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

Chapter 483 The Fish is Missing
Avoiding the pitfalls behind them, they hurried along and finally arrived at the foot of the suspended lama temple around noon.

"I'll go up and check first. You can come up when everything is okay."

After saying this, Zhang Wuxun climbed onto the wooden beam and carefully pushed aside the wooden planks blocking the entrance.

The lama temple was very quiet, and the tools on the floor and walls were covered in dust.

Zhang Wuxun frowned and went up the stairs along the edge of the stone wall.

The room on this floor was almost completely enclosed. Several incense burners were overturned on the floor, their ash scattered everywhere. There were also many messy footprints on the dusty, ash-covered floor. Although the felt blankets hanging in the room were still there, they were covered in so much ash that they had hardened into dry scabs.

The situation was the same in several rooms in succession, and all indications suggested that the Khampa people had not set foot here for a long time.

And after the Khampa people were forced to abandon this place for some unknown reason, another group of people came here and took something from it.

Zhang Wuxun squatted down and carefully compared the shapes and patterns of the shoe prints. His expression became increasingly solemn. He immediately stood up, quickly passed through the layers of curtains, found the staircase on one side, and quickly went up to the third floor of the Lama Temple.

The damage here was even greater. Those savages, who knows what they were looking for here, even overturned the statues on the altar and left them askew. Apart from the colorful murals commonly seen in Kham, there was nothing special on the walls.

According to De Ren's notes, the stairs that the girl riding the corpse of Yama climbed up and this side should be two separate spaces. Zhang Wuxun turned around and came down the stairs, finding another staircase specially prepared for the corpse-turned girl.

Looking up, the upper half of the stairs had been brutally demolished, while the lower half, which was embedded in the stone wall during its construction, consisted of only a few broken pieces of wood.

Zhang Wuxun carefully stepped onto the last remaining staircase, then suddenly leaped up, grabbing the edge of the top step and flipping over with a powerful pull.

He carefully gripped the door frame and stood up straight, only to see that the door panel in front of him and the surrounding half of the handrail were all charred black, a terrible sight.

It looked like the place had been through a major fire, which had burned the wooden door and the blood-stained silk ribbon near the entrance. There were also black oil stains dripping down the steps, and it emitted a strange and unpleasant spice smell that was hard to describe.

Behind the broken wooden door was a very sturdy black iron door. This iron door was a mechanism door, and there were obvious traces on it that it had been blasted by detonators.

This type of iron gate is very simple, heavy, and sturdy; it can only be opened with a specific key.

It is clear that the Germans attempted to blow up the door after discovering they couldn't open it, but obviously they failed.

They didn't dare use extreme methods, because if the contents inside were destroyed, the mission would fail completely.

Zhang Wuxun had never been inside the iron gate, but it was likely something related to the Yama's ritual of riding corpses for sacrifice, and he had no intention of investigating it.

Zhang Wuxun let go and jumped back to the ground. He then heard a buzzing sound of people talking behind the felt, knowing that Wu Xie and the others probably couldn't wait and came in directly.

"The lamas here aren't very hygienic," the fat man said, having already lit the charcoal stove for heating, and taking off his shoes with his feet apart.

The boots I dried last night, I accidentally slipped one foot into the water again while crawling across the ice, they were icy and heavy.

Zhang Haixing couldn't stand the stench of his feet any longer. She wrinkled her nose in disgust, found a handy tool, and pried open the window on the wooden wall of the Lama Temple that was sealed with wooden boards, allowing fresh air to circulate in.

Wu Xie skillfully covered his nose with his sleeve, looked down at the ground, and said in a low voice, "The ground is covered in dust. Logically speaking, the air on the snow mountain should be clean, and there should be very little dust. With so much dust here, how much incense must they burn here every day?"

It's normal for lamas temples to accumulate dust, but the current traces indicate that this place has clearly not been cleaned or maintained for a long time.

"And look at the footprints on the ground. There are too many and too varied. Apart from the ones we stepped on when we came in, there are also Bai Ci's. The remaining shoe soles all have the same pattern. It is obvious that a group of people with similar equipment came here before."

