Tomb Raider: I Am Hu Bayi's Cousin

Chapter 342 The hope of the whole village

"Damn it! You're so naive. Hasn't your uncle always been by your side? Don't you know when he's gone?"

The fat man's face twitched, and his eyes widened.

Could such a large, living person really just disappear right under our noses?
Even if there was something strange about this tomb, the fat man simply didn't believe that anything could have gotten rid of Hu Ming so quietly.

It's important to understand that Hu Ming isn't like Wu Xie, who relies on his brain.

"...Um, my attention was completely drawn to all this gold, I didn't notice Uncle Ming..."

Wu Xie guiltily turned his head away and whispered.

"Hehe, it's truly a misfortune for our family to have a nephew like you."

The fat man was immediately shocked and muttered to himself.

Others forget their mothers after getting a wife, but Wu Xie forgets his uncle after getting gold.

"Pah! Fatty, how dare you talk to me like that? I bet you wish you could bury yourself in there like those corpses!"

"So what? If Uncle were with me, I definitely wouldn't let him suddenly run away!"

"Alright, alright, now's not the time to argue. The most important thing is to find Master Ming. These corpses look too strange; I have a bad feeling about them!"

Panzi quickly pulled the two away and tried to persuade them.

The corpses dug out of the pile of gold had expressions of terror on their faces, clearly indicating that the golden chamber was not as simple as most people had imagined.

The three looked at the mummies and nodded in unison.

They weren't foolish enough to think these people simply wanted to stay and be buried with the gold mine.

There must be some mystery here that they haven't discovered yet.

"Although this tomb chamber is spacious, there's not much room to hide anyone, and Uncle Ming couldn't possibly hide himself inside all this gold, so..."

Wu Xie looked at the gap in the Jade Gate.

"So, maybe Hu Ming never even came in, and he's playing a cruel joke on us?"

"Let's go out and look! Who knows, this guy might be lurking at the door, waiting to see us make a fool of ourselves!"

The fat man nodded and casually grabbed a few treasures and stuffed them into his backpack.

After doing all that, he picked up his gun and led the way to the door.

"You fat bastard, what time is it? And you're still greedy? What if this gold is cursed? It would be hilarious if you turned into one of those dried-up corpses!"

Upon seeing this, Panzi smiled and cursed with a dark face.

That fat bastard is obsessed with money; he never forgets his treasures.

Do you think these things will grow legs and run away while they're here?
"Big Pan, your Fatty isn't easily intimidated!"

The fat man chuckled and took the lead, crouching low as he walked out of the tomb.

"Um?"

As soon as he stepped out of the tomb, the fat man let out a low, uncertain gasp.

"What's wrong?"

Wu Xie and Pan Zi exchanged a glance, their ominous premonition growing stronger.

The two hurriedly followed the searchlight out of the tomb. When the searchlight shone on them, their hearts sank, and they were immediately covered in a cold sweat.

The murals in the outer tomb passage were completely different from when I last visited!
At some point, all those vermilion murals turned into shadows of black people with enormous heads.

They recognized this thing all too well!
This is the thing inside the Little Sacred Snow Mountain Spirit Palace.

This is what a large-headed fetus looks like.

He exclaimed, "Holy crap, what's going on? Did I go to the wrong door?"

"No, the tomb passage here has most likely been moved. When we were inside the burial chamber, the original passage had already been moved to another location..."

"Or perhaps the burial chamber was moved to another location and connected to this tomb passage."

Having experienced the underwater tomb, Wu Xie and Fatty already had some experience.

However, for some reason, they felt that this place was not as simple as a trap.

Panzi's mouth dropped open in astonishment: "You can actually do that!?"

"Yes! Nothing is surprising inside the tomb designed by Wang Zanghai!"

Wu Xie and Fatty nodded vigorously. "However, this means we might not be able to find the tomb passage we came from before. But we can't just sit here and wait to die; we have to find a way out."

Wu Xie muttered, stroking his chin.

The three exchanged a glance and reached a consensus: it would be foolish to simply wait inside the tomb for things to return to normal.

