This time, the period of unconsciousness seemed to be quite long. When I woke up, I was already lying in a hospital room. Opening my eyes, all I could see was the white ceiling, and I could smell the alcohol. When I moved, my limbs ached terribly. Turning my head, I realized my arms and legs were wrapped in bandages. There was no one beside me, the hospital room was empty, with only me lying there.
I slowly sat up, leaning against the wall and looking outside. It felt like I was dreaming, unable to distinguish between reality and illusion. The sunshine was nice. The gentle breeze lifted the curtains, and I could see the swaying emerald leaves of the plane tree. Compared to the dark, cold, and dangerous underground maze, this moment felt like heaven.
A nurse walked in, looking quite surprised to see me awake, and went out to call the doctor. After a series of complicated tests, the doctor asked me to stay in the hospital for a few more days for observation. If there were no complications, I would be discharged.
The fat guy and Luo Yong arrived in the afternoon, muttering a few words when they entered the ward, then getting down to business.
"How did I get out? How many days was I unconscious?" I asked.
"It's like this, you didn't know how you fell unconscious. We spent a long time trying to persuade Gu Yu, using reason and emotion, before he finally spilled the beans. He said there's a secret door at the end of the underground passage. When the mechanism is activated, a path will appear, leading directly to the second floor of the palace. We used this path to the second floor of the palace, then found a way to get outside and climbed out. You've been unconscious for two days, I brought you some food, have something first. After you're discharged, we'll go out to eat."
The fat guy explained briefly, adding that it wasn't too risky to leave because the Corpse Shaman and the White-Faced Monster were both gone.
"By the way, where's Shen Mentian?" I took the steamed bread and pickled vegetables brought by the fat guy and started eating.
"That girl went home, and we told her not to talk about it to anyone. Actually, even if she did, it wouldn't matter. Even if someone investigated, all the treasures inside had already been taken by us. The White-Faced Monster was valuable for their research, but that's none of our concern. If you're worried, we'll go talk to the girl in a few days and ask about it," the fat guy said, wanting to smoke but thinking it wasn't right to do so in the hospital, so he tucked the cigarette away.
"The discovery this time, hehe, it's quite valuable," the fat guy said with a sly smile, rubbing his fingers together. "Oh? Gu Yu didn't argue with us?" I asked. "We split with him, it's what you and Lingxuan agreed on at the time. Half for each, fair for both. Gu Yu didn't say much, he left the day after. I asked Zen Master, and the treasures we brought out this time could easily fetch tens of thousands. If we're patient, we might even get more than a hundred thousand."
Hearing this, I almost spit out the bread in my mouth. Tens of thousands! What kind of concept was that! Equivalent to the salary of an ordinary person for ten years. In just a few days, we had made the money someone else would earn in ten years. This money was coming in way too fast.
"So much, how much did Zen Master take?"
Zhuzi and I are fifty-fifty partners, so we'll end up with tens of thousands each. I'll keep ten thousand for myself for our next purchase. If you want to keep the rest, you can, if not, hehe, I'll find a way to send it to my uncle."
Pangzi felt a little embarrassed when he said this, after all, I had put in a lot of effort, so there was a hint of guilt in his words. But I shook my head and said, "It's okay. I'll listen to you. Let's help our uncle first…"
I don't place much importance on money; that's how I've always been. When I was young, my father would often give me a few coins. My classmates would often borrow from me, and if they didn't bring it up later, I would forget about it myself. I never got back a lot of the money I lent out…
"Let's do it this way. You rest well, and I'll come to pick you up from the hospital in a few days. I'll take care of your father for you, don't worry."
Pangzi took the lunchbox, and with Luoyong, they left. I was left alone in the hospital room. For some reason, I suddenly thought of Gu Yu's son.
Did I harm him? If I wasn't so selfish, but given the situation at the time, if I didn't do that, maybe Gu Yu would have abandoned us. I know I did nothing wrong, but my conscience is troubled.
Looking at the bright sunshine outside, I could only sigh softly to myself, saying, "I'll recite the Buddha's name for you a few more times in the future, don't blame me…"
Three days after I left the hospital, Pangzi arranged for a few of us to eat at Jufu Restaurant. Boss Song was as polite as ever. We sat in our usual spot.
