Chapter 50: “just Call Me A Ning”
Wu Xie stood there blankly, his mind a jumble of thoughts, a thousand threads he didn’t know where to begin untangling. He knew tomb raiding was a dangerous profession, but before this, he had never understood the trade so deeply. His grandfather’s notebooks always skimmed over the treacherous dealings, focusing more on the bizarre creatures encountered underground. He hadn’t truly prepared himself to enter the profession, yet his Third Uncle had inadvertently drawn him into this situation.
He had initially thought the events at Lu King’s Palace were the most thrilling of his life, but not long after, he encountered this rare storm, coming to a place far from land, using knowledge he barely understood to rescue his Third Uncle.
Now, someone was telling him to forget that this woman had almost killed him, because they were considered teammates now.
He was confused, always feeling things shouldn’t be this way. But if he didn’t slightly improve their relationship according to Fatty’s suggestion, what if that woman really decided to kill them after finding the underwater tomb? He didn’t doubt that A Ning was capable of such a thing. There were only Fatty and Lin Yan, just two people. Even if Fatty stood with them, the other side had at least ten people! But to back down like this…
He, the Wu Family Third Master Xiao, had his own pride, alright.
Fortunately, it seemed there was still quite some time before they reached their destination, so he could think slowly.
Shaking his head, as if to discard all the messy thoughts in his mind, Wu Xie walked over to Lin Yan, who was leaning against the railing, enjoying the breeze.
“What’s wrong?” Lin Yan didn’t even need to turn his head to know that Wu Xie’s current state was not quite right; his brows were furrowed enough to catch mosquitoes.
Wu Xie shook his head slightly: “It’s nothing, Fatty just said a few things to me.”
He paused, then finally asked: “Lin Yan, am I really too naive?”
Lin Yan glanced at him and asked casually: “What, what did Fatty say to you? Why are you suddenly getting so sentimental?”
Wu Xie said: “He said we should try to ease our relationship with A Ning and her group.”
Lin Yan couldn’t help but chuckle: “I thought it was something serious. Is Fatty afraid that if you keep butting heads with her, she might make a move after finding the place?”
He shook his head: “Don’t forget, she has several divers in her team, an antique expert, and a document interpretation expert. When it comes to mechanisms, you’re one of a kind. If she goes down, she’ll definitely bring you along. Also, she’ll definitely want to know the whereabouts of the Snake-browed Bronze Fish from our mouths. While she might not know that the box contains the Snake-browed Bronze Fish, anything her company specifically came to find must be important, right? She can easily find out that we took the item and even sold the box. Among the relevant people, your Third Uncle is missing, and we are the only ones who know. So, rest assured, as long as she still wants to help the company recover the item, she won’t harm us.”
Wu Xie sighed with worry, unconsciously touching the dagger at his waist: “But…”
“Alright, no more ‘buts’.” Lin Yan patted his shoulder and walked back into the cabin. “With this time, you might as well take another nap and rest up. We’ll adapt as we go. Trust me, you won’t die here.”
Wu Xie gave a bitter smile as he watched Lin Yan’s retreating back, but still chose to stand there, continuing to feel the breeze, hoping to calm himself down.
Before long, he felt someone standing beside him. He turned and saw it was A Ning.
He hadn’t gone to find her, but she had come to him.
A Ning’s attire this time was different from before. Her waterproof wetsuit was unzipped at the top, revealing half of her collarbone and chest, looking quite cool. Wu Xie stole a glance and dared not look again; he couldn’t forget the sight of this woman pointing a gun at them.
It was A Ning who spoke first: “What, Mr. Wu, don’t you have anything you want to ask me?”
Wu Xie replied indifferently: “What is there to ask? If you have time, Miss A Ning, why don’t you give me my reward first.”
A Ning showed a hint of curiosity at the right moment: “Oh? Mr. Wu, are you in urgent need of it? Although Thousand Year Blood Qin is rare, I don’t believe the Wu Family’s wealth can’t afford it.”
Wu Xie secretly exhaled. He had a feeling this woman was probing him and braced himself to respond: “No, it’s just that I didn’t get what I wanted when I went to Beijing. Since you’ve come looking for me, it would be a shame not to ask for some compensation for my trip.”
