Tomb raiding: following the plot while tearing up the script

"Ugh! Ugh! Ugh!!!!"

When Liang Shiye saw Lao Yang pull out a gun and point it at him, he was so frightened that he almost flew off his feet.

"Don't do it! Don't do it!!!" Master Liang begged for mercy while seeking protection from Wu Xie.

The three people in front of him were clearly Wu Xie's main concern; as long as he wanted to live, he could live.

Seeing that he was so frightened that he kept hiding behind Wu Xie, Su Li silently picked up her rice bowl and moved away from him.

Don't accidentally drop my rice bowl.

Wu Xie's head was throbbing from Liang Shiye's voice. He reached out and snatched the gun from Lao Yang's hand, then casually slapped him.

"What's all the fuss about? Are we going to eat or not?"

Old Yang was ruthlessly suppressed by Wu Xie. He was still holding food in his hand and dared not make a fuss. He glared at Liang Shiye and then lowered his head to eat.

Liang Shiye carefully sat back down by the campfire, staring at the bubbling dumpling soup in front of him and swallowing hard.

Wu Xie raised an eyebrow at the old man.

"Want to eat?"

Liang Shiye nodded with a smirk, his stomach rumbling in agreement.

A small dumpling was tossed over, and Liang Shiye caught it in a flurry of activity.

"A snack before meals," Su Li said, shaking the small bottle in her hand to indicate.

Liang Shiye looked at the tiny dumpling in his palm, no bigger than a soybean, and sweat beaded on his forehead.

Opposing factions, prisoners, pills...

What the hell is this pre-meal snack...?

"Well, well, young man, let's talk this out..."

Liang Shiye, who still wanted to try to fight back with his eloquence, saw that Wu Xie was about to hand the gun back to Lao Yang, so he quickly shut his mouth, gritted his teeth, and stuffed the small pill into his mouth.

I originally planned to secretly keep it in my mouth and spit it out when these little devils weren't looking, but to my surprise, it melted instantly in my mouth and was incredibly smooth from the moment it entered my mouth until it went down my throat.

This startled the old man, whose face had turned red from the burn, and he looked at Su Li with trembling lips.

"Little kid, what, what are these meatballs???"

"Don't you already know?" Su Li blinked her innocent big eyes and gave a vague answer.

Liang Shiye was indeed aware that in this situation, with this kind of appearance, it was nothing more than something that could be controlled by him.

"Come on, we're all family here, don't be shy, eat up!"

Well, so they admit he's one of their own. It seems they have a lot of faith in that little pill and are certain he would never dare to betray them.

With a resigned sigh, Master Liang himself felt somewhat bewildered; he couldn't even muster the slightest thought of resistance. Sigh…

He channeled his grief and anger at being forced into prostitution into his appetite, filling himself a large bowl. Since things had come to this, he figured he might as well eat and drink as he pleased; using himself was better than killing himself.

Wu Xie and Su Li exchanged a smile. You shouldn't say anything to this old guy with his head full of convoluted thoughts.

If you keep nagging him, he'll try to find loopholes in your words, find ways to get rid of you, and even try to turn the tables on you.

On the contrary, let him fill in the blanks in his own mind and scare himself. With the knowledge they've gained in the last few decades, they can scare themselves into submission.

After everyone had eaten and drunk their fill, Lao Yang and Liang Shiye finally had the time to observe their surroundings.

What they are now using as a temporary campsite is a small pebble beach.

Not far from them was the latter half of the cliff, and the direction from which the underground water flowed was like a giant two-step staircase; they were now between these two steps.

At this moment, apart from their campfire, it was pitch black all around, and they couldn't see anything in their surroundings.

Lao Yang was thinking about it.

Suddenly, a loud "bang" rang out above the cliff, and a signal flare illuminated the scene below, revealing everything to everyone.

Their platform is not far from the cliff, and they can see the situation below the cliff very clearly.

