The Informal Tomb Raiding Diary: She is the occupant of the tomb!-Chapter 78: I Remember What You Said

I feel no guilt in excavating the tombs of my own kind, or rather, I feel no kinship with them.

Those who are still confined after death must have been a ’curse’ in life. Maybe I caused some public outrage, like when I was a terrorist in the Heavenly Maiden Clan.

Standing in opposition to the entire clan, there’s naturally no feeling of closeness, not even with that ’old friend’ who isn’t too friendly to me.

As Qinghan said, the mechanisms in the Snow Mountain Ancient Tomb are double-insured—not letting outsiders in and preventing insiders from getting out.

They don’t want me to see the light of day again, don’t want me to remember everything.

Why? Are they afraid I’ll retaliate against them?

Hmm... In a sense, I am retaliating, if tomb raiding counts as a means of retaliation.

We found a motel in the county town; the conditions here are rather mediocre, but the driver said it was already the best in town.

There are no hotels or inns here, because this isn’t a tourist area or a commercial trade zone. The county town is small, only the size of a small town.

I know nothing of the local language, and neither does the group of foreigners, so we needed a translator. The foreign leader convinced the driver to go into the mountains with us by paying double the rate.

If we encounter local people in the forest, we need someone to explain that our actions are officially authorized; otherwise, it could cause unnecessary trouble.

Since I politely asked him to keep quiet in the car, the big guy hasn’t tried to talk to me again.

Their team has an invisible shield that isolates me and Qinghan, and only their leader Pete communicates with us.

But the communication is superficial; they haven’t revealed any core content.

They just want Qinghan to obediently be a guide with no intention of letting him participate in the excavation.

This is something Qinghan can tolerate, but I cannot. It’s an overseas tomb, and a ’legal’ excavation, and I overheard the foreigners saying they can take whatever they want from inside, as the rich man only wants one thing.

Take whatever without handing it over—how can I miss such an opportunity? The foreigners want to burn bridges and ditch us, but do they know who I am?

Qinghan just shook his head and sighed at my eagerness and quick preparations.

"Why sigh? You don’t want to take it, I will. You find a contact to sell it, and we split it fifty-fifty. Fair enough?"

"Be careful. If you eavesdrop again and they catch you, what will you do?"

"What can I do? That’s their problem to worry about. What can they do to me? I’m like a dead pig unafraid of boiling water."

"You..." Qinghan smiled helplessly.

I threw an arm over his shoulder, grinning like a thief: "With me as your good brother, you’ll live the high life!" 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

Qinghan’s brow twitched: "Now we’re good brothers? Why do I feel like you once wanted to kill me..."

"Nonsense, that’s your imagination. No such thing. We’ve got a bond through life and death, sharing blessings and hardships!"

"You said it. I’ll remember." Qinghan shook off my arm, smiling as he patted my shoulder.

The way he smiled made me uneasy. I wondered if it was too late to cut ties...

But what I said wasn’t entirely a joke. Now, Qinghan is on my side, and everyone else is an outsider.

So I must stand by my people, not let him be bullied.

After all, I’m not someone who plays by the rules!

After two days of rest, the team set off early in the morning, heading directly for Mani Village, a drive of about three to four hours.

Leaving the white of the Tibetan Area, we entered the green of the Jade Country. Through the car window, everything was green—only mountains and forests.

We arrived at Mani Village close to noon. Since no outsiders usually come here, the villagers were very curious about our group.

The driver told the curious villagers we were a scientific expedition team researching plants and the ecological environment.

Their leader taught the driver to say that, and they even pretended to be snapping photos with ’long barrel’ cameras.

The simple villagers believed it and wanted to invite us to their homes, but the driver politely declined due to time constraints.

However, we had lunch at the village chief’s house. Although there was a language barrier, the chief’s enthusiasm didn’t wane.

The leader took out their own food to share with the chief’s family. Qinghan and I were assigned to a different table, not with the chief or the leader.

From this arrangement, we could tell our status within the team, but it didn’t matter. Once inside the tomb, they’d realize our importance.

After lunch, we continued driving into the mountains. Mani Village is surrounded by mountains, not found on the map. Entering the forest requires Qinghan to lead the way.

The Heavenly Maiden Tomb in Jade Country was discovered by a Huaxia tour group. Their itinerary was just to stroll along the edge of the virgin forest.

But three people suddenly wanted to venture deeper into the forest and left the group while the guide wasn’t looking.

In the end, of course, they got lost in the vast virgin forest, but accidentally fell into a hole and found the entrance to the Heavenly Maiden Tomb.

They just couldn’t open the tomb door. One of them was poisoned from touching the door, but luckily their phone had a GPS and a rescue team found them in time, saving the poisoned person.

Because the tomb could contain a large amount of poison, the local government resealed it.

This incident was reported to Qinghan’s ’boss’, who sent them to investigate. They dug out the pit that the government filled and, based on the style of the carvings on the tomb door, roughly concluded it was the Heavenly Maiden Tomb.

But opening a poison-filled tomb is a major project. Qinghan and his group of four went to avoid attracting attention.

Later, they had to refill the hole and mark it, waiting for the right time to act.

So they awaited the foreign team, said to have excavated five overseas Heavenly Maiden Tombs.

It’s a ’well-experienced’ team, no wonder they looked down their noses at me and Qinghan, as if we were ’noobs’.

I asked Qinghan if they knew who was the little expert at opening mechanisms in tombs. How could they look down on him?

Qinghan said all Huaxia tomb excavations are confidential, so even secret skills wouldn’t be revealed to outsiders.

Meaning those foreign teams have no idea there are such experts in Hua Country.

They rely on advanced equipment and weapons, while Qinghan and I came with nothing but the treasure sword disguised as an umbrella on his back, so naturally, we were underestimated.

Qinghan is not one to lose his composure. If the leader tells him to lead the way, he leads without asking about shared information.

Our Zen-like attitude made them mistake us for being weak, really thinking we had no skills and this operation completely depended on them.

Our equipment was prepared by Qinghan on the way, of good quality, sturdy, and durable. We each had a backpack. His side held tools, mine held his rations.