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

"Naturally, the two families will split it equally!"

Of course, that's assuming you survive...

Su Chen is no saint; he was unjustly stopped and taught a lesson, yet he still expects to repay evil with kindness.

Since the Wu family has ill intentions, then I don't need to be polite!

Upon hearing Su Chen's words, Old Wu's old face immediately furrowed.

He looked worried and subconsciously picked up his pipe, lit it, and took a few deep drags of his pipe.

At this time, the big black man, who was also Wu Laogou's father, Wu Jizong.

He quickly leaned closer and whispered, "Father, this is a good idea. This man is a successor of the Tomb Raiders. With him on the team, we have a better chance of winning. Giving up half of the treasure is better than giving it all up."

The Wu family is no small family; the main branch and its branches number in the hundreds.

With such a large group of people, Wu Lao was responsible for their food, drink, and daily needs, which put a lot of pressure on him.

More importantly, the Wu family, unlike the Huo and Xie families, doesn't know how to do business.

Their only way to make money is to set up a pot and retrieve the treasure.

This massive locust plague has not only caused suffering to ordinary people, but has also severely damaged large clans.

If we don't start work soon, the workers will really go hungry.

Thinking of this, Old Wu steeled his resolve and immediately said, "Alright, it's a deal!"

After Su Chen and Old Wu agreed on the departure time, the two groups went home separately.

Back in Sujia Village, Su Chen thought it over and decided to take only Black-backed Old Six to Biaozi Ridge.

Su Yitian and the others stayed in the village to continue practicing their shooting skills, as well as their boxing techniques.

The rest of the people were busy clearing weeds from the 300 acres of wasteland and tilling the land.

It's too late this year, but we must plant in the spring next year so that we can harvest grain in the autumn and be self-sufficient.

Otherwise, if you keep buying grain like this every day, no matter how much money you have, you'll eventually run out of it.

……

Three days later.

Su Chen brought Blackback Lao Liu to Changsha City and first went to the blacksmith shop to pick up the custom-made probes and other tools.

Then, at Shili Pavilion, north of the city, they met up with the Wu family.

On this day, Old Wu, along with his son Wu Jizong and two grandsons, sat on an oxcart. All four of them were dressed like traveling merchants.

When Wu Jizong, a burly man, saw that there were only two people on Su Chen's side, he was slightly surprised and asked, "You have so few people?"

"It's not about having a lot of people, just enough to get by."

Su Chen casually replied, then turned to look at Old Wu.

"Old man, shall we go?"

"go!"

Old Wu, the leader, succinctly announced the departure.

So the whole group got on the oxcart and wobbled towards Biaozi Ridge.

Biaozi Ridge is about fifty or sixty li away from Changsha City, which is about the same distance as Lishan.

But according to Old Wu, the ancient tomb is further inside, more than 20 miles away once you get into the mountains.

Fortunately, this mountain path is rarely used anymore, so there's no need to worry about being noticed.

They traveled in silence, and Su Chen and his companions finally arrived at the foot of Biaozi Ridge before nightfall.

There is a semi-abandoned post station here. It was originally built during the Qing Dynasty and was responsible for delivering letters and receiving merchants and travelers.

However, with the completion of the railway, this post station lost its purpose.

From the outside, the walls of the inn are mottled and overgrown with weeds.

Old Wu led the group into the inn, while he tied the oxcart outside and let the old ox graze.

He walked in, tapped his pipe, and said, "The road ahead is a mountain path, and you can only walk. All sorts of strange things happen in the mountains, so remember one thing: no matter what you see, don't look back, just follow the person in front of you."

Hearing this, Su Chen was slightly taken aback and subconsciously asked, "Grandpa, is there anything strange happening in the mountains?"

"It's hard to say, all sorts of strange things happen."

"Could you tell me about it?"

Old Wu thought for a moment, then nodded and said, "Alright, I'll give you a brief explanation so you won't be ignorant and cause trouble later."

"As the saying goes, 'Deep mountains and old forests are sure to produce monsters!' Whether in the past or now, one must always be on high alert when entering the mountains."

“When I was young, I worked as a镖师 (bodyguard/escort) in the Taihang Mountains. On one such mission, the team encountered a series of mishaps. Several镖师 broke their legs or fell ill. The镖队 (escort/escort) of more than a dozen people was exhausted and sleepy in the mountains.”

"Having walked for most of the day without being able to leave the mountains, the head镖师 had no choice but to find a dilapidated temple in the mountains and spend the night there."

"I was half asleep when I was woken up by the urge to urinate in the middle of the night. I tried to wake my companions, but they wouldn't wake up. So I went to urinate outside the dilapidated temple by myself. While I was urinating, I turned around unintentionally and saw that the mountain god statue inside the temple seemed to be moving."

"I thought I was still half asleep, so I quickly rubbed my eyes. When I looked more closely, I found that the mountain god statue had really come down from the shrine."

At this point, everyone felt a chill run down their spines.

Especially Wu Laogou, the youngest of them all, was stubborn on the surface, but he couldn't help feeling uneasy inside.

Su Chen was very curious and couldn't help but ask, "Grandpa, are you sure you saw it clearly? It was the mountain god statue that came to life, not some kind of civet or jackal?"

"Of course it's a deity statue! How could I not tell the difference between an animal statue and a mountain god statue!"

Old Wu raised his head, his face showing displeasure, and continued his story.

"I still can't forget what the mountain god statue looked like! It had two heads, one crying and one laughing. One had a red face and the other a black face. And both had fangs!"

"After the statue came to life, it went to where the bodyguards were sleeping. Then it lowered its head and bit their necks one by one to suck their blood."

"I was terrified. I didn't even have time to pull up my pants before I stumbled and ran outside."

"Anyway, I don't remember how long I ran. I only remember losing my shoes, having blisters all over my feet, and running until I was exhausted. It wasn't until the sun rose that I realized I had run out of the mountains."

Old Wu's face was a little pale, but he was still curious about the fate of those bodyguards and couldn't help but ask, "Sir, what happened next? Did those bodyguards die?"

"do not know……"

"do not know?"

Old Wu took a few puffs of his pipe, nodded, and said, "After running away, I didn't dare go back to the mountains. I only went back to the escort agency once, and quit my job a few days later, heading straight back to my hometown, Changsha. But later, I did receive a letter from the escort agency..."

"What did the letter say?"

"The letter said that the bodyguards were safe and sound. Not long after I left, they returned with their goods."

"Ah? Everything's fine?"

Not only Wu Laogou, but everyone present, except for Wu Laobatou, was somewhat surprised.

To everyone's surprise, Old Wu revealed a hint of mockery and said in a low voice, "You don't really believe those bodyguards are alright, do you? About a few months later, the newspapers reported that all forty-odd people in the escort agency had been drained of their life force and turned into dried corpses!"

Upon hearing this, the inn fell silent instantly.

A chilling sensation spread through everyone's hearts.