Chapter 1283: I Want to Make You Stay (161)
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Apart from the corpse, there was nothing left.
Slightly disappointed, An Xiaoning did not wish to even look at the appearance of the corpse.
However, Donggong Lianzhi reacted differently.
He walked toward the corpse and squatted down. He then whipped out a dagger and slit the bandages open gently. Although it was rather disrespectful, they would have made a wasted trip if they didn’t take a look.
As soon as the trio saw the corpse, they froze in shock. Donggong Lianzhi sprung up and stared at the face of the corpse in astonishment.
Although the corpse had already dried up, they could still see the face of the corpse clearly. The features of the corpse were exactly identical to Donggong Lianzhi’s. An Xiaoning had felt the same way as she did when she found the corpse of Jin Qingyan’s incarnation from the previous lifetime.
Judging from Donggong Lianzhi’s reaction, she could tell that he did not seem to be pretending or to have a preconceived plan.
“How… how did this happen?”
After a moment of silence, An Xiaoning said, “There are a few possibilities. One could be that your twin brother had been buried here and the other could be that it was your clone. Another one could be that he’s your incarnation from your previous lifetime…”
“It can’t be that he’s my twin brother. I’m the only son.”
“I haven’t finished my sentence. Apart from the possibility of him being your brother, it should be impossible that he’s your clone too since the corpse is all shriveled up and doesn’t seem to have died recently. That leaves us with the third and most likely possibility. He is probably your incarnation from your previous lifetime.”
“My previous lifetime… do previous incarnations necessarily have to look the same as their reincarnations?”
“That’s the case for some people, like me. So, cases like that do exist. How do you know that the owner of this tomb has the surname ‘Wu’?”
“I asked my mother about it. She told me that this place is taboo and that trespassing is prohibited. We’re not allowed to ask more about it too,” he answered.
“How are you doing in the Donggong family? Be honest with me, are you living well?” An Xiaoning asked.
“No.”
“I figured that out.” Not wishing to continue staying here any longer, she continued, “This cement coffin has already been destroyed. Do you plan to restore it or ruin it? Or do you plan to take the corpse away?”
Without hesitation, he said, “I’m going to destroy it. Since it looks identical to me, doesn’t that just mean that someone in my family already knows about this?”
“That goes without saying. That’s why you’re in a very dangerous predicament. Seems like you only discovered that now.”
Noticing his austere expression, she seemed to have further confirmed that he did not have a preconceived plan. Had he devised a scheme beforehand, he wouldn’t have told her that the corpse had the last name “Wu.”
She had a bad impression of him at first and found that he definitely had an ulterior motive.
However, she had changed her opinion of him.
“Since you’ve decided to destroy it, you shall take over from here.” She handed the lighter to him and said, “The corpse has already dried up. It should be easy to light it up with all the extra bandages. Hurry up, we must leave this place as soon as possible.”
He took the lighter from her and set the corpse ablaze.
Just like she had expected, the corpse was set ablaze immediately.
A bizarre odor filled the air soon after. Upon the sight of the corpse being engulfed by flames, the trio decided to leave.
At this very moment, the mountain began shaking violently. They rocked unsteadily from side to side, as if they were in a Viking ship ride at the amusement park.
A few minutes later, the soil and stone bricks around them began collapsing and falling onto the ground. The trio instinctively ran out of the cave. As soon as they reached the mural, thick fumes filled the air and they heard a loud explosion. The air grew thinner, and the space began to feel cramped while their visions grew blurry because of the fumes.
An Xiaoning and Fan Shixin covered their noses with their handkerchiefs.
Donggong Lianzhi was the only one who didn’t have any handkerchief since he did not have the habit of carrying one around. Fortunately for him, An Xiaoning would always bring two handkerchiefs with her. Thus, she gave him one, after which they squatted on the ground.
The noises lasted for a minute before ceasing. Silence filled the air.
“What do we do now? The roads are obstructed and we can’t leave,” Donggong Lianzhi said anxiously.
After all, they were underground, and there would be dire consequences should they fail to make it out in time before the oxygen in the air is depleted.
Even Fan Shixin was starting to get flustered and worried. An Xiaoning was the only one who could remain calm.
“Are you sure that you told only your mother about this?” she asked, staring at Donggong Lianzhi from the corner of her eye.
“Of course. I wouldn’t tell others about something so serious.”
“Did you also tell her about my arrival?”
He seemed to have guessed what she was going to say.
“I only told my mother about it briefly.”
“Try and recall what your mother’s expression was when she heard the news.”
Donggong Lianzhi immediately recalled the conversation that he had with his mother before answering, “She was shocked at first because she didn’t expect that I would be able to invite you over to R Nation. She regained her composure afterward.”
“Why do you think we’re trapped here?”
“Is it not because of a sudden earthquake?”
Fan Shixin explained, “No, that’s not the case. I observed the situation carefully just now. The tremors came from above, not underground. It must have been a deliberate act.”
Donggong Lianzhi did not notice that at all.
“A deliberate act… I’ve already checked this place. There are no surveillance cameras around this place at all.”
“How does that make any sense? Just because you didn’t discover any surveillance cameras, it doesn’t mean that there aren’t any here at all. Pinhole cameras exist nowadays, and they could easily go unnoticed. I’m guessing that your family must have discovered us when we entered. If you didn’t plan this beforehand, there are only two possible reasons.”
“Why would I plan this beforehand? I’m not crazy,” Donggong Lianzhi retorted.
“That’s why I’ve already ruled out that possibility. The other two are too obvious. One could be that your mother had tipped your family off about our arrival, and the other could be that they had found out about it themselves. Whatever it may be, the only aftermath is that they’ll make do and come up with a suitable strategy by sacrificing you to achieve their purpose. Even if the police found out, they’ll just cover their plot up with the excuse of being unaware that you were in there. They can just say that they wouldn’t have done it if they knew that you’re inside. That would allow them to kill two birds with one stone. In conclusion, you were used by your family. Perhaps they had already been keeping you under their surveillance. You were just too confident and unsuspecting.”
Donggong Lianzhi remained silent and digested all her words.
An Xiaoning had no time to waste. Although it was extremely uncomfortable, it wasn’t like she had never been trapped in such a tiny space or encountered such a claustrophobic experience before.