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

Chapter 487 Since it was bestowed by Heaven
Zhang Wuxun quickly composed himself and brought up another, more important matter.

"Yesterday, when we were crossing the lake, Marponim snatched a backpack from my companion and showed a very strong aversion to it. I suspect that the backpack may contain something related to the Germans' purpose."

Logomb nodded in agreement. "Understood. I'll have someone look for it. The Marponim usually discard things they despise in places where bones are usually piled up. There hasn't been any activity in the lava pool recently, so the thing should still be there."

The steps underfoot gradually leveled out, and the stone walls around us transformed into neatly constructed tomb passages made of bricks. The air here was dry, and the relief murals on the walls were better preserved. It was clear that the murals depicted the ancient Khampa people transporting stones from the mountains over thousands of miles, taking a thousand years to gradually build this place.

The stone bridge outside the Ice Burial Cliff was built by our ancestors to facilitate the transport of goods up the mountain, and it winds around the snow-capped mountain like a small dragon.

Just as accumulated soil forms mountains, from which wind and rain arise, and accumulated water forms deep pools, from which dragons are born, the wisdom of the working people is boundless. Their inexhaustible creativity is still awe-inspiring today. They are only able to overlook the surging torrent of history and the long river of time by standing on the shoulders of giants of the times.

The ancient tomb that Luogongbu led Zhang Wuxun to was not built very long ago, probably during the Ming Dynasty under the leadership of the previous clan chief. It showed many characteristics of Ming Dynasty tomb architecture, and the entire tomb was like a long history book, full of writing marks.

The places where the Khampa people temporarily reside are not traditional burial sites, but rather rooms specifically built for the living. In other words, these are places built specifically for the living to temporarily live in.

Because the mass burial site is so enormous, sending each clan chief into the single main hall is undoubtedly a difficult task, and only the successor to the next clan chief is qualified and capable of carrying the coffin into the main peak of the mass burial site.

The funeral procession will transport the coffin to the entrance of the secret passage leading to the main peak, and then return here to wait for the new clan chief to return.

Zhang Wuxun walked through the crowd and followed Luogongbu to a place that resembled a courtyard. Here, he saw many moon shadow orchids emitting a faint misty light, like clusters of miniature fuzzy moons gathered in a pool of water.

Not far from the lava pool, this unique environment, with its warm and humid conditions and lack of sunlight, allows the Moon Shadow Orchid to bloom with exceptional vitality.

Zhang Wuxun entered the middle room, where only a very dim oil lamp was lit, its flame flickering weakly. He saw Rengolawa lying on the wooden bed, fast asleep, with an octagonal bell hanging from the headboard right next to his ear.

Zhang Wuxun slowly walked over and knelt down beside the bed, reaching out to grasp Ren Ge's withered hand to feel his pulse.

Only a few months had passed, yet the person before me was already on the verge of death, and what sustained him until now, with his weak breath, was his ever-burning soul.

“Azonggra”.

Zhang Wuxun called out softly, and the sound waves from his voice vibrated the bell. Ren Ge slowly opened his eyes, his gaze gradually focusing as he looked at the young man beside him.

The light in the old man's eyes was faint, but in the warm glow of candlelight, it radiated kindness and tranquility. These eyes had been tempered by the passage of time and had witnessed countless mountains and rivers, finding acceptance and embrace in all things in the world.

"Ah Ci."

The old man called Zhang Wuxun's name, but not in Tibetan, but in a language with a strange pronunciation that was surprisingly pleasant to hear.

Zhang Wuxun clearly heard the sound of those two words, and this scene seemed to overlap with a scene from a previous illusion.

It was in front of the bronze gate. He was trapped by the divinely bestowed consciousness, and in the mist, a woman carrying a blue octagonal lantern called him by the same name.

The call back then was meant to deceive him and take his life, but now it is the earnest expectation and entrustment given to him by an elder who is about to pass away.

Zhang Wuxun didn't speak, but simply gripped Ren Ge's hand tightly. He wanted to use the system's energy to repair Ren Ge's decaying inner self, but Ren Ge just smiled and shook his head at him.

Zhang Wuxun felt heavy-hearted. Although he had spent less than a year with the old man, the old man had taught him a lot during that time. When an elder passes away, it is inevitable for the living to feel regret and sadness.

Ren Ge gently beckoned Zhang Wuxun forward.

