Chapter 30

Zhang Qiu was laden with anxiety for worrying about Li Shu's face and also despised himself as a hopeless face-con[1]. Now, life was the most important thing.

He was worried for a long time. He dared not move his feet. As soon as Li Shu and Pixian Huiw.a.n.g looked particularly calm, he asked, “What's the plan?”

“No idea.”

Zhang Qiu:…

I don't know what to say, as long as you guys are happy. He looked all around; the walls were polished very smoothly. If one wanted to climb the wall and hang on to the top of the tunnel, it would be impossible. The tunnel ahead was a hundred meters long. He didn't know how much water there was behind it; if it was less, than running with speed would be alright but if it was a lot, then it would be impossible.

Looking back and forth, it seemed that neither way was feasible.

“I've raked my mind and can't come up with a viable escape plan.” Zhang Qiu admitted that his brain was not working well.

Li Shu pointed to the top and Zhang Qiu said quickly, “It's too slippery to go without exerting oneself.”

“Then hold onto me tightly.”

As soon as the voice fell, the sound of “thud, thud, thud–” came from one end of the pitch-black tomb pa.s.sage, like the collision of rocks. .h.i.tting the ground. The sound was getting closer and closer. Zhang Qiu could even hear someone calling for help.

“It's Red–” stupefied, he swallowed back 'sister' from the tip of his tongue. Zhang Qiu's scalp was numb with Li Shu's scorching gaze. His heart was flowing with tears, but on his face he said carelessly, “That woman is crying for help.”

Li Shu asked coolly, “What, you want to be the hero to save the beauty?”

Zhang Qiu was going to cry and singing conquest[2] to Li Shu. He didn't know how to answer that.

Li Shu saw Zhang Qiu's pitiful appearance, hooked his lips and laughed. Li Shu was an annoying goblin as exactly as Zhang Qiu suspected. Being dazzled to blind, he was even willing to be killed by Li Shu!

Sure enough, he was a face-con. He was hopelessly planted on Li Shu.

The sound of 'thud thud thud—' was getting closer and closer. The cries for help and the sounds of footsteps were disordered and complicated. There were gunshots among them. Pixian Huiw.a.n.g lowered his ear, looked at Li Shu and said, “A large number of people coming this way.”

Zhang Qiu hadn't responded yet, Li Shu held him around his waist and ran forward quickly. But in a moment, he heard the sound of brick and water overlapping behind him. “Crash–” “Water-water are coming!” By listening to the sound, the water volume should not be small. His words had not finished and his whole body was in the air, wrapped in Li Shu's arms, his back stuck to Li Shu's chest.

He didn't know how Li Shu did it; his hands and feet were firmly attached to the top of the wall and plus, there was another man in his arms. Although Zhang Qiu was not heavy, he was also a man, without a grip, Li Shu still had to support his whole weight. Zhang Qiu was too frightened to move and his whole body was closely attached to the stone wall.

“The stone wall is cold. Don't stick too close.”

They were so close that Li Shu's voice was sticking to his ear. He even kissed the tip of his ear. Zhang Qiu was irritated and whispered, “Don't mess around, I'm weak all over and you're carrying more weight.”

“Doesn't matter.”

But he did not hara.s.sed Zhang Qiu anymore.

Zhang Qiu was relieved. He had no room to look down, so he just listened to the sound of the water rus.h.i.+ng. Shortly after they ran away, the wall behind them burst. That's to say that they're in a position where the water current hit the highest. He wondered if it would hurt Li Shu. Zhang Qiu put his whole body up and wished he could be a piece of paper. “Li Shu, get closer to me.”

“SongBao is so enthusiastic!”

“…” Sooner or later, he would have a chance to top Li Shu!!

“Ah! My leg, my leg.”

“Don't go over. Come back. There's something wrong with the water.”

“Help me, help me!”

