Tomb Robber: I, Chen Yulou, am dedicated to cultivating immortality!

The ghost ant swarm is coming fast.

Go fast too.

In less than a moment, the sand valley below returned to its previous silence.

The sky and the earth were vast. Apart from the howling cold wind, there was only yellow sand flowing slowly from high above and saxaul trees being blown everywhere by the strong wind.

The corpses, blood, camel bones, and luggage scattered on the ground formed a creepy picture.

"Go down and have a look."

Chen Yulou's brows and eyes were calm.

Even though the pungent smell of blood was still lingering.

But his expression remained unchanged.

Not to mention that they were just a bunch of foreigners who came to excavate the ruins of the ancient city under the guise of exploration, even if they were merchants passing by, he would not have acted rashly in the situation just now.

Army ants are inherently dangerous.

Not to mention the swarm of thousands of insects.

Once trapped in it, ordinary people are basically doomed.

He is not a saint.

Of course, I won't risk my life for a few strangers.

What's more, besides himself, there were hundreds of ordinary guys in the team. He brought them from Xiangyin, so he was responsible for their life and death.

"it is good."

"Yes, from the shopkeeper."

Hear this.

Several responses came immediately from behind.

"and many more……"

Seeing that several people were about to go down the mountain, Una looked even more anxious.

She thought that after seeing how terrifying the ghost ants were, they would give up.

After all, more than ten lives died right in front of them, no one could pretend to ignore it, right?

"how?"

Chen Yulou turned around and his eyes fell on her.

"Danger!"

"Ghost ants live together and move around. With such a large swarm of insects, there must be a nest of them nearby."

"and……"

Una hesitated for a moment, then said, "If you must go down, you'd better wait first."

Facing his eyes as calm as still water.

Una felt a little flustered and swallowed back the words that were about to come out of her mouth.

As a guide, her job is to lead the team safely through the black desert.

Avoid all possible dangers as much as possible.

Given her personality, she would never allow anyone to be too aggressive.

But for some reason, she, who had always been fierce, could not show any strength in front of Chen Yulou, but instead gave in again and again.

Just like now.

If it were in the past.

Una would remind him once at most and then turn around and leave.

"rest assured."

"Chen happens to know some of the habits of insects and ants, so they won't be coming back for a while."

Chen Yulou shook his head and smiled.

Then he looked at Hua Ling who had followed him, "Junior Sister Hua Ling, you stay here for a while and wait with Una."

"Okay, Brother Chen."

Having been together for such a long time, how could Hua Ling not hear the hidden meaning in Chen Yulou's words? She immediately agreed with a smile.

There must be something wrong with the team down the mountain.

Otherwise, Brother Chen would definitely just take a look and ignore it.

"But……"

Una wanted to say something else.

But Chen Yulou had already turned around, just raised his hand and waved, then led Partridge Whistle and a few others and walked straight down the sand dune.

"Sister Una, don't worry."

"My brothers have traveled a lot and have seen a lot, so they will be fine."

See the flower spirits all say so.

Una didn't know what to say.

But he still felt a little uneasy in his heart, and his right hand subconsciously grabbed the rope of the wooden box around his chest.

The terrifying rumors about the black desert have been circulating in the village since ancient times.

As for ghost ants, there are countless of them.

But from childhood to adulthood, she had never heard of tens of thousands of ghost ants appearing at the same time.

Especially since I just witnessed the scene of the swarm of insects eating people.

It was a nightmare for her.

I think even Ata would turn around and flee without hesitation.

He raised his head and glanced around the sand valley. Although things had calmed down for now, the ghost ants could not be dealt with by common sense. What if he accidentally startled them again?

Can the group really leave safely?

Una lowered her eyes and thought for a moment, hesitation evident in her eyes.

We have been together for so long.

She didn't make a very deep impression on everyone.

After all, my only responsibility is to lead the way.

They rarely object and basically execute the routes they set perfectly.

Especially those who are in the lead, they always travel silently.

But thinking back carefully, they all have one common characteristic.

calm!

That's right.

She had encountered sandstorms several times before, and even as an aborigine like her, who grew up in the Western Regions and was accustomed to the extreme weather such as the cold snow in the Tianshan Mountains and the strong winds in the sand sea, she couldn't help but panic.

But they didn't have much fear.

He showed extraordinary calmness from beginning to end.

The Uighur tribe has lived in seclusion since ancient times.

But throughout the year, there were always a few times when traveling merchant groups accidentally entered the village.

She had dealt with those people before.

Even if you make decisions decisively, it is ultimately just to make money. When it comes to a matter of life and death, you will still put your life first.

but……

The skeletons of more than a dozen bodies are still vivid in my mind.

