Tomb Raider: I Am Hu Bayi's Cousin

Chapter 350 I want to kill him!
Deep underground, at the end far from the bronze door, in a fissure.

There is a man-made cave here.

At this moment, Hu Ming and Xiao Ge were in the cave, changing into bronze Shang Dynasty armor.

Time is running out. Soon, the bronze gate will open, and the ghostly soldiers will lead the two of them through it.

"To be honest, this thing is really uncomfortable to wear. The ancients were so pitiful..."

After changing into a tattered set of Shang Dynasty armor, Hu Ming sighed softly in resignation.

"This is the rule."

The young man said indifferently, having also changed into a set of armor, with a black and gold sword hanging at his waist.

Hu Ming and the young man had similar builds; both were the type who looked slim in clothes but muscular when undressed, with no excess fat on their bodies and an alarmingly low body fat percentage.

This isn't the kind of superficial build that comes from drugs; while the muscles aren't prominent, the explosive power is astonishing.

"By the way, Hu Ming, what's your opinion on the so-called (divinely bestowed)?"

While we were waiting, the delivery guy suddenly spoke up.

"Are you asking about the divine gift bestowed upon your Zhang family, or the divine gift bestowed upon those poets of the Western Frontier?"

Hu Ming raised an eyebrow.

The Zhang family has one characteristic.

In the reboot of the Thunder Listening episode, there is a passage describing the Zhang family.

It is said that from birth, the Zhang family members are like divinely ordained poets from the Western Frontier, and one day during their growth, a thought will suddenly appear in their minds.

This idea has absolutely nothing to do with their lives, yet a strong desire arises within them, compelling them to accomplish it.

But
The divine gift bestowed upon the Zhang family is different from that bestowed upon the poets of Western Xinjiang.

Poets born with divine inspiration often lead unremarkable lives in the first half of their lives, but after a serious illness, poems suddenly appear in their minds.

Some poems that have never been recorded in history books and that praise the great deeds of ancient heroes!
But this situation does exist.

Because of the bloodline purification reward from the system, Hu Ming's originally scheduled dormant time was greatly reduced.

During the period after he woke up, Hu Ming spent most of his time wandering around the western Xinjiang region.

In order to try to find out the so-called divinely ordained secret, he also met and got to know some interesting people.

However, the Zhang family's destiny is somewhat different...

According to Hu Ming's speculation, the Zhang family's divine gift is most likely related to ancient bronze, or even to one of the Zhang family's ancestors who is still alive.

"You do know something... but judging from your expression, you haven't quite figured out the true meaning of 'divine bestowal'."

Hu Ming's separate discussion of the Zhang family's (divinely bestowed) and the Western Xinjiang poets' (divinely bestowed) already reveals a great deal.

The young man let out a rare soft sigh. He probably understood that Hu Ming had thought the same thing as him.

The Zhang family has too many secrets, so many that even Zhang Qiling cannot know them all.

Of course, it's also possible that the young man originally knew, but had simply forgotten.
"Who can confidently say they know all the secrets of this world? At the very least, I'm genuinely interested in the 'heavenly gift' aspect."

"The divinely inspired poets of the Western Frontier, and the ancient kingdom of Luoyun in the South China Sea, can soothe all regrets and even glimpse the secrets of heaven through 'listening to thunder'... Isn't that interesting?"

Hu Ming said with a smile.

The more you explore this world, the more you will discover things that are difficult to understand.

However, exploring the unknown is part of the fun, isn't it?
The waiting time passed by as Hu Ming and the deliveryman chatted idly.

To be honest, this was the most talkative Xiao Ge had ever been since Hu Ming had met him. Perhaps it was because he was about to enter the Bronze Gate?
Pale blue smoke once again billowed from the cracks in the rocks of the underground canyon, rising rapidly like waves of clouds.

Almost instantly, mist began to swirl below the knees, obscuring everything in front of us, and the blue smoke continued to rise. From the edge of the darkness, the distant, yet somewhat mournful, sound of a stag horn echoed.

Step, step, step
A line of eerie black shadows slowly emerged from the darkness.

This group of people were all dressed in tattered armor from the Yin-Shang era, and the leader held a command flag in his hand.

The flag was so tattered that the markings on it were no longer legible.

Behind them, someone was carrying a huge stag antler horn, and the sound came from there.

These people walked as if floating, without making a sound, and at an extremely fast speed, arriving in front of Hu Ming and Xiao Ge from afar in the blink of an eye.

Upon closer inspection, these ghost soldiers all had unusually long faces, resembling horse faces, and their overall head length was about twice that of a normal person.

Everyone was expressionless and deathly pale, looking exactly like the legendary Horse-Face from the underworld.

It can only be said that ancient legends all have some basis in reality.

These guys are most likely the prototypes of the Horse-Face legend.

"!%￥@#".

The leader glanced at Hu Ming and, expressionless, uttered an ancient pronunciation to the young man.

“This is different from the ancient agreement, Zhang Qiling. That’s what it says.”

After explaining to Hu Ming, the young man replied with the same expressionless face in the same ancient language:
“￥%!@%”

(Manual translation: He is an immortal being, qualified to enter the Bronze Gate, he also has ancient, unknown bloodline tattoos, and he possesses the Ghost Seal!)
Upon hearing this, the captain of the Yin soldiers looked at Hu Ming.

"He wants to see your bloodline tattoo."

"Can I kill him? This is the first time in my life I've been asked to take off my clothes and show my naked body to someone, and a male at that, well, let's just say male?"

Hu Ming said to the young man with an impeccable smile on his face.

"...They are accustomed to using an ancient language, but over thousands of years, countless members of the Zhang family have entered them, and they understand modern language."

The young man remained silent for a while before speaking softly.

Sure enough, the ghostly soldiers had already gripped their weapons with one hand and were looking at Hu Ming warily, as if they were ready to fight at the slightest provocation.

"Fine.."

Hu Ming's lips twitched. Damn, I was too hasty. I never expected that these ancient relics would actually keep up with the times!
Helpless, Hu Ming suppressed his hostility, removed his armor, and his blood accelerated, causing a dragon and a phoenix to appear on the surface of his upper body.

There were only twelve of these ghostly soldiers, forming a small squad. If a conflict were to break out, Hu Ming wouldn't back down at all.

However, the problem is that behind these guys is an incredibly mysterious entity (the ultimate world). Before figuring out the situation, Hu Ming felt he still had enough patience.

"@!"

Seeing this, the ghost soldiers relaxed their vigilance slightly. The captain came closer to examine Hu Ming's bloodline tattoos carefully, and then nodded gently.

"Let's go. It means you've passed the test and can come in with me."

The young man translated, indicating that Jiangnan should put on his armor.

"One day I'll chop up this bastard who made me take my clothes off!"

Hu Ming maintained his impeccable manners and impeccable polite smile.

Damn it, I don't believe these guys can understand English?
"I've wanted to cut it down for a long time too, let's do it together sometime!" (in English)

It's rare to see a guy making a harmless little joke.

(End of this chapter)