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

Chapter 334 Those who enter will die
Three days later, new photos came from Mount Siguniang.

Zhang Wuxun and his team led the group into the cave again, following the same procedure as before: shoveling horse manure, activating mechanisms, and climbing through the tunnel.

However, this passage was more than twice as difficult to climb as before. Because of the mixed and uneven rock texture, the tunnel was sometimes narrow and sometimes wide. It felt like they were crawling through a folded straw. Every time the folds contracted, the fat man would get stuck, which made him so angry that he almost cursed.

The group crawled through the tunnel until they were dizzy and disoriented, but finally an opening appeared ahead.

Zhang Wuxun jumped down from the exit and looked around the cave.

The layout here is significantly more refined than the previous two. The entire cave has been renovated into a domed stone chamber with a very flat floor. There are even two rows of human-shaped stone pillar lamp figurines without facial features on both sides of the stone chamber.

The third sealing stone was just ahead, and the Huo family members were already eager to rush over, but the young man stopped them, saying, "Wait, something's strange here."

Some people didn't believe it, saying, "We've had such a smooth journey, what could be strange about it?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Wuxun turned around and kicked the man in the knee. Caught off guard, the man staggered forward and fell hard onto a stone slab in front of him.

The stone slab sank instantly under the force, and at the same time, the terracotta lamp pillars on both sides of the stone chamber emitted a series of cracking sounds as the stone rubbed together. The side without facial features suddenly turned to face the crowd, and at the same time, the lamps held by the terracotta figures lit up with a flicker.

The Huo family members were so shocked by this sudden turn of events that they kept backing away. The one kneeling on the ground was so frightened that he froze, his whole body stiffened, his face turned pale, and he didn't dare to move an inch.

Zhang Wuxun chuckled, his gaze sweeping over the retreating Huo family members before he sighed and shook his head.

Once he's inside Zhang Family Ancient Building, he'd rather these people be cannon fodder than a burden.

"You're all so timid. You're scared by such a small mechanism." The fat man mocked without any politeness. "Get out of the way, don't block the way. I'm going to take a look."

The fat man pushed aside the Huo family members blocking his way, walked over to Zhang Wuxun and the young man, and looked at the stone slab where the firelight was concentrated. "Hey, there are words on this. What do they say?"

“Those who are not of my race shall die if they enter.” Zhang Wuxun read out the two lines of seal script.

The fat man grunted "Huh?" and his eyes widened. "Those who enter will die? What does that mean?"

The young man's face was solemn as he slowly spoke, "This is a warning: outsiders will not be allowed to enter the Zhang Family Ancient Building alive."

A chill ran up his spine from the soles of his feet. The fat man rubbed the goosebumps on his body, feeling a little panicked. "Damn, buddy, don't scare me!"

The young man remained silent, staring intently at the complete Fire-Treading Wind-Burning Qilin on the sealing stone, his gaze deep and unfathomable.

The entire stone chamber was completely silent; everyone held their breath and dared not move.

The atmosphere was incredibly tense. The fat man chuckled dryly, "Haha, this guy usually looks so serious, but when he suddenly starts joking, he can be terrifying."

“I’m not kidding.” Zhang Wuxun turned to stare at the fat man. “This is a final warning to trespassers.”

"The Zhang family has strict family rules and is extremely xenophobic. Anyone who tries to enter here to steal secrets will be killed without mercy."

Seeing that the fat man's face had turned pale, Zhang Wuxun suddenly smiled and patted his shoulder, "Look how scared you are. Rules are rigid, but people are flexible. You still have me and Xiao Ge here, we definitely won't let anything happen to you."

The fat man immediately relaxed, took a deep breath, and coughed twice because he inhaled too quickly. "You scared me to death, you little devil! You've corrupted my honest and quiet brother."

"Just kidding to lighten the mood." Zhang Wuxun turned around with a grin, staring at the Huo family members, and tilted his head. "You...you shouldn't mind, right?"

The Huo family shuddered at his gaze, hastily waving their hands and denying it outright: "No, no, how could that be?"

"As long as you're happy."

"Yeah, yeah, we're not important."

Zhang Wuxun chuckled and ignored them, a cold glint in his eyes as he turned away.

He and his friend certainly wouldn't let the fat guy die; as for the others, they could only leave it to fate.

While Zhang Wuxun was scaring the Huo family, the young man had already walked around the writing on the floor to the sealing stone and stretched out his fingers to carefully feel it.