At the end of the tomb pa.s.sage, came the cry of several people tearing their hearts and lungs, crying of pain. That group of people came running over and might have been stained with the water. Indeed, there was something wrong with the water.

As the water slowed down, Zhang Qiu twisted his neck to see the water level and his lips felt cold. Li Shu's lips came over his and they exchanged kisses.

Lips separated, Zhang Qiu gave Li Shu a talking-to while gasping for breath, "Without considering the place and time, why do you always like to be—be—" be in heat!

“Obviously you were enjoying it just now, even embracing my neck and kissing me in a trance.”

Unexpectedly, he was taken aback again. Zhang Qiu was angry but had nothing to say. At the side, a black shadow climbed over the top of the stone wall, like a gecko –it was Pixian Huiw.a.n.g, whose long nails glistened sharply when his hands exchanged in the darkness.

At this moment Zhang Qiu really realized that Pixian Huiw.a.n.g was a big zongzi aged more than 3,000 years.

“SongBao, now turn over and hold my back with your legs around my waist.”

He was now facing the stone wall and holding Li Shu in this posture was really shameful, but Zhang Qiu did not hesitate for a second. The more he tangled, the harder Li Shu worked. So very cautiously he turned around in his narrow embrace and held Li Shu's back tightly with both hands. Their breaths mingled together. Zhang Qiu's ears were red, his head was on Li Shu's chest and his legs were around Li Shu's waist.

The water in the tomb pa.s.sage was shallower as the time pa.s.sed, but the water was too much and extended for a long time before reaching to footfall level. The climbing path was too long. Every time Li Shu changed hands, Zhang Qiu fell down a little. Zhang Qiu held him tighter in fear. In the darkness, where Zhang Qiu could not see, Li Shu's lips bend down and intentionally pushed upward when he changed his legs to climb forward.

Step by step, Zhang Qiu felt that the time was long, his root ears went red.

There was a hard thing between the legs. Every time the legs alternated, the one poking at him rose a little bit by bit. Zhang Qiu was embarra.s.sed, but he could not change his position.

“Have we arrived yet?” He's about to choke on it when it's worn down!

“There are still a few steps to go.”

Li Shu's voice sounded decent, if you ignore the thing that was as hard as brick.

"… Don't blame me for making a move, I'll be rude." It's the voice of Pixian Huiw.a.n.g.

Finally arrived, Zhang Qiu breathed a sigh of relief, Li Shu accelerated a few steps, lightly landed while holding him. The position was right at the intersection. They landed and at the same time several flashlights suddenly hit them from the opposite. Zhang Qiu opened his eyes, only heard a familiar voice.

“Little junior brother!”

“Senior brother?”

Li Shu was going to step forward to attack but paused. He took Zhang Qiu in his arms to prevent the other people from doing something.

“It's my people. Put down the gun first. Lu Feng, don't you mind?”

Lu Feng? Wasn't this the local tyrant who asked Pixian Huiw.a.n.g to sell the bead in the hotel? He was refused and went straight away, but who would expect him to catch up here.

The flashlights and the guns were withdrawn together. Zhang Qiu saw it was really Senior Hua Ting, he did not know how to open his mouth for a moment. He was not familiar with Hua Ting, but after more than a month together, he could see how enthusiastic the other person was. However, because of these, he was afraid to talk with each other in the tomb. There were many guns on the other party. In case Li Shu and Pixian Huiw.a.n.g got involved, it would be bad.

The other party had more than a dozen people, all looked like bodyguards. Two of them were standing in the middle looked fl.u.s.tered, their foreheads were glistening with sweat. They made painful moans. Their feet and legs were wrapped. The bandages had been dyed red. At a glance, it was known that they had run into the water, and Red Sister stood s.h.i.+vering in the middle of the bodyguards.

Taking the lead was Lu Feng. Pixian Huiw.a.n.g looked at him coldly. If it weren't for Li Shu, they would have started fighting.

“Jin LaoDa is not here.”

