Tomb Raider: I Am Hu Bayi's Cousin

Chapter 247 features the Nine-Headed Hydra Cypress.
hand.

Green, slippery, eerie hands.

Following the direction Hu Ming pointed, the three saw a hand that sent chills down their spines.

No, upon closer inspection, that thing is not a hand.

Instead, there were five long, slender, grayish-green strips protruding from the stone wall, only a short section of each, crowded together.

In addition, the dim lighting made it easy for people to mistake it for a hand.

Those are the vines of the Hydra Cypress.

Hu Ming stared silently at the "ghost hand" waving in mid-air, his eyes flickering uncertainly.

As expected, the young man and Wu Sansheng must have succeeded, which is why they alerted the Nine-Headed Cypress.

"Hiss~ What the hell is that thing? Damn, it looks like a hand! It almost scared me to death!"

After seeing it clearly, the fat man patted his chest and couldn't help but feel a lingering fear.

As he spoke, he took the entrenching tool he was carrying from his waist and was about to go up and smash that thing to pieces.

"etc….."

Wu Xie cautiously tried to stop the fat man, but it was too late.

Don't let his size fool you; he's a surprisingly agile fat man.

Like a slippery eel, the fat man quickly ran to the front, slamming his entrenching tool down with a whoosh, cursing as he went.

However, the next moment, an accident occurred!
It was as if it had eyes, with exceptionally keen senses, and it darted out and extended from the cave wall like lightning.

The fat man's right hand was only halfway through its swing when it was suddenly bound tightly by an extended "ghost hand".

The remaining four "ghost hands" quickly wrapped the fat man up like a rice dumpling.

To make matters worse, this thing is extremely powerful and is even constantly contracting.

Visibly, the fat man's bulky body was marked with indentations from the straps.

“Ahhhhh!!”

"Comrade Wu Xie, Panzi, and that little...no, no, Master Ming, please help me!"

"This thing is damn weird!"

The fat man's loud and pitiful howl immediately echoed throughout the tomb passage.

"The Nine-Headed Hydra Cypress, also known as the Ghost Hand Vine or Octopus Tree, is a rare man-eating tree species."

"This green ghost hand is its vine, strong enough to strangle or even pierce the most ferocious beasts, digest them, and turn them into nutrients for its own growth."

Hu Ming stopped Wu Xie and Pan Zi from stepping forward to help, lit a cigarette leisurely, and watched the bondage play in front of him with amusement.

Well, the only downside is that the person being tied up is a man, and this man is quite ugly...

All I can say is that a tree, no matter how strange, is still just a tree; it doesn't understand the art of binding at all.

"What kind of time is this to be making sarcastic remarks? If you're going to do some science popularization, can't you find a better time?"

"Once this is all over, I'll treat you to a banquet in Beijing so you can take your time telling the story, okay?"

"Holy crap, this damn thing is trying to shove its slimy tentacles into my mouth! Help!!!"

The fat man stared in horror at the vine slowly reaching towards his mouth, his face turning green.

Damn it, if someone actually gets stuffed in there, I don't know whether they'll live or die.

After this whole ordeal, the fat guy will never be able to show his face in public again.

"What's the rush? We haven't even gone in yet!"

As he spoke, Hu Ming had already flashed to the fat man's side, his right hand's two fingers flashing out like lightning, clamping down tightly on the ghost hand.

Despite the slimy, unidentified secretions on the vine, it could not escape no matter how hard it struggled between Hu Ming's two fingers.

At the same time, he switched the Dragon Pattern Cloud Blade to his left hand and his wrist trembled.

Suddenly, the fat man heard a hissing sound as if the air was being violently torn apart. A cold, sharp blade flashed, severing all five ghostly hands that had extended from the wall.

puff~
Just like a real human hand, a large amount of dark green liquid gushed out from the broken end.

Caught off guard, the fat man was sprayed with a torrent of abuse.

Yes, including hair.

Wow, what a freshly sprouted green grassland!

Hu Ming slipped away, thinking to himself with amusement.

"Ugh, that's kind of disgusting..."

The fat man broke free from the severed tentacles, rubbed a handful of green liquid from the top of his head, and said with disgust.

"However, thanks anyway, Master Ming. I owe you my life!"

It was 03, after all, and the fat man didn't understand the allure of green; he simply expressed his sincere gratitude.

"You're welcome!" Hu Ming nodded slightly.

The tentacles of the Hydra cypress appeared here, which means we are not far from the actual burial chamber.

After all, the Hydra Cypress is a tree rooted in the earth and cannot move its body; the range of its vines is limited.

After a short rest and replenishing their food and water, the group continued on their way.

Sure enough, a short while later, a light came from the tomb passage ahead.

"bright!"

Upon seeing this, Wu Xie cheered and quickly grabbed Panzi and ran forward.

"Young Master, slow down!"

Panzi was still injured, and when he was pulled unexpectedly, his wounds were squeezed, and he grimaced and cried out.

However, judging from his expression, he didn't seem to care much.

What he cared more about was whether Wu Sansheng, who had been missing for a long time, was there.

It has to be said that Fatty is truly loyal to Wu Sansheng and Wu Xie, uncle and nephew, without a doubt.

A moment later, Hu Ming and the others finally climbed out of the tomb passage.

There is only a small protruding area outside the cave entrance where you can stand; beyond that is a cliff.

There is a drop of at least fifteen meters downwards, and the wind is very strong, so you can only observe this place by clinging to the cliff face.

Before us lies a massive natural cave, at least the size of a football field.

There is a crack in the cave ceiling, which is over 100 meters high, and the bright moonlight shines in through the crack.

The surrounding cave walls are covered with caves of varying sizes.

The number is countless, too numerous to count.

What is most awe-inspiring is that in the very center of the underground cave, there grows a tree that is 100 meters tall and requires ten people to encircle it.

The tree had no twigs, and its trunk was bare with many branches.

Like a banyan tree, countless eerie green ghostly hands hung from the branches, covered with withered bones.

From a distance, it looks remarkably like a withered bone wind chime.

This is the Nine-Headed Hydra Cypress! And judging from the situation, the cracks in the dome of the underground cave are not naturally occurring.

Instead, it was burst open by the excessively growing Hydra cypress.

Beneath the nine-headed cypress tree, there was a jade platform upon which lay two bodies.

We've arrived at the main burial chambers of the tombs of King Mu of Zhou and King Shang of Lu...

(End of this chapter)