The Autobiography of a Tomb Raider

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I rushed to the hospital again. Having just been there in the morning, I returned in the afternoon. When the doctor saw my swollen finger, she was visibly startled.

This time, in addition to draining the fluid with a needle, the doctor also drew blood for some kind of pathological test to check if I had been infected by bacteria.

The test results wouldn’t be available until the next day at the earliest. The doctor instructed me to take anti-inflammatory medication on time. Perhaps concerned that amoxicillin wouldn’t be effective, she prescribed me another, more expensive anti-inflammatory drug with English packaging.

When I returned to the inn that evening, the boss said to me, “Yunfeng, don’t go down into the pit tonight. Stay here and rest. Our main task these next couple of days is to locate the main burial chamber.” He told me to stay behind and watch the place.

In the middle of the night, my bitten finger swelled up again. This time, it wasn’t just swollen and oozing white fluid—it also started to hurt. The pain came in waves, with each episode lasting about twenty minutes.

We had rented out the entire small inn, so now there were only two guests staying there: me and Yikezhi (One Mole).

I knew that the Sun brothers and the boss were searching for the main burial chamber, so I didn’t dare disturb them. In the dead of night, clutching my swollen index finger, I tossed and turned in pain, unable to sleep.

I sneaked out to see if there were any pharmacies still open nearby. I wanted to buy some painkillers.

Back then, online shopping wasn’t widespread, and there were no online medicine delivery services. I wasn’t familiar with Shunde, so I just headed north from the inn. Along the way, I asked everyone I met if there were any pharmacies still open.

I eventually got some information, but when I arrived, the pharmacy was already closed. There were no 24-hour pharmacies around.

Coincidentally, I realized I wasn’t far from Li Jing’s house in Nanshan District. From where I stood, I could see the arched bridge over the moat.

Li Jing was a local, so I thought I’d check if her family had any painkillers. If not, I’d have to trek all the way back to the hospital.

When I arrived, I knocked on the door a few times, and Li Jing’s mother answered.

“Little Xiang? What brings you here so late?” she asked, surprised.

I said, “Auntie, is Li Jing home? I was wondering if you have any painkillers. I happened to be passing by and thought I’d ask.”

“Painkillers?”

“Oh, yes, we do. Come with me,” she said, leading me inside.

“Jingjing, are you asleep? Open the door,” Li Jing’s mother knocked a few times before turning to me and saying the medicine was in a drawer in Li Jing’s room.

I kept my hand in my pocket to avoid alarming anyone, so Li Jing’s mother didn’t notice my swollen finger.

“Coming, Mom. What’s going on so late?” Li Jing opened the door, rubbing her eyes. She was wearing a Donald Duck pajama set.

“Xiang Yunfeng? What are you doing here?” Li Jing was surprised to see me.

“Your classmate came to borrow some painkillers. I remember there’s some in the drawer under your desk. Go find it for him. I’ve got water boiling on the stove and need to pour it into the thermos,” Li Jing’s mother instructed before heading off.

Li Jing’s Donald Duck pajamas were short, only reaching mid-thigh. As she bent over to search the drawer for the medicine, I avoided looking at her due to the angle.

Back then, I was still a virgin, and the more I tried not to look, the more embarrassed I became. My face turned bright red.

“What’s wrong? Why is your face so red?” Li Jing found the painkillers and turned to me, puzzled.

Just as I was about to speak, a sharp pain shot through my finger again, as if a small knife were cutting into my flesh.

“It’s… it’s nothing,” I said, beads of sweat forming on my forehead.

“I… I’d better go!” I grabbed the bottle of painkillers from Li Jing’s hand and bolted out of her house.

Not far from Li Jing’s house, there was a water tap—I didn’t know whose it was, but it had water. I gulped down three painkillers directly under the tap.

After resting for a while, the pain persisted, so I took two more pills. Only then did the pain subside slightly.

Leaning against the water tap, I started to feel cold all over. My head felt heavy, my eyelids drooped, and I had no strength left in my body.

At that moment, I thought I might be dying. I probably was.

Curled up by the water tap, my teeth chattering and my body drenched in cold sweat, I eventually passed out.

I hadn’t been unconscious for long when I woke up to find myself in Li Jing’s bedroom.

“You’re awake! What happened to your hand? You scared me to death! If I hadn’t felt something was off and gone out to check, something terrible could’ve happened to you,” Li Jing said, her face filled with lingering fear.

Li Jing’s mother came in carrying a bowl of water. She looked at me lying on the bed and asked, “Xiao Xiang, why didn’t you say anything earlier? What happened to your hand?”

I stammered, “Auntie, I think I might’ve been bitten by a snake.”

“Bitten by a snake? What kind of snake?” Li Jing’s mother looked puzzled.

I shook my head and said I didn’t know.

“This won’t do. We don’t have a car, and the hospital is still far away. It’s the middle of the night, and all the clinics and pharmacies are closed. Xiao Xiang, we can’t delay this. Jingjing, help him up. Let’s go see Granny Liu.”

On the way, Li Jing explained to me that Granny Liu was from Guangxi. She had married into the area from a Miao village deep in the Ten Thousand Mountains. Granny Liu had her own herbal remedies and was skilled at treating snake bites. Once, someone had been bitten by a five-step viper, and the hospital happened to be out of antivenom. Granny Liu had cured them with her herbs in no time. She was practically a miracle worker.

It took us forty minutes to walk from Li Jing’s house to Granny Liu’s place. During the journey, I had another episode of pain, but the five painkillers I’d taken earlier were still somewhat effective, so I managed to endure it.

Granny Liu’s house was old. Li Jing mentioned that it might be demolished as a dangerous building after the new year. Li Jing’s mother knocked on the door for a while before an elderly woman slowly opened it.

Li Jing’s mother got straight to the point, explaining why we were there. When Granny Liu heard I’d been bitten by a venomous snake, she quickly ushered us inside.

Granny Liu was in her seventies. Her house had a peculiar smell, like unwashed cloth. An elderly man lay on the bed, covered with a thick quilt. He didn’t look well.

After examining my swollen finger and the two small puncture marks left by the bite, Granny Liu’s expression gradually darkened.

“Young man, let me ask you this: are you sure it was a snake that bit you? Where were you when it happened?”

I certainly couldn’t tell Li Jing that I’d been bitten while tomb raiding, so I stammered and lied, “I… I was bitten at home.”

“At home?” Granny Liu stared at me, her tone意味深长 (meaningful). “I don’t think you’d find that kind of snake at home.”

Granny Liu waved her hand, signaling for Li Jing and her mother to step outside. She wanted to speak to me alone.

After they left, Granny Liu shook her head and said, “Young man, I’ll be straight with you. What bit you wasn’t a snake. You’ve been to the hospital, haven’t you? What did the doctors say?”

“Granny, the doctor initially said it was edema. Later, they had me draw blood for some bacterial pathology test to see if it’s an infection.”

Hearing this, Granny Liu chuckled coldly. “By the time they figure it out, your body will already be cold.”

“There’s no way something like that could be in your home. You wouldn’t even find it in the wild mountains. What bit you is a Di Jiao Xian (Earth Horn Immortal) with white antennae. In the Ten Thousand Mountains, the older Miao people call it the Shi Jiao Xian (Corpse Horn Immortal).”

“They can only survive in places filled with the dead.”

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