Chapter Nine: Preparing to Depart

“You’re helping us, so that means... you’re here to rob tombs too?” As I spoke, I couldn’t help thinking that this archaeological team was far more complicated than I’d expected.

Zhuge Xuan suddenly fell silent, the smile on her face fading little by little. My heart gave a jolt, and I knew at once that something was wrong.

The little girl gave me a chilly look. “So that’s it. You two really are grave robbers.”

I thought, We’re done for.

If Professor Chen knew the truth, that would be one thing. But if the others in the team found out, Fatty and I would probably be tied up and handed straight over to the police. The most hated people among orthodox archaeologists are exactly the sort my father and Fatty represent—not because they take many burial goods, but because those solitary looters often destroy priceless sites, and the loss to research is far greater than the loss of property.

I really was still too green. This girl had trapped me in just a few words. At once I began thinking about how to make a run for it later.

“Hmph, Professor Chen too—how could he bring people like you to help?” Zhuge Xuan said, and I immediately sensed a turn in the situation.

“It’s not what you think. Fatty and I are really just here to help,” I said quickly, lowering my voice.

Then, that brat flashed me another grin. “What good can two foolish thieves do?”

I was annoyed, but there was nothing I could do. She had my weakness in her hands—what could I fight back with?

“Let me warn you first. Once we go down there, if your hands get itchy, you’d better watch out for me...” As she said this, Zhuge Xuan suddenly lifted her hand.

I thought she was about to strike, and instinctively took two steps back. But then she covered her mouth and burst out laughing at me.

“Foolish thief.” With that, she bounced away toward Professor Chen.

Damn it... I stomped hard, then immediately regretted my earlier decision.

Just then, Chen Zixiang from a distance waved at me and shouted, “Hey, Mister Yuan, come over and help me carry a few pieces of equipment from the tent.”

The way he swayed his hips made me sincerely feel that he was drifting farther and farther away from any notion of masculinity.

Chen Zixiang led me toward the tent area. Along the way, he kept shooting flirtatious glances at everyone he passed, with the sort of energy you’d expect from the girls in roadside hair salons.

We went into the largest tent.

“This tent has all kinds of equipment. Our lighting gear is already sufficient; what we’re short of is some first-aid supplies. See what needs to be taken,” Chen Zixiang said, pointing at the equipment. “Oh, and the ones on the left are German-made, the ones on the right are domestic, and there are British ones in the back. Have a look and see which are useful.”

I gave a bitter smile inside. Imported or not, aside from a few simple tools, how was I supposed to know what any of this was? Thinking that, I was ready to just grab a couple of little boxes marked with red crosses and be done with it.

But I still had to pretend to look around. Yet as I was searching, I noticed the tent had gone quiet behind me. Turning back, I saw Chen Zixiang standing with both hands in his pockets, staring at me coldly.

I didn’t react at first and was startled by him, but a moment later I understood why.

“Phew...” Chen Zixiang, or rather Fatty, let out a sigh. “How did you get here?”

I stared at him for a long time before saying, “Then why did you come here? And dressed like that—are you really Professor Chen’s nephew?”

Fatty nodded. “That’s not important. The question is how you found this place.”

He probably assumed Fatty and I had followed him here, so I told him about what had happened at the airport. I had thought he would let the matter pass there, but after I finished speaking, I saw the confusion on his face only deepen.

Seeing him remain silent for so long, I stepped forward and asked, “Does this place have something to do with the tomb of King Yelang?”

“You’d better not ask. It won’t do you any good,” Fatty said lightly.

“You keep talking like this, but what is there that I can’t know?” I felt displeased. “My father already told me some things.”

Fatty’s expression changed, and he suddenly asked with a smile, “Did he tell you about the bloodline?”

“You... how do you know about the bloodline?” I was puzzled. Didn’t my father say that only our own family knew about it?

“Hmph, people of the Yuan family are always full of themselves. Your grandfather was like that, and your father too.”

Hearing this, I was first a little annoyed, but then a thought flashed through my mind, and I suddenly sensed that something was off in what he’d said.

