The Informal Tomb Raiding Diary: She is the occupant of the tomb!-Chapter 30: Hiding Downstairs

Miss Scream was slightly weaker than Boss Lu. After rounds of hair-pulling, face-scratching, and spitting, she was a pitiful sight.

But she had an indomitable spirit; even when I pulled her away, she was still baring her teeth and claws at Boss Lu.

What surprised me the most was Boss Lu; her skills were only a bit better than Miss Scream’s, far below the level of her subordinates. I thought she was the true heroine of an adventure film.

I dragged Miss Scream out of the cave. During this, she tried to break free by force, but I slapped out two of her porcelain teeth, subduing her.

When Boss Lu saw me ’calm’ Miss Scream, her gaze lost its arrogance, and she meekly followed behind me.

Without her bodyguards, this combat ability on par with Miss Scream quickly deflated her arrogance.

Outside the cave, the sky was blanketed with dark clouds and raging winds. We could barely stand. Shunfeng was almost blown away by the wind, with Wen Jing holding him tightly, the two huddling together moving forward.

The snow was dense like a curtain, blinding us. At this rate, we’d freeze to death before reaching the foot of the mountain.

Chen Qinghan knew it was a blizzard outside. For him to rush us out despite the storm, there must be something more terrifying inside.

I had no recollection of this mountain and naturally didn’t know the way down. The endless snowy mountains stretched beyond the horizon.

Having lived underground for years, I had never seen the outside of the ancient tomb, but I gathered a lot of information from the Tomb Robber. At least, I knew the tomb was within the UN borders.

The snow mountains within the UN are tourist attractions, with tourists coming in an endless stream, but no tourist has ever accidentally entered the ancient tomb.

Even if someone climbed the mountain today, they would retreat upon noticing the weather change, so we had no chance to call for help.

"Wait, we’ll die if we keep going like this. I know a place halfway up where we can take shelter from the storm," Boss Lu shouted in the wind.

"Why didn’t you go there earlier if it’s a shelter? Are you up to some trick again?" Wen Jing shouted back.

Our ears were filled with the sound of the wind. I kept turning back to see if Chen Qinghan was catching up. In such an environment, we couldn’t hear footsteps.

"My people are at the foot of the mountain; I’m the only one left up here. What tricks can I pull? I just want to save my life; you can follow if you want!" Boss Lu quickened her pace, overtaking Wen Jing and Shunfeng.

We wanted to wait for Chen Qinghan, so we walked slower and were gradually left behind by Boss Lu.

Wen Jing and the others were still in half-wet clothes; they indeed needed a place to warm by a fire.

"You follow her. I’ll wait for Professor Chen. Don’t worry; I’ve adapted to the cold. I’ll be fine," I said, throwing Miss Scream to Wen Jing.

Wen Jing was still carrying my backpack. Luckily, Boss Lu and the others weren’t interested in it and decided to bury them along with the backpack when they wanted to eliminate them without leaving a trace in the snow pit.

Wen Jing returned the backpack to me. He and Shunfeng sandwiched Miss Scream between them and went after Boss Lu.

The blizzard was obscuring our view. If we didn’t hurry and catch up, it wouldn’t take long to lose sight of Boss Lu.

Wen Jing seemed worried I wouldn’t keep up, so he and Shunfeng distanced themselves; one in front, one behind, trying to keep their figures within my line of sight.

About five minutes later, Chen Qinghan walked up with a sword in hand. Seeing his strong stride, he didn’t seem injured.

"Boss Lu mentioned there’s a shelter halfway up; they’re ahead."

"Keep moving, don’t stop," Chen Qinghan waved his hand at me.

Seeing him come out, I felt relieved and turned to chase after Shunfeng’s silhouette down the mountain.

From Chen Qinghan’s tone, the crisis wasn’t over. I glanced at the direction behind Chen Qinghan, vaguely seeing a figure in the distance, but it was too far away, and the wind and snow obstructed my view, so I couldn’t see what it was.

I quickened my pace, thinking that whatever it was, it was a danger Chen Qinghan was eager to get rid of, and we needed to find a place to hide quickly.

Traveling in the blizzard was extremely difficult, combined with the strong wind, it felt like we could be blown away if we weren’t careful.

It took us two hours to reach the shelter Boss Lu mentioned, which resembled an abandoned mine.

The door was locked with iron chains; Chen Qinghan slashed them open with his sword. Except for Chen Qinghan and me, the others collapsed to the ground and couldn’t get up as soon as they got in.

I pulled the door shut and fastened the handle inside with chains. The door looked old, covered in rust, but the core seemed solid; no human or animal could break through.

"Find something to make a fire; they’re in trouble," Chen Qinghan said. With thick frost on his eyebrows and eyelashes, snow covered his hair. He shook off the clumps of snow on him and surveyed the surroundings.

We must be in a mine; there were tracks for transport on the ground.

The sleepers under the tracks hadn’t rotted, possibly due to being preserved in low temperatures for years.

I took out a crowbar from my backpack; it’s a common tool for the Tomb Robber to open coffins.

After prying open the tracks, I used the sleepers underneath to start a fire, placing Wen Jing and the others not too close or too far from the fire.

Their frozen bodies needed to ’thaw’ slowly. They needed water and food, but I didn’t have any in my backpack.

"I’ll go take a look inside." Living in the tombs, entering this mine, I felt no discomfort and just wanted to look around to find some food for Wen Jing and the others.

The mine certainly wouldn’t have ready food, but there should be plenty of small animals.

Chen Qinghan had to stay to look after the group, so he didn’t come with me. I ventured alone into the depths of the mine.

Theoretically, the mine and the ancient tomb were in the same snowy mountain, akin to neighbors above and below, but I had never seen miners enter the tomb, which meant this mine path didn’t dig into the tomb area.

The snowy mountain was all permafrost, and digging a tomb tunnel through permafrost was already labor-intensive; excavating a mine must have been even harder.

But who would come to such a high altitude to mine?

With this curiosity, I reached the end of the mine, which was technically a collapse zone.

Rubble and dirt blocked the path. I tried digging with my hands, but the rocks and dirt were frozen together, and the soil was especially hard.

Excavator work ought to be for the Water Monster; I returned to the entrance and asked Chen Qinghan about the Water Monster’s whereabouts.

"It was killed by that thing," Chen Qinghan said with dim eyes: "To buy me time to escape."

"It was a good... monster," I didn’t know how to say it, awkwardly awarding the Water Monster a good monster card.

"Aren’t you... angry?" Chen Qinghan spoke hesitantly, something rare for him, looking away, not meeting my eyes. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

"Angry?" I wondered aloud. The Water Monster and I only met today; its willing sacrifice to save Chen Qinghan was its decision. Why should I be angry?

"If we hadn’t come, the ancient tomb wouldn’t have been damaged, and it wouldn’t have died."

"Thank goodness you came!"