Moreover, looking at Xie Yuchen's bewitching face, Hei Xiazi felt he had nothing to lose no matter what. Besides, Xie Yuchen was the one asking him to stay now, so if Hei Xiazi did anything irrational, nobody could blame him. The more he thought about it, the wider the smile grew on Hei Xiazi's face.
Seeing Hei Xiazi grinning like a fool, Xie Yuchen briefly wondered if inviting him had been a mistake.
"Here's the card, max it out however you like." Xie Yuchen handed over the black card he had just taken out.
Hei Xiazi's hands moved faster than his brain; before he even had time to process it, he snatched it away, the smile on his face so bright his gums showed.
"No problem at all! Master Hua can come to Hei Xiazi for anything, I guarantee I'll deliver."
In an instant, he threw his earlier thoughts of keeping his distance to the wind. Forget Wu Sansheng showing up now; even Mute Zhang couldn't stop him from making money.
Xie Yuchen snorted, helpless against this hopeless money-grabber. "Then from now on, you take your orders from me."
Once the joy of getting the black card faded, only awkwardness remained. Fortunately, Hei Xiazi was thick-skinned enough to fake a cough and say, "Ahem, Master Hua, I'm afraid that won't work. I just took a job yesterday to go tomb robbing."
Hearing this, Xie Yuchen instantly glared at Hei Xiazi and snapped, "Then give me the card back."
"Hey, hey! Since when does something that enters Hei Xiazi's pocket ever get taken back?" Hei Xiazi hurriedly covered the card he had just won.
"Then let me ask you, who hired you? Refund the money."
Xie Yuchen refused to accept that his newly acquired hire would vanish into thin air right away. Besides, he wasn't short on money; there was no reason to let Hei Xiazi go around swindling people under the Xie Family name.
"No way, I have a reputation to maintain. What happens to my good name if I pull a stunt like that?" If he turned down Third Master's job now, wouldn't Second Master Wu come knocking on his door?
"Oh? You have a reputation? How come I didn't know about it?"
Although the Xie Family was in business, Xie Yuchen knew a thing or two about the underground world—such as the fact that the man in front of him was notoriously infamous.
Hei Xiazi rubbed his nose and smiled guiltily at Master Hua. "Well, isn't this time different? But don't you worry, the moment this job is done, I'll come straight to you."
"Fine. If you don't show up by then, I'll have someone take back the courtyard you're currently staying in, and by the way, I'll refund all your rent."
The only reason Xie Yuchen knew about this was because his subordinates had come to report that Hei Xiazi kept delaying his rent, but out of fear for Hei Xiazi's reputation in the underworld, they didn't know what else to do. If he hadn't run into Hei Xiazi today, he was planning to go pay a visit to this fellow in a couple of days anyway.
The smile on Hei Xiazi's lips became utterly impossible to maintain. Money was his very life; making him part with his money was practically killing him.
"Don't you worry, Master Hua, the moment I finish the mission, I'll gallop straight to your house without stopping." Hei Xiazi gave a firm guarantee.
Xie Yuchen looked Hei Xiazi up and down, letting out a noncommittal "hmph," unsure whether to believe him or not.
***
Qinghai, Golmud Sanatorium.
Getting out of the car, Hei Xiazi lit a cigarette, looked at the traces of people walking near the entrance, turned around, and smiled. "Mute, looks like someone beat us to it."
Zhang Qiling didn't speak. He cast a indifferent glance at Hei Xiazi and strode inside.
Hei Xiazi raised an eyebrow, tossed away his cigarette, and prepared to go in and search for things. Unlike Mute Zhang, who only took money and did no work, he actually earned his keep.
Wu Xie stopped in front of the Golmud Sanatorium building.
He took out the DV he had bought in Hangzhou and started recording.
The reason Wu Xie bought this DV was inspired by that videotape. Since someone else could record events and send them to him, he could naturally record everything he discovered as well—this was far more detailed than merely talking about it.
Entering the lobby, Wu Xie found that the place looked identical to the scene on the videotape, minus himself.
Wu Xie didn't linger in the lobby for long; he continued upstairs to the third floor.
The third floor was a long corridor lined with rooms in sequential order.
He stopped at the door of room 306.
With a click, the door opened. Wu Xie cautiously pushed it open and carefully observed the room; there didn't seem to be anything else inside.
A bed, a desk, a wardrobe.
