Chapter 33 Trap

The midnight wind, carrying the barren sands of the suburbs, howled across the tin roofs of the abandoned factory, sounding like the cries of wronged souls trapped inside. Zhang Qiling and Hei Xiazi crouched behind the broken wall surrounding the factory, their shadows making them appear very short—Zhang Qiling's fingertips touched the ground, brushing against the scattered rust fragments, the calluses on his fingertips brushing against the metal shavings, his expression blank, but his eyes had already scanned the factory's three entrances.

Hei Xiazi turned his head to look at him, his sunglasses slipped down to the tip of his nose, revealing the light in his eyes. He didn't speak, but simply nudged Zhang Qiling's arm lightly with his elbow, handing him a silenced pistol—the one Zhang Qiling had retrieved for him when they dealt with the corpse cave in Xiangxi last time, the handle still bearing his handprint. "Two sentries on the east side, their backs to us, I'll take care of the one on the left?"

Zhang Qiling didn't answer, but simply raised his hand and lightly tapped Hei Xiazi's wrist with his fingertips—it was their agreed-upon signal, "You to the left, I to the right, meet at the east iron gate in three minutes." Hei Xiazi smiled, pushed his sunglasses back, and silently crept towards the sentry on the left; Zhang Qiling, gripping the hilt of his black gold ancient sword, the scabbard close to his trouser leg, moved with the lightness of a cat, instantly circling behind the sentry on the right.

Two muffled thuds, almost drowned out by the wind, were heard, and the two sentries fell without a sound. As Zhang Qiling sheathed his sword, Hei Xiazi was already leaning against the iron gate on the east side, waiting for him, toying with the keys he'd found on the sentries. "The mute was quick, though. I'd barely raised my gun when you were done," Hei Xiazi said, reaching out to pat Zhang Qiling's shoulder, but pausing when he touched his clothes—Zhang Qiling's coat was damp with dew from the weeds, and he instinctively brushed it off for him.

Zhang Qiling didn't dodge, but pointed to the bottom of the iron gate: "There's a gap, and there's a smell of blood inside."

Hei Xiazi unlocked the iron gate with his key; the creaking sound of rust scraping against the metal was particularly jarring in the night. He stepped inside first, then turned back to reach out and pull Zhang Qiling along—Zhang Qiling didn't reach out, but followed behind him, his footsteps echoing in the path Hei Xiazi had taken, as if afraid of triggering some mechanism. The factory was covered in a thick layer of dust. Moonlight streamed through the broken windowpanes, casting dappled patterns on the floor. Besides the smells of machine oil and rust, there was also a faint, strange odor of disinfectant in the air.

"Dumb guy, over here." Black Bear's voice came from behind a pile of abandoned machine tools, tinged with suppressed wariness. Zhang Qiling walked over and saw an underground entrance hidden behind the machine tools. The iron cover had been pried open, revealing a downward staircase covered in fresh dirt—clearly someone had just walked by.

Hei Xiazi started walking down the steps, testing their weight with each step and glancing back at Zhang Qiling every now and then: "Slow down, these steps look like they're going to collapse." Zhang Qiling followed behind him, his gaze sweeping over the moss on the steps. Suddenly, he stopped and grabbed Hei Xiazi's wrist: "There's blood on the ground."

Black Bear looked down and, sure enough, saw several drops of still-drying blood on the steps, dark red, extending deep into the passage. "Is that Scarface Li's?" he frowned. "What's Old Qiu up to? Sending him to deliver a message during the day, and then bringing him here at night?"

“Barefoot.” Zhang Qiling’s voice was soft, but firm. He crouched down and touched the bloodstains with his fingertips; the blood was still warm—the person must have been taken down not long ago.

Black Bear stood up, patted him on the back, and brushed the dust off his shoulders: "Even if it's bait, we have to go down and take a look. The clues to the bronze door are still in Old Qiu's hands; we can't let him get away." After saying that, he took the lead and went down, this time walking even slower, his ear pressed against the wall of the passage, listening to the sounds inside.

At the end of the passage was a rusty iron door, from which a faint light shone and the faint sounds of instruments humming could be heard. Zhang Qiling pressed his ear against the door for a moment, then tapped lightly on the door panel—he was assessing the size of the space behind it. “Only one person is speaking; it must be Jude Kao.”

