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

Chapter 381 Death and Rebirth
There's an old saying that goes, "Those who drown are always the ones who know how to swim."

Due to excessive blood loss from being shot in the leg, Zhang Wuxun gradually lost strength after putting Pan Zi into the pool and eventually sank to the bottom.

The alkaline gas completely enveloped the entire area. Before losing consciousness, Zhang Wuxun saw the water boiling.

Are you going to die?

This time, I'm really going to die here...

His words proved prophetic; the Zhang Family Ancient Building truly was his final resting place.

-

Zhang Wuxun was awakened by a tingling, numb, and throbbing pain that felt like an electric shock throughout his body.

My brain was very sluggish, and I experienced intermittent dizziness, as if I had been ambushed and punched repeatedly, with a throbbing pain in my cerebral cortex due to congestion.

What happened then? It seemed to be an explosion, flames soaring into the sky, debris tumbling, and a blast of air. The rustling of bells seemed to have turned into the whispered Ksitigarbha Sutra before death descended.

The entire stone path was blasted down, and all the flowing water in the mountain behind the dragon's mouth rushed out, submerging the entire bell array.

In a daze, Zhang Wuxun felt as if he had been floating in the water for a very long time. The backlash caused by defying fate made him numb and suffocated with pain, and then he completely lost consciousness.

His eyelids felt incredibly heavy. He didn't know where he was, but he knew he wasn't dead; he was breathing and had a heartbeat.

Was he saved by someone—the person who sabotaged the dragon's mouth mechanism, or Wu Xie and his group?

His consciousness was gradually returning. He could feel that he was lying on a very cold stone slab. He couldn't move his hands and feet at all, and he didn't know whether the leg he had been shot in was ruined or not.

However, he felt a distinct binding sensation on his wrists and ankles, and he had an answer: the person who saved him must be the one who destroyed the ancient building's mechanisms.

This bastard actually tied him up, was he afraid that this dying man would struggle in his death throes and be taken away with him or something?

After an unknown amount of time, Zhang Wuxun blinked slowly, and his pupils finally began to focus.

He felt as if he were in a narrow stone passageway, with a faint firelight not far away and a dark shadow moving around, occasionally blocking the light and shadow.

The shadowy figure drew closer and closer. Zhang Wuxun could feel someone staring at him, but his vision was so blurry that it was like his lens was being blocked in the early stages of cataracts. He tried his best to see with his peripheral vision and could only make out that it was a man.

He struggled to decipher it for a long time before realizing that the dark figure was talking to him, leaving him speechless.

Brother, don't you know that a concussion can cause tinnitus? He can't hear anything right now because his head is buzzing.

Perhaps seeing that Zhang Wuxun did not respond, the dark figure realized that he could not hear, so it took a flashlight and shone it on his face.

Under the stimulation of the light source, Zhang Wuxun's vision recovered at a faster rate.

He finally realized what kind of beast was in front of him.

"How come you're still alive?" Zhang Wuxun clearly conveyed his meaning with his eyes.

Huo Xiaoli actually understood it—oh wait, he should be called Wang Xiaoli now.

This guy was truly the most troublesome member of the Wang family that Zhang Wuxun had encountered since he came here.

Zhang Wuxun trespassed into the Zhang Family Ancient Building a year ago, and was brought to this world by the system when he was about to die.

The system's ultimate task for him was to kill "it".

After experiencing countless mysterious and bizarre adventures with the Iron Triangle, his hard work finally caught the attention of "it".

Zhangjia Ancient Building was the duel ground he chose for himself, not to fight against a real creature, but to fight against that intangible "it" that only exists in his illusory consciousness.

Familiar location, unfamiliar way of dying.

Last time the cause of death was Miluotuo; this time it was a firearm—a single bullet.

As expected, even the best kung fu is no match for a kitchen knife; no matter how skilled the Zhang family members were, they couldn't dodge a bullet when they were completely unprepared.

Most importantly, in order to save Pan Zi, who was stuck in the jade vein and on the verge of death, he overworked his own system, which meant that he could only recover from his injuries quickly like an ordinary person.

He is the most tragic host in history, without exception.

Fortunately, the results were remarkable; he won this gamble that cost him his life.

The person in front of me, Wang Xiaoli, is a member of the Wang family who has been hiding in the Huo family's team all along, and is also "its" puppet.

Seeing the undisguised disgust in Zhang Wuxun's eyes, Wang Xiaoli's smugness was almost overflowing. He said with a smile, "I have to thank you for letting me go, which is why I've survived until now."