Immediately, the fat man picked up his gun and walked at the front of the group to guard against unknown dangers.

The three walked and talked for about twenty minutes when the flashlight beam they shone ahead began to reflect light.

This proves that the tomb passage has come to an end.

Wu Xie and the other two swallowed hard, their hearts pounding with tension, and immediately quieted down.

Slowing down, we walked step by step, and soon, another jade gate appeared at the end of the tomb passage.

"Your mom's kiss, Fatty, am I dreaming? Panzi, Tianzhen, doesn't this door look familiar?"

The fat man's body trembled, and he stared at the door in disbelief.

This is clearly the jade door of the golden tomb chamber!
The decorations on the door, and even the holes under the door, are all identical!
"Perhaps this is just a coincidence? All the tomb doors here use the same style?"

Wu Xie's eyes widened as he guessed uncertainly.

"I don't believe your third uncle for a second! Even if the tomb doors are the same, what about the blasted hole? The location and size are almost identical. How could that be a coincidence?"

"Never mind, we'll just go in and see for ourselves."

The fat man muttered a few words of annoyance, then crouched down and crawled inside.

Then, he stared in disbelief at the familiar golden mountain before him.

Inside the tomb, the cold fireworks that the group had thrown earlier still lay there quietly.

The mummified corpses that the fat man dug out also stared wide-eyed in terror, as if mocking the three of them.

For a moment, the three of them fell into a deathly silence.

This is clearly the same tomb chamber they were in before!
"Young Master, we've been moving in a straight line the whole time, without making any turns, right?"

After a long while, Panzi lit a cigarette to calm his nerves and said in a hoarse voice.

"I'm pretty sure we didn't turn... Damn it, we really are back in the tomb we started from!"

"Could it be that we've encountered what the old man called (being trapped in a ghostly maze)?"

Wu Xie's forehead was covered in cold sweat; things had really gotten serious.

Could such a bizarre situation really be accomplished by a concocted mechanism?
Feeling a little agitated, Wu Xie subconsciously reached into his pocket, pulled out a cigarette, and put it in his mouth.

"A nicotine stunt stick? Are you serious? Don't joke around about quitting smoking now. Have a smoke to calm down. Naive, Uncle Ming is gone, and you're our brains now. We're all counting on you!"

The fat man ripped the nicotine stick out of Wu Xie's mouth and shoved a cigarette into Wu Xie's mouth in a bad mood.

"What? Uncle Ming is gone? You fatso, can't you talk properly? Aren't you afraid Uncle Ming will come back and beat you up? And give me back my nicotine stick!"

"After the underwater tomb incident, I went to the hospital for a checkup on Uncle Ming's advice and found that my lungs were showing signs of fibrosis. If I keep smoking, am I trying to kill myself?"

Wu Xie's face darkened, and he snatched back the nicotine stick, saying irritably.

"Pulmonary fibrosis?"

The fat man and Panzi were taken aback.

This disease is irreversible, and there are currently no treatments available. The only way to slow down the rate of fibrosis is through medication and gene therapy.

In other words, this is a terminal illness!
For a moment, the two disregarded their current situation and looked at Wu Xie with worry in their eyes.

"It's nothing serious. The doctor said it was fortunate that it was discovered early. As long as I pay attention to it regularly and with the support of various treatments, I should be able to live forty or fifty years without any problem."

"I'm not like Uncle Ming or Little Brother, those old monsters who will be in their sixties or seventies in forty or fifty years, which is about the average lifespan. It's not a big problem."

"Speaking of which, I really have to thank Uncle Ming. If it weren't for him, I really don't know when I would have discovered my physical condition."

Looking around, Wu Xie still couldn't see Hu Ming. He sighed resignedly.

He knew that the three of them were now without support, and if they wanted to get out of here, they could only rely on themselves.

Thinking of this, Wu Xie subconsciously clenched his nicotine tweezers.

Fatty is right. Now, Wu Xie is the hope of the whole village.

(End of this chapter)