Tomb raiding live stream: Starting as the mute Zhang

Chapter 12 Bronze Corpse Puppet and Shattered Spine

The front hall was so empty it was unsettling.

Twelve stone pillars support a twenty-meter-high dome, each requiring two people to encircle it. The pillars are covered with bas-reliefs: mountains, mythical beasts, and numerous scenes of kneeling human figures. The jade bricks paving the ground are covered with a thick layer of dust, making a slight cracking sound when stepped on, and some bricks are already cracked.

A bronze gate stands at the end of the front hall.

The door is five meters high and three meters wide, entirely dark blue-black, with a layer of verdigris on its surface. The patterns on the door are more intricate than those on the thin sheet—countless tiny runes are hidden within the mountain lines, and three of the four dots glow with an extremely faint light, as if a light source is shining from within.

The bronze statues on either side of the door reflected a cold, hard luster under the beams of the flashlights.

The statue has a human face and an animal body. The human face features are blurred, as if deliberately polished. The animal body resembles both a lion and a tiger, with exaggerated muscle lines and four claws gripping the ground. The statue holds a halberd with the tip pointing downwards, and the blade has dried black stains.

Xu Jiashu huddled at the back of the line, his back still aching, but his eyes remained fixed on the bronze door.

"This door...this door is definitely the entrance to the main burial chamber!" He lowered his voice, but excitement still shone through. "If we can open it, there will definitely be burial goods inside! Jade artifacts, bronzes, and maybe even gold!"

Liu Desheng glared at him, his eyes red: "Haozi is dead! And you're still thinking about burial goods?!"

"I..." Xu Jiashu choked, but quickly muttered, "Archaeology, isn't it all for the sake of artifacts..."

Professor Zhou Xu'an walked to the bronze door and looked up at the patterns on it. He adjusted his glasses, took out his camera from his backpack, but didn't take any pictures—the battery was low.

"The runes on this door... I've never seen them before," the professor murmured. "They look like writing, but also like some kind of marking. Mr. Xie, can you understand them?"

Xie Linyuan stood three meters in front of the door.

He wasn't looking at the door; he was looking at the statue.

The statue on the left, with its halberd tip stained with black grime, emitted a faint, lingering smell of blood. The smell was stale, but not completely gone.

The statue on the right has animal claws gripping the ground, and the jade bricks have fine cracks—not natural cracks, but cracks caused by stress.

These two statues may not be entirely statues.

He raised his hand, signaling everyone to step back.

Lin Guoce immediately became alert: "Is there danger?"

Xie Linyuan didn't answer. He picked up a piece of broken jade from the ground and threw it towards the bronze door.

The shattered jade flew in an arc through the air and landed on the ground two meters in front of the door.

pat.

The broken jade shattered twice and then came to a stop.

Nothing happened.

Xu Jiashu breathed a sigh of relief: "Mr. Xie, you're too cautious. It's been so many years; even if there were any mechanisms, they would be ineffective by now..."

He didn't finish his sentence.

The statues on either side of the bronze gate moved.

It's not a complete movement, but rather the surface layer peeling off.

The bronze outer shell cracked and peeled away like molting skin, revealing a dark red body underneath. The body was shriveled, with muscles clinging to the bones, and skin like dried leather. Bronze parts were inlaid at the joints, producing a metallic grinding sound with each movement.

The two "statues" raised their heads.

Inside his eye sockets, the once black gemstone eyeballs were now engulfed in dark red flames.

They loosened their grip on the halberds—or rather, their claws—and the halberd tips rose from the ground, kicking up dust.

"What...what is this?!" Chen Man's voice trembled.

"A bronze corpse puppet," Xie Linyuan said, "the gatekeeper."

As soon as he finished speaking, the corpse puppet on the left moved.

It took a step, its heavy footsteps causing the jade bricks on the ground to tremble. It swept its long halberd horizontally, the blade whistling through the air, towards Xie Linyuan at the front.

Xie Linyuan did not back down.

The black gold ancient sword was drawn.

The blade slashed upwards, colliding with the halberd's edge.

The deafening clang of metal striking metal echoed through the empty front hall, sparks flying everywhere.

The jade brick beneath Xie Linyuan's feet shattered, sinking half an inch. The corpse puppet was forced back a step, but immediately regained its footing, retracted its halberd, and thrust again.

The halberd tip aimed straight for Xie Linyuan's throat.

Xie Linyuan sidestepped, the tip of his halberd grazing the edge of the hood and missing its mark. He reached out with his left hand, grabbed the halberd shaft, and used the momentum to propel himself forward, while his right hand slashed at the corpse puppet's neck with the blade.

The corpse puppet's pine halberd tilted back, its blade slicing through the bronze armor around its neck, leaving a deep gash.

The corpse puppet on the right also moved.

It had no weapons, but its claws were half a foot long, black and curved, with metallic tips. It pounced on the group like a wild beast, on all fours.

