Tomb raiding: Trying to become a little painter

With a plan in place, the three forces quickly divided their manpower equally. Qin Henian's group of four, including Wu Xie, Xie Yuchen, Wang Pangzi, and Hei Xiazi, went to Banna, leaving only himself and Xiao Qilin to go to the more dangerous Zhang Family Ancient Building, fearing that the password Xiao Tiandao had mentioned would be wrong again. This time, when the others were being divided into groups, Qin Henian strongly insisted that Wang Pangzi go to Banna, because Pangzi was more observant and had better aim.

Half a month passed in the blink of an eye. Qin Henian had been staying at Yun Cai's house with Zhang Qilin for half a month. During this time, they waited for news from Sichuan. Only after Zhang Qilin and Qin Henian received the password did they notify the Huo family and Qiu Dekao.

Of course, after Qin Henian and his companion obtained the information shared by both sides and the approximate coordinates of the mountain, they would not act alone. After all, the other two sides had brought many people with them, and they were naturally "forced" by Xie Yuchen to have five or six skilled members of the Xie family follow behind them. Pan Ziming from the Wu family was ostensibly acting on Wu Erbai's orders to represent the Wu family, but it was unclear whose orders he was actually following. Incidentally, several members of the Xie family also participated in this operation on behalf of the Xie family.

With these forces divided, Qiu Dekao personally led his elite squad, Huo Xiangu led half of her trusted followers, and Qin Henian and Zhang Qilin were backed by a hastily assembled force from the Wu and Xie families...

Gathering at the foot of Yangjiao Mountain, Qin Henian met Ah Ning's boss, Qiu Dekao, for the first time!

"Little Qilin, this old man is about to die, no wonder he was in such a hurry!"

"Look at his rosy cheeks, all wrinkled. He's old and his hair is white. His hunched shoulders aren't very pronounced, but his frame is what it is. I bet he's also very weak inside. If it weren't for the fact that foreigners are generally tall and strong, he probably would have kicked the bucket long ago!"

"And that Huo Xiangu I met before, the old woman standing opposite Qiu Dekao now, she's not young either. Even if she's in good health, how long can she last..."

The moment Qin Henian saw Qiu Dekao, he pulled Zhang Qilin, who was mute, aside and glanced at Huo Xiangu. In short, he looked left and right, and whispered gossip to Zhang Qilin so that no one else could hear him.

A warm breath brushed against his earlobe, and a hint of a smile flashed in Zhang Qilin's eyes.

"Alright, boss! Everyone's here, it's time for Lao Bai to step in and apply pressure!"

At this moment, one of Huo's servants pulled a rather old man dressed in a white robe to the front, greeted Huo Xiangu, and then told the old man beside him to "begin the performance".

Seeing this, Huo Xiangu simply nodded and said nothing more.

Qin Henian looked at the old man called Lao Bai, who had a blue line under his black hair, indicating that the old man was indeed quite capable.

"Brother Henian! Master Zhang! Third Master and the others are already on their way from Sichuan. After we go down, they will meet us up here!"

At this moment, Pan Zi, who had been assigned an important task, gathered his men and walked to a meter away from Qin Henian, smiling as he spoke to him.

"Row!"

"But you all wait at the tomb entrance when we go down. Little Qilin and I will go in. You should have heard about this tomb; it's dangerous inside!"

They were afraid of neglecting the people they brought. These people were all employees of the Xie and Wu families, and those who listened to Xiao Hua and Pan Zi were probably their trusted confidants. These days, it's not easy to cultivate a loyal employee, so it's better not to make unnecessary sacrifices here.

Qin Henian stood next to Zhang Qilin, raised his hand and put it on the boy's shoulder, and looked at Pan Zi.

“I know it’s dangerous inside, but our main mission this time is to protect Master Zhang and you. If something happens to you, I won’t be able to explain it to Third Master and Master Hua…”

Pan Zi's tone remained unyielding; he was a stubborn man, and since he had agreed to the young master's request, he would do his best to fulfill it.

"What do you need to explain? There's no need to explain. Who in the martial arts world doesn't know how skilled Little Qilin is?"

"As for me? I don't think I'm any less capable than a junior. Panzi, just relax. After you send us down, just take some men and keep watch outside! Fewer people will actually make things easier. Too many people might backfire. Tomb raiders aren't stealing eggs, so we don't need that many people!"

"Quality is more important than quantity when it comes to people, right, little Qilin?"

To be honest, it doesn't matter whether he brings others or not, but he can't bring his own people. The main issue is this tomb... Little Heavenly Dao already said that this tomb is a trap, full of mechanisms. Qin Henian can bring others in to their deaths, but he can't bring his own people in to die...

While explaining to Pan Zi, Qin Henian also tried to drag Zhang Qilin into the mess.

Zhang Qilin nodded in agreement, then thought for a moment and spoke.

"He Nian is right!"

boom!

Just as the three were about to continue their discussion, a loud noise suddenly came from not far ahead, interrupting their conversation.

The sound came after the old man in white found the location and organized a group to dig a tunnel. Halfway through, they discovered a rock formation below, large but few in number, and an irregular passageway was easily visible through the gaps. Seeing this, the old man in white gathered some explosives, stuffed them into the gaps, and ignited them, resulting in the explosion...

A huge boulder fell from the mountainside and crashed into the ground, sending debris flying and dust billowing everywhere...

After more than ten minutes, the dust settled. The team led by A Ning and Huo Xiangu went to check and quickly found that half of the stone blocking the tunnel was broken, leaving enough space for people to go down.

I checked oxygen levels, took a light, and finished the general examination...

"Go! Be careful, go in one by one!"

Ah Ning took the lead in instructing her mercenaries to prepare to enter, while the woman who disliked Ah Ning, still injured, supported Qiu Dekao as they slowly and unsteadily walked inside.

"Tsk, foreign dogs are so pretentious!"

Huo Xiangu watched as some people went ahead to get shot and die, but she didn't stop them. She just smiled coldly as she watched this group of guys surrounding Qiu Dekao. She didn't seem to remember that she was not young anymore. She spoke venomously, making no attempt to hide her hostility towards Qiu Dekao. Then she led her men to follow behind.

After passing through the rubble-strewn tunnel and entering the underground space, the group turned on their flashlights and discovered that the passage below was a crooked and twisted one. Because of the light from the flashlights, Zhang Qilin and Qin Henian immediately noticed that the passage was made of stone slabs pieced together by the ancients, and that in addition to brown stones and soil, there were also green and blue jade minerals laid underneath in the gaps on both sides.

For safety reasons, Panzi and his group were left at the entrance of the cave and were not allowed to go inside.

Huo Xiangu and A Ning, who discovered that someone had been left behind, also left some people outside to provide backup.

"Everyone, keep your eyes peeled. If I haven't misjudged the location, we're sure to find something if we go straight through this passage!"

At this moment, the old white man who had been tinkering outside for half a day started speaking again, holding a compass in his hand in a very serious manner, and speaking with a smug look on his face.