Chapter 12: Following the Tomb Raiders 3

  Section 1

  On the way to Binjiang, Wang Tianlei drove and told Li Wei about his story of being betrayed. He and his best friend Lin Zhiyuan had liked a neighbor girl Zhao Meina since childhood. The two best friends would compete every day to see who could talk to Zhao Meina the most, trying all sorts of ways to tease her, without anyone knowing who she liked more.

  After graduating from high school, Lin Zhiyuan suddenly joined the army. When he returned, Wang Tianlei and Zhao Meina's child was already three years old. Although the three remained best friends, Wang Tianlei started a tomb raiding business and pulled Lin Zhiyuan in. They became richer and richer over the years.

  Lin Zhiyuan's business gradually became legitimate, while Wang Tianlei only knew how to dig up tombs. Lin Zhiyuan slowly became the behind-the-scenes big boss, and Wang Tianlei was happy to let him be in charge of everything except for digging up tombs. This continued until Wang Tianlei successfully stole several Warring States-era tombs, which were extremely valuable. If he could sell them off, he would never have to work again.

  Just before the transaction, Wang Tianlei carefully changed the location of the hidden treasure. Unexpectedly, he was caught the next day and sentenced to 20 years in prison. Wang Tianlei took all the blame, and it wasn't until he was in prison that he realized he had been betrayed. He collapsed completely.

  As for what happened later, Li Wei already knew.

  The general direction of life is similar, the difference lies in some stories being melodramatic, some bleeding, some hot-blooded. Some people are free and easy-going, while others are trapped inside, and some have gone mad. Wang Tianlei's story also has its own experiences, I don't know how to advise him, as those who are in a situation are confused, Li Wei doesn't want to care about so much anymore, the cultural relics are what matter most.

  "Does Le Ge know whose ancient tomb this is?"

  "Grave robbers have always just taken the good stuff and left, no one has ever verified anything."

  "It's also that if you don't, you'll all become archaeologists. In fact, you're not much different from archaeologists, it's just that they work during the day and you do your thing at night."

  "Cut the crap! You're way off!"

  "Are there many treasures?"

  "Not many but all precious."

  "Is it a very secret place? Won't I get lost?"

  "Was reburied by me again."

  "What if someone else steals it and we're in trouble?"

  "That's a new tomb. As long as it isn't forcibly demolished and occupied, there's no problem."

  Li Wei thought to himself, "Should I just dig up that grave and get it over with? Then I can go home on vacation." But he still spoke in a righteous tone:

  "Should we go for revenge first or return you home first."

  "First go to Lin Zhifeng's company and take a look, try it out if the people there will recognize me, I want to get back everything that belongs to me."

  Section 2

  Binjiang is a small coastal town, with beautiful scenery and a pleasant atmosphere, unlike the hustle and bustle of big cities. The streets here are not very wide, nor are they lined with high-rise buildings, giving off an ancient charm. The bustling area is just a few streets, where Lin Zhifeng's Jinfeng Company and Jinfeng Pawnshop are located, operating small loan businesses, antique auctions, and collections. Everything can be done in black and white here, and thanks to Lin Zhifeng's connections, most of the antique buying and selling in Qingzhou is done here. Wang Tianlei and Li Wei drove up to the entrance of Jinfeng Pawnshop, which looked just like it did in Wang Tianlei's impression - not much renovation had been done, the building was an imitation ancient architecture, and the lions at the entrance were still the ones Lin Zhifeng had taken from some big mansion. The two men entered the pawnshop, where the decor was similar to that of old-fashioned pawnshops, except the counter wasn't as high, and the sales staff wore long shirts and cheongsam dresses. A little girl smiled and walked over...

  "Is there anything I can help you with?"

  "I have something here, see if your boss wants it?"

  "Alright, you two come over here and rest for a bit, the boss will be right with you."

  Then a pot of tea was brought over and a middle-aged man walked over, saying:

  "What good items do you two gentlemen have, we will definitely offer a good price."

  Wang Tianlei took out a jade pendant, and the middle-aged man took it over to examine it carefully. Li Wei thought it was boring and wandered off. This pawnshop had everything from antiques and paintings to digital products and luxury goods, but there were no prices marked. It seemed that they all had to be negotiated, so the profit margin must have been huge. Before long, Wang Tianlei had agreed on a price with the shopkeeper, received the check, and called out for him to leave the pawnshop. After getting in the car, Wang Tianlei said:

  "It seems that after your packaging, they really can't recognize me. To lure Lin Zhifeng out, we must have a valuable treasure. Today, let's go get the treasure and take one to lure him to our designated location."

  "Alright, I also want to see something worth a city."

  "Let's go home and take a look, I don't know how my wife and kids are doing."

  "Oh, I'd like to see what Lui Ge's soulful and dreamy sister-in-law looks like too, she must be really beautiful."

  Wang Tianlei smiled slightly and didn't say a word, starting the car, Li Wei continued:

  "Are we going back directly? Or pretending to collect water and property fees?"

