Chapter Eighty: Seizing the Initiative in Layout

Lei Ren was my rival, and I had looked down on him from the very beginning.

He ran shady businesses, dealt in smuggling, brought ruin to the Zhao family, and even fought with me over a kitchen knife!

In short, he opposed me at every turn and gave everyone reason to despise him.

Yet now, this very rival was claiming insistently that my master had sent him to help me. This was utterly baffling and hard to believe blindly.

Amidst my confusion, I immediately demanded, "What do you mean by that? My master sent you to snatch the kitchen knife?"

"Oh, for goodness' sake!" Lei Ren, seeing that I was still completely in the dark, bluntly blurted out, "You young punk! Let me put it this way for you! Your master's death was a trap he set himself! And you and I are merely pieces in his game, understand?!"

To Lei Ren's words, I certainly "understood."

It was the first time I had ever heard of someone "setting a trap" using his own death. And whose trap was it? Mine? Lei Ren's? Or Master Duan's? What was the purpose of the veteran's trap? Was he playing with me? Or was there some other hidden agenda?

Faced with this sudden and intricately complex situation, my brain simply couldn't process it all. I stood frozen in place, and my very worldview felt as though it were collapsing.

Countless whys swirled in my mind. Those question marks grew denser and denser until they finally transformed into the emaciated face and profound gaze of my old platoon leader.

He had set a trap with his own death?

After crawling out of the coffin, Lei Ren patted my face and said, "Let's get out of this dangerous place first, and I'll explain everything to you in detail. Little Tian! I'm on your side, so make sure you don't get on the wrong vehicle."

"Why didn't you tell me earlier?" I demanded.

"I dropped hints for you! Your master already mentioned it when his corpse came back to life at the Zhao family ancestral mansion, but what about you? You didn't even see me off when we left the Zhao estate! Hmph! What was I supposed to say!" Lei Ren puffed out his beard and scolded me irritably, "Calling a dog makes it run further away! Let's get moving first! We can talk once we're outside!"

With that, Lei Ren stopped looking at me and instead beckoned to Zhao Shuihe to head toward the end of the tomb passage.

In the midst of crisis, since Lei Ren was unwilling to talk, I couldn't press him further. I understood that whatever needed to be discussed could wait until we got out of this gloomy crypt.

Therefore, with a shovel in hand leading the way, and Ah Si dragging the rope at the rear, we sandwiched Zhao Shuihe and Lei Ren in the middle and retreated along the original path toward the Zhao family mansion.

Compared to the caution with which we had entered, our retreat this time was extremely hurried. I knew that the madman Master Duan was already on his way to the Zhao mansion, and my friends and comrades urgently needed my protection. Every second I delayed getting out might cost someone their life.

Consequently, our speed was exceptionally fast. We quickly traversed the tomb passage and climbed back out through the grave-robber tunnel we had used to enter.

Just as I crawled out of the tunnel and pulled Zhao Shuihe and Lei Ren up from below, I suddenly heard a chorus of miserable cat wails echoing behind me!

Instantly, I grabbed the military knife in my pants pocket, turned around, and looked out with high vigilance.

At that moment, standing upon the mounds of graves outside the tunnel were at least thirty or fifty cats.

Those cats were just like the ones I had seen last time. Every single one of them glared at the four of us with eerie, indigo-blue eyes, staring fiercely as if treating us as game caught in a trap.

Among the pack of cats, a gigantic "human cat" suddenly caught my attention.

That "cat" was clearly Master Duan.

At this moment, discarding any human form, Master Duan's behavior was completely identical to that of a cat!

He wore nothing but a pair of oversized shorts. With a ferocious expression, he crouched on a grave mound like a feline, smiling hideously at the four of us. His emaciated, skeletal body looked like a zombie that had been drained of all its blood.

I locked eyes with Master Duan, and the very next instant, both of us broke into laughter.

Master Duan chuckled and said to me, "Since you've come here yourself, it saves me the trouble of hunting you down."

I responded with a cold sneer, "It's time to settle our scores once and for all. First, tell me why you attacked us on the Old Qi road."

