“Dare to try, or not?” Li Chonglou chuckled.
This stopped Lan Ying completely.
After all, they were two straight men. If she really angered them, they might leave her on the highway.
In the middle of nowhere, she would have to rely on her godfather to pick her up, which would be too embarrassing.
Thinking of this, Lan Ying despised Li Chonglou and Xu Lie even more for being unrefined.
But on the surface, she dared not offend them further.
“A woman’s most valuable quality is to keep her mouth shut,” Li Chonglou taunted deliberately when he saw she dared not speak anymore.
Lan Ying’s pretty face turned purple with rage, her eyes filled with immense hatred.
Actually, Li Chonglou had no issue with the woman who had saved him, and given his personality, he would even be grateful.
But it was precisely Lan Ying’s arrogance. After saving him, she still tried to put him down, which was counterproductive.
It was like in daily life, some parents who thought they were doing what was best for their children, while doing kind deeds, would relentlessly criticize them, only to be resented by their children.
Li Chonglou deliberately teased her to let her know not to be too arrogant.
Along the way, Xu Lie and Li Chonglou chatted and laughed, deliberately leaving her ignored in the back of the car.
It was one hundred and two kilometers from Xihai City to the ancient site of Xihai Commandery.
Traveling along the edge of the vast salt lake, with the boundless azure West Sea on the left and snow-capped high mountains and grasslands stretching as far as the eye could see on the right, dotted with herds of cattle and sheep, the scenery was vast and spectacular.
Such a sight was rarely seen inland.
Two hours later, the convoy exited the highway at Gangcha County.
They turned into the foothills of the nearby Mo’er Eseri Peak.
A large river flowed here directly to the West Sea, backed by mountains and with an open expanse in front. In ancient times, this would have been an easily defensible location.
It was indeed the best place for building a city.
However, the wind and frost had long since completely buried the ancient ruins, making them difficult to reappear in the world.
“Xiao Li, this place is called the Triangular City by the locals. Master Liu told me that he discovered the Tiger Tally Stone Casket and a large number of Wuzhu and Daquan coins here,” Su Yinchuan said after getting out of the car, standing on the top of a small slope and looking down at the vast and desolate ground.
Li Chonglou’s brow twitched slightly.
He was of course aware of what Su Yinchuan had mentioned. His senior sister had already told him that their master had discovered these things here.
This was why they determined that the ancient site of Xihai Commandery was not in Haiyan County but in Gangcha County.
Before they could excavate, he was shot and wounded by Liu Zhibo’s subordinates.
Liu had claimed these excavation results as his own and arrogantly told Su Yinchuan that he had discovered them.
He even asked Su Yinchuan to bring people to excavate cultural relics.
Truly shameless!
However, Li Chonglou would certainly not tell Su Yinchuan these words.
His purpose for coming this time was not solely for revenge. His senior sister had instructed him to take the opportunity to ascertain whether there were any clues about Shi Boqiong in the ancient site of Xihai Commandery.
Therefore, he had to be patient and not show his hand too soon.
As for Xu Lie, he habitually kept a cold expression, and others could not discern any emotion from his face.
“Boss Su, where is this Master Liu you mentioned?” Li Chonglou asked calmly.
“He’s busy with some matters and will be here this afternoon. He’ll send someone to meet us shortly,” Su Yinchuan chuckled.
As he spoke, a Land Rover came speeding from the mountains, kicking up dust.
“Speak of the devil, here they come. Let’s go meet them,” Su Yinchuan said, walking down the slope with his hands behind his back.
Screech!
The Land Rover skidded to a halt beside them. A young man wearing sunglasses, with an arrogant and sharp demeanor, stepped out of the car.
Wearing tactical boots, his muscular physique was evident beneath his camouflage uniform.
Even with sunglasses, it was not difficult to see the conceited and punchable expression on his face.
After getting out of the car, the man glanced at Li Chonglou and the others. The contempt in his eyes behind the sunglasses was undisguised.
Then, his gaze fell on Lan Ying. He grinned, spread his arms, and walked towards her: “Yingying, long time no see.”
“How could it be you? Zhu Mingzhe, you’re still alive? You’re quite resilient,” Lan Ying’s beautiful eyes widened in shock, then she glared with disgust and shouted, “Stay right there!”
“Don’t make me dislike you even more.”
“You still have such a temper. Meeting your old flame and acting like this,” Zhu Mingzhe stopped and sneered.
“Who is your old flame? Zhu Mingzhe, I warn you, if you dare to take advantage of me with your mouth again, don’t blame me for causing trouble for you in front of my godfather!” Lan Ying’s beautiful eyes flared with anger, as if she had some past grievances with him.
Hearing this, Zhu Mingzhe raised his hands in surrender: “Alright, I won’t provoke you for now.”
After speaking, he looked at Su Yinchuan.
His expression softened slightly. He placed a hand on his chest and bowed slightly: “Mr. Su, my boss asked me to pick you up.”
“Let’s go. Come with me to the camp first.”
Su Yinchuan nodded without speaking, his expression unreadable.
The group got into their respective cars and drove into the mountain gorge, raising dust.
Here, the cliffs on both sides were thousands of meters high, almost vertical and extremely steep.
There was already a lot of snow on the mountains. Although there was no snow at the bottom of the cliffs, it was very cold, and they had to turn on the heating in the car.
The deeper they went, the more surprised they became. They hadn’t expected Liu Zhibo to set up camp so close by.
No wonder the Eagle detachment stationed by the West Sea hadn’t found his whereabouts until now. If Su Yinchuan hadn’t wanted to find him, it would have been as difficult as ascending to heaven.