Zhuzi said the items brought out from the underground palace could all be sold within a month. But the most valuable item was the corpse shaman's head. He said he would arrange meetings with some buyers from the Taoist community at the end of the month, as well as wealthy collectors coming to Shanghai to view the goods. He aimed to sell them at a high price.
Making money naturally is a good thing, especially for Luoyong, who may get around two thousand, making the little guy so happy that he couldn't sleep. For a mountain boy like him, two thousand might take selling hundreds of animal skins, and yet as soon as he left the mountains, he met with money, making him determined to work with me and Pangzi.
After toasting a few times and tasting various dishes, Pangzi raised his glass and, with a slightly flushed face, said, "Zhuzi, neither I nor Xiaoshan has gotten rid of the poison on our bodies yet. What does their Ling family mean? Didn't they say they would send the antidote to us?"
I calculated the days, and indeed it was time to give us the antidote. Maybe he's been lying to me.
"You're still so naive," Zhuzi said, squinting at Pangzi as he peeled a peanut.
"What do you mean? Are you saying they won't give us the antidote?" Pangzi was startled and quickly asked.
"It's not that they won't give it, as I said last time. Ling Zhen is currently focusing on something big the Great Ancient Ground. That's the top priority for their Ling family. Who cares about the life and death of you two. I can tell you, Gu Yu is not even the most formidable under Ling Zhen. Ling Zhen's thunder technique is famous in the Jianghu, and I think you both have experienced it. To be frank, if Ling Zhen personally came to the underground palace to deal with the corpse shaman and those white-faced monsters, what do you think?"
Zhuzi also became somewhat eager and continued speaking.
"Isn't it obvious? If they can summon thunder from underground, won't that just be a lightning bolt to end it all? But can they summon it? Hehe, it's underground after all."
Pangzi raised his hand and answered.
"Hmph, the thunder technique is not as simple as you think. Three-six earth thunder, seven-two sky thunder. There's even yin thunder and yang thunder, the intricacies are huge. But I can tell you that, in the Ling family, Ling Zhen's word is absolute, but his abilities aren't the greatest in the Ling family!"
With a light tap on the table, Zhuzi's words surprised all three of us.
"Then who has the greatest abilities?" Luoyong asked curiously.
"Hehe, the Ling family ancestors were scholars or old nobles. The earliest can be traced back to the Three Kingdoms period of Eastern Wu. These scholars had high status, but sometimes they needed help. They would have a group of people under their command, known as 'menke.' Menke lived and ate in the homes of the scholars, but they couldn't freeload; they had to be competent, either in literary or martial arts. The Ling family has always maintained this system, and even now they have a group of menke. Among them, there are few strategists, mostly they are like Guyu, the bruisers. Among this group of menke, there is a person who is a renowned senior figure in our Taoist community. His name is Hunya."
Zhu, who has been in the Taoist community for a long time, has broad knowledge and experience, so we dare not interrupt. After sipping his wine, he continued, "This Hunya was originally a real person who was conferred with talismans by Maoshan. At that time, he was known as Qing Shanzi. It is said that he was taken to the mountain at the age of five and became a disciple under the Maoshan master Yangshan Jushi, but he was an outer disciple who usually only cleaned the rooms and did menial work. Unexpectedly, he had an extremely high comprehension and insight into Taoism without being taught. Yangshan Jushi gradually took a liking to him and formally accepted him as a direct disciple, imparting secret methods to him. He achieved a certain level of proficiency at the age of fifteen, left the mountain and entered the world at twenty. He reached a high level at thirty, and at thirty-five, he was conferred with talismans and became a real person. It was considered a great wonder at the time, but for some reason, it seems that he had disputes with the top figures of Maoshan, angrily left and disappeared from the community for nearly ten years. Nowadays, he should be around fifty years old. I didn't expect him to become a menke of the Ling family. If Ling Xiong's skills can be described as highly capable, then Hunya's abilities can be said to be three times higher than Ling Xiong's!"