Hearing my words, Master Duan suddenly became utterly deranged and shrieked, "At the Zhao family mansion, whoever controls the cats is the king! Whatever I set my eyes on belongs to me!"

Master Duan's words left me utterly speechless, yet they also brought sudden enlightenment.

Clearly, just like the descendants of the Zhao family back then, he actually believed that by controlling the King of Bright Lamps, he could master everything?

What a joke!

At that moment, I was about to mock him or use the story of Zhao Huo to warn him, but Master Duan didn't give me the chance.

Master Duan stretched his bony neck, drew in a sharp breath, and let out a mournful howl!

He screamed frantically, "Since you've discovered my secret, I can't spare your lives!"

Having finished his tirade, he shouted to the feral cats around him, "My little ones, get them all! Whoever bites through a throat gets a meaty bone to eat!"

Master Duan's words left me completely speechless. He really took himself for a "great king"—he was far too deep into his delusion.

Of course, I didn't have much time to complain, because immediately afterward, the dozens of cats around him swarmed forward, lunging at the four of us in unison.

With cats blotting out the sky and earth, the all-out feline assault began.

Outnumbered as we were, everyone was somewhat panicked at first. Lei Ren crouched on the ground, holding his head and begging for mercy non-stop, while little Ah Si scrambled rapidly onto my shoulders, clinging to my head and trembling violently.

However, compared to their fear, Zhao Shuihe and I remained much calmer—not only calm, but actually sneering.

Because I knew that Zhao Shuihe possessed the "magic weapon" to deal with these cats!

Just as the cats were about to encircle us completely, Zhao Shuihe pulled out the Five Emperors Coins from her bosom and shouted at the cats, "Have you forgotten the things of your ancestors? Get lost!"

The ancient coin talisman in Zhao Shuihe's hand acted like a supreme authority and command. At her words, the charging cats instantly scattered in utter panic, completely dismantling the trap Master Duan had meticulously set.

Seeing that his "cat minions" no longer dared to advance, Master Duan was dumbfounded. He wailed and meowed frantically, but not a single cat dared to charge at us again.

The copper coins in Zhao Shuihe's hand were like a calming sea-needle, giving us absolute peace of mind while striking profound terror into the heart of this monster, Master Duan.

He asked Zhao Shuihe in confusion, "What is that in your hand?"

"Zhao Huo's Five Emperors Coins!" Zhao Shuihe said with a wicked smile. "Only those who truly master the Five Emperors Coins can control cat spirits. Didn't you know?"

Zhao Shuihe's words struck Master Duan like a heavy hammer, causing his expression to instantly stiffen.

Master Duan's eyes rolled around a few times. Then he climbed down from the grave mound and tilted his head to stare at the copper coins.

Moving quickly with a few paces, he stretched out his emaciated arms like a zombie and said to Zhao Shuihe, "Why are cats afraid of it?"

"That's none of your concern!" Zhao Shuihe raised the copper coins, continuing to flaunt them. "All you need to know is that we're going to bring you to justice. Go spend the rest of your life in prison!"

"Prison?" A trace of terror flashed across Master Duan's face, but it was immediately replaced by ferocity. His eyes turned blood-red, and he roared fiercely, "I won't go to prison! Never!"

As he spoke, Master Duan arched his body, gathered his strength, and leaped forward fiercely. Like an arrow loosed from a bow, like a wild horse breaking free from its reins, driven by the instinct for survival and distorted rage, he lunged at Zhao Shuihe with all his might!

He was making a desperate gamble!

Master Duan's movement was so sudden, so abrupt that none of us had time to react!

Moving at a life-or-death speed, Master Duan turned into a gray shadow, sweeping past Zhao Shuihe at an unimaginable angle!

The next moment, Zhao Shuihe's smug smile vanished, replaced by sheer terror.

She let out a piercing shriek! Blood splattered from her arm!

After the dark shadow of Master Duan flashed past, I was horrified to see that Zhao Shuihe's string of Five Emperors Coins had changed hands.

Those blood-stained coins had ended up right in Master Duan's filthy hands.