Tomb raiding: Intercepting Yin Xinyue and building a family of immortals

“Mr. Hao, I would like to have a talk with this Mr. Su Chen.”

"That's what the team leader, Philip, said."

Hao Pingchuan, acting as the translator, stood quietly to the side, waiting for team leader Philip to speak.

"Respected Celestial Master, may I ask how many years you have been cultivating the Tao?"

Team leader Philip asked a question casually.

Hao Pingchuan didn't provide a one-on-one translation; instead, he used a different approach.

"Master Su, how many people are in your family?"

Hao Pingchuan asked.

How can this be connected?

Su Chen thought for a moment and decided that there would be three people in total, including himself, Yin Xinyue, and Yi Xiao.

"A family of three!"

Su Chen made a three-pointing gesture.

Hao Pingchuan immediately translated, "Team Leader Philip, this Taoist master is already over thirty years old. He looks young because he has been practicing for a long time and has already attained enlightenment."

"What's your opinion on the dragon carcass that appeared a couple of days ago?" Philip asked.

Hao Pingchuan continued translating, "Do you own any land? How was the harvest?"

This is a completely nonsensical problem.

Hao Pingchuan is a real smooth talker.

Su Chen casually replied, "I have a few acres of poor land, but the harvest is alright."

Hao Pingchuan feigned reluctance and addressed Philip again, "This Taoist master said he knows a little about the dragon corpse, and that's why he's here."

"However, because this matter is so important, the Taoist master felt that we needed to pay him an additional fifty pounds."

"He will help us resolve the dragon corpse incident."

The conversation was a little awkward, and Su Chen almost burst out laughing.

Fortunately, he held it in.

That traitor Hao Pingchuan is a real talent; he never forgets to ask for more money.

Team leader Philip took out two more fifty-pound notes from his pocket and handed them to Su Chen, saying, "If you can help me, I can pay you one hundred pounds."

Hao Pingchuan, fearing that Su Chen might realize something, explained, "Mr. Philip thinks you're quite good, so he's giving you a gift from the English Empire."

"Of course, don't think this thing is that valuable. In other countries, it's like toilet paper for wiping your butt."

"Give me the paper later, and I'll give you another dollar!"

Hao Pingchuan can con people without batting an eye.

Su Chen continued to pretend he didn't understand, and instead asked, "Boss Hao, this thing looks pretty strange, but since it's for wiping your butt, forget it, I don't want it."

Su Chen pretended to return the banknotes to team leader Philip.

Philip was already somewhat displeased at this point.

He spoke in bird language, "What does the Celestial Master mean by this? Are you dissatisfied? Do you think I didn't give you enough?"

Hao Pingchuan covered for him, saying, "Yes, Team Leader Philip, he wants three hundred pounds."

“Mr. Hao, please tell this Taoist priest that I can give him three hundred pounds, but he must demonstrate his worth. I still haven’t obtained any valuable clues.”

"If the value he offers satisfies me, I'd pay him five hundred pounds, let alone three hundred!"

Five hundred pounds, fifteen hundred dollars, I'm rich!

Hao Pingchuan was secretly delighted, but on the surface he still pretended to be serious and criticized Su Chen, "Master Su, this is a gift from a foreigner. If you don't want it, you can give it to me!"

"But you must not offend the foreigners!"

"I'm sure you know who the real big shots are on this land. The foreigners have guns, so even if they shoot you, it's no big deal; they can get away unscathed."

That's really how it is these days.

These foreign bigwigs have too many privileges.

Su Chen nodded, "Don't worry, I'll do whatever the foreigner tells me to do!"

"Brother Su, you're not right about that, are you? I'm the one who sent you here to make such a good living, aren't I? You're a bit ungrateful!" Hao Pingchuan glared at Su Chen.

"Okay, okay, I was wrong. I should just do whatever Brother Hao tells me to do."

Su Chen smiled.

This Hao Pingchuan is quite interesting.

Such cunning and deceitful people will either end up in a miserable state or thrive in a very successful one.

"Later, I'll have you set up a ritual and perform divination. You know how to do all these things, right?"

Hao Pingchuan instructed, "After the altar is set up and the divination is completed, tell these foreign devils that this matter is very troublesome and difficult to resolve."

"Pretend you're about to leave, and I'll stop you."

"If you perform well, I'll give you ten silver dollars as a reward when it's over!"

Hao Pingchuan made at least two thousand silver dollars from it, but only gave Su Chen ten dollars.

This person is extremely stingy.

"What happens after that?"

Su Chen wanted to see Hao Pingchuan's arrangements.

"Then just point in any direction and lead these foreign devils there," Hao Pingchuan said. "You're a Taoist priest, you should know about feng shui, right? Find an auspicious spot and have them dig down."

"Ideally, it should be an ancient tomb. After you bring these people in, you can play tricks and scare these foreign devils away."

"Then you can leave safely."

Hao Pingchuan had a clever plan.

Little did they know that Su Chen thought the same thing.

These foreign devils staying here all day is quite a nuisance.

……

That afternoon, Su Chen began setting up an altar and performing rituals.

Following the previously agreed-upon method, Su Chen showcased his acting skills, and with Hao Pingchuan's help, Su Chen finally decided on a direction—the northwest.

Su Chen planned to take these foreign devils to Gulan County to open the Dragon Ridge Maze.

Finally, team leader Philip nodded with some skepticism.

The next morning, the group set off early for Gulan County.

Meanwhile, Partridge Whistle and his group also set off, heading towards Gulan County under the guidance of Li Fugui.

The two groups of people were one in front and one behind.

These foreigners were in much better physical condition than the Chinese at that time.

At that time, the Chinese people were still starving and emaciated, while they were members of an expedition team, and with abundant supplies, they were all tall and strong.

These foreign devils also hired a few locals and got five or six horses to transport the goods.

The entire journey from here to Gulan County is via mountain roads.

The road is rugged; it will take at least a day to get there.

Although these foreigners walked very fast, their supplies were too slow, and sometimes they had to stop and wait for the supplies to move forward together.

And so it wasn't until noon the next day that they finally arrived at a place called Funiu Village in Gulan County.

This is the location of the Dragon Ridge Maze.

It's roughly in the southwest of the village.

After traveling for so long, even these foreigners were exhausted and had no energy left.

In particular, they felt the distance was getting further and further away. Could this be related to the dragon corpse incident?

Su Chen had no choice but to make up another excuse to fool him.