Chapter 92: Dragon-Shattering Ceiling

Old Ghost said nothing, his face cold as he gave a slight nod. The woman called Bright Moon tightened her short hair, slung a short-barreled hunting rifle over her shoulder, the kind with a single barrel and terrifying power at close range. She checked her pistol again, tucked two grenades at her waist, secured her climbing gear, and then moved up with remarkable speed. Her entire sequence was even more efficient than the one performed by the man called Three Fire, and it left me staring in blank amazement.

At that moment, Black Shades leaned close to my ear and whispered, Keep your eyes open. The moment there is a chance, move.

He told me to act when the opportunity came, but he did not say what to do or how to do it. Still, one glance from me and I understood at once. When the time came, I would simply follow his lead. As for scheming against people, honestly, he was far better at it than I was.

Just as I steadied myself and was about to light a cigarette, I noticed the shy girl behind Madam Gu staring at me. Her gaze was sharp and piercing, but the instant I looked back at her, she seemed a little embarrassed and turned away.

To be honest, I had a strange feeling. For some reason, I kept sensing that the girl had just heard what I said. But how could that be? We were not far apart, but not especially close either. And Black Shades had spoken right by my ear. People within two or three meters should not have been able to hear him.

Then the radio kept crackling with reports of Everything normal, Everything normal, indicating that Bright Moon had not run into any unexpected trouble for the moment. More than half an hour passed, and the radio still carried only static. It seemed there was magnetic interference up there. After all, according to Black Shades, the radios they used were supposedly the most advanced on the market, capable of receiving signals within ten kilometers.

But as time slowly ticked by, Bright Moon also fell silent, becoming exactly like Three Fire. The radio carried only static and nothing else, and from Three Fire’s set, the shrill screaming had vanished too, leaving only bursts of hissing crackle.

Bright Moon had the same problem. Her radio, too, had turned into nothing but a stream of crackling static. At that, everyone present grew a little restless. After all, the unknown and the unexpected always stir fear deep in the human heart. Strangely enough, my own mind remained calm and steady. I just watched them.

In the next moment, everyone began preparing their gear. But there were only six sets of climbing equipment, so Old Ghost and Madam Gu immediately decided to send up six people. This time, Old Ghost himself would go. After roughly half an hour of preparation, just as they were about to move out, the radio suddenly transmitted a message. It was a series of ragged breaths. Then there was movement above the cliff face, and everyone instinctively raised their guns, staring tensely upward.

Very soon, a figure came dropping down at speed. It was Bright Moon, and she was carrying someone on her back. One look told me it was Three Fire. Bright Moon gasped for air. Even for a woman with a strong body, carrying a man while expending such enormous effort on a climb was more than she could easily bear. Once she got down, she dropped straight onto the ground and panted heavily.

Three Fire, Three Fire, what happened to you?

The man called Three Fire was covered from head to toe in tiny wounds. Dark, nearly black blood continued to seep from them, streaked with a faint trace of dark green. He was unconscious. Foolish Han anxiously inspected his injuries while everyone else looked equally alarmed. It seemed Three Fire held a rather important place in Old Ghost’s team; when other people died, hardly anyone showed such concern.

On Madam Gu’s side, her people were also urgently questioning Bright Moon. She appeared to have exhausted herself badly, breathing hard all the while and taking small sips of water as if trying to calm her breathing. After a short while, under everyone’s anxious gaze, Bright Moon slowly said, Up above, there is an opening. Its location is not at the very top, so there should still be some distance to go. But that opening looks as though it was dug by hand. I suspect it was made by the workers who originally built this place. She paused, took a sip of water, and went on. We all know that many ancient tombs have such openings. After all, once the tomb is finished, the majority of the tomb owners kill the workers who built it. So I did not think too much of it and went in. But the farther I went, the more I felt that the passage inside did not seem to have been excavated by human hands at all. It felt more like the nest of some unknown creature. Everywhere there was a viscous liquid. Then I found him.

As she spoke, Bright Moon pointed at Three Fire and continued, He was lying in a pile of green slime, covered in injuries, unconscious. I knew at once that this place was dangerous, so I brought him out. Fortunately, I did not see anything terrifying inside.

After Old Ghost and Madam Gu exchanged a look, Madam Gu said, As for the opening Bright Moon mentioned, I trust her judgment. If she says it looked like a man-made tunnel at first, then it probably was man-made. Most likely, some creature later took it over and turned it into a nest.

Once Madam Gu finished speaking, everyone nodded unconsciously, accepting the explanation. Then Madam Gu also took out some special medicine and treated Three Fire’s wounds. After a while longer, his condition seemed to stabilize, and the dark green fluid no longer seeped from the injuries.

By then, Bright Moon had recovered enough rest and was preparing to climb again, to see whether she could reach the summit this time. The radio did not suffer any interference on this attempt and remained clear. There was still some static, but the signals passing back and forth could be heard distinctly.

After about an hour and a half, Bright Moon sent back word that the structure at the top of the mountain was a shattered-dragon ceiling. I did not understand much of it, but Black Shades explained that such a shattered-dragon ceiling was designed to collapse if it was ever damaged. It was an anti-theft mechanism: if a thief dug a tunnel down through it or tried to break it open, the entire mountain would cave in and every foundation point would fracture. In its day, it would have counted as a remarkably ingenious defensive measure, and an enormous engineering project as well.

Honestly, I was puzzled.