It was a complete picture of a fire-riding Qilin, but there were some subtle differences from the tattoo on the young man's body. The head of the Qilin was carved in great detail, but the edges were deliberately blurred.

The young man's fingertip finally rested on the Qilin's eyes, and he pressed down hard. With a soft metallic clang, the Qilin image in front of him suddenly seemed to come alive, instantly splitting into nine fragments that simultaneously slid and shrank in all directions, revealing the square relief below.

The fat man let out a "Hey!" and tentatively took a step forward, asking Zhang Wuxun, "If I walk up there, there shouldn't be any traps popping out suddenly, right?"

"No, this is just a scare tactic, meant to serve as a warning to anyone wanting to go in," Zhang Wuxun said with a faint smile.

The fat man was relieved and went over to look at the relief. Then he turned around and called to the Huo family, "What are you all standing there for? Come and take pictures!"

Seeing that nothing went wrong after the fat man went over, the Huo family felt relieved and started snapping photos.

Upon seeing this, the Huo family member kneeling on the ground also tried to get up, but as soon as his knees left the ground, the flame in the terracotta figure's hand flickered, startling him so much that he immediately knelt down properly again.

Zhang Wuxun chuckled lightly, "It seems our ancestor has quite a problem with you, kid. Maybe you shouldn't come in next time."

The Huo family members kneeling on the ground had stiff faces, gave a bitter smile, and dared not make any further moves.

Seeing that he was kneeling obediently, Zhang Wuxun ignored him and went to the side of the young man and the fat man to observe the reliefs.

The young man was staring intently at one of the pictures, a hint of confusion in his eyes.

Zhang Wuxun followed his gaze and saw... an ancient pagoda that looked like a temple, with countless chains wrapped around its body, as if something terrible was imprisoned inside.

The chains extended to the other two reliefs. The relief at three o'clock depicted a funeral scene, with nine people without right hands surrounding a large coffin. Chains were tightly wrapped around the coffin, and each of the nine people held a kapala bowl containing something unknown. Nine thinner chains extended from the coffin, connecting directly to the nine people's bare right hands.

This is—Nine Dragons Carrying a Coffin!
Zhang Wuxun was startled and quickly turned to look at the last picture. It was a bridge made of intertwined chains, spanning two cliffs. Below the bridge, flames were erupting from the abyss. At one end of the bridge, the chains stopped because there was a door there, much like the bronze door on Changbai Mountain.

These three pictures were incredibly detailed. As Zhang Wuxun stood there, scenes began to involuntarily pop into his mind. He seemed to see the eight most powerful members of the Zhang family back then, led by the patriarch, passing through the raging, endless karmic fire and delivering the huge coffin to the bronze door on the other side of the bridge.

The tower, bound by chains, is more like a heavy shackle that has weighed on the Zhang family for thousands of years.

However, Zhang Wuxun clearly understood that the content of these reliefs was not the scene outside the bronze gate of Changbai Mountain, so there was only one possibility: it was the bronze gate deep in the Himalayas.

The fat man couldn't understand the contents of the document. Remembering what Zhang Wuxun had said before, he turned around and searched for the fire pattern in various corners of the stone chamber.

After circling the stone chamber twice and searching every nook and cranny of the stone walls, but finding no special patterns, just as he was about to head back, the air currents from his turn caused the flame on the lamppost to flicker. In a flash of light, the fat man suddenly saw something and uttered a soft "Hmm?"

Then he squatted down, squinted and carefully examined the bell on the terracotta warrior's waist, and silently exclaimed "Holy crap!" before making two breathy "piu piu" sounds towards Zhang Wuxun and the young man.

Zhang Wuxun snapped out of his thoughts and, upon hearing the sound, immediately went over with the young man.

"Look at this, tell me, isn't it wonderful, isn't it wonderful!"

The fat man pointed to the patterns on the bells hanging from the waist of the terracotta figure, where a small fire pattern was perfectly integrated into the intricate design.

The fat man's sharp eyes were indeed remarkable; most people wouldn't be able to spot the clues on it unless they looked closely.

Zhang Wuxun patted the fat man on the shoulder and silently gave him a thumbs up.

Fatty raised an eyebrow, then turned to look at the Huo family members who seemed to want to scrape off a layer of plaster from the stone chamber and take it with them. His face immediately fell. "Tap, tap, tap! You've been tapping on it eight hundred times already! You're still not done! Hurry up and tidy up, let's get out of here!"

