Tomb Raiding: My Family's Last Clan Chief is Little Brother

Chapter 279 Qiongqi Tattoo
Wu Xiaoxie scolded him, "I didn't say it was you, why are you shouting?"

After speaking, she glanced at Zhang Wuxun without leaving a trace. Seeing that his expression was calm and normal, she wondered to herself if she was overthinking things.

Zhang Wuxun remained completely serious, his expression revealing no flaw whatsoever.

The fat man rubbed his hands together and chuckled, "Since the lock is already open, why don't we just open it and see what's inside? I've been itching to find out."

The group looked at the young man, seeking his opinion.

The young man pursed his lips and remained silent.

"Let's go then," Zhang Wuxun decided. "Everyone stay far away."

The young man suddenly pressed down on Zhang Wuxun's hand and said calmly, "I'll do it."

Since there was no danger inside, Zhang Wuxun had no objections. He and Fatty huddled behind the reeds on the shore, holding their breath and waiting for the young man to open the blind box.

The young man placed his hand on the handle of the metal box, paused for a moment, and slowly lifted the lid.

Wu Xiaoxie and the other person stared wide-eyed, and were both stunned when they finally saw what was inside.

In the center of the box was a recessed oval groove, completely filled with cement. Inside the groove, an unidentified object covered in bumps lay quietly. It was about half the size of an adult's palm, flat and gourd-shaped, with a section tucked in at the middle.

Although the surface is covered in rust and pits, you can still see the metallic luster reflected in the sunlight through the gaps in the bumps.

The fat man craned his neck and peered at it for a long time, expecting something earth-shattering and awe-inspiring, but it turned out to be just a lump of wood and iron. He was immediately disappointed and said, "What is this thing? An ancient version of a hand grenade?"

Wu Xiaoxie immediately shook his head, "Don't talk nonsense. Xiao Ge isn't stupid. Why would he bury a grenade under the bed? What if it exploded in the dry weather?"

The young man looked somewhat surprised. He bent down and picked a leaf from a wild geranium in the nearby grass, wrapped the "iron gourd" in it, weighed it in his hand, and then brought it to his nose to smell it.

The fat man asked curiously, "What does it taste like?"

The young man frowned slightly. "It doesn't feel right. This thing only has an outer layer of metal; the real thing is inside."

The fat man was surprised, "You can even sense that?"

The deliveryman glanced at him indifferently, "Too light."

“People who handle antiques usually have to learn this skill,” Wu Xiaoxie explained, then looked at the fat man with disdain, “You don’t even know this? People like you who are self-taught are really not very good at it.”

The fat man spat, "Why would I, Fatty, practice that thing? With that free time, I could buy an electronic scale, which is much more accurate and faster."

Wu Xiaoxie rolled her eyes, not wanting to talk to him.

The fat man continued, "Wooden Fish said the tattoos on that gray shadow man looked familiar, but I've seen your tattoos before, and they don't look the same as that one."

The young man, currently suffering from amnesia, knew nothing about this and looked at Zhang Wuxun.

Zhang Wuxun nodded and explained, "As far as I know, there are two kinds of tattoos in the Zhang family. One is the one that Xiao Ge and I have, which is a Qilin riding on fire. The other is a Qiongqi."

"Well, to put it simply, the young man is a direct descendant of the main family, so his tattoo is a Qilin. I, on the other hand, am from an overseas branch of the Zhang family. For the sake of convenience, my tattoo is not fixed. Those who get Qiongqi tattoos are usually from the Zhang family's maternal side."

"That sloping shoulder tattoo is definitely Qiongqi," Zhang Wuxun confirmed. The fat man scratched his head. "So, that guy really is a member of your Zhang family?"

Zhang Wuxun nodded. "Very likely. This kind of tattoo requires special dye to be applied to the body, and it only becomes visible when heated. Moreover, the designs are very specific, and ordinary people cannot access them."

The fat man chuckled, "This really is a case of the flood washing away the Dragon King's temple, it's like family members fighting each other. Muyu, I reckon that guy's leg is definitely broken from that last blow you made."

"So what if it's broken?" Zhang Wuxun said indifferently, his face somewhat somber. "If we hadn't hit him, it would be our Fatty lying on the ground right now."

The shoulder was broken with the Black Gold Ancient Sword, the clan leader's token. So, in that case, that guy actually made a profit.

Zhang Wuxun had absolutely no liking for the Qiongqi tattoo on his body. So what if they were both from the Zhang family? The main family had long since fallen apart. Zhang Qishan was so arrogant that he actually created a "Zhang Qiling". Just thinking about the suffering his brother had endured, he wished he could drag Zhang Qishan out and scatter his ashes.

The young man noticed that Zhang Wuxun was in a bad mood. Although he didn't know why, he thought for a moment and patted him on the shoulder.

Zhang Wuxun was instantly healed.

"So how do we get rid of this thing?" The fat man pointed to the "iron gourd" in the young man's hand. "Why don't we find some sulfuric acid to melt it and see what's inside?"

Wu Xiaoxie frowned. "I think that since that guy with the sloping shoulders came to snatch this, it's very likely that he knows what's inside."

"Young man, you think this thing is dangerous. I think we should leave it for now and go back to the stilt house to search for any other clues."

Zhang Wuxun glanced back at the direction of the stilted building, but there was no smoke rising from it as in the original story.

It's estimated that Wu Erbai's men discovered that he had taken all the useful items inside, so there was no need to set the fire.

"Let's go, let's go," the fat man urged. "If that girl comes back too late, we won't have any time left."

Zhang Wuxun saw that the young man was also somewhat tempted, but he swallowed the words that were about to come out. Oh well, he might as well go. It wouldn't take up much time.

Just as he was about to get up, he suddenly sensed something and shouted in a low voice, "Someone's coming! Run!"

With that, he tiptoed to close the wide-open box, tucked it into his arms, and took the lead on the path on the other side of the woods.

The young man's gaze turned cold as he glanced at the deserted hillside beside the stilted building and said in a chilling voice, "Let's go."

Although Wu Xiaoxie and Fatty were puzzled, they didn't ask any more questions and quickened their pace.

As he walked further away, Wu Xiaoxie glanced back and noticed several dark figures standing on the hillside. Because of the distance, he couldn't see their faces clearly, but for some reason, he felt uneasy.

The four of them wandered around the village for a long time before finally finding A-Gui's house.

Zhang Wuxun had already put away the tin box. He originally planned to find a small box in his space to put the "iron gourd" in as well, but the young man seemed to have some concerns and insisted on carrying it himself.

Zhang Wuxun then handed him the small box, and the young man put the leaf containing the metal lump into it as well, before tucking the box into his pocket.

The group entered the wooden courtyard. Ah Gui had not yet returned; only Yun Cai's sister was weaving bamboo baskets in the courtyard.

Seeing that Wu Xiaoxie and the others had gone out for a stroll and actually brought someone back, they asked out of curiosity.

(End of this chapter)