Title: Did We Agree To Be Arch-Rivals?
Original Title: 说好成为彼此的宿敌呢[穿书]
Author: 轻风白杨 (Qingfeng Baiyang)
Translated by: ~PurpleLy~
That night, both of them switched posts once and then waited for the arrival of dawn together. When some shadows could be discerned in the cave, they set off in the direction of the snake cluster.
Sure enough, after having gone through a freezing night, many of the snakes had retreated. They were entwined together and stacked at the base of the cave wall. All appeared a little sluggish and didn’t even bother moving when people approached.
Su Yang braced himself and used the long sword to pick up the tangle of snakes. He threw them into an open space. Gu Feidi slashed them one by one, quickly beheading and burying them. Before the snakes could react, the two had already killed most of them.
“Wait, these snakes……”
Gu Feidi suddenly called out to Su Yang and turned to look at the cave wall not far away: “There seems to be a door there; the snakes seem to be slithering out from there.”
Su Yang hacked off the head of a viper and tossed it into the pit Gu Feidi had dug. Only then did he get up and examine the place that Gu Feidi was pointing at.
By now, the sun had risen outside and finally bestowed some brightness inside the cave. Man-made markings were clearly visible on the cave wall nearby. The markings were vertical and flat, indeed resembling a door.
“Kill all the snakes outside first, then we’ll head in to take a look.” Gu Feidi said.
Su Yang nodded, but he’d already guessed what was behind the door.
Gu Feidi’s protagonist’s halo didn’t disappoint. If the stone door had nothing to do with the story arc of the Sword Sage’s legacy, he’d swallow all the snake bodies here!
The two cooperated with each other and quickly completed their search outside the cave door. They killed all the vipers that slithered out of the door crack.
As the distance narrowed, the original appearance of the door was gradually revealed before their eyes—it was a thick stone door without a hinge that depended on manual force to push and shift it in order to unblock the passageway behind it.
It was pitch-black inside the doorway; there wasn’t not even a sliver of light for them to see any outlines within, but a cool breeze wafted in through the doorway.
It was evident that there must be something else behind it.
“There may be more snakes inside.” Gu Feidi said solemnly, “We don’t have any fire tools with us. If we rush in, it’s hard to say whether we will fall into a more dangerous situation.”
Based on his tone, it sounded like he didn’t want to continue exploring inside.
How was this going to work?
The Tomb of the Sword Sage might probably be behind that door. If Gu Feidi wasn’t willing to explore, then they wouldn’t obtain the Sword Sage’s legacy in the upcoming storyline…
Su Yang frowned but couldn’t remember what was the use of Sword Sage’s legacy in the follow-up storyline.
…Simply put, at first glance was an unusual-looking door just standing there. Irregardless, it was an opportunity that should definitely not be missed.
As such, Su Yang reminded: “Don’t forget our purpose of coming to the Wasteland.”
Gu Feidi raised his eyebrows: “Do you really believe that the Sword Sage Tomb exists here? Earlier, I deduced that the whole thing was a plot trap devised by Eluo Ghost Tent; didn’t you take note?”
Su Yang flattened his lips, trying to find an excuse: “Still… the news that was received by the Devil Sect is… that the Dubious Tomb of the Sword Sage actually exists. It doesn’t have to be a tomb; it may be the place where he used to go into seclusion.”
Gu Feidi gave a terse laugh: “Even if this is a deadly snake cave, you still believe that there is a Sword Sage legacy inside and want to obtain it?”
Su Yang opened his mouth but couldn’t utter any unsubstantiated reasonings.
The lack of light and the problem of snakes couldn’t be solved; therefore it was truly inconceivable for him to ask Gu Feidi to put his life on the line to undertake a scavenger hunt!
Upon noting Su Yang’s silence, Gu Feidi became curious and asked, “Are the spies of the Devil Sect really that impressive?”
Su Yang was taken aback. “What?”
Gu Feidi said, “Before… when you were injured at the cliff top, you transmitted your voice over to me, saying that the Tomb of the Sword Sage was under the cliff. Did your Devil Sect’s spies investigate it?”
Su Yang was startled and very nearly wanted to swallow his tongue.
