Chapter 62: Affinity with Women

The cocoon-man scrambled up from the ground, looking utterly enraged. His belly heaved up and down as strange, gurgling screeches escaped him. Several sharp barbs on his body were forcibly squeezed out, and looking like a raving lunatic, he lunged viciously at Liao Xiaoqin.

Liao Xiaoqin's pretty face remained cold and completely fearless. With one hand behind her back, she drew a jade pendant with the other and held it up before her.

The jade pendant emitted a faint, eerie glow that appeared intensely glaring in the darkness of the culvert.

A bizarre odor emanated from the pendant, strongly irritating the nasal passages.

We could not help sneezing a few times.

To our shock, whether because the cocoon-man saw the glowing jade pendant or caught the strange scent, he actually stopped dead in his tracks.

Holding the jade pendant, Liao Xiaoqin strode forward.

The creature kept backing up, and within moments, it retreated all the way to the bronze door.

Liao Xiaoqin let out a sharp shout.

"Decline!"

The word carried an archaic tone and profound rhythm, possessing an explosive force as if it were some kind of command from ancient times.

As it entered my ears, my body inexplicably shuddered.

Hearing the sound, the cocoon-man turned tail like a frightened dog and frantically scrambled through the half-open bronze door.

Seeing this, Liao Xiaoqin's expression changed drastically, and she shut the bronze door instantly.

"Click!"

The latch mechanism locked firmly from the back.

She turned to us and said, "Run!"

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

The sound of fierce pounding echoed densely against the bronze door.

Seeing Liao Xiaoqin's extreme tension, I didn't dare to delay in the slightest. I hastily hoisted the already unconscious Fat Man Dong onto my back and bolted toward the depths of the culvert, panting heavily as I asked her:

"You can't handle it?"

"I am not a god!"

"But just now it seemed terrified of you!"

"It was merely borrowing the tiger's might!"

"Whose tiger are you borrowing?"

"You talk too much nonsense! Do you believe I'll sew your mouth shut?!"

"......"

The culvert sloped upward.

After running wildly for a good twenty minutes without any sign of pursuit from the creature, I was almost paralyzed with exhaustion and wanted to stop for a breather.

Seeing this, Liao Xiaoqin gave me a vicious kick.

"Useless trash! You can't even handle running this little bit? Don't ever tell anyone outside that I taught you!"

"Why don't...... you try carrying a two-hundred-pound fat man on your back?"

It wasn't just the fat man's weight.

Ever since entering the tomb, I hadn't rested at all. I had broken through several major mechanisms one after another, and then got hammered by the cocoon-man at the black stone coffin. Both my mental and physical limits had been reached.

"You reap what you sow! Who told you to drag him in here?" Afterward, Liao Xiaoqin turned her gaze to Xiao Yao beside us. "Girl, make this brat carry you out too!"

Upon hearing this, Xiao Yao waved her hands frantically.

"Sister, I don't need to!"

Too lazy to argue further with this unreasonable woman, I gritted my teeth and ran forward.

Another ten minutes or so passed before we reached a damp area. There was an opening diagonally above us, from which foul, filthy water was seeping down.

Liao Xiaoqin pointed the way with her searchlight.

"Climb up from here! There is a cave opening in the southwest corner. Once you get out of the cave, you'll see the Corpse-Gathering Pool. Swim out!"

I immediately stopped in my tracks.

"The Corpse-Gathering Pool that nurtures spiritual cicadas?!"

"Right!"

Seeing my horrified expression, Liao Xiaoqin looked utterly speechless.

"It's the dead of winter right now, so the spiritual cicadas are dormant and won't be dangerous. Otherwise, how would I dare come down to save you?!"

Without asking any further questions, I hurriedly climbed upward.

As soon as I reached the opening in the southwest corner, the stench almost knocked me out cold.

The entrance was choked with dense weeds and brush, wrapped up tightly.

Viewed from the outside, it would be utterly impossible to discover that an opening existed here.

Reaching out to push aside the thick weeds and brush, what met my eyes was a pool of deep green water, upon which floated quite a few half-rotted animal carcasses. Flies buzzed around chaotically, and the surroundings were dead and desolate.

The moment Xiao Yao caught sight of this scene, she clutched her stomach, collapsed to the ground, and retched violently.

"Slap! Slap!"

Each of our bottoms received a kick.

Liao Xiaoqin kicked us straight down into the Corpse-Gathering Pool.

"You dare enter tombs, and yet you're disgusted by this?!"

She climbed into the water as well.

I had no choice but to tilt Fat Man Dong's body backward, lock my arm around his neck, and swim forward while enduring the extreme discomfort in my heart.

At first, the water wasn't very deep, only reaching up to our necks. I walked with my feet planted on the pool floor, but from time to time I would step on skeletal remains. On one occasion, the tip of my toe poked right into the teeth of a skull, feeling as though it had bitten my foot. Terrified and trembling all over, I decided to hell with saving energy and simply started floating and swimming directly outward.

The pool was roughly the size of a football field.

After splashing around in the darkness for a long time, we finally reached the shore.

The bank was a natural underground space within the tomb.

