Chapter 273: Fang Xiaocao: What a Twisted Turn of Events!
Tom smiled slightly. “Let’s open the door first!”
What else could they do? They had to deal with whatever came their way.
No matter what method they used, the door had to be opened first.
Studying the stone doors before him, Tom spoke, “These two stone doors are much thinner than the previous ones. They also don’t seem to be as well-sealed. The air inside is likely connected to the tomb passage, so there shouldn’t be any toxic gases.”
“Plus, as we walked along, we didn’t come across any traps or mechanisms. The tomb’s builder didn’t seem like a ruthless person who would use poison gas.”
“If we open a crack in the door and let the air inside mix with the air in the passage, we should be fine.”
Tom confidently shared his analysis.
Hearing his reasoning, Fang Xiaocao and the others nodded in agreement.
That made sense!
There was no room for rebuttal.
“Alright!”
“We’ll go with Tom’s plan!”
“Open the door!”
Fang Xiaocao waved her hand and made the decision.
Taotie nodded, stepped forward, and placed his large hands on the stone door.
“Ha!”
With a loud shout, his muscular arms bulged instantly, veins popping like wriggling earthworms beneath his skin.
As Taotie exerted his full strength, the heavy stone door slowly moved, its rumbling echoes reverberating through the tomb passage.
“Nice!”
Seeing this, Fang Xiaocao silently gave Taotie a thumbs-up. No wonder he could take down a black bear with his bare hands.
If Taotie had been in Journey to the West, Black Bear Spirit wouldn’t have needed to steal the kasaya—he wouldn’t have stood a chance against Taotie.
“Your Highness, the stone door is open!”
Taotie wiped his sweat and grinned.
“You’ve worked hard. Have some water!”
Fang Xiaocao pulled a bottle of water from her backpack and handed it to him.
She and Tom, as well as Hummingbird, still had their backpacks, so they weren’t lacking supplies. But Taotie’s backpack had been destroyed when they fought the giant snake.
Even though he had received endurance training, he was still incredibly thirsty.
Without hesitation, Taotie took the water, twisted the cap off, and started chugging.
A whole liter of water—he downed it in one go without even pausing for breath.
“Impressive!”
Fang Xiaocao was stunned.
One liter of water, all at once?
Only Taotie could pull that off.
If she tried, she’d probably explode.
“Taotie, rest for a bit.”
Tom took out a boxed candle, lit it, and placed it inside the stone doorway.
“Tom, what are you doing?”
“Is this some kind of ritual?”
Fang Xiaocao asked curiously.
Tom chuckled.
“Of course not!”
He shook his head with a smile.
“Candles need oxygen to burn. If the candle goes out, it means there isn’t enough oxygen in the tomb, and we shouldn’t go in. If the candle keeps burning, that means there’s plenty of air inside, and we won’t have to worry about suffocating.”
Tom gave Fang Xiaocao a mini science lesson.
Hearing his explanation, she had an “aha” moment.
“Wow, I learned something new!” (And no, that wasn’t a typo!)
“Guess you really do learn something new every day!”
She grinned.
Tom blinked in confusion.
“Learn something new?”
“Shouldn’t it be ‘live and learn’?”
He scratched his head, puzzled.
Even someone as smart as Tom struggled to grasp the depths of Chinese expressions.
After all, he was still a foreigner. Even if he prided himself on knowing a lot, there were always things he couldn’t understand.
“Uh…”
Fang Xiaocao hesitated, looking embarrassed.
“Well…”
How was she supposed to explain this?
It was kind of awkward!
“Um…”
Seeing Tom’s eager expression, waiting for an explanation, she sighed and braced herself.
“It just means I gained new knowledge. It’s basically another way to say ‘I learned something.’”
“And the second phrase means the same as what you said.”
Fang Xiaocao swore to herself—she was never spouting random slang in front of Tom again.
Explaining it was too embarrassing!
“Ohhh!”
“I see!”
“I just learned something new from Your Highness again!”
Tom beamed.
Well…
Tom was indeed a fast learner.
He picked up and used the phrase right away.
Hearing Tom’s words, Fang Xiaocao almost choked on her water.
Meanwhile, Taotie burst into laughter.
“Oh no, oh no…”
“I’ve corrupted Tom…”
Fang Xiaocao wailed internally.
“Does this count as misleading a student?”
She chuckled bitterly.
“Taotie, what are you laughing at?”
Tom turned to his laughing comrade, confusion written all over his face.
Fang Xiaocao shot Taotie a sharp glare, silently warning him not to say anything stupid.
If he did… she’d kill him.
Taotie, who was about to explain, saw her death stare and immediately shut his mouth.
He waved his hand dismissively and chuckled.
“It’s nothing. I just suddenly remembered that the old sow in my backyard is about to give birth, and I’m happy.”
“Pfft—!”
This time, Fang Xiaocao couldn’t hold back.
She spat her water all over Taotie’s face.
Taotie wiped his face and gave her a resentful look.
Feeling awkward, she handed him a pack of tissues.
“Here, wipe yourself off.”
Tom blinked.
“Well, congratulations then!”
“Yeah, yeah, congratulations!”
“Taotie, congrats on becoming a dad!”
Fang Xiaocao quickly followed up, trying to steer the conversation away.
She was terrified Tom would keep obsessing over the phrase “learn something new.”
“…Huh?”
Tom froze.
Then he gave Taotie a strange look.
Clearly, he had misunderstood something.
Taotie immediately sensed something was off.
“Taotie, you’re a real man!”
“I thought Third Brother and Third Sister-in-Law were already a legendary love story, but you’re just as fearless!”
Tom gave Taotie a thumbs-up.
Fang Xiaocao: “???”
“Wait… what the hell? How did we end up here?”
“I’m still just a kid!”
She wanted to get off this crazy ride—this wasn’t the route to kindergarten!
Hearing Tom’s words, Taotie’s eyes widened in horror.
Oh no.
Tom, the foreigner, had completely misunderstood.
“Taotie, you have my respect!”
Tom looked at him, admiration in his eyes.
Taotie, on the verge of breaking down, realized that Tom thought something very different had happened.
