Tomb Raider: I Am Hu Bayi's Cousin

Chapter 561 Dagger?

This floor is completely different from the previous floors; it has many cubicles and corridors.

Looking down the corridor, all the rooms had their doors and windows tightly shut. In fact, the windows were covered with completely opaque black paper, making it impossible to see in from the outside.

After the dust kicked up by pushing open the door settled, Hu Ming and the other three went inside.

It's worth mentioning that the door to this room, which is right next to the corridor, has obvious damage, indicating that it was forcibly pried open with a crowbar.

Judging from the marks, they're quite recent, probably from just a few days ago. They were definitely left by the guy and his group.

This is what gave them the confidence to push the door open and enter without confirming the situation inside.

The room was small, at most three square meters, and simply decorated, with a black wooden coffin placed in the center.

The walls were covered with ancient wooden plaques inscribed with text. Upon closer inspection, the text was found to be in small regular script, resembling epitaphs.

"This is a funeral hall, isn't it? So, all these rooms on this floor are just funeral halls for coffins?!"

"It really is just as you said, Uncle Ming, living with a corpse, what's wrong with the Zhang family?"

The fat man grimaced as he examined the black wooden coffin.

"Because a fresh corpse, still full of life, can protect the safety of the living members of the Zhang family."

Hu Ming, who was carefully examining the biography of the tomb owner recorded on the wooden plaque on the wall that was not yet completely rotten, smiled softly upon hearing this and said quietly.

He spoke very softly, only to himself.

Hu Ming still remembered a line that the Ghostly Man once said to Wu Xie in the original novel.

Enough people have died inside Zhang Family Ancient Building. If anyone else dies inside, the creatures inside will be fed!
Although it was never revealed what this thing actually was in the end, it left everyone completely confused.

However, after stepping into the Zhang Family Ancient Building, as he went deeper and deeper, Hu Ming's intuition kept alarming him. In addition, with the help of his human sonar system, Hu Ming had confirmed some things.

If things proceed as arranged by the Zhang family, the thing deep within the ancient building might indeed fulfill the dream that the Zhang family has pursued for thousands of years, hundreds or even thousands of years from now.

However, the problem was that during that "archaeological" excavation of the Zhang Family Ancient Building, "his" people had already disturbed the deepest parts of the structure.

That archaeological excavation back then was essentially a secret funeral!
Someone wants to take their place and seize the immense fortune that the Zhang family has painstakingly built up over thousands of years.

Unfortunately, due to certain external forces, it ultimately failed.

But in that operation, those people did indeed destroy the deepest part of the setup, and heaven knows what changes have taken place there over the years.

In short, Hu Ming was now absolutely certain that the Zhang Family Ancient Building was a man-eating subterranean behemoth!
……

……

"Uncle Ming, three cigarettes, please!"

Just as Hu Ming was deep in thought, Wu Xie and the others had already started circling the black wooden coffin. Suddenly, Wu Xie shouted at Hu Ming.

"What?"

Hu Ming didn't react for a moment. It seemed the three of them wanted to open the coffin to uncover some secrets of the Zhang family. But, if they wanted to open the coffin, why did they need the incense?
Besides, Xiaohua doesn't smoke!
Besides, taking off your gas mask to smoke in this godforsaken place? Are you crazy?
If you accidentally inhale a mouthful of highly alkaline dust, your entire lungs will be corroded and destroyed!
"Hey, isn't this Zhang Qiling's hometown? We're thinking, this guy inside is related to Zhang Qiling, so we should at least give him some face, right?"

"According to the rules of us tomb raiders, we should light candles in the southeast corner and discuss with the owner in the coffin before opening it. But we don't have that kind of equipment, so we'll just have to make do with cigarettes."

The fat man pulled out a brand-new "treasure hunting talisman" from his chest and said shamelessly.

No need to think twice, it's definitely a fake!
The talisman that Fatty originally wore had been burned away in order to escape when he was in the Golden Chamber of the Heavenly Palace.

"Tomb raider my ass! You're a fake!"

"Furthermore, Wu Xie and Xiao Hua are from the Northern School, they don't care about these things at all, and I am the Heavenly Official of the Tomb Raiders, I have no taboos, do you understand? Who's going to play this game with you?"

Hu Ming rolled his eyes, stepped forward, gripped the black wooden coffin lid tightly with both hands, and with a burst of strength, lifted the hundred-pound lid off.

"...If Brother finds out and wants to fight you to the death, I, Fatty, will definitely not stop him."

The fat man's lips twitched, and he muttered a complaint.

If the person lying in this coffin is the young man's biological father, then things will get really interesting.

"Would the guy care about this? Also, look closely, what is this?"

"The coffin nails were removed long ago, and there are pry marks inside the coffin's seams. Who do you think did this?"

Hu Ming chuckled and pointed to the long nail buried in dust in the corner of the room, as well as the fresh marks on the coffin.

Judging from the traces, they were definitely not left by the funeral procession from years ago; they were clearly left a few days ago.

"Well, it turns out we were being too dramatic. We didn't expect that guy with the thick eyebrows and big eyes, Zhang Qiling, to be so rude to his own ancestors. What are we even arguing about?"

Wu Xie's lips twitched. Sure enough, they had been too presumptuous.

That's good, at least it saves me from smoking three cigarettes!

The body inside the museum had long since decomposed into bones, and the pale bones missing the right hand clearly showed signs of being moved, but were eventually pieced back together.

There was a ring of funerary objects around the perimeter, but they were few in number and consisted of exquisite little items.

Presumably, no matter how audacious the Huo family members were, they wouldn't have dared to steal the burial goods in front of the young man, thus benefiting a few people.

The fat man's eyes darted around, and he grabbed a small dagger.

"Wow, that's really heavy. Wait, is this black gold? The same material as your and Xiao Ge's knives, Uncle Ming?"

The dagger's outer shell had long since turned into a puddle of mud. The fat man happily put away the gemstone inlaid on the hilt. After wiping the mud off the blade, the fat man exclaimed in surprise.

Under the light, the blade gleamed black and was incredibly sharp. Upon closer inspection, this strange black metal was clearly the material of Hu Ming and Xiao Ge's treasured sword!
The black and gold dagger, about the length of a palm, was surprisingly heavy, weighing roughly twenty or thirty pounds!
“In ancient times, black gold was a very magical material with an unknown origin and a very small production volume. All we know is that this peculiar metal was controlled by the Zhang family.”

"It is most likely an object from outer space."

"The forging technique of the Black Gold Knife is a secret skill unique to the Zhang family. Of course, my knife has a different origin."

Hu Ming nodded in agreement. Heavy and tough, this special metal was perfect for forging cold weapons.