Tomb Raider: I Am Hu Bayi's Cousin

Chapter 64 Hu Bayi Goes to the Well

"Yes, Comrade Xiaoming is right. We'll find out what's going on when we go down," Professor Chen nodded in agreement.

Hu Ming said, "Then let Old Hu take you down!"

"Aren't you going down?" Professor Chen asked, frowning.

"I won't go down." After saying that, Hu Ming went to warm himself by the fire, as the desert was indeed quite cold at night.

Hu Ming didn't remember that Hu Bayi and Fatty brought funerary objects back to Beijing when they returned to Beijing in the original novel.

Professor Chen said nothing more upon seeing this. Hao Aiguo, Hu Bayi, and the others, unable to contain their excitement, opened their backpacks, took out the suspension ladder and rope, and, along with entrenching tools, gas masks, and other equipment, headed towards the well.

"What are you trying to do?" Anliman blocked the group's path, shouting with displeasure, "I know! You came to the desert to dig up graves! There's an ancient tomb under the well, and you want to dig up treasure?"

In Anliman's view, digging up graves would be punished by Hu Da. Because that was why, of all his brothers who went into the desert, he was the only one who survived.

"Brother, we are archaeologists, and we've already shown you the documents."

Anliman was very rigid, which gave Professor Chen a great headache. He couldn't explain it clearly, so he could only patiently and kindly say, "Brother, many ancient tombs in the Western Regions have been damaged. We are protecting the ancient tombs and dedicating the cultural relics with archaeological research value to the country. Otherwise, these cultural relics will be damaged if they are left underground for too long." His voice rose a few decibels, and he also seemed somewhat helpless.

"They might be dug up by tomb raiders and sold abroad, which would be a huge loss for our country."

The second half of his sentence made Fatty and Hu Bayi's hearts skip a beat. They looked at Professor Chen with suspicion. Was the old man implying something indirectly? That shouldn't be... possible, right?
“Hey, I don’t understand what you’re talking about. If I had known you were this kind of people, I wouldn’t have brought you into the desert no matter how much money I offered. Don’t dig, don’t go down into the well. That well gave us our lives, you can’t treat it like this.” With a stubborn look on his face, An Li was determined to stop these people from digging.

"Old man, I've put up with you for a long time. Get out of my way."

The short-tempered fat man shoved Anliman aside, turned to the side, pointed at his wrinkled face, and said, "Old man, mind your own business, or I'll kill your camel."

You want to stop Fatty from getting rich? You old man, you must be tired of living!!
Anliman was terrified of the fat man from the bottom of his heart. He knew the fat man was capable of killing camels, so he angrily went to the fire, sat down, and saw Hu Ming cleaning fish scales. He said, "Hu Ming is still a good friend. He doesn't do things like digging up people's graves."

Anliman now appreciates Hu Ming's character more and more.

Hu Ming just smiled and didn't say anything, continuing to warm himself by the fire.

"That old man is so long-winded, I had to step in, Professor Chen. Otherwise, you could talk to him until dawn and it wouldn't do any good." The fat man proudly showed off in front of Yang Xueli, but he called out Professor Chen's name.

Yang Xueli could see his intentions at a glance. Her dark, beautiful eyes lit up, and after staring at the fat man for several moments, she nodded.

Indeed, sometimes you need the fat man to deal with Anliman, otherwise that old man is very stubborn.

It was already dark, and the fortress was pitch black. The well was located inside the fortress. Hu Bayi shone his flashlight into the well and could see the water several meters below. "I'll go down and take a look first. You can come up later," Hu Bayi said, turning to Yang Xueli and the others.

The fat man pulled Old Hu in front of him, using his body to block everyone's view. "Old Hu, be careful. If anything bad happens, just let me know, and I'll go get Mingzi to come and rescue you."

As he spoke, he stuffed a black donkey hoof into Hu Bayi's pocket.

"Row."

Hu Bayi felt a warmth in his heart; this brother was incredibly good to him.

The rope is lowered, and several people hold onto it from above. Huba puts on a safety harness and fastens the buckle on the harness to the rope. If his hand slips or he runs out of strength and moves down too fast, the buckle will automatically lock the rope due to the friction of the rope.

Grasping the rope, Hu Bayi slowly slid down. His headlamp swayed as he slid down, its light reflecting off the well wall. His eyes widened slightly, a hint of fear creeping out as a giant zombie suddenly emerged from the water, its long claws reaching out to grab his leg and pull him down.

"Wow, I'm just scaring myself. It can't be that serious!" But he still couldn't stop looking into the water.

The rope wasn't long enough, so he raised his head and shouted a few times. The echoes around him were quite frightening.

"The rope is still swaying, which means Lao Hu is still going down," Yang Xueli said, glancing at the fat man and the others. She gripped the rope; the feeling emanating from it was unmistakable.

"you sure?"

Seeing Yang Xueli nod firmly, the fat man called on everyone to lower the rope again and again. Soon, the rope swung violently to one side and then stopped moving.

The fat man and the others tensed up. "Old Hu, have we arrived yet?"

The fat man poked his head out of the well and called out a few times, but there was no response from Hu Bayi.

Yes, but it was only his own echo.

His expression turned anxious. "Is there danger down there? Is Old Hu in danger?"

Everyone looked at each other, unsure of what to do. Just then, the rope was tugged, and Yang Xueli exclaimed in surprise, "The rope moved! Pull it quickly..."

Hu Bayi climbed out, panting for a few breaths, and looked excitedly at the crowd waiting for him to speak. "There's a platform about level with the water below. Walk about seven or eight meters in and you'll reach an iron gate covered in animal hides. I don't know if there's an ancient tomb inside?"

(End of this chapter)