Chapter 68: The Oil Has Burned Dry and the Lamp is Spent

I sprinted away wildly, yet several heavy thuds still landed squarely on my back, sending a piercing, agonizing pain through me.

She gave chase for a short while, but seeing me run further and further away, she finally gave up. In a fit of vexation, she threw her stick to the ground, her chest heaving as she stood with hands on her hips.

"If there's a next time, I'll break your dog legs!"

How infuriating!

I couldn't beat her in a fight, couldn't outsmart her in wits, and couldn't match her professional expertise.

Filled with suffocating frustration, I returned to the hotel alone.

Xiaoyao and Fatso Dong were eating instant noodles.

I remarked, "Eating something this poor?"

Fatso Dong slurped down a large mouthful of noodle soup and wiped his mouth.

"Be grateful we even have instant noodles to eat. We haven't made a single penny lately, so we'd better pinch our pennies! When we get back, I'll have to go trick people into paying for exorcisms and disaster-clearing first... bah, I mean go earn some money, or we won't even have the fare for the car and boat to look for tombs next time."

"By the way, if you're hungry, there's another pack over there—Hua Feng brand. Eat Hua Feng, lead the way to success!"

I tossed the bank card onto the table.

"Two hundred thousand. The two of you split ninety thousand each, and just leave me twenty thousand."

The two of them exchanged a glance.

Fatso Dong said, "Kid, this joke isn't funny at all."

Xiaoyao chimed in with a smile, "Yeah, not funny at all."

I was rendered somewhat speechless.

"No... why don't you guys believe me? This was given by Liao Xiaoqin as a hardship bonus for setting up that scheme!"

"Xiaoyao, go withdraw it early tomorrow morning and split it. My sister-in-law has a rather fiery temper, so don't wait until she changes her mind."

Seeing that I wasn't joking, Fatso Dong stared blankly for a long moment.

"Where on earth did she get that kind of money?"

I leaned sideways on the bed, using my hand as a pillow.

"How would I know? Free money is money not to be wasted!"

Fatso Dong reached out, grabbed the bank card, and bolted out the door like a wisp of smoke, claiming he needed to verify whether it was genuine.

Xiaoyao was clearing away the leftover instant noodle bowls from the table.

I asked, "Lass, ninety thousand yuan, aren't you excited at all?"

Xiaoyao replied, "Brother, I can't take your money. I haven't even paid back what I borrowed from you last time."

I retorted, "If you won't take the money, don't call me brother! I'm going to sleep, close the door behind you!"

Hearing this, Xiaoyao pouted and turned to leave, but then slapped her forehead.

"Oh! Right! I almost forgot to tell you something very important."

"What is it?"

"All of our phones were lost. After we got back, I used the hotel landline to call my master and check on his health. An hour later, the landline suddenly rang, and when I answered, it was actually Sister Qingguo calling."

"Xu Qingguo?! What did she say?"

"Sister Qingguo said she was in Kunming. Since she couldn't get in touch with us, she happened to call my master to ask if he had any news of me, and my master gave her this landline number. She asked me to pass along a message: her godfather and Uncle Luo have both come out and have already rendezvoused in Kunming. Once she returns to Changsha, she will personally come to thank you for showing mercy, and she guarantees that her godfather will never cross paths with us as adversaries again."

I shuddered violently all over and instantly bolted upright from the bed.

"Are you sure you heard correctly?!"

Xiaoyao furrowed her delicate brows.

"I didn't mishear! Even I find it hard to believe..."

Before descending into the tomb, Xu Qingguo, Wu Ping, and Old Kui Bai had been taken to Kunming to rest by the three bodyguards of the Jiang and Sheng factions; I knew about this.

Yet at the black stone jade-sarcophagus coffin, the scar-faced bodyguard had his shoulder ripped off by the coffin guardian and passed out cold. Even though Jiang Shenger and Mantis Luo had cut their mandarin-duck ropes and fled at the very first opportunity, given their level of ignorance regarding tombs, how could they possibly have escaped the coffin guardian and made it out of the Marquis of Guowu's tomb, which possessed anti-theft mechanisms defying the heavens?

That was utterly impossible!

I pondered for a moment.

"Xiaoyao, do you think Qingguo might have deduced that Jiang Shenger met with misfortune, and is deliberately making this phone call to lure me back to Changsha so she can settle scores with me?"

Xiaoyao replied, "Brother Dong guessed the same thing."

On second thought, however, something felt off.

No.

The number Xu Qingguo called was a landline. With just a minimal amount of investigation, she could easily find out which hotel we were staying at. If she truly intended to deal with me, Kunming was only a few hours' drive away, and given her decisive and passionate personality, she would have already rushed over here. Why bother luring me back to Changsha?

Just as I was completely baffled, Fatso Dong rushed back covered in sweat.

ATMs were scarce in those days, and he had scoured half the town just to check the account. Excited to the point of frenzy, he wanted to grab me and spin me around in circles.

