Tomb raiding: A mere 20 is nothing!

I don't know if they were making too much noise, or if these people are just light sleepers.

As Shen Mingchao squatted in the corner, chewing on a biscuit, he saw Zhang Qiyu slowly sit down next to a man. The man seemed to notice the person next to him and turned his head in a daze.

Zhang Qilan said calmly, "You're getting old."

"Pfft—" Shen Mingchao had thought of many things to say when the two of them reunited, but this sentence was indeed unexpected.

By the light of the campfire, Shen Mingchao could see the man's face clearly. His face was covered in stubble, and he looked haggard and exhausted.

They looked even worse off than those who came out of the bronze door.

Shen Mingchao recalled that Shen Mingyue had once said that Wu Xie was a handsome young man with a scholarly air.

The most famous description of Wu Xie is "a refined and elegant young man, a delicate and beautiful gentleman emerging from the water like a lotus."

Although she had heard of Wu Xie, who later became the Evil Emperor, she really didn't expect him to be so different.

While Shen Mingchao was deep in thought, another large, stout man woke up. He went up and grabbed Zhang Qilu's shoulder, shaking Zhang Qilu so badly that he swayed from side to side.

The reunion of the Iron Triangle is a rare sight.

Shen Mingchao, being sensible, didn't disturb them and just silently chewed on his compressed biscuits.

But everyone present was shrewd.

The chubby man with sharp ears spoke first: "Are there mice here? Why are they squeaking?"

The white snake, whose cookies had been stolen, finally woke up and immediately noticed a breath coming from his right front.

The white snake instantly became alert, drew her dagger, and shouted at the mass of things, "Who are you?!"

His shout drew everyone's attention.

At this moment, Shen Mingchao felt as if he were sitting on pins and needles, as if he had a thorn in his back, and as if he had a fishbone stuck in his throat.

Shen Mingchao swallowed the last crumb of biscuit, and silently turned away under the intense gazes of everyone.

She first saw the person who had spoken earlier. The person had medium-length hair and a thin build. Because of the backlighting, their face was blurred into a dark shadow and could not be seen clearly.

But it is not important.

The important thing is that this person is holding a knife with the blade in his hand, and it's pointing directly at him.

Shen Mingchao tried his best to maintain a steady tone of voice, while Xue Pai Daxing revealed a silly smile.

"Sister, I'm sorry, I was just too greedy and couldn't resist stealing your cookies. I'm not a bad person, don't be nervous."

She then pulled her backpack over her shoulder and added, "How about I give you some mushrooms? They're a local specialty of Bronze Gate, guaranteed to be priceless outside!"

After a few words were spoken, everyone reacted in different ways.

The fat man clutched his stomach, laughing deafeningly. "Hahaha, sister, hahaha, the White Snake calls you sister, hahaha, and what about the Bronze Gate local specialties, hahaha, where did this girl come from? She's so funny."

The White Snake's face darkened upon hearing the fat man's mocking laughter.

Wu Xie looked at the hoodie that the girl was wearing and realized something, so he turned his gaze to Zhang Qilan.

The routes they took to get there were all extremely dangerous, and there were always his men lying in wait at the entrances.

It's impossible for a young girl who doesn't look very old to have entered this place alone without them.

There's only one possibility left.

The girl came out of the bronze gate with the young man. But that doesn't make sense, because when he went to Changbai Mountain, he didn't see the young man with anyone else.

Moreover, based on his understanding of the young man, he couldn't possibly have brought a young girl in to guard the gate.

So, how did this girl get through the bronze gate? And what is her relationship with the young man?

Wu Xie's thoughts were in turmoil. He wanted to ask Zhang Qilu a question, but he didn't know where to begin.

Unexpectedly, Zhang Qilin spoke up from the side.

Come here.

The male voice was soft, yet very intimidating.

The air fell silent. No one expected that it was the taciturn Zhang Qilin who spoke up to help Shen Mingchao out of the predicament.

"Okay, sure."

Shen Mingchao responded quickly. She first took out a bunch of mushrooms from her bag and stuffed them into Bai She's hand without saying a word. Then she turned around and ran towards the Iron Triangle, sitting down between Zhang Qilin and Fatty.

She looked at everyone and introduced herself with a big smile.