Zhang Wuxun knew he had something to say to him, so he leaned down and whispered in his ear.

He heard Rengo whisper in his ear, “Aci should have a long life, free will, and the years and months should shine with the times. She should be able to go anywhere and have all her wishes fulfilled.”

"Alas, the heavens fell and the realm collapsed, the endless chaos vanished in an instant, and the Abyss of Annihilation was bestowed upon him. Fortunately, the Buddha descended and carved his treasure. He guarded his heart for ten years and finally obtained the Qilin. After a thousand years of Zhuyin returning to the beginning, the Jade Lotus floated on the water. Then, he was burned by Nirvana Fire and transformed into the Entwined Rebirth, finally completing his scorching transformation and breaking free from the cocoon to return to life... All living beings..."

Zhang Wuxun was startled, as if a thunderclap had struck his ears. He subconsciously turned to look at Ren Ge, his lips barely moving, "You didn't need to..."

But they found that Ren Ge's face was getting paler and paler, his eyes were gradually becoming unfocused, and his breath was so weak that it was hard to detect.

Zhang Wuxun was shocked and immediately placed his hand on his chest, trying his best to keep him alive with his remaining energy.

However, no matter how hard he tried, it was all in vain. An elusive force continued to erode his newly repaired internal organs. The faster he repaired them, the faster that force destroyed them.

Helpless, Zhang Wuxun could only focus on protecting his heart and trying his best to keep him going for a while longer. Dan had not yet returned, and the handover of the clan leader's identity should not be done by him.

Half an hour later, Ren Ge opened his eyes again. He was almost unable to speak and could only gesture with his eyes for Zhang Wuxun to take the thing in his sleeve.

Zhang Wu took it out and saw that it was a seven-star puzzle box made of white jade. Even for the Zhang family, who were skilled at solving puzzles, this was a very, very old and difficult puzzle box.

The Seven Stars Maze, as the name suggests, requires you to activate seven interconnected mechanical balls to open the box. You must place the balls according to the stars and navigate the maze to their correct positions, all while keeping the maze's movement completely out of sight and relying entirely on feel and mental calculation.

Even if you try to break it by force, it won't work. How could someone who could create such a meticulously crafted box leave such a big flaw? There must be a second layer of sealing mechanism inside the white jade, which is usually made of very strong and unshakeable materials. Even if you try to open it, the contents inside will be destroyed.

This shows how precious the contents of this box are.

Ren Ge gestured for Zhang Wuxun to accept the box with his eyes, then used his last bit of strength to place his hand on Zhang's head, murmuring a blessing scripture. Finally, he smiled and looked at Zhang, mouthing, "Go."

Since it was bestowed by Heaven, may the harvest be abundant and long-lasting.

-

Zhang Wuxun stayed by Ren Ge's side for two days until Dan, who was a few steps behind them, received a message from Xin Jun and rushed over. As Zhang Wuxun left the house and brushed past Dan, both of them stopped in their tracks.

Zhang Wuxun lowered his eyelashes, looking at the half-withered Moon Shadow Orchid in the pool, and said softly, "Gela has been waiting for you."

With red eyes, Dan tried her best to control her grief, her voice still trembling slightly, "Zhang Haike and the others detected signals of the same frequency twice, once in Nightmare Beast Gorge and once near the Temple of the King of Hell."

"Okay, I understand." Zhang Wuxun nodded and patted his shoulder lightly. "The original plan remains unchanged. You can focus on handling the clan's affairs. Zhang Haike and the others will be enough to handle things later."

Dan didn't say anything more and quickly walked into the room.

The door closed behind him, and Zhang Wuxun turned around to look at the stone house, suddenly realizing that its shape was actually a dark white coffin chamber.

After Dan went inside, all the Khampa people guarding outside the courtyard changed into white robes and carried an octagonal lantern with a faint blue hue. They bowed to Zhang Wuxun, still addressing him as Young Chieftain.

Logonbu also changed into a white robe. A falcon landed on his shoulder, and he gently stroked the gyrfalcon's back feathers. The gyrfalcon shook its feathers, curled its head under its wings, and squatted down peacefully.

Time was of the essence, and Zhang Wuxun was unable to participate in the funeral procession. Luogongbu carried a cloth bundle and escorted him out of the tomb to the riverbank they had previously visited.

