Chapter 71

The tunnel they used to escape wasn’t the same as the one Qin Cheng and Wu Hai used to enter the tomb. This one was on the other side of the mountain.

Qin Cheng was severely injured, so at the moment, he was only able to hold on through willpower alone.

“We’d better take a detour from here.” The sun had long since risen. Because they had stayed in that dark tomb for such a long time, after being exposed to a sudden light, Qin Cheng felt uncomfortable. “Let’s get out of here. There are nearly a dozen people at the entrance of the tomb, but there are only three of us. We can’t fight them.”

“About a dozen people?”

When Qu Zhiwen heard Qin Cheng’s words, he said with a dark and complicated tone of voice: “But, when Jiang Ping and I arrived, we didn’t see anyone.” Not only that, but even the two men Jiang Ping had mentioned before weren’t there, even when the two of them had followed their footprints.

“Could it be possible that those people thought that Qin Cheng and I died in the tomb, so they left?”

“No…. I think they found out that Jiang Ping and I were on our way, so they hid.” But, when it came to this, Qu Zhiwen’s expression turned even uglier.

Qu Zhiwen didn’t know that that ‘man’ could hide in advance before he could find him. It wasn’t that Qu Zhiwen was too arrogant, but it’s a known fact that there are very few Heavenly Masters in the world that could reach Qu Zhiwen’s level, not to mention those above him…. Originally, he wanted something from this, but now Qu Zhiwen had second thoughts. It seemed that he had gotten himself involved in a big problem…..

Qu Zhiwen thought that Qin Cheng was no longer in the mood to explore carefully, and that he wanted to go as fast as possible, afraid that he wouldn’t last long.

By the time the sun was in full bloom at noon, Wu Hai was able to see Qin Cheng’s ugly pale face more clearly. Not to mention the fact that he was covered with mud from head to toe, but even his white t-shirt was dyed with blood. It looked quite scary.

“Ah! Don’t worry about it. Let’s hurry and go, Qin Cheng can’t go on like this.”

Although he said that, Wu Hai’s physical strength was also exhausted. It was rare that he was able to hold on until now. The one in the best situation among the three of them was Qu Zhiwen, but Qu Zhiwen had just destroyed a formation, so he also had consumed too much energy. Qu Zhiwen’s body was a mortal one, so his physical strength wasn’t any better than Qin Cheng and Wu Hai’s. At this point, Qu Zhiwen’s face looked even worse than Qin Cheng’s.

Qin Cheng nodded gently: “Wait, didn’t you say that Jiang Ping came with you? Where is he now?”

As soon as Qin Cheng finished saying this, he saw a paper crane flying over. Qu Zhiwen didn’t reply, instead, he stretched out his hand to catch that paper crane. It’s wings moved slowly, as if it was saying something to Qu Zhiwen. After a while, Qu Zhiwen raised his head and frowned.

“Jiang Ping is still there. I think that the dozen people you were talking about shouldn’t dare come out for the time being.”

‘ After all, the three half Immortals are still there…. ’

After thinking this, Qu Zhiwen said: “Let’s hurry there, pick up Jiang Ping, and leave this place as fast as we can. We can’t stay here for long.”

Qin Cheng then took a deep breath, pulled out anti-inflammatory pills from his bag, crushed them and smeared the powder on his wound. After doing this, the three of them cautiously walked to the East.

It had rained for too long, and even though the sun was shining now, the ground was still muddy. No one had stepped onto this side of the mountain for years, so the original mountain road has long been covered by overgrown weeds and branches. Under such circumstances, you could only grasp the branches and move forward little by little. If they weren’t careful enough, they would end up rolling down the mountain. It took them nearly an hour to arrive at their destination. When they stepped into the open space from where they originally stepped into the tomb, the first thing they saw was a chaotic scene. There were collapsed rain sheds, fragmented stones, and a mess of violently broken branches. The three half Immortals were nowhere to be seen, and only Jiang Ping was left behind, lying on the ground, motionless.

This scene startled the three of them.

Seeing how Qu Zhiwen ran over to see Jiang Ping’s condition, Qin Cheng covered the wound on his waist and walked forward.

“How is Jiang Ping?” As he held his broken pair of glasses to the bridge of his nose, Qin Cheng squinted his eyes and asked: “Is he okay?”

