Chapter 1 The Heart Sinks

The moment I saw the woman in white strike, I felt my heart sink!

With her skills, she could slit a dog's throat from a dozen steps away. Now, attacking Uncle Mei from above, there was no way she could miss!

"Uncle Mei!"

I shouted in despair, already preparing to collect his body.

Then, with a soft thud, I looked up, stunned!

The bronze dagger thrown by the woman in white hadn't struck Uncle Mei at all. Instead, it was embedded in the ebony tree trunk an inch in front of him.

Although unharmed, Uncle Mei was terrified by this sudden attack, his hands releasing the ancient tree, almost causing him to fall.

Fortunately, his legs were clamped tightly, and his back was strong, allowing him to hold on.

After throwing the dagger, the woman in white immediately stood up and, like a nimble ape, hugged the trunk and continued to climb higher.

I stared blankly at everything unfolding before me, my heart pounding in my chest. After a moment, I realized that the woman in white didn't intend to kill Uncle Mei, but only to give him a warning. Otherwise, with her skills, the dagger couldn't have missed, much less land perfectly an inch in front of him.

This strange person didn't seem to be a mindless killer.

But this time, Uncle Mei was lucky to escape with his life; next time, he might not be so fortunate.

I quickly said to Uncle Mei, "Uncle, give up. We're no match for her. Let's wait for Shopkeeper Wang and the others to come before trying to catch her."

Uncle Mei wouldn't listen, his eyes red. "I can't! I must avenge your aunt!"

He hugged the trunk and climbed up again.

Helpless, I could only follow closely behind. After climbing another four or five meters, I looked up and saw the woman in white had reached the skull of the bronze dragon skeleton.

She stopped near the dragon's skull and suddenly reached out to touch a bone on the dragon's neck.

Watching from afar, I suddenly remembered something – back in the Tuo River tomb, Uncle Mei had discovered a mechanism in the dragon skeleton. The ancient Shu jade slip that High Official Gao was so obsessed with was hidden near the dragon's skull, and the mechanism to open the treasure was a bone on the dragon's neck!

Back then, Uncle Mei had spent a long time observing before finding the mechanism. But the woman in white seemed to know the secret beforehand. She came to the dragon skull, didn't even look, and activated the mechanism directly.

With a click, the upper jaw of the bronze dragon slowly opened, and a dark, exquisite wooden box emerged from the gap in the bones, exactly like the mechanism in the ancient Shu tomb!

I knew that this wooden box must contain another ancient Shu jade slip!

Sure enough, the woman in white crushed the aged wooden box with her hand, revealing a radiant, lustrous jade slip!

At the same time, Shopkeeper Wang across the river was looking at the ancient tree through binoculars.

Seeing the woman in white take the ancient Shu jade slip from the dragon's mouth, he shouted like a madman, "Quick! Quickly snatch that jade slip! Quick! If you get the jade slip, I'll double your reward! Triple it!"

I thought, Shopkeeper Wang, you overestimate us. Snatching the jade slip from this woman in white is like snatching food from a tiger's mouth!

Her throwing knives never miss. We'd be going up there to die.

But Uncle Mei wasn't afraid. He grit his teeth and continued to climb.

I knew he was determined to avenge Aunt Mei, which was why he was risking everything to catch the woman in white. Seeing him so desperate, I was deeply moved.

Then I thought, if the woman in white was connected to Aunt Mei's death, then she might know the whereabouts of Little Mei. Thinking of this, I got excited too and immediately followed Uncle Mei, climbing up the tree with both hands and feet.

"Damn it, a man dies for wealth, a bird for food! Isn't it just a cheap life? I'm going all out!"

Shopkeeper Wang in the distance saw us climbing so desperately and thought we were loyal to him. He kept encouraging us, "Good job! Go and get the jade slip back for me! Don't worry, I won't treat you badly!"

But just as I climbed two more steps, I suddenly heard a strange sound in my ears. It sounded like the rustling of autumn leaves falling to the ground, but this sound was continuous.

Then, I suddenly felt something cold and slimy around my ankle, as if a vine had wrapped around it.

I was startled and quickly looked down. What I saw almost made me fall from the tree!

A scarlet snake was coiled around my ankle! The snake was about three feet long, with a triangular head and eyes that gleamed with a ghostly green light. It flicked its forked tongue, sizing me up.

"Fuck!"

I cursed in fright and quickly shook my ankle, flinging the snake away. Then I looked up and warned Uncle Mei, "Uncle, be careful, there are snakes!"

Before I finished speaking, I saw a red snake had already crawled onto Uncle Mei's shoulder, staring intently at his neck, seemingly looking for a place to bite!

I had heard that brightly colored snakes with triangular heads were often highly venomous. If this snake bit Uncle Mei's neck, it would probably be the end of him!

"Uncle, there's a snake on your shoulder! Shake it off!" I shouted.

Uncle Mei spent years living in the water and was familiar with snakes. Those of us who often went into the water frequently encountered water snakes.

Hearing that there was a snake on his shoulder, Uncle Mei quickly hugged the trunk and twisted violently. The snake couldn't hold on and was thrown off by Uncle Mei, landing on the tree trunk below.

Having escaped two venomous snakes, we weren't safe yet, because the rustling sound continued in our ears. I scanned around with my headlamp and saw that the surrounding trunks and branches were covered in red snakes, at least a dozen of them!

We had stirred up a snake nest!

The underground river was the territory of piranhas, and this ancient tree was the domain of red venomous snakes!

Surrounded by these cold-blooded creatures, we had no time to look for the woman in white. Uncle Mei climbed two steps higher, reached the branch where the woman in white had been hiding, and squatted down. He took out his diving knife from his backpack and killed two of the snakes that were chasing him with a swift slash!

Then he shouted at me, "Rongsheng, come here first! It's safe here!"

I nodded and quickly climbed up, but after only a couple of steps, the cold feeling returned to my ankle. Another snake had wrapped itself around my leg!

In a panic, I quickly shook my ankle, trying to fling the snake away. But because I was so nervous, I used too much force this time. I managed to fling the snake away, but I lost my balance on the trunk, my feet slipped, and I fell uncontrollably down the tree!