Gu Xianwang was momentarily stunned upon hearing this. She wanted to turn around but forced herself to hold back. She recalled Long Li’s earlier words, which she had dismissed as a mere joke.
But… exceptional skill, elusive as a ghost and seemingly unkillable, immune to all poisons and unfazed by Gu Worms—these details painted a perfect picture of Long Li, didn’t they?
Before she could confirm anything, panic already stirred in Gu Xianwang’s heart. She asked vaguely, “Long Family Members? Long may not be a common surname, but there are plenty of people named Long in the world. You claim your people have been invaded by them for a thousand years—what proof do you have?”
Gu Xianwang regretted her words the instant they left her mouth. She should have taken a more roundabout approach—asking about their distinguishing features or the origins of the legend, for instance. But charging in with open hostility and demanding evidence like that? It came off far too suspicious, as if she had something to hide.
She had no idea what the others thought, but Yuzi didn’t seem offended. She shrugged indifferently. “Proof? We’ve got plenty. Isn’t the Sinkhole full of it? Why do you think our Sinkhole is crawling with Grass Ghosts and Earth Traps? It’s all to keep the Long Family Members from getting in again.”
“Again?” Long Li latched onto the key word.
“Oh.” Yuzi pursed her lips. “I think… a long time ago, I heard the Grand Matriarch say the Long Family Members nearly broke into the Altar once.”
Yao Cuo felt utterly lost, like he had fallen into a fog. He couldn’t help asking, “What’s really in that Altar of yours? Something worth the Long Family Members obsessing over like this?”
Yuzi gave him a strange look. “The Heavenly Book, obviously. Isn’t that why you came here too?”
The Heavenly Book? What on earth was that?
Gu Xianwang caught Yao Cuo glancing at her in bewilderment and let out a soft cough. Her eyes flicked subtly, signaling that she was just as clueless.
At that moment, Sara let out a laugh. “Heh, you’re an honest one. Fine, no more games. We did come for the Heavenly Book—not just the few of us, either. There are two teams waiting outside the mountains. The moment our Life Coordinate Instruments stop working, another team will head in.”
Gu Xianwang: ?
Life Coordinate Instruments? Hadn’t they said no one would enter for three days? And that it was every man for himself?
Yuzi snorted with laughter. “What good are numbers? We’ve got more buried under this Sinkhole than you can imagine. The gear you brought—even that tube—is stolen from Basha Village, isn’t it? It’s got a name carved right on it. That might handle Grass Ghosts, but it won’t do you much good against Yelang’s experts.”
Sara’s laughter grew even more brazen. “A gun? That’s nothing. If we came here, it’s because we’re prepared. Your village has been hunkered down in this ravine for generations, guarding that cursed Altar. All because you’re scared of the Long Family Members, right?”
Yuzi’s expression shifted subtly. “What are you getting at?”
Sara tilted her head toward Long Li. “Exhibit A: a Long Family Member.”
Gu Xianwang: …
Yao Cuo: …
In that instant, Yuzi’s eyes flickered through several emotions. She sized Long Li up and down once more, then said thoughtfully, “The elders in our village always say nine out of ten Longs are frauds. Real Long Family Members never show their true faces—they’re invisible, ghost-like. So anyone claiming to be one is usually just a phony.”
Sara merely snorted, neither confirming nor denying it. “Believe us or don’t—I’ve told you the truth. You want to tear this village down, don’t you? Then teaming up with us is your best shot.”
Yuzi fell silent for a moment. Then she burst out laughing, slapping her thighs as she sprang to her feet. She jerked her chin at Old Dog. “You’re right. I do want this village destroyed, and right now, you’re my only option. No need to keep pretending to sleep, brother. I’m a straight shooter, so I like dealing with my own kind. If we’re partnering up, we at least need to promise no backstabbing.”
“If I can’t trust you, I won’t take you any farther. Things get dangerous up ahead—even I wouldn’t go near without good reason.”
No sooner had she spoken than Old Dog opened his eyes. Yao Cuo jolted in fright, nearly toppling over. He had only bound Old Dog’s hands, after all. The man had done him a small favor earlier—in the Hanging Head Forest, Old Dog had cut him loose at a critical moment, letting him escape. Kidnappers or not, Yao Cuo’s animosity toward Chak and Old Dog was worlds apart.
Old Dog didn’t seem fazed by his bindings. He looked first to Long Li and gave her a nod by way of greeting. Then he glanced at Sara before fixing his gaze on Gu Xianwang’s left shoulder.
He said nothing, but Gu Xianwang inexplicably sensed a certain meaning in his gaze, as if he were saying: Sorry.
Long Li spoke with deep implication. “You seem awfully familiar with this place.”
Yuzi smiled. “The altar rites happen only once a year. Even if someone claims the God Eye, they still need the Grand Matriarch’s personal endorsement. Only those with real standing in the village can enter the true altar. Your average Yelang expert is limited to the karst cave. For them, just catching a glimpse of the Cave Lord is the greatest honor imaginable.”
“I’m different. I’ve been living in the sinkhole for five years now. Five years without food or water, sick and clinging to life—if you want to survive that long, you’ll exhaust every trick in the book to learn everything you can about the place keeping you alive.”
