Chapter Fifteen: The Unexpected Turn of Events

  Having dispelled all my doubts, I returned to the cave and Hei Zi asked me what was wrong, but for some reason, I just couldn't bring myself to tell him about my suspicions of You Shui. Was it that deep down, I had also started to suspect Hei Zi? I shook my head hard and told him about tonight's events. Hei Zi took the first watch with Da Fu, while Da Gui and I stood guard for the second half of the night.

  It was past one in the morning when Hei Zi returned from releasing water and switched shifts with me. Da Gui had already woken up early. The two of us lit a fire at the entrance of the cave, as it was especially cold that night. Although it wasn't as biting as the snowy nights in the north, the extremely cold wind from the north still seeped into our clothes through the sleeves and pants, making us shiver. Da Gui and I sat by the fire, staring blankly ahead. The red stars above the valley were dwindling, and the flames of the fire were slowly weakening, just as I had expected - this fire wouldn't spread. As for whether the person who died miserably in the man-eating Blood Vine was one of Liu Lao's gang or not, I had no way of knowing.

  Every 45 minutes, they would patrol around the cave within a range of 25 meters. Alternating between two or three times, Da Gui suddenly spoke up and said, "Thank you for saving me." His voice was very old, and hearing it in my ear was a kind of melancholy that had experienced many hardships. It was the first time I heard Da Gui's voice so clearly; usually, he would be muttering to himself with Oil Barrel, and I couldn't understand what they were talking about. I was extremely surprised - the fiery red light reflected on his young and sunny face, and his old voice seemed like it shouldn't belong to the same person.

  I slowly came back to myself and said, "It was your boss's money that saved you, I just handled the transaction."

  The air around us seemed to freeze and the atmosphere became very stiff. After two or three minutes, Da Gui suddenly changed his tone and said, "Don't you want to know why I saw that dead person?"

  I have to say, this question is indeed very attractive to me, but over the years of being in the business world, I've learned that when it comes to things that are easily achievable, the more you don't care about them, the less transparent you become to others. In reality, there aren't many people who can truly understand each other's hearts, so when making friends, if you let others see through you, you'll only gain their disdain and disrespect. I gazed calmly at the faint flames of the fire and said softly: "You won't say it on your own, but will you say it if I force you?"

  Dà Guì gazed at me for a moment, then continued, "I believe you will be afraid to know the truth, perhaps dare not believe the truth."

  "There aren't many things in this world that can make me worry, at least you haven't discovered them yet." I said.

  Dà Guì let out a cold laugh, his low voice piercingly sharp, devoid of any other emotions as he said: "Where's that black kid?"

  My mind was shocked, could the dead person be Hei Zi? No! Impossible! Not right! What's going on with Hei Zi in the cave now, a person who can jump, speak, laugh and feel sad, how is this possible. I pretended not to understand and said indifferently: "You're sowing discord, my bottom line is very low, this one just happens to be".

  Dà Guì seemed to intentionally infuriate me, his cold voice aged as he said: "Not bad, the dead person on that tree is indeed your brother Hei Zi. You're right, he's been dead for two or three days. At first, I didn't quite believe it when I discovered the dead body on the tree, but yesterday, what Hei Zi did here, carelessly burning away the Man-Eating Blood Vine, was equivalent to destroying evidence in my eyes. Moreover, I couldn't feel any fluctuations of human life force on Hei Zi's body now; he should be a person from that place."

  "Oh, where?" I asked.

  "The Eternal Realm of the Sealed Demon King!" Da Guibi's eyes suddenly became very deep and profound, making it impossible for me to fathom.

  Is the Eternal Seal of the Demon King broken? Is that really Hei Zi who has died? No, it's impossible! People can change, but their personality, hobbies, and habits won't change. His eyes are still the same. Da Gui saw through me, he was right, I really don't dare to believe it, nor do I want to believe it.

  Dà Guì slowly stood up and was about to go on patrol. It's almost six o'clock now, this is the last round of patrol tonight. He took a step forward, stopped his footsteps and said to me: "Now you don't need to pay attention to me, when you get to that place, you will naturally understand everything."

  "What about the treasure of the demon king?" I asked. Da Gui didn't turn around and said, "He's right around us. When we get to that place, he'll show up, and everything will become clear." After finishing speaking, he turned on his flashlight with wolf eyes and left.

  He! ? Who is it? Why can't I sense his presence. And Da Gui, isn't he a slippery person? Why would he say these things to me? There are only two reasons: one, Da Gui is jealous of my relationship with Hei Zi and wants to drive us apart; two, what Da Gui said is true, that Hei Zi has really died. Of these two possibilities, I'd rather believe the first, but why did I subconsciously listen to Da Gui's words? Have I really started to suspect Hei Zi? Has our brotherly bond of over a decade been shaken by someone else's unrealistic words?

