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

Chapter 345 The Endless Labyrinth
Among the archaeological team returning from Banna, Xie Jiuye's men had broken up into smaller groups and infiltrated the organization. They deliberately destroyed a large number of relevant materials and gradually killed or replaced key personnel.

Before 1984, Huo Ling, who returned to the Huo family, was "Huo Ling" under Master Xie Jiu. It was around that time that Old Madam Huo discovered that something was wrong with her daughter.

Meanwhile, another purpose of Master Xie was to rescue Zhang Qiling. At that time, the only place that no one could touch was the sanatorium in Golmud, where all the core information and people were kept.

The research continued, but before entering the Xisha Islands, the real Huo Ling and Wen Jin used a forged transfer letter to trick the fake Huo Ling and Wen Jin into going to Changbai Mountain.

In order to get help, Chen Wenjin found Wu Sansheng, and Xie Jiuye's inside man finally succeeded in transferring Zhang Qiling out of the sanatorium at that time.

Later, when the archaeological team was exploring the underwater tomb, it noticed something was wrong and chose to eliminate it, directly using it for an immortality experiment, and then it was imprisoned in the Golmud Sanatorium under surveillance.

The above are clues and conclusions that Zhang Wuxun himself derived from understanding the original plot and analyzing it.

He didn't intend to hide anything from the young man and told him all these deductions. There might be some errors in the details, but they were largely correct.

He couldn't verbally tell Wu Xiaoxie and the other person these clues, so he could only leave them messages on paper. But when he was with Xiao Ge, he didn't have these taboos.

The young man had personally experienced these things, and although his memories were incomplete, his basic judgment was still very strong. What Zhang Wuxun provided could help him connect the fragments of his memory.

While Zhang Wuxun was analyzing, the young man neither said it was right nor wrong, but just listened quietly. Finally, he looked at Zhang Wuxun, his gaze lingering on his right cheek for a moment, and asked, "Are you looking for him?"

Zhang Wuxun paused for a moment, then realized that the "he" the young man was referring to was Zhang Menyu, who had left the fire mark. He nodded and said, "At first, I did come to find him, but later I found that the situation was more complicated than I had imagined. I have to continue to complete the things he didn't finish."

As he spoke, he couldn't help but laugh. "Grandma Huo said that she once worked under Zhang Qishan. Maybe you two have even met."

"Perhaps." The young man smiled slightly.

The two continued forward, walking for about a kilometer, when suddenly a faint luster appeared on the stone wall ahead. It was not the bright light of a flashlight or sunlight, but a soft, warm blue light like fluorite.

The young man reached out and touched the stone wall, took two steps forward, turned around to look at the stone wall they had come from, and seemed to be deep in thought.

Zhang Wuxun pulled out his dagger and forcefully poked it into the stone wall. The tip of the dagger only made a very shallow white dot on it. He then turned his flashlight to its brightest setting and shone it into the stone wall, discovering that there was a thin layer of mineral between the glowing jade vein and the outside.

He spoke softly, “This kind of stone seems a little different from the one we saw in the Miluotuo Cave before.”

The stone wall in front of us was more like stone and harder than the jade veins through which Miluotuo could be traversed; it was almost the same as the surrounding stones.

Moreover, this thing appeared here suddenly. Could it be that when Huo Xiangu and the others passed through this mountain, Miluo Tuo was already following them by sensing the heat source?
Why didn't Miluo Tuo crawl out of the wall to attack Huo Xiangu and the others? He didn't think that the thin stone wall could stop Miluo Tuo's attack.

Thinking of the strange, intelligent black-haired snake inside Miluotuo's body, Zhang Wuxun took a deep breath. He suddenly had an ominous premonition.

Back in the snake swamp, the pheasant-necked ants they encountered had a social hierarchy, much like an ant colony. The common pheasant-necked ants were the lowest-ranking worker ants, and there were many of them.

The two giant golden-scaled pythons they encountered in the jungle were male snakes, also known as pheasant necks. The python they encountered in the underground well was a male snake of the same type that had shed its skin. They were large and few in number, and were responsible for mating with the female snakes with the help of pheasant necks to reproduce.

The snake queen below the palace of the Queen Mother of the West is the "queen" of the entire snake horde, and the only one.

If these Miluotuo, under the control of the Black-haired Serpent, also have a certain hierarchy, then behind them, is there also a supreme ruler equivalent to the "Serpent Mother"?

If that's the case, then the Miluotuo following Huo Xiangu and the others in the stone wall are likely under the command of higher-level Miluotuo, chasing or even driving prey through the jade veins to facilitate their hunting.