Sara had steadied herself enough to sit up slowly by now. She sized Yuzi up from the corner of her eye, the firelight flickering in her gaze. After a long moment, she bared her teeth in a grin. “Tsk, you actually start looking less ugly once you get used to it. Yuzi, huh? Damn, girl, you’ve got spine. What’s the beef? Spill it—sis here’ll give you some advice.”
Yuzi shot her a glance. “Revenge is my business. You lot should worry about yourselves first. We’ve got two groups here now, and I’ve made it clear: I don’t team up with people who turn on their own. So figure it out among yourselves.”
With that, she slipped over to the side of the rock cave and vanished in a flicker of motion.
Somewhat surprised, Gu Xianwang rose and followed. She discovered that the rock wall was actually two layers thick—the outer one a thin, malformed slab that perfectly concealed the real crevice within.
“There’s a narrow path here,” she said.
That left only Chak still unconscious in the rock cave. Two groups, four against two—the odds were clear.
Sara rubbed the back of her head and asked, already knowing the answer, “That Ye girl didn’t make it?”
She was the one who’d abandoned Ye Chan earlier. Gu Xianwang shot her a look but held her tongue. In that mess, none of them had come off clean. Just recalling the chaos of the Marrow Bee swarm in Hanging Head Woods sent a shiver of belated fear through her.
“I shouldn’t have left her behind alone,” Gu Xianwang said.
Sara’s temper flared at once. “You got a screw loose or what? Some kinda saintess reborn? Want me to buy you a ticket to Leshan so you can call down the Giant Buddha and climb on for a ride? With enemies closing in from the front, ambushes from behind, and the woods crawling with killers—wasn’t it every man for himself?”
“Hey, you spoiled little rich girls really don’t know jack shit, do you? You some kinda superhero? Astro Boy with those metal arms? A Saiyan? Ultraman? If you’re so badass, why not just wipe out every last one of those mountain folk in a single breath? Can’t hack it? Then quit playing the bleeding-heart saint. It’s survival of the fittest out here—who didn’t give it their all? You think I ditched her right from the jump?”
Sara went off like a machine gun, leaving Gu Xianwang’s face pale one moment and flushed the next. She opened her mouth, but no comeback came. To be honest, when she’d lured the Marrow Bees toward Living Soil Forest, had she really thought it through?
No. She hadn’t even considered anyone else’s safety. She had simply…
She was just used to facing danger alone.
Yao Cuo had been about to speak up for Gu Xianwang at first, but after listening, he had to admit Sara had a point. His junior sister had always been prone to this kind of self-recrimination, walling herself off from the world as a result.
From Yao Cuo’s perspective, if this incident could shake her up a little—maybe even prompt some change—it might not be a bad thing. The girl was gone, but they’d done all they could. For ordinary people, wasn’t that enough? A clear conscience was all that mattered.
“You’re right, Xianwang. Sometimes you just do your best, and that’s that. No one wanted it to end like this.”
Gu Xianwang froze at his words. She turned to Yao Cuo’s face, her expression turning cold—cold in a dazed, inconceivable way.
Long Li cut in suddenly. “Ye Chan has a God Eye implanted in her. Judging by the signs, this gu is of utmost importance to Yelang Village. I suspect she wasn’t tossed into the Leech Pit but taken aside for some other purpose. At the very least, her life should be safe for the short term.”
After speaking, her gaze swept over Yao Cuo before settling on the hair at Gu Xianwang’s temple. Her voice held no warmth, carrying the chill of a cold breeze. “Miss Gu, if we want to cooperate, some things should indeed be made clear from the start. As you can see, our team came here solely for the objective. Anything short of that is irrelevant to us. So we won’t try to rescue any companions, and we won’t thank those who attempt to save us. You can consider us a bunch of treacherous scoundrels. I hope you won’t pull another foolish stunt like luring away the Marrow Bees on your own. After all, you’re not one of us in the end.”
Her words hung in the air, and several pairs of eyes turned toward her at once.
Sara smacked her lips, sensing that both the overt meaning and the subtext were jabbing at her. “Hey, Long, you can just speak for yourself. Don’t drag me into it. When did I ever agree to be some damn treacherous scoundrel?”
Yao Cuo’s face darkened. Long Li’s speech was a soft knife that struck without a trace. No matter how you sliced it, Xianwang had saved them, yet here they were, turning ungrateful. “I thought kindness was something everyone shared. Clearly, I was too naive. There’s no foundation for cooperation between us. We just want to get out of here safely. Xianwang and I have no interest in the so-called altar.”
Gu Xianwang: ?
Hadn’t she been the main subject of that conversation? So why were the others blowing up like this?
Long Li’s monologue didn’t anger her—in fact, Gu Xianwang found it somewhat amusing. Not attempting to rescue companions? Not thanking those who’d saved them? Then every single thing she’d done on this journey might as well have been a slap to their faces.
Long Li tilted her head and teased Sara. “Oh? So it’s just me, then.”
Sara tsked in annoyance. “That doesn’t mean anyone told her to lure the Marrow Bees away. Who could’ve predicted that? We were all being pursued. Can’t a person run?”
“Ahem.” Gu Xianwang felt much better now. “We’re trapped in this sinkhole, enemies on every side. Heading to the altar is probably our only option. Captain Long, if you can keep your team in line, I’m willing to give cooperation a shot.”
