When I was in school, because my family was not well-off and I didn't have parents, I inevitably attracted ridicule from my classmates.

And I am a person with a strong sense of self-esteem. When I was a child, I did not know how to manage my own psychology, so I could only use violence to solve problems and put on a mask for myself.

During my senior year of high school, a girl in my class wrote me a love letter, which made me the target of hatred from a hoodlum at school.

At the time, I was cornered in an alley by more than ten students. I fractured my left arm and also caused two of them to suffer concussions. As a result, I had to take a three-month leave of absence from school, and my college entrance examination score barely passed the second-tier university admission line.

That incident made the girl who liked me keep her distance from me. She said that when I was fighting, I was like a different person, like a madman, completely disregarding the consequences.

Although I've learned self-control as an adult, I'm still a violent person at heart.

The moment I burst out of the stone coffin, I was prepared to fight to the death.

Seeing the axe coming towards me, I reached out and grabbed it, while with my other hand I drew the long sword from its sheath.

In a flash, without time to think, my first instinct was to block the axe and then plunge my knife into his chest.

Although this might leave my hand disabled, it's still much better than being buried alive with someone in the grave.

Just as I was preparing to fight desperately, the shark suddenly pounced on me from behind and knocked the man with the axe to the ground.

Immediately afterwards, the monkey also pounced on the person I had tackled, brandishing his military knife as if to stab him.

Before the monkey could bring down the knife, the tomb chamber suddenly brightened, and a furious shout came from in front of us: "Fuck you! Don't you dare move! If anyone moves, I'll fucking blow you all up!"

This loud shout drew our attention.

I looked up and saw a one-eyed old man, nearly sixty years old, pointing a five-shot rifle at us.

The five-round burst was from a homemade shotgun. Although it wasn't very powerful, it could still pose a deadly threat to us at this distance.

The old man's face was covered in pockmarked flesh, as if it had been gnawed by something, and his remaining eyes were filled with ferocity.

Standing next to him, holding a field lamp, was none other than Ma Zhenhong, who had been "terrified" earlier.

"You bastard surnamed Ma! You betrayed us!"

The shark's eyes widened in fury when it saw Ma Zhenhong: "Have you thought about the consequences of offending the Changwei Group?"

“I really can’t afford to offend Changwei Group, but after we finish this job, we can go far away and retire abroad.”

Ma Zhenhong sneered: "Besides, what's there to be afraid of about a few dead people?"

"Stop wasting your breath on them!"

The old man's voice was deep: "Tie them all up!"

"Don't move!"

Upon hearing the old man's words, I abruptly took a step back, pressed the tip of my long sword against the ground with my left hand, and picked up the hammer from the ground with my right: "If you cause any trouble, I'll destroy this sword!"

"Hahaha! You fucking try to scare me?"

Upon hearing my threat, Ma Zhenhong grinned arrogantly as if he'd heard a joke: "There are countless treasures inside, why would I care about your broken knife?"

"A broken sword? I'm afraid all the burial goods in this tomb combined aren't worth as much as this one sword! Look closely at the inscription on the hilt! 'Xu Wang Yuanli, protect the borders and secure the people!' This phrase comes from a line in Emperor Taizong of Tang's 'Edict to Xu Wang Yuanli, Governor of Xuzhou': 'Do not indulge in desires, lest you approach the wicked; clearly follow the old rules, lest you protect the borders.' This is a ceremonial sword bestowed upon Li Yuanli by Li Shimin!"

I flipped the hilt of the knife, showing them the inscription, and said to the old man, "You're the leader of this group, aren't you? You're willing to offend the Changwei Group to steal this knife, so you must know its value! This knife is priceless, enough for you to rob graves for three lifetimes. If you dare touch it, I'll destroy it!"

Ma Zhenhong impatiently urged, "Third Master, stop wasting time talking to this kid! Shoot him dead, and we'll just pack up and go!"

"No! This kid is right, this knife is too valuable! My gun can wound him, but it might not kill him instantly! If he damages the knife, then we'll be in trouble!"

The one-eyed old man shook his head slightly: "To date, no horizontal sword has been unearthed in our country, let alone this kind of gilded and silver-inlaid dragon and phoenix ring-pommel ceremonial sword! The only surviving Tang horizontal sword is kept in the Shosoin Repository of Todai-ji Temple in Nara, Japan, and is regarded as a national treasure by those damned Japanese devils."

"You have some insight!"

Seeing that the old man knew the value of the knife, I breathed a slight sigh of relief: "Shark, Monkey, come to my side!"

The one-eyed old man valued the knife highly and didn't have anyone stop the monkey and his companions. He said in a deep voice, "Young man, you not only found this tomb but also obtained the Xu Wangyi Knife and told its origin. You are truly a talent. My He family has always cherished talent. Instead of fighting here, let's make some terms! As long as you are willing to serve me, you can share the wealth in this tomb with Ma Zhenhong and the others. I only want this knife. What do you say?"

Based on the one-eyed old man's accent and when he mentioned the He family, I thought for a moment and asked, "Are you talking about the He family from Shanxi?"

The one-eyed old man glanced at me with surprise: "Not bad, you have some insight."

Hearing this name, my heart skipped a beat.

The He family is not a clan, but a code name for a tomb-robbing gang in Shanxi, whose leader was called He Jinfeng.

He Jinfeng was one of the top ten cultural relics fugitives in the 1990s. He was not arrested until 2018. His team was involved in not only tomb raiding, but also drug trafficking, organized crime, loan sharking, and gambling. It was a complete criminal syndicate.

He is notorious not only for robbing many large tombs, but also for his insane methods. He would do everything in his power to destroy any artifacts that could not be taken from the tomb.

I never expected that after He Jinfeng was arrested, there would still be members of this gang who escaped.

Based on what Ma Zhenhong just said, I have a general idea that these people are all wanted criminals. The reason they targeted this tomb is to pull off a big heist, cash out the money, and then flee the country.

Faced with such a group of ruthless tomb raiders, I certainly didn't believe that this one-eyed old man was genuinely willing to cooperate with me. Once I handed over Xu Wangyi's sword, I would surely die.

Moreover, the Duan family has an ancestral rule that ancient tomb artifacts taken from the people should be returned to the people, but they must never be allowed to end up overseas.

The one-eyed old man seemed to read my mind, and weighed the gun in his hand: "You've seen it too, taking your lives is a piece of cake for me. You have no choice but to trust me."

I thought for a moment and said, "I can cooperate with you, but on one condition: let me leave this tomb first!"

"What a joke! I'm the butcher now, and you're the fish on the chopping block. What right do you have to negotiate with me?"

Ma Zhenhong glared at me and shouted, "If you know what's good for you, throw me this knife right now, or I'll tear your tendons out! The tunnel outside has collapsed. Without our guidance, you're not getting out!"

I looked calmly at the one-eyed old man: "If I'm not mistaken, your tomb-raiding tunnel is under the coffin, right?"