Anyone would be terrified seeing such a bloody scene, but they were able to go down the mountain and check things out with a calm expression.

For a moment, Una couldn't guess where they came from.

While she was pondering.

Chen Yulou and his companions have already gone down into the sand valley.

The blood seeped into the yellow sand, dyeing the earth-gray sand dunes scarlet, dotted with spots like ink.

There are seventeen people in the team.

Without exception, they all died in the mouths of the ghost ants, leaving only their bones.

However, judging from their tattered clothes and appearance, there were only six foreigners among the seventeen people, and the rest should be hired local guys from the Western Regions.

They are nothing more than Uyghurs and Huihui.

"Shopkeeper, look."

While he was searching the bones, Kunlun, Yang Fang and the old foreigner had already picked up the luggage and parcels scattered on the ground.

At this moment, Kunlun was holding a brass plate in his hand.

Tied with a thin chain.

It's like an old-fashioned pocket watch.

It looks like it should be hung around the waist or neck.

You can still vaguely see a line of words engraved on the nameplate.

"They are all written by foreigners. I can't understand them."

Kunlun frowned.

Although he had read a lot of books, most of them were about the Four Books and Five Classics, ancient Chinese prose and poetry. He had no idea about foreign languages.

But he instinctively felt that this brand was extremely important.

So he hurried back and handed it to the shopkeeper.

"Let me see."

Taking his eyes off the corpse in front of him, Chen Yulou took it casually.

As soon as he picked it up, he could tell that the nameplate was made with extremely high craftsmanship. The words were obviously stamped and engraved. In addition, an eagle pattern was engraved around the nameplate.

Using the daylight, I carefully read the line of text.

However, as soon as he took a glance, Chen Yulou's expression became strange.

"The British East India Company!"

When he heard the familiar curse before, he didn't actually think about it in that direction.

You should know that during this period, the countries that traveled to the Western Regions the most to loot ancient cities were Tsarist Russia, Austria-Hungary, France, and Honshu Island.

Therefore, he showed such surprise when he saw the East India Company.

only……

Think about it carefully.

It doesn't seem surprising.

East India is definitely one of the most notorious companies.

It is called a company, but in fact it is just plundering by force.

The East India Company took root in the 16th century and after hundreds of years of development, it has now become astonishingly large in scale and its power is unimaginable.

The ancient desert city in the Western Regions, covered with gold, has long been known overseas.

Countless people came here under the guise of exploration and archaeology to frantically dig for treasures.

How could the East India Company sit still?

Plus their natural geographical advantages.

Cross the Himalayas and enter the Western Regions through the snow area.

Compared with the expedition teams from Austria-Hungary, France and the United States, which traveled thousands of miles, either by land across Central Asia or across the ocean, and often took several years to travel, it was much more convenient.

But these guys are really looking for death.

As soon as we arrived, we dared to go deep into the black desert.

Among the thirty-six kingdoms in the Western Regions, the ancient kingdom occupying the Peacock River is indeed the richest one, but you must have a way out as well as a way in.

"The shopkeeper?"

After he read a line of text.

Suddenly fell silent.

Kunlun, who was standing by, couldn't help but be a little surprised. He scratched his head and called out softly.

"fine."

"We already know the identity, but... we still have to look around to see if there are any other discoveries."

Chen Yulou's wrist trembled.

Hold the nameplate in your hand.

Then he looked up at Kunlun Dao.

"Yes, from the shopkeeper."

Kunlun subconsciously breathed a sigh of relief, took the order and left quickly.

If I remember correctly, this place is not far from the capital of the ancient country of Xiye. This group of people suddenly appeared here, and it is very likely that they are coming for Xiye Country.

but.

This is just his guess for now.

If we really want to make a judgment, we need to find more evidence.

For example, funerary objects!

No longer obsessed with the corpses, Chen Yulou clutched the nameplate and quickly walked around.

A moment later.

A group of five people gathered at the entrance of the valley.

They were each holding packages, boxes, wooden boxes, and the like of varying sizes.

Opened it and looked at it.

There was nothing else in the luggage except some spare clothes, daily necessities, some scattered silver and money, and some tools.

At this moment, everyone's eyes subconsciously fell on the last two willow wooden boxes.

The box is more than one meter long.

Fasten it with a copper lock and it fits tightly.

No one knew what was inside it, it was extremely heavy.

"open to take a look."

Chen Yulou's eyes flickered, and he pursed his lips and spoke softly.

He hardly needs to remind me.

Yang Fang, who had been extremely curious about the box, smashed it with the magic whip, and the tightly fastened copper lock broke instantly.

The lock core is broken.

The old foreigner immediately picked up the bow, hooked the box with the bow and lifted it up.

Don't blame him for being so careful.

