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

Chapter 482 Unclaimed Property
Overnight, the lake surface was re-frozen with a layer of ice, but it was not solid, and people could fall in at any time if they stepped on it.

The team regrouped and explained the situation to each other. Zhang Haixing and the other person had also sustained some injuries, but they were not serious and did not affect their actions.

To avoid any unforeseen complications, after organizing the remaining equipment, they decided to continue along the frozen lake.

The chaos of yesterday evening has caused the ice floes to drift across the lake to a point not far from the canyon behind it.

But Feng was terrified by the scene on the lake yesterday and refused to walk on the ice again. Zhang Haixing was also very wary and did not want to take any more risks.

After some discussion, the team, led by Zhang Haixing, went straight to the lake shore and trudged forward through the snow, their feet sinking deep into the water.

After spending half a day, we finally arrived at the canyon. The river here looked much steeper than the lake, and water was surging under the ice. In some places, the ice had broken, revealing the rushing water below. The ice surface here was even more unstable.

The riverbank here was very narrow, and the group moved forward sideways like crabs, their backs almost touching the frozen stone wall. Zhang Haixing walked in front, reminding them from time to time which stone to step on.

After struggling forward for more than twenty meters, Zhang Haixing, who was walking in front, suddenly stopped.

Wu Xie asked her, "Why aren't you leaving?"

"There's no road ahead," Zhang Haixing said without turning her head.

A few seconds later, she bent down and squatted down, then cautiously lay down on the ice, crawling forward little by little like a turtle, clinging tightly to the ice.

After she cleared her view, Wu Xie saw that there was a deep ravine cut straight down vertically in front of him, with no footholds on either side.

Seeing that Zhang Haixing had already crawled forward in that posture for a while, Wu Xie turned around to remind Fatty and the others, and then followed Zhang Haixing's movements and lay down on the ice.

It was this action that allowed them to see the amazing sight beneath the ice.

Just two meters ahead of the deep ravine, there is a section of ice sheet under which hangs a multitude of hexagonal bronze bells, the kind that are found at the exit of the Zhang Family Ancient Building, extending for dozens of meters.

Upon seeing the bells, Zhang Haixing's breathing paused subconsciously. She silently gestured to Wu Xie and the others behind her, indicating that the area ahead was extremely dangerous, before carefully climbing up, holding her breath.

It took them more than forty minutes to climb the short distance.

When they passed the underwater fence at the end of the bell array, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

“Look, the German corpses.” The fat man pointed to the numerous corpses floating by the wooden fence and said in a low voice, “I roughly counted them, there must be at least twenty or thirty. I guess all the Germans in front of us are left here.”

The bodies in the water were all rotten, but not decayed. The rapid current had ripped through their skin, and the white bodies were lumped together like brain matter, with their limbs squeezed together. They were no longer human, but you could still tell from their hair that they were foreigners. There was also a lot of equipment soaking next to the bodies.

"That's weird," the fat man muttered. "These Germans are quite interesting. At this hour, how come they still have the leisure to go winter swimming? They're all floating here naked, it's an eyesore."

"Is this a special ceremony that you Germans need to hold when you go on missions?" he asked Feng, whose limbs were trembling.

Feng looked bewildered. "I don't know either. Maybe they're just... too happy?"

Zhang Haixing, listening to their nonsense, scoffed, "Winter swimming my ass! Have you forgotten the bronze bell array we just passed?" The fat man was about to get angry when Zhang Wuxun spoke up, "You and Feng suddenly ran away when you were crossing the lake yesterday evening, was that also because you were hallucinating?"

Zhang Haixing's face was a little pale. "The area covered by these bells is definitely wider than what we just saw. When we crossed the lake yesterday, the ice cover blocked our view. The bells made a very faint sound as we moved around. In addition, our attention was focused on the Maponim, who could appear and patrol at any time. We were caught off guard and fell into the trap."

"The reason these Germans took off their clothes and drowned here must have been because they were hallucinating from the bell. We were just lucky, though. The hallucinations weren't too strong. After we were attacked by the Mapenim and fell into the water, we were immediately awakened by the freezing sensation."

After saying that, she looked at Zhang Wuxun and continued, "Since the German team has been wiped out here, there should be no more crisis in Kangbaluo. We can proceed directly according to the original plan."

Zhang Wuxun's expression remained grave. He shook his head firmly, "No, the unusual movements of Maponim mean that something must have happened to Kambalori. I will not tell you the route ahead until I am 100% sure they are safe."

Zhang Haixing's face immediately turned cold, and she remained silent with a tense expression.

Wu Xie was extremely surprised. He looked at Zhang Wuxun, who was leaning over the edge of the ice sheet, and asked, "Do you know the missing route on that map?"

Feng's breath hitched, and he stared wide-eyed, exclaiming, "How could this be? How did you know? I've never shown you the star map!"

Zhang Wuxun placed his hand flat on the ice and chuckled, "The star map pinpoints the location of the bronze gate from decades ago. Even if it's deciphered, it only gives us a rough idea. Besides, you've studied it for so many years, yet you still only understand the surface. For me, whether or not it exists is of little significance."

Feng was speechless, because Zhang Wuxun was basically right; he had indeed gotten involved under the guise of the star map.

Zhang Wuxun gestured for Wu Xie and the others to move away. Although they didn't know what he was going to do, they still moved away to avoid him.

Immediately afterwards, a slight cracking sound was heard from the ice surface, and the bell was vibrated, emitting a very faint ringing sound, but Zhang Wuxun was not affected.

Wu Xie and the others were too far away to hear the bell ring.

At the same time, the ice under Zhang Wuxun's palm was shaken open, creating a spiderweb-like crack. He pressed down again, and the ice surface in that spot completely shattered, with broken pieces falling into the water.

Zhang Wuxun cleared out a large ice cave, retrieved two German backpacks from it, and carried them to Wu Xie and the others, dropping them down.

The fat man exclaimed "Whoa!" and emptied his backpack, inspecting it thoroughly. There were indeed many powerful weapons and supplies inside, but he didn't find anything else unusual.

Feng stood quietly by, watching the fat man's barbaric actions without daring to utter a sound. He knew that he was now basically worthless, and since his goal had not yet been achieved, he had to play the victim.

“I don’t care what you’re trying to do by insisting on following me here. Keep your tail between your legs and don’t try to cross my bottom line.”

Zhang Wuxun grabbed a handful of snow from under the rock wall, wiped his hands, stood up, gave Feng a cold look, and turned to walk deeper into the canyon.

The fat man grinned, and based on the principle that if something is unclaimed, it's a waste not to pick it up, he transferred all the usable equipment from the dead man's backpack into his own backpack.

After finishing all that, he raised his hand and gestured to Feng's neck in a warning tone, then called to Wu Xie, "Tianzhen, let's go too."

Goodnight little dots