The Lost Tomb Vol. 7

Chapter 28: The Strangest Thing in the World

The silk books on top were soaked in so much blood that either someone's head had been cut off and the blood had sprayed, or many people were injured. Later, it was proven that the books had been brought out by six people. Four of those six were now dead, and the remaining two were lying outside a tent, their situation uncertain.

Lu Huang silk books were extremely difficult to decode, and there were very few left in the world. Jin Wantang knew at a glance that the batch he was given fell under this category and would be impossible to solve overnight. He could only recover the approximate text and write it in modern Chinese characters. As for the meaning of the code, it probably couldn't be solved for another ten years.

He felt suffocated by the depressed atmosphere, but he had already relaxed enough after a long rest, so he soon entered the zone. After ten days, he recovered all the silk books that were in good quality and quantity.

Since his mind was extremely clear, the regret of not "stealing" stirred in his heart again while he was working, and on the eve of completing his task, his anxiety reared its head.

Lu Huang's silks and rubbings were priceless, and if the rubbings were clear, they would fetch a small fortune. It was completely normal to steal them. But after watching the tense members of the Mystic Nine and knowing that some people had paid for it with their lives, he felt like taking one might bring great harm to him. And there was also the moral dilemma. But if he didn't take it, he might not get his reward for joining the team since he was on a thief's boat. Even if he could, it wouldn't be equal to three years' worth of labor. He was afraid he wouldn't have another chance if he didn't take it.

He hesitated and hesitated, and finally, his body made the decision for him. While he was hesitating, his hand unconsciously moved and secretly slipped a piece of the Lu Huang silk into his sleeve. By the time he realized it, he had already done the deed.

Fortunately, no one found out.

He made up his mind. Now that he had done it, there was no reason to return it. In the evening, he hid under the covers and carefully sewed the silk book to the soles of his cloth shoes (because there were three people in a tent). After much deliberation, he felt that there couldn't be any problems. These things already had defects, so nobody would know if one was missing. There was no reason he would be discovered, so he slowly relaxed.

But after doing this, like some kind of fable, he suddenly had another thought: stealing one was still stealing, so it would be better to steal another.

So he did the same thing the next day, but this time, something happened. He didn't expect that once he completed his work, it would be his last day there. The silk book was hidden in his sleeve, and he was preparing to go back to the tent to continue hiding it when someone suddenly came to tell him that arrangements had been made for him to leave the mountain that night and return to Beijing.

This was what he didn't expect. He thought that there would at least be a few more months to go, but it was undoubtedly gratifying to hear that he could leave the mountain, so he readily agreed.

No one came to see him off. Granny Huo was very kind to him in Beijing, but hadn't given him much thought during this period of time. He thought the old woman wasn't in the mood to take care of these things now, so he went back to his tent to pack up. To his surprise, a thorough body search was waiting for him there.

It was Xie Jiuye's idea. He said "I won't prevent your petty theft, but in the end, you'll never take away the things you stole."

Jin Wantang still remembered the embarrassment he felt that night. When he heard that he was going to be searched, a cold sweat soaked through his clothes in an instant. He immediately thought of various ways to get around it, but the timing was too tight to do anything.