Chapter 112: Ambition Soars High
A rock, about half the size of a chair, was hidden by two or three clumps of wild grass. If one were not sharp-eyed, the thin crevice, like a broken branch, would be buried deep in the earth, lying there quietly like a crack in the suburbs.
Bai Feifei squatted down, tapped the stone with her hand, and immediately discovered its secret. She gripped the stone tightly with her five fingers; crushing the stone would not have been difficult for her, but she didn't do that. Instead, she twisted the stone to the side, and under her delicate hand, the stone spun around completely. Then came an extremely faint "click," so faint as the vibration of a mosquito's wings, almost inaudible.
After the noise, Bai Feifei lifted the stone with one hand, along with a piece of ground. Although clods of dirt flew everywhere, she didn't even frown. A large hole, big enough for two people to pass through at will, was now exposed in the darkness right in front of her.
Dust fell into the cave without making a sound; it was pitch black inside, far beyond what one could see. The abundant sunlight shone down, barely illuminating the outline of the cave entrance; the numerous ghostly figures inside were beyond the reach of the human world.
Bai Feifei turned to look at Xie Huailing and saw that Xie Huailing was still waving her hands to brush away the dust that was flying up. She couldn't help but find it a little funny and said to her, "Come and take a look."
Xie Huailing took two steps forward and squatted down by the cave entrance. Stretching his neck was useless; the depth was beyond human sight. "This should be it. It is indeed well hidden."
"Should we go down? Let's look around before coming back up," Bai Feifei asked.
Xie Huailing lowered his eyes, then lifted his eyelids again and said, "Going down is fine, but make some marks when you're helping Shen Lang and the others find a way out. However, if you take me with you and we run into Chai Yuguan's people or his subordinates first, it will be hard to guarantee that I won't be exposed while I'm hiding."
Bai Feifei spoke decisively, almost with an unwavering tone. Others were often insignificant to her, and to her purpose: "That's perfect, let's send him to his death."
This kind of generosity, disregarding life and death, can also be considered a kind of courage. Xie Huailing thought for no reason.
She wasn't quite sure how high Bai Feifei's martial arts skills were, but she could tell that among the people of Bai Feifei's generation that she had met, only Su Mengzhen could probably beat Bai Feifei, which was enough to give her a domineering confidence.
After thinking it over, Xie Huailing nodded to Bai Feifei. Just in case, she took out the antidote for "poisoning" and fed it to Bai Feifei one pill at a time, then said, "Let's go down and take a look, mark the spot and come back up."
Going down alone would inevitably be quite difficult, but with Bai Feifei guiding her, she could move as lightly and silently as a feather—that was the way of the place. Before she could even feel the descent, the desolate wilderness in her field of vision was swallowed up into a dark, empty expanse. Before she could even grasp the rapid alternation of light and darkness, she smelled a scent. If it weren't for the long period without sunlight, such a heavy, oppressive smell could never have been created; just entering her nose made her lungs feel like they were being squeezed shut.
With a soft click above their heads, the last ray of light vanished. Bai Feifei had found the mechanism on the wall, and the exit above them closed. They could no longer see their own hands, and sight became almost nonexistent. Holding each other's sleeves, Bai Feifei led Xie Huailing slowly forward, hugging the wall.
No one spoke; the silence in the air, along with the ancient tomb, had been sealed underground for many years. Only after walking a distance and confirming that there was no one around did Bai Feifei take out a tinderbox. A small, hesitant flame, like a savior, rose up, and with this faint light, she could finally make out her surroundings.
Even if it were the underworld, it wouldn't be so shrouded in mystery. The strange rocks and soil are tightly interlocked, a far cry from the human world. A faint, decaying stench permeates the air, giving the impression that taking even one step here means certain death. Not to mention the jagged, eerie shadows, as if demons lurked even deeper within, barely visible even by the light of a fire. How many people could walk here without trembling with fear, let alone daring to speculate?
Unfortunately, it was a coincidence that both of the people who came were daring.
After walking a short distance, Xie Huailing found a recessed spot on the wall, probably left unintentionally when someone was chiseling out the opening. She took advantage of it, bent down, picked up a small stone, did something with it, and stuffed it back into the recess. That marked the spot, and her mission was accomplished.
