Chapter 42: I Killed Someone

  I pulled out the bell from the mud and took a look. The entire bell was blocked tightly, not making any sound at all.

  I was anxious to find some water to rinse the bell, but at this time Jiang Liu threw Huo Ying aside, pinched Ma Si Zhe's neck and started banging him against the wall with great force, again and again, more and more fiercely.

  I suddenly remembered what Uncle Cheng said before, 'When the bell is present, people are present; when the bell is lost, people perish.' I looked at Jiang Liu who had gone mad. Sorry, I have no other choice either.

  He steeled himself and slammed the bell to the ground. Cheng Shu guessed my intention and rushed over to pick up the bell. I stepped on the bell before Cheng Shu, grinding it fiercely with one foot.

  The silver bell was trampled out of shape by me, and I quickly turned back to look at Jiang Liu.

  He suddenly stopped there, his hands still maintaining a forward stretching motion. I ran over and pulled his arms open with Huo Ying.

  Jiang Liu let out a painful wail, his voice echoing in the tomb, making people's hearts panic.

  I watched him warily. Before long, the skin on his face began to rot. Rapidly, as if corroded by some chemical agent, the skin disintegrated and flowed down from his face.

  I quickly pulled Ma Si-zhe out and retreated backwards with Huo Ying supporting him.

  Before long, Jiang Liu's skin began to rot, spreading from his face to his body. His entire person was slowly dissolving, he stared at me with a straight gaze, his mouth open in terror, as if wanting to accuse me of something.

  At this moment, he suddenly rushed towards me, looking like he would drag me down with him even if it killed him. Jiang Liu, it's not that I want to harm you, but if you don't die, the rest of us won't be able to live either. In this situation, anyone would have to do the same thing.

  I was so scared that I took a step back, just as he stretched out his hand towards my feet, and was about to reach them, when it suddenly turned into a puddle of blood, spreading out at my feet.

  Behind me came the sound of footsteps, I turned my head to look, and it was Uncle Cheng escaping from behind. I didn't bother to chase him either, Jiang Liu wasn't there, and whether he could get out alive on his own was a question. What I should be worried about is probably myself, with Ma Si Zhe like this now, can we still get out smoothly?

  Jiang Liu's last place was left with a pool of blood and dense white insect eggs. I felt nauseous, "Let's pull Marx to the cave to rest for a while." Huo Ying nodded.

  I carried Ma Si Zhe into the cave and laid him on the ground. Huo Ying took out a water bottle, removed her outer jacket, moistened it with water from the bottle, and handed it to me: "Wipe your face."

  Jiang Liu's blood had splattered onto my face earlier, and thinking about those white insect eggs made me break out in goosebumps.

  She took over the clothes and wiped them randomly a few times, feeling that there was nothing on her face, so she returned the clothes to Huo Ying.

  Thank you

  Huo Ying smiled slightly and said "nothing" then poured some water again, carefully wiping Marx's face.

  I looked up and down at Huo Ying's movements, wiping away with such care, could it be that she wasn't interested in me but rather Ma Si Zhe? Ma Si Zhe was a smooth talker, during school he could always attract many female classmates. I didn't expect him to have the same charm on mature women in their thirties and forties. Although Huo Ying looked not so young, she still counted as a woman with charm, perhaps what attracted men most was the elegance between her eyebrows.

  Unfortunately, it's not about me, I still prefer the lively and outgoing type. Thinking about it, I thought of something far-fetched, but this is just my speculation, and I don't dare to ask if it's really the reason. I couldn't possibly open my mouth and ask someone, "Are you interested in my brother?" That's not something I can say out loud.

  "If you have anything curious, just ask." Huo Ying said calmly.

  I flashed a sheepish grin and hesitated for a moment, unsure of how to start.

  "Let's start with who I am," said Huo Ying, noticing my hesitation.

  Then for a while, I heard another angle of the story developing in parallel time. Unfortunately, Ma Si Zhe was lying on the ground like a dead dog, electrified, otherwise he would have been as shocked as me, with his mouth wide open and his chin almost dislocated.

  Huo Ying was a work partner of Ma Si's uncle in his early years. When he followed his uncle, he was only in his twenties and often accompanied him on his travels, also experiencing life and death together. After going back and forth for nearly twenty years, having experienced many things, he gradually became indifferent to many matters. So after Ma Si's business got on the right track, he faded out of this circle. This time he came with him was all because of a phone call from Ma Si.

  "There are no children in the four fields, and this only nephew is treated as a close son. Of course, it's not reassuring to hand it over to others, so I found you." He Yingsaid lightly, but I heard the taste in between.

  It turned out that Huo Yingxiong belonged to was not Ma Sicheng, but his uncle.

  "When did you find out that Cheng Shu had his own plans?"

  "People like Cheng Shu, you don't need to expect him to go all out for you. His premise of being content with his lot is that there isn't a greater interest attracting him, but just as they were about to enter the cave, Cheng Shu discovered this interest."

  It was under the lantern base in the tomb passage where we were first attacked by bats that Uncle Ching discovered something. It was a piece of torn fabric, which Uncle Ching glanced at briefly before hastily stuffing it into his pocket. This action happened to be seen by Huo Ying. At that time, Huo Ying had some doubts in her mind, but she didn't say anything.

