Pet King

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio  Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Since the Egyptian government had announced the introduction of the floating exchange rate system at the end of 2016, Egypt’s inflation rate had reached 34.2% in 2017. With the rapid devaluation of the Egyptian dollar, the real income level of the local people in Egypt further declined. The bottom-level civil servants could only barely maintain food and clothing.

It was no wonder that the Egyptians thought up all kinds of ways to cheat. It was really because they couldn’t afford to live on their stiff, unchanging wages alone. The sideline income outside the basic wage determined their living standard.

Chinese people who had just arrived in Egypt were not used to the Egyptians always asking for tips with a shy face. Even when they just gave directions, they also asked for tips because tips were an integral part of their income in the Egyptians’ eyes.

Even in places where there was no reason for tipping, Egyptians would concoct various ways. For example, when they visited luxury stores in Cairo, if they paid in cash, brand-name clothes priced 299 and 298 would be charged 300. The cashier’s uniform line in response was, “There is no change.”

Obviously, the staff of this pyramid scenic area in front of Zhang Zian were very good at opening up sources and saving money and had come up with a good way to increase their income. They would cash in their power and sell tourists entrance to unopened areas, which they should be prohibited from entering, at high prices.

But he did not dare to do that so obviously in front of many people, and he could only wait until the 300 visitors every day were mostly gone. Only then would he jump out to promote it to the few visitors left.

And he was quite smart, not accepting the Egyptian dollar that could depreciate in value and directly demanding the stable currency of American dollars.

The truth was, as long as you were willing to spend money, employees and even police officers in most of Egypt’s scenic spots were accommodating.

Zhang Zian’s doubts were immediately answered. The missing ten tourists must have loosened their purse strings generously and paid to enter the restricted area.

Then should he pay or not?

Of course he should pay.

This could be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to enter the Great Pyramid. It would be worth paying a little money to enter a restricted area that few people could enter.

In addition, the faces of the elfins were all strange. It seemed that something unusual was happening in the side channel. But in front of the outsiders, he was not able to communicate with the elfins, which aroused their curiosity.

The principle of doing business with Egyptians was: “Ask for a lot of money and have them pay on the spot.”

He held out a finger. “One dollar.”

The employee was speechless. He had never seen someone who bargained to the ground directly like that.

“No! No! Five dollars! Good value! No cheaper!”

The employee put on an expression like his meat was being cut and waved his hands to show that it could not be cheaper.

Would Zhang Zian be deceived by him? He was blocking the road and collecting money in a way of business that was pure profit and did not cost him anything. Every bit of business he solicited was pure profit.

“Two dollars and these, or I will leave.”

He took out a few Pinduoduo cooling ointments and shook them in front of the employee.

“Okay! Deal!” the employee agreed, beaming.

Keeping the two US dollars and the cooling ointment, the employee pointed at the tunnel. “No time! Quick in! Quick out!”

With little time left for the closing of the Great Pyramid, the employee feared that his wealth-gathering tactics would be found out by other employees and urged Zhang Zian to go in and out quickly.

Zhang Zian entered the side channel, and the staff resumed their solemn manner to guard the entrance of the channel.

Like the Forbidden City, ever since modern archaeologists had entered the pyramids, most of the excavated passages and tombs had not been open to tourists. People were always full of curiosity about the unknown. The mysterious unopened areas in the mysterious pyramid aroused people’s imaginations.

This was a very long tunnel, and there was only a single light after a long distance. It seemed that many of the lights were broken, causing the tunnel to be very dark.

Zhang Zian walked for a while. He turned back to see if the employee had followed, and on seeing that the employee had not followed, he asked in a low voice, “Did you find anything yet?”

Old Time Tea’s brass eyes were bright as he looked ahead and said, “There seem to be quite a lot of people in front of us.”

Famous agreed and said, “I heard it too. They seem to be talking, but their voices are like buzzing. I can’t understand what they are saying.”

“Gah gah! At this time, it’s better to see me show my might!” Richard jumped with excitement.

At least one thing was for sure. Zhang Zian had not counted wrongly, nor had the tourists disappeared. They had also entered the long passage like him.

The passageway was mostly flat ground. At least, he could not see any obvious incline.

After walking for around 50 meters, even he heard the speaking voice that was like buzzing.

That was not right. It did not seem to be normal speaking. Instead, it seemed to be…praying.

Richard twisted its head. It could hear that they were reciting the same passage in many different languages.

At the end of the passage, another stone chamber was connected. When Zhang Zian stepped in, he suddenly saw the light.

He had guessed correctly. This was the legendary Queen’s Tomb.

Whether it was the King’s Tomb or the Queen’s Tomb was only speculation. The real purpose of building these two stone chambers had not been determined.

The King’s Tomb had a sarcophagus to impress people. But there was hardly anything left by the ancients in the Queen’s Tomb. The floor was unexpectedly rough, like they had not completed the building, but the walls and ceilings were meticulously built.

However, it was not empty here. A dozen tourists of different ages, skin colors, and types of dress sit cross-legged in the center of the tomb, forming a circle. They were holding hands with each other, which made them seem to be very close.

In the middle of the circle, that was, the middle of the tomb, there was a lighted candle. The pale yellow flames rose straight up, and the candlelight shone on the faces of each of them.

Their faces were filled with indescribable joyful smiles, which came from the bottom of their hearts as if they had been freed from all the troubles of the world.

In this stuffy tomb, it was like they were in heaven.

This strange scene made Zhang Zian practically stop breathing.

These people didn’t look like ordinary tourists. What were they…doing here?

Zhang Zian’s sudden entry had also disturbed these people, who had been chanting some scriptural sentences in unison before he came in, and his arrival made their voices stop abruptly like powering off a tape recorder. They raised their eyes to stare at him.

The gentle breeze from his action then blew on the candles, causing the little flames to tremble slightly, and the shadows cast by the candles on the walls of the tomb shook as if they were dancing in a magical way.

There was a premonition in his mind that he’d appeared in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The elfins also held their breath, looking at these people strangely, and Pi hid behind his leg and did not dare show its head.

It wouldn’t be good for him to continue walking in or to retreat, and so he stood frozen on the spot and could not help but feel his heart ache for the two US dollars just now. If he had known earlier, he would not have come in.

“Ko…Konnichiwa?”

In the silence that caused people to hold their breath, he imitated Japanese.

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