Tomb raiders: You stole my little Qilin?

After dinner, Wu Wei followed Zhang Qiling into his room.

The furnishings in the room were so simple they were almost bland: a bed, a desk, and a cabinet.

There are no other decorative items besides these.

It's clear that the only requirement for the people living here is that they can sleep in their accommodations.

Zhang Qiling's bed was quite large, 1.8 meters wide, more than enough for two people to sleep in.

He pulled a thin blanket from the closet and placed it on his side.

Wu Wei stood by the bed, suddenly feeling a little unsure of where to begin.

Aside from Wu Xie, he has very little experience sharing a bed with anyone.

The two turned their backs to each other, took off their coats and trousers, folded them, and placed them at the foot of the bed.

Zhang Qiling lay down first, turning to face inwards, leaving most of the bed exposed.

Wu Wei turned off the light, groped his way into the quilt, and rested his head on the hard pillow, where he could smell the faint scent of soap on the cotton fabric.

"Good night," Wu Wei said.

"Um."

Wu Wei closed his eyes, listening to the soft, steady breathing on the other side, and his consciousness gradually faded.

The exhaustion from the tomb raiding, the gunfights on the way, and the tense nerves finally relaxed in this excessively quiet room.

He turned over and fell asleep without anyone noticing.

Wu Wei was awakened in the early morning by a series of intermittent hawking cries.

The shouts of vendors, rising and falling, squeezed in from the cracks in the windows deep within the alley.

"Tofu—hot tofu—"

"Sharpening scissors and knives—"

I opened my eyes and found that the other half of the bed was empty.

Wu Wei got dressed and opened the door. The pomegranate tree in the courtyard cast dappled shadows on the ground in the morning light.

Black Bear was lying on a rattan lounge chair under the tree, his legs crossed and swinging back and forth.

Seeing him come out, she raised her hand in greeting: "Are you up?"

Wu Wei walked over and sat down on the stone bench, looking around the courtyard: "Where's Xiao Ge?"

Hei Xiazi pointed in the direction of the gate.

"Went to the morning market to buy breakfast."

Wu Wei paused for a moment, then chuckled softly.

Zhang Qiling's cold face and the bustling morning market seem like an unlikely pairing, yet they somehow fit together perfectly.

When he smiled, his peach blossom eyes curved into crescents.

Black Bear paused for a moment, holding the enamel mug. The gaze behind his sunglasses lingered on his face for a few seconds before casually moving away.

Fortunately, these sunglasses are dark and thick enough that nothing can be seen.

Zhang Qiling was very quick; Wu Wei had just finished washing up when he returned carrying several plastic bags.

Black Bear sat up from the recliner, took the bag and looked it over: "You bought quite a lot."

Zhang Qiling nodded silently and placed the bag on the stone table.

The three men had big appetites, and they finished off the entire table of food in just over ten minutes, leaving nothing behind.

After finishing their meal and tidying up a bit, Hei Xiazi drove the SUV with all the broken glass, carrying Zhang Qiling and Wu Wei, to Wu Erbai's residence.

The wind blowing in through the car window made me feel refreshed.

The car stopped in front of a detached house.

Zhang Qiling got out of the car with Wu Wei and reached out to grasp his wrist.

"Together."

Wu Wei suddenly felt a headache coming on.

He knew Wu Erbai too well; even when his father was so angry on the phone, he still couldn't appease him.

If we bring the Zhang family in today, the situation might be difficult to manage.

He softened his tone and pleaded, "Young man, let me go in first and say hello to my dad. You can come in later, okay?"

Black Bear leaned out of the driver's seat and chimed in, "Yeah, Dumb Man, they've been father and son for so many years. Let's wait a bit; it won't make a difference if we wait a little longer."

Zhang Qiling glanced at Wu Wei, then at the tightly closed courtyard gate, slowly loosened his grip, and retreated back to the car.

Wu Wei gave Hei Xiazi a grateful look and said, "I'll be there in a bit."

