Tomb Raider: I Am Hu Bayi's Cousin

Chapter 592 Don't cause trouble!
After the well-united team assembled, they set off, at the suggestion of photographer Sekine, to find... a tour guide!
“You’ve met Uncle Ma Rila before. He came to me back then, wanting to be my apprentice and learn a trade. But that guy was wicked and had too many ulterior motives. I didn’t teach him anything useful.”

"Later he left me, and we've been living a life of mediocrity in this area. If we want to enter Gutongjing, we must find the lakes in the desert. Finding lakes is something Ma Ri La is a professional at!"

In the SUV in the center of the group, Wang Meng was driving, Li Cu was in the passenger seat, and Wu Xie was explaining his plan to Hu Ming.

It's true that one entered Gutongjing through Haizi, that Ma Rila, a former apprentice, was real, and that Ma Rila was an expert in finding Haizi.

The highest level of lying is nine parts truth and one part falsehood, leaving people completely baffled. Wu Xie has already reached this level, just like he used to deceive his third uncle.

There's more than one road leading to the ancient city of Tongjing!
But this road is actually the most dangerous one!
Wu Xie has genuinely grown fond of Li Cu now, and he needs Li Cu to mature quickly before the plan officially begins.

This is for Li Chu's safety!
"It's fine with me. Just treat it as dessert before the main course, a little something extra on a boring journey."

"Moreover, my temporary arrangements will also take time to unfold."

Hu Ming nodded indifferently.

"Your setup... Oh my god, Uncle, don't mess things up! Don't be like my third uncle, always trying to trick his poor nephew!"

"I'm over thirty years old, do you know how hard it is for me to be tricked by you old foxes every day?"

"Speaking of which, besides our target, who has offended you this time?"

Upon hearing Hu Ming's words, Wu Xie felt a jolt in his forehead and his heart race with panic.

When he was young, Wu Xie knew that Hu Ming was an old fox like Wu Sansheng, or even more so.

Now that Hu Ming says he started making arrangements in just a few days after returning, how can he not panic?
"The Qi family, the Chen family, and Li have never been generous people. On the contrary, I'm very petty. When I first came back, Chen Dingju dared to show his claws and provoke me..."

"Do you really think I, Hu Ming, am incapable of wielding a knife? Besides, the feud between me and the Chen family is far from over, and keeping them around will only cause trouble sooner or later. I'll just settle things with them when I have the chance."

Hu Ming grinned, his expression sinister, but his words concealed an indescribable killing intent.

Even the inexperienced Li Chu could sense the ruthlessness in those simple words.

After glancing at Wang Meng, Li Chu suddenly realized that all of them were damn cunning old bastards!
"They're so unlucky..."

Wu Xie later heard about what happened at the Crescent Hotel that day and sighed with a stomachache.

If that's the case, after this plan succeeds, won't the Nine Gates become six?
Wu Xie was somewhat afraid to imagine what kind of waves Hu Ming would stir up this time.

Ma Ri La is an alcoholic, a complete and utter alcoholic!
Upon arriving at Ma Rila's home, Hu Ming immediately detected a strong stench of alcohol as soon as he got out of the car!
"It's a miracle that this weirdo has survived this long!"

Pushing open the door, Hu Ming saw Ma Rila hanging from the rafters, clutching a wine bottle. He clicked his tongue. "He's still not dead? He'd be dead already, wouldn't he?"

Li Cu was immediately shocked and pointed at the "corpse" hanging from the roof beam, exclaiming, "This thing looks exactly like a completely dead corpse!"
He's still a high school student, okay? This is the first time he's ever seen a corpse... This is incredibly shocking!
"Dead? Well, let him be dead then. Let him hang there slowly, Wang Meng!"

Wu Xie chuckled, patted Li Cu on the shoulder, gestured to Wang Meng, and then sat down at the table in the room, just like Hu Ming.

"Alright! Just you wait and see!"

Wang Meng chuckled as well, turned around and went out to get a few antique-style wine bottles from the car.

Too lazy to pay attention to Li Chu, who was standing there blankly, the three of them sat around the table, opened the wine bottle, and the unique and mellow aroma of the aged wine filled the entire room almost instantly.

"Damn Wu Xie, damn Wang Meng! Can't you just leave me alone? Is Gutongjing a place fit for humans?"

"Are you trying to kill me? What do I owe you? You...you...why did you come along too?"

To Li Chu's astonishment, a sudden, guttural sound came from the corpse that had been hanging motionless on the rafters for a long time. The corpse nimbly dropped itself down, cursing and swearing.

However, upon seeing Hu Ming, Ma Rila froze, looking embarrassed.

While learning martial arts from Wu Xie, Ma Rila also got to know Hu Ming and was truly terrified of this ruthless and vicious man.

"Of course you owe him. As the old saying goes, 'A teacher for a day is a father for life,' understand? Your cheap old man wants you to help guide him, and you're unwilling?"

Hu Ming chuckled and tossed the open bottle of wine in his hand to Ma Ri.

"A Southern Song Dynasty hoard? Wu Xie, you've recently unearthed another large tomb?"

"Alright, for the sake of this treasure, I'll consider it as something I really owe you. As long as you give me good wine, just like Second Master said, I'll truly accept you as my cheap old man!"

Ma Rila's nose twitched, his thirst for alcohol rising. He greedily took a sip, then looked at the bottles of wine in Wu Xie and Wang Meng's hands, unable to resist the temptation.

"Anyone who believes that would be a fool! Alright, pack up, we don't have time to waste, we have a ton of stuff to deal with later..."

"Damn it, we've joined someone else's team this time, so you know how we're supposed to lead them to Gutongjing, right?"

Hu Ming scoffed. Others might not know, but didn't he and Wu Xie know this guy's true nature?
"...Got it! Wu Xie, and you, Second Master, you're going to trick people again! God bless them to die a quick and painless death, Amen!"

Ma Ri La understood immediately, feigned a prayer for those unlucky guys, picked up three bottles of wine, and quickly followed Hu Ming and Wu Xie into the car.

He knew perfectly well what was going on. Even though Hu Ming and Wu Xie spoke to him in a consultative tone, they didn't give him a chance to refuse from the very beginning!
Ma Rila understood that if he dared to utter even a single word of dissent today, these two would truly dare to hang him back from the rafters as a real corpse.