Chapter 82: This Tomb Owner Is Damn Genius!
Good grief, I knew Lin Yan was strong, but I didn’t expect him to be this strong? And that Zhang Qiling, he looks unassuming, but he’s this powerful too! Look at that little frame, his muscles must be made of iron, right? Fatty was utterly shocked inside. He originally thought his own strength was pretty good, but now it seemed that among the four, he could only crush Wu Xie.
Before, watching Lin Yan and the others chisel, it seemed easy, just a few strikes to make a pit. But when it was his turn, he realized it was truly not easy at all! Fatty looked at the small shallow pit he had chiseled out after nearly five minutes, tears streaming in his heart: These are two beasts!
Another hour or so passed. Fatty was exhausted to the point of near collapse, and Wu Xie below was already drowsy and about to pass out when they finally dug the foothold to a spot more than a meter below the treasure ceiling.
“Fatty Ye is exhausted to death!” Fatty practically rolled straight down from above; it was truly tumbling and crawling. After coming down, he lay on the ground without moving: “Fatty Ye needs to rest a bit. You there, that little skinny one, go up top and check. If there’s no danger, we’ll rest and then start digging directly!”
Wu Xie stood up and stretched lazily, only feeling his bones creaking all over his body, his joints aching terribly. He climbed halfway up stepping on the pits, already feeling like he couldn’t climb anymore. Thinking that once up top he’d still need to free a hand to inspect the treasure ceiling, Wu Xie suddenly felt drained. He didn’t want to fall from up there! That was at least ten meters high; a bad fall could be fatal!
What to do? After coming down, looking at the pillar in front of him that three or four people couldn’t encircle with their arms, Wu Xie fell into contemplation. Fatty watched him go up and then down, staring blankly at the pillar, feeling some doubt: “Young comrade, what are you doing? Staring at the pillar without moving—don’t tell me you’re thinking of chopping it down to take back?”
Wu Xie gave him a resentful look: “No, I can’t climb up.”
“Hahahahaha!” Fatty suddenly perked up laughing. He didn’t expect Wu Xie to be this weak! Now he understood why Wu Xie had brought Lin Yan down—this little weak frame, without someone to help, would probably really get stuck inside the tomb!
He wobbled to his feet: “I remember there’s still some rope left in your backpacks, right? Tie a knot around your waist, then loop it around the pillar once, and you’ll climb right up.”
With that, he started to walk to the spot beside Lin Yan where the backpack was placed, but then thought better of it and came back to ask Wu Xie first: “Shall we wake him up? If there’s no danger by then, we can just head out. Better to go up together?”
Wu Xie weighed it for a moment and nodded. Though he felt reluctant to wake the soundly sleeping Lin Yan, once they were out on the boat, they could sleep however they wanted. No need to waste time in this tomb where oxygen could run out at any moment.
Fatty went over, picked up the backpack, woke Lin Yan, and couldn’t resist touching the little zombie on top of his head. Damn, the texture was really nice, like stroking a plush cushion. He didn’t know how this zombie was raised—glossy and smooth, even better to touch than a pet.
Lin Yan jolted awake from Fatty’s pat, startled: “Done chiseling?” Fatty nodded. Watching Lin Yan struggle to get up and move his limbs, he took the chance to pinch his arm: “Your muscles aren’t even that solid. How are you so strong?”
Zhang Qiling, who had just finished chiseling the last pit on the other side of the pillar, jumped down. He took the backpack from him, pulled out the rope, first cut a section with his knife and tied the knife to himself, then tossed the rope to Wu Xie.
After Wu Xie caught it, he first looped it once around the pillar, then once around himself. After tying the knot, he found there was still a long section dragging on the ground. Zhang Qiling watched him make a mess of it, couldn’t help shaking his head, and took the rope from his hand: “That’s not secure.” Then he untied the part looped around the pillar. When Fatty and Lin Yan finished packing and walked beside the pillar, he handed the other end of the rope to Fatty, gesturing for him to tie it around his waist.
Watching his actions, Fatty instantly understood: He wanted them to give Wu Xie leverage and pull him up. He couldn’t help patting his head: “That’s a good method too. You actually thought of that.”
Seeing this, Wu Xie smiled apologetically, thinking to himself that he’d exercise once back—next time he absolutely couldn’t drag them down again! Wait, why was there a next time? Wu Xie couldn’t help falling into contemplation. Why was he thinking of going into tombs again next time? Weren’t the lessons from Lu King’s Palace and this underwater tomb enough? What was he thinking? Wouldn’t it be great to go back and be an antique shop boss? Why waste the effort! Hmm, decided—go back to being a salted fish. This would absolutely be his last time entering a tomb!
Pitiful Wu Xie didn’t know that there’s something called a FLAG that doesn’t play by any rules at all; and there’s a creature called the protagonist that doesn’t follow science at all!
Lin Yan carried one pack, had Fatty carry the other, and the two oxygen tanks were one each for him and Wu Xie. Fatty and Zhang Qiling—one with rich tomb raiding experience, the other with peak human physical condition—so the oxygen tanks went to these two rookies. When he took the rope from Fatty’s hand to tie around his own waist, forming a closed loop around the pillar, he paused, realizing they’d forgotten something: “What about that woman?”
Everyone followed Lin Yan’s finger to look at A Ning, then remembered: Damn it, they forgot the boat ticket!
Lin Yan looked at the remaining section of rope, then at A Ning, and a lightbulb popped up over his head: “Got it!”
He dashed over, picked up A Ning, came back, first set her on the ground, quickly tied the rope around his waist, then connected it to Wu Xie’s, untied part of the rope knot behind A Ning, and fastened it to his own waist. Feeling it wouldn’t affect movement, he grinned at the group: “No problem now!”
“.”
“.”
“……”
He was met with three people’s weird looks. Fatty and Wu Xie had doubts echoing in their minds about whether Lin Yan was human, while Zhang Qiling felt his decades of cognition shatter into slag today. He knew the thing in Lin Yan’s head was outrageous, but he never expected it to be this outrageous! If it gained the upper hand in Lin Yan’s body… Zhang Qiling thought that after getting out, certain plans needed to be implemented early, and some changes made.
With Zhang Qiling and Lin Yan pulling on either side, Wu Xie indeed found it much easier to climb. Without expending too much effort, he reached the top of the pillar. After catching his breath, he reached out to feel: “Gypsum soil, solid inside. Chisel it open first to see—should be blue bricks or something.”
Fatty breathed a sigh of relief. This gypsum soil was much easier to chisel than the pillar; in just a few strikes, he made a pit. He placed his hand on the exposed blue bricks to feel, and his expression suddenly cracked: “Holy shit, this tomb owner was a damn genius!”
“What happened?” Wu Xie asked quickly. Zhang Qiling reached over to touch, and his gaze instantly turned serious: “The blue bricks between are cast with iron slurry!”
“What now?”
Zhang Qiling and Fatty exchanged a glance and said in unison: “Dynamite!”