Back then, it was because he was injured, suffering from blood loss, and dizzy, he feared that he had to inform on its location. The only thing on his mind was that Gu Feidi had to find the Tomb of the Sword Sage, and he’d revealed the information without forethought.
No one could’ve predicted that in his semi-conscious state, with his brain twitching, he’d leapt off the cliff with Gu Feidi and managed to survive.
No, not only did he survive, but Gu Feidi had also brought him into the storyline. He didn’t even presume and straightaway asked about the spy locating the cave and the Tomb of the Sword Sage.
Su Yang choked silently in his heart and thought: I don’t know if it’s too late to deny it now.
He hadn’t yet thought of an excuse to refute when Gu Feidi immediately spoke again: “Previously, you also told me the information of the Restoration Scripture: Return To The Nest volume. The resourcefulness of the Devil Sect’s information source… is really so unfathomable?”
Su Yang: .…..
Su Yang stubbornly refused to admit defeat: “What? I… How was it possible that this Young Saint disclosed to you the information of the Return To The Nest volume?!”
Gu Feidi chuckled and didn’t expose the matter, instead he reached out and placed his hand on his wrist guard and stroked it slowly.
Su Yang was also aware of his current expression and tried to hide it, but it only made it more conspicuous and he couldn’t control it. He couldn’t admit that he’d transmigrated over. Before all sorts of things had occurred, he was trying to direct the storyline to the correct path, right?
If he dared say it, would Gu Feidi dare believe it?
…No, he really didn’t dare say it.
Neither of them said anything for a while.
After a long time, Gu Feidi spoke first: “So… tell me, do you really want to go in and investigate?”
“I…” Su Yang was silent for a moment and finally gritted his teeth, “…Yes!”
Gu Feidi took a deep breath and said, “Alright, I’ll think of a way.”
Su Yang immediately felt a little guilty.
He muttered for a moment and said, “If there’s any way I can help, just say it.”
Gu Feidi glanced at Su Yang and said, “First, work with me to pull open this door all the way to let in the light.”
Hearing him say that, Su Yang immediately stepped forward and joined forces with Gu Feidi. He activated his internal strength and slowly hauled the stone door that had only opened a thin gap.
There was a little light in the corridor inside the door. Sure enough, there were several vipers entrenched in the doorway. Once they were illuminated by the light, several of them quickly turned their heads and slithered out.
At present, the stone door was open wide enough, and the sky outside the cave had brightened. Light illuminated the entrance passage. At the edge of the shadow, there was a person’s hand on the ground that had already turned blue.
“Oh!” Su Yang cried out in fear, subconsciously reaching out to grab Gu Feidi’s arm, hauling him backwards and saying in a trembling voice, “Dead-dead-dead-dead-dead-dead-dead person?!”
Gu Feidi’s expression also immediately turned sombre.
He patted the back of Su Yang’s hand on his arm, comforting him, and took his own long sword back from him, saying, “You let go of me first; I’ll drag him out to take a look.”
Su Yang swallowed, released Gu Feidi and attempted to restore his demeanour, which had crumbled when he’d been frightened out of his wits just then.
…But it was pointless.
He leaned back a couple of steps, thinking to himself that he would rather face a large group of poisonous snakes than see a dead body!
Back over there, Gu Feidi had already repelled the bunch of snakes slithering all over the corpse. He moved to the doorway, dragged the body out and turned around.
Su Yang quickly turned his head away and looked to the side. His heart was pounding so hard as if it was about to jump out of his throat.
“He died not long ago; maybe it was yesterday.” Gu Feidi said calmly, “He probably died of snake venom. Look at the clothes… Hey, he has a wooden token on his body. He is a person from Wujiangmen… After entering the river channel, he was forced into this cave by Eluo Ghost Tent.”
Su Yang didn’t dare to look at the corpse and couldn’t provide any opinions. He just nodded indiscriminately and said: “Mmm… it’s possible.”
Gu Feidi added, “He carries a sword. You can use it for the time being. Make do for now.”
Su Yang didn’t want to use a dead person’s things, but weapons were indeed important, so he could only let out an ‘mmm’ sound with a dark expression on his face and still didn’t glance back.
Gu Feidi chuckled without warning: “Our luck isn’t bad; he also has flint on him. We can start a fire to barbecue and eat.”