As Qu Zhiwen held Jiang Ping to half-lie on himself, Qu Zhiwen pinched Jiang Ping’s wrist to examine his pulse. After a while, he shook his head: “I don’t know. He isn’t injured, he’s just unconscious….” At that time, Qu Zhiwen had left Jiang Ping behind because he knew that the three half Immortals couldn’t hurt mortals, but now, when he observed the chaos around them, it was clear that something had happened.

‘ But, where did those half Immortals go? In theory, they should’ve waited for me to come out….. ’

‘ I’m afraid that I won’t know what happened until Jiang Ping wakes up. ’

Seeing Jiang Ping unconscious like that, not knowing whether there was danger behind them, Qin Cheng thought for a moment and said: “We’re four people now, but I’m injured and Jiang Ping is unconscious. To put it worse, I’m afraid that you two don’t have the strength to carry Jiang Ping across the mountains.” At this, Qin Cheng paused and looked at Qu Zhiwen.

“When Jiang Ping came here, he shouldn’t have come on his own, right?”

Not understanding what Qin Cheng was trying to say, Qu Zhiwen moved his eyebrows slightly and said: “At that time, I instructed the paper cranes to lead the way for Jiang Ping while I went to the tomb in Ninghua Village. Later, I took care of some things before I could come after Jiang Ping.”

Qin Cheng didn’t say anything else, he just stared quietly at Qu Zhiwen’s eyes.

Naturally, Qu Zhiwen gave Qin Cheng a little smile as they stared at each other for a long time.

Even Wu Hai was able to tell that the atmosphere wasn’t quite right, so he patted Qin Cheng’s shoulder and said: “We have to go back now, you two can talk at another time. If those people come back, I’m afraid that we won’t be able to leave.”

What Wu Hai said, Qin Cheng knew as well, but somehow, he just felt that there was something fishy about Qu Zhiwen. He didn’t seem to be lying, but Qin Cheng always felt that he was hiding a lot of things. Especially when it came to Su Jingmo. Because of this, Qin Cheng couldn’t help himself from investigating him.

However, as Wu Hai said, now wasn’t the right time to explore these things. They had to leave….

“The four of us can’t leave together.” Qu Zhiwen said once he saw that Qin Cheng remained silent. “We can only send a person to risk himself to go look for help. Qin Cheng and Jiang Ping can’t move. As for the rest, it’s only me and this….”

“Wu Hai.” Hearing this, Wu Hai replied.

“Yes, only Wu Hai and I are in better shape. I’m afraid that between the two of us, one will have to leave first and seek help.”

“No way.” Wu Hai shook his head. “We’re a big target in broad daylight. Besides, you don’t know, but the nearest Village is filled with grave robbers. As long as one of us is caught, it’s over.”

After Wu Hai’s words, everyone stood silent for a moment.

Qin Cheng then looked at the unsconscious Jiang Ping and frowned.

Qin Cheng has known Jiang Ping for several months now. Although they never met under pleasant circumstances, Qin Cheng knew and understood Jiang Ping, more or less. Jiang Ping was serious, but he wasn’t stubborn, so that’s why he brought the Taoist priest to Su Jingmo’s tomb that time. The most important thing about him was that Jiang Ping was second in command at such a young age, which is something absolutely impossible to achieve if you don’t have enough skills and ability. He seemed careless, but in fact, he was capable of doing things the right way. The crucial point about him was that he’s a man of principle, a rare type of man who, even in a high position, preserved his strong sense of justice….. That’s why, at that time, Qin Cheng asked him for help.

Therefore, Qin Cheng couldn’t believe that Jiang Ping would be the kind of person who would face danger in a mountain, without preparing beforehand.

“I don’t think we have to worry too much. We can’t say for sure that no one will come looking for us sooner or later.”

“Who will come to such a place, except for the people from the Village?”

Qin Cheng looked at Wu Hai, who had just spoken, and sighed: “Do you really think that Jiang Ping would risk coming here alone? How could he, a criminal policeman, not arrange everything before going to explore the enemy’s territory? Ordinary police officers wouldn’t, but Jiang Ping can’t be that reckless. At least, he’s still a famous criminal police officer in Xi’an. So, I think that Jiang Ping must have arranged a way out. Since there wasn’t much time available, he must have planned to explore the road first, but must have also left some clues for someone behind.”