Black Bear gently pushed open the door, and both of them paused—the basement before them was spacious, with an operating table in the center. The person strapped to the table was none other than Scarface Li, who had delivered the message earlier that day. His chest rose and fell slightly, clearly still alive, but his arms and legs were covered in transparent tubes connected to surrounding instruments. The instrument screens displayed eerie green numbers, and several syringes contained pale blue liquid—a truly frightening sight.

"Welcome, Clan Chief Zhang." A familiar voice came from the shadows, tinged with a morbid excitement.

Jude Kao slowly walked out, wearing a white coat and toying with a scalpel in his hand, the blade gleaming coldly under the light. His hair was whiter than the last time I saw him, but his eyes were frighteningly bright, and the smile on his lips revealed a ruthless edge: "I didn't expect you to actually dare to come—I thought Chief Zhang would be afraid that I would take action against the 'clues'."

Hei Xiazi instantly pulled Zhang Qiling half a step behind him, drew his short blade from his waist, and pointed the blade at Qiu Dekao: "Old man, what are you trying to do by doing this to Scarface Li?"

“Let’s do an experiment.” Jude Kao walked to the operating table and gently cut Scarface Li’s arm with a scalpel. Blood immediately seeped out. “The secret of the Zhang family bloodline—you see, when ordinary people’s blood comes into contact with the ‘Queen Mother of the West Reagent’ that I’ve refined, it will only coagulate. But it’s different for Patriarch Zhang. Your bloodline can resonate with the Bronze Gate. Perhaps it can withstand the power of the reagent and help me open the door to immortality.”

As he spoke, he pressed the remote control in his hand. The device suddenly emitted a "beep beep" alarm, and Scarface Lee abruptly opened his eyes, letting out a shrill scream. His body began to twitch unnaturally, and his skin withered away at a visible speed, as if all the moisture had been drained from it.

"Stop!" Zhang Qiling's voice was as cold as ice. His grip on the Black Gold Ancient Sword tightened, his knuckles turning white—although he disliked Scarface Li, this kind of torture-like experiment made him unable to contain his anger.

Jude Kao laughed even more wildly, pointing his scalpel at Zhang Qiling: "Look! This is what happens to ordinary people! But you're different, Zhang Qiling! As long as you give me the jade pendant, I'll let you see the secret of immortality, and you won't have to bear the dreadful responsibility of guarding the Bronze Gate anymore!"

Having said that, he suddenly lunged at Zhang Qiling, his scalpel aimed straight for his chest—his target being the jade pendant hanging around his neck. Hei Xiazi was prepared, sidestepping Zhang Qiling to block the attack. The short blade and the scalpel clashed with a clang, sparks flying. But just then, several men in black suddenly rushed out from both sides of the basement, each wielding a stun gun, and pounced on Zhang Qiling—clearly, they had been lying in ambush.

"Never mind me, keep an eye on Old Qiu!" Black Bear shouted as he fought the men in black. He kept glancing at Zhang Qiling out of the corner of his eye, afraid that he would be ambushed. Even when a man in black circled behind Zhang Qiling, he took a blow from a stick and rushed over to kick him away.

Zhang Qiling didn't distract him. He drew his black-gold ancient sword, and with a flash of light, sliced ​​open the arm of one of the men in black. But Jude Kao continued his frenzied attack, his eyes fixed on the jade pendant, oblivious to the possibility of being cut. Just then, a sudden change occurred—Scarface Li on the operating table abruptly sat up, his eyes turning an eerie pure white, his skin a bluish-gray. He let out a non-human roar and lunged at the nearest Jude Kao, biting him in the shoulder.

"No! This is impossible! How could the reagent go out of control!" Jude Kao screamed in terror, trying to push Scarface Lee away, but Scarface Lee was incredibly strong and held on tightly to him.

"Go!" Zhang Qiling grabbed Hei Xiazi's wrist and pulled him toward the passage. Hei Xiazi wanted to look back one last time, but Zhang Qiling gripped his hand even tighter—he could feel Zhang Qiling's hand trembling, not out of fear, but out of worry that he would get hurt.

