After hearing the monkey's answer, Song Laosan looked at us with some surprise: "You stole our things?"
The monkey responded with disdain, "How dare you say that? Wasn't it Qu Ruilin who took that chicken head from us? Why are you the only ones allowed to steal from us?"
Sensing the monkey's hostility, Song Laosan spoke up: "I've said it before, I'm asking you to cooperate only to rescue your respective teammates, let's not dwell on past grievances! Let's not discuss who has these things, I only have one request now: everyone work together to rescue our captive companions! I only ask for their safety, I don't want any of the three beast heads, how about that?"
"I understand your scheme perfectly well! You still want to fool my older brother?"
Manjing looked at Song Laosan with disdain: "The Black Robe Organization's intention is very clear. They captured you before to get the three beast heads! Now, if we want to save people, we have to exchange them for the beast heads. But you say you'll give us all the beast heads after it's done. Where are we supposed to get them? Snatch them back from the Black Robe Organization?"
"If you can't get the actual product, can't you still demold it?"
Old Song looked at me calmly: "I don't believe you couldn't figure out such a simple principle!"
I countered, "So you've already made replicas of the animal heads you obtained before, right?"
"right!"
Old Song didn't hide anything: "We've made replicas of the chicken head and the sheep head, but we haven't found the bull head yet! As long as we can find the bull head before Black Robe, we can use it as a bargaining chip! That way, we can not only rescue the person, but you can also get the replica, stand out from Black Robe, and become the final contender!"
I squinted at Song Laosan: "Are you really willing to do this without taking anything?"
“The monkey is right. Since betraying you, I have no way out. If Wei Shengnan and the others get into trouble, I will really lose everything.”
Song Laosan frankly stated, "I have no interest in your rivalry. I entered this industry only for money, but your competition isn't about making money; it's about risking your lives! To be honest, regardless of who wins or loses, I hope Duan Jinyan's matter can be resolved as soon as possible so we can get back on track!"
After a moment of contemplation, I said, "It's not impossible for me to agree to your conditions, but you have to answer one question for me: why did you choose to betray us in the first place?"
"I never intended to betray you!"
Song Laosan sighed: "I know you may not believe me if I say this, but my decision to betray you was impulsive. At least when I was in your team at the beginning, I had no ulterior motives."
I pressed further, "Then why did you side with Qu Ruilin and his group? Were you tempted by the promise of profit, or did they find something to use against you?"
Old Song took a deep drag on his cigarette and shook his head, saying, "No, this matter is far more complicated than you imagine, but I am genuinely cooperating with them! If you want to cooperate in rescuing people, then let's go to Golden Bull Cave now. If you insist on pressing me for the reason, I will have to act alone."
Seeing that Song Laosan was unwilling to tell the truth even under these circumstances, I was annoyed, but considering that Jiang Man had already been captured by Cao Xiong, I still asked, "Tell me what you know. Did Qu Ruilin mention anything about the Golden Bull Cave before?"
“The terrain of this mountain range is clear; it is the Three Steeds Leading the Way. You should be able to tell! When we reached the horse's back, Qu Ruilin had already concluded that if the Golden Bull Cave is in this area, it must be at the head of the horse! However, traveling at night is too dangerous, so we decided to camp on the mountain and set off early tomorrow morning!”
Song Laosan paused for a moment: "Now that I think about it, the men in black robes must have been watching us the whole time. They mistook our digging and setting up of tents for digging a tunnel, so they launched an attack on us! Wei Shengnan was affected by a curse a few days ago, so she was a little immobile. Qu Ruilin refused to leave in order to protect her, so we were all captured!"
I looked at Song Laosan with suspicion: "This doesn't make sense, does it? Didn't they say the Black Robe Organization has many feng shui masters? Since they've already come to this place with you, how could they not have seen through the terrain of Sanjun Fenxian? Why did they act rashly?"
"This matter is far more complicated than you imagine, and the Black Robe Organization's structure is not as loose as you think!"
Song Laosan explained, "Ultimately, the purpose of the Black Robes is to do the dirty work for Jinbai International, so most of them are assassins and thugs. This group doesn't require much skill; as long as you have money, you can hire a large number of veterans and martial arts masters! But skilled feng shui masters can't be found just by spending money, so this profession is extremely valuable even within the Black Robes."
According to our investigation, the Black Robe Organization forms a team for each tomb raiding operation. The core of this team is a feng shui master. Apart from the professional tomb raiders, the existence of everyone else is to protect the feng shui master's safety!
Cao Xiong's team was just an action group; their mission was to keep an eye on us, not to search for a burial site. Naturally, they wouldn't let a feng shui master come along and risk their life! I don't know what methods these guys used to keep such a close watch on us, but their purpose was clear: to coerce us into the Golden Bull Cave and help them retrieve their treasure.
"Your argument doesn't hold water, does it?"
The monkey interrupted Song Laosan: "According to you, since their goal is the Golden Bull Cave, why didn't they notify their feng shui master to come in after finding this place?"
"Of course, it's to avoid risks!"
Song Laosan paused for a moment: "When we were taking the sheep's head, we weren't the first team to arrive at Jin Yang Cave. We found fifty or sixty corpses in that cave. Half of them were mummies left over from history, while the other half were people who died on the day we entered the cave. Their deaths were gruesome, and there were bullet casings and traces of explosions everywhere in the cave!"
I widened my eyes: "So, there are quite a few people who know the legend of the Three Beasts!"
"That's not the most important thing."
Song Laosan licked his lips and said, "Inside the Golden Sheep Cave, we were attacked by a monster. Because the cave was dark, we couldn't see what the monster looked like. It was purely by chance that we were able to bring out the sheep's head. If the team that entered the cave earlier hadn't seriously injured the monster, our operation probably wouldn't have gone so smoothly! So it's not that the Black Robe Organization didn't send a feng shui master; they just didn't want to risk their own people when they could use us."
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