Surviving in the General's Mansion - Chapter 12: Putuo Temple 2

Chapter 12: Putuo Temple 2

Damn it. After all those twists and turns, they had somehow ended up in the main hall. There was nowhere left to run.

Xia Heng picked Little Baldie up and hid behind a tree.

Little Baldie reached out and tugged at Xia Heng’s clothes, his trembling finger pointing toward the main hall.

The people behind them were about to catch up. Xia Heng hefted Little Baldie higher and held him more securely.

Gritting her teeth, she rushed into the main hall and hid behind the largest Buddha statue.

Little Baldie was doing his best, too. His face was smeared with snot and tears, but he still managed to press his palms together and silently recite sutras.

Xia Heng had no time to wipe his face. She heard footsteps echo through the hall. Judging by the sound, there was only one person.

Little Baldie was so frightened he stopped chanting. The two of them held their breath and stayed perfectly still as the newcomer seemed to begin circling the hall, searching.

Don’t find us. Don’t find us!

She felt Little Baldie shudder in her arms.

Xia Heng raised her head-and met a pair of eyes filled with murderous intent…

The black-clad man before her raised the long saber in his hand.

Almost instantly, Xia Heng pulled her spring-loaded dagger from her space.

With lightning speed, she stabbed it into the man’s thigh.

Little Baldie immediately sprang up and added a kick, sending the black-clad man stumbling back several steps.

The man clearly had not expected a woman with a child to dare fight back.

Now that he had been ambushed head-on, he flew into a rage. Ignoring the wound on his leg, he swung his saber at the two of them again.

A long spear cut through the air with a whistling roar and pierced straight through the black-clad man’s chest. A figure in white appeared before Xia Heng.

Dad! This has to be my long-lost dad!!

Tears welled in Xia Heng’s eyes. She scooped Little Baldie over and covered his eyes, while still gripping the spring-loaded dagger tightly in her hand.

Namo Amitabha!

After dealing with the black-clad man, Cang Chuli turned back and saw Xia Heng holding Little Baldie against her chest, staring at him with watery eyes…

Cang Chuli pulled the spear out of the black-clad man and walked over to Xia Heng. He braced the spear against the Buddha statue and was just about to say something to them when-

Creak.

The floor tilted. Xia Heng stumbled backward and fell into a secret passage, just in time to meet Cang Chuli’s startled gaze.

In the chaos, Xia Heng shielded Little Baldie in front of her as best she could, trying to keep him from taking the impact.

“Guh-ah!”

She ought to be grateful the secret passage wasn’t very high, but the fall still left Xia Heng seeing stars. She couldn’t help letting out a pained groan.

Cang Chuli jumped in right after them. During the drop, he adjusted his posture and landed beside Xia Heng in a slight crouch.

Creak.

The hidden door above closed again. Enduring the pain, Xia Heng loosened her arms. Little Baldie quickly stood up, tears falling with loud little patters.

“Sister, are you okay?”

His young voice was thick with sobs. Xia Heng waved a hand and slowly sat up.

It felt as if her whole body was about to fall apart. When she lifted her head, she saw Cang Chuli standing there with his spear, staring at her intently.

“I’m fine.”

Xia Heng stiffly turned her head and said it to Little Baldie.

After that, she began observing the place they had fallen into. It was a hidden passage about fifty meters long.

The surrounding walls were rough, but every so often there was an oil lamp. Its style looked very much like the eternal lamps lit before the Buddha statues inside the temple.

Not far from her lay the spring-loaded dagger she had lost her grip on when she fell. Xia Heng hurriedly picked it up, folded the blade away, and tucked it into her sleeve.

That was close. Way too close. I nearly survived the fall just to stab myself to death with my own dagger.

“There should be an exit up ahead, right? Why don’t we walk forward and take a look?” Xia Heng said in a trembling voice.

Cang Chuli withdrew his gaze and surveyed their surroundings without saying a word.

Xia Heng felt a little awkward. She reached out and rubbed Little Baldie’s shiny bald head.

“Um, what’s your name?” she asked, changing the subject.

Little Baldie was busy wiping the snot and tears from his face. After all, he was still young; being hunted down had scared him half to death.

The more he wiped, the more tears fell, leaving him looking utterly miserable.

“My name is Wude.”

