The last time I left Ma Mu River in a hurry, I didn't even have time to say goodbye to Lao Huang. Looking back now, I don't know if Lao Huang ever really knew our true identities.

But at that time, the Xiaoling Guards made such a big commotion in the village, and the tomb raider's tunnel dug by Yang Guo and his gang was right next to Lao Huang's house. Lao Huang wasn't a fool, so he must have heard something, right?

So I guess Lao Huang definitely knew our identities.

I picked up my phone, answered the call, and asked with a smile, "Hey, Lao Huang, what wind blew you here?"

Lao Huang's voice immediately came from the other end of the phone, but his voice was a little strange, completely different from his usual tone, and a little tearful.

I only heard him say, "Li... Little Chen, you... you've gotten into big trouble this time, oh dear!"

"What's wrong?" I immediately realized that something was wrong. I called Uncle Mei over to listen together and turned on the speakerphone.

Lao Huang said tremblingly, "Little Chen, are you guys all government people? I... I know everything. Why didn't you tell me earlier? Keeping me in the dark. If I had known you were government people, I definitely wouldn't have dared to deal with you..."

Before he could finish speaking, there was a sudden noise from Lao Huang's side, as if someone had snatched the phone from him.

Next, a familiar voice came from the other end of the phone:

"Boy, can you still recognize my voice?"

I immediately shuddered and said in a deep voice, "Yang Guo?"

"Yo? You have a good memory. You can recognize me just by hearing my voice!"

The voice said with a sneer. It was none other than Yang Guo, the Zhiguo Ren (pot setter) who slipped away from the ancient tomb last time!

The more I thought about it, the more I felt something was wrong, so I quickly asked, "Yang Guo, why are you with Lao Huang? How did you find him? Where are you now?"

Yang Guo snorted coldly, "Are you stupid or am I stupid? Do you think I'll tell you where I am now? Boy, I didn't expect you to be so lucky. Even the man-eating tree underground couldn't kill you! I guess you have some skills..."

"Yang Guo, what exactly do you want to do?" I couldn't help but ask again.

Yang Guo said in a deep voice, "What do I want to do? It's very simple. I want something, something that should have been mine in the first place—the Ancient Shu Jade Slip!"

"This…"

I was stunned when I heard this, and thought to myself, "You want the Ancient Shu Jade Slip, why are you looking for me? You should be looking for the White-Clad Immortal! We didn't find the Ancient Shu Jade Slip when we went to the tomb."

But I didn't say these words out loud. I wasn't in a hurry to reveal my cards. I wanted to hear what Yang Guo really wanted to do first.

Only by figuring out his demands could I adapt to the situation.

At this time, Yang Guo said, "Boy, my time is precious. I don't want to beat around the bush with you. I'll be frank with you. Lao Huang and his wife have been invited by me to be guests. They are both in my hands. I'll give you two choices. Either use the Ancient Shu Jade Slip to exchange them back, or come to Ma Mu River in a week to fish out the corpses of these two!"

Before he finished speaking, I heard Lao Huang's shouts and his wife's cries not far away.

"Little Chen! Save us!"

"Little Chen, you can't leave us alone!"

I quickly said, "Don't hurt Lao Huang and his wife. I'll find a way to get you the Ancient Shu Jade Slip!"

But Yang Guo sneered, "It's not 'find a way', you must deliver the Ancient Shu Jade Slip into my hands. I'll give you three days. Three days later, go to Ding Ding Mountain to find me alone with the Ancient Shu Jade Slip. If I see you calling for help, or if you don't get me the Ancient Shu Jade Slip, I'll take Lao Huang and his wife's lives!"

When I heard this, I knew that it would be dangerous for me to go alone. Yang Guo might even kill me too.

So I immediately thought about it and said, trying to bargain, "I'm not a local, and I don't know the way. At least let me find two people to lead the way, right?"

Yang Guo cursed impatiently, "Bullshit! One person is enough to lead the way. What do you need two people for? Alright, you can have a maximum of two people come over. No more. If you dare to play tricks on me, I'll kill Lao Huang and his wife on the spot!"

After saying that, Yang Guo hung up the phone directly, not giving me a chance to speak.

Putting down the phone, Uncle Mei and I stared at each other.

Uncle Mei said with a face full of regret, "This is bad. We were only focused on finding the tomb robbers. We didn't expect to be so careless and implicate Lao Huang and his wife!"

I was also very guilty. It was all my fault for forgetting to tell them something.

I guess Yang Guo had arranged more than one lookout in the village. These lookouts were hiding in the dark and saw Lao Huang leading us over.

Now Yang Guo was settling the score after the harvest. After the Xiaoling Guards withdrew, he immediately captured Lao Huang and his wife to retaliate. Not only that, but he also used Lao Huang to threaten me, wanting to use me to get the Ancient Shu Jade Slip.

"What do we do now?" Uncle Mei silently took out a cigarette, lit it, and took a hard puff.

I said that this matter was neither easy nor difficult to handle. Didn't Yang Guo want the Ancient Shu Jade Slip? We really had an Ancient Shu Jade Slip in our hands.

Uncle Mei immediately reacted, slapped his thigh and said, "That's right! The last time we caught Little Shopkeeper Wang, Da Yong forged an Ancient Shu Jade Slip for us, but that thing was thrown out from the second floor of the villa and broke into three or four pieces. Can it still be used?"

I said, "That's what makes it authentic! Uncle, have you forgotten? The giant guardian dragon in the ancient tomb also fell from the tree, and the Ancient Shu Jade Slip was hidden in the dragon's remains. It must have also broken into four or five pieces. Our fake just matches the situation of the real thing."

After hearing this, Uncle Mei nodded repeatedly and kept saying, "That's right, that's right."

After that, he frowned again and took a puff of smoke and said, "Then what are you going to do? You're not really going to send the Ancient Shu Jade Slip over, are you? The Xiaoling Guards have captured several of Yang Guo's men, and we've also ruined his tomb raiding. He must hate us. If you fall into his hands, he won't spare you!"

I said with a wry smile, "What can I do? I can't just stand by and watch Lao Huang die. Lao Huang is our friend, and they even treated me to a meal. Besides, we really implicated him in this matter. I can't just watch him die."

Uncle Mei thought for a while and said, "Rongsheng, give me the Ancient Shu Jade Slip, and I'll deliver it for you."

I shook my head and said, "No, Yang Guo specifically asked me to go. What are you going as? I'll go."

But Uncle Mei insisted, "I'll go, I'll go. I'm old, and I'm not afraid of anything. If Yang Guo dares to go back on his word, I'll fight him to the death on the spot!"

Just as he was saying this, Hu Wazi strode in from the courtyard, lifted the curtain, and asked, "What are you talking about? What 'you go, I go'? Where are you going?"