Chapter 17: A-Ning Once More

After replenishing their energy, the four of them gathered in front of a hole in the wall. This was where the "Kid" (Xiaoge) had inadvertently knocked over a bronze mirror while fighting a sea monkey earlier, revealing the passage behind it.

Xiaoge could not recall what was inside; his memory cut off right at that point.

Zhang Wuxun shone his flashlight into the hole, but it was pitch black. The walls seemed to absorb the light, revealing nothing. He frowned, remembering from the original plot that there were hallucinogenic bells inside this cavity, and immediately reached out to grab Wu Xie.

Unexpectedly, Wu Xie jerked his arm away, and because the material of their waterproof suits was slippery, Zhang Wuxun failed to hold him. Wu Xie rushed into the hole with a vacant expression on his face.

"Naive!" Zhang Wuxun shouted, immediately chasing after him.

Catching up halfway, Zhang Wuxun twisted his arm and pinned him down onto the steps, shouting to Fatty and Xiaoge who were following behind, "Quick, wake him up!"

Fatty didn't hesitate; he rolled up his sleeves, blew into his palms, and flicked Wu Xie hard on the forehead—a loud, resounding *thwack*.

Wu Xie let out an "Ouch!" from the pain, his struggling coming to a halt. Seeing that his eyes had cleared, Zhang Wuxun let go and helped him up.

Clutching his forehead, Wu Xie cursed in pain, "Who the hell flicked me? Was that you, you damn Fatty?"

Fatty immediately shifted the blame, pointing at Zhang Wuxun. "It was Muyu who told me to do it. You were out of your mind—it’s not like I could have slapped you across the face, could I?"

Zhang Wuxun smiled and pulled Wu Xie’s hand away. "Let me see if it’s bad."

Once Wu Xie realized it was Zhang Wuxun’s idea, his anger instantly fizzled out, and he obediently lowered his hand to let him check.

"It's fine," Zhang Wuxun said, rubbing his forehead to soothe it. "It's just a bit red. It’s not even as hard as I flicked Fatty last time."

"Well, you, Muyu! No wonder Fatty’s forehead took a whole week to stop swelling last time. So you did it on purpose!" Fatty complained, pretending to sob. "So much for being one big happy family. I’m treated worse than a stray dog."

Wu Xie smugly raised his pinky finger at him, but just as he was about to say something, he suddenly pointed toward the depths of the cave. "There’s someone over there!"

They all shone their flashlights in that direction, and the figure scrambled up and bolted away with incredible speed.

"Could it be my Third Uncle?" Wu Xie speculated.

"Should we go take a look?" Zhang Wuxun asked, looking at Xiaoge for his opinion.

Xiaoge nodded and was the first to give chase, catching the person and pinning them down. When Fatty shone his light on the face, he sneered, "Oh, look! Isn't this Miss A-Ning? What happened to you? You look so disheveled after only a few days."

Looking at A-Ning’s dull, vacant eyes, Wu Xie asked in confusion, "What’s wrong with her? She doesn’t seem to hear us."

Xiaoge reached out and waved his hand in front of A-Ning’s face. "Something’s not right; her pupils are barely reacting."

A-Ning’s expression was completely blank. Her face was filthy and foul-smelling, her wetsuit was tattered, and there were traces of dried blood on her nose and the corners of her mouth. It was impossible to tell what she had been through to end up in this state.

"Is she actually brain-dead?" Fatty rolled up his sleeves, eager to try something. "How about I give her a good slap to wake her up? It’s only fair, considering she tried to scheme against me earlier."

Zhang Wuxun gestured for him to go ahead. Fatty gestured at her small face for a long time before clicking his tongue. "I have to say, this lady is actually quite pretty. I don't really have the heart to do it. Why don't you go ahead?"

Zhang Wuxun rolled his eyes, drew his dagger, and jabbed it deeper into the wound on her right shoulder—the same one he had previously inflicted with his silver dart. There was no such thing as being tender toward the fair sex in his book.

Fatty winced at the sight. "I appreciate you holding back, brother Muyu."

A-Ning, however, seemed to feel no pain and remained completely unresponsive. Zhang Wuxun clicked his tongue, thinking to himself that this woman was truly ruthless if she could endure that.

"Naive" Wu Xie scratched his head. "It looks like she’s really been scared out of her wits. Should we tie her up and hand her over to the police when we get out?"

Fatty cursed at this. "Did a pig walk over your brain? What are we? Grave robbers! You want to hand us over to the police and help them meet their quotas?"

Wu Xie slapped his own forehead. "Damn, I forgot. I haven't been in many tombs, so my mindset hasn't adjusted yet. Just pretend I said nothing. Let's move on."

Xiaoge shone his flashlight into the deeper recesses. "Look, there’s a tree over there."

After a brief discussion, they decided to go and take a look. Fatty pointed at A-Ning. "So, what do we do about her?"

Zhang Wuxun waved his hand and started walking. "You can carry her if you want, but I’m not doing it."

Wu Xie bared his teeth in a grin. "I can’t carry her." He then quickly followed after Zhang Wuxun and Xiaoge.

Fatty ended up having to carry A-Ning, looking miserable.

They spent several minutes examining the coral tree Xiaoge had spotted. Fatty asked, "Hey, how much do you think this coral tree is worth?"

Wu Xie knew Fatty’s "never leave empty-handed" nature. Since they hadn't found anything yet and had nearly lost their lives, he was clearly eyeing the tree. "Don't let me burst your bubble, but if you took this out, it would be worth sixteen bucks a pound at most—less than water-injected beef. Besides, how are you going to carry a tree this big? It’s not worth the effort."

Fatty sighed, "I’ve taken a massive loss on this trip."

Zhang Wuxun chuckled and pointed at the bells on the coral tree. "These things are worth quite a bit, depending on whether you have the life to take them."

Hearing this, Fatty immediately pulled back his outstretched hand. "Are these bells tricky?" He wasn't stupid; he knew exactly what Zhang Wuxun meant.

Zhang Wuxun nodded and turned to Wu Xie. "Do they look familiar?"

Wu Xie realized it instantly. "Aren't these the same bells tied to the tails of the corpse beetles we encountered in that water cave? Except the material is different—those were bronze, and these look more like brass." He then briefly explained their previous encounter to Fatty.

Fatty felt a cold shiver down his spine. "Gosh, thank goodness Muyu warned us in time."

Xiaoge remarked, "That burial site was an ancient tomb, though I don't know why it would be connected to Wang Zanghai."

They pondered for a long while but couldn't come to any conclusions. Zhang Wuxun pulled Wu Xie along to head back. "Alright, we’re running out of time. There are night-luminescent pearls on the vaulted ceiling; we can just snatch a couple on the way out to make up for our losses."

Fatty agreed. With A-Ning still on his back, they returned to the main hall. Fatty set her down, and Zhang Wuxun tied her up securely. "This woman is always full of tricks; better safe than sorry."

The golden nanmu wood was hard on the outside but soft on the inside, making it quite difficult to carve. Seeing this, the others told Zhang Wuxun to rest, considering the wound on his shoulder.

After two hours of hacking away, they finally managed to carve enough footholds into the pillar.