"Scatter!" Lin Guoce roared, raising his gun and firing.

The bullet struck the corpse puppet's chest with a muffled thud, but only penetrated half an inch before getting stuck. The corpse puppet paused, looked down at the wound, and its dark red, flame-filled eye sockets turned towards Lin Guoce.

It pounced faster.

Xie Linyuan caught a glimpse and tossed out three pebbles with his left hand—the ones he had just picked up in the passage.

A pebble struck a bronze component at the joint of the corpse puppet's left leg.

The parts loosened, the corpse puppet staggered, and its attack weakened slightly.

Lin Guoce took the opportunity to retreat, but the corpse puppet was already close at hand. Its claws swung down, and Lin Guoce raised his sword to block.

The claw slammed into the blade, sending a tremendous force through Lin Guoce. His tiger's mouth split open, the knife flew from his hand, and he fell backward.

The corpse puppet opened its mouth, revealing interlocking bronze teeth, and bit towards Lin Guoce's neck.

Xu Jiashu was right next to him.

He was terrified and stood motionless, still clutching the book "Essentials of Feng Shui Secrets" in his hand.

When the corpse puppet's claws swung towards Lin Guoce, he instinctively retreated and crashed into a stone pillar.

Then he saw an opportunity.

The corpse puppet had its back to him, its attention entirely focused on Lin Guoce.

A thought flashed through Xu Jiashu's mind: if he could ambush the corpse puppet, he might be able to gain merit and save face...

He gritted his teeth and raised the peach wood sword in his hand—it was only half left, but the hilt was still sturdy.

He charged at the corpse puppet, smashing the hilt of his sword into the back of its head.

"You beast, die!"

The corpse puppet didn't turn around at all.

Its tail—previously covered by a bronze shell, now exposed as a bony tail composed of bronze segments—swished violently.

The bronze cone at the end of the bone pierced Xu Jiashu's chest from the side.

penetrate.

The cone tip pierced his back, bringing with it a spray of blood and shattered internal organs.

Xu Jiashu froze.

He looked down at the bronze cone protruding from his chest, then looked up at the back of the corpse puppet.

He opened his mouth, as if to say something, but blood gushed from it.

Corpse Puppet flicks its tail.

Xu Jiashu was thrown back, crashing into a stone pillar five meters away before sliding to the ground. A hole the size of a bowl appeared in his chest, blood gushing out. His body twitched twice and then remained still.

The book "Essentials of Feng Shui Secrets" lay beside him, its pages scattered and soaked in blood.

The whole process took less than three seconds.

Lin Guoce seized the opportunity to roll away, grabbed the fallen knife, and retreated behind a stone pillar.

The live stream chat paused briefly, then exploded:

[All viewers of ID: Another one died!!!]

[ID Counter: Xu Jiashu, deceased]

[ID's Reckless Acts: He Actually Attacked First...]

[ID: Gore Warning: This live stream is too real...]

Xie Linyuan has already dealt with the corpse puppet on the left.

He seized the moment the corpse puppet retracted its halberd, closed in, and plunged his blade into the puppet's eye socket, piercing its skull. With a twist of his wrist, he shattered the internal mechanisms. The corpse puppet's dark red flames extinguished, its body stiffened, and it collapsed to the ground with a thud.

He drew his sword and turned to look at the one on his right.

The corpse puppet had just killed Xu Jiashu and was now turning towards Lin Guoce.

Xie Linyuan moved.

He charged forward, his footsteps pounding rapidly on the jade bricks. The corpse puppet noticed and turned to strike with its claws.

Xie Linyuan crouched down, crawled under the claws, and with a flick of his blade, severed the bronze connector at the left leg joint of the corpse puppet.

The corpse puppet's left leg buckled, and it knelt down.

But it swept its right claw across, aiming for Xie Linyuan's waist and abdomen.

Xie Linyuan did not retreat. He formed his left palm and slapped it on the back of the claw, using the force to leap up. He stepped on the corpse puppet's shoulder with his right foot, flipped over, and landed behind the corpse puppet.

The blade slashes downwards.

The connection between the spine and the bronze parts was severed.

The corpse puppet's upper body leaned forward, but it was not dead yet, and its bone tail stabbed backward.

Xie Linyuan dodged to the side, then slashed horizontally with his blade, severing the bone tail.

He stepped forward again, the tip of the knife piercing the back of her neck.

The corpse puppet struggled, its claws carving deep gashes into the ground, but after a few seconds, it stopped moving.

The front hall returned to silence.

Only the smell of blood lingered in the air.

The corpses of the two puppets lay one in front of the bronze gate, and the other not far from Xu Jiashu's corpse.

Xie Linyuan sheathed his sword, the tip touching the ground, black blood dripping down the blade.

His breathing was steady, but there was a fine sheen of sweat on his forehead.

