"Boss, can we trust what that bastard said?"
In a civilian house in Shuiping Town, a young man with mouse-like eyes and a big mouth looked at the bearded man sitting at the head, and said, "Could that bastard have been bought off by those soldiers and fed us false information?"
"Mouse, listen to what the boss says," another man with a skinny build and a shaved head snapped.
The one called Mouse opened his mouth, then sat down with a hint of irritation.
The bearded man, who was the team leader of the tomb raiding group Xiao Wangguo, stroked his chin beard and said, "He wouldn’t dare."
"Boss, I also think he wouldn’t dare. Those soldiers can’t wait any longer. It’s true, we’ve held them off for several days. Hmph, the tomb isn’t going anywhere, can’t we outwait these sons of bitches?" The shaved head, nicknamed Baldy, said with a sneer, "Too bad for them, they’d never expect us to be hiding right under their noses."
Baldy glanced at the dead old man in the corner and said with a dark face, "Mouse, didn’t I tell you to dig a hole in the yard and bury this old man? He’s starting to stink!"
Mouse said, "You’re the one who told me not to make too much noise."
"You..."
"Enough, stop fighting!" Xiao Wangguo looked at the two men and said, "They can’t wait, and neither can we! Didn’t you hear what Sun Tianlong said? In a couple of days, the archaeologists will be coming from Beijing!"
Everyone fell silent; once the archaeologists arrived, they’d have no chance.
"Boss, you say whether we do it or not, we’ll listen to you," Baldy looked at Xiao Wangguo and said.
"Right, boss, we’ll listen to you."
Xiao Wangguo looked at his people, pondered for a while, and said, "We came here for that ancient tomb. With this one job, we can go abroad and study overseas. Let’s do it."
"Let’s do it!" The crowd shouted in unison.
"Baldy, go check the equipment. Make sure we have plenty of ammunition and solid lighting. Issue two guns per person. If anything happens, don’t worry about life or death, make it a fight to the finish." A shadow passed through Xiao Wangguo’s eyes.
After hiding for so many days, he was also getting restless.
"Mouse, go check on Sun Tianlong’s side again, see if there’s any situation, just in case," Xiao Wangguo didn’t forget to instruct.
Caution was the talisman that had kept him alive for so long. Trust no one completely; they needed to be able to withdraw promptly if anything went awry.
The people all took their orders and went about their tasks.
The next day, Qi Taiguo and Ma Guangshe led their respective teams up the mountain on separate routes. Sun Tianlong followed Ma Guangshe’s team, chuckling to himself upon seeing them truly heading into the mountains.
Keep searching, he thought. Once they can’t find anything, naturally they’ll pull out, and I can peacefully take my money and wait for retirement.
After walking for over an hour, Sun Tianlong suddenly felt something was off. It seemed like they were walking in circles, only staying in one area. He had even peed on that tree.
"Commander Ma, are we lost?" Sun Tianlong stopped to ask.
Ma Guangshe stopped, turned to look at him, and the corner of his mouth twisted into a cold smirk. A sense of dread hit Sun Tianlong, and he realized something was amiss.
"Take him."
At the command, people rushed up, and before Sun Tianlong could fully react, he was twisted and kicked to the ground. Kneeling down, he looked up at Ma Guangshe’s stern face and thought to himself, it’s over, I’ve been duped!
Indeed, Ma Guangshe immediately said, "Move out, take the shortcut, and go support Commander Qi’s side."
They had decided today was the day for a feint operation, hoping Qi Taiguo wouldn’t slip up.
Just as Ma Guangshe anticipated, Qi Taiguo’s team was ambushed near the suspected tomb. With the bang of a gunshot and the chaotic sound of footsteps, the long-awaited battle began.