Still, Wait For Me (Web Novel)
chapter-646-30041322

The security for the excavation of Cao Cao’s mausoleum was indeed good. The clearing and watching over of the theft holes were extremely meticulous. Still, for all their effectiveness, they had overlooked something.

This theft hole had been made from the back of the slope, with many concealments done on the entrance of the cave which made it hard to detect. The theft hole was like a hand extended into the ground, five fingers spread apart and respectively extending, all of them with the final one plus meter left unbreached, waiting for an opportunity.

As a result, it had made it through several rounds of clearing and checks.

The archaeological team’s excavation up till now gave them a clear target. This blackout was also the opportunity they had been waiting for all along.

It was not so easy to see in the night. Amidst the bleak tranquility, Wu Yuewei unconsciously walked a bit closer.

In order to avoid awkwardness, she found a topic and said, “The jade string of beads excavated yesterday morning was very beautiful. The reception was great after we uploaded its photo on the internet. Some said it should have been in Cao Cao’s mouth when he was buried. Some said it’s worth more than ten million.”

As the jade string of beads that Wu Yuewei was talking about had also been unearthed in his previous life, Xu Tingsheng was not too interested in it, “More than ten million, is it? That being the case, security has probably got to be ramped up again.”

“Right.”

The conversation ended just like that as the two walked in silence for a few minutes.

Clap!

Suddenly, a hand, clutching a sword, reached out from underground, clapping on the earth’s surface a mere two to three metres from where the two were standing. This occurred amidst a dried-up patch of wild grass.

Leaping aside, the two fortunately stifled their startled exclamations in time. Wu Yuewei clutched Xu Tingsheng’s clothes. Xu Tingsheng pulled him behind her and looked. By that cave which extended upwards from underground were already several objects, such as stone tablets.

In truth, if it weren’t so coincidental and someone just happened to be climbing up, they might not notice it even if they walked past it.

Yet, they were as unlucky as that-they had run into tomb raiders, and definitely not ones with upright images like those in novels.

Xu Tingsheng was not used to playing the hero. He knew what he and Wu Yuewei should most be doing right now was not to bravely rush over but run. They should run, escape and call for help to surround the thieves...those security guards with guns were not only there for show.

The problem was that there seemed to be no time for that. For nearly two hundred metres around them was a wide open slope. If they yelled, the tomb raiders would definitely appear before the security guards. If they ran, they would have to at least soundlessly run fifty metres…

Meanwhile, the top of the invader’s bald head was already visible. He seemed to be climbing up, just that the tunnel was narrow and it was a bit hard…

“At a time like this, you’d better not chatter away like women in movies or novels, getting all emotional,” Xu Tingsheng softly and rapidly whispered into Wu Yuewei’s ear.

“Right,” Wu Yuewei nodded, being a woman with brains.

“Listen to me. Run. Yell when you’re far off enough.”

With that, Xu Tingsheng pushed Wu Yuewei on the back and hurriedly rushed forward to the theft hole.

There was no rock around. Xu Tingsheng grabbed a stone tablet and smashed it on that bald head...

He smashed him down like in whack-a-mole.

Sadly, the stone tablet was too light and did not have enough wounding power…

“Ow, damn!” The other party let out a cry of pain.

Someone below asked, “What is it?”

It was not just one person down below. Xu Tingsheng entered a frenzy as he threw everything he could get his hands on into the theft hole…

Earth and sand.

Stone tablets.

As there were still a few stone tablets, Xu Tingsheng felt that he should still be able to hold on for a while. While he wanted to use that sword, it was not like they had not unearthed an iron sword so far since the start of the excavation. Those had all been corroded so badly that let alone hacking someone, if one was not careful, they would probably just shatter into pieces on the ground.

While it took a bit of time to describe, it was actually just a matter of a mere few seconds. Xu Tingsheng had raised another stone tablet overhead and was preparing to smash it down…

The long barrel of a gun was pressed against his chest.

The person continued climbing up, “If you dare move, I’ll dare to shoot.”

The so-called gun seemed to be nothing more than an imitation rifle, the barrel being very discordant with the body of the gun. Some places even had a few black bands of adhesive tape around them...but, his mother...it was still a gun!

Xu Tingsheng dared not move.

The other party reached over the top of the hole, half his body emerging with a head full of blood.

Xu Tingsheng dared not look back to see if Wu Yuewei had already run far enough. He could only hope that the other party had not seen her.

Crash…There was a disturbance in the distance.

“It’s over,” Xu Tingsheng sighed to himself.

Wu Yuewei had tripped and stumbled in the darkness.

“The one in front, come back, or I’ll kill him!” That person climbed up while yelling.

Actually, under the cover of night, Wu Yuewei was sufficiently far away to continue running. Still, Xu Tingsheng knew that she would definitely return...

The gun was still held to Xu Tingsheng’s chest. Wu Yuewei was standing beside him. Across from them was a man in his fifties. He held the gun, a rather panicked expression on his face.

Those who have never had a gun pointed at them before will never know that feeling. Xu Tingsheng had broken out in a cold sweat, trembling slightly, breathing deeply as he fought hard to maintain clarity of mind.