“My grandfather? You knew my grandfather?”

At once, Fatty’s expression became somewhat strange, as if he had just misspoken. His tone then stiffened. “Only... heard of him.”

“Damn it...” My impatient nature surfaced again. “You can’t keep doing this. My father already promised he’d tell me everything. So what if you’re our family’s enemy?”

Fatty suddenly gave a bitter smile. “If your father is willing to tell you, why must you ask me? Hah... Yuan Jie, your father is willing to carry everything for your sake. You’re already very lucky. This time you came here by chance, but I hope you never again do anything related to ancient tombs.”

Fatty’s words left me speechless.

It was true—my old man had already agreed to tell me the whole story, so there was no need for me to keep hounding Fatty. But in some vague, distant way, I seemed to sense that what my father would tell me would not be the whole truth, and that old bastard might even keep lying to me. What I truly wanted to know was probably with Fatty.

After that, neither of us said anything for a long while. Only much later did I say, “Last time in the tomb, I never got a chance to thank you.”

“Thank me for what?” Fatty lifted a corner of the tent flap, glanced outside, then took a cigarette from his pocket and lit it for himself.

“You saved my life. I won’t forget that.”

“I will.”

That sudden reply of Fatty’s left me stunned for quite a while.

“All right, stop thinking about everything for now. What’s in front of us is more troublesome. When we go down later, you and Fatty mustn’t walk too fast. I’ll give you signals,” Fatty said. “Also, you’d better be careful of that Zhuge Xuan. She’s no ordinary little girl.”

The moment that woman was mentioned, I felt even more uncomfortable, but at that point I couldn’t be bothered to think about it, so I asked, “The tomb down there can’t be more dangerous than King Yelang’s tomb, right?”

“For that place, I at least had some idea of what to expect. But here, I’m as in the dark as you are. Still, once we’re down there, be careful about what you eat.”

“You mean the poisonous bite?”

“Mm. It’s vicious. Once it’s swallowed, not even the great immortals can save you.”

I nodded. “Oh, right—why do you keep pretending to be such a sissy?”

Fatty laughed. “I just found someone on the road and copied him for a bit. Uncle always thought I was in Taiwan; a more trendy style might be easier for him to accept.”

“So you really are from Taiwan?”

“It’s about time.” Fatty had no intention of continuing. He tossed away the cigarette, tucked a betel nut into his mouth, and walked out of the tent.

When I came out, I saw that all six of Professor Chen’s group had finished preparing, and the others from the archaeological team were gathered all around them, as if seeing them off to a battlefield.

Fatty suddenly pulled me aside, handed me a backpack first, and then said in a low voice, “Miss, I’ve got a bad feeling about this trip down.”

Hearing him say that so suddenly, I laughed. “What, you want to back out now?”

“Tsk, I think those people have another purpose for going down there,” Fatty went on. “Just now I secretly checked their equipment. There was very little first-aid gear in it, but a whole lot of things like cameras, batteries, small spades, brushes, sample containers, and so on. And the food and water they carried was enough for half a month. It doesn’t look like supplies prepared for a rescue mission.”

“So what? They’re a professional archaeological team. Maybe they’re just planning to inspect the place while rescuing people.”

“See? That’s why I say your brain is simple.” Fatty rolled his eyes at me. “But your Fatty has already prepared for it.”

With that, he stuffed a dark, black object into my arms. It wasn’t the first time I’d seen it—it was the same kind of pistol Qin Feng had once given me.

I hadn’t thought it was necessary to be this nervous, but then again, better safe than sorry. So I tucked the gun away on my body. After that, I told Fatty what had happened in the tent.

“Huh... damn it, that kid really can act the part,” Fatty said, staring at him with widened eyes.

“Hey, it’s time to set off!” Yang Lang shouted from the front. Then I saw several archaeological team members run to the edge of the muddy ground, pick up some ropes from the soil, and yank hard backward...

In an instant, a trench nearly a hundred meters long lay stretched before our eyes.