Bai Feifei couldn't understand her intentions. In her opinion, the shape of the stone was clearly unremarkable. However, since Xie Huailing had already done it, there was no need for her to say anything more.
She asked again, staring at the fork in the road not far away: "It seems that the secret passages in the ancient tomb are also intricate and complicated, and it is extremely difficult to get out."
"It's alright." Xie Huailing didn't care about that, brushing the dust off his clothes. "Shen Lang was able to bring Zhu Qiqi here, he has plenty of ways to do it."
She wasn't worried at all and asked Bai Feifei, "Should we go any further?"
Bai Feifei was about to answer, but her expression changed faster than her voice, and then the light from the tinderbox went out. Xie Huailing's heart skipped a beat, and Bai Feifei grabbed her hand, throwing her away and disappearing into the darkness around another corner with her.
Several breaths passed, enough for Xie Huailing to breathe several times behind Bai Feifei, before the footsteps slowly began to emerge. At first, they were completely inaudible, only vaguely perceived as being there. Then, the sound gradually grew louder, echoing through the tomb passage as if from another world.
Unfamiliar footsteps followed, and then another light appeared, perhaps he was holding a torch or carrying a lamp. Xie Huailing sensed Bai Feifei's sudden relaxation of her hands. She remembered how Bai Feifei had fought with the beef soup, and knew that Bai Feifei was already prepared for this person to die at the last minute.
She tugged at Bai Feifei's sleeve, making Bai Feifei turn around, and then pointed to a door beside her.
In just a second, Bai Feifei understood Xie Huailing's meaning. Her mind raced, and she made a new decision. Before the person could get too close, she led Xie Huailing into the room silently, as if the door had never existed.
There was no light in the room, and the darkness continued, but thankfully, there was no one around. Xie Huailing couldn't see or hear anything; it was only because her palm was still under Bai Feifei's fingers, feeling every word she had written, that she could still perceive what was happening outside the door.
Bai Feifei quickly wrote: A person, a man.
She paused, then wrote again: Headed towards the exit.
Could it be that I have to leave early? Can my luck really be that bad? Xie Huailing wasn't sure either, but this not-so-good idea was quickly dismissed, and Bai Feifei started writing again.
At the exit, another person arrived.
After writing, Bai Feifei's fingers stopped moving, and she listened intently to the sounds outside the door. Xie Huailing suppressed her breathing. Although she knew that with a corner and a stone wall between them, her breathing was unlikely to be heard, she still wanted to be cautious. At the same time, she was also curious about what kind of martial arts Bai Feifei had practiced to have such keen senses. Yesterday, she was able to hear everything that Xie Huailing, Shen Lang, and Zhu Qiqi said inside the house without missing a single word. It was quite amazing that she could hear something again now.
Only when Bai Feifei let out a sigh of relief did it come to an end. The tinderbox was lit again, reflecting her face, which suddenly turned cold and smiling, like a cold moon, mercilessly sharp.
Seeing this, Xie Huailing asked, "What did you hear?"
Bai Feifei replied, "Another guy has arrived. Now there are two of Chai Yuguan's men in this ancient tomb."
She overheard something else, which made her look around again. She spotted a box with a small wooden tag. Xie Huailing and she both saw the character "Gao" on it and exchanged a glance, but that wasn't what they were talking about first. As they spoke, Bai Feifei opened the door again and went back with Xie Huailing, thinking that their decision to come into the tomb for a quick look was actually the right one; they hadn't run into anyone.
As someone who completely denies Chai Yuguan's authority, Bai Feifei wouldn't give his subordinates a friendly look either. She admired the abilities of capable people, but that didn't stop her from speaking, saying, "It's laughable that they have no shortage of people to collude with. The person who came over with the torch just now was called the 'Wealth Envoy.' When I was gathering information, I heard that Chai Yuguan had four envoys under him: Wine, Women, Wealth, and Anger. However, I didn't have any further leads, so I could only treat it as a rumor. Now that I think about it, it's true."
