Chapter 23: Survival
"How many fires are hidden underneath?" Ling Xiaozi said in a trembling voice as he looked at the whole village that looked like a volcanic eruption.
Flames rushed up into the air along the cracks, accompanied by countless poisonous gases, and even the sky turned gray. The entire village took on a distorted appearance, sag downward from the center of the wellhead. Countless sparks were rising from the spider web patterns covering the land - this land was about to reach a critical point, and once reached, the entire land would collapse and turn into a hell of flames and poisonous gases.
At this moment, a gas mask was put on Jiang Xian's face. In the dimness, two car lights cut through the gray fog, and Chu Ziyi's muffled voice rang out: "Hurry! Get in the car!"
Without any nonsense, everyone jumped into the car at full speed. Just when Hong Si Niang just hung up the rear of the car, Chu Ziyi stepped on the accelerator and the jeep drove madly out of the village.
"Hey... Hey! Can you please let me get in the car!" Hong Si Niang put on her gas mask, one hand grasped the rear armrest of the off-road vehicle, and the other hand was holding the spare tire with her fist. Because the car was going too fast, his medium-length hair that almost covered half of his face was blown messy in the wind.
"Don't you know how to respect ladies?! Who is that, Fatty! Big Arhat, I'm talking to you! Get out of the car and let your husband get in!"
The Eight-Armed Arhat ignored him and turned on his phone, flipping through something. Ling Xiaozi craned his neck curiously: "What are you looking at?"
"Let's take a look at the divorce process and property division." The Eight-Armed Arhat said quietly.
Just as she finished her last word, a loud bang suddenly sounded behind her. The shock wave swept away the poisonous fog in the center of the village, and rushed out hundreds of meters in a circle in an instant. Everyone turned around and was shocked to see... the dry well in the center had disappeared, and right there, a dark hole appeared, with a violent column of fire rushing straight into the sky. The land in all directions seemed to melt and madly fell towards the center!
"Fuck his grandma!" Chu Ziyi's hair stood on end. With the dry well as the center, the surrounding land and the entire village would all sink into the ground in less than ten seconds. If they couldn't drive out, they would be buried here forever with this village!
"Hold on tight!" He stepped on the accelerator to the bottom, and the jeep rushed forward at full speed. However, just as he accelerated, a huge crack suddenly appeared on the ground in front of him.
The land was baked dry... Everyone felt a chill down their spine. The land around them was like chocolate, breaking into pieces as soon as they were broken. The range of the shock wave was greatly restricted by the soil, so that only the soil in the center of the dry well was rushing upwards. When it reached them, it was sinking down desperately.
Like a whirlpool.
"Don't stop the car!" Jiang Xian shouted desperately, "Go ahead! There's still a glimmer of hope!"
If you stop, you will die!
Chu Ziyi knew it of course, but it was undeniable that the feeling of weightlessness made him hesitate for a moment. The ground was sinking at a terrifying speed, and now their car had tilted about ten degrees.
"I don't want to die here!!" He had just eased off the accelerator a little, then stepped on it again, his eyes red, and the whole car rushed forward at full speed.
As the jeep rushed forward, the ground continued to sink. They could clearly see that the car had sunk 20 degrees in an instant, and it was getting closer and closer to the end of the raised floor in front.
At this moment, time seemed to freeze.
Everyone could not hear any sound, and their eyes were only on the front of the jeep. The tires of the jeep were spinning wildly, like an old cow being chased by a tiger, and it screamed shrilly. Ten meters... five meters... three meters... one meter!
Swish... The next second, everyone felt... they were flying.
At this moment , almost everyone closed their eyes. They could even feel the strong wind blowing past their ears, and only the sincere prayers were left in their hearts.
Boom! With a heavy tremor, everyone in the car was one foot away from their seats, and was pulled back by the seat belts. Chu Ziyi stared with red eyes and drove forward at full speed.
"Huh..." Ling Xiaozi collapsed in the passenger seat as if exhausted. Only now did he feel that time had returned to normal. Everything in front of him gradually became real. He could clearly see that they were now running on the only dirt road leading to the village.
This bumpy dirt road covered with rocks feels so solid at this moment.
What's next?
He couldn't help but look back, and suddenly found that the whole village was shrouded in flames and gray fog. He could vaguely see that at the edge of the village was a circle of bottomless ravines.
"Fuck him..." He wiped the cold sweat off his forehead and turned around to ask, "What should I do next?"
Jiang Xian also turned his head to look behind him, and pulled Hong Si Niang up with him. After a long time, he turned his head and sighed: "Let's find a place to stop first."
"Not going to explore anymore?" Ling Xiaozi said in astonishment: "There might be a secret passage leading to the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor. You're not going to go?!"
Jiang Xian didn't answer him, but waved his hand. Ling Xiaozi understood and jumped onto the door, leaning against the door less than a centimeter away, lying down like Xiao Longnu sleeping on Jinsuo. Jiang Xian then stepped over to the passenger seat.
Chu Ziyi glanced at the other person and said nothing.
Jiang Xian didn't say anything, he took out a cigarette and lit it, then opened the drawer in the car, took out a pair of sunglasses and put them on. Then he said, "Whether to investigate or not depends on how Mr. Chu communicates with his boss."
Chu Ziyi moved his lips, but didn't look at Jiang Xian. After a few seconds, he said, "What do you mean, Mr. Jiang?"
Jiang Xian pushed up his sunglasses and said lazily, "It's meaningless to ask questions when you know the answer."
Chu Ziyi raised his eyebrows and finally smiled bitterly: "Mr. Jiang, I just work for Shenzhou Auction House. I can't handle such a big thing."
