Tomb Raider: I Am Hu Bayi's Cousin

Chapter 182 Something is wrong!
"If you see something dirty, that's what our Akiko..."

"Old Hu!"

However, before Hu Bayi could finish speaking, Hu Ming shook his head to stop him.

There's no need to say that.

What she said was true; Hu Ming and the others would not return the way they came for her sake.

That's unrealistic...

Therefore, if she wanted to survive, she had no choice but to follow Hu Ming and the others.

The demonic eye was merely a bargaining chip she used to gain favor...

"That's settled then. You can stay. We won't kick you out."

"But let me make this clear beforehand, the road ahead is very dangerous, and one wrong step could cost you your life..."

"Chu Yi, you too, if you want to go back now, it's still not too late. You know how dangerous the Demon Kingdom is. Compared to what's to come, the dangers now are probably just child's play."

After a moment's thought, Hu Ming turned his gaze to Chu Yi.

"Hahaha, Brother Duji, no man of the grasslands is afraid of death!"

“We’re friends, how could I abandon my friend and go back alone? Besides, digging up the Demon Kingdom is an immense act of merit.”

"Even for the sake of my third son, I won't go back so easily!"

Chu Yi laughed heartily, took off the barley wine jug, and tossed it to Hu Ming. No more words were needed.

"it is good!"

Hu Ming smiled and poured the last of the wine into his stomach.

"Mingzi...do you mean you've found the path to the Demon Kingdom ruins?"

Hu Bayi asked Hu Ming with surprise and doubt.

Inside the nine-story demon tower, the group didn't gain anything.

There are no significant murals or written records here.

He had initially thought this trip was going to end in disappointment!
Upon hearing this, Yang Xueli and the fat man also looked at Hu Ming with bright eyes.

"Yes, look here!"

Hu Ming nodded and led the group to one side of the frozen soil tomb chamber.

He bent his knees, raised his foot, and kicked the wall of the Nine-Story Demon Tower.

boom!
With a muffled thud, the black wooden board was immediately kicked to pieces by Hu Ming.

The inner layer of soil was exposed.

"Um... Akiko, this is just ordinary soil, right? It has..."

"No, this...this is rammed earth! This wooden plank isn't original; someone took it off and then put it back on."

Hu Bayi interrupted the fat man, took a closer look, and suddenly exclaimed.

"Rammed earth? Was it reinstalled?"

Yang Xueli raised her beautiful hand, as if she had thought of something.

"Wait, what are you guys talking about? I don't understand a word... Chu Yi, did you understand?"

The fat man looked blankly at the three who had suddenly become excited, and asked the first-year student next to him.

"Me? Don't joke around, fat buddy. You guys are professionals. If you couldn't figure it out, what could I possibly see?"

Chu Yi said it very confidently.

He's just a herdsman, how could he possibly understand this?
It's not shameful to say it out loud.

It was the fat guy. They were clearly in cahoots, but now he was the only one who couldn't understand. At first glance, there was a hint of pity in the fat guy's eyes.

Is this person stupid?
"Um... Brother Hu Ming must have been referring to an ancient secret passage, right?"

Suddenly, Ah Xiang, who had been quiet and rarely spoke throughout the journey, spoke up. And you know what? She guessed right! It was…

"Brother Hu Ming!?"

The group of people were all taken aback and looked at the timid Ah Xiang.

This nickname... is kind of sweet.

"Mingzi? Aren't you going to explain?" Hu Bayi looked at Hu Ming with a hint of ill intent.

"...Explain what?! I've been with you the whole way, what more do I need to explain?"

Hu Ming was getting a headache. What kind of time is this to be joking around? They really don't know their place or the occasion.

"Yes! Indeed, you and that girl hardly spoke at all the way here..."

Hu Bayi was stunned for a moment, then realized what was happening.

Then, Hu Bayi and Fatty exchanged a glance and suddenly had a wicked idea.

"Um, Ah Xiang, you call Hu Ming 'brother,' so what about us?"

The two of them looked like some kind of weird uncle.

"Uncle Hu, Uncle Fatty?"

Ah Xiang was taken aback and tentatively called out.

"Uncle? Hahahaha!!!" Hu Ming couldn't help but burst out laughing.

Yang Xueli, standing to the side, couldn't help but curl the corners of her mouth and look at Hu Bayi with a smile.

These two, one with a weathered face and the other with a face full of fat, actually think they can trick a young girl into calling them "brother"?
retribution!
Even the first-year students couldn't help but burst into laughter.

The two men's faces darkened further, and they opened their mouths, wanting to refute something.

But when he glanced back at Hu Ming's excessively young face, he immediately sighed.

No wonder Hu Ming is called "brother"—he's handsome and young, isn't he?
However, what they didn't know was that three or four years later, the mature and weathered older man would truly be popular with the young girls.

Of course, like the fat guy...

Hopeless.

“However, Mingzi, it seems like there’s something wrong with A Xiang. Although her godfather’s death has nothing to do with us, but…”

At this moment, Hu Bayi leaned close to Hu Ming's ear and whispered something.

Yang Xueli wasn't naive; of course she noticed Ah Xiang's unusual behavior.

Lei Xianming died, but instead of being saddened, he even became more cheerful.

It's just weird.

"It's alright, I know what I'm doing... If Ah Xiang is truly heartbroken after Lei Xianming's death, then I'll realize something's wrong!"

Hu Ming shook his head. Hu Bayi didn't say much, but at the same time, when no one was paying attention, he lightly bit Yang Xueli's crystal earlobe.

"Pah, what a disgrace!"

Yang Xueli blushed slightly and glared at Hu Bayi with a hint of annoyance.

She stopped paying attention to Ah Xiang. Since Hu Bayi and Hu Ming knew what was going on, she wasn't worried anymore.

Although she didn't know where Hu Ming had gotten the information about Ah Xiang.

However, Hu Ming's decisions were never wrong, and that was enough, so neither Hu Bayi nor she said anything more.

At this moment, Yang Xueli and Fatty, after observing Hu Bayi and Hu Ming, came to a conclusion and gave them subtle hand gestures.

Only then did they feel relieved and left Ah Xiang, one on each side.

All four of them, even the fat guy who looks like a simpleton, are actually shrewd and calculating at heart.

In their line of work, it would be truly shameful if they couldn't notice such an obvious anomaly!
(End of this chapter)