Chapter 5: Step Three To Save One’s Life: Cling To A Big Leg Plan!
For Lin Yan, getting along well with Wu Xie was currently all benefits and no drawbacks. Previously, it was because Wu Sansheng was watching him; he was afraid that contacting Wu Xie would let the old fox overthink it. After all, his appearance was already very strange. If he stimulated the old fox any more, what if he got chopped up halfway by accident?
But now that Wu Xie couldn’t hold back his curiosity and took the initiative to contact him, naturally there would be no such concerns.
What was the strategy for getting along with the protagonist? He had summed it up before crossing: two words, aloof! Why did Zhang Qiling always get Wu Xie’s attention? It was because he was aloof enough, keeping everything rotting in his stomach without saying a word. Wu Xie, that curiosity-bursting innocent little puppy, naturally couldn’t resist and would take the initiative to approach and self-strategize in the process. Wouldn’t the relationship just improve like that? Unless it was Wang Pangzi, that chatterbox hopping around everywhere—only someone like that could spark Wu Xie’s curiosity to approach proactively. Therefore, this plan was the most reliable, with Zhang Qiling as a precedent.
Of course, this plan also had pros and cons. Only people with high appearance could spark others’ curiosity by being aloof. For those with low appearance being aloof… heh, they might just be background extras, not even getting a single line.
However, being too aloof wasn’t good either. If Wu Xie didn’t dare to ask anything, it would be pointless. So the best persona was someone not too ruthless, not too talkative, and fairly friendly to others. Hadn’t Wu Xie just delivered himself to the door to let him grind favorability?
If there was a friendliness display box from a game at this moment, you would definitely see Wu Xie’s panel change from “Favorability: 5 Cold” to “Favorability: 20 Friendly.” Successfully crossing the friendly threshold! Just wondering if it had any effect on Wu Xie’s physique of falling into pits wherever he went—maybe it would pit him a little lighter.
The group finished their compressed rations. Zhang Qiling pointed at the map and said, “We are definitely here now.” He pointed at the spot on the map with a fox face drawn on it, and everyone crowded over to listen to his analysis.
“This is the altar. The sacrificed priests buried with it might be right below here.”
After hearing this, Wu Sansheng found the spot and squatted down, grabbed a few handfuls of mud and sniffed them, shook his head, changed spots and sniffed again: “Buried too deep. Need to dig down a few shovelfuls to check.”
So the few exchanged glances, took out tubes from their bags and assembled them section by section, fixed the shovel head, and used a short-handled hammer to drive them down section by section at the spot Wu Sansheng indicated. Lin Yan didn’t have this thing in his bag, so he was happy to idle beside.
Wu Sansheng placed his hand on the tube to feel. At the thirteenth section, his expression suddenly changed: “Got it!”
The shovel was pulled up section by section, finally bringing up a shovelful of bloody mud. Everyone’s faces turned pale, even Zhang Qiling let out an ah. Lin Yan looked at the bloody mud and felt a bit nauseous. Wu Sansheng inadvertently glanced at him and took in his expression completely. “Looks like he knows what this is too. Seems he really is someone in the know.”
Lin Yan still didn’t know the misunderstanding was growing bigger. Even if he knew, he probably couldn’t do anything about it. Now he was busy suppressing his rebelling stomach. If he acted too much like baggage, he might get solved here by Wu Sansheng—of course, avoiding Wu Xie’s face. Hadn’t you seen Wu Xie just pale a bit with no other reaction?
Damn! Damn crossing! He! Wanted! To! Go! Home!
Sigh, whatever. Already here, saying these things was meaningless. The important thing now was to follow this group and strive to stay alive inside the tomb! Of course, if possible, continue living after getting out… Just didn’t know if he could return to the original world.
Over here, Wu Sansheng lit a cigarette and said to Da Kui, “No matter what, dig it out first.”
Panzi and Da Kui didn’t stop, digging down a few more shovelfuls. Then the few busied themselves connecting the tomb-robbing holes. Gradually, the shape of the tomb emerged on the surface. The more Wu Xie looked, the more off it seemed. Warring States Tombs rarely had underground palaces, but this one not only did, it even seemed to have a vaulted ceiling—this was very unusual.
Wu Sansheng confirmed the position of the coffin: “Below is a brick ceiling; the shovel head can’t go through. I can only determine a rough position and break in from the back wall to check. Follow the Song tomb method first; if not, dig again.”
They were all professional tomb robbers; they dug tomb-robbing holes extremely fast. This instead made the three standing beside seem idle. Zhang Qiling was extremely aloof to begin with, so it was fine. Wu Xie and Lin Yan looked at each other, feeling quite awkward.
Before Wu Xie could think of a topic to break the silence, Wu Sansheng had dug the tomb-robbing hole and cleared a large brick wall. Da Kui called from below: “Done! Come down!” He hurriedly led the way inside.
Just as they went down below, they saw Da Kui about to knock the brick wall with his hand. Zhang Qiling immediately held him back: “Don’t touch anything!”
“Don’t touch the bricks!” Lin Yan came down before Zhang Qiling and, seeing the brick wall, remembered that in the original work, this wall seemed to have some mechanism. Without Zhang Qiling, it would be total annihilation. But he came down before Zhang Qiling and saw Da Kui’s hand about to touch it, while Zhang Qiling was still behind. What if he couldn’t stop it…
But he didn’t expect Zhang Qiling to be so fast. His words had just left his mouth when Zhang Qiling held Da Kui back.
Now it was awkward. Everyone’s gazes shifted back and forth between the two of them. Zhang Qiling stared at him intently, while the curiosity in Wu Xie’s eyes and the scheming in Wu Sansheng’s were about to overflow!
After a half-moment of silence, Wu Sansheng gave Lin Yan a deep look, then shifted his gaze back to Zhang Qiling: “What’s the problem?”
Zhang Qiling extended two fingers and felt along the brick seams. “There’s an anti-theft interlayer inside. All the bricks can only be pulled out, not pushed in.”
Panzi couldn’t help but reach out and touch the wall: “There’s not even a gap here. How to pull them out?”
No sooner had the words fallen than Zhang Qiling had found a brick. With two fingers exerting force, he actually clamped the brick out hard! Lin Yan’s eyes went straight watching beside. No wonder he was the biggest cheat in the tomb raiding world—Xiaoge is awesome! (voice cracking)