Before he finished speaking, a blunt weapon had already pressed against his right chest and abdomen. Jiang Xian looked him straight in the eyes and said in a deep voice: "If you can't do it, then I will do it!"
"You either go or you stay. Pick one."
The muscles on Chu Ziyi's cheeks trembled: "Mr. Jiang, this is against the rules."
People in the back row were laughing and joking, or discussing divorce, as if they didn't see what happened in the front row.
Chu Ziyi gritted his teeth and said, "Mr. Jiang, you should know who the four surnames Song, Ye, Xu, and Deng represent. To put it bluntly, the establishment of Shenzhou Auction House is to monitor the national antique market after the great purge of the archaeological community in 2000... If it is a Qin tomb of the three dukes, I have no problem sacrificing my body to accompany you on the trip. But..."
He gritted his teeth and said through his teeth: "This may be the secret passage of the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor!"
"This is not something I can do! I must report it to my superiors immediately! This is my duty. I take money from people and help them get rid of their misfortunes. You can't just abandon me, can you? This is too immoral."
"What happens next?" Jiang Xian held a sheathed knife with his fingertips against Chu Ziyi's chest and abdomen. "Shenzhou reports to the higher-ups, and then the archaeological team moves in? The Academy of Social Sciences intervenes..."
"Mr. Jiang!" Chu Ziyi finally couldn't help but shouted, "You are not short of money! There is no need to go against the higher-ups for this tomb! The four big bosses are the sky in the antique industry in China now! If you offend them, no one will be able to survive in this industry!"
Jiang Xian grabbed the man's collar and pulled him over. Chu Ziyi subconsciously slammed the brakes. The car spun with a sharp hiss and pulled to the side of the road. Jiang Xian forced him to look at him and said word by word: "Do you know the legend of Lan Shanhai?"
Chu Ziyi's Adam's apple moved: "I know, your lineage will die at the age of 25. Legend has it that you are cursed..."
"There may be clues to the curse down here!" Jiang Xian stared at him intently: "No matter who stops me, I must be the first to go down!"
Chu Ziyi took a deep breath, bit his lip and looked up at the sky: "The archaeological team of the Academy of Social Sciences can still find it after entering..."
"I don't trust them!" Jiang Xian said in a deep voice, "Don't lie to yourself. You don't even know what my curse is. If you find something related, you should first report it to the Research Institute! By the time it's my turn, I'm afraid I'll have been cremated! Do you think I'm a three-year-old child?"
He let go of his hand, and Chu Ziyi bumped into the car door with a sullen face. Jiang Xian said faintly: "Besides, I don't trust their craftsmanship."
"The mechanism of this cemetery has been fully activated. There are only a handful of experts in this field in the Archaeological Bureau. They are all consultants who have retired. None of the young and vigorous ones are here! Can they go underground? Even if they all come, they can't pass this level!"
"Mr. Jiang." Chu Ziyi looked at Jiang Xian for a long time, as if he had made up his mind, and said in a deep voice: "Excuse me, I'm afraid you really need Shenzhou Auction House."
"Oh?" Jiang Xian raised his eyebrows and asked calmly.
Chu Ziyi breathed a sigh of relief and said solemnly, "You don't often work in the government, so you don't know the government's procedures. I bet that the Forestry Bureau will see such a big wildfire right away. Then the Foping County Government will immediately stop your actions!"
"Without government approval, you are tomb robbers. The state can arrest you at any time. And only Shenzhou Auction House can handle this!"
"Also, this tomb is so dangerous, do you need any supplies? Does the person we brought back from the well need emergency treatment? What clues does he know? Therefore, you must go to Foping Hospital. If you break up with Shenzhou, you won't get these supports, and you will probably be arrested as soon as you enter the hospital. In addition, you will have to spend at least a month to purchase all the equipment."
He paused and cautiously probed , "If I remember correctly... in another five or six months, you will be 25, Mr. Jiang."
Jiang Xian blinked and suddenly said, "What do you want?"
Chu Ziyi stopped smiling. He bowed slightly and gracefully, and said calmly, as if he had already thought about it: "I want to follow you in."
"Also... please help me choose a toy that is not that important but is quite expensive, Mr. Jiang."
In an instant, everyone opened their mouths slightly and looked at Chu Ziyi unexpectedly.
Facing the complicated gazes, Chu Ziyi said very calmly: "The world is bustling, all for profit. If it weren't for the state's surveillance, which made our business impossible, why would I have to settle for Shenzhou? Ladies and gentlemen, you don't really think that I am happy working in Shenzhou, right?"
"If I can pull my hand away, why not?" He sighed quietly, "I've lost too many lives in this life. It's time for me to do some positive deeds and enjoy my old age."
After a moment of silence, Hong Si Niang chuckled: "Is this 'taking money from others and helping them get rid of their troubles'? Boss Chu, you are so generous..."
"Know the current situation and understand the variables." Ling Xiaozi also gave a thumbs up: "Boss Chu, when did you start thinking about this?"
Chu Ziyi did not hide it: "Just now, after we escaped."
"It is only because I am sure of Mr. Jiang's determination that I dare to take this gamble." He looked at Jiang Xian: "I will contact Shenzhou, and the matter is still the same. But the person I contact and the words I say are completely different."
Jiang Xian seemed to have gotten to know Chu Ziyi all over again. He smiled and nodded, looking at him, and stretched out his hand: "The words have been spoken."
"What you do must be accomplished." Chu Ziyi raised his eyebrows and stretched out his hand.
Snap! The two hands clasped together fiercely.