  I stood up and let out a long, murky breath, slowly walking back into the cave. I glanced at Hei Zi, who was using the leg of an oil water bottle as a pillow, dazed and confused from drinking too much. I walked over to him and gently touched his face with my hand. The real deal wasn't some human skin mask. I completely dispelled Hei Zi's doubts, then slowly made my way outside.

  The next day, more than 7 o'clock in the morning, the sky was just bright, and everyone was awakened by me. After eating some compressed biscuits, they set off again after packing their things. This is already the second night of arriving here.

  I walked ahead, the team was as usual. Da Gui restored his usual demeanor, still with a respectful and humble attitude towards You Shui Tou, completely unable to find last night's expression.

  We arrived at the mountain valley again after more than an hour, where we had set fire to the carnivorous plants yesterday. Fortunately, the fire did not spread, or else it would have caused a big commotion among the locals. Setting fires in the mountains is no joke, and even if you get away with it lightly, you'll still get 7 or 8 years of imprisonment! The fire in the valley has not been completely extinguished yet, and there are still several scattered flames burning here and there. The surrounding rocks have all been scorched black, the ground is cracked, and the carnivorous plants and the lush flowers and grasses that were previously growing in the valley have all turned to ashes in the sea of fire. The entire place has become a gray wasteland. At this moment, I suddenly thought of those "before and after" pictures that were circulating online recently... Our group slowly made our way into the valley, but the soil on the ground was still scorching hot from being burned by the fire overnight. The soles of our rubber shoes had softened, and a pungent smell of burning rubber began to mix with the already not-so-fresh air, making it hard to breathe.

  The valley isn't very long, probably no more than five kilometers in length. This valley keeps going up until it reaches an even taller mountain and stops. I took out the map marked on the canteen and carefully compared it, this mountain can't be wrong.

  This mountain is the strangest one I've ever seen, from its shape it looks like a human nose that has been cut off and stood upside down. The entire mountain is at least over 200 meters high by my estimation. The mountain is densely covered with what appears to be man-made caves, these caves seem to be arranged in a disorderly manner but I feel like I've seen them somewhere before. Faintly, it seems like there's something inside the caves, but the light is too dim and I really can't see clearly.

  The oil-water belly laughed loudly, but only saw Da Fu Da Gui stretching out his hand from behind to pull out two guns, aiming at Hei Zi without saying a word and directly firing "bang bang". The two gunshots echoed through the mountains! I stared with wide eyes, but everything was already too late. The bullets had pierced Hei Zi's heart and head, and he was covered in blood! Hei Zi looked at me with a dazed and helpless gaze, slowly falling to the ground. Suddenly, my world collapsed!

  In an instant, I completely collapsed, my eyes stinging, and quickly ran to Hei Zi's side, slowly lifting him up. At this time, Hei Zi's mouth was spitting out blood with each rise and fall of his chest, exhaling more than inhaling, then his whole body shook, relaxing completely, before finally stopping breathing.

  I'm furious, really furious. I throw my head back and let out a loud roar towards the sky, roaring three times. My sleeves shake up and down, and with a reverse motion, I pull out the dagger that had slid out. The veins on my body bulge out, my eyes are filled with killing intent, and like a ghostly shadow, I suddenly flash in front of Da Fu and Da Gui. My two feet spin around in mid-air, kicking away the two black handguns they were holding. With a 360-degree whirlwind motion, I aim at their necks, ready to strike.

  The two of them are not slow to react, and with a swift movement, they roll backwards on the ground, dodging my attack. Although they managed to avoid my initial strike, they still get slashed by the military dagger in my hand. I won't give them any chance to catch their breath. Before they can even come back to their senses, my body leaps into the air again, and with a swift kick, one foot lands on Da Fu's face while the other kicks Da Gui's neck. With all my might, I stomp these two men fiercely onto the ground, making it hard for them to breathe.

  They're afraid of killing Hei Zi! My heart is filled with rage, and I must avenge Hei Zi's death. As I speak, I pick up the military dagger and stab it towards these two men!

  "Lu brothers, this is a misunderstanding, stop immediately, take a look yourself, isn't the dead person your brother Heizi?!" shouted You Shuigutou.

  I won't listen to Oil Water Belly's explanation, kill these two first. Just as my dagger was about to stab Da Fu, an extremely strong force suddenly popped me open! How is this possible?!