Chapter Fifteen: Instant Death

"That's right. Look, there are lots of fresh break marks around the mouth of the cave—it must have been forced open from the inside with inner strength when he came out."

"Are you saying this cave connects to the ancient tomb where my father is trapped?" My voice trembled slightly; suddenly I felt much closer to the old man.

"The wind coming out from inside reeks of corpse air. Aside from an ancient tomb or a pit of the dead, nothing else could cause it," Peanut finished, then sneered at Rat. "You want to snatch something and then sneak back in through here, don’t you? Pretty good plan—keep trying." He patted Rat and released his knee from Rat’s back.

A jolt ran through me, and I started crawling toward the cave entrance.

"Hey, Old Yuan, what are you doing?" Old Tan grabbed me from behind.

"What do you think? I’m going in to save my father," I shouted back, "Let go!"

"You gotta be kidding. How are we supposed to get in there? Are we supposed to chop you in half and send you in piece by piece?"

At Old Tan’s words, my spirits deflated instantly.

Peanut rubbed his neck and coughed dryly, "Impossible. Only I can get through there. It’s hundreds of meters deep. Even with bone-shrinking skills, coming out nearly cost me half my life."

"You bastard, shut up!" I cursed, "You couldn’t have made the hole bigger on your way out?"

"Are you nuts? Digging from inside? I’d never make it out, not even in my next life."

"You dare talk back?" Old Tan kept cursing.

I was desperate now. The thought that crawling through that cave could lead me to my father made me wish I could switch bodies with Rat.

Rat sulkily climbed the steps, "It’s not like I had a choice, being ordered around like a dog, and not even allowed to talk..." He muttered as he continued forward.

But just two steps ahead, his body suddenly stiffened. He turned his back to us, trembling, and covered his head with both hands.

"Damn, not again?" Old Tan was genuinely furious this time and tried to squeeze past Peanut and me to hit him.

But before he could move, Rat collapsed straight down the steps. His face smashed onto the stone, blood spraying instantly, and his body rolled down like a wooden stick.

We were all stunned, even Peanut looked incredulous. But thanks to last time, the three of us were prepared. Peanut quickly took off his backpack and tossed it forward, stopping Rat from sliding further.

We stared at Rat’s crumpled form, saying nothing for a long time. In truth, we were all wary of him, afraid he might suddenly leap up from the ground. But seeing the way he fell just now, if he was trying to trick us, his performance was too convincing.

Finally, Peanut crouched down slowly. He pressed Rat's neck, waited a couple of seconds, then exhaled three words.

"He’s dead."

"Dead?" Old Tan and I shouted together.

"No, wait... He was fine just now, how... Peanut, you didn’t squeeze him too hard, did you?" Old Tan looked at Peanut—confused and frightened.

Yes, Peanut was the only one who’d touched Rat, but it was obvious he hadn’t struck to kill.

"What’s going on?" I hoped Peanut could explain.

But Peanut had no intention of answering. He just crouched and began examining Rat’s corpse. Old Tan signaled me with his eyes to stay alert. Everything had happened too suddenly; I had no idea what to do. After a moment, I doubted Peanut’s judgment and reached over to check Rat’s heartbeat and pulse myself. The result was clear: Rat was indeed dead.

Peanut was deep in thought, then he lifted Rat’s head and started feeling through the dirty hair. His hand paused at a spot just behind Rat’s forehead. "The fatal injury is here," he said.

Old Tan and I exchanged puzzled glances, hesitated, then both felt the spot on Rat’s head.

Sure enough, I felt that a piece of skull was missing from his forehead, soft and yielding under my touch—it made my scalp crawl. Peanut parted Rat’s hair, and I saw a fresh bruise there. Remembering how Rat had clutched his head in agony before falling, it all made sense.

"He didn’t bump his head along the way, and this... it's so sudden," I looked at Peanut, even more confused.

"Maybe it was an old injury that flared up now," Old Tan suggested.

Peanut gave a faint smile and shook his head. "That bone was shattered inside his skull, but the scalp only has a bruise, no swelling at all. Whoever did it—hah, their skills are impressive."

"You mean Rat was killed by someone? Then..." Instinctively, I looked up to the top of the stairs. Rat had fallen at the far end of the bend. Maybe it was just my imagination, but that spot felt sinister, as if someone was lurking behind it. I lowered my voice, "Is someone lying in wait?"

Old Tan and Peanut both peered ahead, their breathing slowed. If someone really was waiting, we were in deep trouble. For someone to kill Rat so stealthily under our watchful eyes—if they wanted to target any of us, it would hardly be a challenge.

The thought made my forehead tingle. Damn it, after all the trouble getting here, the only person who knew the tomb’s location was now dead. What were we supposed to do? Stay here, or go back and look for another way?

"Let’s go." In the midst of our anxiety, Peanut spoke calmly.

"Aren’t we going to take precautions?" Old Tan was still uneasy, clearly terrified of that corner up ahead.

Peanut looked at me and smiled, "When you reach the end of the road, a new path will appear."

If it had been earlier, I would have thought Peanut was just playing with words, but now I understood instantly—those eight characters were our only realistic option: keep moving forward.

I had to rescue my father, no matter what difficulties we faced. Rat, our guide, was dead, but as long as our goal remained, we had to follow the road he marked out in life. Judging by his actions, the path might even be just a decoy; following it could mean death. But we had no time to find another route to the ancient tomb—if this wasn’t the end of the road, what was?

Precisely for that reason, we had to press on, and faster than before, because... no, because I had no other choice.

Peanut picked up his backpack and was the first to charge ahead. I followed close behind, and Old Tan had no choice but to chase after us. If someone was lying in ambush, we had three people on our side. Unless the enemy was some legendary swordsman, it wouldn’t be easy to take us.

Rounding the corner, I saw no one. Tension eased a little. I suddenly wanted to thank Peanut—if not for him, I’d still be hesitating below.

"Pea—"

"This path may not really lead to the tomb entrance. If it doesn’t, we’ll have to spend more time searching for it. So save your strength," Peanut said without looking back, bounding up the steps at a speed entirely different from before.

"Damn, wait up!" Old Tan shouted behind, urging me to catch up with Peanut, apparently still worried about a sudden attack.

I could tell from Peanut’s movements that he had no intention of waiting for us. He wanted to reach the end of this narrow passage as quickly as possible, to see if the tomb’s entrance really lay ahead. Suddenly, I wondered if Peanut might really be an old friend of my father—otherwise, why was he as anxious as I was?

"Damn, could he be my father’s illegitimate son?" The thought popped into my head.

A few seconds later, Peanut had left Old Tan and me far behind; soon, we couldn’t even hear his footsteps.

"Is that guy trying to ditch us?" Old Tan asked as he hurried along.

"He won’t," I replied instinctively, startling myself. Without any reason, running off would be Peanut’s best move, so my certainty was irrational. Yet, for some reason, at that moment, I felt a strange trust in him.

The path ahead got steeper. Old Tan and I were gasping for breath, too exhausted to speak. Three hours later, we were practically climbing with all four limbs. Just as I reached the limits of my strength, sunlight suddenly shone onto my face from above.

"The exit!" I shouted in excitement, turning to Old Tan. "We made it out!"