He turned and walked towards the courtyard.

The guards at the gate bowed their heads as soon as they saw him, saying, "Young Master."

Wu nodded as if it were a common occurrence, and said without changing his expression, "Thank you for your hard work," before walking between the two rows of people.

Black Bear, who was behind him, got out of the driver's seat and leaned against the car door. He looked at the grand display from afar and clicked his tongue, "How impressive."

The courtyard was empty and deserted.

Wu Wei stopped a servant and asked him a question, only to find out that Wu Erbai was in the study.

I followed the corridor and turned several corners familiarly until I found the carved mahogany door.

He knocked symbolically twice, and pushed the door open without waiting for a response from inside.

"Get out!" Wu Erbai's shout came crashing down through the door.

Wu Wei, completely unfazed, stepped across the threshold at a leisurely pace: "You're kicking me out as soon as I get back?"

Wu Erbai suddenly stood up from behind his desk, his sharp eyes turning to surprise.

"Xiao Wei? How come you got here so quickly?"

Another person in the study also stood up and respectfully greeted, "Second Master."

"Uncle Sanhe." Wu Weichong nodded to him.

Sanhe was another subordinate of Wu Erbai, who had followed Wu Erbai for many years. Usually, Erjing was in charge of internal affairs, while he was in charge of external affairs.

"I missed you so much that I didn't even go back to Hangzhou and rushed over here without stopping."

Changing the subject abruptly, "Who knew that as soon as I came in, someone told me to leave? Sigh, who was that person? Uncle Sanhe, was it you?"

Wu Erbai blushed and looked at Sanhe.

Sanhe tactfully closed the folder in his hand: "Second Master, I'll head out now."

He stepped out of the room, closing the door tightly behind him, leaving the father and son alone.

With Wu Wei's interference, Wu Erbai's previous business troubles were completely forgotten.

He pulled Wu Wei to sit on the sofa and looked him up and down: "How was the tomb raiding? Did you encounter anything?"

Wu Wei patiently answered each question, selecting some less dangerous details to explain to him.

Wu Erbai listened and nodded, but then seemed to remember something and grabbed Wu Wei's arm.

He rolled up his sleeves and looked down to find the wound from the corpse beetle bite.

There's only a faint pink ring left on my forearm; the new skin and flesh have healed.

In another two days, even this trace will probably be undetectable.

Wu Erbai rubbed the skin with his thumb a couple of times, his expression a mix of relief and heartache.

Finally, he just snorted, "You Zhang family members certainly save money on medicine with your constitution."

"What do you mean, Dad? Aren't we family?"

"I wonder who said they wanted to go back to the Zhang family last time, after all, they have someone else's blood in their veins..."

Wu Erbai still remembered what Wu Wei had said last time, his tone laced with bitterness.

"Dad."

Wu Wei quickly interrupted him, "I already said it was a joke, you can't be so petty."

Wu Erbai snorted, "You were only good when you were little. Now that you're grown up, all you do is annoy me."

Wu Wei quickly brought up the attack he suffered on his way back to Beijing to elicit sympathy.

Wu Erbai immediately became nervous. "Are you hurt? Whose men are you working for?"

"Zhang Qiling, Hei Xiazi, and Wang Yueban, whom I met in the tomb, saved me. Hei Ye said they were Jude Kao's men."

Wu Wei quickly tried to improve Xiao Ge's image in front of Wu Erbai.

A dark glint flashed in Wu Erbai's eyes as he whispered dangerously, "Jude Kao..."

"Don't worry about it, Dad. That old man won't live much longer."

Wu Erbai thought Wu Wei was referring to Qiu Dekao's age, and said worriedly:

"A scourge can live for a thousand years!"

Wu Wei replied with a smile, "He can hardly be called a menace; at most, he's just a pawn."

Wu Erbai knew that his son had his own thoughts and intentions, and that among the younger generation, only Wu Wei truly understood the significance of the Wang family as a formidable enemy.