In the car, Li Cu was silent the entire way, staring out at the streets through the window, contemplating whether he should just jump out and run away. But where could he run back to? His mother? Forget it; although she still cared for him, she had her own family now, and there was no room for him there. His father? That would probably just result in a beating.

Li Cu’s hand rested on the door handle of the car window, and during several red lights, he could have gotten out at any time. Liang Wan was clearly in a lot of pain, groaning and whining the whole way, without paying him any mind.

But in the end, Li Cu let his hand drop. Suddenly, he felt a deep sense of sorrow. He realized that if this was a one-way road, it didn’t seem to trouble anyone else too much.

“Why aren’t you talking?” Liang Wan finally asked him as the car passed by Tiananmen. “Are you stunned by me?”

“What’s going on?” Li Cu turned his head. “I don’t know what to say. Who are they, and what’s your relationship with them?”

Liang Wan frowned slightly, reluctant to answer. Looking back at the whole situation now, she felt that things had spiraled out of control. But seeing Li Cu’s expression, she knew that if she didn’t say anything now, he would definitely be confused, and it would have to come out eventually. So she thought for a moment and finally replied, “I don’t know much either. Their identities are very special; they are not part of the underworld, but their nature is even more mysterious than that of gangsters.”

“What are they then? Are they spies?”

“No, they are tomb raiders.”

“Tomb raiders?”

“Yes.” Liang Wan nodded. Then, she recounted how she met Wang Meng the day before.

She first met Wang Meng during her night shift early in the morning, when she was bored and playing Plants vs. Zombies. That’s when she saw him walk in. Wang Meng was wearing a black suit and was very tall, which was exactly her type, so she was immediately intrigued.

Liang Wan was someone who particularly liked handsome guys. Although Wang Meng couldn’t be called handsome, he had a unique charm in his demeanor. Afterward, she noticed another person following Wang Meng, whom he referred to as “boss.” He just took a quick look inside and then immediately left. She heard that person tell Wang Meng, “You handle it; I don’t meet strangers.” And then he was gone.

From Liang Wan’s perspective, although Wang Meng’s boss was very young, there was an aura of maturity about him that ordinary people couldn’t reach. Overall, the two of them gave off a very strange vibe.

Later, Liang Wan learned that Wang Meng was there to deal with a corpse that the police had left behind. The autopsy had already been completed, so she took Wang Meng downstairs to have him sign for the body. Just when she decided to return to the office to continue her shift, Wang Meng suddenly called her back, asking if his boss could invite her to dinner alone the next day.

Recalling her impression of his boss, she immediately agreed, as this person’s aura had sparked an unprecedented curiosity in her.

However, what she didn’t expect was that the boss didn’t come the next day. Only Wang Meng showed up. After chatting for a while, Wang Meng revealed a huge secret to her.

“The pattern on your back must have a significant origin,” Wang Meng said. “They are actually a group of underground workers, that is, tomb raiders. The pattern on your back was imprinted by one of their crew from a coffin in an ancient tomb three months ago. However, for some reason, the crew member responsible for delivering the pattern to their boss went missing. They have been looking for him for three months, but no matter how hard they searched, they couldn’t find him. In the end, he died beside you and carved that pattern on you.”

“Tomb raiders? Are they the ones on TV who make a living by digging up ancient tombs?” Li Cu asked.

Liang Wan nodded and continued, “It is said that three months ago, they dug up a very special ancient tomb and discovered a very strange coffin. At that time, this news was completely sealed off by their boss, and the excavation work on the tomb was halted. Instead, they sent one of their crew members to deliver the information. I suspect that the crew member responsible for delivering the news wanted to double-cross them or sell the information to someone else, but something happened later that led to the current situation. That crew member—who was the one drawing on your back—was already seriously injured. He knew he wouldn’t survive for long, so he grabbed you to use as his canvas.”

“Why did he have to draw on me? He could have drawn on the ground!” Li Cu said, “Even a fool wouldn’t be that foolish.”

“I don’t know either. Maybe it’s because you looked delicate. Didn’t an old movie show that Nazis particularly liked to tattoo children’s skin?”

“Impossible.” Li Cu found it strange. He recalled what the person who attacked him had said and felt that the attacker’s intentions were very clear. His being attacked couldn’t possibly be due to the other person’s foolishness.

“Since you know Wang Meng is a tomb raider, why didn’t you report it to the police?” Li Cu thought for a moment and asked, “If you had reported it earlier, we wouldn’t have so many problems today.”

“Report it? Someone who dares to speak so grandly to me must be quite confident. Besides, how do I know if what he said is true? What if he’s a big liar? Moreover, being a tomb raider is such a cool profession. The man is also quite good-looking. I thought I’d spend some time with him to see if there’s any potential for development before reporting it. And his boss is also very intriguing; it would be wonderful if I could see him again.”

“Big sister, don’t let your infatuation drag me down,” Li Cu said. “I almost got electrocuted today because of your crush.”

“Who knew he just wanted to use me? I think we were chatting quite well,” Liang Wan sighed, the pain in her back making her furrow her brows. “Men! They’re so unreliable.”

“You’re also unreliable, okay?” Li Cu shouted at the driver: “Master, take us to the nearest police station. We need to report that tomb raiders attacked us.”

The driver turned around and looked at them with a confused expression. Liang Wan immediately said, “Just kidding, just kidding. My boyfriend has a bit of a problem.”

“You’re so young and already dating, impressive,” the driver said.
“Why not call the police?” Hearing Liang Wan refer to him as her boyfriend, Li Cu softened and asked softly. “I told you, these people are not easy to deal with. Just looking at their boss, he’s definitely not an ordinary person. Plus, they clearly have a lot of people on their side. If we rashly call the police and escalate the situation, they might retaliate against us. Where would we go to hide?” Liang Wan replied, “You need to trust my life experience. This world isn’t as simple as you think; it’s not just about the police being able to handle everything.” Li Cu smirked, thinking to himself that the police are still more reliable than a lovesick person.