Chapter 252: Encountering Danger

Xu Damao was frozen half to death; at this moment, only food could move him, and he had no interest in anything else. He looked toward the distance, seeing only a stretch of forest.

Hu Yunbin said, "Damao, let's go down and take a look, just the two of us."

Xu Damao demurred, "Siqiang, let's wait for the senior brothers to come back and eat something before we go look! I can't even walk right now."

"You brat! You're just lazy!" Hu Yunbin shook his head and said.

Before long, Cui Dazhi and his group returned, carrying five wild rabbits in their hands.

Hu Yunbin said happily, "You all have quite the skill; you brought back so much without wasting a single bullet or shell."

Cui Dazhi shook his head and said, "We didn't catch them; someone set traps in the forest. Although we got five rabbits, the price was high—Hei San fell into a trap and was seriously injured."

Hei San, with a pale face, pleaded, "My soles have been pierced through. Fourth Master, do you still have any medicine?"

Hu Yunbin sighed and said, "I have some left; I'll apply some medicine for you." Yet, he knew clearly in his heart that on such a cold day, with such a severe injury, Hei San would likely not make it out of this forest.

Several people processed three of the wild rabbits and roasted them over the fire; soon, the aroma of meat wafted out.

Xu Damao squatted in front of the fire, drooling.

Hu Yunbin looked at everyone excitedly and said, "Our luck today is just too good! You all found food, and I discovered a large tomb. If we excavate this large tomb, we'll have the travel money to return to Si Jiu Cheng."

Upon hearing this, the group immediately became excited.

Lin Nan said, "Siqiang, after we finish eating, let's go Doudao overnight."

The six brothers from the Shanzhai also became interested and said, "That's great."

The ten people quickly finished the three rabbits; although none were full, they had regained some spirit.

Hu Yunbin led them down from the small earthen hill together.

After walking about five hundred meters, they arrived in front of that large earthen mound.

The ground had already frozen, so they needed to use pickaxes to break through the hard frozen soil layer and then use the Luoyang Shovel to probe repeatedly.

The ten-plus people busied themselves for over two hours, but they did not find the tomb entrance. The little bit of food they had just eaten was quickly consumed entirely.

The cold north wind wailed like a bull roaring, and branches and rotten leaves were blown flying everywhere.

Several people felt that the weather was getting colder and colder.

Xu Damao's face had even cracked from the cold.

He leaned against a tree, his small eyes darting around, and pleaded, "Siqiang, why don't we look for the tomb entrance during the day? It's too cold, my legs are frozen stiff."

Hu Yunbin sighed and said, "I'll listen to you; everyone go back and get a good sleep, and we'll continue working tomorrow."

Just as the group was preparing to retreat, Xu Damao suddenly saw several greenish, lightbulb-like glowing spots hiding behind a tree and staring at them.

Xu Damao pointed into the distance and whispered, "Siqiang, look."

Hu Yunbin looked in the direction Xu Damao was pointing and, sure enough, saw several green glowing spots.

"It's yellow weasels."

These glowing spots watched them for a while, then quickly burrowed into the large earthen mound in front of them.

Hu Yunbin pondered, "Why did these yellow weasels burrow into this large tomb? It's truly a bit strange."

The group returned to the temple, curled up in a corner, and huddled together for warmth.

They kept a fire burning beside them; to keep the fire from going out, they needed to take turns guarding it, one and a half hours each.

In the dead of night, Xu Damao was nudged awake by Lin Nan.

He handed Xu Damao a Box Cannon and instructed, "Damao, be careful and listen for any movement outside the temple. In the dead of winter, starving wild beasts often come around."

Xu Damao nodded; he stood up and added several wooden sticks to the fire. He stood in the corner, peering outside the temple.

Suddenly, he discovered several green glowing spots in the distance moving toward the temple.

Xu Damao immediately disengaged the safety on the Box Cannon.

These green glowing spots drew closer and closer.

In a daze, Xu Damao seemed to hear a voice similar to a woman's saying, "Little brother, don't be afraid, I won't hurt you."

