Tomb raiding: Trying to become a little painter

"Everyone else...everyone else went inside. I couldn't move anymore, and no matter how I called them, they wouldn't turn around."

The man who had woken up looked at Ah Ning, raised his hand, which had regained some strength, and pointed to the entrance of the Devil City.

Upon hearing this, Ah Ning's face turned serious. She looked at the entrance of the Devil City and then at the man. Finally, after a moment of silence, she said something.

"Someone take him to rest first."

After the people in A Ning's team dispersed and went about their own business, Qin Henian walked towards the tent that Hei Xiazi had already set up for him.

Stab it!

After the zipper was unzipped, Qin Henian crawled inside. Hei Xiazi, who had just taken another order for tent-pitching services, glanced at the zipper through his sunglasses and quickened his pace.

Suddenly, Hei Xiazi sensed someone standing behind him, and a natural smile appeared on his lips.

"Don't worry, it'll be ready soon."

"I can see it."

Xie Yuchen was standing behind Hei Xiazi, with a smile on his face but his brows were furrowed.

He really wanted to find out some things, and Xie Yuchen had a hunch that since Zhang Qilin and Hei Xiazi both came from Fourth Grandfather's side, but Wu Xie's side only had Zhang Qilin before, the fact that Hei Xiazi was able to come along this time meant that there must be other people besides A Ning hiring him. Xie Yuchen came to this conclusion after observing for a day.

The biggest factor is another person they brought with them this time. Who is Qin Henian?

"Soon, Flower Master will be finished in two more minutes!"

Hei Xiazi worked quickly, and soon the outline of the tent was complete, with only a few minor details remaining.

"Um"

Qin Henian, who had already entered the tent, sat down as soon as he entered and waved out a new set of clothes.

Looking at the golden-blue robe lying on the tent mat, embroidered with a white crane spreading its wings and weaving through auspicious clouds, and with patterns symbolizing status embroidered on the collar and sleeves, Qin Henian stared blankly, his eyes slowly reddening.

This custom-made white crane and cloud patterned robe was given to him by the first person in this world who found him. Qin Henian has always cherished it and often wears this robe. However, all of this happened more than two thousand years ago.

Finally, unable to resist, he raised his hand and touched and twisted the object repeatedly. In the end, Qin Henian muttered two words.

Zhao Zheng

Qin Henian withdrew his hand, took off his modern clothes, and slowly put on the elaborate robe. At the same time, his black hair was growing longer and longer, reaching his waist.

After tying up his hair, putting on a silver crown, and changing into a robe, Qin Henian still had a few stubborn strands of hair sticking out in front of his fair face. After the whole process, Qin Henian stayed alone in the tent for a full hour and a half, and the sky outside gradually began to darken.

Just then, a series of discussions came from the camp outside.

"I'm not going into Devil City with you!"

"Once you go in there, you can't come out! Didn't you all hear those sounds just now? We people who live around here never go in there. If you want to go, go by yourselves, don't take me with you!"

The young man's voice was so loud that Qin Henian could hear it even without listening carefully.

Meanwhile, in the camp outside, a group of people were gathered in twos and threes, looking at Ah Ning's serious and earnest expression.

“Zaxi, listen to me first. I don’t want to go in either, but we’ve been searching outside the Devil City for over an hour and haven’t found anyone else. That means what that person said was true, and everyone else must have already gone inside. The only way to find them now is to go in!”

They argued for a long time. At first, they were slowly discussing how to go in, but when A Ning pointed out a few people to go in with her, Zaxi's expression suddenly changed. He started shouting and yelling, refusing to go in with her. A Ning's expression became increasingly ugly.

“Brother Zaxi, don’t be so stubborn. There are so many of us, what are you afraid of? Let’s all go in together. If we find the person, we’ll come out. If we don’t find the person, we’ll come out when we’re tired.”

The two argued incessantly, which led Wu Xie, who had also been called out by A Ning, to start trying to comfort Zaxi, the young guide.

"I'm not going in! The Devil City is a place cursed by the gods. Once you go in, you can't come out! You outsiders don't know how dangerous it is. I've heard from the older generation since I was a child that you can't go in here!"

Zaxi is Dingzhu Zhuoma's grandson and one of the guides. When he heard A Ning calling people to enter the Devil City, he started to lose control of his emotions. No one could persuade him, and the noise made A Ning, who was standing in front, look worse and worse. Her hand slowly moved behind her clothes.

Just as she was about to draw her gun as a warning, a hand suddenly landed on her shoulder. Ah Ning turned around abruptly and saw a handsome young man in ancient costume.

"Miss A Ning, why make such a fuss? This guide is just afraid of the legends passed down through generations in the Devil City."

A Ning was unaware that Qin Henian had appeared behind her. At first glance, she thought someone was going to ambush her. However, the fact that he could stand behind her without her noticing made alarm bells ring in her mind, and she became much more vigilant about the person behind her.

"Mr. Qin's skills seem to be really good. Hei Xiazi's recommendation to me was quite honest."

"That's right, that's right, Boss Ning. Blind men never lie. If you don't believe me, ask Zhang the Mute!"

Suddenly praised, Hei Xiazi chimed in, even bringing up his longtime friend, and then turned and gestured with his chin toward Zhang Qilin with his unchanging smile.

"He Nian is amazing."

Zhang Qilin didn't care about anything else, glanced at A Ning and Qin Henian, and said something indifferently.

Wu Xie, who was watching from the side, wanted to agree with his brother, but his childhood friend standing next to him covered his mouth and glanced at him. Wu Xie immediately fell silent, realizing that it was not a good time to interrupt.

"So, what does Mr. Qin mean?"

Ah Ning wasn't stupid. Knowing that the other party's strength was far inferior to her own, all she could do was ask a question.

"Hey... Zaxi, tell me about the legend of the Devil City that you know now. I want to hear how it differs from the version I know."

Qin Henian removed his hand from A Ning's body and walked towards Zaxi.

"Legend? The Devil City?"

Zaxi rubbed his head, his eyes narrowed quickly as he looked at the person walking towards him. Dressed in ancient costume, the person really looked like an ancient person, and seemed quite different from when he had met him before. There was an indescribable and inexplicable aura about him.

"Legend has it that the Devil City was once a prosperous castle where people lived happily. But at some point, the people inside became greedy and began killing indiscriminately. When the gods in the heavens saw the state of the Devil City, they transformed into beggars to try to persuade them, but the people inside wouldn't listen and even beat and cursed the beggar. The gods, disguised as beggars, believed that the people were beyond redemption and had no choice but to teach them a lesson, so they destroyed the Devil City."

"After the destruction of the Devil City, you could hear people wailing all night long. It is said that the souls of the dead were imprisoned in the city by the gods and repent every night."

Zaxi recounted all the legends of the Devil City he knew in one breath. At that moment, a "roar" suddenly came from inside the Devil City, startling Zaxi so much that he took a few steps back.

"Listen! Did you hear that?!"

After hearing this little story, Qin Henian couldn't help but click his tongue twice in his mind. How did those old folks pass down such a fake story? It must be just a rumor spreading around.