"Little Meng, there really is money!"

I planted a kick and knocked him flat.

"Get lost!"

Fatso Dong wasn't angry in the least. He scrambled up from the floor and laughed heartily.

"Do you think... Liao Xiaoqin puts on airs of a wealthy phoenix everywhere she goes, but is she actually some mysterious princess hiding among mortals with mountains of gold at home, and her sole purpose in tomb-raiding is just for fun and thrills?"

"Go to hell! The Qing dynasty fell ages ago! Cut the nonsense and hurry up and help me analyze this phone call from Xu Qingguo!"

Fatso Dong insisted on his own view, maintaining that Eldest Miss Xu wanted to lure me back to Changsha to deal with me. As for why she hadn't stormed straight here, it was probably because causing a commotion in Yunnan province made her worried she couldn't handle the aftermath.

I still felt something was amiss and debated whether to give Liao Xiaoqin a call, but thought better of it—calling her without figuring out the situation first would only earn me a thorough scolding.

"Forget it, let's switch hotels first!"

I called out for them to pack their things and leave.

The moment Xiaoyao stepped out the door, she suddenly let out a shrill scream.

I thought I saw a shadow flash past the doorway in a blur.

"What's going on?!"

"There was someone lying flat right outside the door, and they ran!"

She bolted out after them like lightning.

Fatso Dong and I rushed out right behind her.

Xiaoyao's speed was extraordinary. Within mere seconds, she blocked the intruder at the doorway of a utility room in the corner of the corridor.

However, the utility room was crowded with metal supply racks holding fresh bedsheets and disposable hotel toiletries. The person was hiding behind the racks, making it impossible to see their face clearly.

I pulled Xiaoyao behind me, gripping a fire extinguisher in my hands.

"Come out!!!"

Fatso Dong also brandished a metal clothes rack, adopting a posture ready to attack at any moment.

"Creak, rattle..."

The supply racks were slowly pushed aside.

What met our eyes was a figure covered in dried blood crusts, with disheveled hair, tattered clothes, vacant eyes, and withered as a skeleton.

Lao Ou, the tomb raider!

My scalp tingled violently. I grabbed Xiaoyao's hand and turned to run.

Under the supernatural empowerment of the Corpse Mother, Lao Ou was simply too terrifying; we had to reach a brightly lit area at once.

Fatso Dong, however, did not run. With a thunderous roar, he slapped a talisman fiercely onto Lao Ou's forehead.

Ever since emerging from the tomb, this fellow never went anywhere without his talismans and his erhu.

I glanced back and caught sight of Lao Ou kneeling before Fatso Dong, his body trembling continuously as he kowtowed repeatedly.

Fatso Dong waved at us.

"It's fine, come over here!"

The voice-activated lights in the corridor had been triggered into brilliance by Fatso Dong's previous roar, flooding the surroundings with bright illumination.

Gathering my courage, I led Xiaoyao forward.

Lao Ou's clothes were shredded beyond recognition. Because he kept kowtowing, we could clearly see his back—the Corpse Mother was entirely gone, leaving behind only a massive, grayish-white imprint.

Fatso Dong sniffed the air, then peeled the Daoist talisman off Lao Ou's forehead.

"The Corpse Mother is gone, and the stench on him is gone too. He poses no threat now..."

"Hey! What the hell are you babbling about?!"

Lao Ou was muttering incoherently, his speech slurred. He had battered his forehead until it bled, seeming to plead desperately with Fatso Dong for something.

Fatso Dong squatted down, listened for a long while, then stood up with a grimace and turned to explain to us.

"This guy says... he ran into Jiang Shenger and Mantis Luo down in the tomb and led them out. But once they got out, the Corpse Mother quietly crawled onto Jiang Shenger's body. Now he feels utterly wretched, wishing he were dead, and is begging me to perform a ritual to bring the Corpse Mother back so he can carry it on his back again."

A wave of profound shock washed over me.

No wonder Jiang Shenger and Mantis Luo had managed to crawl out from down below!

Although Lao Ou was controlled by the Corpse Mother, that entity generally only manifested around midnight. At other times, Lao Ou retained a shred of self-awareness.

In all probability, after we scared him off with corpse-repelling powder in the West Zhou tomb alcove, Lao Ou recovered a bit of his consciousness a few hours later. He then happened upon Jiang and Luo and led them out of the tomb.

I frowned and asked Fatso Dong, "This thing can be transferred?!"

Fatso Dong replied with absolute certainty, "Yes! Lao Ou has reached the end of his rope. There's no point in the Corpse Mother staying with him any longer; it urgently needs to find another host whose vital energy is declining. Jiang Shenger is the oldest and physically the weakest, making him a perfect fit."

A sudden realization struck me.

"Not good!"

Xiaoyao asked, "What is it?"

I swallowed hard.

"When the Corpse Mother acts up at midnight, it attacks indiscriminately. Qingguo is in grave danger!"