I was young at the time, and hadn't experienced much of the world. I was suddenly caught off guard by Silver Ring Snake's attempt to strike up a conversation, and for a moment, I didn't know how to respond.

It was Jiang Yongguang who reacted quickly, smiling and nodding at her. "Aren't you the same, beautiful lady? You came in right before us and have been eating just as long. We're all about healthy living."

Silver Ring Snake sized up Jiang Yongguang with her watery eyes and said flirtatiously, "Big brother, you're quite observant. You even noticed that I came in around the same time as you."

Jiang Yongguang chuckled. "I wouldn't usually pay attention to people, but it's just that you're so beautiful. The whole room lit up when you walked in. My friend couldn't help but stare at you a few times."

As he spoke, Jiang Yongguang patted my shoulder. I pretended to be embarrassed and lowered my head in front of Silver Ring Snake.

But it was precisely Jiang Yongguang's candor that dispelled Silver Ring Snake's suspicion. She said with a smile, "Big brother, you're so funny!"

After that, she continued drinking and eating.

Jiang Yongguang then led us out of the small restaurant.

Once outside, I was covered in cold sweat. Logically, we were the cats and Silver Ring Snake and her group were the mice. It should have been the mice who were afraid of the cats, not the other way around.

But for some reason, I was terrified by Silver Ring Snake. Maybe that was the aura of a *zhiguoren* (master tomb raider).

We waited until we were far away, back in Jiang Yongguang's car, before we started discussing it.

Xiao Liang said, "That Silver Ring Snake is too arrogant, isn't she? She actually dared to strike up a conversation with us directly. Isn't she afraid of being caught?"

Jiang Yongguang said, "It's just a few words. The authorities won't arrest people just for talking. Silver Ring Snake probably noticed us looking at her a few extra times and wanted to test our identities."

"What does she think our identities are?" I asked.

Jiang Yongguang said, "It's hard to say. In Silver Ring Snake's eyes, we could be the authorities catching mice, or we could be her competitors. There's an old saying in the industry—rivals are enemies. That's especially true in the tomb raiding business. Tomb raiders have to guard against both the authorities and their competitors, so Silver Ring Snake is so vigilant."

I nodded and asked Jiang Yongguang, "What do we do now? Are we still going to keep an eye on them?"

Jiang Yongguang said helplessly, "We can't keep an eye on them anymore. We've already been seen by Silver Ring Snake. How can we keep watching them? Let's just pretend we've never met them. Let's get out of here."

With that, he started the car and drove us toward the small hotel.

On the way back, Uncle Mei asked, "Da Yong, why do you think a famous *zhiguoren* like Silver Ring Snake would show up here? Could she also be here for the Qu Shang Ancient City?"

Jiang Yongguang's expression turned serious when he heard that. Clearly, he had the same thought as Uncle Mei. He said in a deep voice, "That's very possible. A *zhiguoren* of Silver Ring Snake's level wouldn't be interested in small-scale tombs. She might have learned the location of the Qu Shang Ancient City as well, and she's here to dig up this big treasure."

"Then things are going to be tricky," Uncle Mei said with a frown. "That woman seems like a ruthless character."

"That's for sure," Jiang Yongguang said with a smirk. "A woman who can make a name for herself in the tomb raiding business, relying solely on her soft bone skill is definitely not enough. She must have other exceptional abilities to command a group of men."

We chatted as we drove, and soon we returned to our hotel.

When we arrived at the entrance, we suddenly saw a lot of new guests checking in at the front desk.

I found this very strange.

As I mentioned before, this was a remote place that barely saw any outsiders throughout the year, so there wasn't even a decent guesthouse here.

It was a little unusual for so many guests to suddenly arrive.

Looking closer, I saw that these people were all dressed as backpackers, wearing special parkas. Some wore sun hats and sunglasses. Each of them carried quite a few bags, and when these bags moved, they made clanging sounds as if metal tools were colliding inside.

I immediately sensed something was wrong when I heard the sound, and Jiang Yongguang and Xiao Liang became even more vigilant.

That was clearly the sound of shovels, spades, and pickaxes hitting each other!

Walking closer to them and taking a whiff, I smelled the unmistakable scent of earth. After following the Xiaoling Guards on several tomb raiding arrests, I had developed an intuition. I could recognize the earthy smell of *tufuzi* (tomb raiders) instantly.

The leader of this group was a middle-aged man with dark skin, small eyes, and a high nose bridge.

He had been haggling with the hotel owner at the front desk, asking if he could get a discount since he was booking multiple rooms. But when he saw the four of us returning from outside, the man's expression immediately changed.

"Are there other guests staying at your hotel?"

The hotel owner laughed when he heard this and said, "What are you saying? Can't we have other guests at our hotel? You didn't book the whole place, did you? If you did, it would be a different price."

The middle-aged man seemed particularly wary. As soon as he heard that we were staying at the hotel, he immediately waved his hand at the people beside him and said, "Let's go. Let's find another place."

Without another word, those people picked up their bags, making a clanging noise as they turned and left.

After they left, the hotel owner snorted and cursed, "Stupid idiots, wanting to book the whole place without paying more? Dreaming of free lunch! Stupid idiots!"

The four of us walked towards our rooms. Back in the hallway, I whispered, "Are these guys also mice? Could they be Silver Ring Snake's subordinates?"

Jiang Yongguang shook his head and said, "I don't think so. The man who was haggling with the owner, he looked like a *zhiguoren* too."

"Are there two groups of mice?" Uncle Mei said in surprise. "Good heavens, it seems like this must be the site of the Qu Shang Ancient City. We went out for a meal and ran into two groups of tomb raiders!"

Jiang Yongguang frowned and said, "I also think it's a bit of an exaggeration. Could someone have leaked the exact location of the Qu Shang Ancient City recently? Otherwise, why would so many tomb raiders be attracted here?"

"Could it be Gao Shiye who did it?" Xiao Liang asked. "Wang Zhanggui invited Gao Shiye to Sichuan, he couldn't have just chosen three tombs and left, right? With Gao Shiye's skills, he could definitely find the Qu Shang Ancient City, right?"

"That's a real possibility," Jiang Yongguang said. "I'll call Lao Wei later and ask him to send more people over. I think this Qu Shang Ancient City is getting more and more lively."

After saying that, we went back to our respective rooms.

The rooms were still assigned as before, with Uncle Mei and Jiang Yongguang sharing one room, and Xiao Liang and I sharing another.

We had eaten a bit too much for lunch, and my head was still in a daze. After we got back, we all took a nap. When we woke up, it was already past four in the afternoon.

Jiang Yongguang said that Lao Wei and three of his colleagues were on their way, so we went out to meet them. I, Uncle Mei, and Xiao Liang got up, washed our faces, and went out to find Lao Wei together.

But just as we walked to the road, before we got into the car, Jiang Yongguang suddenly noticed someone again.

That person was across the street, at a car repair shop, where he was repairing his car. It seemed that his SUV had a flat tire, and he was getting it changed at the shop.

That person had a very distinctive feature: his arms were exceptionally long, hanging past his knees.

When I read "Romance of the Three Kingdoms," I remembered that Liu Huangshu Liu Bei had very long arms, hanging past his knees.