After getting some disinfectant supplies from the boss, I helped Xiao Liang back to the room.

Once inside, I had her sit on the bed, ready to disinfect her wound.

But when Xiao Liang took off her shoes and was about to take off her socks, she realized she couldn't.

The blood from the wound had soaked both pairs of socks, and now, with time, the blood had congealed, sticking the socks directly to her feet. They wouldn't budge.

If she forced them off, she'd probably tear the wound open, causing even more serious secondary damage.

Seeing this, I quickly said, "Xiao Liang, don't pull so hard, you'll aggravate the wound. How about I borrow a basin from the boss and get some hot water to soak the blood off your feet?"

Xiao Liang responded and said, a little embarrassed, "Then I'll have to trouble you, Chen Rongsheng."

I quickly said, "Don't be so polite between us. We've been through life and death together. If you hadn't pulled me away in the tunnel, I would have died of gas poisoning."

Xiao Liang smiled and nodded, swinging her little feet on the bed, looking quite playful.

Soon, I borrowed a basin from the boss, went back to the room, filled it with hot water, and brought it to Xiao Liang so she could soak her feet.

She put her injured foot in, and after about three to five minutes, the hot water was dyed red. She tried it, and sure enough, she was able to successfully remove both pairs of socks.

I picked up her foot and looked at it. The wound was on the ball of her foot. Fortunately, it hadn't damaged any major blood vessels, but the wound was still quite long.

I first wiped her foot clean with a towel, then used a cotton swab dipped in iodine to disinfect it. Xiao Liang hissed and gasped in pain, as if she were eating spicy strips.

I held her foot and treated it carefully for a while, making sure it was disinfected before wrapping it in gauze.

Looking at her foot wrapped in gauze, I joked with a smile, "You look like a woman with bound feet from the old days."

Xiao Liang rolled her eyes at me and said coquettishly, "Get out of here! You're annoying!"

I guessed the disinfection was too painful, because her whole face was flushed.

For the next two or three days, Xiao Liang and I stayed in the hotel, waiting for news from Lao Wei and the others.

During the day, I sometimes went to the hospital to visit Uncle Mei and Jiang Yongguang. Both of them were recovering well, especially Jiang Yongguang, who was constantly clamoring to be discharged. If the nurses hadn't stopped him, he probably would have already joined the ranks of those trying to catch Liu Huangshu.

In the evening, I would return to the hotel and watch TV with Xiao Liang. The hotel's TV was pretty good, able to receive many channels, many of which we wouldn't normally see. Sometimes we watched TV series, sometimes movies, and we had a great time.

But on the evening of the third day, after Xiao Liang and I had dinner and were about to go to bed to watch TV, Xiao Liang stood up from the sofa. I looked down and saw a small spot of blood on the sofa.

I was startled and quickly grabbed Xiao Liang, saying, "Xiao Liang, did your wound open up again? Why are you bleeding again?"

But Xiao Liang's expression was very strange, all twisted and shy, her little face as red as a tomato.

I said, "What's wrong? Why are you blushing? Did your wound open up?"

Xiao Liang took out a tissue to wipe the blood off the sofa, while looking down and not daring to look at me. She said softly, "It's not that the wound opened up, it's... it's my relative who's here."

"Which relative is here?" I asked, then instantly realized.

It was her period.

Because I had lived with Sister Xiao Mei before, I was no stranger to this kind of thing. I said with a chuckle, "It's just once a month, it's nothing. Girls have it. Don't be embarrassed. I've seen the world. I won't laugh at you."

Xiao Liang was still blushing, and said with her head down, "But I... but I didn't bring that..."

I understood immediately. She didn't bring sanitary products, and she couldn't go out now because her foot was injured. I usually bought the meals.

I said, "Don't worry, I'll go buy them for you."

After saying that, I put on my clothes and went out, openly buying two packs of sanitary napkins at the small shop outside the hotel.

I had even prepared myself mentally. If the boss asked me, I would say I was buying them for my sister. But I was overthinking it. The boss didn't even bother to ask, as if a man buying sanitary napkins was no big deal.

I guessed he had seen all sorts of strange things after running the shop for so many years, and he was used to it.

After I brought the sanitary napkins back, Xiao Liang went to the bathroom to change silently, and then washed all her underwear, inside and out, before coming out to watch TV with me.

We rested for a full five days, and by the end, I even suspected that Lao Wei and Hu Wazi had abandoned Xiao Liang and me and gone into the tomb themselves.

It wasn't until five days later that Lao Wei called me and said that he had just tested the air in the tunnel and the air composition had finally returned to normal, so we could go into the tomb.

I asked him if he hadn't found any trace of Liu Huangshu after five days. Shouldn't that guy have come up by now? He couldn't have brought five days' worth of food and lived in the ancient tomb, could he?

Lao Wei said it was really strange. The Xiaoling Guards had searched most of Nanshan Mountain, but they couldn't find a second tunnel. And they had been guarding the outside of the tunnel, but they hadn't seen Liu Huangshu come out. It was as if the man had evaporated.

Lao Wei also said that he suspected that Liu Huangshu and his gang had died in the tomb.

I said that would be best, so I wouldn't have to take revenge myself.

But then Hu Wazi's irritable voice came from the other end of the phone: "That won't do! I want to kill that bastard with my own hands!"

Then Lao Wei asked me, "How's Xiao Liang's foot injury?"

I said it was almost recovered. Anyway, she could walk with it bandaged.

Lao Wei responded, and then arranged for the Xiaoling Guards to drive over and pick us up and take us into the tomb together.

I hung up the phone and told Xiao Liang to prepare, and we set off for the Qu Shang Ancient Tomb again.

Xiao Liang had rested for five full days, and she was also eager to get moving. She immediately changed into a neat outfit, put on an archaeology backpack, took all her gear, and prepared to leave.

This time, I also brought bandages, iodine, and cotton swabs, just in case.

Then, after thinking about it, I also brought the sanitary napkins I had bought for Xiao Liang. This stuff could be used as a large bandage in a pinch.

Around afternoon, we returned to the outside of the tunnel. Lao Wei, Hu Wazi, and the others had already gathered outside, waiting for us to arrive.

Seeing us coming, Lao Wei asked with a smile, "How is it? Ready to go into the tomb for the second time?"

I nodded and said, "Ready. This time, we must find that old rat, Liu Huangshu! Alive or dead!"