Chapter 28: The One Who Cannot Die

The explosion and smoke quickly spread, and I immediately caught a pungent whiff of phosphorus fumes—far too intense... But in the next moment, my feelings shifted from terror to surprise, anxiety, and bewilderment.

Because at that instant, the suffocating sensation I’d imagined after the blast, the burning on my skin, were nowhere to be found.

Instead, what lingered in my mind was the bizarre expression on Wang Hou's lips at the last moment.

What on earth had he done? I was desperate to know everything.

With that thought, once the orange flash faded and my vision slowly returned, my ears ceased ringing and I could barely make out my surroundings, I immediately got up and saw Wang Hou’s blurry silhouette still standing where he had been.

I called out at once, “Are you alright?”

Wang Hou replied with arrogant confidence, “I’m perfectly fine. I just don’t know if that Fatty Bai survived!”

Hearing Wang Hou’s tone, I knew he’d won again. No wonder he was a reconnaissance soldier.

I couldn’t help but marvel: in front of enemies, he’s a tiger; but when facing women, he turns into a worm. Truly incomprehensible—his timid demeanor before the beauty and his current ‘heroic brilliance’ were like two entirely different people...

Of course, I had no time to dwell on it. Once my vision fully recovered, I saw clearly what Wang Hou had done.

I was dumbfounded.

At that moment, Wang Hou stood motionless, facing the room where Boss Bai had barricaded himself.

And the door to that room was closed! From the cracks around the door, wisps of blue smoke were slowly seeping out.

Seeing this, I realized just how ruthless and calculating Wang Hou could be. This burly fellow was a born king among soldiers!

From my analysis, Wang Hou had planned from the start how to deal with Fatty Bai’s signal gun. His retreat from the room Bai was guarding was all part of his plan, and his reckless words had purposely provoked Bai into firing.

As soon as Bai fired, Wang Hou seized the moment, shut the room door swiftly, and trapped Bai inside.

After that, we didn’t even need to intervene—the signal flare alone would quickly deplete the oxygen in Bai’s room, and the poisonous phosphorus fumes would rob him of any fighting ability.

My admiration for this giant grew ever deeper.

That door-closing move seemed simple, but it required great skill. Who could stay calm, analyze the situation, and close the door at the critical moment?

In short, Wang Hou was worthy of his second-place ranking in the army-wide competition all those years ago. He truly had several tricks up his sleeve.

With a victorious smile, I walked over and patted Wang Hou on the back. “Washing Machine, you’ve really outdone yourself!”

But Wang Hou’s answer caught me completely off guard!

Suddenly, he turned his face toward me, confusion written all over it, and said, “Old Tian… why do you have two heads? And a halo on top?”

I was stunned for a moment, then, seeing his unfocused, dazed eyes, understood at once.

He’d been blinded by the flash of the signal flare, even more severely than me—now he could only see ghostly shadows.

I smiled helplessly, pointed at the door, and said, “Lieutenant Wang, forget about halos. If we don’t get in there and rescue Fatty Bai, he’ll be off to see Buddha for a blessing!”

At my reminder, Wang Hou snapped out of his daze, cried “Oh no!” and rushed into the room with me following close behind.

To be honest, we’d have preferred Fatty Bai to suffocate right in there! But that wasn’t possible.

If he died, who would resolve the White Food Gu? Who would capture Xiao Jiu’er? He carried too much valuable information—if he died, who would fill the gaping hole before us?

So, with mixed feelings, Wang Hou and I grabbed a tablecloth as makeshift filters, covered our faces, opened the room door, and braved the toxic fumes to find the corpulent Boss Bai.

Wang Hou took the head, I took the feet, and together we dragged Fatty Bai out.

Once he was out, Wang Hou ripped off the tablecloth from his face, slapped Bai’s fat body and cursed, “How does this bastard get so big? Even when we used to haul pork, none of it was ever this heavy!”

I, breathing heavily, gave him a resigned smile. Meanwhile, I fanned away the white smoke lingering around Bai, and reached out to feel his face.

I wanted to see if he was still alive.

I prayed silently—Fatty Bai, don’t die yet! You haven’t faced the people’s justice! At the very least, you must tell us how to cure the White Food Gu before you die!

But when the mist around Bai Wei finally cleared, my heart sank halfway.

Fatty Bai was unconscious, foam bubbling at his mouth—by my estimation, he had at most half a life left.

Wang Hou and I saw it clearly—he lay sprawled on the floor, his features dark purple, obviously suffocated. Most terrifying was the foam at his lips, bubbling up like washing powder suds.

