Chapter 1330 — Given to You

But as the Thief Sect grew and prospered, some among its ranks began to misbehave — the newcomers especially, who had grown restless and greedy. Yet cowed by the several big shots at the top of the Thief Sect, they dared not act too brazenly; they resorted to underhanded tricks in the dark, while open competition remained a matter of skill — whoever was most capable took the lion's share.

Of course, the petty pickpocket gangs in the cities had by and large ceased to belong to the Thief Sect, and knew nothing of the code of the underworld — which was exactly why Yu Xiaoke had been mobbed the other day.

"Want some eight-treasure congee?" Old Hei took out two cans and tossed them to Wei Zhao. "Relax, I'm not fool enough to poison you — with Master Hao here, you needn't fear. And whatever you said yesterday, true or false, I have no choice but to take it seriously."

"Not hungry." Wei Zhao caught the cans, set them straight down on the table in front of Yu Xiaoke, and said, "They're yours."

Yu Xiaoke didn't stand on ceremony; she accepted them at once. Not to mention congee that cost ten thousand yuan a can — she wouldn't have been willing to drink even the stuff sold for a few yuan. Now that someone else was picking up the bill, naturally she wouldn't be polite.

Old Hei shrugged and said nothing more.

The Couple Bandits were odd ones out; everyone had long since grown used to it.

After a while, Master Hao arrived at Old Hei's tent, flanked by several of his men. Seeing everyone already gathered, he didn't show the faintest trace of embarrassment: "Old Hei, shall we get moving?"

"Yes — today I go scout the tomb. Everyone pack up; we're going robbing." Old Hei nodded. "This time the profit belongs to all of us. I hope nobody holds anything back — bring out every skill you've got, or none of us gains a thing!"

"Naturally. We've teamed up more than once or twice," said Brother Keng, nodding in agreement.

"I may lack your experience, but my equipment is second to none," James said. "Whatever I'm needed for, I'll give it my all."

"Hmph. As long as my twenty percent isn't short, there's no problem," Wei Zhao said coldly.

"Good! Master Hao is here to witness it, so we have a deal." Old Hei was plainly a most cautious man; he had these matters settled over and over, afraid that something might go wrong. "Half an hour from now, we gather here and go scout the tomb together."

The others answered in assent and went off to prepare. Wei Zhao, Qiu Lingshan, and Chen Yutian, however, stayed where they were, sitting quietly as though they hadn't heard a word Old Hei said.

"Male Thief, aren't you going to get ready?" Old Hei asked.

"No need," Wei Zhao said lightly. "It's only a scouting trip. What's the point of hauling all that gear? Courting death?"

Old Hei shrugged and dropped the conversation. Talking to this fellow was simply asking for a snub — the man's temper was too strange. No wonder he wore a mask all day long; with a disposition like that, he must have no shortage of enemies. Let anyone learn what he looked like, and sooner or later he would be done for.

Yu Xiaoke hadn't left either. The sense of familiarity with this "Male Thief" was growing on her — a woman's intuition, or perhaps a thief's intuition. She kept feeling that she had seen Wei Zhao somewhere before.

Old Hei went off to pack his things, and Yu Xiaoke at last couldn't contain her curiosity; she raised her head and studied Wei Zhao.

"What are you looking at? Do you want to die?" Wei Zhao knew Yu Xiaoke was suspicious. Though he had deliberately altered his voice, she had likely still spotted the flaw — it was a kind of intuition.

Yu Xiaoke stuck out her tongue. Seeing Wei Zhao looking so fierce, she didn't press the matter further.

Half an hour later, everyone returned to the spot with their tools. Old Hei led the way, the others behind, and together they set off in the direction of the ancient tomb.

The ancient tomb lay beneath a cliff in the mountain range. On such sheer precipices, had people not known a tomb slumbered below, no one would ever have gone down. It was all bare rock — not a blade of grass, not an animal. No fool would run down to the foot of a cliff for fun.

At the edge of the cliff, Old Hei's men said not a word and set about assembling the winch they had brought along; in the blink of an eye, a small crane stood complete.

"My men will keep watch up top. For the sake of fairness, though, your men are welcome to stay up here and wait as well," Old Hei said.

The purpose of this arrangement was fear that once Old Hei was back up, he would abandon the others below and leave them to suffocate under the cliff.

Brother Keng, James, and Master Hao all left men up top. Wei Zhao merely said coolly, "I have only three of us — no need. I'll simply be the last one up."

"No problem." Old Hei started slightly, then nodded. Of the men left above, his own were the most numerous, so going up last was only fair. Of course, he had no idea that Wei Zhao was merely misleading him — at this height of cliff, let alone a Profound-tier expert like Wei Zhao, even a Yellow-tier expert could jump down without trouble.

Back then Old Wei had kicked Wei Zhao off the cliff, and he still hadn't died; now, naturally, falling was even less likely to kill him.

The crane first lowered Old Hei, Master Hao, James, Brother Keng, and Wei Zhao's trio, then went back to bringing the others' men down one by one.

The mouth of the tomb was set into the cliff face — but this was by no means the real entrance, merely a robbers' tunnel. The true entrance, these people plainly had not yet found.

Old Hei, Brother Keng, James, Master Hao, Yu Xiaoke, and Wei Zhao's trio entered the tunnel. It opened into a stone chamber of no great size, of unknown purpose. Straight ahead stood a door, already smashed open by brute force.

Old Hei bent down, carefully examined a few small details along the doorframe, then nodded: "It seems everyone kept their word — nobody came in on the sly."

"Naturally!" Brother Keng and James both nodded in agreement. "In this line of work, you have to keep your word!"

"Hmph! Word? Fear of death is more like it. This tomb is treacherous; if it were easy to enter, you'd have emptied it long ago." Wei Zhao's words brought an instant flush to Old Hei and the others' faces — yet they struck right at the heart of things. Indeed, had they not known the tomb was perilous beyond the ordinary, they would never have waited until today.

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