“Calm down a bit. Don’t be rash,” Xu Tingsheng slowly said, “There’s no need for you to fire. We don’t know you. It’s too dark, and we can’t make out your features. So, there’s no need for you to silence us. You can tie us up, cover our mouths, take the things and run off...it’ll be at least daylight before anyone discovers us. You have enough time to get away. But if you shoot, they’ll hear it immediately and come after you. There’s no need for us to die together.”

Xu Tingsheng helped the other party to analyse things, hoping that he would listen to reason.

He was not a martial expert. With what he had learnt from Zhong Wusheng, a bit of barehanded fighting might see him easily take down the person before him. Still, the other party was holding a gun...so, Xu Tingsheng had no intention of playing the hero at all. Let those artifacts be lost if the alternative was his and Wu Yuewei’s lives.

“Also, if you shoot, it’s murder. It’s countless times more serious than robbing a mausoleum…”

Halfway through his sentence, Xu Tingsheng thought, “We’re doomed.”

The second person who was in his forties emerged from the hole. The logic Xu Tingsheng had just established for the other side...no longer existed. The second person was a local worker they had previously hired at the excavation site who had stayed on due to his performance being very good.

He seemed to be surnamed Liang. This wasn’t important. What was important was that he knew Xu Tingsheng and Wu Yuewei too. Conversely, Xu Tingsheng and Wu Yuewei knew him too and had even greeted him before.

So, now...there was the necessity for the other side to silence them.

“They know me. They must die…” Indeed, after identifying them, that person surnamed Liang said that at once.

“Got it,” The person holding the gun heard this and got ready to fire.

Wu Yuewei released a startled exclamation, lunging towards Xu Tingsheng.

“Don’t shoot! Are you a fool…” The person surnamed Liang slapped his head that was already filled with blood, clearly expressing that they would be discovered if they used a gun as another method could be used for silencing them.

Xu Tingsheng too was well aware of this.

While the person holding the gun was considering this, he shifted the muzzle of the gun away by reflex. In that instant, Xu Tingsheng avoided the muzzle of the gun, grabbed the barrel with one hand and kicked the other party’s ribs…

He acquired the gun.

“Bro Liang, and this Uncle, please don’t move. Step back. I nearly died just now, so I could be prone to doing something reckless,” Xu Tingsheng pointed the gun at them while kicking the sword on the ground to Wu Yuewei and saying, “Take it. Go back and call some guys over.”

Having nearly broken down a moment ago, Wu Yuewei heaved a sigh of relief, calmly and decisively picking up the sword on the ground and rushing into the distance.

……

At the bottom of the theft hole, Hui Four jumped. His mother, what was going on? Pull me up already...your mother, you two aren’t planning to take it all for yourselves, right?

After muttering to himself, he found a few things to step on and managed to climb into the tunnel with great difficulty…

……

In front of Xu Tingsheng, that person surnamed Liang took a few steps to the side. Xu Tingsheng continued pointing the gun at him as he moved.

He said to the other party, “You’d best not move, Bro Liang. It’s just a failed attempt to rob a mausoleum, not something very major. There’s no need to risk your life for it…”

“I know. I just didn’t think that we’d be so unlucky, and that you the big boss was actually so skilled.”

“Luck,” Xu Tingsheng replied, feeling that things seemed wrong somehow.

The enemy just seemed too calm. Still, he couldn’t figure out where the problem lay…

Xu Tingsheng’s mistake lay with how having heard two voices earlier, he had unconsciously and without consideration defined the other side to consist of two people, both of whom he was currently pointing the gun at.

Meanwhile, that person surnamed Liang was indeed very calm. He had just moved a few steps in order to get Xu Tingsheng to move, such that his back would be facing the theft hole.

A short impasse.

Xu Tingsheng judged that Wu Yuewei should already be rushing over with people by now. At this time, he heard noises before him but it was already too late. The third person in the theft hole, Hui Four, tackled Xu TIngsheng down onto the ground.

The trio pinned him down together...

The gun returned to the hands of the enemy. Again, the muzzle was held against Xu Tingsheng’s chest where his heart was.

This time, Hui Four was the one holding the gun.

Xu Tingsheng felt like crying at his own foolishness. Still, after all, he was but an ordinary person aside from having been reborn before.

Voices and footsteps could already be heard in the distance. The trio looked panicked.

The bald guy picked up a few things and carried them, looking at the one surnamed Liang.

Hui Four looked back too, asking, “We kill this one and run, right?”

Calming himself as much as possible, Xu Tingsheng spoke again, “Bro Liang, one of us has already escaped. The possibility of silencing is already zero. There’s no need for you to kill me anymore...the crime of murder and the crime of robbing the mausoleum…”

His logic was completely correct. When Wu Yuewei had already escaped and gotten help, the other side should make use of this time to hurry up and escape. Also, they should not kill. The consequences would be worse if they got caught, otherwise.

From the behaviour of that Bro Liang from earlier, he should have enough brains and calmness to understand Xu Tingsheng’s logic.

Still, Xu Tingsheng had actually made one very big mistake-in this world, there are many people who have no logic in their actions at all, who simply do not think about what they are doing.

Hui Four was this sort of person...the braindead sort who would think of charging into a firefight with a security team with just an imitation rifle in hand, killing his way out.

Not waiting for an answer, he directly pulled the trigger.

The sound of an imitation rifle’s gunshot was slightly different from that of real guns.

Bang!

Accompanied by the gunshot, Xu Tingsheng collapsed backwards to the ground.