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

Chapter 285 Strange Smell

Panma's daughter-in-law quickly walked over, picked up the stick, and placed a pot of freshly brewed tea on the low table in the room.

Panma knew that Zhang Wuxun could speak Yao language, so he waved his hand and sent his son, who was to act as the translator, away.

When Panma's son left the house, he closed the door behind him, plunging the room into darkness. Only a few faint rays of light shone through the cracks in the window, clearly separating Zhang Wuxun and Panma.

The raw, untamed smell of homemade tobacco filled the air, and it was as if a silent contest was taking place on both sides; neither of them spoke.

After finishing a bag of hookah, Old Man Panma pulled out a candle from somewhere, struck a match, and lit it.

The candlelight illuminated a small area in the middle, and Pan Ma's dark, wrinkled, fierce face strangely softened at that moment.

Wu Xiaoxie couldn't figure out what he was up to. If it weren't for the inappropriate setting, the current situation would look exactly like when he was playing with Ouija boards with his roommates back in college.

Could it be that this old man wants to use the candles to summon a guardian spirit to deal with him and the wooden fish, or something like that?

Wu Xiaoxie coughed lightly, putting aside his rambling thoughts, and decided to find a topic to continue the discussion.

"I know why you've come, and I can roughly guess who you are."

Wu Xiaoxie hadn't even thought of what to say when Pan Ma started talking first.

Panma stared at Zhang Wuxun and his companion with a sharp, piercing gaze, as if trying to find a trace of familiarity in them.

In the end, it was all in vain. Too much time had passed, and the features of those people had become so blurred that he could hardly remember them anymore.

"I expected someone would ask about this someday. Ask away if you want, but leave as soon as you're done and don't bother me again."

Pan Ma spoke decisively, his expression carrying a sense of relief, as if he had known this would happen.

Zhang Wuxun quietly translated his words to Wu Xiaoxie, who was somewhat surprised, clearly not expecting him to be so straightforward.

Wu Xiaoxie and Zhang Wuxun exchanged a glance. Zhang Wuxun took out the forged work ID from his pocket, opened it, and held it up in front of Pan Ma, saying, "You still remember this person, right?"

The room was poorly lit, so Panma squinted and looked closely. His pupils contracted, and he stared intently at Zhang Wuxun's features before a look of realization dawned on him. "Who are you to her?"

Zhang Wu was quick to make up lies. "She was my ninth aunt. She went to Banna for an inspection back then. We only received one letter from her asking for help, and then she lost contact with the family. That letter specifically mentioned you. But a few years later she came back, and at the same time, she became a complete stranger. Later, she went to Banna again, and we never heard from her again."

“No wonder.” Panma gave a strange smile. “They do look somewhat alike.”

Zhang Wuxun's eye twitched, and he continued, "So, we want to know what exactly happened to the expedition team back then."

Panma shook his head. "You're mistaken. Those people aren't an expedition team; they're soldiers. They're all carrying guns."

Zhang Wuxun did not refute his words, but nodded, "You continue."

Panma squinted, lit another pipe, and gave it a meaningful look. "You're smart. If you had brought that guy with you today, even if you threatened me, I would never have told you any of this. I, Panma, am not afraid of death."

Zhang Wuxun and the other man both knew that the "that guy" he was referring to was Xiao Ge.

Wu Xiaoxie couldn't help but ask, "I want to know why you said that we would kill each other."

Pan Ma's expression turned sinister for a moment. "Because he smells like a dead man."

Wu Xiaoxie was startled, but even more confused. What did the smell of a dead person smell like? The stench of a corpse? Or was it the special bone fragrance that Chen Wenjin's body emitted when she was about to become a Forbidden Woman?

No, no, there's definitely no forbidden fragrance on the young man's body. Muyu also said that Lao Men's precious blood could completely defeat the Corpse-Eating Pill, which makes it even stranger. What is Panma's basis for saying that?

He wanted to press for details, but Zhang Wuxun gave him a look, signaling him to calm down, so he had no choice but to give up.

Panma continued talking about the expedition team.

“I found that they had piled up a lot of identical boxes in their tents. They would send people out of Yangjiao Mountain in batches. Those boxes would give off an indescribable smell, a smell I had never smelled before.”

“You should know that the thing that went to your house isn’t human anymore, right?” Panma stared at Zhang Wuxun, his tone very certain.

Zhang Wuxun sneered, "So what? You know better than anyone how they became that kind of thing."

Pan Ma's expression changed drastically, and his eyes subconsciously glanced at the Yao knife hanging on the wall.

Zhang Wuxun's next words completely shattered his hopes: "Since we were able to trace this far, we naturally know how much you were involved."

Wu Xiaoxie chimed in, "You know very well why we're here. We just want to know what exactly happened back then. Our target isn't you. We're not interested in anything else. Besides, you're an old man like you. You won't last more than a few moves against my brothers. It's unrealistic to put up a fight. Moreover, we can only be considered the vanguard of the family. If we figure out the reason for the change, then everyone will be happy."

Wu Xiaoxie's words were a warning to Pan Ma, telling him not to even think about killing him to cover it up. Moreover, with Mu Yu right beside him, it would be a piece of cake to deal with Pan Ma if a fight broke out, so he wasn't afraid at all.

Pan Ma's face showed a few signs of struggle. Seeing this, Wu Xiaoxie added another strong dose of advice, "We can guarantee that this matter will not involve your family. We heard that your grandson needs a lot of money for school, and we can also provide some financial assistance. You won't find another deal like this even if you search high and low."

Pan Ma lowered his head and gave the two men a very deep bow. He then raised his head and looked at them. “No matter what you and your families want to do, I only hope that you keep your word. If you want to settle old scores, just hold me accountable. I killed all those people. The others were just helping me carry things.”

Wu Xiaoxie was somewhat surprised. Murder? He keenly realized that the murder Pan Ma mentioned must be related to the fact that "the expedition team was fake".

Zhang Wuxun raised his hand, indicating that he was all ears.

What followed was Panma's account of the series of evil deeds they committed when they were possessed by demons.

"That was a demon lake. The monsters that crawled out of it transformed into the appearances of those people. They all had that strange smell, exactly the same as the one emanating from the box. Your friend also had that smell. They have been replaced by the monsters in the lake."

Panma's hand holding the pipe trembled with fear. He had a premonition that the monsters from back then would soon come looking for him.

(End of this chapter)