"Bullshit!" Zhang Wuxun thought to himself after reading his lips, "It was God who let you go. If it were me, the grass on your grave would be half a meter high by now."

It was as if Wang Xiaoli had installed a telegraph in his mind, and she understood his meaning again, "That's right, I knew that wasn't you, that's why I didn't let you die."

“Because I’m quite interested in you, a special member of the Zhang family,” he continued. “The leader said that a living member of the Zhang family is more valuable than a dead one.”

"What's in your head is far more valuable than those documents."

“However, you are too weak now, and you have very little Qilin blood left. Even a milliliter would kill you, so the plan to open the stone tower will have to be shelved,” Wang Xiaoli said regretfully.

Very good, Zhang Wuxun breathed a sigh of relief. With his life confirmed to be safe, the Sand Sea Project could proceed ahead of schedule.

However, we need to find a way to escape from the Wang family first before we can go to Motuo and meet up with Aning.

He gave Wang Xiaoli a deadpan look; if he weren't still unable to move, he would have jumped up and snapped this dog's neck.

"To be precise, I'm more interested in your blood, the fiery tattoo that suddenly appeared on your face after you heard the sound of the meteorite bell, that mysterious state, and..." Wang Xiaoli carefully considered her words, "...beast-like eyes."

Zhang Wuxun silently cursed him with his eyes, "You're much more of a dog than the other members of the Wang family who appeared before, Wang Ergou."

“We need to figure out why this change has occurred in you. I have a feeling this will be a big leap, bringing us one step closer to uncovering the truth.” A near-neurotic joy appeared on Wang Xiaoli’s face.

Zhang Wuxun rolled his eyes and ignored the lunatic.

Wang Xiaoli didn't care whether he was listening or not, and continued with her grand vision, "I can sense that the flame tattoo on your face is related to the phoenix tattoo of our Wang family."

"So, do you want to join the Wang family?"

He earnestly invited Zhang Wuxun, saying, "Your Zhang family has guarded that door for so long, but only our Wang family can unravel all the mysteries and uncover all the truths."

"Join us. I can sense that you are different from Zhang Qiling, because you are not a qualified member of the Zhang family."

“From the moment you appeared beside Wu Xie, we have been observing you and making countless calculations and judgments. Your ratio once reached zero. Do you know what that means?”

"What?" Zhang Wuxun's eyes were filled with indescribable disbelief. As a pure-blooded member of the Zhang family, how could the Wang family invite him? Had this guy been kicked in the head by a donkey? And what was this ratio? Did the Wang family's calculation department judge whether someone was qualified based on this so-called ratio? That was just too stupid.

Don't they know the saying, "Human hearts are unpredictable"?

“In our Wang family, only the leader has always been a completely zero percentage.”

“But you are a member of the Zhang family, a member of the Zhang family with relatively pure Qilin blood, and you have achieved a ratio that most people with the Phoenix Tattoo cannot reach.”

"After analyzing it for a long time, we finally concluded that the reason for this is that there is another type of blood in your body."

Wang Xiaoli said with great certainty, "It belongs to the blood of our Wang family."

Zhang Wuxun was almost furious. "Your grandma's pumpkin pancake!"

Perhaps he was really too angry, and his boiling inner universe exploded, so he actually cursed out those words.

He can speak now!
This is truly a joyous occasion; I am overjoyed and weep with happiness.

Wang Xiaoli wasn't angry at all, and even showed an understanding expression, "Your current state definitely has a ratio that exceeds 30%, so only after entering that state will your ratio instantly drop to zero."

Zhang Wuxun calmed down immediately. "You want to find the key that has a zero probability of unlocking me?"

His upper body was bare, which meant that Wang Xiaoli had obviously tested him on, which explained why the bronze fox mask was placed next to him.

“That’s right.” Wang Xiaoli laughed. “In that state, you would definitely be a great partner.”

Zhang Wuxun gave a cold laugh. "What a pity, that octagonal bell has long been devoured by the little darlings in the water."

In the waters of the Huta River lives a tiny, colorless fish. Although they are carnivorous, it is a complete fantasy to try to scoop anything out of the river.

“It’s alright, we have plenty of meteorite jade.” Wang Xiaoli said confidently, pointing to the bronze fox mask placed next to Zhang Wuxun’s head, “There’s bound to be one that can unlock your state.”

Zhang Wuxun scoffed, "Do you think the Heavenly Gift is only targeting the Zhang family? Be careful, or you'll go too far and die without even knowing how."

Seeing his stubbornness, Wang Xiaoli sighed and snapped her index finger at the knuckle.

A series of rustling sounds were getting closer to Zhang Wuxun.

