Chapter 21 The Truth Revealed

The truth came to light.

The terrifying atmosphere permeating the ancient tomb finally began to dissipate.

There were no guardian Yin soldiers, no age-old blood zombies, and Lao Wu's death had nothing to do with the curse of the tomb's owner.

It was all a personal grudge between him and Professor Xu.

Hongjie was stunned for a long time before she finally believed that the person in front of her was Professor Xu. Both angry and scared, she complained, "Why didn't you say so earlier? You scared me to death! My legs went weak! Really!"

Professor Xu smiled wryly. When he smiled, he must have pulled on a wound somewhere on his body, because his facial features twitched in pain.

He said weakly, "Xiao Hong, I'm already like this. It's hard to even… hard to say a complete sentence. Are you still… still blaming me?"

I glanced sideways at the injuries on his body. Although he had snatched his life back from the piranhas' mouths, he was already covered in wounds.

Lao Wu had only been bitten on his calf and had half his butt chewed off, but almost no part of Professor Xu's body was unscathed. His face and neck were covered in wounds, and he was constantly losing blood. I thought he probably wouldn't last much longer.

"To be bitten like this and still be able to climb up from the tunnel, Professor Xu, you're a real man!"

I couldn't help but praise him.

Professor Xu grinned and said with difficulty, "I… I'm not reconciled! I can't just die like this. Even if I die… I have to… have to let that bastard Lao Wu… go before… before me!"

His words surprised me. I didn't expect this seemingly refined professor to have such a fierce side.

At this moment, Uncle Mei asked curiously, "You're so badly injured, how did you kill Lao Wu? By sneaking up on him?"

Professor Xu smiled triumphantly, stretched out a trembling hand, and took out a water bottle from his backpack.

He unscrewed the lid, and I saw that the mouth of the bottle was stained with some glittering liquid, the same liquid that had corroded the two roosters.

"In the cracks in the wall outside, there's a corrosive liquid that protects the tomb. I used the water bottle to collect… collected a little less than half a bottle and quietly carried it… carried it with me."

Professor Xu said with a cold smile,

"When I got down into the tomb, I saw Lao Wu standing at the end of the tomb passage in a daze, and… and he was… with his back to me. This was simply… simply a godsend! I quietly walked over, poured the liquid from the water bottle on his head, and then pushed him… pushed him. I used a branch of the bronze tree… to pierce his chest… Haha! Haha!"

At this point, Professor Xu couldn't help but laugh out loud, as if he had fulfilled the greatest wish of his life and had no regrets.

Only then did I realize where the corrosive liquid on Lao Wu's head came from, and I understood why he ended up being stabbed to death on the branches of the bronze tree.

This was not an ancient Shu sacrifice, but Professor Xu's revenge.

An eye for an eye, Lao Wu's death was not unjust.

After laughing a few times, Professor Xu's condition began to decline rapidly. The reason he had been able to hang on by a thread was to kill Lao Wu for revenge.

Now that his wish had been fulfilled, Professor Xu's body quickly weakened. His legs gave way, and he could no longer stand. He slowly slid down against the wall and fell to the ground.

"I… I'm afraid I'm not going to make it…"

His facial features twisted, and he said with a sob,

"I'm so regretful, so regretful… I shouldn't have been blinded by greed and been tricked by Boss Wang… tricked… into coming to Tuojiang, to Duck River to tomb raid… I'm so regretful… I want to go home, I want to go home!"

Hearing his words, I felt a pang of sadness, but I didn't know how to comfort him, so I could only pat him on the shoulder.

Uncle Mei was more experienced than me in this regard. After all, he had been fishing for corpses for many years and had seen life and death.

He walked up to Professor Xu and slowly squatted down, took his hand, and said in a gentle voice, "You killed Lao Wu to avenge yourself, and that's one less thing to worry about. You can go in peace. Do you have any last words? If we get out of here in the future, we can take a message to your family."

Professor Xu nodded, his eyes filled with tears. He said in a low voice, "I have a wife and daughter at home. My daughter just started high school this year, and she's busy with her studies. If I… if I'm gone… what will they do, mother and daughter, without anyone to rely on?"

Hearing this, I couldn't help but sigh helplessly.

If only you had known this earlier.

If you really cared about your wife and daughter, why did you embark on a path of illegal and criminal activity?

After choking back sobs a couple of times, Professor Xu mustered his last strength, took Uncle Mei's hand, and said, "Old brother, my home is in Deyang City, in the family compound behind the Geological University, Building 49… If you get out of here, can you help me… help me take a message…"

Uncle Mei nodded emphatically and said, "Don't worry, I will definitely deliver it."

But then Professor Xu changed his mind, shaking his head desperately and saying, "Never mind, old brother, never mind… don't… don't go, I don't want my wife and children to know that I ended up as a tomb robber… This is… this is the only blemish in my life! I… I have never done anything illegal or unruly in my life, not once… not once. I don't want them to know that I became a tomb robber… Don't look for them, just let it be, just let it be…"

As he said this, Professor Xu's breathing was already very weak. I knew he probably wouldn't make it.

He leaned weakly against the corner of the wall, his head gradually drooping onto his shoulder. In his final moments, he repeated over and over again, "Just let it be… just let it be…"

Uncle Mei and I respected his final decision. After leaving the ancient tomb, neither of us went to the family compound of the Geological University to disturb his wife and children.

As a result, no one will ever know that a Professor Xu from the Geological University went astray due to a moment of greed, joined Boss Wang's tomb raiding gang, and ultimately died in the ancient Shu tomb in Duck River.

His wife and children may spend the rest of their lives searching for this mysteriously missing Professor Xu all over the world, and they will never find his whereabouts, neither seeing him alive nor seeing his body after death.

But this outcome is exactly what Professor Xu wanted to see most.

Although I really wanted to tell the mother and daughter the truth and give the family a proper explanation, since I had promised him, I couldn't go back on my word.

At least in the hearts of his wife and children, he will always be the flawless, high-level intellectual with excellent conduct.

After Professor Xu breathed his last, we turned our attention to another body at the scene.

That is, the body that had accidentally tripped Hongjie earlier.

The body had been lying face down, so we couldn't see his face. I plucked up my courage and used my diving knife to lift him by the shoulder and turn him over.

In that instant, we finally saw his face clearly.

He was a man in his thirties with very honest features.

Hongjie recognized him at a glance and said, "He's Tu Gou (Dirt Dog)! He's one of Boss Wang's henchmen!"

I couldn't help but be surprised. How could a dignified "henchman," who already belonged to the backbone of the tomb raiding gang, die tragically in the tomb passage?

Just as I was wondering, Uncle Mei suddenly pointed to his neck in shock and said, "Rongsheng, look!"