Tomb Raider: I Am Hu Bayi's Cousin

Why draw a sketch of the village if you have nothing else to do?

After dinner, Fatty slipped over to Hu Ming's side, looked at the sketch Hu Ming was drawing by the campfire, and asked curiously.

The sketch Hu Ming drew on the paper was clearly a simplified structural diagram of Yun Cai's village.

However, it seems that Hu Ming drew it backwards; the direction of the village was completely reversed.

Hearing the fat man's voice, everyone curiously gathered around, watching Hu Ming make the final stroke.

"A rough sketch of the village? Probably."

Hu Ming smiled but remained silent.

"The village..."

Beside him, Wu Xie's eyes flickered, his face full of confusion.

Because of the different search directions, the fat man didn't see the village at the bottom of the lake during the day.

Hu Ming, Xiao Ge, and Wu Xie all noticed the Yao village at the bottom of the lake to some extent.

Wu Xie remembers…

In my memory, the blurry silhouette of the underwater village seemed exactly the same as the one on Hu Ming's drawing paper?
He only realized what the fat man meant when he suddenly mentioned it.

Aside from being reversed in orientation, the structure of the Yao village at the bottom of the lake seems to be exactly the same as Yun Cai's village?
Where in the world would someone build the same style of Yao village in two different locations deep in the mountains, hundreds of miles apart?
In particular, the surrounding mountains and landforms of the village are also extremely similar!
Instinctively, Wu Xie felt that there was definitely something going on here—a conspiracy, a big problem!
Perhaps it was because the sky was full of dark clouds that obscured the moonlight, but Wu Xie felt a chill run down his spine and couldn't help but shiver.

As I recall, Ah Gui mentioned it once during a casual chat after dinner.

According to the village elders, their village was not located here long ago, but deep in Yangjiao Mountain.

Hundreds of years ago, for reasons unknown, the entire village was moved to its current location.

Even the oldest villagers couldn't say exactly where the original village was.

Perhaps it was burned or flooded, causing all traces to disappear?
It's as if some mysterious force is deliberately concealing this secret, intentionally letting it disappear into the torrent of history.

"But that shouldn't be the case... Putting aside the point of doing this, the fact is that to find almost identical terrain, one must have a deep understanding of feng shui."

"Based on the timeline, the Yao people at that time were still in an uncivilized stage, so how could they have such a highly skilled person?"
Thinking about it, Wu Xie subconsciously frowned and muttered to himself.

"What are you talking about?"

Beside her, Yun Cai heard Wu Xie's murmurs and asked curiously.

"...He's referring to the painting I drew..."

Seeing this, Hu Ming sighed helplessly, spread out the sketch he had just drawn, and gestured for everyone to look over.

"This is a rough map of our village? But, Brother Hu Ming, it seems you've got the orientation wrong?"

"It's like looking in a mirror. The village is completely upside down, it looks weird."

As expected, A-Gui and Yun-Cai quickly found the "source" of the sketch.

"Although it looks very similar, almost exactly the same, this is not the village where you live."

"What I drew is an ancient Yao village sleeping beneath this lake in front of us." Hu Ming said softly, marking the coordinates of east, west, south, and north above the sketch.

Among them were those that Wu Xie had guessed, which Hu Ming also revealed one by one.

"Boss, what gives you the right to look down on the Yao people? Maybe there really were people who could have done all this hundreds of years ago!"

After hearing this, Yun Cai immediately looked at Wu Xie angrily and muttered indignantly.

The girl still remembers the somewhat disdainful things Wu Xie said about the Yao people!
"What are you talking about? When did I look down on the Yao people? I was just stating the facts. Back then, the Yao people couldn't possibly have had such a skilled feng shui master..."

"Besides, aren't we talking about your village?"

Wu Xie looked at Yun Cai, who was clearly unhappy, with a mix of amusement and exasperation. Well, he had offended someone by speaking too quickly!
“Yun Cai, calm down. Your nephew is right. Hundreds of years ago, it was indeed impossible for the Yao people to have outstanding feng shui masters.”

"It is impossible for an ordinary feng shui master to find two dragon veins that are almost exactly the same."

"However, this does not mean that there were no such outstanding feng shui masters on this land hundreds of years ago."

Hu Ming lit a cigarette and said with a light laugh that seemed to have a deeper meaning.

"The Zhang family!"

"For countless years, the Zhang family has relied on feng shui as a means of livelihood, and it is knowledge that every direct descendant of the Zhang family must learn!"

"At that time, the Zhang family was still quite prosperous, and there were definitely top-notch feng shui masters in the family capable of doing all this!"

The young man, who was resting with his eyes closed, suddenly opened them. His indifferent gaze reflected the firelight as he softly explained.

Because of Yun Cai and A Gui's presence, Xiao Ge skipped over the fact that the Zhang family was a family of tomb raiders.

"The Zhang family! That's right, the Zhang family too!"

Wu Xie and Fatty exchanged a glance and exclaimed in a low voice.

The others were already used to the fact that the young man was like a madman, occasionally able to recall certain memories.

What was their initial reason for coming here?
Isn't it possible that this place holds the Zhang family's secrets, and Xiao Ge's past?
However, the events surrounding the archaeological team from twenty-eight years ago and the young man's situation just happened to coincide, and all the clues pointed to the lake in front of them.

"But why would the Zhang family go to all this trouble?"

Wu Xie frowned, a new question arising within him.

He knew at least some of the Zhang family's story; such a large family had no reason to do such a thing without cause.

"Because they are hiding a secret, a secret that... must never be known to the world."

"Similarly, this secret is also the reason why the archaeological team came here back then."

Hu Ming lay on his back on the lake shore, making sounds like murmurs.

If they hadn't been huddled together, the people around them wouldn't have been able to hear a thing...

The salvage operation at the bottom of the lake was a huge undertaking. Over the next week, Hu Ming and his team explored almost the entire area around the Yao village at the bottom of the lake.