It was clear that Nobita hadn't just deceived me; he had deceived * as well. If Nobita truly discovered us now, I truly couldn't imagine the scene. Faced with his two best friends, would he have the heart to strike lethally, or...?

Just as I was thinking this, a plump face appeared beside the narrow gap where we were hiding.

Nobita held a torch, and the light illuminated our hiding spot perfectly. He was less than a meter away from me, and I could see his expression clearly.

He was stunned for a moment, then his small eyes stared at my face in surprise.

Seeing Nobita’s face, for some reason, the urge I had to kick him over vanished. I could only stare at him with anger.

Nobita saw my agitation and hastily made a gesture for silence, anxiously glancing behind him to see if anyone was following. Then he looked back at me, let out a soft sigh, and whispered, "Hurry, leave this place..."

Then, Nobita retracted his head. I watched the light of his torch gradually recede, then heard his casual voice: "Old man, there's nothing to see here either. Maybe I was just mistaken just now."

Hearing him say that, a sliver of relief eased my heart. At least he still considered me a friend.

If we had been caught, while Grandpa wouldn't kill me, * might not be so merciful.

Although I still knew very little about *, in my eyes, he wasn't a bad person. Given that, I didn't want him to clash with Grandpa.

Next, Grandpa’s men searched the vicinity thoroughly but found nothing, so they decided to move on.

As they departed, Grandpa specifically ordered two men to remain behind as sentinels.

This immediately created a problem for us, as we certainly couldn't hide under this tree forever.

Watching the glimmers of their torches disappear into the broken ruins, anxiety tightened in my chest. I knew that if we separated from them again this time, many mysteries would drift further out of my reach. Grandpa was always elusive in his movements; I couldn't even imagine how long it would be until I saw him next.

clearly sensed my unease. He patted my shoulder and whispered close to my ear, "Stay put here. Watch me."

I frowned and urgently said, "Don't kill them."

In the darkness, * seemed to nod, and then I felt him crouch low and slip away quickly from behind the tree.

I held my breath for him, knowing that judging by their build, Grandpa's two guards were no slouches; they must have been skilled fighters, otherwise they wouldn't have been assigned alone to the edge of this dangerous forest.

I heard * take two steps forward and then stop, pressed against the base of the wall, without making any sound during the movement.

The two men in the distance hadn't turned on their flashlights, nor had they started a fire; they were silently lurking in the dark, completely invisible to us.

However, I'd heard that professional tomb raiders possessed night vision and extraordinarily keen senses of smell. * clearly possessed such abilities.

He stayed by the wall for a moment, then darted out.

I actually couldn't see anything, but the slight breeze created by his movement allowed me to judge that he had begun his operation.

About ten seconds later, I heard a muffled grunt from afar, followed by the sound of a body falling. Then, the other person seemed to start to shout something, but the word choked in his throat before it finished, followed by another thud as he too collapsed.

I rubbed my eyes, but still saw nothing. After a moment, * turned on his flashlight and flicked it in my direction.

I let out a long breath and walked out from behind the tree.

Just as I lifted my foot to walk toward *’s position, I felt something cold and smooth slide down my spine, startling me.

But when I reached inside my shirt, I found nothing.

I turned on my flashlight and scanned the surroundings, finding nothing out of place—only the pitch-black canopy of the trees overhead.

Regaining my composure, I shook my head in resignation and walked toward *’s location.

By the time I reached him, he had already bound the two men up like tightly wrapped rice dumplings using rope.

Although the two men lay on the ground, their breathing was steady; clearly, * had only knocked them unconscious.

squatted down and patted the two men down, finding the handguns they carried, along with two walkie-talkies.

He then handed me a gun and a walkie-talkie.

He searched the men for a moment longer, finding nothing else of note, then stood up and said, "Let's go. They shouldn't be too far ahead."

*’s intention was clearly to follow and see what was happening, which perfectly matched my own thoughts. So, we cautiously proceeded in the direction Grandpa and the others had gone.

Passing through the broken section of the perimeter wall, we entered a severely collapsed alleyway, which must have once been a corridor connecting the dining area to other sections. Sweeping the beam of my flashlight around, I saw that the walls on either side of the corridor were also constructed of massive gray stone blocks, but many stones had fallen, piling up haphazardly in the walkway. Weeds grew abundantly from the crevices between the stones, gently swaying in the faint breeze under our flashlight beams, filling my vision with an atmosphere of desolate antiquity.

and I dared not slow our pace, continuing forward along the alley. Rounding a heavily fallen pile of stones, we suddenly noticed an opening tens of meters ahead where the alley ended. Faint firelight bled through the gap, indicating Grandpa’s party had entered the space beyond.

We quickly extinguished our flashlights and tiptoed forward, terrified of making even the slightest sound.

As we slowly drew closer to the firelight, we realized Grandpa’s group seemed to have stopped moving, and their voices grew gradually clearer.

When we were about fifteen meters from the light source, * pulled me back and whispered, "Don't go any further. If we turn that corner, we'll run right into them..."

I nodded to him and looked around. Behind us, a tree as thick as a water vat sprouted from the gaps between the rubble, lush with dense foliage and sturdy branches, reaching about five or six meters high—perfect for concealment.

So I gestured toward the tree behind us for *.

immediately understood. With quick agility, he crouched low and moved to the tree, then sprang up, grasping a thick branch, and with a swift swing, easily vaulted onto the limb.

Because the surrounding light was extremely dim, illuminated only by the distant firelight of Grandpa’s group, I couldn't see * at all once he was up in the canopy.

A moment later, * tossed down some leaves, signaling for me to climb up as well.

So, I too moved toward the base of the tree in a crouch.

Perhaps out of habit, as I reached the base of the tree, I inadvertently glanced toward the other end of the alley and saw several beams of brilliant white light flickering in the darkness not far away.

Someone is coming! I felt a jolt of surprise, as the way they were using their flashlights suggested they were not part of Grandpa's group.

seemed to have noticed the other party approaching as well. He hastily extended a hand down from the branch and urged, "Hurry up! Someone's coming."

I jumped upward with effort, grabbing *’s hand. He pulled hard, but perhaps I was too heavy; my feet swung in the air for a moment, and I failed to pull myself up.

So, I quickly tried to push off the adjacent trunk, hoping to gain momentum to climb higher.

However, the trunk of this tree was covered in some kind of fuzzy, parasitic moss. When I pushed off, I slipped instead. * lost his grip for an instant, and I tumbled down.

When I hit the ground, my footing gave way again, and I fell flat on my face.

By this time, the flashlight beams from afar were very close. I could only scramble back up and jump again desperately.

This time, * hung upside down from the branch with his legs, then wrapped both arms around me and flipped over, finally hauling me up into the tree.

I felt deeply ashamed and clutched my sore rear end, intending to apologize, but * shook his head, signaling silence.

Hiding within the foliage, * and I had a clear, panoramic view of the ground below.

Not far beneath us were the two collapsed stone walls, forming a palace corridor that extended left and right into the boundless dark.

On the far side of the corridor, the wall had crumbled away into a large hole, which opened out onto a rectangular plaza approximately half the size of a soccer field.