The Snake Tomb's First Chapter Begins

  There is a story that has been circulating in this small mountain village for a very long time.

  An old man with wrinkles all over his face, puffing on a pipe, spoke in a hoarse voice behind the hazy white smoke to the younger generation, saying that half a month of torrential rain had fallen here before, and the whole village was almost flooded. However, the road out of the mountain was blocked by huge boulders sliding down from the mountain, when all people were waiting for death in despair, a giant green dragon descended from the sky, followed by the disappearance of clouds and rain, and warm sunshine for thousands of miles.

  The younger generation who has been out of the village for many years said, "Grandpa, this is feudal superstition and can't be believed. How can you take such a distant past as true?"

  The old man puffed on his pipe and smiled mysteriously. If you don't believe me, go up the mountain and take a look. The patterns on that stone at the top of the mountain aren't just any ordinary lines, they're a dragon.

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  Doudou, officially known as Tomb Raider of the South, also called Doudou of the North, or Sand Digger. In today's harmonious and coexisting era, almost every Doudou can be found with a small black knife on their back, a temperature-sensitive Kirin tattoo on their body, and golden fingers that can climb mountains and cross seas to find connections with this world. They come with a free gift: a chubby guy who is good at talking nonsense but has decent kung fu skills, which can be used to relieve boredom. Free shipping, dear!

  In people's minds, grave robbing seems to be just this kind of profession.

  Before this happened, Xiaoyan actually thought so in her heart, and at most added some complaints from industry insiders - such as the development of science and technology, price cuts, and wild teams fighting for a famous device.

  But just like a song says, tomorrow is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get.

  This also means that one day these chocolate beans will suddenly pop out of the box and say hi to you, actually I am alive.

  Finding Xia Yu Fei is actually neither difficult nor easy.

  If you ask someone familiar with the Tao about where to find Xiā Guǐ Shǒu, they'll probably tell you that if you can get through on the phone I gave you, it means she's at home doing nothing. If you can't get through, go to the Xia family mansion and see if she's gone back to learn new skills from the ancestors. If not, go to Panjiayuan or Liulichang and take a look around to see if she's out picking up bargains.

  Either stay in Dou or run to Italy to find his mother, just wait another one or two months.

  These words Xiaoyan Fei had heard before, just smiled and threw them to the back of her mind. In this world, if someone really didn't want to be found, there were truly countless methods beyond imagination.

  But this man had been waiting under Xiaoyan's residence for a whole week without giving up.

  Xia Yifei had privately inquired about this man, who had pulled many strings to find her residence. She carried takeout and tilted her head to size him up for the nth time, fiddling with the silver lighter in her hand as she became lost in thought.

  She quietly sighed and slowly walked towards the man. If things continued like this, she really suspected that she would have to go abroad to seek refuge with her mother.

  "I said, you've been staying under my building for a week and blocking my way for a whole week, what's going on?"

  A slightly lower voice of a relatively ordinary girl rang out beside Fang Chenye, and he suddenly came back to his senses from his own thoughts. However, when he saw the person's appearance clearly, he couldn't help but be startled again.

  The girl standing in front of him had a tall and slender figure, the red cord on her dragon-shaped jade pendant made her skin look even whiter and smoother. Her eyebrows and eyes could only be described as beautiful, those eyes seemed to bury all sorts of splendor, but when she looked at him with flowing eye movements, the cold intent in her eyes made him suddenly wake up.

  Xia Yifei, who had long been accustomed to others being surprised when they saw her for the first time, frowned slightly due to her emotional state: "Speak quickly, otherwise there won't be another chance."

  "I'm from the Fang family of Hangzhou," the man said, afraid that Xiaoyan wouldn't believe him, and pulled out a business card from his briefcase to stuff it into Xiaoyan's hand. "My old master wants you to help us with a little favor, and in return, everything in the vat except for one thing can be yours. Whatever reward you want after it's done is fine."

  Most people would have agreed to this condition without hesitation, but Xiaoyanfei simply lowered her head and let the business card flutter between her fingers like a butterfly.

