Chapter 169: Banajiemu Again?
Now Wu Xie finally understood what Lin Yan meant by “takeoff”. This was way faster than the elevator!
He didn’t know if Lin Yan had triggered some mechanism or if the chain was always like this, but if it weren’t for the fact that when they came down earlier there really wasn’t any space for a person on the chain, he wouldn’t have discovered that this was actually a simple elevator. Or rather, a reverse drop tower?
If he had to describe it, it felt like being tied to a spring. The depth that took quite some time to descend now only took a few seconds to ascend. There was just one small problem.
Once out of the coffin well, the view suddenly opened up, and the gray mist that was originally in the coffin chamber had vanished without a trace. This should have been good news, but Wu Xie, still ascending, looked at the approaching coffin chamber walls and fell into thought: now that he was out, what posture should he use to protect his head and prevent disfigurement?
Facts proved his worry was unnecessary. When he was one meter from the stone wall above, he felt a sudden weight at his waist, and an irresistible force pulled him rapidly downward through the rope around his waist. Seeing he was about to crash to the ground, Wu Xie no longer cared about his image (though he never had any to begin with), quickly bending his elbows to shield his head and face, and even adjusted his position mid-fall to land on his side.
However, the next second—damn it, this familiar heavy sensation! Wu Xie’s face turned green; he suspected they did it on purpose! Damn it, Lin Yan was one thing—he was almost used to being smashed by him—but why was Lao Yang pulling this too? If he’d known, he would’ve cut that rope around his waist no matter what!
“Ouch!”
Lao Yang let out a startled yelp, quickly rolling up from the ground, clutching his butt and grimacing—he was the unlucky one. Though he had Wu Xie as a buffer, with Wu Xie curled into such a small ball, he still landed butt-first, and unfortunately right on two femur bones. If not for the delayed pain, he couldn’t even stand up right now.
Finally adjusting to the pain, Lao Yang felt like his soul was about to leave his body. Coming back to his senses with cold sweat all over, he finally had the mind to check on his two comrades: “Wu Xie, Lin Yan, you guys okay—huh?”
What was going on?
Lao Yang blinked, staring in confusion as Lin Yan casually got up from Wu Xie, slowly coiling the rope tied around his waist. Meanwhile, Wu Xie lay on the ground in a twisted curled position, motionless. Lao Yang glanced at Lin Yan, confirming he wasn’t missing any limbs, then tried to bend down to check on Wu Xie, but the motion tugged at his butt wound, making him gasp.
Damn it, was his bone broken? Lao Yang weakly supported his waist and hips while asking Lin Yan for help: “How’s Wu Xie? He didn’t pass out, did he?”
Lin Yan had seen Wu Xie lying there with eyes rolled back before getting up, but after standing, he checked: this time, if Lao Yang hadn’t landed on Wu Xie too, with just the edge he hit, Wu Xie wouldn’t have passed out. So he nodded to Lao Yang: “He really did pass out. But it’s fine, I just checked—he’s not really injured.”
He really wasn’t seriously injured; it was just the usual rib pain, he quietly added in his mind. Heaven and earth as witness, this wasn’t his fault—he at most grazed him a bit; knocking him out was Lao Yang’s doing, okay? The guy smashed Wu Xie’s face with his backpack—who wouldn’t pass out?
But looking at Lao Yang… Lin Yan glanced at him, seeing the worried gaze toward Wu Xie but no approach, plus the hand on his waist and hips, and couldn’t help but give him a strange look: this guy didn’t land on his butt, did he? A live version of the butt-backward flat sand falling wild goose pose?
Seeing his gaze, Lao Yang gritted his teeth and dropped his hand, pretending he wasn’t hurt much. This guy cared about face; he couldn’t say his butt was injured and he couldn’t move, asking for help, right? With Wu Xie nearby too—if that grandson found out, this would haunt him for three years. He could already imagine Wu Xie’s sly look every time they met—how could he allow that!
Seeing his cover-up attempt, Lin Yan’s gaze grew even stranger: was this the legendary “no silver here, three hundred taels”?