"Moreover, these footprints were covered with a layer of light gray after they stepped on the ground, indicating that these people had been here for some time," Wu Xie analyzed logically. "Could they be the same group of Germans from half a month ago?"

“You’re right.” Zhang Wuxun walked over, parting the felt with his hunting knife, and said, “There were some Germans who escaped from being killed by Maponim and the bell formation. After they entered the Lama Temple, they caused a great deal of damage here.”

“It looks like this place has been abandoned for a long time. Could it be because of those Germans?” Zhang Haixing said. “The Germans suddenly attacked the Khampa people, forcing them to abandon this place.”

"Did you find anything up there?" she asked Zhang Wuxun.

"It's a complete mess; nothing of importance was left behind," Zhang Wuxun said.

Wu Xie immediately thought of something even more serious: "Could the Germans' target be the King of Hell riding a corpse above?"

Zhang Wuxun nodded and said, "It's pretty much true. Their purpose might really be related to Yama riding a corpse. However, there's a mechanism door left by the Khampa people. It's very sturdy. Even I can't get in without the key, so it's even less likely for them."

"So what will their next goal be? If they can't get into the room where Yama rides the corpse, will they go directly to Kangbaluo?" Wu Xie pondered. "Judging from the clues they left behind, those Germans don't seem like they'll give up easily."

"Then let's hurry up, eat something to fill our stomachs and set off immediately. No matter what the situation is, we have to go and check it out to put our minds at ease." The fat man found an iron rod, picked up the shoes and placed them on the stove to let the charcoal inside roast them.

Then they found another stove with some embers, lit it, and made some meat porridge and rice to fill their stomachs.

During the meal, Zhang Haixing suddenly thought of a question and immediately asked Zhang Wuxun, "When you went up the mountain a year ago, where did the bodies of those Germans who were with you go? Did they cross that frozen lake?"

Zhang Wuxun slowly chewed the beef jerky and said, "The meat was probably eaten by the small fish in the lake, and the bones are all at the bottom."

"You knew all along that there was a bell array lying in ambush in the canyon?" Zhang Haixing's tone carried a hint of accusation.

"I don't know, I just found out myself." Zhang Wuxun's face remained unchanged, showing no trace of lying. "The icy lake isn't the only way to Kangbaluo. They ignored my advice and insisted on crossing the lake at nightfall, getting bewitched by the illusion and falling in to drown. It's their own fault." Upon hearing this, Zhang Haixing asked suspiciously, "You said we didn't take the only route. So you know other ways? Just how much have you been hiding from us?!"

“That’s the road to Kangbaluo. Why should I tell you?” Zhang Wuxun looked at her coldly, enunciating each word clearly, “An outsider.”

Zhang Haixing, embarrassed by his merciless retort, slammed the can onto the ground with a loud bang.

Before she could speak, the fat man got angry and yelled, "What are you doing? You pick up your bowl to eat, wipe your mouth after you finish and then smash the bowl, is that it? Don't you have any morals? I only let it go before because you're older and I respect the elderly, how come you're taking advantage of me?"

"Shut up, you bastard!" Zhang Haixing said angrily, standing up abruptly and kicking the can away.

The metal box slammed against the window frame with a loud bang. Suddenly, a dark shadow flashed past outside the window, followed by the sound of something falling into the water with a splash.

Everyone was stunned. A gust of wind blew by, and the next second Zhang Wuxun had already smashed through the window and chased after them.

When Wu Xie and the others rushed to the window and looked down, they saw that the ice beneath the Lama Temple had been smashed open, and water was still splashing out.

"Holy crap? What the hell was that thing? A huge, dark shadow." The fat man cursed and lifted his leg to climb up to the window.

Wu Xie quickly pulled him down, "With your size, are you going to jump down to help him, or wait for him to pull you out of that strange fish's mouth?"

"Damn it!" the fat man said anxiously, "What can we do? We can't just sit here and wait."

"Get out of the way!" Zhang Haixing pushed him aside, stood on the windowsill, and jumped down. Her entry into the water was perfectly executed, and her slender and agile figure quickly disappeared into the water.

"Wow, this old woman is quick on her feet!" the fat man exclaimed. "Tianzhen, what are we going to do now?"