It was a natural cave that covered a considerable area, filled with layers upon layers of simply shaped coffins.

Without any curved shape, the coffins, resembling stacks of wooden boxes, were piled one on top of another. At a glance, there were at least several thousand coffins piled up here.

The scene was simply unimaginable...

"Wow! How spectacular!" Zuli exclaimed.

Lao Yang looked at him with a strange expression.

This child is really strange. He's not afraid when he should be, and he cries and makes a fuss when he shouldn't be.

She acted weak and delicate the whole way, but then easily pulled Wu Xie away from her at the waterfall...

Strange, the more I think about it, the stranger it seems.

Unaware that Su Li had already aroused Lao Yang's suspicion, Wu Xie nodded in agreement. "This is practically a warehouse full of coffins!"

Master Liang also walked to Wu Xie's side. Now that he had accepted his fate, it was time to show his value.

"This place looks somewhat like the cave burial culture and customs unique to the Miao people of Gaopo."

Upon hearing this, Lao Yang looked at Master Liang.

"This, this place still has Miao people?"

Master Liang nodded. "Before liberation, this area seemed to be a cluster of several small villages, inhabited by several ethnic minorities, including the Miao people."

As he spoke, Master Liang pointed to the coffin that was closer to them and showed it to Lao Yang.

"Did you notice those coffins?"

Lao Yang nodded, puzzled.

"The coffin board was just a few pieces of wood randomly assembled together. It doesn't look like the style that Han people would accept. We Han people are very particular about coffins."

That's true; the Han people attach great importance to funeral culture.

Those who could afford it would be extremely particular about everything from the materials used for the coffin to the construction of the tomb, ensuring the location was auspicious. Even ordinary families without such means would still want a meticulously crafted coffin of perfect quality and a tomb with favorable feng shui.

If you just randomly piece together a few planks and throw them into a cave, then the storylines in movies and TV dramas about selling oneself to bury one's father, mother, or other innocent girls become even less plausible.

However, the cave burial culture favored by some Miao people is different. The difference in cultural customs leads to different understandings of death.

They would find a large, natural cave near the settlement of the tribe to serve as the burial ground for the entire tribe. Only married, elderly people who died of natural causes were eligible to be buried there.

They would stack coffins one on top of another without any preservation measures, and then continue to stack them on top of each other once the lower coffins rotted and collapsed.

The ones on top are the ones from the most recent era, while those at the bottom have been great-grandparents for who knows how many generations.

Based on the number of coffins they have seen so far, either this group is quite large, or this group has lived in this area for a very long time, which is why they have accumulated such a large number of coffins.

Now, it's unclear whether it's because the community has moved away or because cremation has been fully implemented, but there's no sign of any new coffins.

The entire burial complex was enormous and magnificent. The signal flare burned out after burning all its heat and fell to the ground, so everyone only got a general view of it.

Knowing the general situation below is enough. After a day of intense activity, there's no need to make any unnecessary moves now. We can talk about everything after we wake up tomorrow.

Wu Xie tossed out four sleeping bags and a bottle of burn ointment to Liang Shiye, who looked like he'd seen a ghost.

It's fine that the two of them have built-in protection, but Lao Yang and Liang Shiye are covered in burns, and they'll get infected if they don't get treatment.

They were asked to help each other apply the ointment. Wu Xie sent Su Li to sleep, while he tidied up the pots and pans and arranged the night watch.

Below is the burial grounds, and who knows what strange things might wash down from the waterfall (like various 'acquaintances' or the like). We still need to have someone guarding it.

Liang Shiye is currently too intimidated by Su Li to harbor any ill intentions, and Lao Yang absolutely does not want anything to happen to Wu Xie, nor is he afraid that the two of them will cause any trouble at night.

The three of them can be divided into three shifts, so that they can all get relatively enough sleep.

As for Su Li... she's still growing, so she shouldn't stay up late.