  "My home is a two-story small building, without property management fees and water charges. At this time, the children are in school, only my wife is at home. What kind of person do you say we pretend to be when we go back?"

  "This is easy, pretend to be a courier, need signature, you just buy something, we go to the courier company package it, then we deliver it ourselves."

  "Alright then."

  Then the two of them went to the mall and bought a dress, inquired about the nearest express company from the mall, coincidentally it was Yutong Express. After arriving at Yutong Express, Li Wei did not get out of the car, Wang Tianlei went to pack the goods. They turned the car around and headed back to Wang Tianlei's house. Along the way, Wang Tianlei drove very fast, his expression was serious, it was hard to tell if he was happy or excited, both hands tightly grasping the steering wheel, still silent. Half an hour later, they finally arrived at the familiar entrance of Wang Tianlei's home. After parking the car, he quickly jumped out and nervously rang the doorbell twice before someone spoke, it was Zhao Meina. Li Wei whispered to Wang Tianlei:

  "Be quiet for a moment and let me speak."

  Wang Tianlei nodded. Zhao Meina opened the door, and what entered Li Wei's eyes was a very beautiful young woman who looked like she was just in her 30s, wearing pajamas with a lazy expression. Li Wei glanced at Wang Tianlei, feeling that his eyes were filled with scorching heat, as if they could melt glass. Li Wei said:

  "Is this Ms. Zhao Meina? There is an express delivery for you, please sign for it."

  What Zhao Meina said next shocked both Li Wei and Wang Tianlei——

  "Zhi Feng! What did you buy for me?"

  Wang Tianlei was like being electrocuted, trembling all over, Li Wei tightly grasped his arm and continued to say:

  "Ma'am, we don't know who sent it, but it's definitely for you. Please sign quickly, we're very busy."

  Wang Tianlei turned back to the car in a daze, Zhao Meina signed and finished, Li Wei quickly returned to the car. Wang Tianlei was unexpectedly calm, they drove the car all the way to the suburbs, Wang Tianlei leaned on the steering wheel, wailing loudly...

  Li Wei did not persuade, nor could he persuade, and could only be an excellent listener as a bystander.

  Section 3

  In the middle of the night, with a dark moon and strong winds, two black figures appeared in the Binjiang Public Cemetery. They were Li Wei and Wang Tianlei. Wang Tianlei found his parents' grave, first kowtowing and then burning paper. It was Li Wei's first time visiting a cemetery at midnight, and although he wasn't afraid, he felt a chill run down his spine. After finishing their respects, Wang Tianlei walked to the back of the grave, removed some loose soil, lifted an iron plate, and descended below. Li Wei quickly followed him. Down there was a small space about three or four square meters in size, with a large coffin inside. Wang Tianlei asked Li Wei to help him push the coffin lid.

  "This is going to be my home in the future, if they think carefully, they should know that I hide things here, but none of them have me in their hearts."

  After opening the coffin lid, there were several small boxes. Wang Tianlei and Li Wei moved the boxes to the car and finished cleaning up. Wang Tianlei said:

  "Brother, this time I must fight to the death with Lin Zhi Feng. I'll only bring one thing with me. If I don't come back, after you take action, half of the money will go to my wife and children, and the rest is yours."

  "A good brother is supposed to share life and death together, how can I let you take risks alone!" Li Wei said with deep feeling, Wang Tianlei's wife was so unfaithful to him but he still cared about her and thought of her.

  "Initially, he was also my best brother. Your martial arts skills are so good, you help me and he will surely die. I want a fair duel, if you treat me as your brother and as a man, then don't interfere."

  "But..."

  "There's nothing but listen to me, good brother."

  "Alright, I can let you duel alone, but I absolutely won't allow them to bully you with numbers. Tomorrow we'll set things up and arrange a meeting place with him, and I'll help block his men."

  Wang Tianlei nodded, and they drove back to the city, checked into a hotel, and Wang Tianlei said he was going to buy some wine to drink with Li Wei. After he left, Li Wei opened the boxes and took a look, thinking they were all worthless junk, but one thing caught his eye - something similar to a Kongming lock. Li Wei's curiosity was piqued as he turned it over and examined it from different angles, determined to figure out how to open it. Just then, Dr. Bluetooth sent a message asking him to scan the artifacts. Li Wei put the strange object in his pocket and took out his phone to record everything. He asked Dr. Bluetooth to consult with their superiors about whether to terminate the mission and retrieve the artifacts. The superior instructed Li Wei to continue the mission and would notify him when it was time to terminate, ensuring the safety of the artifacts.

  After finishing the report, Li Wei continued to ponder, but couldn't open it. He searched online again and asked Bluetooth for help, who found it boring but still assisted him. Li Wei lay on his bed, fiddling with it, and suddenly opened it. A small ball of unknown origin fell out and coincidentally dropped into Li Wei's mouth. In a moment of carelessness, he swallowed it. He quickly used the work uniform's body inspection maintenance system to check himself, and the system indicated no signs of poisoning. At this time, Wang Tianlei returned, and Li Wei didn't think much of it, feeling that he could just pull it out, so they started drinking together...