Tomb Raider: I Am Hu Bayi's Cousin

Chapter 340 Vermilion Tomb Passage
"Is this what the young man's past life was like? Forever alone, searching for his past memories?"

"Is this why the guy always has such a cold and aloof demeanor?"

Wu Xie muttered to himself.

Just imagining it, he felt an overwhelming sense of loneliness and sorrow.

With his limited life experience, he simply couldn't imagine the kind of suffering the young man had endured to survive all these years.

"No, that's not the point. Uncle Ming, you're saying my brother is already 130 years old? You're kidding me!"

"And you, Naïve, Panzi, you actually believed that?"

The fat man said with a look of surprise, he had always thought that Hu Ming and Hu Bayi were just good at preserving their youth, and never thought that their lifespan would be extended!
Although Wang Kaixuan had taught Wang Banyue the "Marrow Cleansing Technique," he did not tell him about the possibility of extending lifespan. After all, as his father, Wang Kaixuan knew that the little fat boy Niu was just like him when he was young—he had a slip of the tongue!
Therefore, he only told Wang Banyue that the "Marrow Cleansing Technique" could make people look younger!
As a result, Wang Banyue became less enthusiastic about cultivating the "Marrow Cleansing Technique".

"Hmm? Is something wrong?"

"Nine Gates, Zhang Dafoye's adjutant, is over a hundred years old this year, but he still looks like he's in his twenties, doesn't he?"

Wu Xie and Panzi looked at the fat man blankly.

"No, I know that, my family told me..."

"A hundred years old can be understood as someone who knows how to maintain health and live a long life, and youthfulness can be attributed to a special constitution, but one hundred and thirty years old? Can anyone really live that long?"

The fat man shook his head and said.

"However, that is indeed the case."

Hu Ming shrugged, unwilling to say any more.
Are you suggesting that any member of the Zhang family with this Qilin blood could easily live to 130?
For the Zhang family, 130 years old is roughly equivalent to a normal person's 40s or 50s—the prime of life!
The "Marrow Cleansing Technique" we cultivate also has this effect, but judging from Fatty Wang's attitude, I don't know if he has actually cultivated the "Marrow Cleansing Technique".

"Damn it... could it really be true?"

The fat man looked at the three men, who were not joking at all, with suspicion and uncertainty. Then he couldn't help but think of the faces of his elderly father and his family members, who were in their thirties. He frowned.

However, when he looked at Wu Xie and the other two, Wu Xie simply nodded seriously at him.

People are truly incomparable; sometimes, the difference between people is much greater than the difference between a person and a dog.

But Fatty is certain that his family has no inherited bloodline! And what about his parents and Uncle Hu?

Seeing the fat man's furrowed brows, Hu Ming shook his head. He knew that the boy had been forced to practice the "Marrow Cleansing Technique" by Hu Bayi and Wang Kaixuan when he was young, but he had become lax after entering junior high school.

Hu Ming estimated that Fatty Wang had only just mastered the basics of the "Marrow Cleansing Technique," which was why the kid's physical condition was so good, and he hadn't been affected by the Yin energy despite going into tombs so many times!
For a moment, everyone was lost in their own thoughts, and the atmosphere fell silent.

……

……

Further in, the passageway becomes extremely wide, large enough for two trucks to drive side by side.

The faint traces of cart tracks from that time can still be seen on the ground, suggesting that this was once a mule track used as a transportation route.

Therefore, it can be concluded that this road is correct and indeed leads to the depths of the underground palace.

Strangely, the passage was very cold inside, with the temperature dropping by an unknown number of degrees.

Moreover, a cold wind was blowing in from inside, as if it were leading to the outside.

But here's the problem: no matter what kind of ancient tomb it is, the underground palace is very well sealed. So where is the wind coming from?
"Is this what they call (ghostly breathing)?"

Hu Ming muttered to himself, stroking his chin.

"Ghostly breathing? Is there any special meaning to it? How does it occur?" the fat man asked.

