Chapter 5: The Drought Demon and the Little Corpse

"Go, go, go!" Fatty said, sounding annoyed. "Fatty is just estimating whether this little zombie is worth any money."

Hearing this, Zhang Wuxun became interested. "What? Is there treasure on the little zombie?"

Fatty's tone was full of regret. "Look at the specifications of this coffin; there must be good stuff on that little zombie. It’s just a pity that the corpse is gone. Otherwise, if we pressed it a few times, we might have been able to squeeze out a few pearls."

Wu Xiaoxie chimed in, "Indeed. For children who died young or were used as funerary sacrifices, the burial items on their bodies are usually quite numerous, and there are almost always anti-corrosion pearls in their stomachs."

Zhang Wuxun knew this. A decent anti-corrosion pearl could easily be worth hundreds of thousands. With that, Zhang Wuxun silently kept the little zombie in mind.

Zhang Wuxun narrowed his eyes, staring dangerously at the large porcelain vat, standing ready. In the original plot, that little zombie had hidden inside this large porcelain vat.

Why hasn't it come out yet? Could it be that I have to invite it?

Zhang Wuxun raised an eyebrow and said loudly, "Since it's not here, let's look elsewhere." As he spoke, he gave Wu Xiaoxie and Fatty a wink.

The group slowly turned around and took two steps forward. Sensing a sinister gaze from behind, Zhang Wuxun stretched out his fingers and silently gestured in front of his chest: "Three, two, one!"

The moment he turned around, he whipped his hand out, throwing an eight-pointed silver dart that instantly sliced off half the head of a white-haired creature.

The white-haired little zombie let out a shrill, pained cry and jumped out of the large porcelain vat. A white shadow flashed past, moving with incredible speed, and vanished into a pile of porcelain vases in another corner in the blink of an eye.

Zhang Wuxun: "...Whoa."

With his left hand, he plucked another silver dart and crouched low as he approached the area. Fatty also picked up his gun from the ground and took aim.

Wu Xiaoxie piped up from the side, "Those porcelain vases over there are just as valuable as that big vat."

Fatty clicked his tongue and swapped his gun for a dagger.

Just as he lifted his foot, a porcelain vase in that direction moved. It fell to the ground with a thud, scaring everyone, before it began to roll away out of the burial chamber, disappearing into the distance.

"Hey? This little brat, are you teasing your Uncle Fatty?"

The porcelain vase rolled to the middle of the corridor and stopped for a moment. The group followed it for a few steps with their flashlights, and the vase continued forward, rolling past the small jade doors on both sides of the corridor, and finally stopped in front of the jade door opposite the burial chamber, where it remained motionless.

The group felt confused. After exchanging glances, Wu Xiaoxie speculated, "Why do I feel like this little zombie is showing us the way?"

Zhang Wuxun picked up his backpack and put it on. "We'll know once we follow it and see."

Everyone agreed. Fatty patted Zhang Wuxun on the shoulder and pointed to the stone path ahead. "A bare stone path like this is nine times out of ten trapped. We have to be careful."

Zhang Wuxun nodded and waved to the group. "I'll lead. You all follow my steps. Be careful not to step on the wrong ones."

Where A-Ning couldn't see, Zhang Wuxun quietly gave Wu Xiaoxie a wink, pointed at A-Ning, made a beheading gesture, and then pointed at Wu Xiaoxie.

It was unclear whether Wu Xiaoxie understood, but the boy's eyes widened instantly, his expression turning terrified. He cast a cautious look at A-Ning and then looked at Zhang Wuxun, shaking his head in total refusal.

Zhang Wuxun rolled his eyes in frustration. Fine, the gesture was wasted.

Zhang Wuxun didn't waste any more words. He hugged the wall and stepped onto the stone slab. This kind of stone slab mechanism was the most basic defensive trap; it wasn't difficult, provided there were no teammates acting like idiots to sabotage things.

Zhang Wuxun moved forward unhurriedly, followed by Wu Xiaoxie, and then A-Ning. In the original plot, this woman had even used Wu Xiaoxie as a human shield.

Sure enough, halfway through, A-Ning stepped on a stone slab outside the safe path. The mechanism triggered instantly. Countless arrows whistled through the air toward them.

Zhang Wuxun swung his short blade to knock away the arrows flying beside him, only to turn and see "Little Naive" looking terrified as he was grabbed by A-Ning and pushed forward as a human shield.

"Damn it!"

Zhang Wuxun cursed. Although he knew that being hit by these arrows wouldn't kill anyone, seeing Little Naive turned into a hedgehog still made him incredibly angry!

He raised his hand, about to throw his short blade, when his arm was suddenly gripped by someone. Zhang Wuxun turned to glare at "Baldy Zhang," silently cursing, "What the hell are you doing?"

Baldy Zhang glanced toward Wu Xiaoxie, then looked back at Zhang Wuxun with a cold, indifferent expression, saying nothing.

"Damn it!"

Zhang Wuxun glared at him viciously, silently condemning him in his heart: Don't think that just because you're my clan leader and elder that I don't dare to hit you!

In just over ten seconds, the rain of arrows ceased. Zhang Wuxun shook off the mysterious man's hand and threw a silver dart just before A-Ning slipped into the jade door. A cry of pain came from the other side; it seemed he had hit his mark.

Zhang Wuxun glared at the man once more and turned to check on Wu Xiaoxie.

Wu Xiaoxie was lying flat on his back on the ground, eyes wide open, clearly still in shock from what had just happened. Zhang Wuxun knelt beside him and silently began to remove the lotus-tipped arrows from his body.

"Muyu..."

Wu Xiaoxie blinked slowly. "Am I still alive?"

Zhang Wuxun gave him a flick on the forehead. "Do you feel the pain?"

Wu Xiaoxie let out an "Ow," his face scrunching up. "I feel it. I'm still alive."

Immediately, he began to mutter in a mix of anger and bewilderment: "I have no grudge against that woman. Why would she try to harm me? The ancients were right—there is no heart as poisonous as a woman's..."

"How the hell do you have the nerve to complain to me!" Zhang Wuxun threw the arrows in his hand heavily onto the ground, pointing at his nose in exasperation. "Did I waste all those gestures earlier for nothing? I told you that woman was bad news and warned you to be careful. Now that you've been used as a shield, who are you blaming?"

Wu Xiaoxie was stunned by the scolding, his voice small and innocent. "I thought the gesture you made earlier meant you wanted me to find an opportunity to kill A-Ning."

Zhang Wuxun's mouth twitched in silence. "You?"

Wu Xiaoxie scratched his head awkwardly. He sat up and reached out to pull an arrow from his body to examine it carefully. "This arrow..."

"Yeah," Zhang Wuxun nodded. "The arrowhead is flawed. Once it hits something, it automatically retracts, and then four grappling hooks flip out from the back of the tip. At most, it just breaks the skin; it looks scarier than it is. It's just enough to teach you a lesson."

Wu Xiaoxie gave a dejected "Oh." He used Zhang Wuxun's hand to pull himself up from the ground, and together they went to remove the arrows from Fatty.

Fatty was the most miserable of them all; there wasn't a single spot on his body—except for his face—that hadn't been pierced by an arrow. He looked like a chubby little pincushion.

Wu Xiaoxie mocked him without restraint, and Fatty retorted with his own barbs. Both were like the pot calling the kettle black; in reality, they were both just as pathetic as each other.