"Go wait on the platform below. With our abilities, going into the water would be suicide." After saying that, Wu Xie immediately turned around, grabbed his gun, and went downstairs.

The fat man quickly put on his shoes, grabbed his gun, and followed, leaving Feng standing there bewildered.

Feng saw from the window that Wu Xie and the other person had left the Lama Temple and were guarding the wooden platform below, pointing their guns warily at the ice. The stunned look on his face disappeared, replaced by a cold and expressionless expression.

Zhang Wuxun and Zhang Haixing chased after them in such a hurry that their backpacks were still left next to the stove.

Feng walked over and carefully searched Zhang Wuxun's backpack. Finding nothing he wanted, he put everything back in its original place. Then he went to search Zhang Haixing's backpack, but only found the gauze that had been used to wrap the copper bowl.

"SHIT!" A flash of anger crossed Feng's face. "That woman actually carried her things with her; isn't she afraid of dying?"

Taking advantage of the fact that no one else was around, Feng immediately got up and went to the third floor of the temple. As expected, he was also blocked outside the iron gate.

Unable to find this path blocked, he turned and went up the stairs on the other side. Upon entering the room, he saw the crimson murals of exotic animals on the stone wall, and a look of surprise appeared on his face.

He crossed the beams of his two flashlights, illuminating the entire mural on the stone wall, and then took out a pocket camera from his pocket and photographed all the murals on the wall.

He muttered to himself, "I wonder if the few who are still alive have found the entrance to the Zanshenmen Underground Palace... I hope they can complete the task assigned by the boss smoothly and without any mistakes."

Outside the Lama temple, Wu Xie and Fatty stood ready, guns pointed at the water, fearing that some strange fish might suddenly appear and swallow them whole. Those shark-like sharp teeth would either kill them or scare them half to death.

About five minutes later, many water bubbles suddenly appeared in the hole that broke in the ice.

Wu Xie and Zhang Haixing immediately cocked their guns, and then they saw Zhang Haixing's head emerge from the water, panting heavily, and she said to them, "Quick, pull me up, Mabonim is here again!"

Wu Xie glanced down at the ice behind her and saw a huge dark shadow looming over them. He quickly put down his gun and, together with Fatty, pulled Zhang Haixing up.

The three of them quickly retreated to a spot close to the mountain wall, holding their breath and pretending they didn't exist.

For more than ten minutes, Maburnim lingered and circled beneath the ice near the platform. After failing to find its target, it finally swam away into the distance, its massive form quickly disappearing beneath the ice.

After waiting quietly for a while, and seeing that Maponim did not return as before, Wu Xie's tense nerves finally relaxed a little.

He crept closer to the hole, which was covered with a thin layer of transparent ice, and carefully peered inside to confirm that the big creature in the water had indeed left.

The fat man followed behind him on guard. Seeing this, he quickly lowered his voice and turned to Zhang Haixing behind him, asking, "You and Bai Ci chased after him together, where is he?"

Perhaps because she had been soaking in ice water, Zhang Haixing's face looked terrible. She was soaking wet, almost like a water ghost, and her voice was so cold it sounded like it was coming from a crack in the ice. After saying "didn't see her," she grabbed a wooden beam and crawled into the opening at the bottom of the temple.

"Hey?" the fat man said unhappily, "What's with this old hag's attitude? She's acting like I owe her money."

Wu Xie patted his shoulder and said softly, "I guess the reason she suddenly looked sour is probably because she couldn't keep up with Bai Ci in the water. Didn't Bai Ci say before that there was another way to get to Kangbaluo? She wanted to find out, but she didn't succeed."

The fat man hissed and pondered, "According to you, when Bai Ci suddenly jumped into the water and disappeared, could it be that he actually went to Kangbaluo alone through the underwater path? What about the dark shadow earlier? Could it be that Bai Ci also created it to scare people, just to find an opportunity to break away from the group and act alone?"

"Perhaps." Wu Xie wasn't entirely sure either. Bai Ci was sitting right next to him while they were warming themselves by the fire, so he would definitely notice if she made any unusual movements.

“Bai Ci is very wary. Even though we are now in a cooperative relationship, it is obvious that he doesn’t even trust us when it comes to matters involving Kangbaluo.”

Goodnight, little ones (￣～￣)