They left using the same method as before, rang the bell to summon Maponim, and Logomb took out an oval-shaped object wrapped in a yellow cloth covered with red runes and handed it to Zhang Wuxun. The object was only about the size of an adult's palm.

He said, "This is what you asked me to find in the package that was stolen by Maponim. It looks like a statue of a deity, and the aura on it is very strange. I can't say whether it's evil or something else, but it gives me a very bad feeling. You must not open it in front of Maponim, or they will get angry."

Zhang Wuxun repeated, "Believe in idols?"

The so-called idols of gods, as the name suggests, are idols created by believers for the gods they worship. However, these gods usually do not have a physical form, and the idols are only used to express the believers' thoughts.

Zhang Wuxun paused as he was about to remove the yellow cloth, then suddenly remembered something and asked, "When we passed through Nightmare Beast Gorge before, we found a small, completely black stone statue in a cave on the cliff. I couldn't tell what it was. Was that something you put there before?"

Logomb directly denied this, saying, "We will not make offerings outside of our tribal territory."

Zhang Wuxun frowned, "Then who is that stone statue...?"

He paused mid-sentence, already having a pretty good idea of ​​what the idol you were talking about looked like.

The oval stone statue wrapped in yellow cloth was much smaller than the one he had seen in the cave, so the two things could not be the same.

Logomb hesitated slightly before saying, "I can only tell that the statue is made of many bones joined together, wrapped in human skin with intricate red patterns. The image is a blurry mess, and I can't tell what it depicts."

Zhang Wuxun's eyes darkened slightly. Since the stone statue in the cave was not enshrined there by the Khampa people, it could only be a member of the Wang family or a German.

It's likely that Zhang Haixing's somewhat unnatural expression at that time was because she had taken something from beside the stone statue, such as a vessel specifically for offerings.

This suggests that she likely recognized what was in the vessel and that it was useful to her, so she put it away before Wu Xie and the others could go up.

But she never expected that thing would make Mapenim so aggressive.

Therefore, it seems that only the Germans could have placed the stone statue there. It's highly likely that they left the items there as a marker for Feng, who would later enter the mountains.

The gods of faith have no physical form, and because they have no physical form, believers do not know what the gods actually look like. That is why the stone statues are blurred and indistinct, making it impossible for people to see what they actually look like.

One last question: Why did Feng put the idol he always carried in the fat man's backpack? If it was just to draw danger away from himself, that reason is far too shallow. What believer would secretly hang a cross around the neck of a stranger, unless he has a brainstem deficiency?

Since the Germans came specifically for the image of Yama riding a corpse, could this unnamed statue actually be of the same nature as Yama riding a corpse? Could it be some kind of strange, evil deity worshipped as a sacrifice?

Zhang Wu recalled what Dan had said about the two signals they had detected at the same frequency, meaning that the two signals came from the same person and were received by the same terminal.

Based on his understanding of the Wang family, Zhang Haixing would never rashly send a signal to report the situation before truly confirming that the bronze door had been found, as that would be too easy to expose them.

The two signals, assuming the first one was given by Feng because he saw the stone statue left by the previous group of Germans and confirmed the correct direction and location, likely mean that more groups of people from the Quiet Company will come here later.

Therefore, the appearance of the second signal should also be for the purpose of confirming the location—the location of Khampa.

Zhang Wuxun looked down at the idol in his hand, a flash of malice passing through his eyes. Suddenly, he raised his hand and slammed the object heavily to the ground.

With a few crisp cracking sounds, the statue of the deity shattered.

Marponim rested his head on the rock, leisurely blowing bubbles, and turned his blue eyes to look over inquisitively when he heard the sound.

Luogongbu, unaware of what Zhang Wuxun had thought of and why he suddenly reacted so strongly, hurriedly asked him what was wrong.

Zhang Wuxun squatted down and picked up the yellow paper package. He carefully felt through the broken pieces with both hands. After a while, he stopped, tore the yellow paper with his fingers, and took out a locator with a flashing red dot inside.

"What is this?" Logomb's expression changed as well.

The paper package was torn open, and Marponim smelled the unpleasant odor. It swished its tail impatiently, splashing water onto the two people on the shallows, and letting out sharp screechs.

Logonbu hurriedly took out a new piece of yellow paper with cinnabar symbols drawn on it from his bosom and wrapped the image of the deity back up.

Marponim snorted in annoyance, turned around, and dived back underwater.

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