Chapter 4

"The moment I thought this time something big might really happen, my head just heated up, and I wanted to throw caution to the wind to rescue his second brother and old man."

"But the instant I turned my head, I suddenly saw, crouched in the reed thicket behind me, something blood-red, blood-red, as if staring straight at me!"

"The Wu family of Old Changsha is a hereditary house that goes underground to rob tombs, so of course Old Three knew how to handle a situation like this."

"He'd seen his share of bizarre things, and he knew that down here in the earth, anything could happen!"

"The most important thing isn't to panic, but to adapt on the fly!"

At this moment, the crowd below listening to the storytelling couldn't help but nod.

Anyone who had truly gone down into a tomb, even if it was only some small, not-very-dangerous ancient burial,

was bound to run into strange, uncanny things; at a time like that, a cool head could double a person's odds of survival.

Zhang Lin picked up his teacup and took a sip.

Taking advantage of the lull, someone couldn't help but raise a hand and guess loudly.

"Mr. Zhang, did that Wu family patriarch finally go back and succeed in rescuing his father and brothers?"

Hearing the question, the others chimed in one after another.

"He must have succeeded, right? Otherwise, the moment he came back up, the whole family would have been practically wiped out?"

"It's obvious that Mr. Zhang's story begins many years ago; although this Wu family patriarch has status, right now he's still an inexperienced archaeology rookie. I think his odds of success are very slim."

"If he didn't succeed, then the Wu family of the Pingsan Sect would have suffered a huge loss!"

Zhang Lin finished his tea, but did not answer the crowd's questions.

Instead, he went on with his storytelling!

"Old Three, confident in his gun, figured that no matter what fierce thing came his way, a burst of bullets would blast it to pieces—there was nothing to fear."

"Having steeled himself, he gathered his wits; instead of retreating, he moved step by step toward the thing."

"An old-fashioned pistol was already gripped in his hand; the moment that blood-red thing made any move, he'd give it a face full of stars first."

"The blood-red thing crouched in the grass without a twitch. Old Three walked to within three paces, took a careful look, and instantly felt his scalp prickle and his stomach churn—because it was unmistakably a person!"

Hearing this, the listeners below broke into a low, buzzing hum of discussion.

A person, turned blood-red, blood-red?

What on earth had they been through?

At this moment, two young men sitting in the small private box on the east side of the second floor were also listening with great interest!

One of them, a stocky, hefty fellow, whispered, "Tianzhen, why does the Wu family of Old Changsha this guy's talking about sound so much like your family?"

Wu Tianzhen was also completely baffled at this point!

Their old Wu family did indeed have some influence in Old Changsha, and could be considered well-off.

But they had never heard of any of the older generation going underground to rob tombs.

Wu Tianzhen's several uncles were the type who came and went like shadows, barely home a few times a year.

From what his grandfather said, they were all out doing business!

The old Wu Tianzhen had never cared what business the family was in.

But now, hearing Zhang Lin's storytelling, Wu Tianzhen suddenly felt—why does this all sound so familiar?

Today's storytelling session was one his college classmate Wang Pangzi had insisted on dragging him to; only then did he come.

He'd expected the usual stale, rehashed tales, and never imagined there'd be such a huge surprise!

Seeing Wu Tianzhen spacing out, Fatty leaned in again and whispered, "Don't overthink it. This Mr. Zhang tells it so vividly, it's obviously artistic creation."

"It's definitely not about your old Wu family. Besides, if your Wu family really belonged to the Pingsan Sect of the Laojiu Sect, would your grandfather really not have told you?"

Wu Tianzhen gave a wry smile.

If there really was such a thing, his grandfather might very well not have told him!

Yet, having only heard Zhang Lin's opening, Wu Tianzhen already felt his blood boiling.

As if something buried in his bones had been awakened!

He wished he were the protagonist going underground to rob tombs, experiencing such thrilling, exciting life.

He turned and glanced at Wang Pangzi, whose face was glowing with excitement, and gave a slight smile.

Three years as classmates—he knew Wang Pangzi's character best!

The man simply couldn't tear himself away from money!

For three years, he'd been ceaselessly trying to talk Tianzhen into going underground to do archaeology with him.

He said many people had been rewarded by the state for archaeological discoveries and had gotten rich overnight!

Wang Pangzi was nursing that very dream himself.

So the reason this guy came to the storytelling was impure—he was here purely in the spirit of learning!

…….