Tomb Raider: I Am Hu Bayi's Cousin

Chapter 124 Recognition
"Brother Hu Ming, are you serious? You said this girl is the descendant of my old friend?"

"Is this girl truly a descendant of my ill-fated brother, Partridge Whistle?"

Sure enough, Blind Chen could no longer sit still, and his excited tone became somewhat off-key.

“Sir, Hu Ming did not lie to you. Partridge Whistle is indeed my maternal grandfather.”

Yang Xueli raised an eyebrow slightly, then subconsciously replied.

She simply couldn't reconcile the image of this old geezer in front of her with that of President Chen recorded in Partridge Whistle's notes.

The difference is just too big!
"I'm old and blind, so don't try to deceive me!" Despite saying this, Chen Yulou was still skeptical.

He did want to examine the bones to confirm, but as soon as the thought arose, his intuition told him that Hu Ming was intentionally or unintentionally looking at him with a threatening gaze.

Even though he was blind, his sense of danger was still excellent; the feeling of danger, like having a gun pointed at his head, was unbearable.

With a sigh of resignation, I gave up on this idea.

But he didn't realize that Hu Ming would let him touch his future sister-in-law's face in front of him.

"Young lady, and young man, do you have any evidence to prove it?" After thinking for a moment, Chen Yulou still asked with some disbelief.

"Evidence? Could my grandfather's Vajra Umbrella be used as evidence?"

"Please wait a moment, sir, I'll get it for you to see right away," Yang Xueli said, remembering the Vajra Umbrella she had brought with her.

That thing is a one-of-a-kind treasure in the world. Before long, Yang Xueli took out the Vajra Umbrella from the room.

"The Vajra Umbrella!? It really is my brother's Vajra Umbrella!"

"Young lady, you really are a descendant of Partridge Whistle! Child, what's your name?"

Chen Yulou touched it, examined it carefully, and sighed deeply, "This thing can't be faked."

He didn't believe anyone in the world could forcibly take the Vajra Umbrella from Partridge Whistle.

At this moment, the Vajra Umbrella fell into Yang Xueli's hands, and what Yang Xueli and Hu Ming said was probably true...

“Shirley!”

"???"

This put Chen Yulou in a difficult position, after all, he lived during the Republic of China era.

The strange pronunciations of foreign languages ​​are really hard to pronounce right away.

"Shirley, Shirley Yang, uh, no, it should be Yang Shirley!" Hu Bayi, who was sitting next to Yang Shirley, kindly reminded her.

"Yang Xueli, what a beautiful name!"

What a load of rubbish! That foreign name—in the minds of people in China, is such a bizarre and incongruous name considered a good name?
mme is utterly speechless. What is this supposed to be—loving someone because you love their pet?
“I read about you in my grandfather’s notes…”

“Even when he was abroad, Grandpa always thought of your past friendship,” Yang Xueli said with some emotion.

"Nonsense about General Manager Chen? What's so great about that old geezer?"

"Perhaps Partridge Whistle still harbored feelings for Red Sister in his later years?"

Hu Ming's lips twitched, and he couldn't help but expose Yang Xueli's well-intentioned lie.

“Hu Ming, that’s my maternal grandfather!” Yang Xueli glared at Hu Ming with some dissatisfaction.

Although, the notes do indeed take up the vast majority of space with the only person mentioned, Hong Gu.

But you can't just say it so bluntly, can you?
"Haha, young man, you're right. What's there for this old codger to worry about?"

"Ah, Hong Gu...it's truly a pity. She was so devoted and yet died young, never getting to see Partridge Whistle again, succumbing to a plague." "What a cruel twist of fate! Even in his later years, Partridge Whistle still thought of Hong Gu; it's a testament to the depth of her love..."

Chen Yulou couldn't help but recall the brief yet profound friendship between the group of friends back then, and sighed with regret once again.

“By the way, child, let me ask you a question, about your clan’s Ghost Eye Curse…” Chen Yulou then fell silent.

"...To be honest, it was because I found my grandfather's notes."

"The reason I came to China this time is to find clues about the two sound beads, Mu and Dian, recorded in the second half of the Dragon Bone Heavenly Book, and to find a way to break the Ghost Eye Curse..."

At this point, Yang Xueli gave a wry smile, then turned her gaze to Hu Bayi, Hu Ming, and Fatty.

"Old Hu, Hu Ming, Fatty, and the rest of us went to the Jingjue Ancient City and saw the Ghost Cave."

"Professor Chen's back has already been afflicted with the curse of the ghost eye, and you... you should be no exception, right?"

Yang Xueli looked at them with a complex expression, filled with deep regret.

“I’m so sorry. If I hadn’t insisted on funding the archaeological team to go to the ancient city of Peking Opera, you wouldn’t have suffered this misfortune.”

As she spoke, Yang Xueli recounted the story of the Mountain Moving lineage, the Ghost Eye Curse, the Electric Dust Pearl, the Dragon Bone Heavenly Book, and other related matters.

Most of the information was learned from Partridge Whistle's notes.

"Ghost Eye Curse?" Hu Bayi and Fatty were stunned and instinctively covered the backs of their eyes.

"You mean, as long as you grow this eyeball-shaped curse."

"After the age of forty, the blood begins to turn golden, and eventually the body's functions are destroyed, leading to a painful death."

"And this process will not exceed ten years at most, which means that with this curse, one is bound to die before the age of fifty?"

"Only by finding the Thunder Dust Pearl can this curse be broken? And the Dragon Bone Tome is the key to finding the Thunder Dust Pearl?"

Yang Xueli silently apologized again, "Yes, I'm sorry, it's my fault."

To Yang Xueli's surprise, Hu Bayi and Fatty looked rather grim.

But instead of despair, their faces showed a strange expression.

"...Old Hu, aren't you angry or blaming me?" Yang Xueli couldn't help but ask in confusion.

“Ms. Yang, if this had happened before, I might have felt despair or anger upon hearing this news.”

"Even if you and Lao Hu got together, although I know you didn't mean it, it's a matter of life and death. In desperation, I might not be able to control my emotions."

"But..." The fat man didn't get angry, which was rare. After all, Hu Ming had told them about this a long time ago, but they hadn't paid attention at the time, thinking it was just a joke, and then they entered the Jingjue Ancient City.

However, Hu Bayi and Fatty were slightly moved when they saw Hu Ming's calm expression.

Then Hu Bayi and Fatty looked at each other, thinking about what Yang Xueli had just said, and then they both saw the look of not knowing whether to laugh or cry on each other's faces.

Things in this world are really damn coincidental.

"The second half of the Dragon Bone Heavenly Book? That thing is right in our hands now!"

"With this, we can find the whereabouts of the Electric Dust Bead, right? After that, it's just a matter of going to the next tomb."

"Perfect timing! We've got news about a huge tomb; we brothers are overjoyed!"

"What!?" Yang Xueli exclaimed in surprise, staring blankly at Hu Bayi and the others.

Their expressive eyes seemed to ask, "Are you kidding me?"

(End of this chapter)