Chapter 8: Uninvited Guest

Recalling what Lao Yang had previously told him about underworld soldiers and specters, Wu Xie asked out of curiosity, "Are there really underworld soldiers and a King of Hell in this world? What about the Hall of Hell itself?"

Old Man Liu chuckled. "Who knows about that sort of thing? We can barely manage this life before worrying about the afterlife; there is no guarantee the netherworld would even want you."

Wu Xie clicked his tongue. "That sounds terrifyingly bizarre."

Learning the whereabouts of Uncle Tai and his group made Lao Yang too restless to stay put. He completely dismissed Old Man Liu’s talk of underworld soldiers, eager to set off immediately.

Old Man Liu warmly urged them to stay for a meal, and when they finally could not refuse, accepted a few packaged meat dishes.

After expressing their gratitude, the three of them shouldered their backpacks and walked out of the village.

As they walked, Lao Yang recounted to Zhang Tuxun and Wu Xie what had happened over at Pliers Ravine.

Lao Yang explained that the tomb cluster he and his cousin had discovered was located inside a small valley within Pliers Ravine—a remote place with a peculiar landscape. He swore up and down that he could lead the two of them straight to it.

Zhang Tuxun remained noncommittal regarding his words. Having stepped out from the halo of his childhood friend, Wu Xie was also half-sceptical and maintained constant vigilance.

Continuing along their path, they soon spotted the massive mountain Lao Yang had described.

The entire mountain took the shape of a golden fish with large eyes, with two caves serving as the fish's eyes.

Stepping onto the mountain ridge, they were greeted by a massive cliff, as if split right down the middle by a sharp sword, forming a narrow fissure. At the bottom of this fissure lay the so-called Pliers Ravine.

Wu Xie could not help but exclaim, "Truly the wondrous work of nature! It's a pity we didn't bring a camera this time; otherwise, taking a few photos to develop and admire back home would have been wonderful."

Standing beside him, Zhang Tuxun gazed into the distance. The faraway mountain peak seemed to condense into a single ray of golden light that suddenly pierced the sky, evoking the divine miracles of immortals undergoing heavenly tribulations as described in legends.

Hearing Wu Xie's words, he reached into his backpack, pulled the Sony camera he had previously used to show off to Uncle Tai and the others out of his spatial storage, and handed it to Wu Xie. "Here, go ahead and shoot."

Wu Xie was pleasantly surprised. He took the camera, exchanged a look with Zhang Tuxun, and thought, *A magical treasure chest?*

Zhang Tuxun nodded slightly.

Standing nearby and watching their interaction, Lao Yang felt as though he was the eternal third wheel, left completely out in the cold despite being part of a trio. A sour feeling welled up in his chest, though a sudden recollection of his true purpose soon filled him with guilt toward Wu Xie.

After finishing his photos, Wu Xie returned the camera to Zhang Tuxun.

Once the three of them set off and entered Pliers Ravine, they discovered it was not nearly as narrow as they had imagined; on the contrary, the lighting inside was quite good.

Lao Yang recalled, "To get through this Pliers Ravine, it takes... at least an afternoon. The draft... the draft blowing through here is very strong."

Upon hearing this, Wu Xie suggested, "Then perhaps we should rest temporarily at the entrance and just reach our destination before dark."

Lao Yang shared this sentiment and looked at Zhang Tuxun for his opinion.

Zhang Tuxun nodded, took the meat dishes sponsored by Old Man Liu out of his backpack, and tipped them into a tin can using chopsticks to make heating them easier.

Wu Xie also took an oily flatbread from his bag, pierced its center hole with a peeled, clean tree branch, and propped it over the campfire Lao Yang had built to warm it up.

The local's culinary skills were decent, save for the fact that the food was a bit too salty.

The three of them wolfed down their meal until their stomachs were completely full. When Wu Xie turned around to grab his water skin, he suddenly discovered that the backpack he had left behind him was gone.

"Huh?" Wu Xie stood up in surprise, looking left and right. "What the hell? Where on earth did my backpack go?"

Zhang Tuxun drew his dagger, his eyes locked onto the uninvited guests hidden in the thicket. "Monkeys."

Lao Yang let out a shout, flipped to his feet, and bolted in a certain direction. "Stop right there! Put... put my bag down!"

Looking closer, they realized that at some point, the trees surrounding their campsite were dotted with large and small golden-haired macaques of varying heights, numbering roughly twenty by visual estimate.

The sturdiest-looking one among them seemed to sense that the aura emanating from Zhang Tuxun was not to be messed with, and it bared a set of sinister, sharp fangs at him in a threatening display.

The other monkeys followed suit, banging on wood and throwing stones while chattering frantically. Their eyes remained fixed on the backpacks left on the ground, and at a sharp screech from the largest monkey, they all leaped down from the trees and closed in on the center.

The encirclement gradually grew tighter.

Zhang Tuxun narrowed his eyes and decided to capture the ringleader first. He tossed his dagger to Wu Xie, instructing him to watch over the remaining packs and food.

A bone blade materialized out of thin air in his hand. With a swift flick, Zhang Tuxun drew it and lunged straight toward the largest monkey, casually cutting down three monkeys that tried to block his path, his target clear.

Assaulted, the troop of monkeys shrieked and scrambled about chaotically. Two of them seized the opportunity to dart toward Wu Xie. One was kicked by Wu Xie straight into the campfire, setting its fur ablaze. Scalded so badly it leaped three feet into the air, the panicked creature fled blindly back into the woods without looking where it was going.

The other, craftier monkey tried to drag off one of the backpacks, but Wu Xie gave chase and stepped heavily on its tail. Feeling a surge of pain, the monkey whipped its body around and opened its jaws wide to bite. Wu Xie had no time to dodge, and in his panic, he flailed the dagger around wildly. By sheer fluke, the blade sliced across the corner of the monkey's mouth, tearing open a massive gash with a *squelch* as blood instantly spurted out.

The monkey thrashed its claws frantically, trying to break free, but the more it struggled, the deeper the dagger cut, slicing open half of its face.

Driven mad by pain and panic, the monkey attacked with wild abandon. Caught off guard, Wu Xie was scratched on the arm by its sharp claws, making him wince in pain. Deciding to finish it once and for all, he followed the trajectory of the blade right down to the base of its ear, then drove it downward with force. The blade jammed firmly between the monkey's temporal and mandibular bones.

The monkey let out a heart-rending scream and lunged its claws toward Wu Xie's neck. Wu Xie quickly let go and ducked away.

Staggering with the dagger still embedded in its head, the monkey fled into the woods, leaving a trail of dripping blood in its wake, before finally collapsing under a tree from excessive blood loss, its eyes wide and filled with unresigned resentment in death.

"Hiss!"

A sudden pain flared across his back. Wu Xie lashed out with a backhand strike, colliding with a monkey that had tried to sneak up behind him.

The monkey shrieked and prepared to pounce on Wu Xie again. Taking a step back, Wu Xie picked up a burning branch and thrust it at the creature.

A large patch of the monkey's fur was singed, and it glared angrily with red eyes, ready to attack once more, when it was suddenly sent flying by a tremendous impact.

It turned out that Zhang Tuxun, having noticed the situation over here, had whipped his tail from five meters away, sending the monkey king hurtling through the air to crash squarely into the monkey attacking Wu Xie.

The smaller monkey was knocked out cold on the spot, while the monkey king was sent spinning in a daze. Before it could even react, it was impaled straight through by the bone blade Zhang Tuxun hurled, pinning it together with another monkey directly behind it.

The monkey king let out a mournful cry, its eyes widening in bitter disappointment as its body gradually grew cold, thoroughly dead.