Tomb Raider: I Am Hu Bayi's Cousin

Chapter 114 Fragrant Jade

"Mingzi, Lao Hu, come and take a look, what are these things? They're all from this dried corpse."

Hu Ming took it and saw that it was a cloth bag, which must have been very old, but there was still no sign of decay, which showed that the material was of very good quality.

The bag was full of odds and ends.

There were candles, red pills to cure the poison from the corpses in the tomb, a simple compass, a black donkey hoof, and a roll of ink thread...

These items are essential treasures for tomb raiders.

Hu Bayi was certain that the mummified corpse before them was a tomb raider.

These things were useless, and just as Hu Ming was about to throw them away, he suddenly smelled a fragrance.

Beside him, the fat man sniffed the air with his nose.

"It smells fucking good, it smells like chocolate to me."

As he spoke, Hu Ming took out a strange jade stone from his cloth bag.

The jade was covered with colorful crack patterns, delicate and translucent, with the texture inside seemingly flowing. A rich fragrance emanated from the jade. The fat man looked at the jade with shining eyes.

"It smells so good! My stomach is rumbling just from the aroma. Mingzi, do you think this is edible?"

As the fat man asked the question, he swallowed hard, as if he couldn't wait to devour the jade.

Hu Ming glared at him, then said irritably, "Have you ever heard of eating stones? What, you weren't satisfied with eating shit just now, now you want to eat stones too?"

The fat man immediately shrank back and stopped acting up.

Just then, Big Gold Tooth, who was standing next to him, suddenly spoke up excitedly.

"This... isn't this Wen Xiangyu?"

"Fragrant Jade?"

The fat man paused for a moment, then burst out laughing.

"That's a good name."

"The fragrance of this jade is invigorating, making one feel weak all over, and comfortable in every limb. It's truly a marvel. And that gold tooth... this thing must be worth a lot of money, right?"

Since entering this place, Big Gold Tooth has been plagued by bad luck. He was knocked unconscious twice and suffered considerable torment, leaving him extremely listless.

But at this moment, whether it was the fragrance of the jade that had an effect or the greed that made him so excited, he became noticeably more excited.

"This is a rare and precious item."

"This substance has countless uses; the drier the environment, the stronger its aroma."

"Even a small piece the size of a fingernail can fill a room with fragrance that will never fade. It has the effect of calming the mind, invigorating the spirit, and nourishing the soul. It is a treasure that is priceless, let alone such a large piece."

"An ancient poem says: 'Flowers in the world can speak, and now we see jade exuding fragrance. Creation is infinitely wonderful, and its marvelous uses can be carefully examined.'"

"Having eyes but not recognizing the fragrance of jade, a piece of jade with a natural fragrance is priceless..."

Big Gold Tooth was extremely excited and kept talking.

The fat man was getting impatient and asked bluntly, "Old Jin, I'm a rough man and don't understand your poetry and essays. Just tell me, how much is this fragrant jade worth?"

"Priceless treasure, priceless treasure!" Big Gold Tooth said twice.

"The larger this fragrant jade is, the more valuable it is. It is also a medicinal herb. Placing it in a room can make people feel refreshed and invigorated. If it were to be sold, its value would be hard to estimate. If a buyer is found who is interested, it could fetch a very, very high price."

Big Gold Tooth had never seen such a large Jade Fragrance before. He wasn't sure of its value, but he was certain it was worth a lot of money.

"Well, at least we didn't make a wasted trip to the Dragon Ridge Caves; we did gain something."

The fat man was overjoyed, and Hu Ming put away the fragrant jade.

Hu Ming couldn't help but smile, after all, the Treasure Pavilion was about to have another treasure.

Hu Ming tossed the Tomb Raider Talisman to Hu Bayi and said, "This is a genuine Tomb Raider Talisman. With this, you'll truly be a Tomb Raider Captain." Hu Bayi didn't refuse. He had always wanted to get a Tomb Raider Talisman, but it was really hard to come by.

Big Gold Tooth had previously made three fakes, which both he and Fatty caused Hu Bayi a lot of distress.

"I'd like to put this fragrant jade in the Treasure Pavilion. I wonder what you all think..."

They are a team, and the most important thing is to distribute resources fairly so that everyone can work together.

Otherwise, if internal strife breaks out, the team will fall apart.

"Mingzi, you're being too polite by saying that," the fat man said casually.

“If it weren’t for Master Ming, we would have died several times over. Since Master Ming wants this Fragrant Jade, then take it!” Big Gold Tooth immediately said.

Hu Ming didn't say much, saying there would be plenty of opportunities to cooperate in the future, and they could make up for it later.

Right now, their most urgent task is to find a way out.

Since this mummified corpse was Jin Suanpan's senior disciple, Hu Ming and the others, Hu Ming wrapped his remains in a cloth from the system space, preparing to take it out for burial.

The area is completely sealed off, and the only way out is to follow the tunnel dug by this predecessor.

Hu Ming led the way, Fatty brought up the rear, and Hu Bayi and Big Gold Tooth were in the middle. The four of them walked out through a hole about the size of a person.

After walking for a while, the view suddenly opened up, and they entered another tomb chamber.

The fat man looked around at the walls and then shouted.

"Hey, isn't this the Underworld Palace we left before?"

Upon hearing this, everyone looked around the tomb chamber and indeed saw identical portraits.

Even the dome above was exactly the same; it was clearly the Netherworld Palace they had just entered.

Unexpectedly, this tunnel led here, and after going around in circles, they returned to where they started.

"Look, there's a new stone coffin here," Big Gold Tooth said, shining his flashlight around as he suddenly noticed something.

Hu Ming looked closely and, sure enough, the once empty underworld palace now had a stone coffin in the center.

The stone coffin was about four meters long and two meters wide, which was quite large compared to a typical coffin.

On the stone coffin, a strange human face was carved, seemingly smiling but not smiling, as if it had come to life, but no matter how you looked at it, it felt awkward.

"Damn it, this should be another underworld palace," the fat man said, somewhat skeptical.

They had just passed by and clearly didn't see a coffin. How could this thing have appeared out of nowhere?
He took out his flashlight and shone it around, carefully observing for a long time. The murals and the structure of the buildings clearly showed that this was the underworld palace he had just passed.

“No mistake, there are still the candles we just burned here.” Hu Bayi touched the ground in a corner.

They had just lit a candle there, and it had burned out, but there were still some wax marks on it.

"This place is really eerie," Big Gold Tooth's voice trembled slightly.

"Mr. Ming, Mr. Hu, you are both very knowledgeable. Can you tell me what exactly is going on?" Hu Ming, who was observing the situation in the tomb, spoke up when he heard Da Jin Ya's words.

"This is not surprising at all. As I just said, this is actually a Tang Dynasty tomb and a Western Zhou Dynasty tomb."

"The Tang Dynasty tomb is a real tomb, but it should also be an empty tomb."

“The Western Zhou tombs are ghost tombs. Since they are ghost tombs, they are different from real tombs.”

"Ghosts are changeable; it's not surprising that they change over time."

Upon hearing Hu Ming's explanation, Big Gold Tooth suddenly understood.

"Mr. Ming is truly amazing. I couldn't figure this out no matter how hard I tried, but he explained it to me in just a few words."

Hu Ming shook his head, but a faint smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

(End of this chapter)