When Qin Cheng said this, Wu Hai and Qu Zhiwen were stunned for a moment. They weren’t surprised, but after so many things happened, they actually forgot Jiang Ping’s identity.

That man would never be a burden.

Sure enough, as Qin Cheng said, nearly two hours later a dozen police officers arrived.

At first glance, they only saw Jiang Ping, who seemed to be unconscious, being held by Qu Zhiwen. They didn’t need the command of the man standing in the middle as they instantly pulled out their guns.

Seeing this situation, Qin Cheng hurriedly raised his hands and said: “We are postgraduate students of X University. We’re the ones who asked Jiang Ping for help.”

Two of the police officers, who often followed Jiang Ping, recognized Qin Cheng since they had seen him several times. However, the only thing they knew about Qin Cheng was that he was a student who got involved in several muder cases.

With this in mind, one of the police officers rushed to the policeman in the middle, and said: “Chief, this man is indeed a student of X University.”

Of course, Chief Luo Zhian could see that there was nothing wrong with these people. Although he has asked him to not take care of this case, Jiang Ping was too insistent. But after seeing this proud young man in such a state, Luo Zhian wasn’t happy. Especially after receiving Jiang Ping’s request for help. Originally, Luo Zhian wanted to ignore it, but he simply couldn’t do it in the end.

This is in Pingyao, Shanxi Province, not Xi’an, Shaanxi Province ¹ . Even if they are the police, they couldn’t just bring their own men into another Province. Luo Zhian even took care of the transfer matter almost ten times faster than usual. Furthermore, it wasn’t easy for them to arrive at this place by following Jiang Ping’s clues alone. After so much trouble, they even found that Jiang Ping was in such an unconscious state.

“Put the guns down! Send these people to the hospital to treat their wounds!” Right after saying that, Luo Zhian walked towards Jiang Ping, only to curse out loud: “Fuck! You were so tired of the long vacation that you had to put your own life in danger to put an end to it?!”

After saying this, his face looked uglier than anyone else’s. Only after he stretched out his hand to make sure Jiang Ping was still breathing, did his face soften a bit.

When they arrived at the hospital in Pingyao, Shanxi Province, it was already dark outside. Wu Hai and Qu Zhiwen weren’t hurt, but they were physically exhausted. After arriving at the hospital, they found a random bed and directly lay down to sleep.

Qin Cheng’s wounds were a little inflamed, but because he had lost too much blood, he couldn’t receive an anti-inflammatory intravenous drip, making the whole process more painful. After getting ten stitches, Qin Cheng couldn’t stop himself from falling asleep due to the dizziness he was feeling.

When he woke up again, it was early dawn, and Wu Hai was sitting next to him.

“You’ve slept long enough.” Wu Hai said as he brought over the food. “Hurry up and eat something. I brought you a blood sausage, some stir-fry and a bowl of chicken soup. Eat, eat.”

“Thank you.”

After taking a few sips of the soup, Qin Cheng asked Wu Hai: “How is Jiang Ping?”

“It seems that he woke up all of a sudden in the middle of the night, last night. I saw him this morning, and he looked alright.”

“Hmm….” Qin Cheng was really hungry, so he ate all the food in an instant.

Wu Hai looked at Qin Cheng’s face, which still didn’t look right, and said: “I thought that we would return to Xi’an today, but it’d be better for you to wait until the stitches are removed, to avoid the risk of opening the wound during the long journey.”

“No, I’d better go back as soon as possible. I still have some things to do.”

Wu Hai looked at Qin Cheng with complicated eyes. Wu Hai wanted to say something, but he didn’t know how to. In the end, he just sighed, and said: “There are some things?…. You should consider your own safety first. Don’t push yourself onto a dead end…..”

Qin Cheng nodded for a long time, and no longer spoke.

Jiang Ping is so reliable ~ good boi *pat pat*

Finally! Everyone is safe~ (well… Qin Cheng is still wounded… But safe lol) Now is time to go back. Qin Cheng must be anxious to met Su Jingmo again 👀👀

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(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ 💖

Footnotes

<ol>It’s not the same Province. <b>山西</b> <b>shān xī</b> ; Shanxi Province is in north China, between Hebei and Shaanxi. <b>陕西</b> <b>shǎn xī</b> ; Shaanxi Province is in northwest China.</ol>