Li Shu opened his mouth lightly. Zhang Qiu knew in an instant that they went down to the pit to find something. He didn't know exactly what they were looking for, but no matter what, they could not let Jin LaoDa beat them to it.

Pixian Huiw.a.n.g understood, and asked the Red Sister who was surrounded by the bodyguards in a cold voice, “What about Jin LaoDa?”

“What Jin LaoDa –” Red Sister stop abruptly after seeing Pixian Huiw.a.n.g's cold eyes. When she thought about the things in the pit, she immediately understood, “You mean that the monkey is Jin LaoDa? No wonder…”

Li Shu did not like to listen to the woman's realization, “Where on earth is he?”

Red Sister shrank unconsciously and stretched her finger to a ditch opposite to the waterway.

Hua Ting added, “We heard the woman asking for help, followed by who-knows-what monster. It was wearing stone armor all over. Strangely, that stone armored monster came here and went back.”

Zhang Qiu looked at Li Shu and asked which way to go, but found Li Shu staring at Hua Ting's face in a daze.

He didn't know what to think. He coughed. Li Shu looked away and pointed ahead. “Here.”

On the left and right was waterway that was not for walk. On the other hand, there was a stone armored monster. There were only two directions, front and back. But strangely, Li Shu had never chosen to go to the back of the tomb since they entered the tomb.

“There are zongzis inside.” Li Shu seemed to know Zhang Qiu's thought.

But how could Li Shu tell that there were zongzis inside from across the stone door?

Jin LaoDa disappeared in the direction of the stone armored monster. They were now walking straight ahead. It was reasonable that they should follow the path of the stone armored monster to find Jin LaoDa, but Li Shu's words were certain that it was convincing for no reason.

Li Shu took the lead, and Hua Ting behind him suddenly exclaimed, “Your back is injured, did you get wet?”

“What injury?” Zhang Qiu looked back and took a breath of air. The clothes at the back of Li Shu had been corroded. The flesh and skin were sticking to the clothes; his heart felt painful. He dared not touch, “Why don't you say that you were hurt?!”

“Lu Feng, wrap it up for him.” Hua Ting said.

Zhang Qiu's backpack had already been thrown in the waterway. Li Shu's was the same. Pixian Huiw.a.n.g pulled out his medicine bag in quick action. Zhang Qiu took it and disinfected it first. His hands were shaking. He was so angry and afraid of hurting Li Shu. If Hua Ting hadn't discovered it earlier, Li Shu would not have said so.

“It's nothing.” Li Shu took Zhang Qiu's trembling hand and added, “I don't feel hurt, really.”

Zhang Qiu's eyes were red and angry. “It's so serious. How can it not hurt?”

“I'll do it.” Suddenly Lu Feng opened his mouth next to him.  “Lu Feng is a doctor,” Hua Ting explained.

Li Shu's back looked so serious that Zhang Qiu didn't know how to do it. Hearing Hua Ting said so, he handed the medicine bag to Lu Feng. Lu Feng was a professional, so he sterilized and bandaged it in three or two times.

“Your wound looks alright.” Lu Feng pointed to his bodyguard. “These two guys are soaked in the water and their feet will soon be visible with white bones.”

Li Shu saw, when Lu Feng finished saying this, Zhang Qiu's face became more uglier, he nodded and thanked, “Go first.” He reached for Zhang Qiu's hand and whispered, “It hurts a little.”

"Ah! Do you want to rest? Stay still and walk slowly." Zhang Qiu himself did not know what he was talking about and had no idea what to do.

“Just blow it for me is fine.”

Zhang Qiu was even more angry when he heard Li Shu's teasing tone. Even more angrier at how he could be kidding when all the injuries were so serious. When he thought that Li Shu had crawled through the narrow tunnel with his injuries, his heart could not bear. He was afraid that Li Shu was really in pain. He stopped for a few seconds and blew it very cautiously.