The stone wall beneath his hands still had that warm, cool touch, and a chill involuntarily crept up Zhang Wuxun's spine. He looked up at Xiao Ge and saw that Xiao Ge's expression had also changed.

"Let's go." The young man said, quickly walked forward, and finally started running.

Zhang Wuxun followed closely beside him, and the two of them moved forward at their fastest speed.

The stench of blood in the air grew stronger, and a few sporadic gunshots rang out.

When Zhang Wuxun and the other arrived, Huo Xiangu was sitting upright in a chair, exuding the majesty of a superior. Three people were already lying in pools of blood, and two people were kneeling in front of her, their arms hanging limply in an abnormal position.

Hearing the faint footsteps, Huo Chushi, who was holding a gun, immediately looked over alertly. Even after discovering that it was Zhang Wuxun and the other person, he did not lower his guard.

Seeing that the changes here were caused by human intervention, the young man slowed down, reached out and touched the stone wall, and nodded to Zhang Wuxun.

Zhang Wuxun smiled at the wary Huo Chushi and said casually, "What's wrong? Is it worth the old lady getting so angry?"

Seeing that it was the two of them, Old Mrs. Huo was slightly surprised, and said indifferently, "I dealt with a few traitors."

Zhang Wuxun feigned a look of sudden realization, "Then you should hurry up so we can get out of here as soon as possible."

Huo Xiangu understood the hidden meaning in his words. With a gentle wave of her hand, the two kneeling Huo family members had no chance to beg for mercy before two gunshots rang out. Their expressions of terror froze, and each of them had a bloody hole between their eyebrows.

The body fell to the ground, and Huo Chushi immediately ordered it to be dragged aside.

The Huo family members in the group didn't dare to utter a sound. After this incident, they became even more cautious and kept their tails between their legs.

Continuing forward, Huo Xiangu asked Zhang Wuxun and the others about their disappearance after patrolling the valley.

Zhang Wuxun gave a brief account, figuring that once they were out, Huo Xiangu would definitely call the others to inquire further, so there was no need to go into too much detail.

A dozen minutes later, the familiar light appeared ahead, and the sound of flowing water filled my ears. I pushed aside the vines and stepped outside, and a cool, refreshing, and moist air rushed towards me.

Outside the exit is a very beautiful waterfall, cascading vertically down a sheer cliff and crashing onto the stone slabs below. The sound of the water is deafening, and the spray, refracted by the sunlight, faintly reveals a rainbow.

The Huo family members all looked somewhat dazed, their expressions practically screaming "I'm questioning life!"

Seeing this, Huo Xiangu sighed softly, walked to a clean stone slab and sat down, carefully considering where the problem had gone wrong along the way.

The steps were exactly the same as last time, so why did such an inexplicable situation occur?

She looked at the young man, and hesitantly voiced her guess, "Could it be that there's some kind of mechanism in that stone path that created an illusion, leading us astray without our knowledge?" The young man shook his head, "There's no mechanism."

Huo Xiangu was somewhat skeptical. She still thought that they might have accidentally triggered some kind of mechanism, causing the tomb passage to move, but that didn't quite make sense either.

If the entire tomb passage were to be moved, the mechanisms required would be beyond description; they would be truly as large as moving mountains and filling seas. She did not believe that humans could possess such superhuman abilities, not even the once powerful Zhang family.

So, where exactly did the problem lie?
Huo Xiangu took out three photos of the sealing stone codes from her bosom and examined them carefully one by one. The first two sealing stones were fine, so the problem must lie with the third sealing stone.

“The Zhang family went to great lengths to set up a thousand-mile lock, it must be more than just letting us open a door.” Huo Xiangu’s tone was slightly somber. “This doesn’t make sense, so there must be something wrong with the third sealing gate.”

"Are you saying that once the third sealed door is opened, we enter an illusion? Or is the third sealed door a trap?" Zhang Wuxun did not deny Huo Xiangu's guess.

“That’s right, let’s go back and try again. This time, send someone to tie it with rope. If it’s an illusion, then the people outside the sealed door will definitely notice,” said Huo Xiangu.

Zhang Wuxun chuckled lightly, "Have you considered what would happen if we couldn't get out after going in again this time?"

Huo Xiangu's expression changed. "If we can't get out, it means we've already entered the Zhang Family Ancient Building."

Zhang Wuxun shrugged and said, "Then please go ahead." He then sat down next to the young man, took out two candies from his pocket, and gave one to the young man.