Lin Guoce emerged from behind the stone pillar, his face turning ashen as he looked at Xu Jiashu's corpse.

Chen Man collapsed to the ground, covering her face and weeping. Wang Yihan held her, but her own face was deathly pale. Kun Ge leaned against a stone pillar, his legs too weak to stand. Liu Desheng stared blankly at Xu Jiashu's corpse. Jiang Shouyi's lips trembled, and the compass in his hand fell to the ground. Professor Zhou Xu'an steadied himself against a stone pillar, his eyes wide behind his glasses.

The chat was still flooded with messages, but nobody was in the mood to watch anymore.

Xie Linyuan walked to the bronze door.

Of the four dots on the door, the third dot, which was originally dim, is now glowing with a faint light.

He got it.

The Corpse Puppet is the third test.

Kill them, and light up the third dot.

One more to go.

He turned around and looked at the group.

"Bury him," he said.

Lin Guoce took a deep breath and nodded. Together with Liu Desheng and Jiang Shouyi, he dragged Xu Jiashu's body to a corner of the front hall and simply buried it with pebbles and dust. Lin Guoce picked up the blood-soaked book, flipped through it, and handed it to Professor Zhou Xu'an.

"It might be useful."

The professor took it, his hands trembling.

Xie Linyuan walked to the center of the front hall, sat down cross-legged, and closed his eyes to rest.

He was adjusting his breathing and recovering his strength.

The battle just now looked easy, but it actually took a lot of effort. The corpse puppets' strength and defense far surpassed the previous mountain demons and water monsters, and the addition of bronze parts made them even more difficult to deal with.

The role-playing system does not provide any indication of role-playing progress.

But he could feel that the compatibility had increased a little.

It's closer to Zhang Qiling now.

That calmness in the face of death, that decisiveness in taking action, that indifference to life—except for those worth saving, the life and death of others are none of his concern.

Xu Jiashu is not worth saving.

So he died.

It's that simple.

The team rested in silence for half an hour.

No one spoke. Only suppressed breathing and occasional sobs could be heard.

Lin Guoce checked the equipment and took stock of the remaining supplies: food and water would last for two more days, and the batteries were almost empty. There was no signal, and they were cut off from the outside world.

He walked over to Xie Linyuan and sat down.

"Mr. Xie, how much further?"

"Watch the gate," Xie Linyuan said.

Lin Guoce looked at the bronze door: "There are four dots on the door, three of them are lit. Where is the last dot?"

Xie Linyuan opened his eyes.

"Behind the door."

"Behind the door? How do we get in then?"

"We need the complete key." Xie Linyuan took out three thin pieces and two rings. "We're missing the last piece."

"Where is the last piece?"

Xie Linyuan looked at both sides of the bronze gate.

On the walls on either side of the door are murals. The mural on the left depicts a group of people kneeling in worship, with one person in the center holding a complete, luminous disc. The mural on the right shows the disc embedded in a bronze door; as the door opens, light pours out.

He got up and walked to the mural on the left.

The person holding a disc in the mural stands on a high platform. There are seven stone pillars around the platform.

He turned around and looked at the twelve stone pillars of the front hall.

Then he understood.

"Look for marked stone pillars," he said.

The team dispersed to inspect each stone pillar.

Five minutes later, Jiang Shouyi shouted, "Here! There are carvings at the bottom of this stone pillar!"

Everyone crowded around.

On the seventh stone pillar, near the ground, is an inconspicuous symbol: a circle with a dot inside.

Xie Linyuan squatted down and touched the symbol with his fingers.

The tactile sensation from the fingertips revealed that the symbol was hollow inside, with a small mechanism within.

He brought his index and middle fingers together and inserted them into the gap at the edge of the symbol.

Pull it down hard.

The stone slab at the base of the pillar slid open, revealing a hidden compartment.

In the hidden compartment, there lay the last thin slice of black stone.

The slices are very small, only the size of a palm, but the serrations on the edges are extremely fine.

Xie Linyuan took out the thin slice and returned to the bronze gate.

He pieced together four thin pieces and two rings on the ground.

A complete disc.

It is about thirty centimeters in diameter, entirely black, and its surface is covered with intricate mountain runes. All four points are lit up, emitting a soft glow.

He pressed the disc into the groove in the center of the bronze door.

Perfectly fitted.

A dull hum of gears turning came from inside the door, like countless giant wheels rolling in the darkness.

The bronze door slowly opened inward.

A cold draft escaped from the crack in the door.

The air carried the smell of stale dust, and another... indescribable scent.

It's like the taste of time itself.

Behind the door, it was pitch black.

The flashlight beam shone in, but it couldn't reach the end.

Only a vague outline can be seen that it is a huge space with steps leading upwards.

Xie Linyuan stood in front of the door, looking into the darkness behind it.

The unicorn tattoo on his shoulder blade was so hot that he almost groaned.