Chapter 40: Cheng Shu Finally Shows His True Face

  Cheng Shu's attitude was firm, and Ma Si Zhe and I had no choice but to follow him back to the place where we almost got killed by the vines earlier.

  When everyone walked out of the cave, they were surprised to find that the coral and vines were gone, replaced by a large pit. The few of us looked at the pit, looking at each other in dismay.

  "What? No! This isn't the place from before!" Jiang Liu walked out of the cave and arrived at the edge of the pit.

  "It should be the fourth floor, no?" Uncle Cheng muttered as he walked away, looking a bit disappointed. This at least proved that his guess was wrong.

  I'm actually glad we didn't go back, at least we don't have to deal with that vine again.

  "Do you think it's your judgment that went wrong or Uncle Cheng's judgment that went wrong?" I asked Ma Si Zhe.

  "What does it mean?" Ma Si Zhe was a bit puzzled about what I was asking.

  "Look, we should have returned by the original route, but now we've ended up somewhere else. There can only be two reasons: either your calculated rule is wrong and we're not on the right path, or Uncle Cheng's calculation is wrong and the place we just left wasn't actually the fourth level."

  "Neither of us has any problem," said Ma Si Zhe.

  "So how do you explain this situation now?"

  Ma Si Zhe shook his head, "Can't you see that this is where we were before?"

  After listening to Ma Si Zhe say this, I looked around in a circle, trying to find some clues, but still couldn't see anything, so I could only shake my head.

  I didn't notice.

  Ma Si Zhe pointed at the cave in front of us and said 'Don't you think that cave looks familiar?'

  "Familiar sight! I look at these caves here and they all seem familiar. Aren't all the caves around here the same?"

  "Look at the stone at the entrance of the cave." Ma Si Zhe said, and I suddenly remembered that when we were following Cheng Shu and others, Huo Ying had tied the rope to the stone at the entrance of the cave. After several people went down, the stone at the entrance of the cave was pulled forward a lot.

  The stone in front of me now is just like the previous one, a certain distance away from the entrance. This should be the stone that was moved by Huo Ying before.

  I was thinking about it when Uncle Cheng's voice came over 'This is the place we were at before, we didn't take a wrong turn'

  I walked in and saw Uncle Cheng pinching a handful of muddy water. Looking again at the hole, it turned out to be a swamp.

  Cheng Shu grasped the mud and turned his head to say to Ma Si Zhe, "This is that place from before."

  "What about that wisteria? Such a huge thing, how can it just disappear after saying it's gone?"

  "Swallowed up by the marsh," said Cheng Shu in a low voice.

  "What's being sucked in?" Jiang Liu asked.

  "Look at what's in this mud?" Uncle Cheng brought his hand closer to my face. I lowered my head and took a look, and in the muddy sediment on Uncle Cheng's hand were many things that looked like insect wings.

  "Are those the wings of a poisonous moth?"

  Cheng Shu nodded 'That's right, it's the wing of a poisonous moth. Look at this mud again'

  Several of us looked down, only to see that the mud was densely packed with the corpses of poisonous moths. 'You mean that coral sank into this swamp?' I asked Uncle Cheng in disbelief.

  "Take a look around and you can basically determine that this is the place we came to before, so I reckon that coral is probably under this swamp."

  I hastily retreated a step back, keeping a safe distance from the swamp. Something that big could swallow me whole, it wouldn't be funny at all. Seeing Ma Si Zhe still wandering around the edge of the swamp, I shouted "If you fall in later, no one will come to your rescue!"

  'Ma Ye's kung fu skills are good, he can flip over with just one somersault'

  "You're fine, but where's that silver tortoise on you?" Ma Si Zhe's foot slipped to the side, almost falling off.

  As soon as the words left my mouth, I realized that I might have misspoken. The movement of Uncle Cheng's hand paused, and my heart tightened along with it, thinking that if he were to ask me something about the silver turtle, how would I come up with an excuse.

  Fortunately, Uncle Cheng didn't ask me anything, but I wasn't happy either. Uncle Cheng must have heard my words and guessed that the silver turtle was something important. Jiang Liu stood aside, looking at Uncle Cheng with a thoughtful expression. Uncle Cheng didn't raise his head, he just shook off the mud from his hands. I looked at Huo Ying, she seemed to haven't heard our conversation, squatting down studying the muddy water in the pit.

  For a moment, no one spoke and the atmosphere suddenly became very awkward. Uncle Cheng rinsed off the mud on his hands with water, I pretended to head towards the cave, Uncle Cheng shouted behind me "Wait".

  My back stiffened and I stood still, my heart racing with anxiety.

  "Look at this!" Ho Ying suddenly shouted, Cheng Shu was attracted by Ho Ying's shout and squatted beside him. I let out a breath of relief.

  Turning his head to look at Ma Si Zhe, Ma Si Zhe made a gesture as if he wanted to strangle me to death, then walked over to Huo Ying's side.

  I was just about to go over, when I saw Uncle Cheng whisper something to Jiang Liu, and I had a bad premonition. As soon as I shouted 'Ma Si Zhe', I saw Jiang Liu grab Ma Si Zhe's backpack. Damn it, this is going to be an open robbery!

  Ma Si Zhe felt something was off behind him, and he suddenly turned around. Jiang Liu pounced on empty air. I hurriedly ran towards Ma Si Zhe, but didn't expect to be blocked by Cheng Shu.

  "Listen up, kid! If you want to keep it all to yourselves, don't blame us for being rude!"

