Volume Three: Exploring Antiquities and Seeking Immortals - Chapter Thirteen: Financial Pressure

The oppressive silence hung over the scene for a long time. Finally, Wu You and his teammates cast one last deep look at Zhuang Feng before walking silently toward a vehicle.

Seeing this, the remaining trial-takers exchanged glances, fear visible in many of their eyes. Wu You's actions made it clear that Zhuang Feng was indeed dead. After a brief silence, everyone climbed into the cars.

The moment Lu Yi got into the vehicle, he caught the scent of snacks. Jade Toad was already crunching away on potato chips, while Shen Yixue was already fast asleep, leaning against the seat.

The convoy soon started up again, navigating the bumpy mountain road. Lu Yi looked out the window at the passing scenery, lost in thought. For a time, the only sounds inside the car were Jade Toad munching on snacks, the crisp clinking of the hanging ornaments, and the occasional cough from the indigenous passenger.

This tranquil atmosphere persisted for quite a while. Suddenly, Lu Yi frowned, feeling a gaze fixed upon him. With Shen Yixue asleep and Jade Toad eating, the only person who could possibly be looking at him was the indigenous passenger sharing the vehicle.

Thinking of this, Lu Yi turned his head sharply toward the man. "You've been staring at me. Is something the matter?"

"No, I wasn't," the man hurriedly denied. Yet his sudden stammer only made him more suspicious.

Lu Yi chuckled softly, leaning back against the seat. "It's fine. I'm not as ruthless as those people. Dachuang, you must have sensed something too, right?"

Dachuang hesitated for a moment, then nodded heavily. "You really are a bit different from those people."

Lu Yi nodded amicably. "Go on, tell me what you really want to say."

Dachuang mustered his courage, locked eyes with Lu Yi, and said with utmost sincerity, "I want to ask you to help me lift the curse."

"A curse?" Lu Yi chuckled lightly. "There is no curse on you."

Dachuang's voice suddenly rose a notch. "Not a curse? How is that possible? Then how did Rat and that man of yours die?"

Lu Yi narrowed his eyes. "They are them, and I am you—er, and I am me. There's no need to probe me. My situation is only somewhat similar to theirs, but we don't actually know each other. We are entirely independent."

Hearing this, Dachuang breathed a slight sigh of relief and made up his mind. "Mr. Lu, please save me. You are among the most powerful people here. Out of everyone present, only the three of you showed no symptoms.

You must have a way to deal with the curse on me. As long as you agree to help, I can give you half of my life savings."

Lu Yi drooped his eyelids. "I already said there is no curse. If there really were one, those people couldn't possibly have been completely unaware of it before falling victim to it all at once."

Dachuang froze, looking somewhat bewildered. "Then... what is going on?"

"It's very simple. Have you ever heard that pouring two specific non-toxic household cleaning products together can produce toxic gas?" At this point, Lu Yi reached out and took a few potato chips from Jade Toad's hands.

Dachuang trembled violently, saying in disbelief, "You mean..."

Lu Yi nodded. "Exactly. You must have inhaled something somewhere. That substance didn't manifest in your bodies at first, until you breathed in another substance that triggered it."

At this point, Lu Yi's gaze suddenly became exceptionally sharp. "And that substance should be the smoke and dust generated by burning kerosene. Think carefully—was it after smelling the kerosene smoke that your symptoms began to appear, and then grew progressively worse?"

"Y-yes, indeed," Dachuang stammered.

Afterward, Lu Yi briefly analyzed the situation further before steering the conversation toward Dachuang. Prompted by Lu Yi, Dachuang began to recount his past tomb-raiding experiences.

Soon, the car arrived at a secluded building. Guided by the accompanying staff, the three of them retrieved some belongings—to be exact, their wallets and keys. Lu Yi flipped through his wallet and immediately felt a wave of poverty wash over him.

After stepping back outside, the three of them walked along the road, planning to find a discrete spot to hail a cab and leave. Suddenly, a black sedan pulled up right in front of them.

"Mr. Lu," Dachuang called out respectfully. "Are you heading back? Would you like me to give you a ride?"

Hitching a ride in Dachuang's car, Lu Yi quickly located the corresponding apartment. Groping around for a moment, Lu Yi switched on the living room light. He surveyed the space—it was a small apartment with two bedrooms and one bathroom, and the living room was kept neat and tidy. Lu Yi nodded with satisfaction at the sight.

Jade Toad poked her head out from under Lu Yi's arm, looked around, and stared blankly at him. "Captain, why did we come here?"

Lu Yi smiled and rubbed the top of Jade Toad's head. "Jade Toad, this is our residence in the trial world." With that, he stepped aside and said, "Alright, everyone can wash up and go to sleep."

Hearing that she could sleep, Jade Toad let out a cheer, threw herself onto the sofa, and rolled around. After rolling over a few times, she happened to face the kitchen. "Captain, captain, this refrigerator is different. There's a piece of paper stuck to it."

Hearing this, Lu Yi hurried over and saw that the paper bore the Wi-Fi password and the landlord's phone number. The corners of Lu Yi's mouth twitched. No wonder his impoverished identity had to do that kind of dirty work; it seemed their team expenses were about to grow by another item.