But just as they reached the entrance to the passage, they heard a loud "boom," and stones above the passage began to fall—the way they had come was blocked. The entire factory began to shake violently, large pieces of plaster fell off the walls, and equipment crashed to the ground with ear-piercing explosions.

"Damn it! Old Qiu pressed the self-destruct switch!" Black Bear cursed. He had just seen Qiu Dekao touch the red button on the wall in the shadows, but he hadn't paid any attention to it. He didn't expect it to be the self-destruct switch.

Zhang Qiling's gaze swept across the basement, then suddenly pointed to the ventilation duct in the corner: "You can get out over there." The duct opening was small, only big enough for one person to crawl in. He pushed Hei Xiazi over first: "You go first, I'll cover you from behind."

Black Bear crawled inside, turning back to reach out, "Hurry up, this pipe looks like it's going to collapse!" Zhang Qiling followed behind him. The pipe was dark and narrow, forcing them to crawl forward. Suddenly, a steel plate fell from above, hitting Black Bear squarely on the leg. He groaned and nearly fell out of the pipe.

"You go first, don't worry about me!" Hei Xiazi tried to push Zhang Qiling away. He could feel the sharp pain in his leg and knew that he was holding Zhang Qiling back.

Zhang Qiling didn't speak, but squatted down and touched his leg—thankfully, no bone was broken, just a superficial injury. He then steadily turned around, letting Hei Xiazi climb onto his back, supporting his thighs with both hands, and slowly crawled forward. Hei Xiazi, lying on his back, could feel that Zhang Qiling's back was soaked with sweat, and his breathing had become rapid. With each step, his shoulders would tremble, but his steps remained steady, preventing him from swaying.

"Dumb man, put me down, I can climb." Hei Xiazi's voice was a little hoarse, and his heart felt like it was blocked by something—he rarely saw Zhang Qiling in such a sorry state, but it was all because of him.

Zhang Qiling didn't respond, but simply held him even tighter. The pipe continued to collapse, and rubble fell on his head and back, but he didn't dodge; he just protected Hei Xiazi's legs from being hit by the rubble.

Finally, light appeared ahead—the exit of the ventilation duct, on the wasteland behind the factory. Zhang Qiling used his last strength to push Hei Xiazi out of the exit, then crawled out himself, both landing hard on the grass. Behind them, the factory collapsed completely with a deafening roar, sending clouds of dust billowing into the air.

Under the moonlight, Zhang Qiling immediately got up, squatted down beside Hei Xiazi, and carefully rolled up his trouser leg. The wound on his leg was still bleeding, and a large area was swollen and red. He took out a bandage from his pocket—it was one he always carried with him; Hei Xiazi had used it to bandage his leg when he cut it in the tomb last time—and slowly wrapped the bandage around Hei Xiazi's leg, very gently, afraid of hurting him.

Black Bear grabbed his wrist, his gaze fixed on his chest: "Your jade pendant..."

Zhang Qiling looked down and noticed that the jade pendant hanging around his neck had developed a crack. A faint green light emanated from the crack, which was different from the light in the safe house; it was darker and more eerie.

“It seems,” Hei Xiazi smiled, reaching out to gently touch the crack in the jade pendant. His fingertip accidentally brushed against Zhang Qiling’s chest. He paused, then withdrew his hand, “our troubles have only just begun.”

In the distance came the sound of sirens; it was Wu Xie and Xie Yuchen who had called the police—they had intended to provide backup outside the factory, but the explosion had occurred unexpectedly. Zhang Qiling didn't move, simply sitting beside Hei Xiazi, letting him lean on his shoulder. Hei Xiazi's head rested on his shoulder, and he could smell the faint scent of cedar emanating from him, which made him feel at ease.

"Next time we go into a trap together, I'll definitely take apart Old Qiu's switch first," Black Bear joked, trying to ease the tense atmosphere.

Zhang Qiling didn't speak, but nodded slightly, a faint smile playing on his lips, like ripples on water under moonlight, fleeting and ephemeral. He knew this was far from over—the strange movements of the bronze gate, the crack in the jade pendant, the untold secret of Jude Kao, and the Zhang family's destiny—all awaited them. But as long as Hei Xiazi was by his side, he dared to walk any path, no matter how difficult.