"I've been holed up in here for so long, my stomach is about to burst with hunger." As soon as he finished speaking, the fat man's round belly rumbled twice.

Although there was food in the backpack on his back, the fat man couldn't eat it. He was afraid that if his stomach got too full, he would get stuck in the tunnel when they went through it.

Seeing this, the Huo family dared not delay any longer.

The main concern was that they might anger these three big shots, who would then simply walk away. If something happened here that they couldn't handle, that would be disastrous.

After staying for about ten more minutes, the Huo family, led by Zhang Wuxun and the other two, returned the way they came.

Huo Jinqiu, along with two members of the Huo family, stayed at the back. After the people in front had climbed over, they used pickaxes to knock down several rock samples from the passage and went out to conduct further research.

The passageway here is too narrow. If they really let Old Mrs. Huo, who is so old, crawl around in there, then they might as well quit and leave.

As before, Huo Zhizhi went to the old lady's tent to report the situation, and then sent the photos down the mountain to Mount Siguniang.

This was the final password, and everyone was noticeably more excited than before.

Huo Jinqiu then led people and various tools into the cave, carrying rubble out as people went in and out.

The fat man followed the tattoo artist's instructions and applied medicine to his back every day. The two dark spots scabbed over in less than two days.

One of the playful little clouds is white, representing clouds, while the other, a slightly larger, honest black cloud, represents a fat person.

Zhang Wuxun and Xiao Ge sat under the shade of a tree, holding the nourishing soup that Fatty had cooked. While they were staring blankly at the sky, Fatty was using Huo Zhizhi's satellite phone every day to have long phone conversations with Yun Cai, who was far away in Hangzhou. His face was as red and glowing as if he had applied honey.

Zhang Wuxun leaned against a tree, arms crossed, one leg bent, looking up at the azure sky, his eyes slightly narrowed, wondering if he had overlooked anything else.

He had already prepared the wedding gifts for Fatty and Panzi separately and put them in the safe in his room. He would have Wu Xiaoxie deliver them on his behalf.

He also wrote part of his own plan on paper in cipher and put it in the white wooden carved box he left for Pan Zi. The trick to translating the cipher was the font decomposition method that Wu Sansheng had taught Wu Xiaoxie. It only took some time to decipher it all.

He had also prepared several account and property transfer agreements, just waiting for Wu Xiaoxie and Fatty to sign them. He planned to leave the house in Hangzhou to Xiao Ge for his retirement, or sell it if he didn't need it.

There are more than a hundred antique bottles in the underground storeroom of the house. These are for Pan Zi. Although Pan Zi says he wants to retire, Zhang Wuxun knows in his heart that he is used to this line of work and it will be a long time before he can truly retire. At the very least, he will have to wait until Wu Xiaoxie can take on the responsibility even without wearing the mask of Third Master. Otherwise, Pan Zi himself will not feel at ease.

He also wrote down other odds and ends on the letter.

After regaining his memory, Xiao Ge went to the Bronze Gate. Wu Xiaoxie and Fatty were heartbroken for a while, but the passage of time and the busyness of life eventually healed everything.

After going through everything from beginning to end and finding nothing missing, Zhang Wuxun was finally relieved.

Originally, he came under the guise of finding his father, but he ended up getting caught up in an even more complicated mystery. After learning from Huo Xiangu that his father did exist, Zhang Wuxun thought about it carefully and realized that he didn't have too many regrets.

As Zhang Wuxun pondered, his eyelids grew heavier and heavier until he finally drifted off to sleep.

The young man turned his head and stared at his face for a while, seemingly lost in thought. Then, he quietly got up, left the tree without a sound, and headed to the tent where Huo Xiangu was holding her meeting.

Huo Xiangu was discussing matters with her subordinates when she saw the young man suddenly appear. A look of surprise flashed across her face, and she then waved for everyone to leave.

"Is there anything I can help you with?" Huo Xiangu poured a cup of tea for the young man and pushed it towards him.

The young man stared at the cup of tea for a few seconds before saying, "You will die."

Huo Xiangu paused for a moment, then smiled and said, "I know that as long as Zhang Wuxun can bring out what's inside and give it to Xiuxiu, then my death will be worthwhile."

The young man's expression remained indifferent. "No one can take the things inside out."

Huo Xiangu's expression changed slightly, and she hesitated before asking, "Have you... remembered something?"

Thank you to [Please Complete Information], [Don't Read], [Little Brother's Leg Accessory], and other generous donors for their generous donations! Sending love...*
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(End of this chapter)