Tomb Raider: I Am Hu Bayi's Cousin

Chapter 47

Walking in the vast desert can be quite boring. It might feel novel for a short time, but once it gets long, everyone loses that initial excitement and becomes like a flower, withered by the scorching sun.

Everyone sat listlessly on the camels, drowsy and sleepy.

"Lie down!" Anliman patted the camel's head, signaling it to stop and lie down.

The camel caravan all lay down with the lead camel, stretching their necks out to rest against the ground.

Perhaps because she was thinking about getting closer and closer to the ancient city of Jingjue, Yang Xueli was in good spirits.

While everyone else was resting, she was taking pictures everywhere with her camera.

Click!
Holding her camera, she photographed the two sand dunes a hundred meters away, looked at the photos on her camera, and nodded in satisfaction.

Anliman sat on the blanket, glanced at the energetic Yang Xueli, and said, "That's Holy Tomb Mountain, with two wind-eroded mushrooms over five meters tall growing on it." Then, he changed the subject, becoming somewhat sarcastic, "Go ahead and take pictures, take as many as you can while you're still alive."

Yang Xueli stopped taking pictures, turned her head, and looked at An Liman with a puzzled expression.

"Uncle Anliman, why would you say that?"

How can you say that?
An Liman glanced at Yang Xueli and Professor Chen. He found it somewhat amusing; these people, coming all the way to the desert to find the ancient city of Jingjue, weren't they just courting death?

“Miss Yang, you should go back. You’ve already persevered the most by getting this far.” It was really hard to listen to An Liman’s words. He always ended his sentences with the word “ma”. Yang Xueli frowned slightly, feeling that An Liman’s words had a hidden meaning, especially the disdain in his eyes when he spoke.

This was a hint of contempt, ingrained to the core.

He's almost sixty, born during a time of war and chaos, and hasn't received much education, so he has a deep misunderstanding of archaeology, thinking it's just digging up graves, like tomb raiders, just like him. However, he retired from archaeology a long time ago, settled here, and developed his own beliefs.

So he looked down on Shirley Yang and her group. The ironic thing was, he needed to make money. It wasn't easy to earn money in this era, and he was getting old and couldn't do hard, strenuous work anymore. He could only make a living by leading people into the desert for a pittance.

But those who pay high prices to hire him to go into the desert are almost always those who dig graves.

"This isn't the real desert. It's only after we cross the Holy Tomb Mountain and travel for two or three days that we reach the true desert, and a black desert at that, filled with countless skeletons—people like you!"

Having said what he wanted to say, Anliman uncorked the water bag and took a sip of the horse mare's liquor inside. Yang Xueli fell silent. Anliman hadn't exaggerated; in fact, he'd downplayed it. But did that think it could stump her? Impossible. She wasn't one to give up easily.

She turned around, her beautiful eyes looking at the three Hu brothers sitting on the sand, and suddenly felt a surge of confidence. No matter what, with these three men in front of her, she felt completely safe.

After all, none of these three were ordinary people. Even the fat man, Yang Shirley wouldn't dare say she could defeat him. You have to know that she had undergone traditional training and was not someone that ordinary people could compare to.

The other two are even more extraordinary. Are soldiers who can survive on the battlefield ordinary people? And they both know Qimen Fengshui.

Therefore, with these three brothers around, Yang Xueli was quite confident in finding the Jingjue Ancient City.

"Professor Chen, is what Uncle An Liman said true?" An Liman was not far from Ye Yixin. She heard An Liman's words and her face immediately darkened. She wanted to find some sense of security from Professor Chen, an elder.

Professor Chen looked at Ye Yixin, whose face was flushed red from the sun, and his eyes showed a hint of doting affection.

He said softly, "Xiao Ye, life is only a few decades long, so short that everything is gone in the blink of an eye. So, as long as what we want to do is right, we should do it without fear of danger. That is the spirit of archaeology."

Hu Ming was just a few meters away from the two of them. When he heard Professor Chen's words, he twitched the corner of his mouth. This old man has a way of speaking. He's indirectly brainwashing people!

A single sentence was enough to make Ye Yixin nod fiercely, her timid eyes regaining their fearless gleam.

Seeing Ye Yixin's expression, Hu Ming thought to himself: Brainwashing successful!
The group had a clear division of labor. Sadipeng and Chu Jian's task was to check the supplies. When the camels rested, they unloaded the supplies from their backs and set off. It was a hard job to tie the supplies to the camels' backs in advance.

When they went to sleep, Hu Bayi, Fatty, and Hu Ming took turns keeping watch, with Hu Bayi usually leading the team.

Yang Xueli and Ye Yixin took care of everyone's meals, while An Liman led the way, going wherever he said to go, and everyone had to listen to him.

Professor Chen is getting old and has become a grandfather, enjoying everyone's care. However, no one complains about this, after all, Professor Chen is very old, a scholar, and his health is quite weak.

Hu Ming has already resigned himself to his fate. Judging from Hu Bayi and Fatty's current attitude, he knows that the two of them are definitely going to visit the Jingjue Ancient City.

Fatty is now obsessed with the treasures in the ancient city of Jingjue, while Hu Bayi is completely infatuated with Yang Xueli and spends all his time hanging around her.

(End of this chapter)