"It's just an old saying that has been passed down through generations. No one has ever studied it, and it's best not to study it."

"This is the first time I've encountered this either, but don't worry, although it's eerie, there's nothing dangerous about it."

Hu Ming shook his head.

"Too."

He nodded and didn't ask any more questions.

After all, what were they? Tomb raiders!
They're not an archaeological team doing scientific research; they're after the treasures underground. As long as there's no danger, they don't care what kind of ghostly breathing or howling it is!
The initial section of the passage was relatively flat, but later on, collapses and cracks were discovered, and the ground became uneven.

This is likely natural damage caused by crustal movement.

Along both sides of the passage, at regular intervals, a pair of facilities are set up to reinforce the passage.

It seems King Wannu was aware of the unique geographical conditions here; without these things, the place would have collapsed completely long ago. After walking less than a hundred meters further, the fat man at the front suddenly stopped.

"Door?"

The fat man pointed ahead and said.

"This is not the tomb door, but a sealing stone, used to seal the underground palace. There should be two more such sealing stones in front of it, symbolizing the three thousand worlds. The ancients were very particular."

Hu Ming clicked his tongue in amazement.

The searchlight was shone on them.

At the end of the passage was a black stone tomb door.

Cloud dragons, grass dragons, and two lions playing with a ball are scattered all over the goal frame.

A sheep is carved on the left door, and another unidentified creature is carved on the right door.

Upon closer inspection, the stone gate was found to be tightly shut.

The gaps in the door and the bolt area had long been sealed with molten iron.

There is no way to open this door without using explosives.

Coincidentally, that's exactly what the young man did.

A large hole had already been blown open in the sheep's belly of the left door, big enough for even a fat man to pass through.

Without lingering, the group passed through the sealing stones, and the tomb passage continued in the same way, with them stepping over two more sealing stones one after another.

At this moment, Hu Ming and the others had passed through the last sealing stone, and in front of them was a crossroads.

The other tomb passage intersects perpendicularly with the passage that Hu Ming and his group are forcibly using at this time.

And this intersecting tomb passage is even wider.

Unlike the passageway beneath Hu Ming's feet, which was paved with black rock, this tomb passage was entirely vermilion, made of an unknown material.

Moreover, there are murals on the ground, sides, and even overhead of this tomb passage, forming a continuous whole.

"That's right, this must be the main tomb passage, a straight path leading directly to the outer coffin hall, the central axis of the entire underground palace, otherwise it wouldn't be decorated so ornately."

"After all this trouble, we're finally getting to the main burial chamber."

Upon seeing this, Wu Xie couldn't help but sigh.

"Stop reminiscing. We're thieves, so it's the same old question: which way do we go?"

The fat man asked, "Uncle Ming?"

"It's the same old situation. We don't need to bother to figure it out. The young man has already pointed out the way forward."

Hu Ming shrugged and pointed to the English letters hidden in the murals in the left passageway.

The markings here are different from those we encountered before; they contain different information.

Unfortunately, only this guy knows the information inside this mark.

only.
Hu Ming narrowed his eyes slightly and looked at the opposite side of the tomb passage.

His hearing had long since reached an abnormal level, and within a certain range, distance was unlikely to cause him any hearing problems.

Using the information brought back by the sound waves, Hu Ming quickly figured out the situation inside the two tomb chambers.

Hu Ming looked towards the tomb chamber, where there was the faint sound of someone breathing and the silent sound of someone smoking.

That's Wu Sansheng, and that's the main burial chamber.

The tomb chamber that the young man's mark pointed to was quiet, except for a strange, inexplicable sound.

That was another corpse fetus!
In the three-dimensional map in my mind, there were mountains of gold and jewels in the tomb chamber over there.

But
Several bodies were buried in the pile of gold.

"It's about time to go find Brother Xiao." Hu Ming's lips curled into a cryptic smile.

(End of this chapter)