The Informal Tomb Raiding Diary: She is the occupant of the tomb!-Chapter 122: Mutual Deception Is a Basic Principle
Bad guys never say they’re bad guys, and yet she’s the one being rescued, acting like the host of the expedition, repeatedly inviting us over. Aside from that young man supporting her, no one else said a word. Is that normal?
The woman wouldn’t relent, insisting on taking us along, clearly harboring some unspeakable secret.
The strong man, upon hearing the woman’s words, came over to grab the unconscious He Su, but Bi Shi stopped him with, "She’s mine, no one else can touch her."
I can vouch for her; she merely sees He Su as her ’puppet,’ and wouldn’t trust handing her to someone else.
But her words were easily misunderstood, so the strong man gave her and He Su a strange look before retracting his hand. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖
The woman’s suggestion for the strong man to carry He Su also had a hint of hostage holding, hence under no circumstances would Bi Shi let He Su be handed over to someone else.
But this group was dead set on taking us along, or rather, the woman was resolute on bringing us along.
If we didn’t agree soon, their facade of hypocrisy might unravel.
Qinghan finally relented, agreeing to accompany them, and gunfire continued in the jungle for a dozen seconds, followed by a deathly silence.
The woman seemed to notice that among us, Qinghan was the one with decision-making power, so she kept conversing with Qinghan during the journey, subtly probing with many questions to test our true nature.
Qinghan told her, just as he told Big Beard, that we were mere tourists, but the woman didn’t believe him, saying that we were distinguished guests invited aboard by He Su, definitely not regular tourists.
Most of her intel probably came from one of He Su’s men, though she seemed unaware of certain things, like me and Bi Shi being of the same clan as He Su.
Among the ten-person team, that man was not present; I recalled him transferring with the captain to the Ghost Ship.
Those on the ship were likely doomed, and that man had probably perished too by the sea spiders.
The relationship between the woman and him was probably one of mutual exploitation, abandoning him once he was no longer useful, and then letting him fend for himself, while she disembarked alone to meet up with allies.
If this is the case, the person who truly wanted the cruise to enter the Sea of Sunken Ships was likely this woman.
But why would she exploit those around He Su instead of other tourists?
I glanced at the still unconscious He Su; she probably had some connection to this.
On the way, the woman introduced us to the various members of the expedition team. The team leader, as she called him, was a middle-aged man with a scar at the corner of his eye.
There was also a Professor Liu and his two student assistants. The young guy who vouched for the woman was one of Professor Liu’s students.
Qinghan didn’t reveal his own identity, only saying he was also a teacher, a history teacher, and annoyingly he told the others I was his wife.
Yes, this time I wasn’t even a girlfriend, just simply his wife.
And the matter of He Su inviting us aboard was also explained by him as us being on our honeymoon, coincidentally meeting an old friend, Bi Shi. Since we had nothing else to do, we accompanied her.
We thought we came for a luxury cruise holiday, but encountered this mess, and the host got sick; we were at a loss too, so we started a fire on the beach hoping to catch the attention of passing planes or ships.
He Su told his men to invite the ’Priest,’ and that Priest was Bi Shi; we indeed tagged along unexpectedly, which makes Qinghan’s version plausible.
The woman introduced herself as Meng Qingyu, said she was in the clothing business. Busy all year, she finally found time for a vacation but encountered this accident.
We lied, and she didn’t tell the truth either. Although she looked young, she had Qinghan call her Sister Meng.
Rich people age well, so age is hard to tell. Qinghan didn’t accept her obvious attempt at chummy nicknaming, continuing to call her Miss Meng.
While they were testing each other over there, I was mainly focusing on the team members.
Professor Liu appeared to be in his forties, and his two students wore glasses, while he didn’t. His gaze was keen and sharp.
When he saw the plants in the jungle, his face turned especially serious, carefully observing them and occasionally whispering a few words to his students.
Teaching in such a place, they are either daring individuals willing to risk their lives for learning or pursuing studies at any cost.
Apart from these three scholars, the others seemed to be more like bodyguards.
We passed by the cannibal tree again. This time it was less quiet, sensing food passing by. The oversized bud unfolded like a net, or rather a gigantic mouth, swooping down at lightning speed, yet without making a sound.
Since I was walking at the back, I happened to witness this scene and thought the person ahead was finished.
However, the person leading, as if having eyes atop his head, pushed the person behind him away as the bud swooped down, managing to dodge the bud’s attack himself by moving to the side.
The cannibal flower missed its target. Though the stem attached to the tree appeared soft, it was very tough, allowing the bud to swivel and pounce towards the leader again.
At this moment, Professor Liu’s student, the bespectacled young man who vouched for Meng Qingyu, Cong Zhibo, was standing close to the tree.
Standing in such a perilous spot and still having the leisure to watch the drama shows he lacks experience in adventures of this kind.
Moreover, there was not just one bud on the tree; the tree was very thick, and Cong Zhibo was focused only ahead, unaware of a large bud sneaking close behind him.
The petals slowly opened, about to engulf him. Aside from me, Bi Shi also noticed this commotion since I was far and Bi Shi was carrying He Su closer to him.
Bi Shi kicked a stone in front of him, and it hit Cong Zhibo’s ankle with a snap. This spot being hit would hurt quite a bit, making Cong Zhibo crouch down, clutching his ankle uttering a sound.
Simultaneously, the large bud lunged at the spot where he stood, missing its mark, with its petals brushing against his head. When he twisted his neck to look up, he was so scared that his body went limp, collapsing sideways to the ground.
Someone behind him stepped forward and leaped up with a swinging kick that severed the stem connecting the bud.
When Meng Qingyu introduced this person, she said his surname was Lu but didn’t mention a name, only that everyone called him Lu Yidao.
When actually calling him, the team referred to him as Yidao, Xiao Dao, or Dao.
This guy looked about thirty, neither chatting with others nor admiring the scenery, quite the dull character, but he was skillful.
The bud fell, spilling a pool of purple liquid. The dry branches and leaves on the ground rapidly corroded, scaring Cong Zhibo further, who crawled away from the corrosive liquid.
The leader also used his spinning blade to slash at the bud attacking him. This team’s capability clearly surpassed the previous group.
Following them, I felt quite safe. The Lu-named guy ignored Cong Zhibo, rejoining the team, only giving a faint glance at Bi Shi when regrouping.