His tiny body trembled, and after that, he had no idea what else to say.
“Why don’t we move a little farther ahead? I’m scared another person might drop down from above if we stay here.”

Xia Heng was shivering right along with him.

At that, Little Baldie fearfully stared up at the place where they had tumbled in, then turned his pitiful gaze toward Cang Chuli.

Cang Chuli looked at the two of them trembling like sieves, but he did not show any disdain.

He lifted his spear and took the lead, striding forward.

Xia Heng had one hand pressed to her waist when her other hand was quickly seized by a small, clammy palm. Little Wude looked up at her with tears in his eyes.

Left with no choice, Xia Heng gripped Wude’s little hand again and followed behind Cang Chuli.

At the end of the corridor stood a stone door. Cang Chuli swept his gaze over the area around it, then reached out and fiddled with the candlestick beside the door.

Creeeak.

The stone door slowly opened. Xia Heng and Wude’s mouths both dropped into perfect O’s.

Xia Heng could not wrap her head around it. Such an ingenious mechanism-how on earth had these ancient people installed it?!

Wude could not wrap his head around it either. Beneath the temple where he lived every single day, there was actually a hidden chamber like this.

Xia Heng was just about to take a closer look and figure out how this stone-door mechanism worked when Wude tugged her through the doorway.

As he pulled her along, he pointed at Cang Chuli’s back up ahead.

Very good, kid. You know exactly whose coattails to cling to. Promising!

The room was pitch-black. Sharp-eyed, Xia Heng spotted candlesticks on the wall, so she pulled a candle from the stand outside the door and lit the ones inside.

Illuminated by candlelight, a bedroom that looked very much like a treasure vault appeared before them.

“Whoa!”

Xia Heng and Wude were shocked all over again, staring at the gold, silver, and jewels filling the room until they could not tear their eyes away. Unambitious tears streamed from the corner of Xia Heng’s mouth.

Countless boxes were stacked neatly throughout the room. A dozen or so in the middle had been thrown wide open.

About ten of them were filled with gold ingots, while the remaining boxes were packed with jewels, all mixed together. It had the full Caribbean treasure vibe.

Unlike Xia Heng and Little Baldie, who were stunned senseless, Cang Chuli’s expression had gone livid as he looked at the ledger placed on the only table in the room.

The ink was very fresh. The last line of characters had only been written halfway, as if the entry had not yet been completed.

Before any of them could voice an opinion, voices came from outside the door on the other side.

“Did you find them?”

“They wouldn’t be in here, would they?”

“Impossible. Those bald donkeys wander around the temple every day and still have no idea there’s a hidden chamber right under their feet. How could they possibly know?”

“You lot, send more men. Search the place for me!”

“Yes, sir!”

Some of the footsteps headed away.

“After we make our move this time, we can’t stay here long, no matter how safe this place is.

First, load these things onto carts and move them to the storeroom in the city. Once they’re entered into the accounts, we’ll wait for His Excellency’s instructions.”

Several men’s voices came from beyond the other door. Xia Heng and Little Baldie reacted with lightning speed, one after the other diving under the room’s only bed.

The bed was not large, but it happened to be just big enough to hide two people. Xia Heng was on the outer side. Suddenly feeling as though she had forgotten something, she silently poked her head out and saw Cang Chuli, alone with his spear, standing quietly behind the door.

When the people outside pushed the door open and entered, Cang Chuli was perfectly hidden behind it. A dozen or so men filed in one after another.

“Start moving them!” a burly man ordered.

But another, slightly thinner man suddenly spoke up.

“Yu Laosan, when you went out just now, didn’t you put out the lamps?”

The burly man who had spoken first froze on the spot.

Oh no! I forgot to put out the lights!

Xia Heng screamed inwardly. Wude realized it too, and his small hand squeezed Xia Heng’s so hard it hurt.

Cang Chuli stopped hiding. He flashed out from behind the door and drove his spear straight through the stomach of the person nearest to him. Seeing something was wrong, the others rushed forward and attacked.

Cang Chuli fought alone against more than a dozen men. In a room packed with boxes, his spear was somewhat difficult to wield freely.

Fortunately, these men did not seem to be professional assassins. Only a few of them held long blades and appeared to know some martial arts.

The rest were probably just there to carry things and were all bare-handed.

But with several of them working together, Cang Chuli alone began to look somewhat strained.