Brian Cooper took the briefcase handed over by William Clark, opened it, took out two bundles of cash and put them into his own handbag, then handed the rest to the two moles and said, “I want everything except what’s in the wooden box. It’s five hundred thousand in total, count it.”

　　Of the two mole-like men, the shorter one, about 1.6 meters tall, took the case from Brian Cooper, tore open the already wrapped cash, and randomly pulled out a few bills. The taller mole took a small bill detector from his clothes and carefully checked the money, inspecting a few bills from each bundle. After finishing, the two exchanged a glance and nodded. They took the wooden box out of the snakeskin bag behind them and handed everything else to Brian Cooper.

　　“How much are you selling this wooden box for?” The two moles were packing up their things, but when they heard William Clark speak, they both looked up at him.

　　The two exchanged a glance. In fact, they were suspicious of this item too—how could a brush, book, and wooden sword that were supposedly hundreds of years old look so new? But they had indeed brought these things out of an ancient tomb. So they mixed this item in with the rest, but no one wanted it after seeing it. This time, they just wanted to try again, but as soon as others glanced at it, they didn’t want it either. Disappointed, they suddenly heard William Clark’s question and thought, “Might as well sell it for whatever we can get!” As long as someone wants it, it’s better than being stuck with it. The short mole glanced at the tall one, gritted his teeth, and said, “Ten thousand… If you want it, take it for ten thousand!”

　　“Alright, I’ll take it,” William Clark said after thinking for a moment. Then he turned to Brian Cooper and said, “Brian, lend me ten thousand, I’ll pay you back when we get back.”

　　“William Clark, this thing…” Brian Cooper was about to tell William Clark that the item wasn’t genuine, but William Clark cut him off with a wave and said, “I know, I just really like that brush!”

　　Brian Cooper looked at William Clark’s determined face and knew that persuading him would be useless. After more than two years together, Brian Cooper knew his brother very well. Once his brother made up his mind about something, he would never compromise or change easily. With a helpless sigh, he took out a stack of cash and handed it to William Clark, saying, “Just make sure you’ve thought it through!”

　　“Mm.”

　　William Clark took the money and handed it to the short mole, then took the wooden box from the mole’s hands.

　　The two mole-like men took the money from William Clark, put it into their cash box, exchanged a glance, and quickly disappeared into the pitch-black cornfield.

　　“Coo coo… coo coo… coo coo…”

　　Suddenly, the sound of a cuckoo came from the direction where the two had disappeared, and from the cornfield around William Clark and Brian Cooper, there was suddenly the sound of something brushing through the corn stalks.

　　“Damn, is this an ambush?”

　　William Clark and Brian Cooper were startled, a bad feeling rising in their hearts. They exchanged a glance and saw the anxious expression on each other’s faces. Each picked up their things from the ground and slipped into the pitch-black cornfield.

Chapter Two: Trapped in a Pit

　　William Clark and Brian Cooper picked up their things from the ground and quickly slipped deeper into the cornfield.

　　They had just entered the cornfield when, from the place where they had traded with the moles, came an exasperated voice: “Damn, they’re gone! Ran fast enough!” After a few seconds, the voice came again: “Hurry, chase them, in this direction!” With that, they chased after William Clark and the others.

　　As they ran, the two exchanged a glance. Although in this pitch-black night they couldn’t see each other’s faces, their long-time basketball partnership had given them a tacit understanding, so they both knew what the other was thinking. Neither spoke, but both reached out to hand their things to the other. William Clark glanced at Brian Cooper, shook his head, and whispered, “Brian, stop arguing, if we keep this up, it’ll be too late!” With that, he shoved his things into Brian Cooper’s hands and ran off in another direction, deliberately crashing into the corn stalks to make a loud ‘crash… crash…’ sound as he ran.

　　Brian Cooper held the items, forced his bloodshot eyes open to look in the direction where William Clark had disappeared, then turned and ran a few steps in the opposite direction before crouching down and staying completely still.

　　As soon as Brian Cooper crouched down, several figures swept past him, chasing after William Clark.

　　As he ran, the leaves of the corn stalks were like sharp knives, slashing at William Clark’s body again and again. But William Clark couldn’t care about the pain now, because he could feel that the pursuers were not far behind him.

　　Suddenly, a bolt of lightning split the sky, like a sharp knife slicing open the black curtain covering the heavens. The sudden flash of white light stretched across the sky, illuminating every detail of the world.

　　Taking advantage of the fleeting white light, William Clark looked back. Five or six meters behind him, four or five figures were in hot pursuit, and the distance was closing. After all, although William Clark grew up in a small county town, he had no experience running wildly through cornfields, and was no match for these people who worked the land all year round.

　　Seeing the pursuers getting closer and closer, he thought, “If this keeps up, I’ll be caught sooner or later. I need to think of something fast.”

　　“Rumble… rumble… rumble…”