Tomb raiders: You stole my little Qilin?

After waking up from his afternoon nap, Wu Wei didn't rush to translate anymore.

With the help of 999 and Zhang Qiling, his progress has been much faster.

I pinned my work badge to my chest and went down to the tomb with Zhang Qiling.

There are six separate graves in this burial ground.

Although the area looks large, each tomb is actually not very large.

Wu Wei first chose the one closest to the camp to try his luck.

We walked through the cleaned passageway and went inside.

The tomb is fairly standard, with side chambers on the left and right, a main chamber for placing the coffin, and a relatively short passageway.

There seemed to have been some kind of hidden weapon set up in the middle, but it was cleared away by the earlier developers. Now it's empty, with only some white and gray markings left.

Wu Wei has been busy ever since he arrived at the tomb.

Touching and poking at things, he kept asking 999 in his mind: "Little 9, does this have any abnormal energy?"

What about that one?

Where is this stone slab?

999 cooperated wholeheartedly, but the answer was always the same: no.

Wu Wei walked around but found nothing, so he had no choice but to go out with Zhang Qiling again and head towards the second tomb.

Zhang Qiling didn't ask any questions, assuming it was just Wu Wei's work habit, and quietly followed behind him, going from one grave to another.

After visiting five tombs in a row, Wu Wei acted like a street urchin, tapping and touching everything, and even standing for a long time in one of them, leaning against a stone coffin.

But after walking through all five tombs, the 999 alarm never sounded even once.

Wu Wei was puzzled: This shouldn't be happening.

In the past, when I participated in this kind of project, I would encounter some abnormal energy more or less. How come this time it's as clean as if it's been licked by a dog?

He glanced at Zhang Qiling, and the two continued walking toward the last tomb.

That was the largest of the entire tomb complex, with not only side chambers on the left and right, but also an extra main hall.

Three coffins were placed side by side in the center of the main hall, and another coffin was placed separately on the high platform at the innermost part.

When Wu Wei saw this setup, he thought to himself, "There are four coffins already, surely one of them must be abnormal, right?"

999 mentally poured cold water on the idea: "Don't get your hopes up too high."

Wu Wei mentally retorted, "Shut up, okay? Don't make me call you a jinx."

With anticipation in my heart, I walked toward the three coffins side by side.

Wearing professional gloves, he slowly ran his fingers along the surface of the coffin, then tapped it with his fingers, as if judging the material.

After touching all three coffins, 999 showed absolutely no reaction.

Undeterred, Wu Wei asked himself, "Really not?"

999: "True."

Wu Wei: "You jinxed it!"

999: '......'

The first day back, he was a treasure; the second day, he was nothing but weeds.

"Wu, you've changed!" 999 condemned.

Wu Wei, without changing his expression, replied, "Yes, I am fickle."

999: '......' You're a dog.

Several young staff members around him also recognized Wu Wei. Seeing him studying so intently, they joked:

"Is Dr. Wu no longer interested in translation and wants to work with us on cultural relic preservation?"

Wu Wei also chimed in with a self-deprecating laugh: "How could I? I haven't even figured out how to make a living myself, how could I possibly take your jobs?"

Everyone around laughed, and the atmosphere became relaxed.

The man who had spoken earlier pointed towards the platform again: "Those three coffins are all made of the same material, but the one inside is a little different. If Dr. Wu is interested, you can go in and take a look."

Wu Wei thanked him and walked towards the high platform.

That coffin was indeed more ornate, with the outer shell painted all over and a carved stone slab placed underneath.

Wu Wei prayed silently in his heart: It must happen, it must happen.

He took a deep breath and slowly reached out to touch it.

Ten seconds passed...

Half a minute passed...

A minute passed, and my mind remained silent.

Wu Wei couldn't hold back any longer and roared at 999 in his mind: "99, are you broken?! Check if your program is malfunctioning!"

999 said with a pained expression, "I wanted to give you a hint, but it really doesn't."

Undeterred, Wu Wei patted the coffin lid again: "Really not?"

999 only responded with a long, melancholy sigh.

Wu Wei was speechless.

He almost always encounters something strange every time he goes into a tomb, but this time, even though he specifically wanted to find something, he didn't encounter anything at all.

He even considered whether or not to call Wu Xie over.

Maybe the energy will spontaneously generate as soon as he arrives.

On second thought, I decided against it.

Xiao Xie finally settled down at home to learn business from his third uncle. If I were to take him out again and tempt him to not even want to go home, that would be a huge sin.

Never giving up is Wu Wei's virtue; he changed from touching the coffin with one hand to touching it with both hands.

In the end, he was almost lying on top of it, even his upper body.

999 complained: "Even if you lie inside, it still won't be there."

Wu Wei still clung to a last, unrealistic hope: 'What if? What if there is?'

999 stopped trying to persuade him and let him continue to lie on the coffin, clinging to false hope.

At this moment, Zhang Qiling walked over with a frown.

They pulled him off the coffin and patted the years-old dust off his clothes: "You're dirty."

Seeing that there was truly no hope left, Wu Wei hung his head dejectedly and said, "Brother, let's go."

Zhang Qiling assumed he was just tired and didn't ask any further questions, so he followed him outside.

As they passed the entrance to the main hall, the group of young staff members smiled and asked, "Dr. Wu, how's it going? Any ideas about cultural relic preservation?"

Wu Wei waved his hands repeatedly and ran away quickly: "Never mind, everyone has their own expertise."

The two returned to the tent. Wu Wei washed his face to shake off the dejection he felt from not finding any energy before sitting back down to translate.

Anyway, there's no abnormal energy in this place, so we might as well finish this quickly and leave sooner.

Zhang Qiling sat quietly beside him, occasionally handing him a reference book.

Wu Wei immersed himself in the translation for a while, and when he looked up again, Zhang Qiling was gone.

While in the Northwest, with the remnants of the Wang family still not eliminated, Wu Wei was worried and took out his phone to make a call.

The call connected quickly, and Zhang Qiling's voice was steady: "It's nothing. I'll be back in a bit."

Wu Wei heard that his voice sounded normal, so he felt relieved and hung up the phone.

Not long after, Zhang Qiling returned, carrying a large red plastic bag.

Wu Wei tilted his head, looking at the bag in his hand: "Hey bro, what's this?"

Zhang Qiling placed the plastic bag on Wu Wei's bed, opened the bag, revealing it stuffed full of snacks.

Potato chips, spicy strips, chocolate, cookies, and even a few bags of dried mango that Wu Wei likes to eat, and a few bottles of iced cola.

Wu Wei exclaimed "Wow!" and his eyes lit up: "Brother, where did you get this?"

Zhang Qiling pointed to the area outside where the electric bikes were parked: "I went out to buy them."

Wu Wei is a picky eater, and Zhang Qiling is worried that he will go hungry after finishing the snacks he brought.

Wu Wei looked at him, his eyes sparkling: "Brother, how could I live without you?"

This was originally a joke.

To everyone's surprise, Zhang Qiling looked at him seriously and said, "You will live a good life."

Wu Wei was taken aback for a moment, then his eyes crinkled into a smile as he nodded emphatically: "Of course. We all need to live well."