Chapter 55: A Gentle Embrace

I stared at the expression on Peanut's face as he said this for a long time, until I finally couldn't help but ask, "Why must he die? Just because what Professor Chen did conflicted with your plans? He—he is your uncle, for heaven's sake."

I trusted Peanut too much, and according to my own rather impractical moral standards, I could not accept that he was such a cruel person.

Peanut smiled and said, "That's right, he counts as my uncle, so it has nothing to do with you."

The smile on his face made me feel very uncomfortable, even repulsive. Yet, Peanut kept smiling like that, as if he were born with such a grin. My heart was restless, but I had nothing more to say.

Eight of us had come down, and in less than a day, four were already dead. I smiled bitterly to myself, thinking, was the purpose of Professor Chen and his group coming down here just to die?

No, that wasn't right.

I suddenly thought of the "Forbidden City of Phantom Snow" that the young woman had mentioned, and I thought of that map.

They had already taken the Snow Crane Feather last time; Professor Chen must have come for that map this time. Now that Professor Chen was dead, the reason Peanut refused to leave had to be for the sake of that map.

Thinking of this, my blood heated up, and I said to Fatty, "Let's go find that map."

Fatty was stunned. "Find what?"

"Didn't that young woman, who disguised herself as Yang Lang, say their main goal was a map? The Forbidden City of Phantom Snow—you can tell just by the name that there must be no shortage of good things there. You fat oaf, don't you talk about burial treasures every day? With the map, we can go and raid that place directly."

After I finished speaking, Fatty’s eyes flashed, but he soon regained his senses. "Going back up? I’m afraid we’ll be dead before we find any map."

I thought to myself that Peanut must also want that map, and as long as we found it, it would surely annoy him. But this idea was stupid enough. Plainly speaking, it was impossible for just me and Fatty to do it; I was only saying it to make Peanut anxious.

However, Peanut pulled something out from his person and tossed it directly to me.

I was stunned and instinctively caught it. I looked down and was even more bewildered.

"The map is inside," Peanut said indifferently, then turned his head and began to light a cigarette again.

Fatty leaned over. After glancing at it for a moment, he said to Peanut, "Brother, are you looking down on Fatty's intelligence? Isn't this just a damn stainless steel hip flask? Do you think that because the style is a bit old, I'd mistake it for an antique?"

Fatty was right; it was clearly an old-fashioned portable hip flask. The original green paint was almost entirely worn off, and the mouth and base of the flask were covered in rust. I shook it a few times and became even more certain that there couldn't be anything inside.

Peanut ignored Fatty and turned to me, saying, "Take this to your father and tell him... 'Soon, it will be his turn.'"

With that, Peanut slung an equipment bag from beside Zhuge Xuan over his shoulder and turned to walk in the direction we had come from.

"Wait." This time, my reaction was quick enough; I ran up and blocked Peanut's path. After a moment of thought, I said, "Fine. Even if I believe this flask is the map, why are you still going up?"

Peanut gave me a faint smile. "I am going to find the truth, just like you."

"What?"

"Yuan Jie, stop pursuing these matters. Although you are special, coming and going in a place like this will eventually cost you your life. The truth you seek doesn't need to be asked of your father, nor of me; it has been by your side all along."

"By my side?"

While I was still dazed, Peanut had already run off into the darkness above. I was hesitating whether to chase after him when Fatty shouted, "That girl is awake."

I turned around and saw Zhuge Xuan slowly open her eyes, struggling to sit up. Sighing at the darkness, I stepped forward to help her up.

Her body was soft and light. I didn't know what kind of perfume the young lady had used, but even now, I could still smell a faint fragrance.

"Water..." Zhuge Xuan murmured incoherently.

"Fatty, water!" I shouted at him immediately.

Fatty rolled his eyes at me. "I heard you. When I was injured, I didn't see you being this concerned."

Taking the canteen from Fatty, I gently placed it to Zhuge Xuan’s lips and fed her a few sips.

After a while, her eyes opened a bit more. "I—where am I? Why do I feel so dizzy?"

I couldn't help but curse inwardly; Peanut really didn't know his own strength. If he had been any harder, Zhuge Xuan might have ended up with brain damage.

Fatty squatted in front of Zhuge Xuan with a grin. "Being a little dizzy is fine. Just remember that it was your Brother Yuan Jie who saved you from the fire and water."