He rubbed his temples hard, feeling that he was having hallucinations.

Those few yellow weasels walked over slowly and stopped not far from him.

A voice appeared in Xu Damao's mind again: "Little brother, persuade those people not to set their sights on this tomb, and I won't treat you poorly."

Xu Damao raised his gun to shoot, but the voice faintly echoed in his mind again: "If you don't listen to me, you won't be able to walk out of this forest alive. Little brother, we are being polite before resorting to force; I'll give you a small gift first. Think it over yourself!"

The few yellow weasels dropped some things from their mouths and quickly ran away.

Xu Damao walked out of the temple door, trembling with fear, and looked at the ground; he actually discovered several pieces of gold and a Hollow Double Dragon Pendant, about five centimeters long and four centimeters wide, appearing a faint yellow color.

Xu Damao picked up the nine pieces of gold on the ground; each piece was irregular in shape, but each one was as large as a Small Yellow Fish.

He pondered in his heart, could it be that the yellow weasels are bribing us, one piece of gold in exchange for one person leaving here?

He put the things away, his heart falling into a fierce internal struggle: should he tell Siqiang about this or not?

The night passed without incident.

Day broke.

Early in the morning, after the ten people got up, they roasted the remaining two rabbits, and after eating, they began to get busy.

Xu Damao hesitated for a long time before pulling Siqiang aside, taking out five pieces of gold, and saying, "Siqiang, some yellow weasels came during the night and ran off after dropping these gold pieces. It looks like they don't want us to Doudao."

Hu Yunbin examined them carefully for a long time before saying, "It seems there is quite a lot of gold under this large earthen mound! This tomb must be excavated."

Xu Damao said, "Siqiang, I feel this place is quite creepy; why don't we take this gold and leave?"

Hu Yunbin shook his head and said, "No, we cannot miss this opportunity."

Seeing that Siqiang had already made up his mind to dig this tomb, Xu Damao could only shut his mouth. He thought to himself, "Yellow weasels, it's not that I, your humble servant, won't help you, it's just that my words carry no weight."

Hu Yunbin saw Xu Damao shivering all over, unable to withstand the cold, and said, "Damao, you rest for now! I'll call you when we find the entrance."

Upon hearing this, Xu Damao was quite moved and immediately said, "Siqiang, I'll go gather more firewood so we can light an extra fire tonight, otherwise it's too cold."

Hu Yunbin said to Cui Dazhi again, "Take two people and go hunting. If we don't have food, even if we get the money, we won't be able to make it out alive."

"Rest assured, Siqiang, even if we can't catch any animals, there are wild fruits in this forest; we won't starve to death!" Cui Dazhi said.

Xu Damao began to gather firewood in the forest. After the sun came out, it warmed up quite a bit. He suddenly discovered a type of wild fruit here that looked like small potatoes and tasted sweet and sour.

He developed a keen interest in this wild fruit and gradually moved away from the small hill, walking toward the depths of the forest.

The resources in the forest were very abundant; he even found wild grapes, and although they were all frozen, they had a unique flavor when eaten.

He discovered quite a few hazelnuts; if he collected all of them from the ground, even if he couldn't catch any prey, he wouldn't starve to death.

Xu Damao's activities gradually shifted from gathering firewood to collecting wild fruits.

His pockets were already full, so he looked around, wanting to find a piece of tree bark to wrap all the hazelnuts up.

Suddenly, he heard a low and threatening "Woo-ooh—" roar.

Xu Damao was so startled he shuddered, instinctively hiding behind a large tree. He held his breath and quietly peeked out—

He saw a massive creature weighing at least seven or eight hundred pounds standing not far away.

The large bear had a coat of dark brown fur that gleamed under the sparse sunlight, and its shoulders were raised high, forming a muscular hump that displayed terrifying power.

This large bear was actually able to walk upright like a human, moving toward the tree where Xu Damao was hiding with a heavy, rhythmic gait.

Xu Damao was trembling all over, even his teeth were chattering.