Chapter Thirty-Three: The Events of Years Past

I gripped the jade shard tightly and took two deep breaths. “Godfather, my tribulation is over now, isn’t it? You can come out!”

Hu Sanqi appeared by my side almost immediately. “Yes, not bad. This ordeal is considered resolved. Get up!”

I pushed away Qiushuang’s palm and crawled out from beneath the stone horse. Hu Sanqi said, “There are still a few people here who need to be dealt with. Do as you see fit.”

I knew he was referring to the village chief and the second boss.

I unclipped the tiger’s fang from my belt, tightened it in my hand, and strode over to the village chief. “Uncle, your village has been preserved. You may go in peace.”

Blood still streamed relentlessly from the corner of the chief’s eye, yet his gaze was fierce, fixed on me as if he wished to devour me whole.

I understood—the chief hated me to his very bones. If I showed mercy now and let him live, once he found a way out of the Hidden Horse Cave, he would surely become a vengeful ghost and torment me without end. Better to settle it once and for all, and spare myself future trouble.

I raised the tiger’s fang and stabbed it into the chief’s brow. The fang’s tip pierced only the skin, not the bone, but from the seven orifices of his head, ghostly phosphorus fire began to ooze.

A ghost’s soul shattering into phosphorus fire signaled the utter dispersal of the spirit—the mark of true death.

Having dealt with the chief, I turned to the second boss. He stood calmly, awaiting his fate with an unusual composure.

I came before him and, following the martial salute Hu Sanqi had taught me, clasped my fists and bowed. “Thank you for saving my life, Second Boss. When this is over, I’ll burn more gold and paper money for you, to show my gratitude.”

He waved his hand and smiled. “No need for those things. I won’t have much use for them soon anyway. Do you have any wine?”

Only then did I notice his soul had grown translucent—he was not far from dissipating completely.

I instinctively glanced at Hu Sanqi, who raised his head and looked away from me. “He asked you if you have wine—why are you looking at me?”

He had helped me yet again, though he refused to admit it.

Second Boss was never a match for Qiushuang; otherwise, he would have fought her to the death long ago, rather than wait until now. That he could contend with her for so long meant he must have borrowed Hu Sanqi’s strength or received some advice that swiftly increased his power. But after such a grueling battle, his soul was nearly spent, and soon he would fade away.

I recalled the villagers had brought wine up the mountain. I hurriedly searched the bodies and finally found some in a tin flask. I also found a few rolled cigarettes on the chief’s corpse, lit one, and handed it to Second Boss.

He took a deep drag, then gulped down the wine, letting out a satisfied sigh. “That’s the stuff!”

“Brother, I stayed here all this time just to kill that woman and avenge the brothers. Before I die, could you kill her for me? If I don’t see her dead, I won’t rest in peace.”

Again, I turned to Hu Sanqi. I, too, wanted to kill Qiushuang, but I didn’t know how.

Hu Sanqi said, “Take out the Spirit Hall Casket, insert the jade shard into the lock hole that represents Qiushuang.”

I produced the casket. Second Boss’s eyes widened. “So it’s in your hands! All those brothers who died trying to capture this treasure, and now it’s ended up with you.”

My face darkened; the implication was obvious. He was basically saying: so many of us, so skilled, failed to get it, yet it landed in the hands of a half-grown boy like you.

Hu Sanqi grinned silently, clearly amused at my expense.

I said nothing, but with a sour expression, examined the casket. Sure enough, near the little ghost that represented Qiushuang, I found a lock hole.

Before inserting the key, I glanced at Qiushuang. She, too, was watching the jade shard in my hand, tears streaming down her cheeks, her pleading gaze so pitiful it was hard to bear.

I looked away and thrust the shard into the lock without hesitation.

Back then, I hadn’t yet opened my Yin-Yang eyes, but after hearing the mechanism click, I sensed some connection forming between the casket and Qiushuang. When I turned back, black smoke was seeping from her seven orifices. Her form collapsed into itself, deflating visibly like an emptied husk.

The black smoke flowed ceaselessly into the casket in my hand, and I could even hear Qiushuang’s anguished wails from within. Meanwhile, her body transformed into a skin laid flat upon the ground.

Hu Sanqi walked over and rolled up the skin. “Alright, the first lock of the Spirit Hall Casket is open. I’ll keep this skin for now; it may still be useful.”

Second Boss laughed heartily and sat down. “Finally, relief… At last, relief.”

Seizing the moment, I asked, “Second Boss, have you seen this casket before?”

He chuckled. “Brother, you’re trying to pry information out of me, aren’t you?”

“At this point, what’s there to hide? Ask whatever you want! Consider it my thanks for the wine before I die.”

I said, “I heard about you all entering the ancient temple on the mountain behind the shrine years ago. I know you fought for your lives against a dark merchant, but I don’t know what happened after.”

Second Boss replied, “This all started with the ‘Three-Eyed Python’ breaking into the mountain behind the shrine to rob graves…”

The Three-Eyed Python was a notorious tomb robber in the Northeast. In his right eye, two pupils crowded together, so it seemed he had two eyeballs squeezed into one. He usually wore an eyepatch, pretending to be blind in one eye to conceal his identity. No one could match his skill at tunneling—he could burrow wherever he wished, like a python, hence his nickname.

When the Three-Eyed Python arrived, our gang took notice. The boss instructed us not to alarm him—first, see what he was up to.

Only after he settled at the mountain behind the shrine did we descend to surround the temple…

Once we entered, the Dragon Severing Stone dropped, sealing us all inside. We were stunned; nobody had any idea what to do.

The strategist, Old Beggar, told us: “Don’t move. Though the stone has fallen, there’s no trap nor ghost in the Spirit Hall, so it’s not a dead end. Let’s look for clues.”

Old Beggar took a compass and moved toward the altar. Using his knife, he carefully lifted the hanging tablecloth, and beneath it, found the Three-Eyed Python, half dead…