Tomb raiding: following the plot while tearing up the script

"Take a long-distance bus, then a long-distance minibus, then a motorcycle, and then follow the cows to the river to take a boat." Black Bear pointed to the map and showed Su Li the route.

Of course, this is not their route.

Su Li, who had already changed into the same style as Hei Xiazi, sat in the passenger seat with sunglasses hanging from her ears and dangling on her chin. She was biting into a huge skewer of candied hawthorns that Hei Xiazi had specially brought from Beijing, and was leaning against the car window watching five people carrying large and small bags board the long-distance bus in the distance.

Besides Zhang Qiling, Wu Xie, and his despicable third uncle, there were two other employees of the Wu family: a burly man with a bandit-like air and a strong, muscular man.

"So many transfers? This car is so old and worn out." Su Li had a hawthorn in her mouth, and her words were muffled. "The Wu family is one of the Nine Gates, just like Hua Hua. This old man is too stingy! Poor Brother Zhang, when has he ever suffered such humiliation?"

Black Blind Man: ...

"What are you thinking? Before your brother Zhang and the blind man met you, they suffered such injustices every day."

They had endured all kinds of hardships before, but ever since they found this child, they had been following Hua'er Ye and had only enjoyed a few days of refined and comfortable life.

Black Bear patted Su Li on the head.

"Your brother Zhang had a really tough time. He's not a petty person to begin with, and he also suffers from amnesia. When he has amnesia, well, everyone wants to bully him. Even a blind man has to scoop him up countless times."

"Sanatorium experiments, using human bait to hang blood corpses?"

"Absolutely! It's terrible, the child looks like he was soaked in bitter melon water."

Su Li raised her hand and patted Hei Xiazi's head. "You've had a tough time too."

Zhang Qiling's skills, honed by his family's system since childhood, were considered the pinnacle of combat prowess in the underworld, yet he still couldn't resist the machinations of human nature.

Hei Xiazi was originally a pampered young prince. He endured countless hardships and narrowly escaped death many times before acquiring his skills and earning a reputation that rivaled Zhang Qiling's.

"It's...it's alright." Hei Xiazi was almost caught off guard by the child's head pat.

But seeing the little brat acting like an adult, he rolled his eyes and came closer, flashing his signature sly grin. "Blind men can endure hardship. As long as Little Ali gives me some good stuff, blind men aren't afraid of hardship, hehe."

Su Li immediately withdrew her hand.

“Master said that one should not suffer in life. If you can endure hardship, there will be endless hardship. The blind man is obedient. From now on, let others suffer. We will not suffer.”

Black Bear: ? ? ? ? ?

Has my child gone astray?

"The bus has departed over there, should we catch it?"

"No rush, we're not going to follow their path."

Su Li turned her head. "Is there another road to that village?"

"Otherwise, how would supplies get in and out of the village? Would they have to feed the corpse beetles by waterway or transport such a small amount of stuff over mountains and valleys by mules?"

Black Bear slowly started the engine.

"Although that village is remote, it still has basic infrastructure, including a guesthouse. There are motorcycles and tricycles available. If there were no roads, how would these things get in?"

"That old man is a complete liar."

"That's right. The landslide that Hua'er mentioned before, where a huge cauldron appeared, happened on that road. People from above took it away, and the road was reopened."

"Heh heh, he wanted to show Wuxie the bronze bell and also borrow the puppet to broaden his horizons."

The long-distance bus in front of us was now just a tail.

"Let's go, let's go into the village and wait for them to run into the trap." Black Bear turned the steering wheel, picked up the speed, and in less than a few minutes they overtook the bus and sped away.

Wu Xie, who was staring blankly out the window on the bus, watched as the car whose appearance perfectly matched his aesthetics reappeared and drove past him.

Looking through the half-open passenger window, I saw a little girl dressed in black, with long hair tied in a high ponytail and adorned with a jade hairpin, munching on a candied hawthorn.

I'm so envious! I wish I could sit in a luxury car and eat candied hawthorns, or even instant noodles!

"Young Master, what are you looking at?" Panzi asked from the side.

Wu Xie shook his head, glanced at Zhang Qiling who was not far away, holding the Black Gold Ancient Sword and resting with his eyes closed, and leaned closer to Pan Zi to speak in a low voice.

"Isn't that the guy who bought the Dragon Spine backpack? Is he also Uncle Three's partner?"

Pan Zi glanced cautiously at Zhang Qiling, and seeing that he didn't react, he moved closer to Wu Xie and lowered his voice even further.

"That guy? I don't know him. He was introduced by Third Master's friend in Changsha. It's said that he has a great reputation in the underworld and is very capable, like a living god. This time, Third Master specially paid a high price to bring him in as a backup."

"So powerful?" Having lived an ordinary life for over twenty years, Wu Xie had little concept of these things in the underworld. He only knew that the strange man his third uncle had told him to call "Little Brother" was very mysterious and must have some skills.

That old fox has the funds to hire bodyguards at great expense, yet he still managed to trick me into spending so much money on equipment for him. Just thinking about the money I've spent on this equipment makes my heart clench...

It hurts! It hurts so much!

Look at this swaying, slow-moving bus. It's making his bones ache. That old fox, so rich yet so stingy, no wonder he's still single!

Thinking about that SUV I really wanted just now, it looks so good... Waaah, what's wrong with one more rich person like me in the world? What's wrong with that?

At this moment, Zhang Qiling, who was being praised by Pan Zihua, opened his eyes, took out the new phone that Hei Xiazi had bought for him, and said, "Don't ask where the old one is. It's because Brother Zhang wears out his clothes and phone while working."

A text message from Zuli.

I'll go ahead first, and contact you after I meet the boatman.

She slightly curved her lips, put the knife away, hugged it tightly, and closed her eyes.

All I could hear were Wu Xie and Pan Zi talking quietly, Da Kui snoring loudly in the front row, and the sound of a car engine. The whole bus was a noisy, mixed mess of sounds.

Zhang Qiling appeared to be sleeping peacefully, as if nothing could disturb him.

Gradually, the whispering stopped. Long-distance buses are truly a magic weapon for wearing down people's physical and mental strength. Before they knew it, most of the passengers had fallen asleep.

After a few hours of swaying and bumping, the bus arrived at the station, and we transferred to a minibus, which took another few hours.

Wu Xie stared at the several motorcycle taxis in front of him, his face turning from white to green, then from green to pale...

While they were still trekking through mountains and rivers, Hei Xiazi and Su Li, who had just entered the village, had already parked their car in front of the guesthouse.

The guesthouse had quite a lot of bedding, so the two of them shared a room, rested and washed up, and then went downstairs for a delicious local farm meal.

The ingredients were fresh and the taste was good, but the owner was too enthusiastic and her eyesight wasn't very good.

She pulled him along, calling him her daughter, praising his good looks while scolding Hei Xiazi for being an unreliable parent, dressing his daughter up like a brat.

His mouth went on and on, but he opened it several times without uttering a single word.

The proprietress finally stopped to take a sip of water, and Black Bear left a comment.

"I'm taking my little brother out for a walk. You go ahead and do your work, ma'am."

They grabbed Su Li and fled in panic.

Having escaped the landlady's clutches, Su Li breathed a huge sigh of relief. He felt that if they hadn't run away, the landlady would have dug out her daughter's floral dress and put it on him.

Damn it, even though his youthful face has soft features, that doesn't mean he should be mistaken for a girl. Who says boys can't have long hair?

I really want to find a pair of scissors... Ugh, am I out of my mind? Why am I cutting my hair? I almost got led astray.

(Little Ali would absolutely never cut her hair, guess why?)