Huo Xiangu stared at him suspiciously, and suddenly the actions of the two of them when they first appeared flashed through her mind. She then tentatively asked, "Have you discovered something inside the stone passage?"

"I did find something." Zhang Wuxun deliberately kept everyone in suspense, gestured with his chin toward a less crowded area, and got up to walk over.

Huo Xiangu then gave Huo Zhizhi a wink, and then had Huo Xiuxiu help her to the other side of the waterfall. Huo Chushi and the others stood up in unison, separating Zhang Wuxun and her from the other Huo family members.

"Now you can tell me, right?" Huo Xiangu's eyes showed a hint of urgency.

Zhang Wuxun asked unhurriedly, "Do you think the Zhang family is a benevolent family?"

"What do you mean?" Huo Xiangu frowned.

“Don’t you find this very strange? Why were we able to walk out of here unscathed twice?” Zhang Wuxun continued to remind her, “Except for receiving only a few minor warnings.”

Huo Xiangu understood what he meant, but she still insisted that it couldn't be a scam. The Zhang Family Ancient Building must be in Banna, and Yangshi Lei wouldn't make a mistake.

Seeing her stubbornness, Zhang Wuxun could only say helplessly, "The entrance is not wrong. What is wrong is the way we entered. The reason we can still leisurely breathe fresh air here is that the Zhang family has set up a fault-tolerance mechanism to protect their descendants and avoid accidentally killing their descendants. After all, no one can guarantee that there will be no mistakes in the process of transmitting information."

"As we opened the third door, we triggered a mechanism in the stone passage, causing the original path leading to the Zhang Family Ancient Building to change direction."

The erroneous activation of the mechanism caused Miluotuo to move, which in turn altered the mountain's shape. This is the secret behind the mechanism set up by the Zhang family.

After thinking for two seconds, Huo Xiangu still denied it, saying, "If that's the case, then the existence of this mechanism is meaningless. Everyone can keep trying, and there will be no danger even if they make a mistake."

Zhang Wuxun looked at her coldly, "Do you think the Zhang family would tolerate an outsider jumping around on their ancestral graves three times in a row?"

Huo Xiangu was also somewhat annoyed. "Since the stone gate has been opened, it proves that the password is correct. Since you said there is a limit to the number of times, then this time we will go back the way we came and not enter through the main gate. We will eventually find the places we have overlooked."

After saying that, he had Huo Xiuxiu help him turn around and leave.

Watching her resolute yet heavy figure, Zhang Wuxun understood her desperate gamble. She had no choice, nor did anyone else in the game; it was their predetermined fate.

Huo Xiangu then announced that after resting for a while, everyone should return from where they had come out and carefully examine the stone path inch by inch.

Upon hearing this, the Huo family members displayed various expressions. Some looked at Huo Xiangu, while others looked at Zhang Wuxun and the others, trying to deduce the meaning behind the conversation between the two parties.

After an incense stick had burned, the group regrouped and returned to the passage.

The process was almost identical to before, except this time everyone was more focused. They were all on their best, searching inch by inch on the stone wall, trying to find the points they had overlooked.

But this time they found that the exit seemed unusually long.

They initially thought they would at most return to the cave entrance of the camp empty-handed, but to their surprise, this time they walked for three times longer than before and still couldn't find the exit.

They seemed to be trapped in a labyrinth with no end.

Panic instantly gripped everyone's faces as they frantically tapped on the stone wall, trying to find a flaw in its design.

With a stern face, Huo Xiangu ordered, "Go back, turn around."

Everyone hurriedly turned back, and the group was almost in chaos.

However, after they had run a sufficient distance, they found that the passage had changed again.

The bodies that were left here earlier had vanished without a trace, and there wasn't even a bullet casing or a drop of blood left on the ground.

Someone finally broke down, yelling, "What the hell is going on? Who the hell is behind this? Step forward!"

The other person was also very annoyed and shouted, "Why the hell are you yelling at me? It wasn't me who did it."

"So what if I yelled at you?" the man immediately retorted.

The fuse of the bomb finally burned out, and it exploded with a bang, filling the entire cave with all sorts of vulgar and offensive language.

The lamplight flickered, and it's unclear who started it, but what began as pushing and shoving quickly escalated into a verbal argument that turned into a brawl, with students from different classes fighting each other.

Outside the battle, Huo Xiangu was protected by her trusted subordinates, coldly watching the chaos unfold, her eyes devoid of any extra emotion.

Goodnight, Makka Pakka~
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(End of this chapter)