Su Yang: …
Bro, is now the time to start a fire and barbecue?
When you say it like this, I assume you’d want to roast the dead…
“Although he died of snake venom, his clothes are still neat.” Gu Feidi said with a smile, “Your clothes are torn in the back. Do you want to exchange it with him?”
All of Su Yang’s hair stood on end, and his throat tightened: “No-no-no thanks!”
Gu Feidi continued, “He also brought biscuits with him; have a piece to pad your stomach?”
Su Yang was about to cry and shook his head desperately.
He said internally: Gu Feidi, you are the devil! You even covet the dead man’s food? Is it the end of humanity or the loss of morality? The original author is too extreme, right?!
Gu Feidi couldn’t help it and finally laughed out loud.
He got up, walked over to stand in front of Su Yang, and folded his arms. He raised his eyebrows and tried suppressing a smile: “I really didn’t expect that not only are you afraid of snakes, but of corpses too?”
Su Yang: ……
Su Yang eyed at Gu Feidi who was trying his best to stifle a laugh. He realised all of a sudden… the few sentences just now, was he actually joking?
He couldn’t help being mad inside: Gu Feidi, you bastard! Get lost!! You are no longer the serious and earnest protagonist!!!
Su Yang mustered all of his strength to appear displeased, so that the Devil Sect’s Young Saint facade would not collapse.
Seeing Su Yang’s sullen face and not hearing him respond, Gu Feidi restrained his smile and asked carefully, “Were you truly scared?”
“Heh, how could this Young Saint be scared!” Su Yang twitched his mouth, displaying a disdainful smile, and said, “It’s just that he died too gruesomely, a horrific sight… mmph, it has stained the eyes of this Young Saint…”
Gu Feidi chuckled again, seeing Su Yang glaring at him angrily. His tone softened and he said, “Alright, alright, don’t let him continue to stain your eyes. We’ll have to trouble you to find a place to dig a pit. I’ll bury him in this cave for now. We still do not know how to get out; it’s probably impossible to send him back to Wujiangmen.”
As he spoke, he handed over the sword he was holding—the one handed to Su Yang was his own long sword, and he kept the dead man’s sword for himself.
Su Yang was quiet. He reached out his hand to take the sword proffered by Gu Feidi, turned away, and left to look for a place to dig the pit.
Once he’d finished digging the pit with the sword, Gu Feidi on the other side had already wrapped up the dead man’s bare head and face with the man’s coat.
They buried the tragic Wujiangmen fighter together and retained with them some of his personal effects that could prove his identity, as they had planned to return them to Wujiangmen once they’d left the cave.
The flint that the fighter carried with him also solved an immediate problem for the two of them.
Gu Feidi lit a fire, found a flat stone to wedge into the groove, and collected the snake bodies that he had killed earlier. He removed the snake fat in the abdomen and threw it in the groove of the stone to extract the snake oil. Su Yang contributed his already torn coat, soaked it in the snake oil, wrapped it around a wooden stick, and made several torches for later use.
With the illumination, the two advanced into the stone gate side by side to explore.
There were still a lot of vipers left inside the door. Gu Feidi patiently cleared away the snakes while advancing, with Su Yang illuminating him from behind.
Not long after, the two passed through a corner arch and came to a large stone chamber.
There was a circular fire pit in the center of the stone chamber. Irregular holes were carved out in the rock wall above the fire pit which extracted air out of the cave—it was a chimney.
It didn’t resemble a tomb; instead, it looked like someone had once lived here.
There was also another inner room in this stone room. The area of the inner room wasn’t small either, but there was nothing inside and the walls were covered with mottled sword marks. There were two side chambers on both sides of the stone chamber. It seemed that there once used to be wooden doors, but they had since deteriorated.
One side chamber was littered with broken and wooden utensils, and in the other side chamber was a stone bed. On the stone bed was a corpse that had long since turned into bones.
“I’m afraid this isn’t the Sword Sage’s Tomb.” Gu Feidi said calmly, “This… may have been the retreat of a martial artist elder.”
As he spoke, he stepped forward to examine the skeleton on the stone bed. He then stretched out his hand onto the stone bed, feeling a layer of dust on it.
“Moreover, this place has been ransacked before. Except for this skeleton, there should be nothing left.”