On that day in Wuku Temple, after hearing Elder Chen talk about the past, even Zhang Sanye's disciple Tiemotou, a peerless figure with supreme kung fu, died because of a carelessness, when he was hit in the weak spot by a pin.

From then on, the old foreigner no longer dared to look down on others.

Seeing him so careful at this moment.

Even Yang Fang, who was usually carefree, didn't express any dissatisfaction.

Plus, these two boxes are so solemn.

Iron chain outside and copper lock inside.

It goes without saying that the items hidden inside are definitely not ordinary items.

Click——

As the box was slowly opened.

The atmosphere suddenly became solemn.

Several people looked at it intently.

only……

To everyone's surprise, the box contained no gold or jade objects, but a stone man lying horizontally, about half a meter tall.

The head is extremely large, the facial features are strange, but the eyes are carved to be bright and sharp, just staring outside.

"This is?"

"stone carving?"

“It feels like a statue of a deity!”

The group of people are all veterans in the tomb-robbing business.

Extraordinary knowledge.

But now, looking at the stone man, I felt an indescribable surprise.

"Those foreign devils went to so much trouble just for a stone statue?"

Yang Fang spat, his face full of disbelief.

"What do the barbarians know?"

"If you come across something, you will naturally rush home without caring about your life."

Chen Yulou snorted coldly.

The stone man has a distinct Western style. Although it is not clear whether it comes from Xiye or Gumo, it should be between the two.

"Open the other one and take a look."

"Okay, Shopkeeper Chen."

Without any hesitation, Yang Fang raised his whip and broke the copper lock.

Completely different from the previous box, this one was filled with jade disks, jade wares, gold cakes, and gold ornaments. There was yellow sand on the gold and jade, and it was obvious that they had just been dug out from the desert.

"There are words!"

Yang Fang squatted on the ground and looked at it carefully.

Suddenly, his eyes moved, and he took out a gold bead with a jade base from the mountain of gold and jade artifacts. The craftsmanship was amazing. Even though they had seen countless of them, they couldn't help but feel a burning excitement in their hearts for a moment.

There was clearly a line of tiny inscriptions engraved on the golden bead.

"Tai Yannian, the Han Emperor bestowed upon his son the title of King He."

These nine simple words shocked several people.

"Taiyan was the reign title of Emperor Taiwu of the Northern Wei Dynasty, Tuoba Tao, which was before the Sui and Tang Dynasties and after the Jin Dynasty."

Chen Yulou revealed it all at once.

Although the text on the gold bead says "Han Emperor", the Northern Wei Dynasty did not have a Han emperor, but was a dynasty established by the Xianbei people.

However, in that era, the Sixteen Kingdoms had just ended and the world was in chaos. Anyone with great ambitions took it as their responsibility to unify the world. In this light, it seemed reasonable for him to call himself the Emperor of Han.

"The ancient country of Xiye, the king's name is Zihe."

"This group of people should have gone to Xiye Ancient City."

In just a short moment, Chen Yulou had figured out everything from the inscription.

Even though Partridge Whistle and his companions had seen this many times, they still couldn't hide their amazement when they saw him talking so eloquently at this moment.

The selection of antique artifacts depends on your eyesight.

But the inscriptions and murals require knowledge and insight.

Able to analyze everything in such a short time.

You can imagine how amazing his knowledge is.

Chen Yulou had no time to pay attention to their gazes, and just asked in a deep voice, "Did you find any maps or routes on those people?"

This group of foreigners were able to find the ancient city of Xiye in the vast black desert.

Without a map, it would be almost impossible with their crude methods.

"Look again..."

Upon hearing this, they did not dare to delay and separated again to act quickly.

"Brother Chen, here is a route map."

Not long after.

Partridge Whistle took out a sheepskin scroll from the lining of a robe on a skeleton.

Shake it open and take a look.

There are countless lines densely drawn on the parchment scroll, and there are also small text notes on the side.

However, those ancient texts are extremely complicated, and I don’t know whether they are Parthian or Tocharian.

Fortunately, those foreigners were quite capable and managed to translate the text on the ancient atlas. There was also a hand-drawn map scattered nearby.

The labels used are in English.

Partridge Whistle and his companions were completely confused.

I can only turn my eyes to Chen Yulou.

The latter watched intently.

He could only guess the English translation of some place names.

But he could clearly see the several areas that were highlighted.

After remembering the route clearly, Chen Yulou raised his head and carefully compared the surroundings. Although the sand dunes had changed a lot, fortunately the atlas did not take a long time to draw.

You can still see something vaguely.

Less than a moment.

He had a plan in mind.

He pointed deeper into the sand valley.

"It's about three to five miles ahead."

"That's where the ancient city of Xiye is!"