I heard this and said, "What nonsense are you spouting?"

Fatty laughed, "This is called hypnosis. Don't you see that Zhuge Xuan's brain is fuzzy? What I say now will influence her brainwaves, and in that way, won't your business be settled?"

"Wh-what business? Stop talking nonsense."

"Oh my, look at that little face turning red. Forget it, if you like her, you like her, what's the big deal? A softie loves a crazy woman—a perfect match."

"You..."

I was about to say something when I heard Zhuge Xuan whisper, "Fatty..."

I looked and saw her eyes seemed to be closing again.

"Hiss, damn, this girl isn't secretly in love with you, Fatty, is she?" Fatty then smiled at me. "Don't worry, I won't be fooled by this 'spring call' of hers..."

Before he could finish, Zhuge Xuan continued, "Fatty, you... get the hell away from me, and t-tell Yuan Jie to be careful of... Professor Chen. Chen... Ming..."

Whatever Zhuge Xuan said after that, we couldn't hear clearly, but the part where she cursed Fatty was crystal clear.

I smiled at Fatty. "Is this what you call a secret crush?"

Fatty curled his lip and muttered a few curses. Then, Zhuge Xuan lost consciousness again.

At this moment, I sat on the ground, holding the girl to my side. Her body went limp, leaning completely against me. I was exhausted, but strangely, even though the position was very uncomfortable, I didn't have the slightest urge to move.

Looking at Zhuge Xuan, I felt that this young lady, with her weary face and dusty body, was even more heart-stirring. Holding such a beauty in this half-dead state could be considered a blessing.

Thus, ignoring Fatty’s sarcastic remarks, I just kept holding Zhuge Xuan.

The boiled meat was probably already in Peanut's stomach. We ate a little something, and while Fatty was there studying the flask, I pressed him on what we should do now.

Fatty looked into the flask and said, "That盗洞 (tomb-raiding shaft) isn't very big. We have to wait for Zhuge Xuan to wake up so we can climb out together."

"So we're really not going to worry about Peanut?" I asked.

Fatty put down the flask and turned his head. "It's not that we aren't worrying; it's that you can't do anything about it. Hey, now that the map is in our hands, I think..."

I knew exactly what Fatty was thinking. "Forget it, stop looking. I have to hand this over to my father. If he wants to go to that so-called Forbidden City, you can contact him yourself."

"Hey, didn't you just sound like you had a real plan? How come you're backing down now?"

"Just pretend I was talking nonsense," I said. "This thing must be very important to my father. Even though Professor Chen and his group are dead, isn't there still that young woman? She seems to have a deep grudge against our Yuan family. If I don't notify my father soon, I fear..."

Suddenly, I couldn't continue.

"You're afraid that Liu the Second-wit will harm your father?" Fatty said.

I nodded. Thinking of that, I felt a wave of depression. It was no exaggeration to say that Liu the Second-wit and Tan Wei represented my childhood and adolescence. But now, my past seemed to be negated by everything happening before my eyes.

Just as I was thinking, a sliding sound suddenly came from the darkness of the slope behind us.

Fatty and I turned around in alarm.

"Hiss, is Peanut back?" I couldn't help but wonder.

Before long, that sound, which had been very close to us, stopped. Then came the sound of low, heavy footsteps.

Fatty clicked on his flashlight and walked in front of me and Zhuge Xuan. Shining the light, a figure carrying an archaeological team's equipment bag appeared before us.

Seeing that person, my heart skipped a beat, and I immediately put down Zhuge Xuan and stood up.

"Mr. Cao? Mr. Yuan? Oh, thank goodness, I've finally found you."

As he spoke, the man sounded like he was about to cry, and he trotted toward us.

Damn it, that was Professor Chen. My brain felt dizzy, and I thought, did Peanut not kill him?

Now, Fatty and I couldn't tell if he was human or ghost. Instinctively, we both looked at the ground—at Professor Chen's shadow.

Looking at Professor Chen's appearance, he didn't look like a ghost. And if Peanut really hadn't killed him, it would actually fit my expectations better.

However, neither Fatty nor I expected that under the glow of the flashlight, we could not find his shadow on the ground behind Professor Chen, no matter how we looked.

PS: Sorry, I am a bit late.