During the time it took to talk, his tinnitus had lessened, and his past experience was enough for him to tell that it was snakes crawling around, many, many snakes.

"What do you want to do?"

Thanks to Wang Ergou's nonsense and the bronze mask, Zhang Wuxun's strength has recovered a little bit.

He was trying to quietly dismantle his hand bones and free himself from the ropes binding him.

Upon hearing his words, Wang Xiaoli picked up a snake from the ground—a small white snake, about the thickness of a finger, in its juvenile form as a black-haired snake.

"Don't worry, these snakes have had their fangs removed. They will only temporarily control your body to make you more obedient. Your mind is still intact." Wang Xiaoli affectionately stroked the little snake.

Zhang Wuxun could feel something cool, like rice noodles, crawling onto his skin. The cool, sticky touch sent shivers down his spine.

Suppressing the chills that ran down his spine, he stared at Wang Xiaoli and said disdainfully, "Are all members of the Wang family this cold-blooded? Can't you show even a little bit of humanity to a poor prisoner like me? With this attitude, you still want to persuade me to join you?"

Delay the time, delay it a little longer.

"I'm already this useless, and you still want to tie me up! You're the most cowardly member of the Wang family I've ever met."

Seeing that a small snake was about to crawl into Zhang Wuxun's mouth, Zhang Wuxun immediately closed his mouth tightly.

Wang Xiaoli cracked her finger bone again, and after a soft snap, all the snakes obediently stopped crawling.

"Do you know why, if you members of the Zhang family want to preserve your bodies intact after death, the coffin must be sealed with molten iron?"

Zhang Wuxun blinked and noticed several small snakes drooping on his eyelids. He immediately kept his eyes open and didn't move.

The thought of these monstrous things about to crawl into his body immediately made him feel nauseous.

"Spit it out if you have something to say." He squeezed out these words from between his lips.

“Because you Zhang family members can’t even find peace in death, you’ve lived too long…” Wang Xiaoli sighed, “You are no longer creatures within the human category, you are monsters, immortal monsters.”

Very well, another person who is envious and jealous of the Zhang family's longevity.

"You're talking nonsense, I'm at most twenty-two."

Zhang Wuxun suddenly jumped up from the ground, and all the little snakes on his body fell off. In Wang Xiaoli's frightened and incredulous eyes, he pounced on him and knocked him down with an elbow.

Wang Xiaoli reacted quickly. The moment he was hit, he used the momentum to roll backward. After falling to the ground, he immediately slapped the ground and got up. After retreating three meters away, he wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, touched his swollen cheek, and spat a mouthful of blood on the ground, which contained a tooth.

He glared fiercely at Zhang Wuxun, then his teeth chattered as he chewed.

A series of swishing sounds, like even larger snakes crawling, echoed in the space.

Black-haired snakes, all of them are black-haired snakes. The row of black hairs from their heads to their backs makes a sound like brushes rubbing together when they crawl.

Zhang Wuxun's breathing was rapid, and his heart was pounding so hard it felt like it was going to jump out of his throat. That last strike had almost exhausted all his strength.

The aftereffects of the massive blood loss came rushing in; the bandaged wound on his left leg, where he had been shot, reopened; and with insufficient blood supply to his brain, he desperately bit his tongue, using the pain to stimulate his consciousness.

He knew that once he passed out, he would be completely finished.

Zhang Wuxun held on, remaining motionless as he confronted the group of snakes and Wang Xiaoli, who controlled them.

Although the dark blue-black Qilin tattoo on his chest had emerged, it was very faint because his body temperature was still dropping, and the internal energy he could mobilize was very limited.

Thanks to the Wang family for their continued deification of the Zhang family, Wang Xiaoli knew that he was already at his limit, but she was also afraid that he still had some hidden trump card up his sleeve.

However, Zhang Wuxun knew very well that he couldn't hold on for long in his current state.

At that moment, the air seemed to freeze.

At the critical moment, a whooshing sound pierced the darkness, carrying a silver light, and flew magnificently toward Wang Xiaoli's head.

Half of Wang Xiaoli's head was smashed, and the splattered brain matter splashed onto Zhang Wuxun's face. His physical weakness left him with nowhere to hide, so he could only turn his head to look in the direction from which the bullet had come.

A short, thin, dark figure squeezed through a crack in the stone path. The person covered the lower half of their face and held a long hunting rifle in their hand.

Zhang Wuxun recognized him; it was the one with the sloping shoulders.

Thank you so much to the user "[Young and Innocent]" for the generous donation! Sending you lots of love!
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(End of this chapter)