Chapter 76: Finding Reinforcements

When I said that, He Yu laughed. “What kind of good stuff could you possibly have? Just to eat your bowl of braised noodles, I’d have to run a few hundred kilometers.”

I chuckled too. “Ever heard of the legendary Nieyao Ghost Market Map?”

There was a sudden clatter on the other end of the line, like chopsticks hitting the floor. Then He Yu started shouting, “Boss lady! Check, please!”

“What’s going on with you today, Xiao He? You’re not eating anymore?”

“I’ve got to catch a train to see my brother. No time,” I heard He Yu chuckle, then he lowered his voice and asked, “What are you up to, man? Where’d you hear about that map?”

I replied slowly, “What if I told you I’ve got a partial photo of it? Would you want to see it?”

There was a pause on his end, like he was getting into a car. As soon as the door shut, he said, “Driver, just follow the GPS, alright?”

Then he turned back to me. “You son of a gun, you really are my brother. I knew following you would never go wrong. Wait, you seriously have a part of that map? I’ve only ever seen sketches in old family notes. Where’d you get the real thing?”

His words reminded me of what Fourth Brother had said earlier, so I told him the truth. “It’s not the original, but it’s a high-quality replica. I took the photo a couple of days ago in a cave ruin in Shennongjia, Hubei. The replica’s pretty old, and the map is complex. That’s why I wanted your opinion.”

“What the hell?! You went to Hubei? Damn, Little Yao, you’ve got guts. You should’ve told me earlier! If I’d known, I would’ve gone with you. I’ve been stuck in Xi’an for three miserable months, getting pushed around. I swear, I was this close to moving into the mountains and becoming a hermit.” He Yu slapped his thigh.

I laughed. “Weren’t you going to Beijing to see your uncle? How’d you end up in Xi’an?”

He Yu cursed. “Don’t even bring it up! I did go to Beijing to see my uncle. At first, I thought he’d pulled some strings to get me a good gig in Xi’an. Turns out, the bastard sent me there to dig up tombs. A Han dynasty tomb, no less. I’ve been with the archaeology team for a whole month now.”

I didn’t interrupt, and he kept ranting. Even through the phone, I could feel his frustration boiling over. “They’ve got me cleaning up broken porcelain shards all day. Fine, I did the grunt work, no complaints. But after all this time, you’d think they’d let me see some of the big finds, right? Nope. Not even a glimpse. How the hell am I supposed to document anything if I can’t even see it?”

As I listened to his tirade, I started thinking. He Yu didn’t seem to know anything about what happened in Hubei. He was in Xi’an the whole time. That probably meant the He Family hadn’t been deeply involved in the Nine-Ring Project. But that didn’t make sense. The Tian and He families had always been closely tied. If Tian Yuqing was involved, why wasn’t the He Family?

Maybe He Yu’s rank in the family was too low. It wouldn’t be surprising if the elders kept him in the dark.

“So, are you still in Hubei?” He Yu suddenly asked. “Where should I meet you?”

Snapping back to the present, I said, “Head to Kaifeng. Once you get there, I’ll show you the map and we’ll talk. I need to swing by school first, but you can crash at my rental for a while.”

He Yu agreed immediately. “Alright, I’ll call you when I get to Kaifeng. But make a spare key for me, will you? I’m not shameless enough to go hunting you down at school.”

We wrapped up the call in just a few sentences. He Yu had to go pack. Even though he was a nobody on the archaeology team, he still had to finish cleaning the current batch of porcelain shards. So it’d be about a week before he could buy a ticket to Kaifeng.

As for me, I spent the following days quietly recovering, getting discharged, and returning to school. To keep an eye on me, Fourth Brother even rented a one-bedroom apartment for Xiao Wu right next to mine. Honestly, I wasn’t worried about Xiao Wu reporting my whereabouts.

Even if he did, so what? It’s not like Fourth Brother would come all the way to Kaifeng just to beat me up.

Four days later, I lugged my suitcase back to the dorm. For some reason, it felt like I’d returned to the human world. Listening to my roommates bickering at dawn, nodding off in class in the morning—after a few days of this, I finally felt like I’d recovered. No danger, no life-or-death situations.

Just the usual questions: what to eat for lunch, what to eat for dinner, and how to skip class without getting caught.

Turns out, my old life was incredibly dull. So dull that I could sit by the river all day just to feel a bit of that wild freedom again. But even the trees here couldn’t compare to the towering giants in the heart of Shennongjia.

I endured this monotonous life for a full week. Just when I was about to lose it, He Yu finally called.

He said he’d arrived and asked me to pick him up.

I skipped a class to get a spare key made for him, then rushed out like he was my personal savior.

The place I rented wasn’t big. Originally, I used it to store mechanical models and didn’t live there. Now that He Yu was coming, I dismantled and sold most of the stuff. With the space cleared, it was more than enough for two people.

As soon as He Yu saw me, he threw an arm around my shoulder and pulled me into a big bear hug. Then he patted his stomach and wailed dramatically, “I missed you so much! Look at what that place did to me—I’m skin and bones!”

I played along. “Then let’s go out for dinner tonight, get you something to make up for it?”

“No, no, no. No fancy meals. Just treat me to braised noodles. I want two bowls.” He Yu held up two fingers in front of me, making me laugh and shake my head.

I handed him the spare key, then used mine to unlock the anti–tomb raiding lock on the door. Just then, Xiao Wu must’ve heard the noise and peeked out from across the hall. “Young Master, your friend’s here?”

“Yeah, he’s staying with me for a few days,” I replied simply.

Ever since he became Fourth Brother’s errand boy, I’d been keeping my conversations with him to a bare minimum. One sentence was already more than enough.

He Yu immediately picked up on the shift in my attitude. As he stepped through the door, he started making exaggerated faces at me like he’d gone completely off the rails. I told him twice to come in properly, but he ignored me, so I just lifted my leg and kicked him inside, then quickly shut the door and locked it behind us.

“Hey! What was that for?” He Yu asked with a grin. “Who was that guy? You looked so on edge, I almost got scared myself.”

I put my hands on my hips and sighed. “Someone from my Fourth Brother’s shop. He sent him to keep an eye on me.”

“Oho!” He Yu laughed gleefully, clearly enjoying my misfortune. I jabbed him in the side to wipe that smug look off his face.

But he quickly sobered up and said, “Still, classmate Xiao Gan, you didn’t call me over just to show me a cropped photo, did you? Whatever you’re planning, you’d better explain it clearly. No tricks, no dodging. Don’t use the same schemes you pull on your Fourth Brother with me—they won’t work!”

I hadn’t planned on hiding anything from He Yu. Right now, I needed someone to help me—someone completely uninvolved with my Fourth Brother and someone I could trust.

Your Lord Gan is top of the class in our major. Don’t go skipping class like your Lord Gan does.