The Jingjue Ancient City

Hao Aiguo was about to argue with Fatty when Yang Xueli walked out. www.

Yang Xueli was wearing a red leather jacket, casual white pants tucked into her ankles, and white sneakers. Her fair ankles were exposed, looking truly beautiful.

Fatty stared at Yang Xueli from head to toe. The more he looked, the more he felt this American girl was captivating, truly beautiful, and incredibly rich – practically a goddess in the eyes of countless men.

Hu Ming glanced at her out of the corner of his eye and inwardly thought, She's alright.

Hu Bayi just frowned when he saw the woman emerge.

Professor Chen saw Yang Xueli come out and introduced her to the group: "This is our funder – Ms. Yang Xueli."

Hu Ming and Hu Bayi simply stood up, smiled, and nodded at her, but said nothing.

Seeing their reaction, Yang Xueli was a little annoyed. She then said, "I wonder what skills each of you possesses. If you don't meet our standards, we'll have to regretfully ask you to leave. After all, you're not the only ones who know Feng Shui."

Hu Ming and Hu Bayi were both taken aback. They hadn't expected this woman to be so arrogant.

"Old Hu, Fatty, let's go."

Hu Ming called out to Hu Bayi and Fatty and turned to face the outside. He saw Ye Yixin, Sa Dipeng, and Chu Jian standing by the main door, watching the show.

Watching their embarrassing spectacle.

These past few days, they had seen Hao Aiguo chase people away more than once and felt incredibly smug.

The three of them were young and proud, believing that without being archaeologists, they weren't qualified to join their team.

Hu Ming let out a cold laugh inwardly. He then said to Professor Chen and the others, "Before we go, here's a free piece of information: Jingjue Ancient City only appears at a fixed time each year.

You should hurry. I wish you success.

Oh, and also, beware of the Ghost Eye Curse. Don't get afflicted by it." With that, Hu Ming strode towards the door.

Professor Chen was stunned by Hu Ming's sudden departure.

"Alright, goodbye," Fatty said, cupping his fists towards Yang Xueli before turning to follow Hu Ming. Since Big Brother had spoken, why should he stay?

"Professor Chen, sorry, sorry!" Hu Bayi glanced at Yang Xueli, sighed at Professor Chen, then turned and followed Hu Ming.

When Hu Ming called them to leave, they left without any hesitation.

However, the moment Hu Ming spoke, Yang Xueli's heart trembled violently, as if struck by lightning. Her face suddenly turned pale with shock. He knew about the Ghost Eye Curse too?

Professor Chen and Hao Aiguo gasped, their hearts deeply shaken.

They had scoured countless documents to find even a sliver of information about Jingjue Ancient City and the Jingjue Queen. They never expected this young man to know so much.

The clues they had were: The king of the ancient Jingjue Kingdom, one of the Thirty-Six Kingdoms of the Western Regions, was a woman known as the Jingjue Queen. She lived in Jingjue Ancient City. Later, the Jingjue Kingdom was attacked by the Gumo Kingdom and allied states. A hurricane swept through, and the ancient city was buried by sand.

Later, some explorers searched for Jingjue Ancient City and left behind a few clues, but not many, and they weren't very useful.

Furthermore, Professor Chen, as a friend of Yang Xueli's father, knew even more about the curse.

Therefore, when Professor Chen saw Hu Ming and the others about to leave, he reacted and quickly stepped forward to stop them: "Please don't be angry, young comrades. Ms. Yang was just as fed up as Aiguo from being bothered these past few days, which is why she said that just now."

Yang Xueli also reacted and quickly stepped forward: "I apologize to the three of you. So many people have come these past few days, my words were inappropriate. Please bear with me." After speaking, she bowed to the three of them.

Hu Bayi looked at Hu Ming. Hu Ming got goosebumps from his gaze.

Hu Ming had no choice but to say, "Fine! We accept your apology."

"Good, young comrades, let's go inside and talk," Professor Chen said joyfully upon hearing this and invited Hu Ming and the others inside.

The three sat on the sofa. Hu Ming took out a cigarette and looked at Yang Xueli. "Ms. Yang, to be frank, if you people go looking for Jingjue Ancient City, you'll only be bringing a few more corpses to the desert."

Hao Aiguo was unhappy at this and was about to say something when Professor Chen stopped him.

Hu Ming also saw the unconvinced look in Ye Yixin's eyes. He then said to the three of them, "Don't be unconvinced. I also came from university. Being a university student isn't that special.

There's only so much you can learn in school. In reality, there are countless things you haven't learned. Don't think you're superior just because you're a university student."

Professor Chen nodded at this. "Comrade Xiao Ming is right. You all remember this."

Hu Ming continued, ignoring Ye Yixin's expression, "This time, you might all die out there."

Hao Aiguo couldn't help but say, "It is our responsibility to contribute to the cause of archaeology."

Hu Bayi and Fatty both rolled their eyes. Hu Ming said, "Fine, then the reward for this will be double the previous amount."

Yang Xueli frowned at this. Hao Aiguo said, "Are you out of your mind for money...?" Hao Aiguo was about to continue when Professor Chen interrupted him.

"Alright, Aiguo."

Hu Ming glanced at Professor Chen and said, "You haven't been to the desert, and you don't understand Jingjue Ancient City. The reason I'm asking for such a high price is precisely because I understand it so well.

You should also know that if I'm asking for such a high price, you should realize how dangerous this operation is. If Ms. Yang agrees, we'll do it. If not, then goodbye."

"I agree. How about I give you three times the previous price?" Yang Xueli said upon hearing this.

However, Hu Ming shook his head and said, "I only want double."

Hu Bayi added at this point, "We only want double, but if we encounter danger or someone doesn't follow orders, we'll have to retreat."

Hao Aiguo stood up and said, "Impossible! If you encounter danger, you'll run? What good are you then?"

"So you want us to be your nannies? Whether we're willing or not is up to you," Hu Ming said, looking at Yang Xueli and Professor Chen.

Yang Xueli and Professor Chen exchanged a glance and both nodded, saying, "Okay."

Hu Bayi heard this and replied, "Then that's settled. Don't worry, we're all ex-military. We won't do anything despicable. As long as you follow our lead, we won't abandon anyone."

"Mm, Old Hu is right. We said that because we want only one voice in the team. It's better for unity," Hu Ming said, glancing at Professor Chen and the others.

Professor Chen chuckled upon hearing this and said, "We all understand. Could you perhaps tell us about the Celestial Star Feng Shui Art? Let us bookworms broaden our horizons."

It was clear he was still worried that Hu Bayi and his cousin were outsiders to the Celestial Star Feng Shui Art.

Hu Bayi felt some pressure as everyone focused their attention on him.

The Celestial Star Feng Shui Art was a profound mystery of observing stars to pinpoint locations. It was indeed mentioned in his family's ancestral "Sixteen Character Yin Yang Feng Shui Secret Art," but he only understood it superficially, akin to "drawing a cat by looking at a tiger." It was purely theoretical knowledge for him.

He had never practiced it before. What should he do?

He looked at Hu Ming, his eyes seeming to ask, What should I do?

"Old Hu, just tell them. Don't hold back. These intellectuals have scholarly integrity; they won't covet our family's ancestral Feng Shui secret art."