Tomb Raider: I Am Hu Bayi's Cousin

Chapter 290 Painting

This spiral tunnel is about twenty meters deep.

Unlike the passageways or side chambers on the upper level, which are made entirely of white marble.

This secret passage was made of a strange material with a bronze hue.

However, the feel and the sound of tapping told Hu Ming that this thing was not bronze, or even any metal, but some kind of strange rock.

Heaven knows where Wang Zanghai got his hands on this stuff.

In the world of Daomu Biji.

Snakes, bronze, and meteorite jade account for a considerable proportion of the items.

It could even be said that all the stories and all the mysteries come from these three things.

At this moment, Hu Ming became extremely interested in this strange bronze-colored rock.

The rock face is covered with some peculiar murals.

Those were all kinds of snakes, in countless shapes and forms.

This snake has a strange appearance, covered in black hair that snakes shouldn't have, and has organs on both sides of its head that resemble gliders.

Hu Ming knew this snake; it was a peculiar type of snake commonly known as the black-haired snake.

A snake that can remember everything it sees—a natural biological information bank!
In the sequel to The Lost Tomb – Sand Sea, this kind of snake is undoubtedly the main character!
It was mentioned that Wang Zanghai had studied this type of snake.

The prototypes of the three snake-browed bronze fish left by Wang Zanghai are this kind of snake and the fish that live in symbiosis with it.

The extensive description of this snake in the passage demonstrates its importance to Wang Zanghai.

However, the murals here have no special meaning; they are simply depicting the origin and habits of this type of snake.

Continue moving downwards.

In the final part of the secret passage, suddenly, the content of the murals changed.

Instead of the black-haired snake, several remarkably lifelike depictions of the forbidden women have been created!
There are three pictures in total.

The first two pictures were nothing special; they were exactly the same as the forbidden women that Hu Ming and his group had seen before.

Her hair was as black as a waterfall, her eyes were filled with an eerie blackness, she wore white clothes, and had a large belly like a pregnant woman.

This is because the "forbidden women" created by Wang Zanghai were all pregnant women in their previous lives.

Prior to this, Hu Ming had made malicious speculations.

The forbidden women who appeared in Wang Zanghai's underwater tomb were all heavily pregnant, which suggests that this person might have had some peculiar fondness for pregnant women.

However, when Hu Ming saw the third picture, he understood.

The woman in the third picture does not have a large belly; instead, she has a long, narrow wound on her abdomen.

The location of this wound is very significant; based on the structure of the human body, this is the location of sub-G.

As for what was taken out of it…

Although this was the last painting and there were no more, Hu Ming and Yin Nanfeng had already guessed what was going on.

"Gulp!"

"No way, Uncle Ming, could that little thing we encountered before have been a baby taken out of the Forbidden Woman's womb?"

Yin Nanfeng subconsciously licked his dry red lips and said in a hoarse voice.

Eye sockets also filled with eerie darkness... the size of a three-year-old child.
The tiny creature's blood contained strands of jet-black hair.
The evidence is already very clear.

It must be right!
"The feng shui theory is correct. In such a feng shui treasure land, no matter what method is used, the corpse will absolutely not rise up."

"That little thing wasn't a zombie that rose from the dead; it was born looking like that!"

Hu Ming couldn't help but clench his teeth.

He realized that although he thought highly of Wang Zanghai, he had ultimately underestimated him.

Wang Zanghai's secret to immortality originated from the Queen Mother of the West's Jade Pill, and he added some of his own research findings, which is how he created the Forbidden Woman, a creature different from the Blood Corpse.

Hu Ming knew about these things.

But Hu Ming never expected that after this road was cut off, Wang Zanghai would have other ideas!
Wang Zanghai's liking to transform pregnant women into "forbidden women" wasn't due to any particular fetish, but rather because he was conducting further research!
He succeeded in his attempt to use an "immortal" witch as a cradle to give birth to a child born with "immortality," but he also failed.

The little creature was indeed born with immortality, but it lacked human reason, and even its appearance had changed due to its mother.

"Strange, why do I feel like I've heard this kind of thing somewhere before?"

Hu Ming frowned and muttered to himself in confusion.

"The Holy Infant, it's the story of the Holy Infant!"

Suddenly, Hu Ming remembered the story of the "Holy Infant," the biological son of King Mu of Zhou, three thousand years ago!
Three thousand years ago, King Mu of Zhou obtained a jade figurine from the Queen Mother of the West and used it to make a small jade coffin for an infant!
The jade figurines were naturally prepared by King Mu of Zhou for himself.

And the small jade coffin
King Mu of Zhou placed his unborn son, who had been cut from his beloved concubine's womb, inside the cavity.

Firstly, King Mu of Zhou wanted to use this infant for an experiment to see if he could live for three thousand years.
Secondly, and primarily, this infant was also the physical body that King Mu of Zhou prepared for himself after achieving immortality.

After all, King Mu of Zhou was already quite old at that time.

After achieving immortality, he needs a younger body, and naturally, the more similar this body is to his face, the better.

Is there anything in this world more alike than the appearance of a father and son?
The specially made Meteorite Pill given to King Mu of Zhou by the Queen Mother of the West was enough to accomplish all of this. After replicating King Mu's memories, the Corpse King in his body would bring those memories into his new body.

In other words, the baby who possesses the memories of King Mu of Zhou is the newborn King Mu of Zhou, with a young body and endless lifespan!
Unfortunately, the baby died shortly after being taken out of the small jade coffin.

This matter is inextricably linked to the Zhang family, who have a special connection with the Queen Mother of the West.

Therefore, the existence of the "Holy Infant" has a special symbolic meaning for the Zhang family. They cannot accept the fact that the "Holy Infant" died, and they must cover up the fact that the "Holy Infant" died.

At that time, a child born from an intermarriage between a member of the tribe and someone from another tribe was born.

Therefore, the Zhang family set their sights on the young man, and the young man was given the identity of "the holy infant who gained immortality three thousand years ago" by the Zhang family!
From a young age, the boy was instilled with the fact that he was the "Holy Infant".

For a time, the young man also believed this fact.

Therefore, the strange behavior of the young man in the Lu Palace is actually quite reasonable.

After all, the young man had lost his past memories at that time, and his understanding of himself came entirely from the Zhang family's ancient books.

Just as the Zhang family had hoped, at that time, he was King Mu of Zhou's "own son".
It is the "Holy Infant" that has lived for three thousand years.

That's why the young man knelt before the blood corpse that King Mu of Zhou had transformed into, and why he swiftly and cleanly stabbed the Iron-Faced Man lying inside the jade figurine to death.

In fact, at that time, the young man didn't care at all who was lying inside the jade figurine.

Anyone lying inside that jade figurine is the "enemy" that Xiao Ge must kill, the "enemy" of the "murderer of his father."

This is the story of the feud between the young man, King Mu of Zhou, King Shang of Lu, and the Iron-Faced Scholar...

Judging from the story told by Uncle San, at that time, the young man who lost his memory probably really believed that he was the Holy Infant, the son of King Mu of Zhou.

(End of this chapter)