When Wu Xie slowly woke up, he saw Lao Yang and Lin Yan staring blankly at each other doing nothing, and couldn’t help but look baffled: “You two… what are you doing? Are we leaving or not?”
The two then remembered why they’d come up, suddenly realizing and grabbing their things to leave. Wu Xie sighed, straightening up, his expression changing: “Fuck!”
“What happened?” Lao Yang looked over concernedly, his walking posture slightly awkward for some reason, no longer his previous brisk stride, moving slowly like strolling—anyone who didn’t know would think this was his living room (though in a way it kind of was, but that didn’t matter)—Wu Xie frowned at him: “You injured too?”
“Too?” Lao Yang was stunned, looking concerned: “Where are you hurt?”
Wu Xie clutched his forehead and shook his head, slowly pushing himself up with his hands: “Nothing, just a bit dizzy, and some familiar old injury—” Here, he glared at Lin Yan through gritted teeth: every time, every time he was the one injured! Why was he always the one at the bottom when falling with Lin Yan? This time it seemed like more than one… Thinking of this, he looked at Lao Yang still watching him concernedly, feeling helpless inside: why was this happening?
Lin Yan felt a twinge of guilt, but after so many times, he was kinda used to it. Worst case, he’d cover the medical fees—though he didn’t have the money yet—so maybe this was just protagonist’s law; he always had to be a tiny bit unlucky at times like this.
Wu Xie was obviously somewhat used to it too, just clutching his faintly aching ribs and falling silent, looking ready to bolt first. Seeing Wu Xie seemed fine and walked steadily enough, Lao Yang breathed a sigh of relief. Though he’d prepared for the worst—losing Wu Xie as a friend—after all, over ten years of brotherhood was there; getting Wu Xie out unscathed was best.
Wu Xie suddenly remembered something and turned to ask Lao Yang: “Lao Yang, you really don’t know what that thing below is?”
Lao Yang’s heart skipped a beat, but he shook his head with a bitter smile: “I really don’t know what this thing is. I was puzzled when it opened its eyes just now; I didn’t see it last time I was here.”
Wu Xie looked at him suspiciously but temporarily chose to believe him—after all, if Lao Yang insisted he didn’t know, the two of them together couldn’t do anything to him, right?
“Huh?” Lin Yan turned back and noticed someone still standing in the corner: “Master Liang? How did you get in here too?”
Master Liang was startled by the few people shooting up, thinking some thing from inside the tomb had burst out. He quickly turned to climb back up along the coffin walls, but scared as he was with weak legs, how could he climb? So while they were just landing, he scrambled and rolled to crouch in the corner, even remembering to turn off his flashlight, hugging his head and trembling until Lin Yan spotted a vague shadow in the corner and realized he was there too.
This voice seemed… pretty familiar? Master Liang psyched himself up, thinking early death or late death was death anyway, stretch or shrink the neck it’s one blade, and tentatively opened his eyes, joyfully seeing Lin Yan and the others standing there: “It’s you guys?!”
He rubbed his eyes in surprise, afraid it was a hallucination, and only after opening them again and seeing them still there did he scramble toward them: “You didn’t die! Great, great! At least I’m not alone…”
When he reached Lin Yan and the others and plopped down weakly on his butt, the three finally noticed Master Liang’s eyes were somewhat red and swollen, as if he’d been crying.
The three exchanged glances, secretly amazed. Master Liang was quite experienced; what could make him cry? Luckily, no need for them to ask—Master Liang was scared enough to spill everything like beans from a bamboo tube.
“…You say, I was walking fine, heard those two’s voices and wanted to come down check, but who knew, two living people right in front of me… just disappeared like that!”
Disappeared? Lin Yan and the others exchanged glances, all finding it strange. Wu Xie looked around and sure enough, not only no people, not even a piece of clothing, and the binding ropes were gone too, his expression turning odd: “Disappeared pretty cleanly, huh? Not even a scrap of cloth left?”
Master Liang rubbed his eyes, squeezing out the last bit of fear mixed with tears. His heartbeat was only now slowly returning to normal after life’s ups and downs—if there was a safe spot now, he could fall asleep in a second! Hearing Wu Xie’s quip, he subconsciously added: “Exactly, when I came down, only the rope was left! Not even clothes, no blood on the ground!”
