Chapter Four: Poisonous Corpse
1114 Words
I slept until late at night, my stomach growling loudly. Only then did I wake in a daze and look around. The digital watch beside me showed two in the morning. I had not realized I had slept for so long.
“I wonder if there’s anything left to eat.”
With that thought, I got dressed. After taking my medicine, I slowly left the room. Uncle Hammer had said that Second Grandpa’s men were resting nearby, and it did not feel right to disturb them so late at night.
I headed toward the restaurant kitchen to look for something to eat.
This restaurant was part of the family business, so I was not worried about it being used as a front. Following my memory of the route, I found the kitchen. The door was ajar, and I pushed it open and went inside.
The kitchen was not as messy as I had imagined. It was actually quite tidy. After searching for a while, however, I found only a few cucumbers and some leafy vegetables. There was nothing else, and the refrigerator was completely empty, which left me feeling helpless.
I was about to give up and go back to my room when my stomach cramped again. Feeling restless, I stopped and looked around, hoping there might be something edible I had missed.
At that moment, under the moonlight, I noticed another door beside the refrigerator. I had not seen it before because of the angle. The door was completely black, giving off a strange sense of depth in the darkness.
Normally, that kind of door might have made me uneasy, but hunger dulled my caution. It was in the kitchen, after all. It was not going to lead to a grave, was it? With that thought, I walked straight toward it.
Just as I reached out to push it open, a hand suddenly clamped over my mouth. I was about to struggle when I heard a familiar voice, low and urgent.
“It’s me. Don’t make a sound.”
“Lu Yifa?”
I was confused. I did not understand why he was here at this hour, and his voice was so quiet, as if he were afraid of disturbing something. Following his lead, we slowly retreated.
Only after we left the kitchen and entered a corridor near the front hall did he release me.
He took a few deep breaths, then stood there and lit a cigarette, his head lowered. I watched him for a moment before asking, “What was that just now?”
He took a drag. I did not know what brand he was smoking, but the smell was extremely pungent and made me cough twice. Seeing this, he put the cigarette out.
“That room is filled with poison,” he said quietly.
“What?”
I could hardly believe it. Why would a restaurant kitchen have something like that hidden inside?
“Are you serious?”
He nodded, his expression grave. Seeing this, the anger that had flared in me quickly subsided.
“Is it really that serious?”
Lu Yifa rolled the lighter between his fingers and spoke in a low, careful voice. “Young master, that’s no ordinary thing. It’s something that’s been collected over many years and refined into poison.”
I froze.
In the tomb raiding world, the most common dangers were corpses that had undergone unnatural changes. Some gained terrifying strength, others became incredibly fast, and all of them were extremely sensitive to the presence of the living. That was why tomb raiders prepared black donkey hooves and similar items to restrain them.
Poison like this was a rare variation, far more dangerous. For it to form, the deceased must have carried overwhelming resentment in life, and the burial site’s feng shui had to be utterly malignant, cut off from wind and water. Even then, the chance of such a transformation was extremely small.
When I was young, I had once seen such a thing at the family residence. Its body was so distorted that it was impossible to recognize it as human. Worse still, it retained a fragment of consciousness. That sight had left a deep impression on me for years.
For ordinary people, even getting close without protection could be fatal. The poisonous aura alone was enough to corrode the body. Compared to any disease, this was far more terrifying. The presence of living people only heightened its lethality.
No wonder Lu Yifa had covered my mouth earlier, doing everything he could to keep me from breathing near it.
“I got up to use the bathroom and saw your room door open,” he continued. “I guessed you were looking for food. I was afraid you’d open that door, so I rushed over. Those poisons aren’t dead. They’re only being suppressed by something the two elders set up.”
A chill ran through me. If I had truly disturbed it, even slightly, the consequences would have been unimaginable.
“This is my fault,” Lu Yifa said. “I should have explained things more clearly. Come on, I’ll take you to get something to eat.”
I felt embarrassed. If I had not acted so rashly, none of this would have happened.
I followed him toward the front of the restaurant, but to my surprise, he led me outside instead. After turning a few corners, we arrived at a brightly lit night market.
The sight intrigued me. Compared to Beijing, night markets were far less restricted here, and the atmosphere was lively.
Groups of middle aged men sat around drinking and shouting, playing loud drinking games. Nearby tables were filled as well, most of the customers clearly locals.
Lu Yifa seemed quite at ease. He spoke to a stall owner, ordered skewers, and asked whether I drank alcohol. When I nodded, he added a few bottles of beer.
We ate and talked, much of the conversation revolving around obscure matters in Yunnan that would have made little sense to outsiders but needed no explanation between us.
After eating our fill, I was about to pay and leave when a loud crash sounded nearby.
I shook my head. I really did not understand why people could lose their temper so easily these days. Lost in thought, I suddenly remembered that I was only in my early twenties.
“Let’s go,” I said.
We were just out for a meal. There was no need to get involved in trouble. We followed Lu Yifa toward the exit.
Unexpectedly, at that moment, a man in a rage grabbed a bottle and swung it wildly. By sheer misfortune, it struck me squarely.
- Writer