About ten minutes later, the convoy stopped at the end of the road. On the right was a stream that ran through the entire valley, and on the left was an indented cliff face.
Beneath the cliff face was a cave that had been artificially carved out.
The entrance was wide enough to allow four people to pass through simultaneously.
Two burly men guarded the entrance, their legs bulging, clearly carrying firearms.
Inside the cave, the lights were bright, and the roar of generators was constant.
“What a massive undertaking…” Su Yinchuan exclaimed, standing at the cave entrance after getting out of the car with his bodyguards and Li Chonglou.
One had to admit that humans were the most magnificent creatures.
With modern technology, they had managed to carve out a shelter in such a wild valley.
“Mr. Su, please take a look inside. The reason my boss chose to camp here is because it’s closest to the tomb of that Qiang leader!” Zhu Mingzhe took off his sunglasses, revealing a pair of triangular eyes that gleamed with the greedy look of a wolf.
Hearing this, Li Chonglou’s heart trembled slightly.
He had always thought that coming to the ancient site of Xihai Commandery was to survey the old city buried underground.
He hadn’t expected that they were actually targeting the tomb of a Qiang leader.
Suddenly, a legend he had heard in his past life surfaced in his mind.
The Qiang people here were actually of the same origin as the Western Xia royal family of Yuchen, the ancestors of the Western Xia people, but their cultures had evolved differently.
The Qiang people were often involved in sorcery. In his past life, he had heard of the excavation of a Qiang leader’s tomb in the West Sea.
It was extremely mysterious. Out of twelve members of the national archaeological team, ten had died inside, and only two had emerged.
One had gone mad, and the other refused to disclose anything.
In his past life, he had studied antiques and cultural relics. Although he had encountered such ancient tombs, his attention was not focused on them, so he had not delved deeper into the matter.
Now that he thought about it, could that Qiang leader’s tomb be the one here?
“How did you discover the tomb of the Qiang leader?” Li Chonglou asked with his mind full of doubts.
Hearing this, Zhu Mingzhe first turned to look at him, then looked at Su Yinchuan without speaking.
Su Yinchuan said, “His name is Li Chonglou. He is an expert in cultural relics that I invited.”
“An expert?” Zhu Mingzhe’s eyes showed a hint of hostility: “Just him?”
“Now any Tom, Dick, or Harry dares to call themselves an expert. I think he just wants to get close to Lan Ying!”
These words were extremely impolite.
They were contemptuous and insulting, implying that Li Chonglou was a pretty boy, unremarkable, and trying to pursue Lan Ying like a toad trying to eat swan meat.
Even the straightforward Xu Lie could clearly hear it.
He immediately roared, “Triangle eyes, watch your words!”
As he spoke, the other party’s men immediately put down what they were doing and gathered around.
The atmosphere instantly became tense and confrontational.
Lan Ying’s beautiful eyes flickered. She wanted to see Xu Lie and Zhu Mingzhe fight, but her godfather was present, and the task had not yet been completed. She could distinguish between personal grievances and public affairs.
She couldn’t let the conflict happen.
However, she also didn’t want to let either side have an easy time.
So, she deliberately put on a shallow smile and walked to Li Chonglou’s side, acting intimate as she said, “Chonglou, tell your friend to restrain himself. We absolutely cannot delay my godfather’s business, otherwise, I won’t be able to explain.”
After speaking, she looked at Zhu Mingzhe again. Her smile vanished, and she coldly rebuked, “Zhu Mingzhe, I’m increasingly looking down on you.”
“How dare you talk about my friends with such disdain?”
At these words, Zhu Mingzhe’s triangular eyes narrowed into slits, filled with chilling coldness.
His gaze fixed on Li Chonglou’s face.
With a hostility as dense as a tangible substance, it was as if he wanted to shoot Li Chonglou through.
Li Chonglou inwardly gave a wry smile. He knew that Lan Ying was using him, and Zhu Mingzhe was treating him as a hypothetical enemy.
But he didn’t expose her and met Zhu Mingzhe’s gaze without fear.
Zhu Mingzhe was Liu Zhibo’s man, making him a destined mortal enemy. Since they were mortal enemies, there was no need for explanations.
Su Yinchuan quickly tried to mediate: “Young people are too hot-headed. Let’s talk things through properly. Give me face, and let this matter pass.”
Li Chonglou smiled slightly and withdrew his gaze.
Zhu Mingzhe’s eyes, however, were filled with malevolent resentment. He sneered, “Kid, I’ve got my eye on you.”
“Dare to have designs on Lan Ying? Ask yourself if you’re long for this world!”
Hearing him threaten Li Chonglou, Xu Lie’s eyes flashed with coldness, and he was about to charge forward.
But he was gently held back by Li Chonglou.
Now was not the time for conflict.
They had misunderstood from the beginning. Their master and senior sister were looking for the ancient site of Xihai Commandery to find clues related to Shi Boqiong.
However, Liu Zhibo was looking for the tomb of the Qiang leader, and he had used their master simply to locate the tomb.
No wonder he had immediately shot at their master as soon as they found the ancient site.
Because he knew very well that their master would never collude with him in tomb raiding.
Now, the situation was becoming clearer.
If they caused a conflict at this moment and killed Zhu Mingzhe, Liu Zhibo would surely be alerted and disappear without a trace.
They had to wait for him to arrive before making a move.
As for entering the tomb, he was very resistant because the tomb of the Qiang leader contained nothing but gold, silver, treasures, sorcery mechanisms, and death.
The great calamity their master spoke of might be related to this tomb.