Chapter 112: The Escape

Our group continued to crawl through the cramped tomb passage. Although the sticky slime inside made us quite uncomfortable, the water rippling ahead circulated the air, significantly reducing the stench. Carrying a nearly hundred-pound living person on my back, I somehow felt less exhausted than before. After crawling for about fifteen more minutes, the passage finally widened and we could stand upright.

“Cough, cough...”

While we were still struggling forward, Mengya, who had been unconscious on my back, suddenly coughed twice weakly. I barely heard it because I was close to her. I was startled and said, “Wait, wait...”

Ghostface Zhang and Old Lover ahead froze upon my signal. Ghostface Zhang flicked away his cigarette butt and frowned. “What’s wrong?”

“Mengya coughed once,” I told him.

Ghostface Zhang clicked his tongue and grew somewhat impatient. He shook his head at Old Lover, “She’s your family; I’m not involved. If she can’t keep up and dies in here, don’t blame me for not warning you.”

Old Lover sneered knowingly at Ghostface Zhang’s harsh words but tender heart, and without responding, climbed behind me to support Mengya’s legs and gently helped her down.

Sure enough, as soon as Mengya lay flat, she coughed violently several times, probably choking on the slime on the ground. Her cough grew stronger.

We hurriedly helped her sit up, fearing she’d be suffocated by the filthy water, while Ghostface Zhang nonchalantly resumed smoking nearby.

Old Lover sighed inexplicably upon seeing Mengya recover slightly and began to gently pat her back, whispering, “How do you feel?”

I thought to myself that these two had really buried the hatchet quickly; I had expected some grudge, but here was unexpected unity.

After sitting up, Mengya’s coughing eased noticeably, though she still looked grim and clearly in poor condition. She waved her hand in response to Old Lover.

“I think we should let her rest for now. It wouldn’t be right to leave her here. What do you say, Third Master?” Old Lover asked.

Ghostface Zhang took a deep drag and snorted coldly. “Make it quick. With this stench, I don’t even enjoy smoking.” He looked around and sighed deeply. “Ten minutes.”

Old Lover nodded and glanced at Mengya, who was gradually able to lift her eyelids. She looked at me and said, “You support her. I need to discuss something with Third Master—to figure out how we get out of here.”

I nodded and put my hand behind Mengya’s back, sighing heavily with a sense of guilt. “How did you end up like this?” I asked softly.

She looked at me, sneered bitterly, and her face was pale. “To you, I’m just a store clerk. You don’t care if I live or die.”

“I know. I’m sorry. I didn’t...”

“Enough. It’s too late for apologies.”

“Too late? What happened?”

She seemed dazed by my question, staring blankly into the void. After a long silence, a bitter smile appeared on her face. “I brought this on myself. It’s nothing to do with you.” With that, she pushed my hand away.

I wrapped my arms around her tightly. “Whatever it is, we can face it together. We’re bound by life and death. Tell me, and we’ll bear it together. Don’t hold that other person in your heart. There’s nothing between me and her. I only wanted answers from her. So many unsolvable things have happened around me. Without you, I would have been crushed long ago. From childhood with Shao’s cousin to the Tianchi event organized by the Beijing Nine Gates Commander, without you, I wouldn’t know where to turn.”

Mengya placed her hand over my heart and smiled—a sweet, familiar smile, like when we first acknowledged our feelings.

“If only life were as sweet as that first meeting, why must autumn winds bring sorrow to painted fans?” She wiped tears from her eyes just as I had seen her cry for the first time. “Promise me, Qiutong, if we survive this, you’ll settle down as an antiques dealer. Let’s live peacefully for the rest of our days, okay?”

This wasn’t the first time I heard these words, yet I had forgotten the reason behind them. I seemed to have forgotten something important.

“All right, I promise.”

In the distance, Ghostface Zhang and Old Lover whispered quietly.

“Stop beating around the bush. What exactly is your relationship with Qiutong?” Ghostface Zhang asked in a low voice.

Old Lover smiled but did not answer immediately. After a long pause, she glanced toward us and replied softly, “Third Master Zhang, whatever your relationship with Zhang Yuxi is, mine with Qiutong is the same.”

(Please refer to earlier chapters; Zhang Yuxi is an important figure who appeared before.)

Hearing this, Ghostface Zhang looked stunned, eyes wide as he stared at Old Lover. His rotten teeth gnawed with a grinding sound. “Who on earth are you?”

“I’m just a girl who knows a bit too much. I don’t want to get mixed up in your mess.”

Ghostface Zhang’s teeth ground even harder. Suddenly, he reached out and grabbed Old Lover’s hood, catching her off guard. She gasped and shook her head, letting her pale blue-green hair cascade down, revealing a face of breathtaking beauty.

Ghostface Zhang was taken aback by her appearance. “I never expected such a beautiful woman behind such skillful hands.”

Old Lover sneered. “Third Master, you’re a gentleman. You wouldn’t take advantage of a pretty young woman, would you?”

Ghostface Zhang chuckled coldly. “I’m not interested. If you don’t come clean, I’ll call Qiutong and the others here. That store clerk is no less capable than you. No matter what tricks you have, you won’t escape us.”

“Oh!” Old Lover teased coquettishly, as if playfully scolding Ghostface Zhang. “Third Master Zhang, you may lack talents, but you’re quite good at ganging up on one weak woman. You three bullying me—what shamelessness!”

“Cut the nonsense. What’s your relationship with Qiutong?”

Old Lover hesitated briefly, glanced at me tending to Mengya, then smiled and shook her head. “Third Master, please escort these two out. I’m taking my leave.” Saying so, she stood and threw a punch at Ghostface Zhang.

He dodged with a shake of his head and shouted, “Don’t go!” Then he gave chase, but after just three steps, a silver blade flew from above at an angle. Ghostface Zhang moved swiftly and caught the dagger by hand, frowning.

The dagger measured about twenty to thirty centimeters including the handle. Its blade resembled Damascus steel but with irregular bark-like patterns, and the handle was polished deer antler, exquisitely sharp—the same as the dagger that had stabbed me on the overpass!

At this moment, Mengya had almost recovered. Old Lover’s earlier outcry had caught our attention, and now we had reached Ghostface Zhang’s side. Blood dripped from his hand, likely cut by the bark-patterned blade.

“Seems like a single hand,” Ghostface Zhang muttered, peeling a layer of skin from his hand with the blade, blood flowing freely. He tore a strip of bandage from his clothing and wrapped his hand casually.

“Your backup ran off. Quite a remarkable woman,” he remarked.

I was stunned. “They ran?”

Ghostface Zhang recounted the entire incident to us. Though I remained skeptical, given the circumstances, we had no choice but to find a way out from here first.