"The money collector has already succeeded. He is telling people that he has drugged the person with 'A Day of Intoxication, the Immortal,' and then moved him into the stone house."
"What's the name of the person who came? Which of the four envoys?" Xie Huailing wasn't in a hurry, nor was there anything to worry about. For her, this was a good development.
Bai Feifei continued, seemingly disliking the similarity between their names, feeling a sense of disgust. Naturally, she wanted to be unconventional: "Not an envoy, the 'wealthy envoy' is simply called Bai Choufei."
Xie Huailing had never heard of this name before. There were many people in the martial arts world who lived in anonymity, and she didn't need to know every single one of them. She analyzed, "Since it's named specifically, it seems that the mastermind behind the ancient tomb incident is still 'The Money-Maker.' And since he uses money as his code name, he must be here to make money for Chai Yuguan. In that case, the truth about the haunted ancient tomb is obvious."
"He drugged many martial arts figures without killing them first, which means that his purpose in making money required them to live. So, apart from kidnapping and extortion, he couldn't have any other intention. And the rumors about the haunted tomb were all his doing to make money. The more mysterious and supernatural the story, the higher the status and wealth of the people who came. Thinking about it carefully, it really was a good way to catch them off guard."
Then she leaned back, stretched, and said, "But this isn't our business. Let Shen Lang figure it out. That's the good thing about having a reliable ally. Let's talk about something else. Feifei, you've got plenty to do today."
In the time it took to exchange a few words, the two returned to the fork in the road, intending to go up again. After handing the tinder to Xie Huailing, Bai Feifei finally freed her hands to reach for the mechanism. She fumbled around in the spot she remembered for a few moments, then pressed down on the rough protrusion and called to Xie Huailing to extinguish the tinder.
There was no answer. She turned around abruptly, relieved to find that Xie Huailing was still there, but staring at one spot with his head down, as if he had become a silent statue. He blinked again.
In the blink of an eye, Bai Feifei saw something different in her expression. This person seemed to have suddenly woken up, no longer possessing that leisurely demeanor as if she were taking a stroll. She suddenly took a step forward, picked out the stone she had left as a marker, and then her sharp gaze, as if it could pierce through something, met Bai Feifei's eyes.
In a split second, Bai Feifei immediately understood.
When Xie Huailing first placed this stone, its sharp edges weren't facing the direction it is now, and Chai Yuguang's two men weren't walking close to the wall. This can only mean one thing: a third person was here. Not only was he here, but he was also very close to the two men, which is why he brushed past the wall, yet he was as elusive as a gentle breeze, completely undetected!
Realizing this, Bai Feifei grabbed Xie Huailing's hand, intending to pull her to her side. At that moment, a breeze, seemingly coming from nowhere, gently caressed Xie Huailing's skirt. She looked down at her skirt, which swayed in the wind like a young girl's heart being whispered in her lover's ear—a very flirtatious breeze.
This should be a warning of all bad things to come, and it's time to be fully prepared. Xie Huailing's fingers, which were in Bai Feifei's hand, moved slightly, writing two words.
Bai Feifei paused for a moment, then let go, and the fragile tinder went out the instant she released it.
The darkness, returning with renewed force, engulfs people without even needing to breathe. What can one see in the darkness? One's own fear. When sight is taken away, fear is naturally nourished by the darkness, especially in the tomb passage that resembles the underworld, especially in the desolate and unpredictable atmosphere. It seems that dying once is to be expected. What is the point of talking about life and death? In the tomb, isn't death the only option?
I can't see anything, I can't see anything at all. Is it one figure, two figures, or... three figures?
Nothing could be seen; darkness surged, and someone was embraced and then their mouth was covered. Finally, what lit up first was a sound that perfectly matched the darkness—a sudden tearing sound from flesh and blood.
The stench seemed to dissipate. The tinderbox that had fallen to the ground was found and lit for the third time, first illuminating the bloodied hand of the person holding her. Bai Feifei remained silent, wiping the blood from her hands on the stone wall. The bloodstains spread, revealing her jade-like hands beneath, which, like herself, were without a single wound, still flawless.
Her movements were slow, because there was no need to speed up; she was the only one standing there. Xie Huailing was gone.
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