Seeing a notebook lying on the somewhat messy desk, Wu Xie hurried over to inspect it. Upon closer inspection, he realized it was Chen Wenjin's journal. She had recorded all her experiences and sights along the way, as well as that unknown "It."
Though Wu Xie didn't know who the "It" she described was, he carefully packed the notebook into his backpack.
"Hmm~"
Hearing the sound, Wu Xie spun around instantly, sweeping his flashlight everywhere in an attempt to locate whatever had made the noise.
"Who's there? Who's playing tricks?" Wu Xie shouted loudly, his voice tinged with nervousness.
Seeing no movement, Wu Xie took a cautious step forward.
Before he could examine anything closely, a large pair of hands clamped over his mouth.
"Mmph, mmph!" Panicking, Wu Xie tried to pry the hands away from his face, but quickly heard a low voice: "It's me."
That familiar voice made Wu Xie recognize him instantly. "Xiaoge."
As soon as Wu Xie came to his senses, Zhang Qiling let go of his hand.
Gasping for the air he had been denied, Wu Xie's face flushed red as he snapped angrily at the Zhang Qiling standing beside him: "Why are you here? When did you come out of the Bronze Gate? Why didn't you come find me after you came out?"
Faced with Wu Xie's questioning, Zhang Qiling pressed his lips together in silence, then changed the subject: "Let's go."
"If you don't explain, I'm not leaving." Such an attitude only stoked Wu Xie's defiance.
"I'll explain when we get back." Zhang Qiling knew Wu Xie's stubborn streak.
Knowing the gravity of the situation, Wu Xie nodded reluctantly.
"Go." Zhang Qiling shoved Wu Xie out the door, drew his Black Gold Ancient Sword, and slashed at the figure behind them.
Knowing his own capabilities, Wu Xie realized staying behind would only drag Xiaoge down. He clutched his notebook-filled backpack tightly and bolted downstairs.
With Wu Xie out of the way, Zhang Qiling had nothing holding him back and quickly beat the Jinpo into full retreat. Naturally, no match for him, the Jinpo dashed toward the direction Wu Xie had fled with a ferocious snarl.
Seeing this, Zhang Qiling gave chase immediately.
Reaching the first floor, Wu Xie noticed that the coffin, which had been fine when he arrived, now showed signs of having been opened. Remembering how Fatty always called him a jinx—something he used to scoff at—he felt compelled to believe in superstition just this once.
Walking over to the coffin, Wu Xie muttered under his breath:
"Mister inside the coffin, I didn't mean to disturb your peace. I promise that once I get back, I'll burn incense, kowtow to the Buddha, pray, and chant scriptures for you. I hope that, seeing how blind and ignorant I was, you'll be the bigger man and spare me this once."
"Hahahahaha, is Wu Xie out of his mind?" Hiding inside the coffin, Hei Xiazi could no longer hold back his laughter.
Hearing a sound from the coffin, Wu Xie grew even more terrified, wondering if he should just kowtow to it after all.
"Ahhhhh!!!"
Seeing the Jinpo descend from upstairs, Wu Xie threw all thoughts of kowtowing to the wind, grabbed his backpack, and hurled it at the creature.
The next moment, he saw Xiaoge leap down from upstairs and kick the Jinpo back into the room. Xiaoge scanned Wu Xie up and down with his eyes, and before Wu Xie could ask anything, he stepped right up, pulled off Wu Xie's belt, and barred the door shut with it.
"Xiaoge, you are too amazing! You have no idea how scared I was before you came down. Just now, there was a noise from inside this coffin, it scared me to death!" Regaining his composure, Wu Xie began recounting his discoveries to Xiaoge.
Zhang Qiling looked at the coffin in front of him with a helpless look in his eyes. "Blind."
"Blind what? Xiaoge, do you want to eat shrimp? I'll treat you to some when we get back to Hangzhou."
"Hahahaha, you're killing me, Little Third Master, I never knew you could be so funny." Unable to contain himself any longer, Hei Xiazi jumped out of the coffin and laughed out loud.
"Who are you?" Wu Xie asked indignantly, glaring at the dark-clothed rat-like man who was mocking him.
Before Hei Xiazi could state his name, the door holding back the Jinpo was already splintering to pieces. Everyone's gaze instantly snapped toward Wu Xie.
Wu Xie smiled awkwardly and said, "This was a cheap street market knockoff."
"Run." Zhang Qiling grabbed Wu Xie's hand and sprinted outside.