Just then, Jade Toad tumbled off the sofa with a thud. She climbed up, rubbed her head, and said, "It's too small. I want to sleep in a bed."

With that, Jade Toad scurried off toward the bedrooms like a happy puppy. Shen Yixue looked at the two bedrooms, suddenly realized something, and hurried after her while shouting, "Jade Toad, no sleeping yet! Take a shower first!"

Soon, Shen Yixue dragged Jade Toad into the bathroom.

"Ah, this tub is so small. I can't lie down in it at all," Jade Toad's complaint drifted out from the bathroom shortly after.

Shen Yixue's voice immediately followed. "Alright, alright. Thank your lucky stars we aren't sleeping on the floor."

Before things could quiet down, Jade Toad's voice rang out from the bathroom once more. "I want the captain to scrub my back too."

The moment Jade Toad finished speaking, Lu Yi heard the sound of bare feet padding across the floor, followed by the turning of the bathroom doorknob.

"No!" Shen Yixue shrieked, hastily shoving the door shut while lowering her voice. "Jade Toad, I'll scrub your back in a moment."

Lu Yi shook his head and sat alone on the sofa. Just as he was listening to the sound of running water out of sheer boredom, he suddenly remembered the box he had brought out from the tomb chamber. He quickly retrieved it.

He stepped back a few paces, flicked out a sphere of water to force the lid open, and waited to make sure there was no movement for a good while before approaching. Inside the box were several jade items—a bracelet, a pendant, and a thumb ring—but what caught Lu Yi's attention most was a comb without any teeth.

Lu Yi picked up the comb and turned it over repeatedly, but the more he looked, the stranger it felt. He traced his thumb along the edge of the comb and muttered, "Why are the teeth of this jade comb broken off so evenly?"

"I don't get it." Lu Yi shook his head and leaned back. A clatter of keys immediately rang out. Staring at the keychain for a good while, he suddenly slapped his thigh. "This isn't a comb; it's a key!"

He whipped out his phone and quickly pulled up the mural photographs. Looking at the tilted architecture in the murals, Lu Yi's eyes flickered continuously.

After a long while, the corners of Lu Yi's mouth curled up slightly. "I have the key. As long as I find the corresponding location, I can start the journey. The place in the King Yongming mural must be fascinating. If necessary, I can even leak it to Xu Tianyi; I'm sure he'll be quite interested."

A few days later, Lu Yi and Shen Yixue were sitting in a restaurant, watching Jade Toad feast with relish. Over the past few days, Lu Yi had rented a car to take Shen Yixue and Jade Toad sightseeing everywhere, avoiding staying in one place too long lest Jade Toad's astonishing appetite draw unwanted attention.

Shen Yixue jokingly referred to Lu Yi's behavior as running away to avoid inflating the local cost of living with Jade Toad's eating habits, forcing them to keep moving. Jade Toad didn't mind at all; as long as she had all the food she wanted, she would happily follow Lu Yi anywhere.

"Sigh." Shen Yixue propped her chin on her hand, gazing at the romantic tropes playing out in a romance drama. "How did I ever let you hug and kiss me back then?" With that, Shen Yixue shot Lu Yi a sideways glance.

Jade Toad was eating with great gusto and curiously chimed in, "Are hugs and kisses not allowed?"

Shen Yixue and Jade Toad were on completely different wavelengths and initially planned to ignore her, but upon second thought, she realized this was a golden opportunity to educate Jade Toad.

After casting a glance at Lu Yi, Shen Yixue put on a serious expression and said earnestly, "It's not that they aren't allowed, but you can't let Lu Yi take advantage of you, understand?"

"Oh," Jade Toad nodded, then looked at Shen Yixue in utter confusion. "Then... who can hug and kiss you without taking advantage of you?"

Shen Yixue was completely derailed by this soul-searching question from Jade Toad. Gritting her teeth, she grabbed a chicken drumstick and shoved it into Jade Toad's mouth. "Eat your food. Even food can't shut that mouth of yours."

Lu Yi watched the banter between Shen Yixue and Jade Toad with a gentle smile. At that moment, his phone suddenly vibrated. Glancing at the caller ID, Lu Yi answered the call and stepped outside. When he returned, his expression was somewhat grim.

"What's wrong?" Shen Yixue asked immediately upon seeing his face.

Lu Yi pulled out a chair and sat back down. "It's nothing. The landlord was calling to press for rent, so I paid it. But now we don't have much money left. I'm considering selling one of the bracelets to get some cash."

Shen Yixue nodded upon hearing this. "Indeed. If we still don't make a move in the near future, we might actually need to find jobs." As she said this, she deliberately glanced at Jade Toad.

Lu Yi rubbed his temples as well. Given Jade Toad's current appetite, even without demanding high-end fare, it cost nearly ten thousand a day to feed her. Finding a job that paid over ten thousand a month with daily settlements was truly no easy task.

"Never mind. Let's sell the bracelet first and observe for a few days. If all else fails, we'll see if Dachuang has any other work." Seeing that Jade Toad had nearly finished eating, Lu Yi stood up.

At the same time, he thought to himself that if worse came to worst, he could just have Jade Toad become a mukbang streamer, with Shen Yixue in charge of training and hyping her up. If things went well, it wouldn't just alleviate some financial pressure; it could also help Shen Yixue build a following.