Chapter 24: Eating Plaster

The man in the black jacket nodded gratefully, but I could still see from his troubled expression that he remained deeply worried; after all, if anything went wrong, we’d lose two brothers in an instant.

Just when we were at a loss, a sudden spark flashed in my mind. I remembered a line from my family’s ancestral book, "The Dragon-Seeking Manual": For every poisonous thing in the world, within five steps lies its antidote.

I sprang to my feet and rushed toward the golden wall.

"Brother! What are you doing? Don’t do anything foolish!" The black jacket, startled by my unexpected move, jumped up in a panic, trying to stop me, but he was already too late—I was standing right in front of the wall.

I hesitated for a moment, but slowly stretched out my hand. My fingertips brushed against the wall, instantly picking up a light dusting of golden powder. I knew the bacteria had infected me.

"Brother! Are you out of your mind?" Ma Xu was completely stunned by my actions, roaring in anger, but he knew it was too late; regretful tears streamed down his face.

"It’s all my damn fault. You two were fine over there, but I insisted on calling you over. Now Zhao Zhiqiang and I are crippled, and you’ve gotten yourself involved too. To save us, you’ve lost your head!" Ma Xu muttered as he wept, as though he’d reached the end of his rope.

As he spoke, Zhao Zhiqiang began crying as well. The two grown men dissolved into a puddle of tears, which was honestly quite disgraceful.

"You two, shut up! Neither of you is thinking straight!" I snapped impatiently. Faced with my sharp gaze, both fell silent, forcing back their tears and stifling their sobs. Truly, a pair of fools.

Ma Xu wiped his tears with his one good hand and looked at me as if I were insane. "Brother, are you sure you haven’t lost your mind?"

"You’re the one who’s crazy," I replied, furrowing my brow and sitting down beside Ma Xu, waiting for the bacteria to turn my arm into a hard, golden stone.

The bacteria worked quickly; before long, my fingers were turning gold.

Ma Xu watched, sniffing sadly. "Even if you’re not crazy, you’re doomed. You were our only hope, but now you’re in as much trouble as we are. There’s no way out for us now."

Despite my hand’s transformation, I felt no fear. Instead, I calmly stood up, returned to the wall, and picked up a piece of fallen wall skin, eating it.

Everyone was stunned. Ma Xu pointed at me with his one good hand, trembling as he spoke, "Look at him! If that’s not madness, what is? Four of us came down here—two are crippled, one’s gone mad, and the last hasn’t gotten a thing!"

The black jacket could no longer sit still. He strode over to me with steady steps, his eyes sharp as he scrutinized me.

"Brother, you’re not crazy. I know you’re stronger than that," he said, his gaze complex. I smiled at him; among us, only the black jacket had any real wisdom or depth—the others were fools.

I kept chewing the wall skin, then stretched my neck and swallowed it. I had to admit, it tasted awful—like dried cow dung—but it should be harmless. If we were starving, it could even be food; there was plenty of it around.

"Of course I’m not crazy. I’m trying to find an antidote," I explained, squatting to pick up a few more pieces of wall skin and carefully stowing them in my backpack.

Ma Xu and Zhao Zhiqiang stared at me as if I were some monster. I knew my actions were odd, but this was the only possible way to cure the poison—the wall skin had to be the antidote!

I held out my hand, waiting for the wall skin to work. Before everyone’s eyes, the gold faded from my fingers, returning to normal.

"Did I see that right? That’s incredible!" Ma Xu’s eyes went wide in amazement, his eyeballs nearly popping out.

Zhao Zhiqiang jumped up, elated. "We’re saved! We’re saved!"

"Eating wall skin really works! Brother, quick, let us have some!" Both men crowded around me, digging into my backpack for the black wall skin, breaking off pieces and chewing them.

Now that they knew the wall skin could cure them, they scrambled for it, but as soon as they tasted it, their expressions soured in disgust.

"What the hell is this? It tastes terrible," Zhao Zhiqiang grimaced, sticking out his tongue as if he were about to die.

Ma Xu looked equally miserable, but forced himself to chew.

"It tastes like dried cow dung..." Ma Xu gagged, nearly retching.

Seeing their complaints, the black jacket reached out as if to snatch their wall skin away, threatening, "If you don’t want it, no one is forcing you."

With that, Ma Xu and Zhao Zhiqiang obediently ate their wall skin in silence, not daring to utter another word.

When they had finished, each craned his neck to swallow. Their comical appearance made me laugh, and I handed them my canteen.

"Brother, you’re incredible. If it weren’t for you, we’d have turned to stone and become burial accompaniments for the tomb owner!" Ma Xu said with lingering fear, looking at his hand—which could move again and had lost its color—with relief and satisfaction.

"Brother, how did you know the wall skin would cure us?" Zhao Zhiqiang asked, staring at me in awe and gratitude; I had saved their lives twice now.

I smiled lightly, answering casually, "My father’s book says that wherever there’s poison, within five steps there’s an antidote. The closest thing to that wall is its skin, so that’s the most likely cure. And also..."

I paused, my gaze settling on the black jacket. He should understand my other intention.

"And also, the tomb owner doesn’t truly wish us dead. Just now, we’ve looked over everything and figured out the tomb owner’s identity—he’s from the Western Han era, our ancestor, and probably a master tomb raider. All these treasures and valuables in the tomb were likely acquired by him," the black jacket added.

Ma Xu and Zhao Zhiqiang were utterly shocked, exchanging incredulous glances.

"So you mean we’re in our ancestor’s tomb?" Ma Xu looked around in disbelief. This was the first time in his life he’d experienced something like this; this expedition had shattered all his previous records.

"No wonder there’s always a way out for us—it’s our ancestor!" Zhao Zhiqiang nodded in sudden realization; things that had puzzled him now made sense.

I paced around, surveying the surroundings, and said earnestly, "Not quite. The way out is left only for experts. If it were ordinary grave robbers, they’d have died here many times over."

"That explains why the tomb owner seems to know our every move—he anticipated everything. It’s our ancestor!" Ma Xu’s eyes lit up, and he ran excitedly to the stone coffin, bowing and saying, "Ancestor, since it’s you, please tell me where the treasure is!"

"Ma Xu, there you go again!" the black jacket growled, furrowing his brow.

"It’s empty, you know that!" I added. Ma Xu truly couldn’t change his nature.