Parting Ways

At Cao Ya's words, everyone turned to look at him.

"From the sound of it, you know about King Wannu too?" Chen Pi A Si looked somewhat surprised.

Never mind Chen Pi A Si-even Fatty, who knew Cao Ya best, was astonished.

Cao Ya had never mentioned knowing anything about this!

Wu Xie couldn't help asking, "Cao Ya, do you know what that phrase means? 'A monster that crawled out from underground.'"

Cao Ya didn't answer directly. He merely said they would understand everything once they entered the Cloud Palace.

"The way you talk, it almost sounds like you've been here before." Whether out of simple curiosity or some other motive, Monk Hua made that remark.

Cao Ya merely glanced at him, and Monk Hua immediately began sweating buckets, his legs trembling.

For that instant, he felt as though a prehistoric beast had fixed its eyes on him. He could barely breathe.

Chen Pi A Si hurried to smooth things over. "Brother Cao, a prime minister's belly has room enough to sail a boat. Be magnanimous-don't stoop to these fellows' level."

He was genuinely afraid Cao Ya would lash out at the slightest disagreement and kill Monk Hua with a single slap.

Then he would have nowhere even to cry.

Monk Hua was one of his key men, someone he had always valued highly.

There was no shortage of knowledgeable people in the tomb-robbing trade, but there were very few who knew as much as Monk Hua.

Most had taken up the trade halfway through life, like Pan Zi, Fatty, and Wu Xie, whom he had always rather looked down on.

In fact, he even looked down on Cao Ya a little, considering him an ignorant tomb robber who knew nothing but digging up burial goods to sell. But Cao Ya's formidable strength kept him in check, and as an old hand who never let his feelings show, he had concealed it so well that even Cao Ya hadn't noticed.

"Let's go," Cao Ya said calmly, heading deeper along the fissure.

This direction led straight to the Eastern Xia King's Nine-Dragon Corpse-Lifting Coffin.

Wu Xie, Fatty, Pan Zi, and Shunzi hurried after him, with Poker-Face joining them.

Chen Pi A Si and his three men brought up the rear.

Whenever Monk Hua glanced at Cao Ya, his eyes were filled with awe-and fear.

"Be more careful," Chen Pi A Si muttered.

"Right." Monk Hua, Lang Feng, and Ye Cheng nodded emphatically.

Walking behind Fatty, Wu Xie quietly asked, "Should I take the things out?" As he spoke, he glanced up at Cao Ya ahead, only to discover, rather dejectedly, that Cao Ya seemed entirely uninterested in what he was talking about.

Damn it. I've been treating them like such a big deal, and all along I've looked like a clown.

Wu Xie felt thoroughly frustrated, but Fatty never turned around and didn't notice his mood.

"Don't," Fatty grunted. "That old bastard looks down on us. Don't let them know. Once we shake them off, we can take a look ourselves. We already know how to do it anyway."

Wu Xie decided he was right and reached into his pocket to feel the Snake-Browed Bronze Fish, wondering what was recorded on the two bronze fish.

Cao Ya strode ahead without the slightest fear, as unconcerned as if he were walking down a main road.

Everyone else remained on guard.

Wu Xie envied him for that. Having enough strength really did make life easy.

Suddenly, Wu Xie laughed. Deep inside the silent fissure, the sound was jarring enough to startle Fatty, Pan Zi, and the others, who thought he had been possessed.

"Fuck! Don't touch me! I'm fine!" Wu Xie was startled too. Fatty and Pan Zi, ahead of and behind him, had nearly lunged at him, ready to subdue him first and ask questions later.

"Third Young Master, don't scare us with those sudden outbursts," Pan Zi couldn't help saying. He had genuinely thought something had happened to Wu Xie.

In a hellish place like this, anything could happen. They had to keep every last nerve on alert.

Wu Xie hurriedly apologized, saying that something important had occurred to him. By heading deeper through this fissure, they wouldn't encounter A Ning's team at all. He wondered which team would reach the Cloud Palace first.

Fatty scoffed. "Honestly, Innocent, you love overthinking things. Why bother with that woman A Ning's team? If we run into them and there's no trouble, fine.

"But if there is trouble, heh, I won't go easy on them." Wu Xie was equally unsparing. "Won't go easy on what? They've got dozens of guns. When the time comes, you'll probably be begging them to go easy on you."

Fatty grumbled that Comrade Innocent spent every day snuffing out their own prestige and boosting the enemy's morale.

"Third Master is in their hands. Whatever happens, we'll have to deal with them," Pan Zi said gravely.

Wu Xie's expression grew solemn too. That was right-his third uncle was in their hands. If they didn't rescue him, wouldn't this whole trip have been for nothing?

I hope nothing's happened to Third Uncle.

Hearing Wu Xie's concern, Chen Pi A Si sneered from behind them. "You'd better worry about yourself. Wu Sansheng is craftier than a rabbit. If that foreigner's team caught him, he definitely has a plan of his own."

Wu Xie thought it over and had to admit that Chen Pi A Si had a point.

His third uncle was an old hand. He had dealt with that foreigner Jude Kao's company for years without anything going wrong. There was no reason for his horse to stumble now.

Could he really have some special plan?

Wu Xie quietly asked Pan Zi, but Pan Zi shook his head, indicating that he didn't know either.

"Listen, Comrade Wu Innocent, stop thinking about all that nonsense. Save your strength and concentrate on walking. If you end up needing Lord Fatty to carry you, Lord Fatty charges a fee," Fatty cut in.

Wu Xie and Fatty chatted enthusiastically, but after two hours of walking, they were still inside the fissure, with no end in sight and no idea how much farther they had to go. Everyone fell quiet, too tired to speak, and followed Cao Ya deeper in silence.

Cao Ya's expression hadn't changed. He had sensed what lay farther inside, and with a destination in mind, the journey didn't feel tedious.

Besides, he didn't feel tired in the first place.

If he hadn't needed to consider the others, he could have charged straight to the Nine-Dragon Corpse-Lifting Coffin in minutes.

They walked and stopped, resting twice along the way and eating before setting off again. The farther they went, the more doubtful Chen Pi A Si and his three men became.

It's been so long. Why aren't we there yet? We must have taken the wrong way!

Cao Ya couldn't be bothered to explain. They could follow or not, as they pleased.

In the end, the four discussed it for a while and decided to retrace their steps, return to the slope, and enter the Cloud Palace from the front.

The two groups thus parted ways. Their guide, Shunzi, stayed with Cao Ya and the others. Chen Pi A Si didn't dare ask Shunzi to lead his group; if he angered Cao Ya, they might not even make it out of this fissure.

With Chen Pi A Si and his three men gone, everyone left except the relatively unfamiliar Shunzi knew one another and shared various connections. They could be considered part of the same camp, and the atmosphere immediately relaxed a little.

At that point, Wu Xie took the two Snake-Browed Bronze Fish out of his pocket.

The corner of Shunzi's eye twitched. No wonder he had noticed something a little off about Wu Xie earlier. So that was why.

Wu Xie said, "How about we first take a look at what's recorded on these two bronze fish?"

Cao Ya didn't mind. He could already sense that they were getting closer and closer to the Nine-Dragon Corpse-Lifting Coffin.

But he raised a question:

"Now that Monk Hua's gone, which of you can read Jurchen Script?"

Everyone looked at one another, suddenly at a complete loss.