Tomb raiding: following the plot while tearing up the script

As the pheasant clucked from its neck, as if in response, commotion began to come from below.

The continuous clucking sounds gave one the illusion of having wandered into a large poultry farm.

"Wow, this is quite a commotion." Black Bear adjusted his glasses and lifted his fishing rod.

The fishing rod, which had been doing nothing just moments before, snagged on something before he even got halfway there after he lifted it up. He pulled it up and saw…

The fishhook got caught on the pheasant's neck... right on its seven-inch spot?

Good grief... you're going to hit their weak spot right off the bat, aren't you?!

"Come on, come on! Today's competition is: the person who gets the least food will be the one cooking tomorrow!!"

"Alright, alright, let's roll the dice tomorrow and play mahjong the day after," Wu Xie replied nonchalantly, betting that Hei Xiazi would always be last.

Snake fishing is in full swing, but their catch is nothing compared to the vast army of snakes.

It was just a recreational activity, and they had a great time until the early hours of the morning when the snakes started to recede, at which point they packed up and prepared to rest.

……

The signal smoke signaled them to wait in place, but they weren't in a hurry. They leisurely stayed in the swamp, treating it as a vacation.

The next day, after sleeping in, Hei Xiazi, along with Su Li, Wu Xie Wang, and Fatty, took a small boat and wandered around the area. Relying on the water-repelling beads on their bodies, they made their way towards the underwater buildings.

Fatty Wang had been curious for a long time. This group of buildings should be the ruins of the former Queen Mother of the West's city. He wondered if there were any good things waiting for him to find in this place.

The four of them left early in the morning and didn't return until dusk in the afternoon.

As soon as he returned to the covered walkway in the courtyard, he started taking things out.

The four people who stayed behind in the courtyard watched.

Under the curious gazes of the crowd, Wu Xie was the first to pull out a bunch of...

amount……

Still dripping water and oozing mud... pots and pans?

That's fine, but why is this long, white rib, which I don't know which animal it is, also in here?

Oh, and there's a bunch of branches here...

Wu Xie awkwardly scratched his head. The water was murky, and he didn't pay much attention. He just stuffed whatever he touched into his spatial storage, thinking he'd come back and pick through it to see if there were any good things. But...

Nothing...

"Have."

Zhang Qiling suddenly spoke, then squatted down next to Wu Xie, pulled out something covered in mud from a pile of rubble, and handed it to Wu Xie.

"Go wash up."

The little dog, who had initially thought he had only dug up a bunch of junk, was surprised to find an unexpected treasure. His eyes lit up instantly, and he happily carried the lump of mud to wash it.

A moment later, Wu Xie's cheerful voice arrived even faster than he did.

"Hey bro, look at this!" Wu Xie rushed back, holding something in his hands, and shoved it in front of Zhang Qiling.

Zhang Qiling reached out and took it.

This is a jade teapot handle, no bigger than the palm of your hand. It is exquisitely crafted, but it doesn't look like the craftsmanship of the Western Queen Mother's Kingdom. It looks more like the work of a local artisan from the Central Plains.

The jade used in this small teapot is of only ordinary quality, and the craftsmanship is only at a passable level. It is carved with auspicious cloud patterns.

Because it's unknown how long it's been buried deep in the mud, the jade's texture and color have undergone noticeable changes.

The color is a light yellowish-brown, and the surface of the jade pot, which should have been smooth, also shows obvious 'orange peel' phenomenon, making it feel uneven to the touch.

"Not bad, Tianzhen, you actually managed to touch something!" Fatty Wang took the item after Zhang Qiling finished looking at it and rubbed it for a moment.

Originally just an activity to pass the time, Wang Pangzi was even more excited when he actually found something real. He couldn't wait to pull out everything he had touched.

It's clear that Fatty Wang is very purposeful when touching things; he only touches two kinds of things.

It either has obvious carving marks or is packaged in various boxes.

What's piled up at his feet right now is all sorts of statues, statues, statues, boxes, boxes, boxes...

These statues and wooden boxes, made of unknown materials, have been submerged in water for so many years without completely decaying and still retain their most basic functions.

"Fatty, you...you really have a deep love for the human-faced bird!" Wu Xie looked at the various statues that Fatty Wang had taken out and carefully examined them...

Goodness, they're all old acquaintances... no, I mean, old birds...

That doesn't seem right either, so is the human-faced bird a human or a bird?

Fatty Wang never expected that after carefully selecting for so long, he would suddenly unearth so many human-faced bird statues.

"Are the residents of the Queen Mother of the West's Kingdom poisonous? How come their homes are full of these things?" Fatty Wang complained, having specifically visited several homes just to touch them.

"Is it possible that... the inhabitants of the Queen Mother of the West's kingdom worship this thing? Is this statue a deity they worship?" Wu Xie guessed.

Just like the people of the Central Plains who believe in gods and, if conditions permit, will also enshrine statues of gods in their homes, the people of the Western Queen Mother's Kingdom are exceptionally devout.

Overwhelmed by the sheer number of statues, Fatty Wang listlessly opened a palm-sized wooden box.

The box was filled with muddy water, and the bottom was covered in dark mud, but there seemed to be something different in the mud.

Fatty Wang casually picked up a twig from Wu Xie's pile of junk and poked around it, revealing a round object about the size of a coin.

Seeing the reassuring color beneath the silt, Fatty Wang dropped the wooden stick in his hand and used his hands to wipe away the silt.

"Is this a gold ingot?" Fatty Wang asked, not entirely sure.

He weighed the gold nugget in his hand; it was quite heavy. Then he rummaged through the wooden box and pulled out about twenty pieces.

Excellent, very fruitful!

Looking at the dozen or so wooden boxes of different sizes at his feet, Fatty Wang rubbed his hands excitedly; he was already getting impatient.

Money doesn't matter; it's the unknown sense of accomplishment that's so addictive.

"Little Fatty really knows how to have fun, opening blind boxes here." Black Bear laughed as he watched Fatty Wang happily sticking his butt out and opening the boxes one by one.

"Ah Li, what did you and the blind man find?" Wu Xie was squatting next to Fatty Wang watching him open blind boxes when he heard Hei Xiazi's words and couldn't help but ask curiously.

He remembered that when they were groping underwater, Hei Xiazi pulled Su Li along, heading in a clear direction, and Hei Xiazi seemed quite excited.

He would have gone with them if he hadn't thought he'd stumbled upon a great place and wanted to explore it first.

Who would have thought that the best place he found would be the kitchen?