Li Shu knew shyness was very important to Zhang Qiu, but he didn't expect that because his words which could be heard as a joke, Zhang Qiu unexpectedly really helped him blow it in front of so many people. His heart felt touched, he took Zhang Qiu's hand. “It sure didn't hurt.”

“You d.a.m.n liar!” Zhang Qiu said that, but he was relieved.

Having delayed some time, they continued moving ahead. In the middle of journey, Zhang Qiu heard Hua Ting talked about the origin of the pit, "… My body has a strange disease; that kind of fatal disease. He wants to find it for me when he heard that the Phoenix Bead can cure all kinds of diseases."

“Senior brother, to tell you the truth, if ordinary people use the Phoenix Bead, they die faster. I'm not deceiving you.” Zhang Qiu kindly advised.

Lu Feng next to him heard it, and his face sank because Zhang Qiu did not speak like he's lying. Hua Ting saw and quietly reached his hand over to Lu Feng and held it tightly. They looked at each other. Hua Ting whispered, “We don't need the bead anymore.”

Lu Feng said nothing.

At the front, Pixian Hui w.a.n.g gripped the bead and sneered; dared to get it, regardless of whom, he would kill the other party.

This path was safe and sound. It went straight to the main tomb. The stone door of the main tomb was opened as if someone had been in it. Zhang Qiu looked at Li Shu, “Jin LaoDa?”

“It's the smell of Jin LaoDa.”

The atmosphere suddenly became tense. Zhang Qiu held the dagger in his hand, and the bodyguards brought by Lu Feng in the back also got energetic. It was strange in the tomb.

Everything was took in at a glance with several flashlights illuminated the stone door. Hua Ting saw the inscription next to the stone door and looked at it. He exclaimed, “Junior brother, it's the words for Gu Mu Country.”

Gu Mu Country!

Zhang Qiu's heart stopped. He remembered the Gu Mu Country tomb in Qinling Mountain. His face turned white. This was a shadow to his life.

Because both of them had done some research, especially Hua Ting, a proud student brought by the professor and the elders of his family also had history professors; he knew Gu Mu Country in more detail than Zhang Qiu. Even these days, he had studied Gu Mu's written style with some of its logic. Now when he saw the inscriptions, he could translate them.

“The owner of this tomb should be a general. Look at the same year as the one in Qinling Mountain.”

After Hua Ting finished, Li Shu looked back at Hua Ting with deep meaning in his eyes.

Pixian Hui w.a.n.g had pushed open the stone door. Li Shu took back his line of sight, pulled Zhang Qiu's hand behind him. The lights from flashlights were s.h.i.+ning around. They only saw a black lacquer figure on the coffin in the middle. From the look of its clothes from back view, astonis.h.i.+ngly it was Jin LaoDa.

“It's Jin LaoDa!”

Zhang Qiu's words had just fallen, almost in a split second there were several gunshots, b.l.o.o.d.y smells and shouts behind him. The flashlights that people at the back held rolled down to the ground, the lights swayed about, and only a thin shadow leaped up.

The shadow's speed was very fast. When Zhang Qiu still hadn't reacted, his neck was grabbed by cold, stiff-dry claws. It was actually the Red Sister who was surrounded by the bodyguards in the middle. It was the two bodyguards with the injured legs who fired the gun. In contrast to the dying look of pain just now, they were very energetic, attacking the nearby people all over like crazy. Hua Ting fell to the ground, his chest was b.l.o.o.d.y, and his clothes were dyed with blood. Lu Feng was giving first aid because of the strong b.l.o.o.d.y smell.

Li Shu stood beside him, cut his palm and dropped his blood on Hua Ting's injured chest.

“Fellow Li Shu, we meet again.”

Jin LaoDa's voice unexpectedly sounded in his ear.

Footnotes:

[1] face complex; obsess with beautiful face

[2] from online gaming “somebody kneeling down and singing conquest”, which means that I am strong, the boss. It should means that ZQ surrendered to LS.