Tomb Raider: I Am Hu Bayi's Cousin

Chapter 562 Jie Lianhuan's Handling
Ultimately, they didn't get the information they wanted from the coffin. Out of respect for the young man, they closed the lid and returned the way they came.

Of course, the fat man also took all the burial goods with him.
Tsk, who knows who this guy will fight to the death with?
Afterwards, the group opened several more black wooden coffins, containing the remains of both men and women, all of whom were missing their right hands.

During this time, without Hu Ming needing to explain much, Wu Xie and the others had already learned some things about the Zhang family's past.

At this moment, the four of them arrived at the door of a rather peculiar room.

Unlike the previous doors, this one was wide open.

Both the interior space and the decorations are far more "luxurious" than the other rooms.

Similarly, a coffin was placed in the center of the room.

However, this coffin was different. The pitch-black, unidentified wooden coffin was engraved with many golden patterns, highlighting the extraordinary status of the person inside.

"What, you and your friends have been here before too?"

The fat man looked at it and asked curiously.

"You can tell without looking at the ground; there are no obvious footprints."

Hu Ming shook his head, a strange light flashing in his eyes, and was the first to go in.

Inside the room, the coffin made of gold-threaded black wood was covered with long-accumulated white dust.

The incense burners surrounding the area were also covered in dust.

Judging from the corrosion marks on the door frame and the faint pry marks on the coffin, these are traces left at least several decades ago.

"Was this the last funeral for the Zhang family?"

The fat man said in a puzzled low voice.

"You're going to throw a funeral and then casually open your ancestor's coffin? Your ancestors would be so furious they'd jump out of their coffins and strangle you!"

"It can't be a funeral procession, it's tomb raiding!" Wu Xie rolled his eyes at the fat man and said with certainty.

"It really was a funeral procession, not tomb raiding! However, the funeral procession from decades ago was either the Zhang family's funeral procession or the archaeological team that came here back then."

"They buried a body in the deepest part of the Zhang Family Ancient Building. There's only one reason they opened this coffin: it's Zhang Qiling's coffin!"

Upon seeing this coffin, which was considerably more dignified, Hu Ming immediately understood.

"Wait... if it's not someone from the Zhang family attending a funeral at the Zhang Family Ancient Building, and... is that Zhang Qiling's coffin?"

"What the hell? Could it be that Zhang Qiling is already dead? What kind of Zhang Qiling do we know? A giant zombie that crawled out of a coffin?"

Fatty and Wu Xie were immediately shocked, their eyes widening in disbelief as they stared at the coffin before them, fearing it as if it were a venomous snake.

"Zhang Qiling is a title or a designation. Every patriarch of the Zhang family inherits this special name when he takes over the position."

"The act of 'qiling' signifies removing the spirit tablet of the deceased and transporting the coffin. The patriarch of the Zhang family has the responsibility to welcome back Zhang family members who have died outside the clan."

"This is what Xiaohua, who had been silent, said softly, pointing to the small characters on the coffin lid."

Most of the text above is illegible, but the five large characters "Selected as Zhang Qiling" are barely legible.

"As for the funeral procession that Uncle Ming mentioned, more than 30 years ago, they buried a body in the deepest part of the Zhang Family Ancient Building."

"But unfortunately, it's like the mantis stalking the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind!"

"In the end, the body was dug up and hidden away as a last resort to turn the tide in a critical moment." As she said this, a mocking and self-deprecating smile, completely out of character, appeared on Xiaohua's lips.

"Who did it?"

Wu Xie and Fatty asked in a daze.

They could roughly guess what the body was.

Some things should never be spoken aloud; they can only be understood intuitively, not explained in words. To speak them aloud would be a terrible disaster.

“It was his father, Xie Lianhuan, who did it.”

Hu Ming grinned.

"That's right, it was Father who did it. 'Audacious' is not enough to describe what Father did back then. It was as if he had punched a hole in the sky. By doing this, Father was practically an enemy of the world."

"For so many years, Father has been secretly evading 'his' pursuit, while constantly making moves to counter him, until the best opportunity came when you went to the Kingdom of the Queen Mother of the West."

Looking at the utterly shocked Wu Xie, Xiao Hua smiled slightly and revealed the secret from back then.

"Judging by the time, Uncle Ming, shouldn't it be about time for the last direct supervisor of 'him' whom Father sent into the operation, who is now unable to act?"

Ignoring Wu Xie and Fatty, Xiao Hua spoke calmly.

"Yes, everything will be settled in at least half a month, and at most a month. The last bloodline left behind by Zhang Dafoye and Yin Xinyue..."

"If Zhang Yueshan hadn't been so compassionate and secretly protected him, the whole affair would have ended long ago after the Western Queen Mother Kingdom incident."

"But I know what you mean. Even if this matter is over, Xie Lianhuan will have no place to stand. As long as he lives, many people will not let him go."

"Just like you said, he's ripped a hole in the sky! No one can forgive him."

Hu Ming's expression was unusually indifferent; the power struggle at the highest level should have ended completely several months ago.

Zhang Yueshan, after all, was extremely loyal to Zhang Dafoye and couldn't bear to see this scene.

Hu Ming, the last direct descendant of Zhang Dafoye and Yin Xinyue, was also one of the people directly involved in the whole affair. Out of respect for Zhang Yueshan, Hu Ming, Wu Sansheng, and Xie Lianhuan all let him off the hook for the time being.

Most importantly, birth, aging, sickness, and death are the natural course of life. Life is only 36,500 days long. Without the blood of the Qilin, he eventually reached the end of his life.

Thinking about it carefully, Zhang Yueshan was also an unlucky guy. His identity was sensitive, and he was caught between the Nine Gates and Zhang Dafoye, making it difficult for him to choose. He could only watch the situation deteriorate indifferently.

Although Zhang Dafoye felt remorse in his later years and instructed Zhang Yueshan to take good care of the Nine Gates and atone for his sins.

However, the bloodline left behind by Zhang Dafoye did not have this awareness.

Even in death, he never gave up coercing the Nine Gates to seek the possible immortality of the Zhang Family Ancient Building.

The reason why the Nine Gates left no record of Zhang Dafoye having any bloodline descendants is very simple: because the old Nine Gates hated him to the bone.

"I know that whether he disappears with a new face or is secretly executed, the cause that my grandfather and father fought for for the sake of future generations has finally come to a successful conclusion."

"Father, you're finally free."

Xiao Hua smiled slightly, then sighed with a complicated expression.

This earth-shattering struggle, which has lasted for nearly half a century, is finally coming to an end.