He weakly pointed to where the two disappeared; the three looked and sure enough, not even a footprint, just dust, gravel, and tree roots everywhere. After saying that, Master Liang rummaged in his backpack: “The rope’s with me, you guys…”
Master Liang had no rope on him; he looked up at Wu Xie, his outstretched hand reluctant. Wu Xie saw his petty thoughts at a glance, but thinking the rope might still be useful for getting out—and they had more than one—let it stay with Master Liang for now, agreeing he’d return it when they exited.
What? Why not give it? Ropes are free? This was high-quality and expensive, okay! No disaster averted despite losing money, the Third Master Xiao on the verge of another financial crisis said so—did he think keeping these few people cost nothing? Was West Lake vinegar fish cheap? Sell it back when they returned to recoup some cost, okay!
Rubbing his face, Wu Xie—feeling he’d settled everything—turned to ask Lin Yan: “Lin Yan, you have good hearing; can you hear any movement below?”
Lin Yan listened carefully but heard no movement below, as if that thing in the corpse cocoon just wanted to make eye contact with something and then… resonate?
But that was obviously impossible. Lin Yan frowned; this ruled out Lao Yang causing trouble—who else could come up with something like this? He suspiciously glanced at Wu Xie, who looked tense watching him—per protagonist’s law, wasn’t it what Wu Xie thought? If it really was, what exactly did he think?
So he suddenly met Wu Xie’s gaze and quickly asked: “Wu Xie, what are you thinking right now?”
“Huh? Thinking what that thing below really is…” Wu Xie was stunned, hesitantly answering. Lin Yan and Lao Yang gasped: Wu Xie’s thought process was mostly normal, but he had a natural rebellious streak deep down—aka brat child, won’t do what he’s told not to—so maybe that thing below really was—no, Wu Xie clearly didn’t know much about it, so unrelated, but the sudden movement might really relate to Wu Xie!
The urgent matter now was knowing what Wu Xie thought, so they could decide: fight, run, or run fast!
Lao Yang cut in, staring intently at him, startling Wu Xie: “W-what, why are you staring at me like that?”
“What were you thinking when that thing moved earlier?”
“Thinking what? I was thinking… is this ability reliable, why didn’t I feel anything?” Wu Xie hesitated, uncertainly answering.
This didn’t seem related to the thing below either. Could it be the source of the entire bronze tree’s power, flying into a rage after Wu Xie’s subconscious doubt? Lao Yang frowned deeply, even his mouth drooping—but that didn’t fit either; everyone who came had doubted, including him—why was he fine?
Lin Yan seemed to think of something and asked Master Liang: “Did Li Pipa and them say anything before disappearing?”
“Huh?” Master Liang shuddered all over at the name, his legs—which had just recovered—giving out again as he sat down, leaving the three speechless. He hesitated, mouth opening and closing several times until they looked impatient, then reluctantly said: “Can we not recall? They didn’t say much…”
As if to back his words, he hugged his chest and shivered: “I-I was just scared, can’t really remember much. Is what they said important?”
Wu Xie thoughtfully looked at Lin Yan: “You mean—but that shouldn’t be, the created… people? Can they subconsciously use this ability too?”
Lin Yan thought: “No matter if their origins really died completely, logically, same body, same memories, maybe even same… soul, they should be able to use it too, right?”
Master Liang was baffled; what was all this? He understood every word, but together it made no sense? And what did this have to do with what Boss Li and them said before disappearing?
Lao Yang was somewhat unsure too but glared fiercely at him: “Just say it when told; why dawdle? Gotta make me—”
Seeing Lao Yang poised to come over, those upturned eyes making him look fierce, Master Liang trembled all over and quickly said: “Don’t! I’ll say it, I’ll say it! Before they disappeared, they seemed to be saying… Boss Li’s immortal saw… Banajiemu here, but after they came in, it was empty?”
Banajiemu? Wu Xie’s expression sharpened; his intuition told him the thing below’s anomaly was likely related to this name!
