Chapter 48: Suspicion

"What do you mean, 'what's good'! Third, look at the state the two of us are in!" After slapping and brushing off a few black fish clinging to her, Sister Red glared at Sun Third.

Having not seen each other for days, Sun Third looked travel-worn and somewhat thinner. He sighed, "It’s a miracle from the heavens that we can meet again. You have no idea, Xiaohong, how much hardship Big Brother and I endured to find you and Yunfeng."

"Third, spare us the useless talk. As long as everyone is safe, that's what matters," Big Brother said softly. "Yunfeng, Xiaohong, did you make any discoveries down below? Let's pool our information."

At that moment, my eyelids felt heavy, and I said feebly, "Big Brother, could you please take care of me first? I'm almost at my limit."

"Ah, look at me."

"Hurry up, Third, come and help."

Their backpacks hadn't been lost; inside were emergency bandages prepared beforehand. After a simple treatment for my wounds and eating a bite of dry rations to get some food in my stomach, I began to feel somewhat better.

Sister Red recounted our experiences of the past few days intermittently, holding nothing back.

Sun Third shook his head continuously upon hearing it. "The world is vast, and nothing is too bizarre. To be able to sneak into a tomb like this once in a lifetime is a real eye-opener. Besides, Xiaohong, what I care about most is what you said about that fellow named Chen Jiansheng. Is he really a Southern-school grave robber? And he actually took the initiative to save you two?"

I corrected him, "No, Third Brother, that guy should be called Bai Jiansheng. According to himself, he is a descendant of the old man Bai ChunDian."

"That makes it even more suspicious!"

Sun Third looked at me with furrowed brows. "I've heard of some famous Southern-school grave robbers to some extent, since I'm in the trade myself, but I have absolutely no impression of this Chen Jiansheng."

"What about you, Big Brother?"

"No," Sun Boss thought carefully and said, "I've heard a slight whisper of 'Chen the Pan-Holder', who supposedly ran with Zhao Hongshui's crew, but this Chen Jiansheng... is truly unheard of."

Sister Red tidied her hair and said indifferently, "Then let's not waste time thinking about it. The man is probably dead anyway. Dead men tell no tales, why dwell on it so much?"

Hearing this made me feel somewhat uneasy. Putting aside whether Chen Jiansheng's identity was true or false, the man had saved the two of us. A kindness of a drop of water should be repaid with a surging spring, let alone a debt like this? Were we being too devoid of human warmth and far too cold-blooded?

Seeing me lower my head in low spirits, Big Brother seemed to guess my tiny thoughts. He smiled and said, "Yunfeng, don't think that we are ungrateful. Even though we are tomb robbers wandering the rivers and lakes, we still believe in righteousness and code. However, the Northern and Southern factions are as incompatible as fire and water. Right now things have only eased up a bit; twenty years ago, they were the kind of people who would stab each other in the back."

"Let me tell you, Yunfeng, there's a reason for this. Xiaohong's father, Chen Zhiyong, was backstabbed and set up by a coalition of Southern grave robbers all those years ago, and ultimately ended up being buried alive in Tibet."

My mind went blank when I heard this. Such a thing had actually happened! If this were true, for Sister Red, it was a father-killing blood feud...

No wonder Sister Red never once gave Chen Jiansheng a pleasant expression from start to finish, even though he had saved us.

"I'm sorry, Sister Red," I said, lowering my head.

Sister Red took a deep breath. "Every debt has its debtor, every grievance its master. My revenge will be collected with interest sooner or later. Once I save up enough money and build a strong enough network of connections, I will let my father rest in peace in the netherworld."

Sister Red's tone was calm, but from those flat words, I could hear her resolute determination.

"I know it's useless no matter how many times I try to persuade you, Xiaohong, but I still want to advise you to let it go. We linger at the very bottom of the underworld; some people are so powerful that even if we risk our lives, we can't cause any consequences for them. That is simply fate," Big Brother said with a somewhat desolate tone.

"What fate! As long as there is money! As long as there are people!"

"What is fate!"

"Big Brother, tell me! Isn't my father's life a life too? Huh? Tell me!" Sister Red suddenly began to shout, becoming hysterical.

"If one hundred million isn't enough, then two hundred million! If two hundred million isn't enough, three hundred million! No one in the underworld dares to provoke them, but I, Chen Hong, dare!" Sister Red's emotions completely unraveled, and she roared hysterically at the top of her lungs.

I didn't understand these grudges at all, but this was the first time I saw Sister Red like this. To be honest, it was a bit frightening.

The Sun brothers fell silent upon seeing this. The atmosphere turned somewhat strange.

Cautiously, I tried to ask, "Big Brother, Sister Red said no one dares to provoke 'them'. Who are 'they'? Is it a single person? Does even the Chief not dare to provoke them?"

Big Brother and Third Brother exchanged a profound glance.

"No, not a single person, but an organization, a guild, a group of extraordinary people residing in the upper echelons of the underworld."

"Extraordinary people? What kind of people are they?" I asked, somewhat puzzled.

"Sigh," Big Brother patted my shoulder. "Yunfeng, you are still young and don't need to know too much. You only need to understand one thing: this group of people is not something we can afford to provoke, nor the Chief, nor Yao Yumen, nor even Yao Yumen's uncle Yao Wenzhong... Don't think about it too much. We will try to persuade Xiaohong again. Once you've been in the trade longer, some things will naturally become clear to you."

I nodded with a half-understanding, not daring to ask any more questions.

If it was truly as Big Brother said, since I was still young, I would figure everything out sooner or later.

"Forget it, bad luck, let's not talk about this anymore."

"Yunfeng, Xiaohong, Third and I have pretty much explored the upper levels. We found a place that is very bizarre. It's quite possible it could be the main burial chamber housing the tomb owner's coffin."

Big Brother squatted down, casually picked up a stone, and while drawing and writing on the ground, he continued, "Look, imagine this is Moth Mountain. After walking for so many days, moving forward, there are two possibilities."

"First, this grand underground palace spans across two large mountains, going from Moth Mountain to Nine Dragons Mountain. Just like the Qianling Mausoleum spanning across Liang Mountain and Ru Mountain."

"Second, we walked in a circle and might actually be heading back. It's just that due to the geographical structure, our sense of direction became muddled, and we are still actually beneath Moth Mountain."

After mulling over these two possibilities, I felt that either conjecture was entirely feasible. That was my current assessment.

"Yunfeng, Xiaohong, if you have any thoughts, feel free to share them. Let's try to figure this out. If we keep moving forward completely in the dark like this, it's too embarrassing..."

The group fell silent, and Sister Red also plunged into deep thought.

"Big Brother," I tremblingly raised my hand.

"Oh, Yunfeng, do you have any thoughts? Let's hear them, take your time."

"It's like this, Big Brother," I organized my thoughts and said, "Earlier we found a *yue* battle-axe, and we also found the stone carving of King Mu of Zhou's Eight Steeds. Although we haven't found the Emperor's exclusive Nine Cauldrons and Seven Tripod-簋 vessels yet, I feel that's only a matter of time."