"Hello, my name is Shen Mingchao, as in 'bright sun and bright moon,' and 'morning sun.'"

The fat man's gaze darted between the two men, noticing their strikingly similar attire. Suddenly, a thought struck him, and he exclaimed incredulously, "Brother, you weren't so bored in there that you had a daughter, were you?"

"Pfft—" Wu Xie spat out his drink, nearly throwing his cigarette at him. "Fatty, what are you saying? That's ridiculous! This guy's only been in jail for ten years! Does this girl look ten years old?"

Shen Mingchao quickly chimed in, "I'm eighteen and an adult. Although I don't mind taking on this title, I'm really not his daughter."

Zhang Qilin, who was unexpectedly made a father, stared silently at the fat man without saying a word.

The fat man naturally noticed Zhang Qiling's gaze. He chuckled to himself, thinking:

Well, it's the same old story—they like to insult people with their faces.

"I was just kidding." The fat man waved his hand, turned his gaze to Shen Mingchao, and said,

"Hey girl, don't blame me for being curious, but that bronze gate only opens every ten years, and you came out of it with our guy. So what's your relationship?"

The moment he said that, the surroundings fell silent. Perhaps everyone was curious, including Wu Xie, who even put out his cigarette.

at last!

The time has finally come for her to feign madness and lower the guard of these people!

Shen Mingchao wiped away non-existent tears, took a deep breath, and prepared to begin his performance.

"As for my relationship with him, there's a lot to it."

"First of all, he is my idol and my benefactor. Not only that, we were also roommates who guarded the gate together and survived in the wilderness together."

Shen Mingchao grabbed the fat man's sleeve again, pouring out his grievances: "Damn it, who knows how I fell in here, and the worst part is I can't get out!"

"It was pitch black and desolate in there, and the conditions were incredibly harsh. I ate mushrooms for five months straight, five whole months!!!"

To maintain his persona as someone who had mistakenly entered the Bronze Gate, Shen Mingchao quickly added, "You're his friends, right? I'd like to ask you the same thing: what heinous thing did he do to deserve being locked up in there?"

After Shen Mingchao's tirade, everyone realized that she and Zhang Qilan did indeed have some ambiguous relationship.

Faced with Shen Mingchao's information-packed remarks, even the usually eloquent fat man was momentarily stunned.

After experiencing so much, Wu Xie was much calmer and quickly extracted useful information from Shen Mingchao's scattered words.

They accidentally entered the Bronze Gate and stayed inside with the young man for five months. As for the young man's identity, it seems they don't know their own.

But he was not completely at ease.

Could an 18-year-old girl, an outsider who knows nothing about their affairs, really accidentally enter the Bronze Gate?

In other words, are the people who can enter this game and appear in this game really so innocent?

Wu Xie suppressed all his questions for the time being, thinking of going out to find someone to investigate the girl's background.

He's the leader of this group right now, so he has to make his stance clear before the others can accept this unfamiliar girl.

After a moment of silence, Wu Xie introduced himself, "Hello, my name is Wu Xie."

Shen Mingchao looked over, and this time she was closer and could see more clearly. She discovered that the person in front of her was just a little unkempt, but one could still vaguely make out his handsome features.

Shen Mingchao suddenly remembered a sentence that Shen Mingyue had once lamented to her.

[Wu Xie is a really strange character. If you find tomb raiding boring, you can bring Wu Xie along as an accessory to increase the difficulty.]

She curled the corners of her lips into a slightly mocking smile. "Is it 'Kou Tian Wu,' the 'evil' in 'evil'?"

"..." Yaxie choked.

The fat man next to him, watching this, couldn't help but laugh and said, "Yes, it's the 'evil' of 'evil,' but also the 'evil' of 'innocent and naive.' Right, innocent?"

Wu Xie did not respond, but simply lit another cigarette.

The remaining fat man chuckled and said, "My real name is Wang Yueban, also known as Fatty Wang. Since you're the girl our brother brought out, then I'll accept you as my sister."

"Hey Ming Dynasty girl, you can just call me Fatty."

Shen Mingchao nodded repeatedly, relieved that her personal safety was now guaranteed.

She felt relieved.

Luckily, I managed to latch onto Zhang Qilin; at this crucial moment, this get-out-of-jail-free card really came in handy!