Chapter 35: The Duel

I shone my flashlight in the direction the sound had come from, but saw nothing. Still, I had a strong intuition—something was watching me. The feeling was so intense that a sense of foreboding washed over me. Moving cautiously, I continued on, eyes alert to every shadow.

Suddenly, a piercing, mournful scream shattered the silence. I was certain no human could make such a sound. I rushed toward where the cry had come from. It was an old dwelling, much like most of the ruined homes scattered throughout the site, buried under layers of sand. The door was so decayed it crumbled at a touch. Stepping inside, I was stunned into silence, a wave of nausea rising from the core of my being. The floor was strewn with mangled remains, blood everywhere. I recognized the body at a glance—it was the blond-haired man. His head had been tossed carelessly into a corner, the yellow hair confirming my suspicion.

It seemed that after being dragged off by that creature—catlike in its movements—he’d been torn apart. Much of his body had been devoured. The sight was horrific. As much as I had disliked him, I couldn’t help but feel a pang of pity. Yet, there was no trace of the beast itself. I averted my eyes from the carnage, hurrying out of the courtyard.

My immediate priority was to find Black Sunglasses. But as soon as I stepped outside, another harrowing scream rang out, just like before. Clearly, the last sound hadn’t come from the blond. Desperate, I rushed toward the new source, hoping to find Black Sunglasses, since I hadn’t seen any other signs of life along my way—it was likely he hadn’t come this route.

The scream rang out, now here, now there, always moving, almost as if it was leading me on. Before long, I realized the sound was incredibly close. It felt as though... as though it was right beside me. Before the thought had even finished forming, my black-gold dagger was already slashing through the air as I leapt, twisting in midair. Landing, I finally saw it. The scream had come from this... thing before me—I couldn’t even describe it. Looking closely, I realized it was that big cat, but now it looked utterly wretched. Its body was shriveled, emitting those terrible screams, the skin splitting open in places, yet not a drop of blood flowed.

I watched it warily, and it seemed to regard me with the same caution. But soon I noticed—it had no eyes. Its sockets were hollow, a whitish pallor within. Clearly, it relied on hearing rather than sight.

I didn’t know if it meant me harm, so I held back, not striking. As I hesitated, it screamed once more and then leapt away in a particular direction—the leap was astonishingly far. I sensed it wanted to lead me somewhere. On a hunch, I followed. The buildings here were close together, so to avoid losing sight of it, I eventually vaulted onto the rooftops, leaping from one to the next.

The city itself wasn’t large. Soon, the creature stopped by a crumbling section of wall—at first glance, there was nothing of note. But then I spotted a hole, clearly man-made, with a wide trough beneath. It must have been part of an ancient drainage system. My flashlight picked out several marks—footprints, distinctly human. I jumped down to inspect them. They were larger than mine, fresh and sharply defined. They could only belong to Black Sunglasses.

So that was it—the cat had been leading me to Black Sunglasses. I could guess why: he’d taken the red pill, which must have had preservative or some other mysterious property. Without it, the cat had ended up in this shriveled state. Did the creature know I was also looking for Black Sunglasses? Did it realize I needed the pill just as much?

I didn’t dwell on it. I hurried into the tunnel—no matter what, I had to find him. The passage was broad but pitch-dark, dry but filled with so much sand that the slightest movement sent it swirling into my eyes. I kept following the footprints, which twisted through the tunnel, until at last I emerged outside the city wall. Sand dunes and broken stone structures stretched around me. I picked up my pace, following the tracks. After running for a while, they abruptly vanished. At that moment, I sensed imminent danger and instinctively darted aside—just as a figure brought a weapon crashing down where I’d just stood.

Only then did I see it was Black Sunglasses.

Somehow, he’d found an ancient-looking sword. Without a word, he swung at me. The sword was long—I couldn’t block it head-on. When my black-gold dagger struck it, a metallic clang rang out. The old weapon was remarkably well-made; even after thousands of years, it was still this sturdy. My dagger was no ordinary blade—my father had procured it from who knows where. Now I wondered if he’d unearthed it from some ancient tomb.

After several exchanges, I realized I was at a disadvantage. To my surprise, Black Sunglasses was a skilled swordsman—his movements were smooth, his attacks swift, and a few times he nearly struck me. I knew I couldn’t keep this up. I tried to close the distance. While a longer weapon has reach, a shorter one is deadlier up close. I seized an opening, slashing at him. He hastily parried. I pressed my advantage, switching my dagger from right to left hand in a swift motion, drawing a cut across his body. Staying close, I circled and darted around him, forcing him to drop the sword and grapple with me. In close quarters, my martial arts training gave me the edge—I could attack from unexpected angles. In a short time, I’d scored five or six slashes on him, but he seemed to be wearing some protective garment; none of the blows broke his skin.

Black Sunglasses, growing frustrated by my attacks, became reckless, but I could tell he dared not go all out. I stopped targeting his body and instead sliced at his clothes whenever an opportunity arose. Soon, I managed to grab his coat and yank it off before stepping away.

Breathing hard, I rifled through his trench coat—there weren’t many pockets, and I quickly found the red pill inside. It was icy cold, with an odd sensation to the touch. I didn’t have time to examine it further. Black Sunglasses, exhausted, stared at me and said coldly, “Give it to me, and I’ll pay you—a lot.”

I sneered but said nothing. He went on, “That thing is no use to you. Give it to me, and I promise you’ll get a huge sum of money right now.” Seeing my disbelief, he pulled a black card from his pocket. “This is a bank card—American. You can use it at any bank. There’s eight hundred thousand dollars on it, password’s on the back. If you trust me, I’ll give you another million—no, two million RMB when we get out. Kid, this thing isn’t something to mess with. Give it to me, take the money. If you don’t, you’ll be hunted down relentlessly, and you will die.”

I was taken aback—I hadn’t realized it was worth this much. Black Sunglasses was willing to go all in, using both threats and bribes. If I didn’t have my own mission, I might well have given it to him. I had no wish to make enemies needlessly, and I suspected his background was far murkier than Li Ling had suggested. This red pill was clearly no ordinary relic—there must be more to it than I knew.

Noting my hesitation, Black Sunglasses pressed on. “There’s a powerful force behind me. I’m just following orders. Don’t make trouble for yourself—hand it over, take the money. You’re young, there’s no need to fight so hard, right?”

His tone softened, almost coaxing, but I wasn’t interested in the money. What good is wealth if you’re not alive to spend it? I chuckled and said, “Sorry, but I’m not afraid of death, and I’m not short of cash.”

That was the truth—I really wasn’t short on money. My parents had left me an inheritance—over two million, even after my father had spent much of it on tomb explorations. One of his carvings alone was worth tens of thousands, sometimes hundreds of thousands.

Black Sunglasses, hearing my words, scowled and shook his head. “Kid, you’re asking for trouble.”

I didn’t care about his threats. In terms of skill, I wasn’t afraid of him. As for what came next—well, I’d deal with that when it happened. Who knew how long I’d even survive? Why fear his threats?

If he wanted another fight, so be it. Just as I was about to slip the red pill into my pocket, a shadow darted out at lightning speed—so fast I couldn’t even react. I felt a numbness at my right hand, and the pill was gone. Alarmed, I looked up and saw it was that waxy, mummified cat.