Liao Xiaoqin only allowed us to catch our breath before driving us forward again like a landlord whipping long-term farmhands.

After wandering around underground for some forty minutes, we finally exited the tomb through a newly dug thief's hole and saw the moon outside.

When I entered the tomb it was nighttime, and it was still nighttime now, which proved we had spent a full day and night inside.

Everyone collapsed to the ground, paralyzed with exhaustion.

Liao Xiaoqin looked up at the sky, panting heavily, her chest heaving as she chuckled softly.

"It's so good to be alive!"

I had too many questions I wanted to ask her.

However, now was not the time, because Fat Man Dong's complexion had already turned ashen, looking very much like he was about to kick the bucket.

We rested for merely a few minutes.

Gritting our teeth hard, we hiked down the mountain.

On the way, seeing how exhausted I was, Xiao Yao took the initiative to carry me for a stretch, though it tired the little girl out terribly.

I didn't let her take over again. Pushing my physical strength to its absolute limit, I managed to carry Fat Man Dong all the way to the town at the foot of the mountain.

We all smelled utterly foul.

Noticing a river ahead with a farmhouse nearby, clothes still hanging on a drying rack by the wall, Liao Xiaoqin declared she needed to wash up, jumped straight into the river, and ordered me to go steal some clothes for us to change into.

Xiao Yao said, "I'll go!"

Shielded by the night, her figure darted toward the farmhouse like a civet cat.

Liao Xiaoqin was scrubbing her long hair in the river.

"Is she a painted-skin maiden?"

I nodded.

"Yes! In Changshi, I had her disguise as you, and as a result, she got caught by Jiang Sheng'er too."

She giggled softly.

"You brat seem to have quite good luck with women. In such a short time, you've got Xu Qingguo and Ji Xiaoyao. Why don't you hurry up and make a little one for me to raise for you?"

I retorted.

"You'd better consider whether you'll ever be able to remarry!"

Hearing this, Liao Xiaoqin picked up a river pebble and readied herself to hurl it at me, but seeing that Xiao Yao had already stolen back a few garments, she angrily lowered her hand.

I quickly finished washing up, scrubbed Fat Man Dong clean as well, and we both changed into fresh clothes.

They wouldn't let me watch them wash up and chased me off to the side.

Seeing Fat Man Dong begin to vomit blood again, I grew anxious and urged them several times.

As a result, far from paying me any heed, they chatted about everything under the sun while washing up and giggled merrily.

Furious, I picked up a large stone and hurled it into the river.

"Damn women! You're going to scrub your skin raw!"

At that, they accelerated their pace and came ashore two minutes later.

With an angry expression, Liao Xiaoqin pointed a finger at me.

"Haven't seen you for a few days, and your temper's grown. Are your skin and bones itching for a beating?"

Having no time to bother with her, I hoisted Fat Man Dong onto my back and sprinted toward the town.

Liao Xiaoqin's voice drifted from behind.

"His ribs are just cracked, no internal organs were damaged. Vomiting blood is just pooled blood from his mouth and nose, he won't die!"

She knew a thing or two about medicine; back in the day when she was poisoned by the spiritual cicadas, she had even brewed her own medicine to suppress the toxins.

I turned my head and asked, "Why didn't you say so earlier?"

Tossing her hair back, Liao Xiaoqin curled the corners of her lips in a disdainful scoff.

"I just wanted to work you to death!"

I: "......"

Arriving at the township health clinic, only an elderly traditional Chinese medicine doctor was on duty late at night.

Back then, township health clinics were practically paralyzed; X-rays, ultrasounds, and blood tests were completely nonexistent.

However, the old doctor was quite experienced. After poking and prodding Fat Man Dong in a few places, his conclusion was roughly the same as Liao Xiaoqin's: three cracked ribs, bruises around the mouth and nose, plus a mild concussion from the impact.

"The bones aren't displaced, so there's nothing much to treat. Just let them heal on their own. Remember to avoid strenuous exercise and try to press against your chest when coughing."

The old doctor prescribed a few boxes of internal Yunnan Baiyao and waved his hand to shoo us out.

I remained somewhat worried.

"Doctor, when will he wake up?"

Hearing this, the old doctor pushed up his glasses and pondered for a long time.

"That's hard to say. Anyway, his vital signs are fine, but I have no way of waking him up."

Liao Xiaoqin walked over.

"Crack!"

A resounding slap landed viciously across Fat Man Dong's face.

Fat Man Dong let out a howl and bolted upright from the examination bed. Perhaps the pain from his ribs pulling was too severe, as he clutched his chest, his gong-like eyes widened to the size of saucers, and he was completely unable to speak.

Liao Xiaoqin turned around and smiled at the old doctor.

"Doctor, how is this method?"

The old doctor: "......"

Stepping out of the health clinic, daylight had already broken outside. Seeing a farm truck hauling cargo into the city, we hitched a ride, entered the city, and found an inn to stay in.

I let out a long breath of relief. After drinking just two sips of water, I turned around and headed straight to Liao Xiaoqin's room.

"Sister-in-law, where is the Golden Silkworm Molt?"