...

On the other side, inside the tomb.

The goatee led a group of people through the passageway, his eyes occasionally sneaking glances at the walls and the bluestone bricks underfoot, as if pondering something.

The blond man followed about two meters behind, constantly staring at the tablet in his hand, where a special value on the screen kept fluctuating.

The group continued down the passageway for another twenty meters or so when the goatee suddenly slowed his pace. After scanning with his flashlight, he turned back to the blond man and said, "Boss, there might be a trap ahead, be careful."

He put on a visage of tension, but there was no trace of fear in his eyes.

The blond man was focused on the spiking data on the tablet, and he impatiently barked, "Stop the nonsense! Keep moving forward, it's just ahead!"

The goatee said no more, but as he turned, he discreetly gave a signal to his two companions.

The three of them were somewhat related, and the other two had been with the goatee for quite some time, so they instantly understood his meaning, immediately becoming a bit more cautious, and closely followed him.

The goatee continued forward, deliberately stepping a few centimeters to the right, his boot scraping against a slightly raised edge of a bluestone brick.

Seeing the stone stay still, his eyes sharpened, and with an understanding of the situation, he seemingly casually swept his flashlight across the ground two or three meters ahead.

Just as he was about to step forward, he suddenly shouted, "Get on the wall!" and flung himself to the left.

The two companions were prepared, and upon hearing him, immediately followed suit, desperately grabbing onto the jutting brick platform on the left wall of the passageway, their feet dangling in the air.

Almost simultaneously, there was a loud "boom," and the bluestone bricks where they had been standing suddenly flipped downward, revealing a dark chasm!

The blond man and his group were caught off guard, shrieking as they plummeted down.

The goatee lay on the brick platform, looking down, his pupils narrowing at the sight in the pit.

The pit was four to five meters deep, its bottom densely packed with dozens of iron spikes! Each spike was at least half a meter long, with a sharply pointed end.

"Squelch, squelch!"

"Ah!"

The sound of bodies being impaled by iron spikes kept echoing, accompanied by harrowing screams.

Some hadn't even reacted before being instantly pierced through the back by the half-meter long spikes, their limbs hanging limply, blood foam continuously bubbling from their mouths.

The ones in the middle were worse off, as the spikes were densest, turning them into swiss cheese.

The blond man was not spared either; a spike slanted through his thigh, the sharp point protruding from the outside of his knee, blood gushing from the wound like a faucet, staining his pants red in moments—he looked doomed.

"Fuck!"

The blond man screamed and cursed in agony, his entire body twitching from the excruciating pain in his leg, utterly immobilized.

"Help! Help me!"

The goatee clung onto the brick platform, his fingers tightly grasping the gaps between bricks.

The agonized screams continued to echo from the bottom of the pit, yet he didn't even blink, coldly staring down at the purgatory below.

The two companions beside him, having never witnessed such a bloody scene, felt their limbs weakening in fear.

After about half a minute, an unknown creaking noise emanated from somewhere, sounding like some kind of machine was being activated.

A shrill grinding noise echoed through the passageway, and the previously collapsed bluestone floor began closing upwards, quickly restoring to a level surface within mere breaths, as if the chasm had never existed.

Even the agonized screaming vanished along with it.

The three tomb raiders, on the brink of giving out, finally breathed a sigh of relief and, led by the goatee, returned to the ground.

The moment they touched down, the hot-tempered young man immediately turned around, bent over, and began retching, gastric acid surging up from his stomach.

The other wasn't faring much better, his face ghostly pale, lips quivering unable to speak.

The terrifying scene from earlier would become a permanent nightmare for these two.

"Pathetic wretches," the goatee cursed under his breath, his face devoid of any prior kindness, staring coldly at the ground, "Remember this, real ruthlessness is cruelty of the heart! Not competing with others."

...

Meanwhile, at the entrance of the Government Office building in Shanghai.

Ji Liyang, who hadn't seen the sun in several days, stood below the steps, turning to gaze at the towering building behind him.

He entered this time without saying a word, knowing it was useless even to speak, perhaps even forcing him into silence forever, just like with Brother Xiong.

He knew this illusion of brief freedom wasn't real, and it wouldn't be long before people from the office will seek him out.

With one last look at the building, Ji Liyang stepped out of the courtyard.

On the street, the driver, having received the notification, rushed over to pick him up without delay.

"Boss, are you alright?"

The driver, a middle-aged man in his forties, had been driving for Ji Liyang for over a decade. He often transported "tea leaves" for his bosses to certain leaders, making him a trusted confidant.

Ji Liyang waved his hand: "I'm fine. Have you seen Xiao Gu these past two days? I can't seem to reach him."

"He hasn't been to the office these days. I heard President Qi took him out of town for some business negotiations." The driver replied honestly.

Leaving town for negotiations at this time?

Ji Liyang gave a cold chuckle, continuing to ask, "How are things at the company now?"

The driver glanced into the rearview mirror, hesitating before speaking: "Ever since you were... invited away, everyone in the company has been on edge. I've heard a lot of projects have stopped, and the municipal..."

After hearing the driver's report, Ji Liyang showed no surprise or anger, as if he had already expected this outcome.

After a moment of silence, he instructed the driver, "Go buy me a pack of cigarettes from across the street."

"Okay." The driver acknowledged and opened the door to leave.

Once the driver was gone, Ji Liyang reached for a small safe on the seat next to him, a safe he had specifically asked the driver to bring from his office.

Ji Liyang turned the combination lock, hearing a "beep" as the safe opened. Inside, there was not much space, containing a dozen or so 200-gram gold bars and several bank cards.

However, he paid no attention to the gold and silver, extracting a small sealed bag containing a SIM card from the safe.

Ji Liyang took out his phone and replaced the current SIM with the new one, then dialed a number.

The call rang twice before it was quickly answered, though there was no sound on the other side until Ji Liyang spoke first.

"How did things go?"

"Xiong Jun has been dealt with, but there's a problem over in London." The voice on the other end replied hoarsely.

Ji Liyang's brow furrowed in response: "What happened?"

"A group attacked our warehouse the day before yesterday, stealing the shipment we had just transported from Shanghai."

"What did you say!" Ji Liyang's face turned extremely grim, "Who did it!?"

"It's unclear at the moment, surveillance was destroyed, and injured guards reported seeing four Asian faces." After pausing, the voice continued, "These people had a clear objective, only taking the shipment that had just arrived, leaving everything else untouched."

"Damn it!" Ji Liyang gritted his teeth, "At all costs, get that shipment back! It's already been reserved, and you know how terrifying they can be if we fail to deliver."

It was rare for Ji Liyang to be so emotional, as the buyers of those relics were anything but kind-hearted.

The buyers highly valued this shipment, especially the Sheep Head and Dog Head among the Twelve Bronze Heads, offering exorbitant prices for them.

He had already collected the deposit, and failing to deliver would definitely mean he was the first to die.

These people, though top-tier billionaires, were more like beasts stripping others to the bone.

Although he had no way out domestically, handing over all his assets could still allow him a chance to barely land the ground and at most face a few years' sentence that could be maneuvered into probation with some money.

But if this is mishandled, forget about landing, he'd be killed mid-air by the buyers, dragging his family into the mess along with him.

"Spend the money! If necessary, get people from Junqing involved, we must find that shipment!" Ji Liyang almost roared.

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