A Ning smiled, it was unclear if she believed him: “Then why did you insist on bringing Mr. Lin along? If I’m not mistaken, he’s just an ordinary person? Or an ordinary person who likes to wear ancient costumes.” She recalled her first impression of Lin Yan when she saw him at Panjiayuan, attracted by his attire.
Ordinary people? Wu Xie chuckled inwardly. Could ordinary people be immune to hallucinations? Could ordinary people communicate with eye contact without hindrance? Could ordinary people make Mute Bottle react to his blood? Could ordinary people… have a thing in their head?
He stiffly replied, “Doesn’t this have anything to do with Miss A Ning?”
A Ning frowned, “Mr. Wu, it seems you have some misunderstanding about me.”
Misunderstanding? Wu Xie sneered. Was almost killing them a misunderstanding?
“How come I don’t know we have a misunderstanding? Miss A Ning might as well explain first, why did you invite me here?” He had already figured it out on the way over, how flimsy A Ning’s reason for finding them was, and that it was due to his own preoccupations. “Don’t tell me you can’t search at sea because of the storm, you know I won’t believe that.”
A Ning sighed slightly and then asked him a question, “Mr. Wu, do you know why we were able to get here so quickly this time?”
“I don’t know, what does that have to do with it?”
“Of course it has something to do with it, and a lot to do with it.” A Ning looked at him meaningfully, “Mr. Wu Sansheng requested that you be found, and this equipment. Before coming, he specifically prepared two sets, which allowed us to proceed so smoothly this time.”
“What?” Wu Xie’s heart immediately became flustered, “You mean, finding me was Third Uncle’s backup plan? It’s like he knew he was going to go missing?”
A Ning shook her head, “I don’t know if he knew he was going to go missing. I only know that the plan he provided was very detailed, considering almost every aspect, which is why we were able to proceed so smoothly this time. If there are no accidents, only one last sea area should remain unsearched. With Mr. Wu’s skills, finding an ancient tomb entrance from a small sea area should not be difficult, right?”
Wu Xie shook his head without responding. He suddenly thought of the notebook he had given his Third Uncle. What had the expedition team discovered back then that made his Third Uncle still yearn to enter twenty years later? Was he trying to retrieve something, or had he forgotten something inside? As for people, he inwardly shook his head. How could a person live in a tomb for twenty years? Even if there might be air inside the tomb.
Thinking about the “unclean” things that might be in the tomb, he asked A Ning, “Besides the regular equipment, do you have any special equipment this time?”
A Ning looked at him in surprise, “What do you mean by special equipment?”
Wu Xie frowned, “Equipment that can break curses or ward off evil spirits.”
A Ning shook her head, “We don’t have that kind of equipment, but everyone is equipped with a gun for diving. As long as there isn’t…” She bit her lip, her face turning pale, recalling the people who died under Lu King’s Palace. “As long as there isn’t that kind of… that kind of thing, I believe guns can handle it.”
Wu Xie thought for a moment, “Do you have any extras? Lin Yan and I might need them too, for self-protection if there’s danger.”
A Ning thought about it and felt it made sense, but she still shook her head and gave an apologetic smile, “We didn’t prepare extras. But if it’s like what’s down there, we did prepare a few things.” She beckoned to a subordinate and had him bring two black donkey hoofs to Wu Xie.
Wu Xie looked astonished. They actually had these? But having them was better than not, perhaps they would be useful down there. So he looked up and gave A Ning a sincere smile, “Thank you, Miss A Ning.”
A Ning was a little surprised; she had never seen Wu Xie be so amiable towards her before. “You’re welcome, it’s what I should do. But since we’re already this familiar, can you stop calling me Miss A Ning? Just call me A Ning.”
It must be said, when a beautiful woman takes the initiative to ease the relationship like this, most people wouldn’t refuse. After the conversation just now, some of the knots in his heart had loosened, not to mention that they had just given them enough equipment for self-protection.
Wu Xie thought for a moment and then agreed.
“Okay, A Ning.”
(First update!)