  The most obvious thing is that during the volcanic eruption, the tomb passage shook violently. People with long heads all know that there are dangers in the tomb, and people who get lost in this situation will be dead ends. But Cheng Shu deliberately ran in the opposite direction to another road. Huo Ying followed behind Cheng Shu and also got separated from us.

  Cheng turned around and saw Huo Ying, feeling annoyed, but couldn't say it out loud, so he pretended to be stupid and followed Huo Ying. Huo Ying was nervous in his heart, afraid that Uncle Cheng would think he was a hindrance, and was thinking about how to get rid of him later. At that time, he wouldn't be able to defend himself.

  Huo Ying thought for a moment before speaking up.

  "Cheng Shu, do you know what is the purpose of my trip this time?"

  Cheng Shu was taken aback 'Isn't everyone the same, receiving orders and being loyal'

  "It's okay to accept a mission from others, but I've always been true to myself"

  Cheng Shu listened to Huo Ying's words and became interested. "Oh? Then can I hear what you're here for?"

  Huo Ying saw Cheng Shu's expression and quickly said, "I've been in this line of work for over twenty years. From the moment I arrived here, I felt that Feng Shui wasn't simple. After coming down, I discovered many mysteries. Uncle Cheng, you're an expert, no need for me to say it, you should know what I'm after."

  "Just because of your relationship with Siye and the Fourth Master, can you bear to abandon his nephew?"

  "What I had with Siye Na is an old story from a few years ago. Compared to the treasure in the tomb, that's nothing."

  Cheng Shu smiled slightly. 'From a feng shui perspective, if you say there's no treasure in the tomb, nobody will believe it. It's just that I'm afraid what's inside isn't as simple as just treasure.'

  "How can you be sure?"

  "This is none of your business, after all, our goals are the same. You ask for what I won't care about, and what I want to do you don't need to interfere with." Cheng Shu knew that Huo Yingde's skills would not only not give him trouble but also be useful in the future, so he agreed to travel together.

  But I have some doubts 'So you're saying Uncle Cheng knows about you and Uncle Ma Zhe?'

  Huo Ying looked at me and smiled faintly, "Of course I know, it's just that he seems to have underestimated."

  Underestimated a woman's loyalty to love.

  Just like what I overheard, two people went to the White Bone Cave and discovered the secret of the murals. Then we met again at Tongtian Hall.

  "So what you're saying is that everything Uncle Cheng told us about the underground space was true?"

  "Hmm, he doesn't know how much you guys understand about this matter. In that case, telling lies again would be very unwise. Maybe there's no need for him to hide those things from you. For Cheng Shu, there's only one thing that matters, something he's been searching for but has never found."

  "What's with the silver turtle?"

  "Judging from Uncle Chang's expression just now, it should be..."

  I took a look at Ma Si Zhe's backpack 'What is that silver tortoise anyway? Would Uncle Cheng think of getting it?'

  "He certainly couldn't tell me, but I reckon it's related to this," said Huo Ying as he pulled out a piece of indigo cloth from his bag. The tattered and worn-out fabric was covered in dust, with the words "Tong Yu Si Gui, Tong Yu Si Gui" scribbled on it in a crooked manner.

  What does this mean?

  "It seems that this turtle-like thing has a kind of spiritual power that can control people's desires"

  So that means the tortoise on the monument is Tongyu. But Cheng Shu clearly knew that Tongyu was a huge creature, it couldn't be the silver tortoise in Marx's bag, why did he want it so urgently? Did he discover the connection between the silver tortoise and Tongyu? This matter probably only Cheng Shu knows.

  "Is this piece of cloth given by Uncle Cheng?"

  I stole it, but Uncle Cheng doesn't know. However, after seeing this piece of cloth, I somewhat understand what Uncle Cheng meant by something being more precious than treasure - if one can control their desires, that's more valuable than any treasure.

  "So, it's okay for Uncle Cheng to bring you along, but why did he have to bring Jiang Liu the second time? Is there something he wants to avoid telling me and Ma Siqi?"

  "When I took down the box from the top of the grave, Uncle Cheng thought there was some connection between the copper ball and the snake-headed human figure holding a copper ball in Tongtian Hall, so he wanted to bring it back and take another look to see if they could discover anything."

  But at this time, Jiang Liu woke up and secretly followed Ho Ying and Cheng Shu, eavesdropping on Cheng Shu's plan. He threatened Cheng Shu that if he didn't take him along, he would tell us that Cheng Shu was planning to keep the treasure for himself behind our backs. Cheng Shu had no choice but to agree to bring him along first.

  Cheng Shu had the intention to kill, he was afraid of Ma Siye, and couldn't do anything to me and Ma Sichao. But Jiang Liu is just a small fry, even if he died, no one would find out, but Cheng Shu found that he couldn't kill him.

  Cheng Shu took advantage of Jiang Liu's inattention and stabbed him from behind, but Jiang Liu would always appear unharmed in front of them again after a while. After several repetitions, Cheng Shu knew that Jiang Liu had begun to petrify, and the only way out was to destroy the Soul-Devouring Bell.

  So to say, even if I didn't kill Jiang Liu, Cheng Shu would have killed him sooner or later. Cheng Shu just borrowed my hand.