  "What are you going to do?" I sneered with a smile, implying that at your age, you can't even beat me. "Uncle Cheng, I respect the elderly and love the young, which is why I haven't held it against you for all the times you've tried to take advantage of me on this journey. Now that things have come to this, neither of us will look good if we continue like this. Except for this silver turtle, everything else in the tomb that you want can be yours, I won't take a single thing."

  "What a coincidence, I was thinking the same thing too. Apart from this silver tortoise, nothing else is of any use."

  I'm a bit puzzled, isn't Cheng Shu just seeking wealth? With so many treasures in the tomb, why must it be this silver turtle?

  "Cheng Shu, you know why I came here. The Silver Turtle is very important to me and it's impossible for me to give it to you. The Silver Turtle must be the key to solving this matter. Whether it's the book in the secret room or the stone piece in the box, they all reinforce my guess."

  Cheng Shu smiled coldly 'I know it's very important to you, but what if I say I must have it'

  Ma Si Zhe cursed on one side 'You son of a bitch, just lift the pole, Sun Yi, cut him off' and rushed towards me.

  Jiang Liu stretched out his hand to grab Ma Si Zhe, but Ma Si Zhe pulled out a gun and pressed it against Jiang Liu's head. Jiang Liu immediately fell silent.

  "Cheng Shu, don't blame me then." To be honest, I really didn't want to fight an old man, but I had no choice. I clenched my fist and was about to strike when a dark figure suddenly targeted me at the same time.

  My hand stopped in mid-air, then slowly put down. I looked at the gun in front of me, and the more I looked at it, the more familiar it became. Isn't this my damn gun? How did it end up in Uncle Cheng's hands?

  "It's really strange, why is your gun here with me? This is exactly why I always say you guys are idiots. Your own stuff gets stolen and you can't even notice for such a long time. You deserve to die."

  Cheng Shu turned his head and said to Ma Si Zhe, 'Give me the thing.'

  Ma Si Zhe licked his lips and said, "Then, is it that the two of us won't have a reason to exist anymore?"

  Cheng Shu smiled and said, 'As long as you're willing to give me the stuff, what I said before still counts. Whatever price the stuff fetches, I won't shortchange you.'

  "It's the same if I put it here, no matter how much money is poured in, the share will still be the same"

  Cheng Shu listened to Ma Si Zhe's words, clicked his tongue twice, and said to Huo Ying, "Look at this kid, so naive." He turned his head again to face Ma Si Zhe and said, "If you really had that intention, you would have told me about the Silver Turtle long ago. Why wait until now to tear your face? Let me tell you this: if I don't get my hands on the Silver Turtle now, I'm afraid you won't be willing to give it to me later."

  Listening to Cheng Shu's words, he already knew what the silver turtle was used for, but Ma Si Zhe and I were still unclear. However, I can be certain that this silver turtle is definitely not simple.

  "I dare you," said Cheng Shu disdainfully to Ma Siqi.

  "Want to give it a try?"

  "Of course, you're using Jiang Liu to threaten me, isn't that a bit laughable? We've been holding the wrong hostage from the start. Why would Uncle Cheng take Jiang Liu seriously?"

  Cheng Shu's hand tightened its grip, and the gun was pressed directly against my forehead. 'I'll say it again, give me the thing.'

  "Alright, I'll give it to you," Ma Si Zhe replied to Cheng Shu, taking down his backpack and rummaging through it with one hand before tossing something over. Cheng Shu put down his gun and caught it. I took advantage of the opportunity to escape from under the gun muzzle.

  Ma Si Zhe saw me running out, used a gun to hit Jiang Liu once, and knocked Jiang Liu to the ground. Cheng Shu looked at the thing in his hand and threw it on the ground. I took a look, and what Ma Si Zhe threw over was actually my water-logged camera.

  I fell to the ground in an instant, bullets flying over me and hitting the rocks. This is for real, they're actually shooting!

  Ma Si Zhe and Jiang Liu were wrestling with each other at this moment, Cheng Shu had made preparations and was about to fire the second shot when he was knocked down by Huo Ying. This unexpected move caused Cheng Shu's gun to fall to the ground and slide far away. Cheng Shu looked at Huo Ying in disbelief, but Huo Ying's face showed no expression.

  I rolled and crawled over to pick it up, just as I got my hands on it, Uncle Cheng shook off Huo Ying and rushed towards me. Before I could even stand steady, I was knocked down again, the gun slipped out of my hand, and Uncle Cheng kicked it with one foot, sending the gun flying into the marsh.

  I watched as it slowly sank down. Without a weapon, I was actually less worried, and I figured that even if I had to fight head-on with Cheng Shu, I might not necessarily lose. Moreover, Huo Ying seemed to be on our side, although I found it somewhat inexplicable.

  But I underestimated Uncle Cheng's skills, a veteran like him who has been through thick and thin for so many years, every move is deadly. As someone who only exercises in the gym during work hours, I was no match for him. After just a few hits, I couldn't take it anymore.

  Although Huo Ying helped, after all, she was a woman and couldn't do much. Cheng Shu kicked me to the ground with one foot, my stomach felt like it had been kicked into ***, I had difficulty breathing. Now I feel that Cheng Shu is very similar to Ao Bai, and I am Wei Xiaobao, being beaten without any ability to fight back.

  At the moment I fell down, I felt that something in my upper garment pocket seemed to have fallen out, making a tinkling sound.

  It's bad, it's Soul Reaper's Bell.