Tomb Raider: I Am Hu Bayi's Cousin

Chapter 172 Hollow
According to the secret scriptures of reincarnation, the Nine-Story Demon Tower should be located amidst four towering snow-capped peaks of similar size in the vicinity.

That place is the Phoenix Palace in Tantric feng shui, a treasure land.

That place is the "Dragon Peak," the spine of heaven and earth.

The nine-story demon tower, which enshrines an evil god, is frozen in this glacier, making Shenluogou a place of extraordinary beauty.

It's not about feng shui or anything like that. Rather, it's because the surrounding mountains have millions of tons of snow accumulated there.

This snow was enough to chill anyone to the bone.

With their target within reach, the group's spirits immediately lifted.

Even the weakest Lei Xianming looked radiant, as if he had been reborn.

In response, Hu Ming could only say that the allure of a treasure trove of money is indeed enough to make even the devil turn the millstone!
The group had spent quite a while traveling.

Before we knew it, most of the day had passed, and the sun was already setting in the west.

"Following our current instructions, we should be able to reach our destination before dark."

Chu Yi cautiously scouted ahead of the group, wary of ice crevices and caves, without ever turning his head.

For thousands of years, this place has been sparsely populated and freezing cold.

The ice surface was extremely slippery, just like the smoothest mirror.

One wrong move and you'll fall flat on your backside.

In this environment, wrestling on hard ice is no fun.

You could easily fall flat on your face and break your bones.

Therefore, once they arrived at Shenluogou, the group could not move very fast.

"No, we're missing someone, it's Han Shuna!"

As the group continued forward, Hu Ming suddenly stopped, glanced at everyone, and frowned.

"Someone is missing?"

Everyone was startled and immediately stopped walking, turning around to take a closer look.

Upon closer inspection, Han Shuna had indeed disappeared sometime earlier!
"This glacier is full of crevasses, cirques, and icicles. If you fall in, you'll be in big trouble."

Chu Yi looked at Lei Xianming with unwavering expression.

They had little contact with others along the way, and the three of them took care of each other.

But now, the person has disappeared, and Lei Xianming has not noticed at all!
Moreover, the most troublesome thing is...

Footprints were hard to leave on the ice, and the group didn't even know when Han Shu had gone missing.

It's probably going to be difficult to find them now.

Left with no other choice, the group had to disperse and search back and forth along the route they remembered.

It wasn't until several minutes later that they discovered a broken hole or gap on the way they had come.

A powerful searchlight shone inside, revealing that Han Shuna had indeed fallen in.

His eyes were closed, and he was unconscious.

The most dangerous thing is that the cavity beneath this glacier is as deep as seven or eight meters.

Based solely on observation from a distance, no one can say for sure whether Han Shuna was injured in the fall.

All I know is that if I don't go to rescue Han Shuna again...

Even if nothing serious happened.

However, losing consciousness on a glacier is an extremely dangerous thing in itself.

If it drags on too long, even if nothing happens, they'll freeze to death inside the glacial cavities.

Hu Ming and Chu Yi exchanged a silent glance.
In such an environment, even if the group shouted for Han Shu, they couldn't do anything. They were afraid that one wrong move would cause a white-haired avalanche or something.

The rope was lowered, and the two brothers, Hu Ming and Hu Bayi, nimbly lowered it down.

Once inside, the searchlights finally illuminated what was inside the cavity at close range.

Around Han Shuna, many dead people dressed in ancient clothing were frozen inside the ice walls.

All of these corpses were kneeling with their hands on their sides.

Han Shuna was positioned right in the very center of this densely packed circle of corpses.

"Holy crap, what kind of hell is this place?!"

"Looking around, all I see are countless ice dumplings, all posed in strange positions. Mingzi, something's probably not right here!"

Upon seeing this scene, Hu Bayi couldn't help but gasp.

His body trembled, and he swung the searchlight in his hand, shining it repeatedly, unable to help but exclaim in surprise.

"A hellish place? No, no, no, I think we've probably found an incredible place."

Hu Ming licked his dry lips, looking at the frozen corpses around him, but felt a surge of excitement in his heart.

Judging from their clothing, these ancient corpses have no connection to the Demon Kingdom.

However, according to ancient scriptures, this place is probably a burial pit near the Nine-Story Demon Tower.

This is a trace left by the ancient Samsara sect.

However, before digging, we must first rescue Han Shuna.

Hu Ming smeared a bit of highly irritating saltpeter on his finger and rubbed it on Han Shu's nose.

Han Shuna immediately sneezed, jolted awake.

Seeing Hu Bayi and Hu Ming right in front of him, he instantly came to his senses.

"...Just now, when I was forcing my way through, my shoelaces came undone, so I had to bend down and tie them again, which made me keep my distance from everyone."

"When I caught up, I was in a hurry and deviated from the route. I accidentally broke through the ice and fell down."

"After I fell, I was about to send a distress signal when I saw the densely packed corpses inside. I was so shocked that I fainted."

As she spoke, a blush of embarrassment rose on Han Shu's face.

Although Lei Xiangming was the one who brought her here, she herself was also very tempted.

But to his surprise, he fainted from fright after seeing so many corpses.

Hu Bayi and Hu Ming exchanged a glance, then shook their heads and sighed helplessly.

What else can they say in this situation?
After all, their profession isn't tomb raiding or archaeology.

This situation is unavoidable.

The two quickly helped Han Shuna tie the safety rope.

They called to Fatty, Chu Yi, and Yang Xueli, and slowly lifted Han Shuna up.

"Holy crap! Mingzi, there's a giant shrimp down there!?"

After Han Shuna was sent up, the space beneath her was immediately exposed.

Beneath the smooth, flat ice layer at the bottom of the cave, a hazy, dark shadow appeared out of nowhere.

Its curled-up body resembled a baby curled up in a ball.

At first glance, it really does look like a frozen shrimp.

(End of this chapter)