea what kind of terrifying things happened to it after you left? People died because of that casket. Died. Not natural deaths, do you understand?”

“I know,” Lu A’yao’s gaze was no longer as indifferent as before. There was now a sharp edge in his eyes. “From ancient times to now, countless people have died because of that casket. But that has nothing to do with you. The Nine-Ring Jade Casket is the business of the Five Masters. You are not one of them. Everything here, everything in Gansu, just treat it like a dream. Go back to school and live your life. Don’t get involved. This is the last time I’ll warn you.”

I hated it when people talked down to me like that. The more he acted like this, the more I refused to listen. So my tone hardened too. “Where I go and what I do is none of your business. Even if I decide to enter this line of work right now, it’s still not your place to stop me.”

Lu A’yao fell silent. I was fuming, but had nowhere to vent. It was like talking to a wall with him.

And seriously, how could he say something as tone-deaf as Hou Jinshan? “Countless people have died because of the casket”? As if their lives had nothing to do with him. Then why the hell did he come save me? Is this how the Lu family teaches their younger generation?

Just as I was about to speak again, Hou Jinshan rolled over and woke up. Grinning shamelessly, he said, “Alright, alright, my little masters, let’s all calm down. No more fighting, okay?”

Then I watched him scoot from the far right all the way to the far left, cheerfully fanning the flames next to Lu A’yao. “Heh heh, don’t be mad. He’s just a kid, doesn’t know any better. I told him not to come in when I first arrived, but did he listen? No. Had to follow me in. Now do you believe me? I swear I didn’t lure him in. No one could’ve stopped him.”

I downed half a bottle of mineral water in one go to cool off, then crushed the bottle in my hand and hurled it straight at Hou Jinshan’s head. It hit him with a loud “ow!”

I exploded. “Who the hell said you could talk?! I’m this messed up because of the crap your men pulled. And Xiao Wu—if Xiao Wu dies, I swear I’ll make you pay!”

As I spoke, I grabbed my knife with one hand and tried to stand up to beat him.

“Ahhh! Murder! Help! Little master, save me!” Hou Jinshan scrambled to shield his head and tried to hide behind Lu A’yao, but Lu A’yao shoved him aside, leaving him no choice but to curl up in the corner of the cave.

I’d moved too suddenly. The stitches on my wound pulled open again, and the pain sent me crashing back down to the ground. Lu A’yao rushed over and held my arm to keep me from moving. I gripped the knife still lodged in the stone beside me, pointing it at Hou Jinshan, so furious I couldn’t even get the words out.

“You better shut the hell up. Say one more word and I’ll cut you into pieces!” I shouted, knife aimed at him. Hou Jinshan was so scared he didn’t dare make another sound.

Still fuming, I lowered the knife and turned to Lu A’yao, voice full of fury. I pointed at Hou Jinshan and said, “That old bastard hasn’t told a single truth. The gunshot wound on me? That was his doing. If you believe a word of his bullshit and let him drive a wedge between us, then we’re done. I mean it.”

Lu A’yao looked at the two of us, sighed, then silently pulled out some bandages and gauze.