Wang Hou scratched his head and said, “The signal flare’s exhaust is poisonous—he must have been poisoned!”

I was speechless. We had to rescue him right away! If we didn’t, he’d meet Buddha, but what about Hongye and the others?

Standing up, I scanned the room, racking my brain for any antidote.

To be honest, as a cook, I wasn’t a doctor, but I knew plenty about herbs—especially the medicinal properties of food ingredients. Red beans, pumpkin, honey—all good emergency antidotes. After all, food’s medicinal function is important, especially in medicinal cuisine.

But the problem was, none of that knowledge was useful now!

What we needed wasn’t gentle, slow-acting remedies, but something fierce to shock Fatty Bai back to life.

Luckily… I did find such a trick!

Just as Wang Hou and I were at a loss, my eyes fell upon a small waterfall-like humidifier at the entrance to the private kitchen!

A ‘wicked’ inspiration flashed through my mind!

Immediately, I had Wang Hou drag Fatty Bai under the humidifier, and arranged him head-down, back-up in a peculiar pose.

After making sure he wouldn’t choke, I pulled out the water hose and blasted his mouth, nose, and the back of his head with it!

The near-freezing, smoking cold water jolted Fatty Bai awake!

My desperate ‘emergency treatment’ worked!

The fat man, who had been foaming at the mouth, suddenly revived.

Boss Bai’s bulky body shook, then he flipped himself over like a fat catfish, sat up slowly, vomited a few times, and his complexion improved.

Seeing him come back to life, I felt a rush of satisfaction.

Pointing at his nose, I teased, “Go ahead and resist! Let me tell you, even if you’re halfway to the underworld, we’ll drag you back alive! Do you know why?”

At this moment, Boss Bai had lost all his last defenses. His expression, drained and fearful, begged, “Chief! Why must you catch me? Can’t you let me go?”

Even now, he thought we were police!

Hearing this, Wang Hou was immediately displeased.

Wang Hou kicked Fatty Bai to the ground and declared, word by word, “I’ll tell you why! Because it’s duty! Orders! Soldier! Honor!”

Wang Hou’s speech made even me cringe—it was a bit too theatrical, not heartfelt.

Who gave him orders?! It was clear he got involved because he wanted to woo Xian Hongye. Of course, I was partly to blame for stirring things up… but at most I was an accessory.

Still, at this point, Fatty Bai was completely cowed by Wang Hou’s righteous stance. Pinned to the floor, he begged for mercy, repeatedly asking what we wanted to know, promising to tell us everything as long as the authorities would be lenient.

Hearing this, I had Wang Hou let him up and asked what the White Food Gu was—how could we cure the girls who’d been infected?

But Bai Wei’s answer was even less forthcoming than the dwarf A Si earlier.

My question must have touched a sensitive nerve.

Bai Wei’s face changed dramatically, and he shook his head over and over, claiming he knew nothing, that it was all Xiao Jiu’er’s idea. The Gu and its cure depended entirely on her. Only the guests she favored did Bai dare tamper with their food. He only knew the White Food Gu was served through ‘Bird’s Nest Silver Ear Soup,’ and nothing else about its workings or true nature.

As he spoke, Bai Wei’s face grew pale and terror-stricken… as though recalling some unspeakable horror.

His expression reminded me of Batu Lu, who had also been infected years ago and climbed the mountain with Old Sergeant to cure the Gu.

That look carried an aura of fearful fate.

The only difference was, Fatty Bai’s face lacked Batu Lu’s relief after liberation—only despairing terror remained.

In that terror, Wang Hou and I exchanged glances and almost simultaneously said, “It’s her again—Xiao Jiu’er?”

We pressed for more, “Who is Xiao Jiu’er? Where is she now?”

That question dropped like a bomb in Fatty Bai’s heart! The man, already a bundle of nerves, suddenly went even more crazy!

He shook his head desperately, “I can’t say! You’ll have to find her yourselves! She hates being betrayed! If I tell you… she’ll make my life worse than death…!”

Then Fatty Bai began begging and kowtowing nonstop.

Seeing his terror, I sank into silence, pondering the origins and nature of Xiao Jiu’er.

What kind of woman could terrify a man who dared run a shadowy business to such an extent?

At that moment, impatient Wang Hou had had enough of the useless noise.

He grabbed Fatty Bai’s fat elbow, his face dark and vicious, and snarled, “Who is Xiao Jiu’er? Tell me now! Or I’ll show you what ‘worse than death’ really means!”

Bai Wei seemed not to understand, but Wang Hou gave him no chance for further nonsense.

“Useless!” Wang Hou shouted, grabbing Fatty Bai.

His actions were completely unexpected—