  Fang Chenye's patience had actually been exhausted within a week, and with Xia Yifei being younger than him, he was already resentful. In this situation, a sentence slipped out: "You should also know when to stop, if you don't want to go just say so, it's not like only you have the ability. Besides, what can a little girl like you do? At most, it's just serving men in bed."

  Xia Yanfei, who heard this sentence, raised her head and looked at him for a moment, then smiled perfectly.

  The motion-sensitive light in the corridor seemed to be malfunctioning, flickering on and off. In what seemed like a flash of lightning, a short knife was plunged into the wall beside the man's cheek. The girl who had crept up behind him still wore an unchanging smile on her face: "Are you overestimating your IQ or underestimating mine? Even someone with a bit of brains would know that this condition is unthinkable, right?"

  The sharp blade was pressed against his cheek, he couldn't help but swallow hard, cold sweat dripping down slowly.

  "Let's take a step back, you say it's a treasure trove, but why should I believe you? If what we're looking for is really in that place, wouldn't I be taking a huge loss? Or if I risk half my life to find the thing and then get shot by you guys, isn't that an even worse deal?"

  Xia Yifei pulled out a short knife and slapped the man's face, which had already gone limp, with the flat side of the blade: "That's why young people should gain more experience for two years before coming out to extort others in the name of their ancestors."

  After that, she took the takeout and prepared to go upstairs with a swaying motion. The man sitting on the ground shouted at her in frustration: "That jar has the dragon pattern of your four families on the seal stone, why don't you go see what's inside?"

  Xia Yan turned her head to look at him, the flickering light casting on her face made it impossible for the man to see her true expression. A few seconds later, he heard the girl's faint reply: "If you want me to go down, it's not that I won't do it. Apart from what you just said, I'll find the rest of the people in the team myself. You're not allowed to interfere, got it?"

  Xiaoyan flew back home and carefully placed the takeout on the dining table, then kicked off the slippers that had just been used to threaten the man and snuggled into the sofa to open a video call.

  In the 30 seconds waiting for the video connection, she completed opening takeout, finding chopsticks, placing them in front of the computer, cooking instant chicken and corn soup, and even brewing a cup of coffee at an unbelievable speed. When she sat down on the sofa facing the camera and stuffed a mouthful of food into her mouth, the person on the other side of the video couldn't help but burst out laughing: "I'm saying Xia Qianfei, can you not put your skills in weird places? Seeing your lifestyle makes me really want to introduce you to our school's engineering nerds ah!"

  Xia Yanfei calmly responded after swallowing the things in her mouth: "You're a science and engineering nerd yourself. I know you want to jump off the building, just go out the door and turn right, the window is there for you to jump out, don't mention it."

  The person opposite him finally opened his mouth after being speechless for half a day - during which time Xiaoyan had perfectly solved a plate of green pepper meat sauce fried rice and instant soup - and compromised: "Okay, let's change the subject, what do you want to see me about?"

  "Someone from your Fang family came to see me the other day, wanting to ask if you're going or not." After a pause, she continued, "It's said to be related to Long Yu."

  "What the f**k is going on?!?" Fang suddenly yelled, scaring his roommate who was playing games on the lower bunk to jump down. The roommate gave him a resentful glance before continuing to play, "I think he's cheating you."

  "Never mind whether it's true or not, don't you want to take a look? You also know that the old men of the four families have been abnormal for the past two years, especially when they saw the family heirloom dragon pattern jade, their eyes were simply not right."

  Fang thought for a moment after scratching his hair and replied: "Alright, when are you planning to leave? I'll go ask the department for leave."

  "In three days, I'll contact the contact person again. I'll make a video call first."

  After turning off the video, she leaned back against the sofa, her right hand unconsciously stroking the dragon-shaped jade pendant that had been subtly burning since the man mentioned the lower abdomen, her intuition telling her that this time would not be in vain.

  In a dark tomb deep in the distant mountains, a jade pendant identical to the one she wore around her neck was emitting an eerie red glow, and the small snake coiled on top of it seemed to be responding to its undulations as if it had entered hibernation.

  Come quickly, come and enter the fate that has long been written.

  Come quickly, O one who is destined to awaken me from my slumber with a blood sacrifice.